We are honored to have been nominated for two Ambies for Best DIY Podcast and

Best Interview Podcast

The Ambies celebrate excellence in Podcasting and are presented by The Podcast Academy

Best Indie Podcast!

We’re proud to have won Silver in the 2024 Signal Awards

 

About the Podcast

Hosts, Andrew, a White dad from Denver, and, Val, a Black mom from North Carolina, dig into topics about race, parenting, and school segregation. With a variety of guests ranging from parents to experts, these conversation strive to live in the nuance of a complicated topic.

With over 160 episodes to date, it can be hard to know where to start.  We created this guide to help!

If you care about a multiracial democracy and if you believe that public schools are an important piece of this work, we need your support.

S12E11 – Legacy and Community: Bridging Generations through History

S12E11 – Legacy and Community: Bridging Generations through History

In this episode, Andrew and Dr. Val talk with Logan Tilton about what it means to encounter history as something living and human. Through reflections on learning histories she had never been taught, Logan shares how understanding the people behind movements—from enslaved ancestors to young foot soldiers in Selma—changes how we see both the past and our responsibility in the present.Together, they explore how history can evoke grief, anger, pride, and hope—and how community helps us hold all of it. Logan reminds us that when young people are trusted with the truth, they don’t just learn history—they carry it forward.

S12E10: Caring for Your Community in a Time of Crisis: On the Ground in Minneapolis

S12E10: Caring for Your Community in a Time of Crisis: On the Ground in Minneapolis

In this heavy-but-hopeful episode, we hear from Minneapolis parent leaders navigating crisis on the ground as ICE operations disrupt families, schools, and daily life. Carina (a White mom and bridge-builder in dual language spaces) and Cisne (a Spanish-speaking immigrant mom and community leader) share how relationships, language justice, and mutual aid helped their community respond. A reminder we can’t shake: systems may fail us, but relationships help keep us safe.

S12E9 – Staying Power with Danielle Wingfield

S12E9 – Staying Power with Danielle Wingfield

Legal historian Dr. Danielle Wingfield helps us connect today’s attacks on public education to a long history of “massive resistance.” We talk curriculum fights, “parental rights,” privatization, and what it takes to build home place—and find the staying power to outlast backlash.

Meet The Hosts

Andrew Lefkowits

Val Brown

Val Brown is a Black mom from North Carolina. She believes that education is a vehicle for social change, and encourages parents, caregivers, and educators to engage in public discourse about critical topics because it allows them to learn with and from others. 

Get In Touch

Do you have a story to tell? An idea for something we should cover? General feedback about the podcast? Let us know!

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