Think you know which states depend most on Washington? Pioneer’s new Dependency Index may change your mind. Alaska ranks most dependent on federal funds, and Idaho ranks least. Check out where your state ranks here! https://loom.ly/6LMwO0c
Join Pioneer every Wednesday for insight and perspective on education, learning trends, school choice, and public policy. Our hosts and guests offer a mix of provocative commentary as they interview school leaders, innovators, bestselling authors, policymakers, and more.
Listeners can find The Learning Curve on iTunes (Apple Podcasts), Stitcher, Spotify, and the Choice Media mobile app. Also find it online at Ricochet and Pioneer Institute.
Latest Episodes
May 20, 2026
Progressive Policy Institute's Rachel Canter on Mississippi’s Academic Gains
On this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Mary Tamer of MassPotential speak with Rachel Canter, Director of Education Policy for the Progressive Policy Institute’s Reinventing America’s Schools project and founder...
May 13, 2026
NYT-Best Seller Dr. Kevin Gutzman on the Jeffersonian Presidents
In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Ark Prof. Albert Cheng and retired MN Supreme Court Justice Barry Anderson speak with Prof. Kevin Gutzman, Professor and former Chairman of the Department of History at Western Connecticut State University, and New...
May 6, 2026
Florida's Julie Young on Say Yes! How Virtual Became Reality
In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and the Center for Strong Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy speak with Julie Young, edupreneur, innovator, and author of Say Yes! How Virtual Became Reality. She...
April 29, 2026
Wash. U's Gerald Early on Play Harder: The Triumph of Black Baseball in America
In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and Center for Strong Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy speak with Gerald Early, Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University in St. Louis, and...
April 22, 2026
Harvard Pulitzer Winner Stephen Greenblatt on Christopher Marlowe - Elizabethan Playwright & Spy
In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and Center for Strong Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy speak with Stephen Greenblatt, Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University and one of the world’s foremost...
April 15, 2026
Discovery Institute's Dr. Keri Ingraham on School Choice & Edu Federalism
In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and American Federation for Children’s Walter Blanks speak with Dr. Keri Ingraham, Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute. Dr. Ingraham reflects on her academic and...
April 8, 2026
DFI's Jim Blew & Lynch's Katie Everett on Fed. Ed. Tax Credit in Blue States
In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and Center for Strong Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy speak with Jim Blew, founder of the Defense of Freedom Institute, and Katie Everett, executive director of...
April 3, 2026
Gijs van Hensbergen on Antoni Gaudí & the Sagrada Família
In this week’s special Easter episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Prof. Albert Cheng of the University of Arkansas and Center for Strong Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy speak with Dutch art historian Gijs van Hensbergen, author of Gaudí: A Biography and The Sagrada Familia:...
April 1, 2026
Aaron Lansky on the Yiddish Book Center & Preserving Jewish Culture
In this Passover episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts Alisha Searcy of the Center for Strong Public Schools and Eos Foundation’s Andrea Silbert speak with Aaron Lansky, founder of the Yiddish Book Center and author of Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of...
March 25, 2026
U-MI's Sarah Cohodes on Charter Public Schools & Paths to College Success
In this week’s episode of The Learning Curve, co-hosts U-Ark Prof. Albert Cheng and Center for Strong Public Schools’ Alisha Searcy speak with Sarah Cohodes, Associate Professor of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, about her extensive research on charter public...
Fact of the day
