Marc and Nick sit down with George Couros, former teacher, principal and district leader, and author of The Innovator’s Mindset and Innovate Inside the Box, to talk about his newest book, Forward, Together: Moving Schools from Conflict to Community in Contentious Times. George opens the book with what he got wrong, and this conversation runs the same way: honest, funny, and aimed straight at the people leading schools right now.
George unpacks the educator paradox (tell me exactly what to do, but don’t you dare tell me what to do), why teachers aren’t afraid of change so much as afraid of having their time wasted, and the story of a Texas farmer who told him, “My friends call me Rusty. You have to call me James.” Afterward, James emailed George and signed it Rusty. George’s rule for every room he walks into: challenge me here, not in the parking lot. No community, no trust. No trust, no innovation.
Guest Links:
georgecouros.com
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LinkedIn
Instagram
Forward, Together on Amazon
The Innovator’s Mindset on Amazon
The Innovator’s Mindset Podcast
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marcisseks.com
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15 Oct 2026
Ep. 93: Leading Past the Fear
Marc and Nick enthusiastically welcome back Dr. Tracey A. Benson, founder of the Anti-Racism Leadership Institute and co-author of Unconscious Bias in Schools, just weeks before the release of his new book, Antiracism Phobia: Overcoming the Fear and Getting to Work (Harvard Education Press). Dr. Benson shares his take on Nikole Hannah-Jones's essay about her daughter's education, a school funding experiment no one has tried yet, and why, even now, he refuses to lose his optimism about the future of America.
Guest Links:
antiracisminstitute.com
LinkedIn
Antiracism Phobia at Harvard Education Press
Unconscious Bias in Schools on Amazon
Research to Practice podcast
Mentioned in This Episode:
Nikole Hannah-Jones, "In Fighting for Every Black Child, Did I Betray My Own?" (New York Times Magazine, 2026)
Nikole Hannah-Jones, "Choosing a School for My Daughter in a Segregated City" (2016)
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marcisseks.com
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8 Oct 2026
Ep. 92: Avoiding the Middle School Cliff
Marc and Nick welcome back Katie Powell, Director for Middle Level Programs at the Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE) and author of Boredom Busters and Frustration Busters. Katie unpacks the middle school cliff, the steep fall in engagement that shows up between elementary and high school, and why it predates phones. She explains why every technology panic, from the printing press to AI, is the same fear in a different costume, why she is wary of abstinence models for screens in school, and why attention is a finite bank kids spend all day long.
Guest Links:
teachbeyondthedesk.com
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Instagram
TikTok
Boredom Busters on Amazon
Frustration Busters on Amazon
amle.org
middleschool.org (AMLE for parents)
AMLE Annual Conference
Follow Marc:
marcisseks.com
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Who has been a guest on State of Ed Podcast
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Dr Colleen Kelley
Dr. Michael Lubelfeld
Dr. Nick Polyak
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
379,435
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
9 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 54 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
43
Social presence
0
YouTube
86
Engagement
76
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