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June 8, 2018

Unteachable Moment

Stories about people trying to learn something when no one is clear what the lesson is supposed to be. 

Edmund D. Fountain

Note: The internet version of this episode contains un-beeped curse words. BEEPED VERSION.

Prologue

Ira Glass and Kelefa Sanneh talk about Starbucks’ racial bias training program, which Kalefa recently discussed with Howard Schultz. (10 minutes)
 

Act Two

Throw the Book at Them

A group of kids is told that “education is the door to their futures.” But these kids are in jail, facing adult sentences. Why learn algebra when you’re facing 25 years? Eli Hager reports. This story is a collaboration with The Marshall Project, where you can read a print version. (21 minutes)