Entries by Editorial Staff

UK Uni. of St Andrews’ Sir Hew Strachan on the First World War

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In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Center for Strong Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy speak with Sir Hew Strachan, Professor of International Relations at the University of St Andrews, Scotland, and recipient of the 2016 Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing. Prof. Sir Hew, author of numerous award-winning books, including The First World War, the basis of the definitive 10-part Channel 4/BBC documentary, discusses how World War I shaped the 20th century and beyond.

MA Teacher Kelley Brown on Founding Documents, U.S. History, & Civics

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In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Center for Strong Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy and American Federation for Children’s Walter Blanks interview Kelley Brown, an award-winning civics and government teacher at Easthampton High School and former Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. Ms. Brown discusses her background as an educator, her work with the “We the People”: The Citizen and the Constitution program, and how it helps students engage with America’s Founding Documents, U.S. history, and enduring civic ideals.

New Pioneer Institute Analysis Finds Proposed Massachusetts Income-Tax Cut Unlikely to Cause Major State Revenue Decline

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Lessons from the 2000 Massachusetts Income-Tax Rollback: A Reality-Check for the 2025 Ballot Debate is an empirical analysis of Massachusetts revenue data from FY1998–FY2021. The study concludes that a one-point rate reduction is unlikely to produce large, persistent revenue shortfalls, and that long-term fiscal stability depends far more on economic performance than on marginal rate differences.

Harvard’s Leo Damrosch on Robert Louis Stevenson & Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Great Hearts Academies’ Dr. Helen Baxendale interview Leo Damrosch, Ernest Bernbaum Professor of Literature Emeritus at Harvard University, and acclaimed biographer of some of the world’s greatest literary figures. Prof. Damrosch discusses his newest book Storyteller: The Life of Robert Louis Stevenson. He reflects on Stevenson’s childhood in Scotland and the close relationship he maintained with his nanny, Alison Cunningham. He shares how Stevenson lived an adventurous life, with his travel inspiring classics like Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and A Child’s Garden of Verses.

Stanford’s Anna Lembke, MD, on Dopamine Nation & Addiction

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In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Center for Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy interview Dr. Anna Lembke, MD, professor of psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine, chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic, and author of the NYT bestselling book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence. Dr. Lembke explains how dopamine functions in the human brain and contributes to addictive behaviors. She explores how modern American life fuels a culture of addiction, drawing parallels between past waves of opioid and alcohol abuse and today’s dependence on the internet and smart phones.

AZ Trinity Arch Prep’s Jack Johnson Pannell on Educating Boys

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In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Center for Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy interview Jack Johnson Pannell, founder and head of Trinity Arch Preparatory School for Boys in Phoenix. Mr. Pannell discusses his career as an educational leader, including founding a nationally recognized charter school in Baltimore, and shares how his background in the liberal arts and law has informed his approach to schooling.

U-Ark’s Robert Maranto & BASIS Ed Texas’ Sean Woytek on Academically Intensive Charter Schools

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In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Walter Blanks of the American Federation for Children interview Prof. Robert Maranto and Sean Woytek co-authors of the Education Next piece, “Why Academically Intensive Charter Schools Deserve Our Attention.” They explore how rigorous charter school networks like BASIS Ed have achieved exceptional outcomes and what their success can teach policymakers and educators nationwide about improving academic performance nationwide.

U-Ark’s Randall Woods on John Quincy Adams: Statesman of the Early Republic

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In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Center for Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy interview Randall Woods, John A. Cooper Distinguished Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, and author of John Quincy Adams: A Man for the Whole People. Prof. Woods shares the life and career of American statesman John Quincy Adams, the “first son of the Republic,” whose upbringing in the household of John and Abigail Adams shaped his lifelong devotion to public service.

Statement of Pioneer Institute on Board Member Mike Kennealy’s Bid for Governor

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This statement was released on April 15, 2025. BOSTON – Congratulations to Mike Kennealy on his decision to run for Governor of Massachusetts. Mike has served as a thoughtful and deeply engaged member of Pioneer Institute’s board since 2023. We are grateful for his contributions and his commitment to the Commonwealth. Pioneer is an independent, non-partisan think tank with offices in Boston and Washington, D.C. Our work is grounded in four policy areas essential to human potential: K–12 education, healthcare, economic opportunity, and American civic values. These issues are especially vital in Massachusetts—a state whose success depends on attracting talent and capital. Innovation has always come from the states, and democracy depends on citizens who bring ideas, commitment, and a spirit […]

FEE’s Kerry McDonald on Joyful Learning, Microschools, & Homeschooling

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In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and the Center for Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy interview Kerry McDonald, Senior Education Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), host of the LiberatED podcast, and author of Joyful Learning: How to Find Freedom, Happiness, and Success Beyond Conventional Schooling (2025). As a leading advocate for alternative schooling, McDonald shares how her educational background shaped her philosophy of learner-driven schooling and traces the history of homeschooling in America, highlighting the hurdles families have overcome in recent years.

Massachusetts’ Changing Demographic Landscape

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This edition of Mapping Mass Migration features an analysis of recently released demographic estimates from the Census Bureau. Our analysis covers how Massachusetts’ population has changed since the pandemic by race and age, discussing the state’s shrinking youth population, its flat growth among prime-aged working demographics, its growing racial and ethnic diversity, and how it compares to other states. The newsletter concludes with a brief discussion of what implications these trends may have for the Bay State’s future population growth.

Dr. Gil Troy on Theodor Herzl – Father of Zionism & Combating Antisemitism

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In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Eos Foundation’s Andrea Silbert interview Dr. Gil Troy, senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, Distinguished Scholar in North American History at McGill University, and editor of Theodor Herzl: The Collected Zionist Writings and Addresses of Israel’s Founder. He offers an overview of Herzl’s upbringing in 19th-century Vienna, the antisemitic events that shaped his worldview, and how the infamous Dreyfus Affair spurred his determination to establish a Jewish State.

UK’s Dr. Kathryn Hughes on George Eliot, Middlemarch, & Victorian Novels

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In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Great Hearts Academies’ Dr. Helen Baxendale interview Dr. Kathryn Hughes, academic historian and award-winning author of George Eliot: The Last Victorian. Dr. Hughes discusses the significance of 19th-century novelist Mary Ann Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, in shaping British literature and capturing the societal tensions of the Victorian era.

Florida’s John Kirtley on School Choice

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In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and American Federation for Children Senior Fellow Shaka Mitchell interview John Kirtley, Managing Partner and co-founder of Keswick Partners, and founder and Chairman of Step Up for Students, a nonprofit that manages Florida’s state-funded K-12 scholarship programs serving over half a million students. Kirtley shares his journey from the private sector into education reform in the late 1990s, and why business leaders must actively engage in shaping K-12 policy.

NYT Bestseller Jane Leavy on Reforming Major League Baseball

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In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Pioneer Senior Fellow Charlie Chieppo interview award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author Jane Leavy. Ms. Leavy discusses her lifelong love of baseball, and her forthcoming book, Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix It, which comes out in September.

BU Law’s Keith Hylton on Intellectual Property, Patents, & the Law

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This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Ret. MN Supreme Court Justice Barry Anderson interview Prof. Keith Hylton, William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor and Professor of Law at Boston University. Prof. Hylton shares insights from his academic career and the book Laws of Creation: Property Rights in the World of Ideas, which he co-authored. The discussion explores how Enlightenment thinkers like John Locke and Adam Smith helped shape the legal framework for property rights and the free market in the U.S., and how these ideas are central to understanding our modern economy.

Pepperdine Law’s Pulitzer Winner Edward Larson on 100th Anniv. of Scopes Monkey Trial

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This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Ret. MN Supreme Court Justice Barry Anderson interview Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Pepperdine Law’s, Prof. Edward Larson. Prof. Larson marks the 100th anniversary of the Scopes “Monkey Trial,” a landmark case in America’s long-running debate over science, religion, and public education.

Pioneer Institute Joins Coalition of Business and Taxpayers to Support Affordability, Job and Economic Growth

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Boston, MA — The two 2026 ballot proposals filed today—one to lower the state income tax from 5% to 4% over three years, and another to strengthen the state’s tax revenue cap (“62F”)—represent concrete steps to return billions to taxpayers and restore Massachusetts’ economic competitiveness. According to fiscal modeling by the Mass Opportunity Alliance (MOA), of which Pioneer Institute is a founding member, the income tax reduction alone would save the average taxpayer more than $1,300 annually. 

Alisha Searcy on Center for Strong Public Schools

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This week on The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Arkansas Prof. Albert Cheng and Dr. Helen Baxendale of Great Hearts Academies interview longtime public education champion and Learning Curve co-host Alisha Searcy. Alisha joins the show as a guest to share her story and insights into K-12 public education reform. Herself a product of public-school choice, she discusses how those early experiences shaped her belief in accessible, high?quality schooling for all students.