Anchored by the Classic Learning Test

Note: This is Part 2 of an episode co-release detailing responses to the #DisruptTexts movement which caught national attention. Meghan Cox Gurdon is an author and weekly columnist for The Wall Street Journal, where she writes on children's books. Her recent op-ed in the WSJ, entitled "Even Homer Gets Mobbed," outlined efforts by the group #DisruptTexts to have works of the Western Canon removed from school curricula (the movement's official statement: #DisruptTexts is a crowdsourced, grass roots effort by teachers for teachers to challenge the traditional canon in order to create a more inclusive, representative, and equitable language arts curriculum that our students deserve. It is part of our mission to aid and develop teachers committed to anti-racist/anti-bias teaching pedagogy and practices). In this episode, Meghan joins Jeremy to discuss not only the impetus for writing this article, but also the overwhelming response that she received in response, as well as the larger movement of critical theory within our institutions. While discussing the laudable efforts toward more representative literature for children, she describes the results of misguided efforts to declare texts not reflective of modern sensibilities as "dangerous" and "harmful." She also discusses her book The Enchanted Hour, which examines the social, mental, and physiological benefits of reading aloud. Send questions or comments to anchored@cltexam.com.Host Jeremy Tate @JeremyTate41Guest Meghan Cox GurdonEven Homer Gets Mobbed#DisruptTextsThe Enchanted Hour

Note: This is Part 1 of an episode co-release detailing responses to the #DisruptTexts movement which caught national attention. As Superintendent of Schools for the Boston Archdiocese, Thomas Carroll joins Jeremy to discuss the challenges that he faced in his new role during a global pandemic.  Amid public statements by Massachusetts' three largest teachers unions indicating that schools would continue remote-learning indefinitely, Mr. Carroll weighed the evidence and sought to re-open Catholic schools in Boston. His decision—while initially receiving backlash—produced outcomes lauded by Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker, and the reopenings were featured in several national newspapers. Mr. Carroll discusses these events, as well as his larger goals and work toward revitalizing Catholic education by moving the schools away from secularization and re-focusing on religious formation. Tom also discusses his response to the #DisruptTexts movement which caught national attention on Twitter as members of the coalition congratulated their work in having Homer's Odyssey removed from a Mass. school curriculum. Host Jeremy Tate @JeremyTate41Guest Thomas Carroll @BostonCathSuptHow Boston Catholic Schools Opened for In-Person Learning Amid the PandemicCovid and the Catholic Schools—WSJ

Dr. Greg Thompson is the Executive Director of Voices Underground, an initiative to build a national memorial to the Underground Railroad,  and he is a Research Fellow in African American Cultural Heritage at Lincoln University. He joins Jeremy to discuss his recent response to Rod Dreher's new book Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents, to include the notion that it imports a fear-based worldview into the Benedictine Tradition. Other issues he touches on include reparations, why many criticisms of critical theory (as well as popular conceptions of "wokeness" in the current culture and academia) are misguided, the ways in which some elements of current social movements are leaning toward illiberalism, and how the writings of W.E.B. DuBois and Martin Luther King Jr. still echo today. Send questions or comments to anchored@cltexam.com.Host Jeremy Tate Guest Greg Thompson The Return of the Cold Warrior: Reflections on Rod Dreher's Live Not By LiesWoke Preacher: Live Not by Lies is 'Dangerous'Reparations: A Christian Call for Repentance and Repair

LCDR Ali Ghaffari is an F/A-18 pilot, Associate Director of the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership at the United States Naval Academy, and the founder of Divine Mercy Academy, a classical liberal arts school formed in the Catholic tradition. He joins Jeremy to discuss his academic journey and the educational experiences that led him to not only discover and favor classical education for its formative nature, but also to found a classical school. He also discusses the ways in which the classics can enrich and inform leadership development. Host Jeremy Tate @JeremyTate41Guest LCDR Ali GhaffariDivine Mercy Academy

An examination of the current moment demonstrates that the United States is mired in a social crisis which is intensifying political polarization. What role do institutions play in staving off further discord? Yuval Levin is the founding editor of National Affairs and the Director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute.  He joins Jeremy to discuss his book A Time to Build and delves into a conversation on the role of institutions in shaping people and common goals. Yuval touches on the ways in which institutional failures are engendering social difficulties, paying particular attention to the shifting role of higher education. While the cultural debate concerning free speech on campus seems to have captured the attention of the American public, Yuval notes that renewed discussion on the purpose of higher education—one that focuses on the pursuit of truth through teaching and learning—may hold promise not only for the formative experience of college itself, but may also provide answers to the growing enrollment quandary in the U.S. today. Send questions or comments to anchored@cltexam.com.Host Jeremy Tate @JeremyTate41Guest Yuval LevinA Time to Build: From Family and Community to Congress and the Campus, How Recommitting to Our Institutions Can Revive the American DreamNational Affairs

Spencer Klavan is associate editor of the Claremont Review of Books and The American Mind.  As host of the increasingly popular Young Heretics podcast, he engages his audience with the wealth of wisdom found in the great works of  Western culture, albeit with one caveat—identity politics are checked at the door. Spencer joins Jeremy to discuss cancel culture on campus and the consequences of universities surrendering their role in soulcraft. Spencer further touches on the concept of Damnatio memoriae and its relation to recent events, and how citizens' realization that their power in society extends beyond mere voting may positively impact civil society. Send questions or comments to anchored@cltexam.com.Host Jeremy Tate @JeremyTate41Guest Spencer Klavan @SpencerKlavanYoung Heretics podcastHonor in a World Gone Mad

Dr. Angel Adams Parham is the Rev. Joseph H. Fichter Distinguished Professor of Social Science and Associate Professor of Sociology at Loyola University-New Orleans, where her work focuses on the comparative and historical sociology of race. In this episode, she talks with Jeremy about her dual role as a college professor and a Classical homeschooling parent. She also discusses the recent efforts by the group Decolonization at Brown to take down the statues of Marcus Aurelius and Caesar Augustus at the Ivy League university. She notes the importance of an approach to these types of events which puts the past into conversation with the present. To illustrate this point, she discusses the Stoic philosopher Epictetus and his connection to Toussaint Louverture, the leader of the Haitian Revolution. Send questions or comments to anchored@cltexam.com.Host Jeremy Tate @JeremyTate41Guest Dr. Angel Adams Parham The Statues Must Go: Brown Should Not Celebrate Colonialism

Why do students at Brown University want to tear down statues of Marcus Aurelius and Caesar Augustus? Italian journalist Alessandra Bocchi has reported from Hong Kong, Libya, and across Europe, and she is currently the Joseph Rago Memorial Fellow at The Wall Street Journal. She joins Jeremy to discuss her recent WSJ op-ed, "Ancient History Isn't Colonialism," in which she argues that the efforts of the group Decolonization at Brown miss the mark when it comes to the Western Tradition. She also discusses differences between the Italian and U.S. secondary school systems, and Jeremy reflects on CLT's mission to reinvigorate study of the Classics in U.S. schools. Send comments or questions to anchored@cltexam.comHost Jeremy Tate @JeremyTate41 Guest Alessandra Bocchi @alessabocchiAncient History Isn't ColonialismThe Statues Must Go: Brown Should Not Celebrate Colonialism

Is there sufficient viewpoint diversity in K-12 education today? Daniel Buck is a teacher and freelance author who has written for such publications as National Review, City Journal, The American Mind, Quillette, and others. He joins Jeremy to discuss the questions that he began asking as a school teacher which led him to not only change his personal views on education, but also to advocate for a renewed national conversation concerning the proper aims of education. He further discusses the conversations that were facilitated when he began publicly addressing the "echo chamber" of education, and how this led to the founding of The Chalkboard Review, an online journal of educational commentary that features a diverse range of voices on all things education—left, right, and center. Send questions or comments to anchored@cltexam.com.Host Jeremy Tate @JeremyTate41Guest Daniel Buck @MrDanielBuckThe Chalkboard ReviewTrue Education is Beautiful—The American Mind, Claremont Institute

Dr. Anthony Bradley, professor of religious studies and director of the Center for the Study of Human Flourishing at The King’s College NYC, joins Jeremy to discuss the problem with overcriminalization and why criminal justice reforms have often proven difficult—he discusses the ways in which civic institutions can avert people's continued entry into the criminal justice system while also reducing recidivism rates. Additionally, Anthony explores the role of fatherhood and the research he has conducted that illustrates its role not only in positive social outcomes and academic development, but also within other categories that are not immediately apparent. Send questions or comments to anchored@cltexam.com.Host Jeremy Tate @JeremyTate41Guest Dr. Anthony Bradley @drantbradleyEnding Overcriminalization and Mass Incarceration: Hope from Civil Society