If teachers took over the government with Sharon McMahon

Worklife with Adam Grant

TED

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4.8 • 9.4K Ratings

🗓️ 1 November 2022

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

If you were online during the historic 2020 election cycle, you may have seen Sharon McMahon’s viral videos. A former high school educator now known as “America’s Government Teacher,” Sharon fights polarization with nonpartisan facts. Sharon and Adam discuss how we can rethink the qualifications for elected office, who decides to run, and what information voters should weigh. They also address ways to sharpen critical thinking and ponder how to improve Congress with a few thought experiments–including a total takeover of the House and Senate by none other than America’s government teachers. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/RWAG8

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thanks to Deloitte for sponsoring this episode.
0:03.0	Hey everyone, it's Adam Graham.
0:07.0	Welcome back to Rethinking, my podcast on the science of what makes us tick.
0:11.1	I'm an organizational psychologist, and I'm taking you inside the minds of fascinating
0:14.9	people to explore new thoughts and new ways of thinking.
0:18.9	I guess today is Sharon McMahon, better known as America's government teacher.
0:23.7	She used to teach high school government and law to classrooms full of students.
0:27.6	Now she's beloved for sharing non-partisan facts with millions of fans.
0:32.6	She hosts the podcast, Here's where it gets interesting, and shares insightful witty
0:36.9	videos with her Instagram followers.
0:39.5	They call themselves the governor.
0:42.6	With her intellect, knowledge, and openness, Sharon gives me hope for politics.
0:47.6	So with the midterm elections around the corner in the US, I figured it was time to ask
0:51.4	her some of my many questions about the quirks of our democracy.
0:56.9	Hey Sharon McMahon.
0:57.9	Hello, so happy to be here.
0:59.9	Well, we'll find out if that's true.
1:02.3	We will.
1:03.4	In short order.
1:04.5	I can't wait.
1:06.6	I think the place I have to start is to ask, and I've never asked you this before, how
1:12.5	did you become a governor?
	...

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