The NAIS New View EDU podcast heads into its ninth season seeking fresh perspectives on the skills and dispositions that students—and school leaders—need to thrive in a shifting world. As external factors like AI, global instability, and polarization continue to change education, we're turning to experts from inside and outside independent schools to help chart a positive, purpose-driven path forward.
Co-hosts Debra P. Wilson and Morva McDonald dive deep into the opportunities and challenges that rapidly evolving technology presents for schools, and they speak to experts like Vriti Saraf and Peter Nilsson about how to approach the changing landscape. They examine how to make learning meaningful and neurologically enriching, guided by new research from Mary Helen Immordino-Yang and her team at USC CANDLE. Authors Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop provide insight into engaging adolescents in the learning process while caring for their well-being, and Eleanor Daugherty and George Abalekpor from Georgetown share how centering student voices and perspectives creates the conditions for thriving in higher education and beyond.
Conversations with Jason Craige Harris and Kenji Yoshino bring in the bigger picture for school leaders this season, as they discuss how to grapple with questions about leadership, human dignity, and maintaining inclusive and welcoming environments in a tumultuous moment. And Jeff Selingo returns to help make sense of what these years of ongoing cultural and educational shifts mean for college admission and our students' futures.
Packed with insights and steady, future-focused guidance, Season 9 of New View EDU is not to be missed.
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Season 9 Episodes: Fall 2025
Episode 82: The New Dream Schools
Available November 18, 2025
What is a “dream school?” Almost since the college admission process began, students have dreamt about where they’ll end up after high school, and increasingly, those “dream schools” have existed on a very short list of what we think of as prestigious, name-brand institutions. But what if we’re wrong about that list? What if everything we think we know about what makes a college great is misguided? Higher education expert Jeff Selingo joins host and NAIS President Debra P. Wilson to talk about his new book, Dream School. They engage in a frank discussion of what needs to change in our approach to college admission.
Jeff says he realized that the narrative around college admission was focused on a small subset of institutions, and that those institutions aren’t right for many students. With thousands of colleges and universities to choose from, he felt compelled to help parents and students better understand what a “good” college looks like and how to approach the process with a healthier mindset.
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 81: How AI Changes Everything and Nothing
It may feel as though AI has changed everything about education. It has, says Peter Nilsson—but it has also changed nothing. That’s the paradox at the core of his forthcoming co-authored book, Irreplaceable: How AI Changes Everything and Nothing about Teaching and Learning. He joins host Morva McDonald to share what has changed, what hasn’t, and how his work using technology to bolster innovation in education led him to this place.
Starting with a discussion about Peter’s work with Athena Lab, a “Wikipedia meets Facebook” for teachers, the episode explores the intersections between enduring challenges in the field and the opportunity to solve them by using technology solutions that are grounded in humanity. He says school leaders must provide teachers with the support they need to access professional networks that will help spread ideas and innovative teaching and learning models, especially in independent schools, where quality teachers are part of the value proposition parents are seeking.
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 80: The Future of Inclusion
In this time of rapidly evolving law and opinion around terms like diversity, equity, and inclusion, what is the work of school leaders who believe in building stronger, more connected, more inclusive communities? Legal scholar and author Kenji Yoshino is the author of a forthcoming book called How Equality Wins: A New Vision for an Inclusive America. He joins host Morva McDonald to talk about the legal precedents of the past, the shifting culture of the present, and the strategies that can secure the future of equitable practice.
He says there are tactical, practical strategies that can be used to advance the key ideals of inclusion and remain within the working boundaries of current law. He shares the seven strategies outlined in the new book: going on offense; embracing dissent; welcoming new groups; leveling the playing field; embracing the universal; reclaiming merit; and highlighting the risks of retreat. He describes each in detail, giving clear and actionable examples of what these strategies might look like in practice.
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 79: The Disengaged Teen
Why do so many students seem to lose their love of learning when they reach adolescence? Is there something about the way we approach school for this age group that leads to greater disengagement and apathy? And how can we change our systems, and the ways we relate to teens both in and out of school, to help support their development and flourishing? Authors Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop join host and NAIS President Debra P. Wilson to talk about their book The Disengaged Teen. They share recommendations for parents and educators in the age of rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI).
As part of their research for the book, Jenny and Rebecca interviewed teens, parents, and educators. Rebecca says the biggest takeaway she heard from students was that we’re not asking enough of them, in the sense of truly engaging in the world around them, making meaning, and contributing to practical outcomes that matter to them.
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 78: The Power of Transcendent Thinking
“What does it mean to be a self-actualizing, fully integrated, socially contextualized human being in this new world order? And how would we design opportunities…to help a young person develop not just what they know now, but to potentiate in ways that change who they could become?”
Neuroscientist Mary Helen Immordino-Yang returns to New View EDU to share what she and her team at USC CANDLE are doing to answer these, and other, deep questions about the science of teaching and learning. Her new research focuses on a cognitive process she calls “transcendent thinking.” And as Mary Helen explains during this conversation with host and NAIS President Debra P. Wilson, transcendent thinking may be the key to unlocking long-term developmental outcomes for students.
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 77: Dignity-Affirming Leadership in Schools
At a time when conflict and polarization feel like an unrelenting fact of life, how can we build stronger, kinder school communities where everyone feels seen, known, and valued? That’s one of the pervasive questions facing school leaders right now, and one that Jason Craige Harris is ready to help answer. He joins Morva McDonald for a conversation about refocusing leadership practices to center human dignity, and why he feels that reframing is so vital to well-being.
Creating thriving communities, Jason says, requires a cohesive vision that contains two key ideas: dynamics, or the quality of our relationships; and mechanics, which encompass the systems and structures that help people remain in relationship to one another. How seen, heard, and valued do all members of a community feel? What are the norms and practices that are upheld? Those questions are foundational to leading in a way that affirms human dignity.
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.
Episode 76: The Promise, Possibility, and Power of Adolescence
Educators are always focused on ways to help students thrive as they move through the K-12 experience and beyond. But often, adolescence is framed as a period characterized by problems and challenges rather than a developmental moment that can be inherently powerful and positive. How do we reframe how we think about adolescence, how we build the student experience for teens, and how we can ensure students transition from our schools to higher education with a full sense of their own agency? George Abalekpor and Eleanor Daugherty of Georgetown University join host Debra P. Wilson to share their wisdom.
They discuss a symposium that NAIS, Georgetown, and the Aspen Institute held in the spring of 2025, including what motivated the event, how they structured it, and what they learned. George and Elly also talk about how the Georgetown student affairs office works to improve the undergraduate experience by expanding opportunities for student voice and agency at different levels.
- Go to the episode page for highlights, discussion questions, key takeaways, and additional resources.