Future of Education Podcast

S E357: The 15-Minute Weekly Habit That Turns Kids into Self-Starters

What if one focused conversation each week could help your child identify roadblocks, set meaningful goals, and take ownership of what happens next? In this episode, Mac

S2E356: "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire": A Skeptical Educator Tested Our Learning Model in India

When Dr. Tasha Arnold came across Alpha's MAP test scores, she was in disbelief. As a lifelong lover of traditional schooling with two decades of experience teaching ever

S2E355: Steal the Stock Market Simulation We Use to Build Young Investors

In this episode, MacKenzie sits down with Alpha guide Chris Hays to break down the stock market simulation he uses to make investing, risk, and reward click for students.

S2E354: Are You Passing Limiting Beliefs to Your Kid? (6 Simple Fixes)

How do you help a child who says "I'm bad at math," "I can't read," or "That's just not my thing"? In this episode, Mackenzie sits down with Alexis Wilson, growth mindset

S2E353: A Former Principal Reveals the Biggest School Red and Green Flags

How can you tell if your child’s school is thriving or failing? In this episode, former Florida Principal of the Year Christie Ray joins Mackenzie to break down the criti

S2E352: 40+ Cities, 9 Models: All of Our Schools Explained

When most people hear "Alpha," they think of our flagship campuses—but that’s only a small fraction of what we’ve built. Across 40+ cities, Alpha has expanded into a div

S2E351: Memory Palaces, Spaced Repetition, and Forced Recall: Memorization Tricks from an 11-Year-Old History Expert

How does an 11-year-old memorize every U.S. president in order, read at an 11th-grade level, and compete in national academic bees? In this episode, Mackenzie sits down w

S2E350: Philosophy is the New Computer Science (Why the AI Era Needs Deep Thinkers)

For the last decade, computer science was considered the undisputed king of college majors. But in the age of AI, that script is rapidly being flipped. Now that AI can wr

S2E349: The Harvard-Backed Strategy to Motivate Your Kids (Alpha's Secret to Success)

In this episode, Mackenzie breaks down a groundbreaking Harvard study on student outcomes—which she helped get off the ground—and reveals how Alpha turned those findings

S2E348: Goodbye 3 R's, Hello 4 C's: The Skills Replacing Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic

For generations, traditional education has anchored itself in the "3 R’s": Reading, writing, and arithmetic. But in a world dominated by artificial intelligence, these fo

S2E347: How We Hire Top Talent to Lead Our Classrooms (Most Aren't Teachers!) – with Dr. Stef Baduria

Out of 40,000 applicants last year, only a fraction made the cut—and 80% of them have never taught in a traditional school before. We have former doctors, lawyers, profes

S2E346: She Was Our Guinea Pig. Did It Work?

Ten years ago, Elle became one of the very first students at Alpha—essentially acting as a long-term guinea pig for a brand-new school model. Today, she is graduating as

S2E345: "I'm Not Smart": How Identity Labels Trap Our Kids

What happens when a child decides by the first grade that they simply aren’t the "smart" one? When Elle brought home a family portrait labeling her sister as smart and h

S2E344: Does AI Belong in a Montessori Classroom?

Many Montessori apologists decry the use of AI in the classroom, claiming this type of technology is harmful to the learning experience. But our latest experiment actuall

S2E343: The "Pay to Read" Method (+ 4 Other Unconventional Ways to Raise Bookworms)

In an era of instant dopamine hits like TikTok, YouTube, and ChatGPT summaries, getting a kid to crack open a book feels like a losing battle. But it doesn't have to be!

S2E342: Why Traditional Discipline Makes Kids Worse: The Behavioral Science You Need To Know

Traditional discipline punishes disruptive students by isolating them. But bad behavior is actually just a data point. In this episode, I sit down with Matt Shenker—a li

S2E341: When Your Middle Schoolers Pitch You a Podcast Episode, You Say Yes

The story of how today’s episode came to be perfectly illustrates student agency in action: An email from one of our GT School students, Everest, popped up in my inbox as

S2E340: We Hired Our Student (From Video Game Obsession to Tech Founder)

Most schools expel students for hacking their network. We gave this one a job. In this episode, I sit down with Austin, an Alpha High junior who did the unthinkable: he

S2E339: The Pygmalion Effect: 8 Rules for Raising Limitless Kids

Most parents love their kids, but far fewer truly believe in them. In this episode, Mackenzie breaks down the Pygmalion Effect, a powerful psychological phenomenon provi

S2E338: Debt-Free Paths to Six-Figure Careers with Hannah Maruyama (Part 2)

What are we actually paying for when we write a check for higher education? Is it the elite network? The critical thinking skills? The chance for our kids to meet a futur