Teaching Texas

Teaching Texas

In 1961, Norma and Mel Gabler were a quiet couple living in Hawkins, Texas. One day, they noticed some factual errors in their son's school book. What began as a small complaint morphed into a multi-decade crusade to shape what children of Texas — and therefore the country — read in their textbooks. In an election year with raging debates around education, this audio documentary charts how Texas dictated American education over the last sixty years and examines how the fight over our childrens’ classroom has only intensified today.

Episodes

September 28, 2020 2 mins

Winning Wisconsin is a Wonder Media Network production. It is created by Grace Lynch and produced by Grace Lynch and Maddy Foley. Jenny Kaplan is the Executive Producer. 

WMN on Twitter: @wmnmedia 

Grace Lynch on Twitter: @gracelynch08

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Winning Wisconsin is a Wonder Media Network production. It's created by Grace Lynch, and produced by Grace Lynch and Maddy Foley. Jenny Kaplan is the Executive Producer. 

Background reading: 

FiveThirtyEight's tipping-point analysis. 

WMN on twitter

Grace Lynch on twitter

 

 

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October 6, 2020 31 mins

How Governor Scott Walker's attack on labor transformed Wisconsin into ground zero for divisive politics. 

Read The Fall of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest of a Progressive Bastion and the Future of American Politics by Dan Kaufman

Read How The Right Lost Its Mind by Charles Sykes 

Winning Wisconsin is a Wonder Media Network production. It's created by Grace Lynch, and produced by Grace Lynch and Maddy Foley. Jenny Kaplan is the ...

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October 13, 2020 39 mins

Four years after overwhelmingly supporting President Trump, Wisconsin's dairy farmers are struggling to stay afloat. 

Read Dan Kaufman's article in The New Yorker, "How Suffering Farmers May Determine Trump's Fate

Winning Wisconsin is a Wonder Media Network production. It's created by Grace Lynch, and produced by Grace Lynch and Maddy Foley. Jenny Kaplan is the Executive Producer. 

WMN on twitter

Grace Lynch on twitter

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October 20, 2020 34 mins

The city blamed for Hillary's defeat is home to some of the starkest racial disparities in the country. Four years later, the citizens of Milwaukee are in a fight for the vote, for their health, and for racial justice. 

Read Joseph O'Neill's article in The New Yorker, "How Milwaukee Could Decide The Next President"

Learn more about BLOC and their work in Milwaukee

Winning Wisconsin is a Wonder Media Network production. It's created by...

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October 27, 2020 45 mins

To win Wisconsin, campaigns can't solely rely on turning out their base of supporters, they need to persuade voters. 

Read FiveThirtyEight's analysis of how Trump's gaining support with young Black and Hispanic men and losing support among white women in suburbs

Winning Wisconsin is a Wonder Media Network production. It's created by Grace Lynch, and produced by Grace Lynch and Maddy Foley. Jenny Kaplan is our Executive Producer. D...

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November 10, 2020 34 mins

In our series finale, Grace examines what happened on election night and where Wisconsin goes from here. 

Read Dan Kaufman's article in The New Yorker, Will Trump's Broken Promises to Working-Class Voters Cost Him the Election?  

An analysis of Wisconsin's election results from Craig Gilbert at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

Winning Wisconsin is a Wonder Media Network production. It's created by Grace Lynch, and produced by Grace Ly...

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September 15, 2022 3 mins

Introducing Teaching Texas, a new audio documentary from Wonder Media Network that uncovers the surprising history behind America’s latest culture war.

WMN on Twitter: @wmnmedia 

Grace Lynch on Twitter: @gracelynch08

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September 27, 2022 35 mins

On the outskirts of Hawkins, Texas, a couple found a problem in one of their kids’ school books. They didn’t have a background in education, but because they lived in Texas, their concern ignited a national movement and several decades of influence over what the rest of the country learned. 

 

Teaching Texas is a new audio documentary from Wonder Media Network that uncovers the surprising history behind America’s latest culture war.

W...

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October 4, 2022 30 mins

By the 80s, Norma and Mel had gained real traction in the textbook industry. And with their newfound power, they start dictating what goes into textbooks. They threaded their conservative Christian beliefs into textbooks across the nation, with little regard for separating fact from opinion.

Teaching Texas is a new audio documentary from Wonder Media Network that uncovers the surprising history behind America’s latest culture war.

WM...

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October 11, 2022 38 mins

When the Gablers’ protégé, Neal Frey, gained control of Educational Research Analysts…he took a different approach.  Grace journeys to Longview, Texas to meet the man himself and witness the last vestige of the Gablers’ enterprise.

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October 18, 2022 36 mins

Nowadays, standards known as TEKS dictate what every Texas student needs to learn. The State Board of Education is in charge of approving these standards. So, when a creationist dentist gained control of the board, those standards started to reflect his beliefs – for better or worse.

Teaching Texas is a new audio documentary from Wonder Media Network that uncovers the surprising history behind America’s latest culture war.

WMN on Twi...

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October 25, 2022 32 mins

Critical race theory. It’s the latest rallying cry for people attempting to disrupt trust in public education. What do we lose when parents vilify educators? To find out, Grace pays a visit to the Texas suburb at the center of the national conversation.

Teaching Texas is a new audio documentary from Wonder Media Network that uncovers the surprising history behind America’s latest culture war.

WMN on Twitter: @wmnmedia 

Grace Lynch on ...

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November 1, 2022 36 mins

Library books aren’t required reading like textbooks are, but they can play a big role in a child’s education. As activists and politicians bring book banning back into the education debate, one group of Texas parents are fighting back. They want their kids to read stories that center diversity – and in the case of one contentious book, they won. 

Teaching Texas is a new audio documentary from Wonder Media Network that uncovers the ...

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November 8, 2022 37 mins

This fall, for the first time in 12 years, the Texas State Board of Education was due to review the Social Studies TEKS. In doing so, they attempted to answer the question: how should we teach U.S. History? Against the backdrop of outrage over CRT and a midterm election that will likely bring a more conservative board to power – what did the SBOE decide?

Teaching Texas is a new audio documentary from Wonder Media Network that uncove...

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November 15, 2022 40 mins

Each year, Texas public school students learn the story of their state’s origin: the battle for the Alamo. The story has become a rallying cry throughout the ages for Texans, and Americans – It’s an underdog tale of sacrifice. But, it’s also not very historically accurate. In the series finale, Grace explores the danger of teaching myths as though they’re fact. 

Teaching Texas is a new audio documentary from Wonder Media Network tha...

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October 6, 2023 61 mins

Since Teaching Texas wrapped last fall, the state has been embroiled in a debate over school vouchers, climate change education and district takeovers. But flying slightly under the radar – though equally consequential – is House Bill 1605. In a discussion recorded live at Texas Tribune Fest, Grace is joined by Rep. Gina Hinojosa and State Board of Education Chairman Keven Ellis to dive into how the bill re-allocates power, impacts...

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We’re bringing you an episode of a new podcast we think you’ll love: The Amendment. A new podcast about gender, politics, and power from The 19th News and Wonder Media Network, The Amendment is hosted by award-winning journalist and 19th editor-at-large Errin Haines.

Each week, Errin sits down with people who have fresh perspectives on the state of our country – and asks questions that center the voices of women, queer folks, and pe...

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