In Bernalillo County, New Mexico, 68 children under the age of one overdosed on fentanyl in 2022 alone. How did this happen? And how can we fix it? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Maralyn Beck, founder and executive director of the New Mexico Child First Network. Maralyn explains how New Mexico’s “public health approach” to babies born substance-exposed is leading more children be left in dangerous home environments with no supports or accountability. Under (CARA), the federal gover...
Jul 12, 2023•29 min•Ep. 87
Are black children over-reported and over-represented in the child welfare system? Are their cases more likely to be substantiated than those of white children? Are black children placed in foster care at a higher rate? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Brett Drake , Professor of Data Science for the Social Good in Practice at the Washington University in St. Louis. Brett and a team of researchers recently published a paper examining these questions by analyzing reports of child maltr...
Jun 28, 2023•27 min•Ep. 86
Can government child welfare agencies demand that foster parents adhere to certain ideological viewpoints, even if they are in opposition to those parents’ religious or personal beliefs? In Oregon, this remains to be seen. In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Jonathan Scruggs, Senior Counsel and director of the Center for Conscience Initiatives with Alliance Defending Freedom. Jonathan is representing Jessica Bates, a single mother of five who filed a federal lawsuit against Oregon’s Dep...
May 03, 2023•23 min•Ep. 85
Why does it take so long for some states to find safe, permanent homes for foster children? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Sarah Font, Associate Professor of Sociology at Penn State University. Sarah recently published a report card for AEI, ranking states based on how long children wait in the foster care system to find a permanent home. The measures from the report card are taken from the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), which says that states should petition for a terminat...
Apr 19, 2023•21 min•Ep. 84
In the fall of 2020, the school board of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology unanimously voted to eliminate its merit-based, race-blind admissions process. The school principal then went on record saying that she wanted more brown and black children despite minorities representing 80 percent of the school’s students. In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Asra Nomani , author of Woke Army: The Red-Green Alliance That Is Destroying America’s Freedom . Asra created the Co...
Apr 05, 2023•27 min•Ep. 83
How has woke ideology transformed schools and other institutions for young children, and what can parents do about it? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Karol Markowicz , columnist at the New York Post and co-author of the new book, Stolen Youth: How Radicals Are Erasing Innocence and Indoctrinating a Generation . Karol compares the current progressive attempts at indoctrination of young people to education in the Soviet Union (where she was born and lived the early years of her life)...
Mar 22, 2023•24 min•Ep. 82
In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Richard Gehrman , the executive director of Safe Passage for Children of Minnesota. A new report from Safe Passage examines 88 child maltreatment fatalities in Minnesota from 2014-2022. Racial disparities in the data were evident. Black children represented 28 percent of the fatalities, but they only make up 18 percent of children in the state. Substance abuse was also a factor in almost a third of the fatalities, and about half of the deaths were tie...
Mar 08, 2023•27 min•Ep. 81
The latest artificial intelligence chatbot, ChatGPT, is capable of writing entire essays in a matter of seconds. Just two months after its release, over 30% of college students admit to using it for some of their work. How will ChatGPT affect education, and what can educators do about it? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Rick Hess , a senior fellow and the director of education policy studies at AEI. Rick describes how ChatGPT can mimic human writing convincingly, making it easier fo...
Feb 22, 2023•25 min•Ep. 80
What is a teacher’s role in the classroom and how do students learn best? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Daniel Buck , teacher, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Fordham Institute, and author of the new book, “What Is Wrong with Our Schools?” Daniel describes the philosophy of education, beginning with the classical view that teachers are the authorities in the classroom and their primary role is to transmit knowledge to their students. Starting in the 1960s, though, progressive educat...
Feb 08, 2023•26 min•Ep. 79
In the summer of 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a cell phone captured video of a white police officer shooting a black man. The viral clip sparked mass protests and violent riots, culminating in Kyle Rittenhouse, a white teenager, going to Kenosha to defend it against the protestors. The media portrayed these incidents as another example of racism in law enforcement and irresponsible gun ownership. But is there more to the story? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Rob Montz , CEO of Good ...
Jan 25, 2023•31 min•Ep. 78
The last few decades have seen a huge growth in scientific research on early brain development, showing that the earliest years in a child’s life are pivotal in laying the foundation for long-term success. Funding for early childhood policy has mostly focused on non-parental care, in the form of daycare, universal pre-K, and Head Start. Are there alternative policy solutions to help parents with young children? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Katharine B. Stevens , former resident s...
Jan 11, 2023•37 min•Ep. 77
This fall, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments challenging race-based admission policies at the University of North Carolina and Harvard. Despite previous rulings that have upheld constitutional preferences to achieve a racially diverse study body, the court is widely expected to rule against this form of affirmative action. How have American policies on children evolved politically and how has affirmative action come to reflect right versus left ideology today? In this episode, Naomi and ...
Dec 21, 2022•23 min•Ep. 76
Two weeks after three-year-old Shaquan Butler was found dead at a homeless shelter in Queens, two more young children were fatally stabbed by their mother inside a family shelter in the Bronx. There were plenty of warning signs in both cases, and even worse the, Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) had already been investigating the families prior to the murders. What keeps social workers from rescuing children in unsafe homes and how can child welfare agencies start putting kids’ safety...
Dec 08, 2022•31 min•Ep. 75
A century after the Supreme Court’s infamous ruling that children are “not mere creatures of the state,” there is a rising belief today that government is better suited than parents to decide what’s best for children. Increasingly, teachers and school administrators are making critical decisions about students’ upbringing without parental consent or even knowledge. How will this ideology affect the relationship between parents and teachers and how should parents respond? In this episode, Naomi a...
Nov 18, 2022•23 min•Ep. 74
The Biden administration recently announced its decision to forgive $10,000 in student loans for borrowers making less than $125,000 per year and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. Is this policy the best way to help kids? Is it even legal? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by David French, senior editor at The Dispatch and columnist for The Atlantic. David explains that this $400 billion proposal is effectively financial relief given to one of society’s most privileged populations...
Oct 26, 2022•26 min•Ep. 73
Following the Dobbs decision, how can policymakers and adoption agencies ensure that adoption is one of the options women consider when they find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Elizabeth Kirk , director of the Center for Law and the Human Person at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law. Elizabeth explains that adoption is not often considered by mothers because many are unaware of how much control they have in the adoption process, cho...
Oct 12, 2022•21 min•Ep. 72
What lessons can policymakers and child welfare workers learn from those with personal experience in the foster care system in order to best support vulnerable children? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Tori Hope Petersen , former foster youth, current foster mom, and author of the gripping memoir Fostered. Tori describes how she navigated her way to a life of college graduation, athletic success, and a loving family despite living in twelve different foster homes. She recounts the p...
Sep 28, 2022•25 min•Ep. 71
Public policy often looks at race, social class, and gender when analyzing educational inequality. But what impact could religion have on academic performance? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Ilana Horwitz , Assistant Professor in the Department of Jewish Studies at Tulane University and the author of God, Grades, and Graduation . Ilana breaks down the findings from a nationally representative study out of Notre Dame, which showed that students raised in Christian backgrounds get be...
Sep 14, 2022•30 min•Ep. 70
Are college professors allowed to write about the differences between men and women? Can they speak out about the importance of strong families in creating strong societies? The short answer is no. In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Scott Yenor, Professor of Political Science at Boise State University and the author of The Recovery of Family Life. Scott was recently investigated by his employer after sharing his thoughts on these matters. After fifty years during which conservatives ha...
Aug 31, 2022•27 min•Ep. 69
A new AEI report found that the COVID-19 pandemic caused the largest enrollment declines in the history of American public Schools. 85 percent of school districts across the country had enrollment losses the year after the pandemic started, and almost half of districts saw declines of 3 percent, a seven-fold increase from the prior year. Why are Americans fleeing public schools? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Betsy DeVos , former secretary of education and author of the new book Ho...
Aug 17, 2022•23 min•Ep. 68
Following the Dobbs decision, pregnant women uncertain about their future should be informed of all the options available to them, including adoption. For many, though, encouraging adoption is seen as coercive. Is this accurate? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Kate Trambitskaya , CEO of Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Children. For over 125 years, Spence-Chapin has supported women in crisis through comprehensive counseling. Kate explains Spence Chapin’s recent efforts to expl...
Aug 03, 2022•28 min•Ep. 67
What should kids be reading in school? A movement has swept through K-12 classrooms to cancel classic texts and replace them with more racially diverse voices. Yet the very authors these activists are seeking to eliminate from school curricula influenced prominent African-American thinkers like Martin Luther King Jr. and James Baldwin. In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Dr. Anika Prather , professor in the Classics department at Howard University and founder of The Living Water School....
Jul 21, 2022•33 min•Ep. 66
The push for gender-affirming therapy for young people is driven by the empirical claim that if this type of healthcare is not made widely and readily available, kids who are questioning their identity are in danger of committing suicide. This emotional extortion has caused adults to see this care as the only solution to help these children. What does the data really tell us? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Jay Greene , a Senior Research Fellow for the Center for Education Policy at...
Jul 06, 2022•30 min•Ep. 65
Since research suggests that past maltreatment of a child is the best predictor of future child abuse or neglect, several states have enacted a program called “birth match.” This program compares the names of parents of newborns with lists of individuals who have previously killed or seriously injured a child or had their parental rights terminated. Are these programs worthwhile? Should other states follow suit? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Marie Cohen , a child welfare policy an...
Jun 22, 2022•25 min•Ep. 64
Classroom instruction in the field of “Social and Emotional Learning” (SEL) has recently come under fire, particularly from conservatives. Critics see SEL as a mechanism for the government to indoctrinate students on controversial social issues. But should teachers abandon social and emotional learning altogether? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Nathaniel Grossman , a research intern at the Fordham Institute and former elementary school teacher. Nathaniel explains how Social and Emo...
Jun 08, 2022•21 min•Ep. 63
Every child in America deserves to know that a path to a successful life exists and they have the power to follow it. But instead, kids today are besieged by two incomplete, harmful narratives. The “blame the system” narrative teaches kids they are powerless against societal forces while the “blame the victim” narrative tells them that any undesirable outcome in life is a product of their own shortcomings, regardless of whether they have received any meaningful support along the way. There is a ...
May 11, 2022•35 min•Ep. 62
In public schools across the country, “circle conversations“—where teachers ask personal questions of their students—is just the latest example of American classrooms focusing on everything but academic instruction. Should American teachers remain purely educators or evolve into something akin to therapists? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Daniel Buck , a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Fordham Institute, teacher, and author of an upcoming book on the philosophy of education. Daniel e...
May 05, 2022•21 min•Ep. 61
Description: Suicide rates in adolescents have tripled since the start of the pandemic, and 1 in 5 kids will not make it out of their childhood without a severe mental disorder. How should we address this mental health crisis to better prepare children for adolescence? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Erica Komisar , a clinical social worker, psychoanalyst, and author of Chicken Little the Sky Isn’t Falling: Raising Resilient Adolescents in the Age of Anxiety . Erica explains how chi...
Apr 13, 2022•36 min•Ep. 60
Description: Starting in the late 20th century, Scandinavian countries began opening up parental leave for fathers, with Norway eventually establishing at least four weeks of parental leave for fathers alone. This approach has now caught on throughout the post-industrialized world. How have these policies affected family bonding and the well-being of children? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Kay Hymowitz , the William E. Simon Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing edi...
Mar 30, 2022•25 min•Ep. 59
Description: Controversial ideologies about race and gender are making their way into K-12 classrooms. This kind of watered-down Marxism—in which everyone is designated either oppressed or oppressor—is at odds with the longstanding American principles of equality. How should school choice advocates respond to these harmful developments? In this episode, Naomi and Ian are joined by Jay P. Greene , senior research fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy. He describes the hi...
Mar 17, 2022•35 min•Ep. 58
