The Most Popular EWA Radio Episodes of 2024
This holiday season, catch up or re-listen to the most popular EWA Radio episodes of the year.
What a year! And what a roundup of EWA Radio guests for 2024! Our thanks to the many education journalists who took the time to share the backstories to their important work.
10. How Religious Schools Discriminate Against LGBTQ+ Students: Deborah Jian Lee, winner of the EGF Accelerator’s 2024 Eddie Prize for her reporting for Esquire magazine, explains how over 200 federally funded religious schools – with nearly one million students – exploit the religious exemption from Title IX, the federal policy that protects students from discrimination.
9. A Different Higher Ed Debt: Brandi Kellam, part of the investigative reporting team who won the grand prize at this year’s National Awards for Education Reporting ceremony, shares the lasting impact on Black homeowners who were stripped of their property to make way for a university expansion.
8. Lessons From the Early Ed Beat: Kyra Miles, one of the few reporters focused entirely on early childhood, shares insights from her work for Minnesota Public Radio. She also offers tips for reporters looking to deepen their source list and expand their professional community, especially early in their careers.
7. A Reporter’s Journey in the Heart of Texas: The Dallas Morning News’ Talia Richman, named the nation’s top education beat reporter at this year’s National Awards for Education Reporting ceremony, shares how she balances the daily grind of school board meetings with enterprise pieces and investigations.
6. Why Black Teachers Quit: Kristen Griffith of The Baltimore Banner, and EWA Reporting Fellow, dispels myths and breaks down the data with her close look at a crisis for Maryland and many other states, and what might actually help stem the tide.
5. What the FAFSA?!: Eric Hoover of The Chronicle of Higher Education offers journalists a road map through the rocky rollout of the updated federal financial aid tool, and he explains why the neediest students have the most to lose amid the confusion and delay.
4. Fairer School Funding: Live from SXSW EDU, it’s EWA Radio! Listen to the live recording of our discussion with experts John Affeldt, Public Advocates; Amber Arellano, The Education Trust-Midwest, and Ericka Weathers, University of Pennsylvania. What is the impact of concentrated poverty on students? How might more resources be directed to high-poverty schools, and what other strategies might address these disparities and improve resource equity? And what are some story ideas for education reporters around school finance and concentrated poverty?
3. The Power of Student Journalism: Riya Vyas, winner of the Student Press Law Center’s inaugural Student Freedom of Information Award, shares how she held her school district accountable for their handling of two teachers accused of improper behavior with students. Also, Mike Hiestand, senior legal counsel for the SPLC, discusses why the work of high school and college journalists pressing for transparency and accountability is more important than ever.
2. “Disillusioned:” Longtime education journalist Benjamin Herold, author of the highly acclaimed book “Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unraveling of America’s Suburbs,” takes readers deep into the history of how gentrification, race and privilege factored into the rise and fall of suburban life, and shape the educational opportunities for generations of children.
1. When Private Schools Get Public Money: EWA Radio fan favorite Alec MacGillis of ProPublica took the top spot. MacGillis, who began his career on the education beat for The Baltimore Sun, explains why he never really left. In this episode, he also shares how he tackled two recent projects: the continued crisis of student absenteeism, even as COVID-19 threats have receded, and how state-funded voucher programs have turned into a cash bonanza for private and parochial schools – and the families whose students were already enrolled.
Want more EWA Radio? Subscribe! We’re also looking ahead to the coming year, and we want to hear your suggestions for upcoming guests. Email us at radio@ewa.org.
Thanks to the journalists who wrote online resources in 2024.
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