Best Of: Who Gets To Decide What School Means For Students?

1A

NPR

News

4.3 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2026

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What's your most vivid school memory? Do you remember it as a time of exploration? Was it a place where you could figure out who you were and what you wanted to become?

Or did it feel like it wasn't made for you? Did it feel constricting, or like a place with lots of rules about how you had to act and what you couldn't do?

Your experience of schools likely depended on the administrators, who your teachers were, how your city or state set up the curriculum, and the resources your school received. Writer Eve L. Ewing argues that experience could also be shaped by who you are.

We sit down with Ewing to talk about her new book, "Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism."

What has school meant for students, and who influenced how schools function the way they do? And what are alternatives for how school could work for students?

Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This year, on NPR's ThruLine, Life, Liberty, The Pursuit of Happiness.
0:06.9	For centuries, America's pursuit has changed the world.
0:10.6	Now, 250 years later, who are we? Where are we headed?
0:15.4	Join us every Tuesday for a brand new series, America in Pursuit.
0:19.9	On ThruLine, listen on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
0:27.6	What's your strongest memory of school? Do you remember it as a time of exploration? Was it a place where you could figure out who you
0:39.0	were and what you wanted to become? Or did it feel like it wasn't made for you? Did it feel constricting,
0:44.9	like a place with lots of rules about how you had to act and what you couldn't do? Your experience of
0:50.7	schools likely depended on the administrators who ran your school, who the teachers were, how your city or state set up the curriculum, and the resources your school received.
0:59.5	And as writer Eve L. Ewing argues, that experience could also be shaped by who you are.
1:05.2	What has school meant for students and who influenced how schools function the way they do?
1:09.8	And what are alternatives for
1:11.1	how school could work for students. Eve joins us after the break. We discuss her latest book
1:17.0	Original Sends, the miseducation of black and native children and the construction of American
1:22.0	racism. She's the writer and professor of race and education at the University of Chicago.
1:29.1	I'm Jen White. You're listening to the 1A podcast. We'll be back with more in a moment. Stay with us. This message comes from Wise,
1:38.8	the app for international people using money around the globe. You can send, spend, and receive in up to 40 currencies with only a few simple taps.
1:47.6	Be smart.
1:48.5	Get Wise.
1:49.7	Download the Wise app today or visit wise.com.
1:52.9	Tease and Seas Apply.
1:54.7	On NPR's Wild Card podcast, comedian Tignitaro.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.