ACADEMIC STANDARDS RESEARCH
New York Times Best Seller Paul Reid on Winston Churchill, WWII, & the Cold War
This week on “The Learning Curve," Cara and guest co-host Kerry McDonald talk with Paul Reid, co-author, with William Manchester, of the New York Times best-selling biography of Winston Churchill, The Last Lion: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965. Reid shares how he was enlisted to complete William Manchester’s biographical trilogy on the greatest political figure of the 20th century, which became a best-seller.
Additional Resources: Classical Music
The Encyclopedia of Music: Musical Instruments and the Art…
BU’s Dr. Farouk El-Baz on NASA’s Moon Landing, Remote Sensing, & STEM
This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Dr. Farouk El-Baz, retired research professor and director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University. They discuss his remarkable, varied, and pioneering career in the sciences, surveying both the heavens and the Earth, and key teachers and scientists who have influenced him. Dr. El-Baz shares what it was like serving as supervisor of Lunar Science Planning for NASA's Apollo program, and working on the world-changing project of putting a human on the Moon.
Additional Resources – “Ballast for the Ship of State” The U.S. Senate – 40 Resources for High School Students
A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of the United…
A Republic of Laws – Additional Resources
The Federalist, by Hamilton, Madison, and & Jay, edited…
Additional Resources – “The Road to the Stars” – U.S. Space Exploration – 25 Resources for K-12 Students
Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, by Brian Floca
Who…
Who…
Additional Resources – “The Business of America is Business”
An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic…
Stanford’s National Humanities Medal Winner Prof. Arnold Rampersad on Langston Hughes & Ralph Ellison
This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Professor Arnold Rampersad, the Sara Hart Kimball Professor Emeritus in Humanities at Stanford University and recipient of the National Humanities Medal for his books including The Life of Langston Hughes and Ralph Ellison: A Biography.
Resources: National Poetry Month
Mother Goose Treasury: A Beautiful Collection of…
The Washington Post’s Jay Mathews on An Optimist’s Guide to American Public Education
This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Jay Mathews, an education columnist for The Washington Post and author of the recent book, An Optimist's Guide to American Public Education. Jay describes the three key trends in K-12 schooling that he views as cause for hope.
Poll Finds Mixed Views About Schools’ Pandemic Performance
A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, Massachusetts residents have mixed opinions about how K-12 education has functioned, but they tend to view the performance of individual teachers more favorably than that of institutions like school districts and teachers’ unions, according to a poll of 1,500 residents commissioned by Pioneer Institute.
BBC Classics Prof. Bettany Hughes on Athenian Democracy, Socrates, & the Goddess Aphrodite
This week on “The Learning Curve," Gerard and Cara talk with Professor Bettany Hughes, award-winning historian, BBC broadcaster, and author of the best-selling books Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore; The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens, and the Search for the Good Life; and Venus and Aphrodite: History of a Goddess. Prof. Hughes shares insights from her most recent book about the ancient deity known as Venus to Romans and Aphrodite to the Greeks, and her impact on our understanding of the mythology and history of beauty, romance, and passion.
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