Front Porch Book Club Podcast
Grab your book and iced tea and join the Front Porch Book Club, your no-commitment, casual, and eclectic podcast about books. We examine the relationship between characters, the worlds they live in, and what that means to us.
Latest Episode
110: Ted Hamann
Today we interview Dr. Ted Hamann about EDUCATED, a memoir by Tara Westover. Ted is the Charles Bessey professor of teaching, learning and teacher education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Ted is an anthropologist of education with a primary scholarly focus on...
110: Ted Hamann
Today we interview Dr. Ted Hamann about EDUCATED, a memoir by Tara Westover. Ted is the Charles Bessey professor of teaching, learning and teacher education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Ted is an anthropologist of education with a primary scholarly focus on the interface between education policy and practice. He is author/editor of 14 books/monographs/journal special issues and has published almost 100 journal articles and book chapters. In 2019, Hamann served as a Fulbright Garcia-Robles U.S. Scholar at the Tijuana campus of the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional studying binational higher education collaborations that were intended to better prepare educators in both the United States and Mexico. He is an AERA fellow of the American +Education Research Association and a NEPC fellow at the National Education Policy Center.
Ted tells us education is an aspect of anthropology because it is the way peoples have decided to pass on their humanity. Ted’s work looks at education through the lens of anthropological methods at investigating what is going on in classrooms, in teacher education, in teaching communities, and so on. The imagining of who we are, such as Tara’s quest in EDUCATED, is partially an anthropological question. We delve into what education means, in general, and what it meant to Tara. Linny was mostly interested in what happened outside the classroom, but Nancy keeps insisting what happens in the classroom mattered. Ted acknowledges that “school” is helpful to some but it can also be harmful. Tara brought a unique perspective, as well as a unique set of assets to her college experience. In fact, though difficult, her learned self-reliance and persistence were likely crucial to her eventual success. Linny is skeptical that most students have the sort of engaging and life-changing experience that Tara did, and that Ted and Nancy keep talking about. She just wanted to get through school so she won't have to work in a factory! Eventually, she does talk about her Master's education and how that mattered. Ted agrees that the voluntariness and the reason for being in a classroom matters. Tara had a good reason to be in those classrooms. Ted tells us about his research in school as a community and teacher recruitment from within difficult to staff schools.
About Front Porch Book Club
I honestly was blown away by the deep dive Nancy and Linny did into SPARKS LIKE STARS and really appreciated the personal perspectives they brought.
Nadia Hashimi, Author
Every month the Front Porch Book Club features two episodes on our selected book. In the first episode Linda and Nancy introduce the book and discuss their thoughts. In the second episode, Linda and Nancy are joined by the author or an expert to delve deeper into the book. Our book selections are eclectic: fiction, autobiography, history, memoir, investigative journalism, and classics. They are books that give us insights into how we may be more intentional, creative, and loving.
Recent Episodes
68: Year in review and 2024 ahead
Linny and Nancy look back at 2023 and share some of their favorite books, moments, surprises, and behind-the-scenes mix-ups. Looking forward to 2024, they announce the first three book selections for 2024. --- Support this podcast:...
67: Marshmallow Clouds
It's children's book month, and our 2023 is a gem: Marshmallow Clouds, written by Ted Kooser and Connie Wanek and illustrated by Richard Jones. The book features 30 poems that celebrate finding wonder through imagination and are loosely categorized by the four...
66: James Ker-Lindsay talks Cyprus
James Ker-Lindsay introduces us to the beautiful and complex island of Cyprus, the setting of Elif Shafak’s The Island of Missing Trees. Ker-Lindsay is a scholar whose research focuses on conflict, and peace and security in South East Europe. He tells us about the...
65: The Island of Missing Trees
In The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak, young lovers Defne and Kostas are torn apart by the Cyprus war in the 1970s. When they meet again, 25 years later, Defne has become part of a team dedicated to finding graves of war victims and Kostas has become a scholar...
Meet The Hosts
Growing up, Nancy always had her nose in a book. She never remembers not loving to read books. Linda, on the other hand, hated libraries and spent her childhood trying to lure Nancy away from books into some other activity that she thought would be way more fun. That’s right – we’re sisters. Nancy was more of an introvert and Linda was more of an extrovert. But, somewhere along the way, Linda started loving books and Nancy started loving talking about books. Nancy is a recovering academic in Nebraska who writes and Linda is a licensed counselor in Pennsylvania.