About the Getting Smart Podcast

The Getting Smart Podcast covers trends, innovations and insights in K-12, higher ed, lifelong learning, leadership, investing and more. You can listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. Every other Friday we publish an episode called “Catching Up” where Nate McClennen and Mason Pashia try to make sense of what’s going on in education, learning and human flourishing. Check it out. 

If you’re on Spotify, we have built some great playlists to help you jump into some conversations we’ve been having over the last few years. You can go long on the following topics: 

Interested in placing an advertisement in the podcast or sponsoring a series of conversations? Check out our sponsored content page to learn more. 

Know of someone who would make a great guest on the podcast? Email Mason to pitch your suggestion or learn more about being on the podcast.

Subscribe to Our Podcast

This podcast highlights developing trends in K-12 education, postsecondary and lifelong learning. Each week, Getting Smart team members interview students, leading authors, experts and practitioners in research, tech, entrepreneurship and leadership to bring listeners innovative and actionable strategies in education leadership.

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Leadership

Why “the Superhero Principal” Needs an Update | Lindsay Whorton

Nate McClennen

The superhero principal model is not a leadership strategy, it is a design flaw. In our latest podcast episode, Getting Smart host Nate McClennen speaks with Dr. Lindsay Whorton, president of the Holdsworth Center and author of 'A New School Leadership Architecture,' about why distributing leadership across four intentional levels is the most sustainable path to better outcomes for students. If you lead a school, work alongside principals, or care about whether great educators stay in the profession, this conversation will reframe how you think about who does what, and why it matters.
Learning Design

What Is the Future of School Design? | Mike Posthumus

Guest Author

What if the building itself was the lesson plan? In this week's Getting Smart Podcast, Nate McClennen sits down with Michael Posthumus, Learning Design Principal at Fielding International, to explore why $113 billion in annual school construction is either education's greatest untapped opportunity or its most expensive missed one. From Singapore American School's research-backed campus transformation to a single renovated wing in Cranston, Rhode Island, Mike makes a compelling case that when vision drives design, the architecture itself can make great teaching more probable. If you're a school leader, teacher, or policymaker with any stake in how learning spaces are planned, built, or used, this conversation is essential listening.
Future of Learning

Catching Up: Meta’s Billion-Dollar Payout, AI Search Bias, and Fixing Student Voice

Mason Pashia, Nate McClennen

In the latest episode of Catching Up, Nate McClennen and Mason Pashia move from Meta's billion dollar settlement to a sharper question: what if we funded real life instead of more apps? They also untangle the difference between AI as an efficiency tool and AI as an efficacy tool, walk through a clear framework for how school systems actually learn, and trace the growing shift from tokenistic student surveys to genuine intergenerational co-design, complete with a student-drafted AI policy bill and a constitutional lawsuit filed by Kentucky students. This one is built for leaders who want less noise and more signal on where education is actually heading.

Ed Policy

Chicago’s Former Schools CEO on Phones, Power, and the Future of Public Education | Janice K. Jackson

Guest Author

Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Dr. Janice K. Jackson joined Mason Pashia on the Getting Smart Podcast for a conversation that refuses to stay comfortable. From why blanket tech bans risk leaving low-income students further behind, to what Chicago's governance shift reveals about accountability gaps in large urban systems, Dr. Jackson offers the kind of grounded, systemic thinking that education leaders are hungry for right now. If you are navigating enrollment decline, edtech fatigue, or community trust erosion, this episode is essential listening.