Anchored by the Classic Learning Test

On this episode of Anchored, Jeremy is joined by Tracy Gardner, CLT's Chief Operating Officer.  Tracy discusses her love for tests from a young age, her journey to becoming a psychometrician, and how it ultimately led her to CLT. She also shares her relationship with religion, her conversion to Catholicism at the age of 24, and her experience as a Catholic student at the University of Pittsburgh.  She discusses her dilemma of creating tests for public schools, and how doing that went against the kind of education she wanted to provide her children. She explains that discovering and working with CLT allowed her to combine her love for testing and classical education. 

On this episode of Anchored, Jeremy and Arooba are joined by Hamza Yusuf, president of the first accredited Muslim undergraduate college in the United States. Growing up with parents who loved truth and knowledge, Hamza Yusuf describes his childhood as multifaceted. He explains that much of his education occurred outside of school with his father, who studied the humanities and worked as a college professor. When Hamza was 17 years old, a head-on collision prompted him to investigate life after death, ultimately leading to his conversion from Irish Catholicism to Islam. Hamza discusses the relationship between the liberal arts and Islam, the troubles of modern ideologies influencing Islamic education, and the decline of western civilization caused by forgetting its secret sauce…classical education. 

On this episode of Anchored, Jeremy and Arooba are joined by Oscar Ortiz Duarte, CEO, and Superintendent of Heritage Classical Academy. Oscar discusses his early life growing up in Honduras and describes how different education and schooling was for lower-class individuals. He explains his first encounter with beauty through reading at a young age and how it opened the gateway for truth and knowledge for him. Oscar’s belief if that classical education is for everyone, and this belief fuels his mission to open a free, classical charter school for children of lower-income families. He hopes that he will be able to show others that classical education equips lower-income families with the tools to thrive in the world. 

On this episode of Anchored, Jeremy is joined by Dale Ahlquist, President of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton. Dale discusses becoming a fan of Chesterton through other writers such as C.S Lewis, and how Chesterton’s artistic way of weaving different subject matters made him unique. He also discusses his journey of co-founding the original Chesterton Academy, which ultimately became a network of more than 60 schools and counting, drawing on the Chesterton Academy curriculum and approach. Dale explains that his vision for Chesterton Academy was to give students the kind of education that he wishes he had. Dale emphasizes the importance of creating complete thinkers through classical education, adding that, “Classical teaching is teaching happiness.”

On this episode of Anchored, Jeremy is joined by Noah Tyler, CLT’s Chief Financial Officer. Noah discusses his experience being homeschooled at a young age, and how it set him apart from his peers. He explains the process of choosing a university that aligns with your values, especially if you were once homeschooled. Noah also discusses his career as a test-prep tutor, his love for teaching, and what compelled him to join CLT. Jeremy and Noah reminisce on some of CLT’s earliest memories -- from test-preparation to pitching to colleges like Hillsdale. They also discuss how they came up with CLT’s core values: Passionate, Anchored, Accurate.

On this episode of Anchored, Jeremy and Arooba are joined by Dave Rubin, a political commentator and Youtube Personality.  They discuss free speech on university campuses, politically charged curricula, and what society can learn from events that have occurred throughout history. Dave also explains how the labels around political identities have changed, and the difference between an old-school liberal vs a progressive. They discuss public schooling, and the different options available to parents who would like to take back control of what their children are learning. 

On this episode of Anchored, Jeremy is joined by three guests from Benedictine College – Dr. Kim Shankman, Dr. Eddie Mulholland, and Dr. Denis McNamara. They discuss the role Catholic faith has played in creating some of the world’s best architecture. They also have profound conversations surrounding education and modernity, such as maintaining tradition without repeating other’s work, the importance of a true liberal arts education, and the shift of architecture from beauty to brutalism. Our guests explain the consciousness required to keep Benedictine College true to its mission of providing students with an environment where faith finds them. 

On this episode of Anchored, Jeremy is joined by Jeff Sikkenga, Executive Director of the Ashbrook Program and Professor of Political Science at Ashland University. As a professor of undergraduate and graduate courses in political thought and American history, Professor Sikkenga discusses how the decline in history majors has affected society. He explains that historical perspective aids us in understanding and facing current issues, and that all great American leaders were profound students of history. He shares that the importance of history is to have a conversation with the past, and that without this conversation, we forget the “why” of America. Professor Sikkenga also highlights the consequences of misinterpreting the Constitution in relation to current events. Host: Jeremy Tate Guest: Jeff Sikkenga

On this episode of Anchored, Jeremy is joined by Dr. Karen Swallow Prior, a Research Professor of English and Christianity and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Prior discusses her love for 18th century British literature, the earliest beginnings of fiction, and the role fiction played in the 18th century. She highlights the difference between novel writing and literary fiction, explaining that literary fiction recreates an experience through words, and offers an understanding of our own lives. Dr. Prior also discusses how the decline in novel writing can be attributed to the disbelief in originality and individualism.Guest: Karen Swallow Prior 

On this episode of Anchored, Jeremy and Arooba are joined by Dr. Michael Naughton, director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas. Dr. Naughton discusses his expertise in Catholic Social Thought in relation to work, business, and organizational life. He explains how reading John Paul II’s letter on human work helped him understand the theology of work in all areas of life, and bridge the gap between Catholicism and Business. He discusses that universities have become too focused on their external good rather than their internal good and how Catholic Studies can reform the nature of universities. He highlights that although it is important for students to find worthwhile careers, they must also grow intellectually through their love for education in order to understand the inherent goodness of those careers. Guest: Dr. Michael Naughton