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A Kerfuffle or a Brouhaha?

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Don't matter what you call it. Ricochetti are a passionate bunch, and sometimes the fighting spirit takes over. Our first guests are Andrew Gutmann (hosts of the essential Take Back Our Schools podcast) and Ricochet member Michele Kerr who's had some strong criticisms of the fellas' takes on public education over the years. For those of you who like a little scrappiness on the flagship podcast: this one's for you!

Next we bring on our favorite doctor (the kind that doesn't ask if the bruises are Covid related), Jay Bhattacharya! He explains how he became known as a fringey pseudoscientific quack and the ins and outs of Covid's last gasp.

With Peter out, James and Rob steer the ship through a Musk-y hostile takeover, NYC's newest madman and the latest in Ukraine. And mark your calendars so you can join Rob for the America's Future pub crawl on May 14th! Members only: so sign up today!

Music from this week's podcast: Adult Education by Hall and Oates

Hosts:
James LileksRob Long
Guests:
Andrew GutmannDr. Jay BhattacharyaMKMichele Kerr

Discussion (242)

  • kedavis@kedavis

    I doubt that "ghost guns" show up much at crime scenes to start with, but even if they do, having no serial number at all doesn't seem to be significantly - if any - worse than guns with a serial number that were stolen. Which is already the favorite of criminals everywhere.

  • kedavis@kedavis

    Okay Michele, fine, schools teach math and stuff. So how about, let's wait until schools have ALL students AT GRADE LEVEL on those subjects, and then maybe we can talk about CRT, gender identity, and what-not.

    I'm confident that, especially with a system where teachers are unionized, that will never happen. And so CRT etc never get taught.

  • Michele@Michele
    Replyingtokedavis

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Okay Michele, fine, schools teach math and stuff. So how about, let’s wait until schools have ALL students AT GRADE LEVEL on those subjects, and then maybe we can talk about CRT, gender identity, and what-not.

    I’m confident that, especially with a system where teachers are unionized, that will never happen. And so CRT etc never get taught.

    1. You won't be able to define "grade level" in a way that has ever been achieved by any American school, anywhere, that will meet with agreement.
    2. But that's fine, because if you paid attention, you might have noted that I'm totally on board with keeping away from any cultural or social issues. Your grand gesture is largely wasted because most schools aren't teaching any of that stuff and will take the deal. Won't cost them a thing. And you still won't have all kids at "grade level", assuming you ever get consensus.
  • kedavis@kedavis
    ReplyingtoMichele

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Okay Michele, fine, schools teach math and stuff. So how about, let’s wait until schools have ALL students AT GRADE LEVEL on those subjects, and then maybe we can talk about CRT, gender identity, and what-not.

    I’m confident that, especially with a system where teachers are unionized, that will never happen. And so CRT etc never get taught.

    Michele (View Comment):

    1. You won’t be able to define “grade level” in a way that has ever been achieved by any American school, anywhere, that will meet with agreement.
    2. But that’s fine, because if you paid attention, you might have noted that I’m totally on board with keeping away from any cultural or social issues. Your grand gesture is largely wasted because most schools aren’t teaching any of that stuff and will take the deal. Won’t cost them a thing. And you still won’t have all kids at “grade level”, assuming you ever get consensus.

    What I remember hearing was that you're okay with not teaching about sex, for example, until 5th grade. That's not the same as "keeping away."

    Also, I'm pretty sure you're not the boss of the schools. Lots of schools ARE teaching that stuff - or at least trying to - and not only that, schools/teachers/etc who claim they aren't, still raise hell about attempts to pass laws against it. Why should they be concerned about laws against something they say they aren't doing?

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