Conversations about teaching that center the voices and experiences of teachers as we discuss all things education—always with the goal of better serving the students in our classrooms.
thebrokencopier.substack.com (https://thebrokencopier.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)
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Teaching is community work—so let's talk about it together.
There is a conversation about reading happening in our country right now, especially in the world of education—a conversation that is undeniably shifting what is happening in schools for teachers and students alike.
What do we make of that “reading conversation,” particularly given the impact that it is having in so many directions?
To answer that question, Jeffrey Austin, a literacy consultant and former award-winning teacher, joins today’s episode to reflect on what has taken place in recent years around reading inside and beyond the world education—and how we potentially can have a better conversation moving forward.
To follow Jeffrey’s work, you can follow him on Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:u5wq7wyoy54iddk2otjdcujq) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-austin-aa0596363/) as well as his website, www.jeffreyaustin.org (https://jeffreyaustin.org/). Three other pieces referenced in this conversation are available here, too:
* “The End of Reading Is Here” (http://The End of Reading Is Here) in The Atlantic by Rose Horowitch
* “The Claims of Close Reading” (https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-claims-of-close-reading/) (https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-claims-of-close-reading/)in The Boston Review by Johanna Winant
* The Rachael Reading Policy newsletter (https://rachaelreadingpolicy.substack.com/) by Rachael Gabriel (https://substack.com/profile/3158291-rachael-gabriel)
Thanks, as always, to Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for writing and recording original intro music; and Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, (https://open.spotify.com/album/3hmdSJCfqDEzHUhStUWUBN)Garden (https://open.spotify.com/album/3hmdSJCfqDEzHUhStUWUBN).
* Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com (http://uncivilizedtom.com/), and on Instagram @banduncivilized.
* Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com (https://djsynchro.weebly.com/), and on Instagram @djsynchro.
You can email us here with feedback or any other questions as well: thebrokencopier@substack.com (mailto:thebrokencopier@substack.com).
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebrokencopier.substack.com (https://thebrokencopier.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
26 Aug 2026
Do we really need grades?
Perhaps in this moment more than ever, there is a lot of conversation around grades and grading policy in our schools—in all sorts of directions, too, from Harvard faculty voting to place a cap on A’s (https://www.harvardmagazine.com/university-news/harvard-faculty-approve-a-cap-on-a-grades) to the University of Michigan withholding letter grades for their incoming class of freshmen (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/11/us/university-michigan-grades-freshmen-pass-fail.html), instead using a pass/fail system for the first semester.
So it felt like the right time to have a conversation around grading.
Joining this episode around grading is Susan Blum, an anthropology professor at Notre Dame and the author of many books around education and learning—including most recently Schoolishness: Alienated Education and the Quest for Authentic, Joyful Learning (https://cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501774744/schoolishness/#bookTabs=1).
In this episode, Susan shares about her own journey away from traditional grading, her perspective on what is happening with grading in this moment, and what a potential better path forward could look like.
To follow Susan’s work, you can find more at her website www.susanblum.com (http://www.susanblum.com) as well as her Substack newsletter Susan D Blum Muses (https://susandblum.substack.com/). Along with Schoolishness, these other two books by Susan might also be of interest for listeners to this conversation:
* Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) (https://wvupressonline.com/node/844)
* “I Love Learning; I Hate School”: An Anthropology of College (https://cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501713484/i-love-learning-i-hate-school/#bookTabs=1)
Thanks, as always, to Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for writing and recording original intro music; and Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, (https://open.spotify.com/album/3hmdSJCfqDEzHUhStUWUBN)Garden (https://open.spotify.com/album/3hmdSJCfqDEzHUhStUWUBN).
* Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com (http://uncivilizedtom.com/), and on Instagram @banduncivilized.
* Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com (https://djsynchro.weebly.com/), and on Instagram @djsynchro.
You can email us here with feedback or any other questions as well: thebrokencopier@substack.com (mailto:thebrokencopier@substack.com).
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebrokencopier.substack.com (https://thebrokencopier.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
14 Aug 2026
A word I'm thinking about going into this new school year
What is your most important word going into this new school year?
Today’s reflection is one potential answer to that: signals.
In particular, the way that we are in a “messy” signal-sending environment in this education moment—around AI and all other things. What can be received quite-positively by one person might be taken the opposite way by someone else, no matter the intentions behind what was communicated.
The problem, though, is that the response by some to this complicated environment around communicating with each other is a retreat from conversation. Communication is really difficult right now, so people might be communicating…less.
Which is perhaps an even bigger problem.
For the comments, what is your “most important word” for this upcoming school year—and why do you say that?
Thanks, as always, to Alberto Lugo, one of Jim’s former students, for writing and recording original intro music; and Tom Csatari for allowing us to use his band’s recording of “Woodstock” from their 2020 album, (https://open.spotify.com/album/3hmdSJCfqDEzHUhStUWUBN)Garden (https://open.spotify.com/album/3hmdSJCfqDEzHUhStUWUBN).
* Find Tom’s work at uncivilizedtom.com (http://uncivilizedtom.com/), and on Instagram @banduncivilized.
* Find Alberto’s work at djsynchro.weebly.com (https://djsynchro.weebly.com/), and on Instagram @djsynchro.
You can email us here with feedback or any other questions as well: thebrokencopier@substack.com (mailto:thebrokencopier@substack.com).
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thebrokencopier.substack.com (https://thebrokencopier.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)
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