This podcast has been an eye opening roller coaster of a journey. I am now on episode 95 and determined to go through. It has given me invaluable insights for my six-grader’s education and in understanding education as a whole. Material reviewed is top notch, including some bestselling books, and commentary is high quality, to the point that I listen even to those episodes where I have already read the book, and still find it valuable. I wish our educators and education policy-makers had at least a fraction of this knowledge. I hope Stash manages to distill this into a comprehensive practical guidelines for education reform. We in Georgia are certainly in need of this.

Incredibly clear thinking process presented the same way makes it an amazing and insightful listening experience. Looking forward to more!

I am a professional piano teacher and I have listened to many podcasts across a wide range of fields, including education. I found Education Bookcast because I wanted to learn more about Direct Instruction and Siegfried Engelmann, and this was one of the few resources that covered this topic. The two episodes on DI and Engelmann were fabulous, and then I dug in more with his episodes on John Wooden, Marva Collins, and Jaime Escalante. These episodes have given me so much food for thought as a teacher and has hugely broadened my perspective. I think that Stas’s comments along the way are incredibly insightful, because he interacts with the material in a way that actually anticipates thoughts and responses I myself would have as well. For example, he compares Marva Collins’ generous usage of praise with research on mindset by Carol Dweck for instance, and gives a fascinating discussion of how those two contrasting ideas fit together. Alternately, he often emphasizes things that are completely outside of what I typically think about, like the necessity of exercising and projecting authority and power as a teacher, and this gives me a lot to consider. Thanks for your work Stas, I am grateful to have your very rich reflections on teaching and education and I feel that I have benefited a lot as a piano teacher from them.

Well thought-out and provoking content. I truly have enjoyed browsing episodes and hearing Staś’ take on various education topics. Highly recommended!

I’m so thankful for the tremendous amount of time and effort put into making this podcast! Ever since my sister shared it with me a few weeks ago I’ve been listening in all my spare time. Many of my well-intentioned ideas about education have been shaken, stretched, and challenged based on the succinct and insightful collection of amazing research put together here. More importantly, though, they’ve been replaced with other insightful, creative, research-based ideas— the combination of which is just such an invaluable jumping-off point for my own teaching practice. Some of my favorite things about this podcast are 1) everything is based on research, 2) the host updates his own ideas as the podcast goes one; it’s all kind of “real time” which is really fun, 3) in addition to good refreshers on some of the classic ideas I had already read about, there are some mind-blowing ideas I don’t think I ever would have encountered anywhere else, 4) the podcast is so well-rounded, talking about education from so many different angles, and 5) I like the logical progression. It’s awesome to start from Episode 1.

Just started listening to this podcast, heard the ep about the Philosophy of Science. I’ve never had someone so concisely explain so many different & connected ideas in such a compelling way. So sick 10/10

This is an exceptional podcast. It offers value to every thinking person on the planet, not just teachers. The topics covered are extremely broad. Stas’s analysis and additional comments are very poignant. Top class.

There’s way to much content on education out there that boils down to just loose, pseudo-intellectual musings… Education Bookcast is not one of those. Here, the host takes us on a genuine journey of understanding that he himself is going through. He is not afraid to take strong positions on the material he’s analysing, but at the same time is he’s intellectually honest and very transparent in highlighting how his positions change over time and why. Lastly, this podcast is just a pleasure to listen to - sound quality is high, the host’s style is entertaining and the language he uses is just beautiful. Highly recommended.

The host does great job elaborating what books are about. He also delicately put his insights on each book. So grateful to this channel!

I’ve listened to maybe 20ish episodes so far. Each episode, the host talks about a book/article related to education, how the mind works, etc. He is great at highlighting the key ideas of each piece of work, providing quotes (often of entire passages) and details of the research backing these ideas. He adds his own thoughts throughout. Because he has read so much, he has a vast foundation of knowledge and ideas to draw from. Perhaps this is why his commentary is often incredibly insightful. I’m not sure if I 100% agree with all of his ideas, but it’s certainly very delicious food for thought. I look forward to listening to more episodes. :)

I find your podcast very informative. I’m a retired professional, from a medical discipline, but I’m enrolled in a few graduate courses in Education. My initial opinion of the Education dept. (and US college education) is very disappointing, my textbook is academic jargon (Herrera S.), and I’m not the personality for the new, flipped class, peer group discussion, and online new learning. A good lecture from a prof. still dazzles me. I had to add an extra book along with our required text, one by a British expert. Also, I use the online database to access the bibliographic references. In short, I’m putting in at least three times more work in my courses to get the same grade. At my age an A is Monopoly money. But I’d like to learn something so I can instruct. If not I’d like to get back to studying my interests. I find your podcasts worthwhile listening. I have listened to some of your podcasts & learned a bit about what teaching is about. Our text’s authors quote highly of Jensen’s Brain learning so I really enjoyed your two critiques. I studied a lot of basic physiology from fascinating texts & professors; and I was skeptical that one can be a better teacher by looking at a student’s MRI. Especially when the professor fills the pages with academic jargonolgy. A Required text that’s a waste of time & money. Keep up your good work and the good books. One constructive recommendation for the podcast, the discourse seems jumpy, goes off on tangents, such that at times I’m tempted to fast forward. I don’t know if you start with an outline, if not I think it would help to stay on track, and if yes, maybe it should be followed with more attention, or rehearsal. All in all, I feel I learn much to supplement my coursework from your podcasts. Thank you! Since I’m not from a pedagogic disciple, your podcasts are a good survey for me of the life of a teacher. I have been a life long student and evaluated teaching from the user side. Also I enjoyed your podcast on cognitive learning, which helped me on “my tangentials”, my searches that interested me while doing a chapter on assessment/s, That podcast helped me understand the long term memory and schema in learning, & the chess analogy. Very good for a novice like me. FYI: One interesting discovery in my tangential escapes for a reflective paper on Lozanov’s Suggestology” was the English educator Harriet Findlay-Johnson & “ The Dramatic Method of Teaching.” I found her fascinating. Other tangential interests for my interests while I escape my poorly written academic jargon-text: have you done any on the Montessori method, Piaget vs Vygotsky, meta cognitive techniques, reflective learning? With your strong math & computer knowledge can you illuminate us of the work by Harold Pashler? Stay well and God bless. Best regards!

This is very interesting podcast with a lot of valuable information. Have listened 4 of them and they were really great. Keep up good work, greetings from Armenia.

I listen to this podcast three times a week and anyone interested into learning more about education, teaching, coaching or any other pedagogical driven professions will learn a lot.

Wonderful selection of books and a great way to learn about the topics without actually reading them.

It broadens my knowledge of myself,why I forget something I learned,how to prevent it,how to focus on present,how to discipline to form a good habit...and many other things.It would be a pity if you missed out this(unless you are pretty professional on cognitive science). Give it a try,start from topic you love.

This is a great podcast. I read many many books and listen to many podcasts. I get to add to my book knowledge without actually reading the book! The thoroughness with which each book is covered is great. I wish other book review podcasts actually talked about the contents and didn't just interview the authors.