Jennifer and Jack are joined by journalist Kathryn Joyce to discuss the right’s newfound fondness for an old cause: classical education. Today’s version comes in a new form–publicly funded classical charter schools–and has a decidedly conservative cast. Joyce, an investigative reporter for Salon, argues that the growing push for schools that teach conservative values must be understood as part of the right’s new-found fondness for using state power to enforce religious morality.

Have You Heard heads back to the Clinton-era to understand the origins of the Democrats’ fondness for market-based solutions to social and economic problems. We’re joined by historian Lily Geismer, author of the new book Left Behind: The Democrats' Failed Attempt to Solve Inequality. Geismer tells the story of how Clinton and other “new” Democrats moved away from using government and economic redistribution to address poverty and inequality. Instead, they embraced market-based solutions, like microfinance and charter schools. Fast forward forty years and inequality now threatens the social fabric, while the Democrats decision to distance themselves from organized labor seems increasingly misguided.

What should schools do about climate change? To get some perspective on this big, even existential, question, Have You Heard is joined summons an all-star cast. Oren Pizmony-Levy, the director of the Center for Sustainable Futures at Teachers College, Columbia University, breaks down the big debates regarding schools and climate change. Investigative journalist Katie Worth, author of Miseducation, reports from her deep dive into climate change education around the country. And Elissa Levy, who teaches physics and computer science at the High School for Climate Justice in East Harlem, NH, tells us about the first public school in the nation with “climate” in its name.

There’s a direct line between what’s happening in Ukraine and the culture wars consuming your local school board. Writer and reporter Jeff Sharlet spent years reporting on Putin’s anti-LGBTQ crusade in Russia, and when he read Florida’s proposed “Don’t Say Gay” bill, it all felt a bit too familiar. The common thread, says Sharlet, the author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, is the creation of a “enemy within.” And while the current crop of bills maybe targeting gay and trans youth, the real target is much broader, says Sharlet. In a word, it’s you.

Thirty years after the start of the great charter experiment, the question of just how public these schools are remains unresolved. We’re joined by former DC public school teacher, Wagma Mommandi, and Kevin Welner, head of the National Education Policy Center at University Colorado Boulder, to talk about their new book, School’s Choice: How Charter Schools Control Access and Shape Enrollment. Mommandi and Welner argue that make the case that charter advocates and policy makers have consistently tilted the rules that govern charter schools towards privateness. That has major implications for equity as we move towards a system where schools choose students.

When a proposal to “reimagine” Charleston, South Carolina’s schools suddenly surfaced late last year, it prompted a furious backlash. Community groups and public education advocates warned that the plan, backed by a deep-pocketed foundation, was a fast-track to privatization disguised in the language of innovation. In other words, the vision being offered up for the city’s schools isn’t new at all but the same one embraced by business interests, civic leaders and philanthropists for decades now. Jennifer “travels” to Charleston to hear from parents, activists and educators about the complicated politics of school reform in a city that can’t or won’t grapple with its past. And Jack stays closer to home while traveling back in time to help us understand the enduring appeal of school takeovers and makeovers.