This conversation is presented as audio only.
What does it mean to be an immigrant when the country you call home is having a very public reckoning over immigration, identity and who belongs?
And what happens when we stop thinking about cultural competency as simply learning about other people and start asking what we need to understand about ourselves first?
Our identities shape how we see the world. Our histories shape what we assume. And our assumptions can follow us into classrooms, workplaces, health care, politics and virtually every interaction we have with another person.
For members of the Iranian diaspora for instance, questions of identity, belonging and cultural misunderstanding can carry particularly complicated histories — shaped by migration, politics, stereotypes and the experience of being understood through someone else's assumptions.
My guest is (Azi) Masaladawn Block whose work on cultural humility asks us to go deeper than simply learning the customs or traditions of another culture.
Because maybe cultural competency doesn't begin with knowing more about them.
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podcast via spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47JYsn9LQchErS3cnHP2YF
podcast via apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/facts-over-fear/id1855901950
FACTS OVER FEAR
Let's dismantle the fear that is used to divide us surrounding the issues impacting the people and talk facts.
ABOUT NATALIE
Natalie Bencivenga is a socially-conscious journalist working towards building equity in our communities through storytelling. Her goal is to inspire, educate and activate people to become catalysts for positive change. Join her for transformative conversations that uplift and challenge the ways in which we perceive the world. Let's turn this moment into a movement – together.
1 Oct 2026
Could Reading Save Us From Fascism?
In honor of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library legacy, I wanted to interview literacy and childhood advocates during National Literacy Month. Regardless if you have children of your own, an investment in our youth is an investment in all of us.
Facts Over Fear is independent journalism focused on separating the facts from the noise, fear and political spin. Become a paid subscriber to support this work.
On top of access to books, families are also navigating the cost and availability of child care, high-quality early education and the broader support systems that help young children and their caregivers thrive.
So what actually gives a child the strongest foundation for learning?
Is it the books? The teachers? Child care? Support for parents and caregivers? Or is it all of those pieces working together?
That’s what I’m digging into on this episode of Facts Over Fear with Mary Denison, executive director of Reading Ready Pittsburgh, and Emily Neff, director of public policy at Trying Together.
As states consider how to expand early-childhood investments with less money due to the Trump administration’s cuts to education and social supports, questions about Head Start and other comprehensive early-learning programs are becoming even more important.
We discussed what the research tells us about early literacy, why the first five years matter, what families need beyond a bookshelf and what policymakers should understand about building a stronger early-childhood system.
Because if we know the earliest years matter this much, we have to ask a bigger question: Why are we still treating early childhood as something individual families are expected to figure out on their own?
FOLLOW NATALIE
substack: https://substack.com/@factsoverfearnatalieb
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/@nataliebencivenga/#
tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nataliebencivenga
threads: https://www.threads.com/@nataliebencivenga
podcast via spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47JYsn9LQchErS3cnHP2YF
podcast via apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/facts-over-fear/id1855901950
FACTS OVER FEAR
Let's dismantle the fear that is used to divide us surrounding the issues impacting the people and talk facts.
ABOUT NATALIE
Natalie Bencivenga is a socially-conscious journalist working towards building equity in our communities through storytelling. Her goal is to inspire, educate and activate people to become catalysts for positive change. Join her for transformative conversations that uplift and challenge the ways in which we perceive the world. Let's turn this moment into a movement – together.
29 Sept 2026
Are Our Kids Prepared For The AI Era?
Facts Over Fear: Nina Barbuto explains why hands-on STEAM, robotics and the freedom to fail may matter more than ever in this AI world.
As AI reshapes how we learn and create, what happens when we teach kids to make, experiment, fail and build instead of simply asking a machine for the answer?
Artificial intelligence is moving fast and so are the questions about what it means for creativity, critical thinking and education.
But there’s a big difference between generative AI that can produce an answer, image or piece of writing for you and robotics and hands-on STEAM learning, where kids have to build something, figure out why it doesn’t work, take it apart and try again.
So for this episode of Facts Over Fear, I’m talking with Nina Barbuto, founder and executive director of Assemble, about what 15 years of hands-on learning have taught her about kids, creativity and the skills they’ll need in an increasingly technology-driven world.
We’re talking about the concerns around generative AI, why making matters more than ever, the equity gap in access to STEAM education and why giving kids permission to experiment (and fail!) might be one of the most important things we can do.
And Assemble is celebrating its 15th anniversary with Unicorn Palooza: Enjoy maker experiences, hands-on art, games, music, dancing, prizes, a costume contest and the Unicorny Awards all supporting Assemble’s year-round STEAM programs.
FOLLOW NATALIE
substack: https://substack.com/@factsoverfearnatalieb
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/@nataliebencivenga/#
tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nataliebencivenga
threads: https://www.threads.com/@nataliebencivenga
podcast via spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/47JYsn9LQchErS3cnHP2YF
podcast via apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/facts-over-fear/id1855901950
FACTS OVER FEAR
Let's dismantle the fear that is used to divide us surrounding the issues impacting the people and talk facts.
ABOUT NATALIE
Natalie Bencivenga is a socially-conscious journalist working towards building equity in our communities through storytelling. Her goal is to inspire, educate and activate people to become catalysts for positive change. Join her for transformative conversations that uplift and challenge the ways in which we perceive the world. Let's turn this moment into a movement – together.
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