In this episode, Tricia speaks with Jan Cress Dondi about the years-long research journey behind her USA Today bestselling WWII book. What began with the discovery of hundreds of family letters became a much larger act of historical reconstruction, combining personal correspondence, military records, National Archives research, firsthand family memory, and deep attention to the emotional lives of the people who lived through war.

Jan shares how she pieced together the stories of two young airmen connected to the Ploesti campaign, one of the most dangerous Allied efforts to disrupt Nazi Germany's fuel supply. She explains how her background in legal research helped her organize evidence, verify details, and shape a true story with the pace and emotional pull of a novel. Along the way, she reflects on why letters mattered so deeply to servicemen, how small clues can open major research paths, and why war becomes too abstract when we lose sight of individual human lives.

This conversation is especially rich for educators, history lovers, family historians, and anyone interested in how primary sources can help us understand the past. As schools and communities prepare for the U.S. 250th, Jan's work offers a powerful reminder that history is not only found in textbooks. It can also live in letters, family stories, archives, unanswered questions, and the persistence to follow a clue wherever it leads.

In this episode:

Jan's discovery of 500–600 family letters and how they shaped the book

Why the Ploesti campaign mattered during WWII

How personal letters and official military records can work together

In this episode of Shifting Schools, Jeff and Tricia reflect on the 2025–2026 school year and what they are seeing as schools move into a more mature phase of AI work. The conversation moves beyond tools and prompt tips into the deeper questions now facing educators and school leaders: AI companions, student wellbeing, shadow AI use, schoolwide expectations, sustained professional learning, and the need to rethink pedagogy for a world shaped by information overload.

Jeff and Tricia discuss why AI support in schools can no longer be limited to one-off workshops. They share what they are hearing from school leaders, counselors, teachers, support staff, and districts that are beginning to ask for longer-term help. The episode also explores why honest, nonjudgmental conversations matter, especially when students and adults are already using AI in personal, social, and emotional ways.

00:00 — Opening reflection on the 2025–2026 school year
Jeff welcomes listeners and invites Tricia to reflect on the year in AI and schools.

00:37 — AI companions become a serious school conversation
Tricia shares why this was the year more school leaders became open to talking about AI companions.

02:39 — Companionship, loneliness, and parasocial relationships
Tricia connects AI companion use to broader human patterns of connection, including parasocial relationship theory.

04:54 — Why school counselors need to be part of the AI conversation
Jeff and Tricia discuss students turning to AI for advice and support, and how counselors can respond without dismissing students' experiences.

06:23 — Shadow AI use in schools
Jeff explains why schools need to name the AI use already happening among staff, students, and support teams.

08:58 — Honesty, openness, and nonjudgmental conversations
Tricia highlights what has not changed: the need for trust, honesty, and open dialogue.

09:18 — The "large breed puppy" problem
Tricia explains why waiting to address AI is risky, using the analogy of training a large dog while it is still small.

10:00 — From one-off PD to sustained AI support
Jeff describes a shift in what districts are asking for: longer-term cohorts, yearlong support, and multi-year planning.

11:49 — What can schools retire now?
Tricia and Jeff discuss the chance to move away from outdated practices and ask more complex questions.

12:57 — From information scarcity to information overload
Jeff argues that schools were built for a world where information was scarce, but students now need to be assessed on sense-making.

15:00 — New possibilities for learning
Tricia points to opportunities for students to tell familiar stories in new ways and work with more complex problems.

15:28 — Summer episodes and favorite replays
Jeff previews upcoming summer reflections and replays from the past year.

Looking for something thoughtful, funny, curious, and conversation-starting for Father's Day weekend? This episode may be just the thing.

We are welcoming back Brian Boone, a writer, researcher, and storyteller whose work reminds us that trivia is not really about random facts. It is about memory, meaning, surprise, and the pleasure of sharing something unexpected with someone else.

That makes this conversation especially fitting for Father's Day weekend. Trivia has a way of bringing people together across generations. It can turn into a car ride conversation, a dinner-table debate, a story you have heard before but somehow still want to hear again, or the kind of small shared fact that becomes part of a family's language.

In this episode, Brian talks about the research behind his work, the fandom that has gathered around it, and why his latest book could make a particularly good Father's Day gift for the dad, granddad, uncle, mentor, or curious person in your life who loves facts, stories, pop culture, puzzles, or simply knowing things no one else in the room knows.

This is a Father's Day weekend episode for anyone who has ever bonded over a weird fact, a favorite movie, a sports stat, a music memory, a book, a question, or the sentence: "Wait, did you know this?"

In this episode, we discuss:

Why trivia is not trivial
How curiosity becomes connection
Why odd facts often carry personal meaning
The research and storytelling behind Brian Boone's work
The fandom around his books and writing
Why trivia makes such a good Father's Day weekend gift
How shared knowledge can spark family stories, laughter, and conversation

Featured Guest:
Brian Boone, writer, researcher, and author

Check out his book:

https://bathroomreader.com/

In this episode of Shifting Schools, Jeff and Tricia talk about vibe coding: the emerging practice of using AI tools to help turn prompts, sketches, hunches, and half-formed ideas into working prototypes. They look at what this shift means for educators, students, school leaders, and anyone trying to understand how AI is changing the relationship between imagination and production.

This is not a conversation about replacing technical skill. It is a conversation about what becomes possible when more people can test ideas, build small tools, and learn through making.

Jeff and Tricia explore the promise, the messiness, and the limits of vibe coding.

In this episode, Jeff and Tricia discuss:

How vibe coding changes the entry point into programming and prototyping.

Why prompting, testing, revising, and debugging still matter.

How AI-assisted creation can support curiosity, experimentation, and iteration.

How vibe coding connects to design thinking, computational thinking, and digital humanities.

Questions to discuss if you use this episode as a team meeting resource:

What should students understand before, during, and after using AI to help them code?

How might vibe coding give more students access to building tools, games, simulations, websites, or data projects?

Where might you experiment with vibe coding in one small way this summer?

For educators:
This episode can be used as a conversation starter for teams thinking about AI literacy, computer science, project-based learning, media literacy, or assessment. It also connects directly to digital humanities work, especially when students use code to explore stories, archives, maps, texts, timelines, or cultural data in new ways.

Possible staff discussion prompt:
If students can now build working digital projects before they have mastered traditional coding, what do we want them to learn from the process?

Listen for:
The difference between making something that works and understanding why it works.

Links we refer to:

https://triciafriedman.com/comedy-as-evidence-a-media-and-data-literacy-look-at-what-we-watch/

https://nextturnleadership.site/

What do we really mean when we tell young people to "be yourself"?

In this episode, Tricia Friedman speaks with Meredith Walker, co-founder of Smart Girls with Amy Poehler and author of Be Yourself and Other Bad Advice. Together, they question one of the most common phrases young people hear from adults: "be yourself." It sounds kind. It sounds simple. But for many young people, especially those still figuring out who they are, the advice can feel vague, confusing, or even impossible.

Meredith invites us to slow down and ask better questions. What does it mean to become yourself? How do young people sort through the noise of expectation, comparison, performance, and pressure? And how can adults offer support that feels more useful than a slogan?

The conversation also explores one of Meredith's favorite mottos: "get your hair wet." It is an invitation to join in, to stop waiting until everything looks perfect, and to enter the messy, joyful, human parts of life. For educators, caregivers, and anyone who works alongside young people, this episode is a reminder that becoming yourself is not a polished final product. It is a practice.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

How Meredith Walker thinks about the phrase "be yourself"

Why some well-meaning advice can leave young people without enough guidance

What adults can do instead of offering vague encouragement

How Smart Girls has helped shape conversations about curiosity, courage, and identity

Why "getting your hair wet" is a powerful metaphor for participation, joy, and self-discovery

How young people can begin defining identity on their own terms

This week, Tricia Friedman speaks with Veronica Roth, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent series and the author of Seek the Traitor Son, the first book in a new epic romance dystopian fantasy series.

In this conversation, Veronica shares how watching Taylor Swift perform during the Eras Tour helped her reflect on her own earlier work, her growth as an artist, and what it means to keep creating after a hugely successful series. She also talks about world-building, writing for young readers, creative confidence, and the challenge of beginning again as an author.

For educators, librarians, parents, and anyone supporting creative young people, this episode offers a rare look at how one of today's most widely read writers thinks about imagination, reinvention, and the stories that stay with readers.

00:00 — Welcome to the Show
01:00 — Veronica Roth's New Book, Seek the Traitor Son
03:00 — Looking Back at Divergent
06:00 — What Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Helped Veronica See
10:00 — Creative Reinvention After Huge Success
14:00 — Writing for Young Readers
18:00 — Building Dystopian and Fantasy Worlds
23:00 — What Inspires Veronica's Creative Process
28:00 — Advice for Creative Young People
32:00 — Why Stories Still Matter

This week, Tricia Friedman welcomes Dr. Brittney Cooper to the podcast to talk about her new picture book, Mama Says I'm Fine, illustrated by Tamisha Anthony. The conversation explores the story behind the book, the emotional weight of the phrase "you're fine," and how children's literature can hold care, resilience, identity, and family love.

Dr. Cooper also reflects on what it means to write with intention and to collaborate with artists, editors, and readers in mind. Known for her work as a New York Times bestselling author, cultural critic, professor, and public thinker, Dr. Cooper brings a layered perspective to writing for young readers and the adults who read alongside them.

Mama Says I'm Fine by Brittney Cooper, illustrated by Tamisha Anthony.
Dr. Brittney Cooper's Rutgers faculty profile.
Dr. Brittney Cooper's TED Talk, "The racial politics of time."