Lobbyists are paid to influence government officials. They often operate behind closed doors, hidden from public view. In the education sector, for-profit companies rely on the work of lobbyists to promote commercial interests in public policy, from privately operated public schools to the use of education technology inside classrooms.
My guest today autho ... Show More
Jan 2024
Robert N. Gross, “Public vs. Private: The Early History of School Choice in America” (Oxford UP, 2018)
There are numerous political debates about education policy today, but some of the most heated surround vouchers, charter schools, and other questions about public funding and oversight of private schools. Though many of these questions feel new, they, in fact, have a long histor ... Show More
1h 6m
Oct 2023
John Arena, "Expelling Public Schools: How Antiracist Politics Enable School Privatization in Newark" (U Minnesota Press, 2023)
Exploring the role of identitarian politics in the privatization of Newark’s public school system In Expelling Public Schools, John Arena explores the more than two-decade struggle to privatize public schools in Newark, New Jersey—a conflict that is raging in cities across the co ... Show More
45m 35s
Apr 2023
Why smart infrastructure is a smart investment—for both Democrats and Republicans—in an era of historic public works spending
As the U.S. prepares to spend hundreds of billions on new projects, HKS Professor Stephen Goldsmith says successfully upgrading our infrastructure will not only require spending all that money smartly, but spending it on infrastructure that is itself smart—full of sensors that ca ... Show More
36m 34s
May 2022
Inside the Lobby: Westminster's political journalists
New host Ailbhe Rea explores the quirks and the controversies of the pack of journalists who inhabit Westminster, known universally as 'the lobby.' We take a trip down memory lane with the legendary Andrew Marr, former political editor of the BBC, and tour the 'Burma Road,' the h ... Show More
43m 24s
Jun 2024
Public Schools: Talking Across the Divide. Becky Pringle and Gisele Huff
Almost everyone has an opinion about public education, especially in the years since the COVID pandemic when the physical closure of schools and online schooling became highly controversial. The vast majority of American students attend public school, but the numbers are falling, ... Show More
23m 27s