Randi Weingarten on Defending Our Public Education

The Al Franken Podcast

Government, Progressive, Politics, Senate, Liberal, Senator, Minnesota, Franken, News, Saturday Night Live, Comedy, Snl

4.6 • 7.7K Ratings

🗓️ 21 September 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We are joined by Randi Weingarten, the President of the American Federation of Teachers, to discuss her new book, “Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy.” In the book, Weingarten details how there has been a systematic demonization of teachers and public education in America. She argues that one of the pillars of public education is critical thinking, which prevents fascism from flourishing in society - so fascists (and wannabe fascists) hate it.

We explore a variety of topics facing schoolchildren and their parents today, including charter schools, artificial intelligence, phones in schools, and the treatment of LGBTQ+ students.

We also discuss Trump’s proposed elimination of the Department of Education, attacks on teachers unions, and how we may have kept the schools closed for too long during Covid-19.

READ Randi's new book: https://sites.prh.com/whyfascistsfearteachers

Transcript

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