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Susan Pendergrass speaks with Brian Kisida, associate professor in the Truman School of Government and Public Affairs and director of Mizzou's Open Minds Initiative, about what's missing from civics education in America. They discuss why current civics assessments test trivia rather than real understanding, why comparing the U.S. to authoritarian regimes could improve civic knowledge, whether teachers are to blame for declining faith in America among young people, and how Missouri could build better civics assessments and reporting. Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Avery Frank, senior policy analyst at the Show-Me Institute, and James V. Shuls, senior fellow at the Show-Me Institute and head of the Education Liberty Branch of the Institute for Governance and Civics at Florida State University, about their new report, "Understanding Missouri's Teacher Shortage: Evaluating Missouri's Teacher Pipeline to Inform Future Policy Strategies." They discuss whether Missouri actually faces a statewide teacher shortage crisis, why teacher hiring has grown even as enrollment declines, which subject areas and school districts face real shortages, the case for differential pay, and more. Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Colyn Ritter, research analyst at EdChoice, about the annual Schooling in America survey. They discuss why public confidence in K-12 education has been declining, the real reasons parents switch their kids' schools, why open enrollment polls at 80 percent support among parents, and what parents think about AI and cell phones in the classroom. Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Jon Bassett and Gary Shiffman, founding partners of 4QM Teaching, about their Four Question Method for teaching history and social studies. They discuss why so much history instruction fails to build lasting knowledge, the four questions that structure a well-taught history lesson (what happened, what were they thinking, why then and there, and what do we think about that), why "knowledge first" matters for both literacy and civic discourse, and how their approach could help address declining civics and history knowledge among young people. Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/publication/education/missouris-21st-century-public-school-personnel-boom/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

Read the report and visit the data dashboard: https://bit.ly/46gaYZM Susan Pendergrass speaks with Avery Frank, senior policy analyst at the Show-Me Institute, and Cory Koedel, director of education policy at the Show-Me Institute, about their new report on staffing and enrollment trends in Missouri schools over the past 25 years. They discuss why teacher and administrator hiring has grown steadily even as student enrollment declines, what teachers could be earning if staffing levels had stayed flat, the shift in school spending from instruction to support services, whether pensions play a role in the hiring trend, and more. Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/state-and-local-government/missouris-ongoing-budget-problem/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Robert Enlow, president and CEO of EdChoice, about whether Milton Friedman's ideas still hold up seventy years after Capitalism and Freedom. They discuss why capitalism is losing favor with younger Americans, how regulatory capture rather than free markets is driving the backlash, what declining public school enrollment signals about the future of education, and more. Producer by Show-Me Opportunity

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Emily Ekins, vice president for policy and society and director of polling at the Cato Institute, about new survey data on Americans' declining civic knowledge and growing openness to socialism. They discuss why younger Americans are less averse to socialism and communism than older generations, what Cato's polling reveals about basic civic knowledge gaps, why the founders prioritized protecting rights and freedoms above solving economic problems, the psychological concept of locus of control and its link to support for socialism, and more. Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/state-and-local-government/local-issues-on-the-ballot-in-missouri-this-august/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

On June 26, 2026, while guest hosting Mundo in the Morning on KCMO Talk Radio, Patrick Tuohey, senior fellow at the Show-Me Institute, spoke with Jonathan Whitehead of the Law Offices of Jonathan R. Whitehead LLC, a Lee's Summit-based civil rights attorney, about Kansas City's race- and sex-conscious contracting program. The city's own consultants recently told the council it lacks the legal basis to continue the program, and Whitehead walks through the Supreme Court precedent that governs these programs, what strict scrutiny actually requires, and why the city may now be exposed to a lawsuit. Listen to the full episode: https://www.kcmotalkradio.com/shows/mundo-in-the-morning-2/

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Jude Schwalbach, senior policy analyst at Reason Foundation, about declining K-12 enrollment nationwide and what it means for the future of open enrollment. They discuss why enrollment dropped in 40 states since the pandemic, how districts have responded to increased competition from charter, private, and homeschooling options, why open enrollment tends to cause far less disruption than critics predict, the case for Missouri to catch up with its neighboring states, and more. Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/education/technology-and-our-children-theyre-almost-like-addicts/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

Show-Me Institute Audio Briefs features audio versions of select articles, commentary, and publications from the Show-Me Institute. Learn more at showmeinstitute.org: https://showmeinstitute.org/article/economy/the-senior-services-tax-proposal-in-st-louis-county-is-as-bad-as-it-gets/ Produced by Show-Me Opportunity This episode was produced using AI-generated narration.

Susan Pendergrass speaks with Thomas C. Albus, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, about public safety and criminal justice reform in the St. Louis region. They discuss the limits of risk assessment tools in bail decisions, why the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County have such different homicide rates, the case for judicial discretion over algorithmic recommendations, the connection between education, social capital, and crime, and more. Produced By Show-Me Opportunity