Normally Podcast: Nikole Hannah-Jones’ School Choice Reckoning with Erika Sanzi

Mary Katharine Ham is joined by Defending Education’s Erika Sanzi for a deep dive into Nikole Hannah-Jones’ revealing new essay about her daughter’s education—and the questions it raises about school choice, testing, discipline, accountability, and America’s public schools. After years of advocating for integration and criticizing selective schools, Hannah-Jones writes about her daughter’s difficult experience in a New York City public school and her eventual decision to attend a more academically challenging high school. Mary Katharine and Erika examine what the story says about putting ideology ahead of individual students, low academic expectations, classroom disruption, standardized testing, school funding, and whether the education establishment is learning the right lessons. Plus, Erika gives an update on Defending Education’s legal fight involving compelled speech and preferred pronouns at UC Berkeley. Then, Mary Katharine and Erika tackle the “mental load” debate in marriage—and make the case for appreciating spouses who are better at calendars, organization, bills, and finding the car keys.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.