BustED Pencils
Listen Live: Monday - Friday 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Host: Civic Media
BustED Pencils; Fully Leaded Education Talk is a powerful radio show/podcast dedicated to public education. BustED Pencils is known for its commitment to the hard facts with a humorous twist. Hosts Dr. Tim Slekar and Dr. Johnny Lupinacci cover the “real” issues in education. The show establishes an alternative space and discusses education reform from an entirely progressive perspective. Our approach is funny, edgy, passionate, witty and gritty and features an array of guests. BustED Pencils explores the political and commercial influences behind education policy. We deliver trending education news without the jargon, and most importantly, we promote a vision of public schools that all children deserve. BustED Pencils appeals to ”your neighbor”—parents, grandparents, guardians, teachers, policymakers, taxpayers and students alike.
The clock and the calendar say it’s not yet been a week but boy, it feels like it’s been at least a year since President Biden announced the end of his re-election campaign. In the months (er, days???) following, we’ve been exhilarated with the new sense of unity that has blossomed after a storm of […]
Sometimes, in the words of Dr. Johnny Lupinacci, we have to have a little bit of a backbone with our solidarity. What does that mean? It means it’s time to compare some options for the VP slot on Kamala Harris’ presidential ticket. Over the next few weeks, we’ll hear a lot of comparison and contrast […]
Teacher Hallie and Teacher Joanna of Educators Amplified join Dr. Tim and Dr. Johnny for a Wednesday when we’re ALL feeling amplified. President Biden has chosen nation over self and ended his re-election campaign, opting to pass the torch to the next generation, and sparking a groundswell of energy for the democratic process. Hallie and […]
Dr. Johnny’s back in the house- well, sort of- and we’re catching up on the biggest news in our democracy from the past few decades. For those who missed it, Biden has relinquished his candidacy for re-election to the presidency, opening the door for Kamala Harris- or another candidate!- to compete against Donald Trump. We […]
President Biden, thank you for being a patriot and modeling the power of humility in choosing to end your re-election campaign. Your choice to embrace change and listen to the voices of your constituents is democracy in action. So, now what? Are you feeling energized by Biden’s decision to step down, opening the field for […]
Did you miss some pencil busting this week? Fear not, you can catch up now! We check in with Todd Allbaugh of Civic Media’s Todd Allbaugh Show live from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Then, learn how the American eugenics movement shaped the creation of standardized testing models still used today with author of […]
After a long week, TGIBPF indeed! We’re recapping the week, breaking down all of the democracy in action and analyzing this week’s lesson of standing up and standing out from Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny: 20 Lessons from the 20th Century. Next week, we’ll dig into Snyder’s lesson of remembering the importance of small talk and […]
Randi Weingarten can now add qualified Pencil Buster to her incredible resume! Randi serves as the president of AFT- formerly the American Federation of Teachers, now expanding their branding to reflect that they are the second largest nurses union as well as the second largest teacher’s union and largest higher education union. She’s here to […]
Like many teachers, Dr. Tim, Dr. Johnny, and Teacher Joanna experienced the attempted assassination of Donald Trump this weekend with a stark realization that they would be tasked with teaching this event and all of its ramifications. Teacher Joanna of Educators Amplified encourages us to take a breath, regulate ourselves, and process what we’re experiencing […]
What do the SAT and nephrology have in common? More than you might think. Goodness, are we busting some #2 graphites today! Wendy Warren, author of An Illusion of Equity: The Legacy of Eugenics in Today’s Education joins Dr. Tim and Dr. Johnny to dig into the sordid origin of today’s high stakes large scale […]
