77 episodes

Take Back Our Schools puts you on the front lines of the culture wars as Andrew Gutmann and Beth Feeley explore the increasing politicalization of our schools and universities and just what to do about it.

Take Back Our Schools Ricochet

    • Education
    • 4.7 • 69 Ratings

Take Back Our Schools puts you on the front lines of the culture wars as Andrew Gutmann and Beth Feeley explore the increasing politicalization of our schools and universities and just what to do about it.

    The End of Race Politics

    The End of Race Politics

    On this episode, Beth and Andrew speak with author Coleman Hughes about his new book, The End of Race Politics. Hughes talks about race was never an issue growing up and then first experiencing the divisive obsession with race politics as a student at Columbia University. We discuss how the civil rights movement’s dream of colorblindness turned into today’s leftist belief in neoracism and DEI. Hughes also explains how the academic studies behind the idea of implicit bias are bunk.

    Coleman Cruz Hughes is a writer and host of the popular "Conversations with Coleman" podcast. He was a fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research and is a contributor at The Free Press and  a graduate of Columbia University.

    • 43 min
    Radical Politics and Antisemitism in Our Schools

    Radical Politics and Antisemitism in Our Schools

    On this episode, Andrew and Beth speak with Free Press reporter Francesca Block. We discuss her recent reporting on the blatant antisemitism and leftist ideological capture of K-12 schools, specifically in a post October 7th world. Block talks about her articles which reports on how BLM materials are used in some New York City public schools, and how one school literally wiped Israel off the map being used to teach students.

    We also talk about another recent piece of hers which reports on whether we will see a political realignment of progressive Jews, and her interview with Civil Rights leader Clarence Jones, co-author of Martin Luther King Jr’s I have a Dream Speech.

    Block also shares what led her to a career in journalism and talks about the institutional contempt for free speech and open discourse that she experienced as a student at Princeton.

    Francesca Block is a reporter for The Free Press. She started her career as a breaking news reporter for the Des Moines Register, where she reported on topics ranging from crime and public safety to food insecurity and the Iowa caucus. She graduated from Princeton University in 2022.

    • 43 min
    Everything Is Debatable

    Everything Is Debatable

    On this episode Andrew and Beth speak with James Fishback, founder of Incubate Debate.

    Fishback discusses how high school debate tournaments went woke in recent years and illustrates the National Speech and Debate Association’s extreme liberal bias. He shares stories of how judges are ideologically motivated and either won’t allow certain positions to be debated or dock points for non-leftist opinions.

    He also talks about his recent piece for The Free Press, entitled, “The Truth About Banned Books” where he exposed the severe ideological asymmetries in school libraries around the country.

    James Fishback is the founder and executive director of Incubate Debate, a no-cost high school debate league that champions merit, civility, and open debate. Incubate Debate is the fastest-growing debate league in America, having tripled the students it serves in the past year. Fishback is a former high school debate national champion, having competed 2009-2013 at Boyd H. Anderson High School in South Florida. He studied International Economics at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.

    • 43 min
    Men of Steele

    Men of Steele

    After a short hiatus, we are back with Take Back Our Schools. Welcome Back!

    On this episode, Beth and Andrew speak with the powerhouse father-son team of Shelby and Eli Steele about race relations in America. Both Shelby and Eli share their views on the recent Claudine Gay affair at Harvard University and give their opinions on whether this event marks a turning point in the fight against the diversity, equity and inclusion regime. Shelby talks about his own upbringing and his family’s experience in the Civil Rights movement and remarks upon why the Civil Rights movement went wrong. He talks about how the idea of “white guilt” plays a prominent role in today’s obsession with identity. Shelby also shares his strong views on the similarities between how victimhood is used by race hustlers in the black community and with the ongoing events in Israel and with Hamas. Eli talks about why he, as a part black, part Jewish and hearing impaired man, thoroughly rejects identity politics and victimhood. Eli also discusses the documentary he is currently making with his father, “White Guilt.”

    Shelby Steele is the Robert J. and Marion E. Oster Senior Fellow (adjunct) at the Hoover Institution. He specializes in the study of race relations, multiculturalism, and affirmative action. He has written widely on race in American society and the consequences of contemporary social programs on race relations. Shelby received the National Book Critic's Circle Award in 1990 in the general nonfiction category for his book The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race in America (HarperCollins, 1998). Other books by Steele include Shame: How America's Past Sins Have Polarized Our Country (Basic Books, 2015), A Bound Man: Why We Are Excited About Obama and Why He Can't Win (Free Press, 2007), White Guilt: How Blacks and Whites Together Destroyed the Promise of the Civil Rights Era (HarperCollins, 2006) and A Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America (HarperCollins, 1998). Shelby is also a member of the National Association of Scholars, the national board of the American Academy for Liberal Education, the University Accreditation Association, and the national board at the Center for the New American Community at the Manhattan Institute.

    Eli Steele is an award-winning filmmaker and “What Killed Michael Brown?” marked his first professional collaboration with his father, Shelby Steele. A graduate of Claremont McKenna College and Pepperdine University's School of Public Policy, Steele’s career highlights include “How Jack Became Black,” “What’s Bugging Seth,” winner of ten film festivals, and “Katrina,” an MTV Network pilot which won him the Breakthrough Filmmakers Award. Steele has written for publications ranging from LA Times to Commentary Magazine.

    A transcript of this program can be downloaded here.

    • 54 min
    The States Take On Social Media

    The States Take On Social Media

    This week Beth and Andrew speak with Maragret Busse, Executive Director of Utah’s Department of Commerce.

    Busse talks about Utah’s lawsuits against Tik Tok and Meta for the harms social media platforms are causing children. We discuss these harms and the algorithms that social media platforms use to hook children. She shares her views on the possible remedies of these lawsuits, and the state’s new proposed rules for social media including age verification and parental consent. We also talk about the role of parents in limiting social media use for their own kids.

    Margaret Woolley Busse was appointed the Executive Director of Utah’s Department of Commerce in January 2021 by Governor Spencer Cox. Under her leadership, the Department published proposed rules for age verification and parental consent in order to operationalize Utah's groundbreaking new social media law, which the department is charged with enforcing beginning March 2023.

    Busse holds an MBA from Harvard University, a master’s degree in Public Policy from Brigham Young University and a bachelor’s degree in both Public Policy and Economics from Brigham Young University, where she graduated cum laude and with university honors. She is a Utah native and has five children, ages 10 to 20.

    • 41 min
    The Transgender Clinic Whistleblower

    The Transgender Clinic Whistleblower

    Jamie Reed is a gay woman, a parent of five children and is married to a transgender man. So, what led her to publicly pull back the curtain on what was happening at the Pediatric Transgender Center at Washington University in St. Louis, MO and to talk of the immense harms being done to children, especially young girls?

    We discuss the reasons for the explosion of transgender cases we’ve seen in America over recent years, including the role of schools, social media, and healthcare economics. Reed also talks about how being a whistleblower has impacted her own life, and her current advocacy work on behalf of children.

    Jamie Reed is currently an organizer with the LGBT Courage Coalition, working to end medical transition in children and adolescents.

    • 50 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
69 Ratings

69 Ratings

mylesXmendoza ,

Balanced Counter Content to the MSM Coverage on Education

Beth and Andrew do a great job identifying and interviewing guests who help inform parents and empower them to be able to battle illiberalism in their local schools.

cookieskokie ,

Grateful to have found this podcast

Living in a state like Illinois, it is really difficult to find others who think the same way I do about what is happening in our schools, our culture, and especially how this affects our kids. Listening to the podcast makes me feel like I’m not alone.

KABorchers ,

Every Episode is Great

Thank you for your work in educating us on what is happening in our schools and how we can make a difference.

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