Nerd Farmer Podcast

Melissa Santos is a writer for Crosscut on the State Government beat. She is a three-time guest of the pod and on December 19 she created national news with her reporting on the activities of Representative Matt Shea (R-Spokane Valley). Shea, a veteran member of the statehouse, reportedly participated in acts of Domestic Terrorism by engaging in and helping coordinate several standoffs between federal officials and members of far-right militia and patriot movements in the Northwest. 

Santos came back on the show to talk about her findings and to walk us through the details of the 108 page, near year-long investigation — which coincidentally was touched off by reporting from past show guest Jason Wilson in the Guardian.

This is a must-listen.

Related Readings

Jason Wilson in the Guardian on Shea’s leaked chats logs

Full text of the State Legislature’s investigation into Matt Shea

Santos’ December 19 article: WA Rep. Matt Shea engaged in ‘domestic terrorism,’ helped plan Malheur standoff, investigation finds

Bundyville Podcast: Season 2, The Politician

The Socials

@MelissaSantos1

@Crosscut 

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In December, we spoke to Seattle Times beat writer Jayda Evans, at the conclusion of her first season covering the team. She’s a long-time sports writer at the Times and new to the soccer beat. Her laugh is infectious and delightful.

We discussed her learning the soccer ropes, her Moment of the Year, Player of the Year, and Story of the Year. She also took a bathroom break during a monologue about her colleague Matt Calkins’ unfortunate opinion piece connecting Seattle Soccer fans to the attacks on “journalist” Andy Ngo. We won’t be linking to it because it’s slop, although we will link to this instead.

It was pointed out in the interview and worth pointing out here that this is an hour of two US born, black Gen Xers talking soccer together — we need more of that.

The Socials

Twitter @JaydaEvans

Going Further

Jayda at the Times

Soccer Study: A Series from Jayda

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Last Sunday we recorded the first-ever Nerd Farmer Live episode at the Swiss in downtown Tacoma–if you didn’t make it you missed out. In the conversation, we focused on the most important stories facing the city and the state in the coming year. A special shout out to all the Channel 253 Members that came through.

Cast of Characters:

• Will James, KNKX on homelessness in Tacoma
• Laurie Jinkins, Speaker of the House, on the 2020 State Legislative Session

Speaker Jinkins broke some news that evening, stating one of her first actions this session is going to be to address the situation over Rep. Matt Shea and his involvement with violent, far-right organizations. We’ll have more on that story in the coming year.

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Yesterday, Channel 253 attended the press conference announcing the sale of Reign FC to Olympique Lyonnais (OL). After the press conference, we huddled in the Mauro Rosales Suite at Estadio Cheney to digest the day’s news.

Disclaimer: I think it’s important that men engage seriously with women’s sports, that said we realize this podcast is three dudes talking about women’s soccer, but we didn’t feel like going “Hey, Megan (Oyster or Rapinoe) you wanna go talk soccer in a suite with us…” like a bunch of creeps.

Cast of Characters:

• Andrew Hammond, Tacoma News Tribune, Flounder B-Team
• Steve Ketelsen, Flounders B-Team

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Alaska Airlines.

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Zahava Stadler is the Director of Policy for EdBuild. Zahava believes that child poverty and community economic health are at the root of the largest problems facing American public education, and she is excited that EdBuild is refocusing the policy conversation on these fundamental issues.

Zahava leads policy research and analysis at EdBuild. Before joining EdBuild, she worked with the School District of Philadelphia on its strategic planning process, completed an Education Pioneers fellowship at TNTP (formerly The New Teacher Project), and conducted graduate research on issues of educational equity, student disadvantage, and school finance. She began her career in education at Innovative Schools, a nonprofit organization in Wilmington, Delaware, working with school districts and charter schools on human capital issues.

Zahava holds master’s degrees in public administration and education policy from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University.

The Rundown

4:00 What are the borders of school districts and what do they mean for school funding.

7:30 Where does the money come from in different districts?

13:00 How is Vermont doing so well?

21:30 Student Based vs Resourced Based Systems

26:00 School District Secession

28:30 The Memphis Story

The Wind Down

46:30 Watching, Listening, Reading

49:00 Katie Downs Question

The Socials

Twitter @ZahavaEdBuild

Twitter: @EdBuild

Going Further

Fractured: The Accelerating Breakdown of America’s School Districts

The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America

EdBuild.org

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Jason Wilson is an Australian-born academic turned journalist residing in Portland. He is currently on the far-right, white-supremacist, and right-wing street brawler beat as a correspondent for the Guardian. Jason has a myriad of articles you can check out on The Guardian. Wilson is a classy, really thoughtful gent who is covering an important and frankly dangerous beat.

The Rundown

4:00 Jason’s background and how he got here, in his own words

8:00 Why should we, as listeners, pay attention to this beat?

20:00 Who are the faction that we’re talking about?

30:00 Cider Riot! Riot… and the aftermath.

“Rep. Shea thinks the Civil War went the wrong way… amongst other things.”

The Wind Down

55:00 What to read? What to listen to? And the infamous Katie Downs Question…

Going Further

Matt Shea Exchanges Messages with Far-Right Figures

Jason Wilson’s Guardian Work

OregonLive videos of Cider Riot!

The Socials

@jason_a_w 

The Guardian Page 

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Thanks to the Seattle Sounders trip to MLS Cup and the ability to use Alaska Airlines Miles on Emirates — Nate is back in the Moonyard Studios! ???? 

This episode is with show veterans Zach Powers, episode 4 and Dave Jones, episode 37.

Rundown

2019 local election reax

2020 Democratic Primary takes

The NBA’s current and all-time greats

Cast of Characters

Zach Powers, professional communicator

Dave Jones, realtor and human hot-take machine

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Alaska Airlines.

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Michael Artime Professor of Political Science PLU Ph.D. & M.A. in Political Science from the University of Missouri and his undergrad from McKendree University in 2003. His students ignite his optimism and his love of the Cardinals is blasted on his Twitter. In this episode, he was asked his thoughts on the possible, if not likely *sigh* re-election of President Trump.

The Rundown

4:00: Prognostication: Does Professor Artime believe there will be a Trump re-election?

18:00: Odds that House and Senate will remove the president from office

26:00: Professor Artime looks into a crystal ball and speculates on a Trump second term: Holy SCOTUS Batman

30:00: What are some of the norms that have been erased under the Trump current administration?

39:00: Listener Questions

The Wind Down

45:00: Read, Watch, Listen to, and Katie Downs

The Socials

@DocArtime Twitter

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Alaska Airlines.

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This is the first episode of the podcast recorded after the move to abroad to UAE. We open segment one of this episode with a guest appearance from Interchangeable White Ladies co-host, Hope Teague-Bowling. We discussed our transition to life in the UAE and our new lives at the American Community School of Abu Dhabi.

In segment two, we spoke to three teachers. Each person talked about their decision to move abroad, how then enjoy life in Abu Dhabi, and how teaching at an international school is different than teaching in our various home countries.

We wrap with the wind-down, where Jordan confessed to loving Katie Downs and the Kardashians and was almost banned from the studio.

Cast of Characters:

Hope Teague-Bowling: Interchangeable White Lady, NBCT, quite a looker

Jordan Moog: US history teacher, formerly of Sumner High School, Parkland Royalty

Jonathan Diaz: IB Theory of Knowledge teacher, in Abu Dhabi via Malta and Venezuela, maker of arepas

Lisa Paterson: PE Department Head, Kiwi, vicious hater of static stretching 

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Alaska Airlines.

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Welcome to the final episode recorded in the mesmerizing, captivating Moonyard Studio in picturesque North Tacoma. Nate will back in seven days with the first episode from Abu Dhabi.

Cast of Characters

Amy Young, Associate Professor of Communication, Chair of Communication and Theater, PLU

Bradd Busick, Chief Information Officer MacDonald Miller, adjunct faculty Business Information Systems, PLU

~The Rundown~

2:30 Busick’s take on the trajectory of AI in the ‘working world?’

5:30 Young’s take on where is technology heading in the classroom?

“Have a mindset of openness… You can approach technology and not be afraid of it.”

13:00 Who is getting an education in technology? Is it equitable? What is the current level of classroom tech penetration — what will it look like in the near future? 

16:00 Technology and apprenticeships (Listen for Nate to randomly forgets the word apprenticeship mid-show)

21:00 Post-High School Education in the future

27:30 What are “soft skills” and when should they be ‘taught?’

38:00 What do we need more of in K-12 education?

~The Wind Down~

52:00 Amy Young: Read, Listen, Watch

54:30 Bradd Busick: Read, Listen, Watch

Going Further

What Is The Future Of Education? 23 Experts Share Their Insights

Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right by Arlie Russell Hochschild

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella  

The Socials

Twitter: @amy_prof 

Insta: @annamarjorieyoung

LinkedIn: Bradd Busick

Twitter: @braddbusick

The Nerd Farmer Podcast is available on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play and is brought to you by Alaska Airlines.

Please consider supporting the podcast by joining Channel 253 as a member.

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