May 20, 2024 • 30 mins
Imagine a school where classrooms are extinct, and artificial intelligence is your teacher. Join us as we take a closer look at Alpha School in Texas with our guest, Kate Lieimandt, aka Austin Scholar, a high school senior who is shaking up the very foundation of education. This episode showcases a world where two hours of academics a day is the norm and mastery-based learning reigns supreme. Kate, a perfect SAT scorer and future Stanford freshman, shares her personal narrative of academic achievement and the critical role of mastering fundamental knowledge.
Additionally, we'll explore the historical foundation of our educational system and ponder its relevance in today's society, contrasted with the pioneering approach of Alpha School. This institution marries personalized learning with practical skills, such as eSports and athletic programs, offering a tailored blueprint for nurturing students' diverse potential.
To wrap up, we offer words of wisdom for parents and students navigating the intricate education system. We discuss the transformative power of projects that fuse passion with practicality and the significance of aligning students' interests with realistic career paths. Kate leaves us with her insights on transitioning from a self-directed high school experience to the structured environment of an elite university and the anticipation of the substantial contributions she is poised to make in her field.
Additional Resources:
🧠WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out https://zengig.com/
👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PeteNewsome
👋 FOLLOW AUSTIN SCHOLAR ONLINE:
X: @austinscholar
Newsletter: https://austinscholar.substack.com/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Pete Newsome (00:03):
You're listening to the Finding Career Zen
Podcast.
I'm Pete, and my guest today isAustin Scholar, who I connected
with on Twitter a few monthsago.
How are you today?
Austin Scholar (00:13):
I'm doing amazing.
Thank you so much for having me.
Pete Newsome (00:15):
So that is not your real name, of course, but
that is the name you go by onTwitter.
You are a high school senior,if it's appropriate to call you
that.
And well, I'll explain why.
In a minute, you're going toStanford.
In the fall, you have 27,000followers on Twitter.
It's such a pleasure to speakwith you today, so let's just
(00:36):
start at the beginning.
You go to a high school withoutteachers, so is it even
appropriate to say you're a highschool senior?
So is it even appropriate tosay you're a high school senior?
Austin Scholar (00:43):
We call ourselves a high school.
You know we learn similarcontent.
We're, you know, have a similar, we're all similar ages and you
know we just have a little bitof a different way of going
about education than everyoneelse.
Pete Newsome (00:59):
And so how long have you been going to?
You go to the Alpha School inTexas.
How long have you been astudent there?
Austin Scholar (01:13):
I have been a student at Alpha since I was in
fourth grade, so it's been eightyears of this alternative
education journey and it's youknow it's been a blast and what
so?
Pete Newsome (01:17):
what makes Alpha School unique?
I didn't know until I did someresearch, when when I found your
account on on Twitter initially, so give us an overview of the
school.
Austin Scholar (01:26):
Yeah, so at Alpha, students basically learn
without teachers.
We use online adaptive AIpowered apps to learn our
academics in just two hours aday.
Apps basically personalizecontent to each student, and so
they're able to learn only learnwhat you know they really need
to focus on, and so they're ableto spend less and less time in
(01:50):
you know on academics, and sothat's why they're able to get
it all done in two hours everysingle day, and so because we
then do academics in two hours aday, we're able to spend the
rest of the day, the afternoontime, learning life skills, and
I think really that's the beautyof Alpha is the time that the
(02:10):
apps that we use free up tolearn things like leadership,
teamwork, giving and receivingfeedback, public speaking and so
on.
Pete Newsome (02:20):
Now you also, I know, scored a 1600 on the SAT.
Yes.
So a lot of people, I'm sure,who hear that you're only having
formal education for two hoursa day or are learning, you know,
could be skeptical of that.
Of course, I think the resultsspeak for themselves.
Now, you're certainly anexceptional learner to be able
to score a good, perfect scoreon the SAT.
(02:43):
How much of that do youattribute to just who you are
and you're?
You're clearly motivated versusthe way you've learned.
Austin Scholar (02:51):
So I believe, and I think a lot of the data at
alpha, it's all proven thatanyone can master everything up
through eighth grade, cancompletely master all of the
content through eighth grade.
There's nothing stopping them.
And you know, as you getthrough high school there are
some courses that are not justnot going to click with everyone
(03:12):
, but everyone can master Kthrough eight content, no
problem.
No problem at all.
And you know, of course the SATdoes go into some high school
stuff, but all of it is based onthe fundamentals in K through
eight.
And so, um, you know, and eventhrough, like algebra and
geometry, it's all fundamentalsthat any kid is able to learn.
(03:37):
And so, um, of course, I am amotivated student, so, um, I'm
very self-motivated, so I don'tneed as much external motivation
that Alpha provides.
However, if a kid isn'tmotivated to learn, then you
just need to put in motivationalsystems in place so that they
(04:00):
are motivated to learn and thencan get these good scores.
There is nothing stopping everysingle kid from, you know,
getting these good scores ifthey really just put in the time
.
The actual content should notbe a problem.
It's just the way that they'rebeing taught the content and,
you know, making sure that theyhave mastered the basics.
You know, when I was studyingfor the SAT, I didn't really
(04:22):
spend that much time actuallygoing forward and making sure
that I knew the advancedconcepts.
It was all re-drilling andmaking sure that I completely
mastered all of the eighth gradecontent.
Pete Newsome (04:33):
Interesting.
I've never heard it explainedthat way.
Do you think that's a prevalentthought?
I mean, is that somethingyou've discovered through your
time at Alpha?
Do you think most high schoolstalk to students about that?
If they do, I'm unaware of it.
Austin Scholar (04:47):
Definitely not.
Alpha has a huge focus onmastery-based learning and it's
essentially that every singlestudent has to completely master
the grade level that they're onbefore they can move on to the
next one.
And so, basically, the kidshave to get a 90% on a state
test, on the Texas Star test,until before they're able to
(05:08):
move on to the next grade level.
And for the high schoolstudents that are coming in,
they have.
We I'll put myself in there wehad a lot of holes from our
previous academic careers and soall of the students had to go
through whole filling, whichdefinitely doesn't seem fun.
You know, like you're goinginto algebra two but then you
(05:28):
have to go all the way back andstart doing sixth grade math.
But my, my favorite story aboutit is um, my best friend, um,
she got, uh, she had seventieson all of her.
Um, you know, she had 70s onall of her.
You know they're basically Texasstar tests all the way up
(05:49):
through algebra two and a fewyears, and then last year she
was trying to get her grades upin those in those areas, and so
what she did is she went all theway back to sixth grade math
content and started filling inthe holes and getting the basics
done so that she can get thehigher scores.
And then she scored like 96,98% on the rest of the tests.
Yeah, so it's not the morecomplex topics that so many
(06:13):
people are stressed about thatreally impact your grade.
It's having a complete, fullunderstanding of the basics and
the initial content.
And you know, once students areable to do that, then they can,
they're able to move throughthe more advanced concepts so
much faster, and you don't, theydon't have to spend time
relearning those hard concepts.
(06:35):
You know, when they are tryingto solve problems that you know
involve multi-steps and stuff.
Pete Newsome (06:41):
It makes complete sense when you explain it that
way.
Right, see, it sounds sological.
We're going to talk a littlebit about why that logic hasn't
been applied, but before we getto that, you started in fourth
grade and you've stayed all theway through.
What's been the biggestdifference?
And I'm sure you have friendsoutside of you know that go to
(07:01):
different schools public schools, private schools.
They're more traditional innature.
What has been the biggestdifference in your evolution
when you look at, compareyourself to them?
Austin Scholar (07:11):
Yeah, so one big thing that Alpha encourages is
being a completely self-drivenlearner and just being able to
learn on your own, and that issomething that I and every other
alpha student has become really, really excellent at.
We don't rely on teachers toteach us things.
(07:31):
We know how to find theresources online, how to use AI,
how to even ask our peersbefore we go to a teacher, and I
think that is just because ofhow you know the alpha system is
set up.
We're given apps to learn.
We are not sat in the classroomand lectured to.
It is completely you know.
(07:54):
We're on our own in that sense,and so I have been able to.
You know, if you give me anytopic, I'm able to and other
alpha students were able tocompletely you know, know how to
learn and master that topic onour own because of the skills
and abilities and practice we'vehad throughout our alpha
(08:15):
journeys, and that is somethingthat is so incredibly valuable
and I'm very grateful that youknow that has been a part of my
educational journey.
Pete Newsome (08:23):
You've learned how to learn.
Yeah, which, really.
If you think about life skills,what could be more important
than that from a survival andhow to succeed standpoint?
I think it's fascinating.
You mentioned something a fewminutes ago that really hits
home for me.
I'm the father of four.
I mentioned to you right beforewe started recording.
My youngest is 16, my oldest is24.
(08:44):
And they're all very different,right.
How they learn, their aptitudeis different, what they respond
to varies greatly, and they'rein great schools.
Don't get me wrong by two.
They're still in high school,but they're still in a classroom
with 20 to 30 other kids.
(09:04):
One size fits 20 to 30, right,which is really not.
It's not logical when you lookat that and I have thought that
many times over the years thatthe system is inherently flawed
because of that, because wereally just have to shoot in the
middle, so the kids at theyoungest end of the specter or
(09:25):
the lower end of the learningcurve will miss out and the ones
on the higher end will be heldback.
You've latched onto thatsomewhere along the way.
When did that kick in?
Because your Twitter account isfilled with data about the
flaws in the education systemand how kids are struggling
(09:46):
around the country.
When did that get on your radarscreen?
Austin Scholar (09:50):
Yeah, so I think my family's always been really
interested in the educationspace.
I had been doing online appssince I was in first or second
grade, even when I was at atraditional school.
And you know, even then I wasable to move through the content
, you know, at my own pace.
(10:11):
And when I was in thetraditional classrooms, you know
through, like when I was inthird grade, I had already gone
through an app and was alreadyon sixth, seventh, eighth grade
math content and you know, whenI was sitting in class I already
knew all of the stuff that youknow the teacher was teaching
and there was nothing I could doabout it.
(10:31):
I had to just basically sit andlisten to lectures on things
that I already knew and so myreally, really my young brain, I
guess, didn't really understandwhat was going on.
I was just bored the whole time.
But you know, as I got, as Igot older and got into high
school, you know I was able toreally reflect on my personal
(10:52):
education journey and start tosee the disparity, and you know
how lucky I was that I had thisunique journey, whereas you know
, some of my friends that stillwent to that traditional school,
they just didn't have thatjourney, and so it was really
just.
I was always kind of aware ofit, but in high school, when I
(11:12):
started writing, that was reallywhen it clicked for me like how
sad it is that so many kids arecompletely.
They waste their entire day ina classroom.
Pete Newsome (11:24):
It's extremely unfortunate.
I think it's prevalent aroundthe country.
From what I've been exposed to,you've been paying attention to
this for quite a while now.
Any thoughts on how we got here?
I mean, was it just a systemthat needed to be put in place
in a way of really just takingcare of the masses, so to speak,
(11:44):
or do you have any thoughts onhow we ended up here today?
And then we'll talk a littlebit about what we could, you
think we could potentially do tofix it?
Austin Scholar (11:52):
Yeah, so I think how we ended up here is just
that a system was put in placeover a hundred years ago and it
has not changed since then.
I think the biggest problem isthe stagnancy and the, you know,
sticking to the status quo, andthat is really the biggest
(12:13):
problem you know, because theentire role of schools has
changed since, or what peoplewant out of schools has changed
since the system was put inplace.
Before it was just they wantedworkers and they wanted people
to work in factories, but nowthat's not what we need for our
education system, but it justhasn't caught up with the future
(12:35):
.
It hasn't caught up to where weare now, and I just think
that's definitely how we'vegotten to a space where there's
so many opportunities, so manycool ways for kids to learn that
just aren't implemented inschools, because at this point
it's really hard to mess with asystem that's so old and, you
know, has been ingrained insociety by so much.
Pete Newsome (12:58):
So there's some unique schools out there.
You're fortunate enough to bein one, but I don't know how
practical it is for that toscale, and so we're in this
situation.
I don't know the number ofstudents today, but it's in the
tens of millions, right?
Maybe even close to 100 millionstudents in the US alone.
(13:19):
You're in charge.
You wake up tomorrow.
You're in charge.
You're the education czar,right?
You're in charge of theDepartment of Education.
Where do you begin?
How do you begin fixing thisway to start?
Austin Scholar (13:30):
is to build new schools and build schools that
are able to support a new way oflearning and support every type
of learner, and I think that's,you know, that's something that
(13:53):
the Alpha School System istrying to do.
In the next year they'restarting a school in Miami for
middle school students.
They're starting eSportsAcademy, and so this is for kids
who love gaming and they areable to spend their morning
doing their academics and thenthey're able to spend the
(14:13):
afternoon learning life skillsrelated through gaming and, you
know, practicing with the likebest game.
I'm I'm not a gamer, so myterminology is a little flawed,
but you know the best gamers andthey're able to, like, play
together, learn teamwork,leadership, and so there's that
school.
And then there's also thesports academy, which is going
(14:33):
to be in Texas, and it's forhigh schoolers who are want to,
you know, become the best intheir sports.
So they spend their two hoursin the morning doing their
academics and then they spendtheir afternoons playing their
sport, and so it's a superversatile system, with the
two-hour learning in the morningand then you have the
(14:55):
afternoons completely open to doanything from liberal arts and
to theater and writing andgaming and sports and anything
that any skill that either youknow the student wants to learn
or the parent wants the studentto learn, and they have all the
time freed up to to work on that.
(15:16):
And so rather than trying to,you know, go from the ground up,
I would, I would just startadding creating new schools that
are able to foster thatenvironment from the beginning,
and you know, of course, thiscan't happen overnight.
But yeah, there are the twohour learning program.
It has lots of availableresources for parents who, just
(15:40):
who aren't able to changeschools but they want their kid
to be able to, you know, do thetwo hour learning program.
And so if you just go to thetwo-hour learning website, then
there's a whole list of programsthat parents can do for their
kids and use the software, andso it really is supposed to fit
for any kid in any scenario thatyou know needs to happen.
Pete Newsome (16:02):
We'll link that in the show notes two-hour
learning website.
The next question I was goingto ask, and you already led into
it, was what advice you wouldhave for parents who have to be
frustrated with the schoolsystem.
I speak with lots of parentsand there aren't a lot of great
options that are in most areas.
What advice do you have forthem that are in most areas?
What advice do you have forthem?
Austin Scholar (16:28):
So definitely check out the two-hour learning
programs because they candefinitely help your kids start
to engage in this system and, ifthey're older, do the whole
filling and mastery and ifthey're younger, just get them
started on a really excitingjourney.
But also something that Ibelieve all parents should
really be helping their kidswith is to help them foster a
(16:49):
love of learning.
You know schools totally killthat in every kid, and so they
see books, reading, writing,they see math, they science,
history, everything that truly,when you look at it, is super
magical and exciting andincredible.
They just see it as drudgeryand boring and just a task that
(17:14):
they have to complete, and soI've written quite a few
newsletters on how to help yourkid love learning again.
But I think that is definitelysomething that's super important
and it will also help thembecome excited about doing the
two-hour learning stuff and, youknow, helping them want to, you
know, make the most out oftheir you know, even their time
(17:36):
in school.
Pete Newsome (17:36):
I spend a lot of my time with ZenGig.
It's a career advice site aimedat students and young
professionals, and we think alot about how to help people
find the right career path.
Sometimes that should includecollege, sometimes not, but what
I see a big where I see a bigvoid is with schools spending
(17:58):
time on aptitude and interest.
Is that something that you'reexposed to in your educational
journey now?
Austin Scholar (18:06):
Yes, absolutely so.
When you get, when alphastudents get to high school, we,
instead of just doing you knowlife skills workshops and
learning miscellaneous lifeskills, we kind of take all of
that and bring it together inour masterpiece program.
So a masterpiece is an Olympiclevel project, and that
basically means you knowsomething super hard that seems
(18:29):
impossible where you have to bethe best in your area, and so
it's this huge, incredibleproject that you're going to
spend the next four years ofafternoons on.
And basically, you know, thefirst year, all of the students
do exploration, and so they dohackathons and rabbit
(18:49):
hole-a-thons so they learn howto build and become experts in
things, and they try as manytopics as they need to before
they can decide on somethingthat they want to really focus
on for their masterpiece.
And so then, once they havetheir topic and they have their
idea, that's what they spendtheir afternoons doing, and so I
spend my afternoon writing mynewsletter, working on Twitter,
(19:10):
reaching out to people, havingcalls, going on podcasts,
basically just doing anythingany research related to
education or writing about it,talking about it as as much as I
can, and so that's how I spendmy afternoons, and even if later
on.
I want to do something that'snot exactly what I'm doing right
(19:31):
now.
I know that I have the skillsand the ability to go out and
figure out what I do want to doand become successful from that,
and so that is something that Ithink is really really
incredible about the Alphaprogram that I'm a part of is
the ability to do a masterpiecein the afternoon.
Pete Newsome (19:50):
It is incredible, but it just makes so much sense
when you describe it.
And if you were building astructure and a plan on how
learning should happen, how youshould set young people up for
success?
You just described it becauseit just does make so much sense.
One question that came to mindas you were talking you have a
(20:13):
passion for writing, you have anaptitude for it.
What if the passion was therebut the aptitude wasn't?
Have you seen any examples ofthat?
Or is there a way, uh, anymethod, any potential, rather,
where someone really wants to dosomething, but at some point
there has to be a pragmatism,has to set in right, where you
say listen, this just isn't yourthing, right, is there?
(20:37):
Does that come up at all?
Austin Scholar (20:38):
yeah, so that's part of the exploration process
for the alpha kids.
I, I'm sure we use the Ikigaimethod, and so you know what you
love, what you're good at, whatthe world needs, and you know
what you can get paid for.
And so all of the kids have tomake sure that their masterpiece
fits in that, and so you know Iif they want to start working
(20:59):
on something, but you know theyrealize that they're just not
really good at one part of it.
There are a couple of pathsthat the kids can take.
Either they can try and findsomething different to do that
you know they are good at, orthey just change the form of
their masterpiece because, youknow, we believe at Alpha that
anyone can become an expert inany topic, but it's the.
(21:22):
So that's never going to be theactual problem, it's just the
implementation that some kidsmight struggle on or struggle
with.
And so if they want theirmasterpiece to be something
about teaching a hundredthousand kids about chess
through talk videos and a liveworkshop, or I'm literally
(21:43):
making something up, but theyfound out that they, you know,
just don't have an aptitude formaking TikTok videos that are
good, or, you know, theyrealized that maybe I would
rather.
I would rather do somethingother than you know post TikTok
videos.
Then they might just change theformat from video to writing
and they would try out writing alittle bit, and so instead of
(22:05):
completely changing, you know,the topic, they can just change
how they're implementing theirmasterpiece and that type of
form, and you know that usuallyends up solving that problem.
But you know, those are kind ofthe two paths that a kid can
take.
Pete Newsome (22:20):
What I think is so wonderful about everything
you're describing is you'regoing through a set of
experiences that very few peopleyour age get to do, as you well
know, and most have theopportunity to do that when
they're in their 20s, whenthey're on the other side of
college, and they don't feelthat's the right time right.
(22:43):
They feel pressure to to youknow, start their career, to get
into their profession, to earnand and and start to acquire
material things.
Right.
I mean, we know that to be true, but I encourage young people
and that's still very young tome in the in terms of people,
and that's still very young tome in terms of a professional
life don't rush, spend that timeexploring.
(23:06):
And so it is a very similarthought process, but without the
benefit of doing it while youstill live at home, doing it
while you're a teenager, which Ijust think is so amazing, and I
(23:38):
didn't know much about theAlpha School prior to our
conversation today, and I'm justso fascinated by everything
you're saying because it's onethat I'm certainly going to
spend more time thinking aboutand shifting my perspective down
to younger people on this andencouraging that at a younger
age and with parents.
Now you are going into collegea traditional setting.
(24:03):
Have you thought about that andhow that's going to be a big
change for you?
Austin Scholar (24:07):
Absolutely so.
The main reason that I wouldlike to go to college is that I
really want to meet some otherincredible people.
So Alpha is such a small schoolbecause of how new it is, and
so I am just so excited for thechance to meet people you know
(24:28):
that have also done incrediblethings.
To go to Stanford, you have todo something awesome, and so
it's.
I'm just so excited to be ableto meet, you know, people who
have both a similar view on lifeas I do and a different one.
You know people who have both asimilar view on life as I do
and a different one, and I am.
(24:48):
That's really the main thingthat I would like to do, and I
would also really like to justspend time experimenting and
trying new things in a, in aspace that you know was still
safe.
You know it's.
It's not, you know, going to beas protected as being in high
school and living at home is,but I'm still not fully out in
the world on my own yet, and sothose are the reasons that I
want to go to college, but Ialso completely recognize that I
(25:11):
am going into a space that I amnot going to be fully
comfortable in because I haven'thad a teacher since I was in
fourth grade.
Haven't had a teacher since Iwas in fourth grade, and so you
know, really what I'm doing isI'm going to, you know, prepare
myself for that, but also knowthat if a lecture doesn't work
out well for me, I know how tolearn it on my own and I know
(25:32):
how to spend that time figuringout the concepts, figuring out
what I missed.
And so you know, I'm not allthat worried about actually
struggling in the classes,because I know how to solve the
problems that I will have on myown.
Pete Newsome (25:47):
It'll be interesting, I would think the
ability to thrive and do well, Idon't think is a question.
I think you'll be okay, but howmuch you'll like it will be an
interesting thing to realize,because you know the flaws
already and I don't know thatthey're entirely dissimilar.
Clearly, stanford is anexcellent institution, that goes
(26:08):
without saying, but you stillhave structure.
That is going to be a bigchange for you.
Austin Scholar (26:15):
It is, and I think it'll help me.
Whenever I'm writing you know,writing my tweets or I'm writing
a newsletter, I'll have realfirsthand experience on what the
what the problems are in theeducation system.
My anecdotes about being inschool are all from fourth grade
, so I'll probably have morecredibility by writing about I
(26:37):
am in a class right now, a classright now.
So I think you know I will beable to look on the bright side
of you.
Know, even if I am notparticularly enjoying the
classes that I'm taking, I willdefinitely still find value in
going through the experience asa whole.
Pete Newsome (26:55):
Now I know more about the state education
university system in Floridathan I do.
Stanford operates, but Isuspect there's still some
generic classes that have to betaken that don't apply to your
degree.
I've always scratched my headabout that, especially in you
know.
It doesn't make sense to me inhigh school, certainly doesn't
(27:15):
make sense to me in college.
Some of the classes I had totake, some of the classes my
kids taken, just to check a boxand it seems antiquated, to say
the least.
It seems unnecessary at times.
So I think you'll that'll be agreat learning experience for
you, like you said, toexperience something firsthand
that you haven't had to do sinceyou've been become enlightened.
Austin Scholar (27:36):
Yeah, no, I'm.
I'm just really looking forwardto doing something very new and
being able to really compare myexperiences in high school and
college and see what I'm able tolearn and accomplish from that.
Pete Newsome (27:54):
Are you?
Have you chosen your degree?
Are you sticking with writingand pursuing?
Yeah?
Austin Scholar (27:59):
so definitely still to be determined, but
definitely something withwriting, their creative writing
minor.
The creative writing minor atStanford, is the biggest minor
and it is.
It seems so incredible.
And then I also really enjoymath.
Math and writing are my twofavorites subjects, and so I
(28:20):
will probably do something thereas well.
Pete Newsome (28:22):
Wonderful.
Well, I won't keep you allafternoon but before I let you
go, any advice you'd like toshare to kids your age who don't
have the kind of support andresources that you have around
you?
I know there's a lot of kidsthat are motivated to figure
things out on their own.
What advice do you have foryoung people?
Austin Scholar (28:41):
Well you know I could say a million different
things, but the most importantthing that I think any kid can
learn is that they are capableof so much more than what
they're told that they are, andI think it's easy to fall into
(29:02):
expectations or subscribe tostandards and conform, but kids
are just capable of doing somuch, and you know, I think
that's just so clear.
I've just had such a clearexperience of that and you know,
all of my fellow seniors atAlpha have just done incredible
(29:24):
things throughout their journeyand I I just really, really
would would hope for every otherhigh school or every other kid
who wants to do something cool,that, first, that they know that
they can and, second, that theyfind something that they really
(29:45):
really love to do and theyreally really enjoy and that
they're willing to spend thetime to.
You know, become an expert, tobe uncomfortable, to post online
, grow an audience, build aproduct, do all of the things
that most people will tell youthat you can't do to.
You know, just try it out andtry doing it, because you know
(30:08):
you'll definitely get somethingincredible from it.
Stated.
Pete Newsome (30:12):
Awesome scholar.
Thank you so much.
You're an inspiration.
I look forward to watching yourprogress and seeing what
happens at Stanford and beyond.
You're going to do great things.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
Austin Scholar (30:23):
Thank you so much.
This was so great.
Pete Newsome (30:26):
Awesome.
All right, everyone.
Thanks for listening.
We'll put all your social mediacontact in the show notes so
everyone can follow you onTwitter and subscribe to your
newsletter.
So, austin Scholar, thanksagain.
You're listening to the Finding Career Zen
Podcast.
I'm Pete, and my guest today isAustin Scholar, who I connected
with on Twitter a few monthsago.
How are you today?
Austin Scholar (00:13):
I'm doing amazing.
Thank you so much for having me.
Pete Newsome (00:15):
So that is not your real name, of course, but
that is the name you go by onTwitter.
You are a high school senior,if it's appropriate to call you
that.
And well, I'll explain why.
In a minute, you're going toStanford.
In the fall, you have 27,000followers on Twitter.
It's such a pleasure to speakwith you today, so let's just
(00:36):
start at the beginning.
You go to a high school withoutteachers, so is it even
appropriate to say you're a highschool senior?
So is it even appropriate tosay you're a high school senior?
Austin Scholar (00:43):
We call ourselves a high school.
You know we learn similarcontent.
We're, you know, have a similar, we're all similar ages and you
know we just have a little bitof a different way of going
about education than everyoneelse.
Pete Newsome (00:59):
And so how long have you been going to?
You go to the Alpha School inTexas.
How long have you been astudent there?
Austin Scholar (01:13):
I have been a student at Alpha since I was in
fourth grade, so it's been eightyears of this alternative
education journey and it's youknow it's been a blast and what
so?
Pete Newsome (01:17):
what makes Alpha School unique?
I didn't know until I did someresearch, when when I found your
account on on Twitter initially, so give us an overview of the
school.
Austin Scholar (01:26):
Yeah, so at Alpha, students basically learn
without teachers.
We use online adaptive AIpowered apps to learn our
academics in just two hours aday.
Apps basically personalizecontent to each student, and so
they're able to learn only learnwhat you know they really need
to focus on, and so they're ableto spend less and less time in
(01:50):
you know on academics, and sothat's why they're able to get
it all done in two hours everysingle day, and so because we
then do academics in two hours aday, we're able to spend the
rest of the day, the afternoontime, learning life skills, and
I think really that's the beautyof Alpha is the time that the
(02:10):
apps that we use free up tolearn things like leadership,
teamwork, giving and receivingfeedback, public speaking and so
on.
Pete Newsome (02:20):
Now you also, I know, scored a 1600 on the SAT.
Yes.
So a lot of people, I'm sure,who hear that you're only having
formal education for two hoursa day or are learning, you know,
could be skeptical of that.
Of course, I think the resultsspeak for themselves.
Now, you're certainly anexceptional learner to be able
to score a good, perfect scoreon the SAT.
(02:43):
How much of that do youattribute to just who you are
and you're?
You're clearly motivated versusthe way you've learned.
Austin Scholar (02:51):
So I believe, and I think a lot of the data at
alpha, it's all proven thatanyone can master everything up
through eighth grade, cancompletely master all of the
content through eighth grade.
There's nothing stopping them.
And you know, as you getthrough high school there are
some courses that are not justnot going to click with everyone
(03:12):
, but everyone can master Kthrough eight content, no
problem.
No problem at all.
And you know, of course the SATdoes go into some high school
stuff, but all of it is based onthe fundamentals in K through
eight.
And so, um, you know, and eventhrough, like algebra and
geometry, it's all fundamentalsthat any kid is able to learn.
(03:37):
And so, um, of course, I am amotivated student, so, um, I'm
very self-motivated, so I don'tneed as much external motivation
that Alpha provides.
However, if a kid isn'tmotivated to learn, then you
just need to put in motivationalsystems in place so that they
(04:00):
are motivated to learn and thencan get these good scores.
There is nothing stopping everysingle kid from, you know,
getting these good scores ifthey really just put in the time
.
The actual content should notbe a problem.
It's just the way that they'rebeing taught the content and,
you know, making sure that theyhave mastered the basics.
You know, when I was studyingfor the SAT, I didn't really
(04:22):
spend that much time actuallygoing forward and making sure
that I knew the advancedconcepts.
It was all re-drilling andmaking sure that I completely
mastered all of the eighth gradecontent.
Pete Newsome (04:33):
Interesting.
I've never heard it explainedthat way.
Do you think that's a prevalentthought?
I mean, is that somethingyou've discovered through your
time at Alpha?
Do you think most high schoolstalk to students about that?
If they do, I'm unaware of it.
Austin Scholar (04:47):
Definitely not.
Alpha has a huge focus onmastery-based learning and it's
essentially that every singlestudent has to completely master
the grade level that they're onbefore they can move on to the
next one.
And so, basically, the kidshave to get a 90% on a state
test, on the Texas Star test,until before they're able to
(05:08):
move on to the next grade level.
And for the high schoolstudents that are coming in,
they have.
We I'll put myself in there wehad a lot of holes from our
previous academic careers and soall of the students had to go
through whole filling, whichdefinitely doesn't seem fun.
You know, like you're goinginto algebra two but then you
(05:28):
have to go all the way back andstart doing sixth grade math.
But my, my favorite story aboutit is um, my best friend, um,
she got, uh, she had seventieson all of her.
Um, you know, she had 70s onall of her.
You know they're basically Texasstar tests all the way up
(05:49):
through algebra two and a fewyears, and then last year she
was trying to get her grades upin those in those areas, and so
what she did is she went all theway back to sixth grade math
content and started filling inthe holes and getting the basics
done so that she can get thehigher scores.
And then she scored like 96,98% on the rest of the tests.
Yeah, so it's not the morecomplex topics that so many
(06:13):
people are stressed about thatreally impact your grade.
It's having a complete, fullunderstanding of the basics and
the initial content.
And you know, once students areable to do that, then they can,
they're able to move throughthe more advanced concepts so
much faster, and you don't, theydon't have to spend time
relearning those hard concepts.
(06:35):
You know, when they are tryingto solve problems that you know
involve multi-steps and stuff.
Pete Newsome (06:41):
It makes complete sense when you explain it that
way.
Right, see, it sounds sological.
We're going to talk a littlebit about why that logic hasn't
been applied, but before we getto that, you started in fourth
grade and you've stayed all theway through.
What's been the biggestdifference?
And I'm sure you have friendsoutside of you know that go to
(07:01):
different schools public schools, private schools.
They're more traditional innature.
What has been the biggestdifference in your evolution
when you look at, compareyourself to them?
Austin Scholar (07:11):
Yeah, so one big thing that Alpha encourages is
being a completely self-drivenlearner and just being able to
learn on your own, and that issomething that I and every other
alpha student has become really, really excellent at.
We don't rely on teachers toteach us things.
(07:31):
We know how to find theresources online, how to use AI,
how to even ask our peersbefore we go to a teacher, and I
think that is just because ofhow you know the alpha system is
set up.
We're given apps to learn.
We are not sat in the classroomand lectured to.
It is completely you know.
(07:54):
We're on our own in that sense,and so I have been able to.
You know, if you give me anytopic, I'm able to and other
alpha students were able tocompletely you know, know how to
learn and master that topic onour own because of the skills
and abilities and practice we'vehad throughout our alpha
(08:15):
journeys, and that is somethingthat is so incredibly valuable
and I'm very grateful that youknow that has been a part of my
educational journey.
Pete Newsome (08:23):
You've learned how to learn.
Yeah, which, really.
If you think about life skills,what could be more important
than that from a survival andhow to succeed standpoint?
I think it's fascinating.
You mentioned something a fewminutes ago that really hits
home for me.
I'm the father of four.
I mentioned to you right beforewe started recording.
My youngest is 16, my oldest is24.
(08:44):
And they're all very different,right.
How they learn, their aptitudeis different, what they respond
to varies greatly, and they'rein great schools.
Don't get me wrong by two.
They're still in high school,but they're still in a classroom
with 20 to 30 other kids.
(09:04):
One size fits 20 to 30, right,which is really not.
It's not logical when you lookat that and I have thought that
many times over the years thatthe system is inherently flawed
because of that, because wereally just have to shoot in the
middle, so the kids at theyoungest end of the specter or
(09:25):
the lower end of the learningcurve will miss out and the ones
on the higher end will be heldback.
You've latched onto thatsomewhere along the way.
When did that kick in?
Because your Twitter account isfilled with data about the
flaws in the education systemand how kids are struggling
(09:46):
around the country.
When did that get on your radarscreen?
Austin Scholar (09:50):
Yeah, so I think my family's always been really
interested in the educationspace.
I had been doing online appssince I was in first or second
grade, even when I was at atraditional school.
And you know, even then I wasable to move through the content
, you know, at my own pace.
(10:11):
And when I was in thetraditional classrooms, you know
through, like when I was inthird grade, I had already gone
through an app and was alreadyon sixth, seventh, eighth grade
math content and you know, whenI was sitting in class I already
knew all of the stuff that youknow the teacher was teaching
and there was nothing I could doabout it.
(10:31):
I had to just basically sit andlisten to lectures on things
that I already knew and so myreally, really my young brain, I
guess, didn't really understandwhat was going on.
I was just bored the whole time.
But you know, as I got, as Igot older and got into high
school, you know I was able toreally reflect on my personal
(10:52):
education journey and start tosee the disparity, and you know
how lucky I was that I had thisunique journey, whereas you know
, some of my friends that stillwent to that traditional school,
they just didn't have thatjourney, and so it was really
just.
I was always kind of aware ofit, but in high school, when I
(11:12):
started writing, that was reallywhen it clicked for me like how
sad it is that so many kids arecompletely.
They waste their entire day ina classroom.
Pete Newsome (11:24):
It's extremely unfortunate.
I think it's prevalent aroundthe country.
From what I've been exposed to,you've been paying attention to
this for quite a while now.
Any thoughts on how we got here?
I mean, was it just a systemthat needed to be put in place
in a way of really just takingcare of the masses, so to speak,
(11:44):
or do you have any thoughts onhow we ended up here today?
And then we'll talk a littlebit about what we could, you
think we could potentially do tofix it?
Austin Scholar (11:52):
Yeah, so I think how we ended up here is just
that a system was put in placeover a hundred years ago and it
has not changed since then.
I think the biggest problem isthe stagnancy and the, you know,
sticking to the status quo, andthat is really the biggest
(12:13):
problem you know, because theentire role of schools has
changed since, or what peoplewant out of schools has changed
since the system was put inplace.
Before it was just they wantedworkers and they wanted people
to work in factories, but nowthat's not what we need for our
education system, but it justhasn't caught up with the future
(12:35):
.
It hasn't caught up to where weare now, and I just think
that's definitely how we'vegotten to a space where there's
so many opportunities, so manycool ways for kids to learn that
just aren't implemented inschools, because at this point
it's really hard to mess with asystem that's so old and, you
know, has been ingrained insociety by so much.
Pete Newsome (12:58):
So there's some unique schools out there.
You're fortunate enough to bein one, but I don't know how
practical it is for that toscale, and so we're in this
situation.
I don't know the number ofstudents today, but it's in the
tens of millions, right?
Maybe even close to 100 millionstudents in the US alone.
(13:19):
You're in charge.
You wake up tomorrow.
You're in charge.
You're the education czar,right?
You're in charge of theDepartment of Education.
Where do you begin?
How do you begin fixing thisway to start?
Austin Scholar (13:30):
is to build new schools and build schools that
are able to support a new way oflearning and support every type
of learner, and I think that's,you know, that's something that
(13:53):
the Alpha School System istrying to do.
In the next year they'restarting a school in Miami for
middle school students.
They're starting eSportsAcademy, and so this is for kids
who love gaming and they areable to spend their morning
doing their academics and thenthey're able to spend the
(14:13):
afternoon learning life skillsrelated through gaming and, you
know, practicing with the likebest game.
I'm I'm not a gamer, so myterminology is a little flawed,
but you know the best gamers andthey're able to, like, play
together, learn teamwork,leadership, and so there's that
school.
And then there's also thesports academy, which is going
(14:33):
to be in Texas, and it's forhigh schoolers who are want to,
you know, become the best intheir sports.
So they spend their two hoursin the morning doing their
academics and then they spendtheir afternoons playing their
sport, and so it's a superversatile system, with the
two-hour learning in the morningand then you have the
(14:55):
afternoons completely open to doanything from liberal arts and
to theater and writing andgaming and sports and anything
that any skill that either youknow the student wants to learn
or the parent wants the studentto learn, and they have all the
time freed up to to work on that.
(15:16):
And so rather than trying to,you know, go from the ground up,
I would, I would just startadding creating new schools that
are able to foster thatenvironment from the beginning,
and you know, of course, thiscan't happen overnight.
But yeah, there are the twohour learning program.
It has lots of availableresources for parents who, just
(15:40):
who aren't able to changeschools but they want their kid
to be able to, you know, do thetwo hour learning program.
And so if you just go to thetwo-hour learning website, then
there's a whole list of programsthat parents can do for their
kids and use the software, andso it really is supposed to fit
for any kid in any scenario thatyou know needs to happen.
Pete Newsome (16:02):
We'll link that in the show notes two-hour
learning website.
The next question I was goingto ask, and you already led into
it, was what advice you wouldhave for parents who have to be
frustrated with the schoolsystem.
I speak with lots of parentsand there aren't a lot of great
options that are in most areas.
What advice do you have forthem that are in most areas?
What advice do you have forthem?
Austin Scholar (16:28):
So definitely check out the two-hour learning
programs because they candefinitely help your kids start
to engage in this system and, ifthey're older, do the whole
filling and mastery and ifthey're younger, just get them
started on a really excitingjourney.
But also something that Ibelieve all parents should
really be helping their kidswith is to help them foster a
(16:49):
love of learning.
You know schools totally killthat in every kid, and so they
see books, reading, writing,they see math, they science,
history, everything that truly,when you look at it, is super
magical and exciting andincredible.
They just see it as drudgeryand boring and just a task that
(17:14):
they have to complete, and soI've written quite a few
newsletters on how to help yourkid love learning again.
But I think that is definitelysomething that's super important
and it will also help thembecome excited about doing the
two-hour learning stuff and, youknow, helping them want to, you
know, make the most out oftheir you know, even their time
(17:36):
in school.
Pete Newsome (17:36):
I spend a lot of my time with ZenGig.
It's a career advice site aimedat students and young
professionals, and we think alot about how to help people
find the right career path.
Sometimes that should includecollege, sometimes not, but what
I see a big where I see a bigvoid is with schools spending
(17:58):
time on aptitude and interest.
Is that something that you'reexposed to in your educational
journey now?
Austin Scholar (18:06):
Yes, absolutely so.
When you get, when alphastudents get to high school, we,
instead of just doing you knowlife skills workshops and
learning miscellaneous lifeskills, we kind of take all of
that and bring it together inour masterpiece program.
So a masterpiece is an Olympiclevel project, and that
basically means you knowsomething super hard that seems
(18:29):
impossible where you have to bethe best in your area, and so
it's this huge, incredibleproject that you're going to
spend the next four years ofafternoons on.
And basically, you know, thefirst year, all of the students
do exploration, and so they dohackathons and rabbit
(18:49):
hole-a-thons so they learn howto build and become experts in
things, and they try as manytopics as they need to before
they can decide on somethingthat they want to really focus
on for their masterpiece.
And so then, once they havetheir topic and they have their
idea, that's what they spendtheir afternoons doing, and so I
spend my afternoon writing mynewsletter, working on Twitter,
(19:10):
reaching out to people, havingcalls, going on podcasts,
basically just doing anythingany research related to
education or writing about it,talking about it as as much as I
can, and so that's how I spendmy afternoons, and even if later
on.
I want to do something that'snot exactly what I'm doing right
(19:31):
now.
I know that I have the skillsand the ability to go out and
figure out what I do want to doand become successful from that,
and so that is something that Ithink is really really
incredible about the Alphaprogram that I'm a part of is
the ability to do a masterpiecein the afternoon.
Pete Newsome (19:50):
It is incredible, but it just makes so much sense
when you describe it.
And if you were building astructure and a plan on how
learning should happen, how youshould set young people up for
success?
You just described it becauseit just does make so much sense.
One question that came to mindas you were talking you have a
(20:13):
passion for writing, you have anaptitude for it.
What if the passion was therebut the aptitude wasn't?
Have you seen any examples ofthat?
Or is there a way, uh, anymethod, any potential, rather,
where someone really wants to dosomething, but at some point
there has to be a pragmatism,has to set in right, where you
say listen, this just isn't yourthing, right, is there?
(20:37):
Does that come up at all?
Austin Scholar (20:38):
yeah, so that's part of the exploration process
for the alpha kids.
I, I'm sure we use the Ikigaimethod, and so you know what you
love, what you're good at, whatthe world needs, and you know
what you can get paid for.
And so all of the kids have tomake sure that their masterpiece
fits in that, and so you know Iif they want to start working
(20:59):
on something, but you know theyrealize that they're just not
really good at one part of it.
There are a couple of pathsthat the kids can take.
Either they can try and findsomething different to do that
you know they are good at, orthey just change the form of
their masterpiece because, youknow, we believe at Alpha that
anyone can become an expert inany topic, but it's the.
(21:22):
So that's never going to be theactual problem, it's just the
implementation that some kidsmight struggle on or struggle
with.
And so if they want theirmasterpiece to be something
about teaching a hundredthousand kids about chess
through talk videos and a liveworkshop, or I'm literally
(21:43):
making something up, but theyfound out that they, you know,
just don't have an aptitude formaking TikTok videos that are
good, or, you know, theyrealized that maybe I would
rather.
I would rather do somethingother than you know post TikTok
videos.
Then they might just change theformat from video to writing
and they would try out writing alittle bit, and so instead of
(22:05):
completely changing, you know,the topic, they can just change
how they're implementing theirmasterpiece and that type of
form, and you know that usuallyends up solving that problem.
But you know, those are kind ofthe two paths that a kid can
take.
Pete Newsome (22:20):
What I think is so wonderful about everything
you're describing is you'regoing through a set of
experiences that very few peopleyour age get to do, as you well
know, and most have theopportunity to do that when
they're in their 20s, whenthey're on the other side of
college, and they don't feelthat's the right time right.
(22:43):
They feel pressure to to youknow, start their career, to get
into their profession, to earnand and and start to acquire
material things.
Right.
I mean, we know that to be true, but I encourage young people
and that's still very young tome in the in terms of people,
and that's still very young tome in terms of a professional
life don't rush, spend that timeexploring.
(23:06):
And so it is a very similarthought process, but without the
benefit of doing it while youstill live at home, doing it
while you're a teenager, which Ijust think is so amazing, and I
(23:38):
didn't know much about theAlpha School prior to our
conversation today, and I'm justso fascinated by everything
you're saying because it's onethat I'm certainly going to
spend more time thinking aboutand shifting my perspective down
to younger people on this andencouraging that at a younger
age and with parents.
Now you are going into collegea traditional setting.
(24:03):
Have you thought about that andhow that's going to be a big
change for you?
Austin Scholar (24:07):
Absolutely so.
The main reason that I wouldlike to go to college is that I
really want to meet some otherincredible people.
So Alpha is such a small schoolbecause of how new it is, and
so I am just so excited for thechance to meet people you know
(24:28):
that have also done incrediblethings.
To go to Stanford, you have todo something awesome, and so
it's.
I'm just so excited to be ableto meet, you know, people who
have both a similar view on lifeas I do and a different one.
You know people who have both asimilar view on life as I do
and a different one, and I am.
(24:48):
That's really the main thingthat I would like to do, and I
would also really like to justspend time experimenting and
trying new things in a, in aspace that you know was still
safe.
You know it's.
It's not, you know, going to beas protected as being in high
school and living at home is,but I'm still not fully out in
the world on my own yet, and sothose are the reasons that I
want to go to college, but Ialso completely recognize that I
(25:11):
am going into a space that I amnot going to be fully
comfortable in because I haven'thad a teacher since I was in
fourth grade.
Haven't had a teacher since Iwas in fourth grade, and so you
know, really what I'm doing isI'm going to, you know, prepare
myself for that, but also knowthat if a lecture doesn't work
out well for me, I know how tolearn it on my own and I know
(25:32):
how to spend that time figuringout the concepts, figuring out
what I missed.
And so you know, I'm not allthat worried about actually
struggling in the classes,because I know how to solve the
problems that I will have on myown.
Pete Newsome (25:47):
It'll be interesting, I would think the
ability to thrive and do well, Idon't think is a question.
I think you'll be okay, but howmuch you'll like it will be an
interesting thing to realize,because you know the flaws
already and I don't know thatthey're entirely dissimilar.
Clearly, stanford is anexcellent institution, that goes
(26:08):
without saying, but you stillhave structure.
That is going to be a bigchange for you.
Austin Scholar (26:15):
It is, and I think it'll help me.
Whenever I'm writing you know,writing my tweets or I'm writing
a newsletter, I'll have realfirsthand experience on what the
what the problems are in theeducation system.
My anecdotes about being inschool are all from fourth grade
, so I'll probably have morecredibility by writing about I
(26:37):
am in a class right now, a classright now.
So I think you know I will beable to look on the bright side
of you.
Know, even if I am notparticularly enjoying the
classes that I'm taking, I willdefinitely still find value in
going through the experience asa whole.
Pete Newsome (26:55):
Now I know more about the state education
university system in Floridathan I do.
Stanford operates, but Isuspect there's still some
generic classes that have to betaken that don't apply to your
degree.
I've always scratched my headabout that, especially in you
know.
It doesn't make sense to me inhigh school, certainly doesn't
(27:15):
make sense to me in college.
Some of the classes I had totake, some of the classes my
kids taken, just to check a boxand it seems antiquated, to say
the least.
It seems unnecessary at times.
So I think you'll that'll be agreat learning experience for
you, like you said, toexperience something firsthand
that you haven't had to do sinceyou've been become enlightened.
Austin Scholar (27:36):
Yeah, no, I'm.
I'm just really looking forwardto doing something very new and
being able to really compare myexperiences in high school and
college and see what I'm able tolearn and accomplish from that.
Pete Newsome (27:54):
Are you?
Have you chosen your degree?
Are you sticking with writingand pursuing?
Yeah?
Austin Scholar (27:59):
so definitely still to be determined, but
definitely something withwriting, their creative writing
minor.
The creative writing minor atStanford, is the biggest minor
and it is.
It seems so incredible.
And then I also really enjoymath.
Math and writing are my twofavorites subjects, and so I
(28:20):
will probably do something thereas well.
Pete Newsome (28:22):
Wonderful.
Well, I won't keep you allafternoon but before I let you
go, any advice you'd like toshare to kids your age who don't
have the kind of support andresources that you have around
you?
I know there's a lot of kidsthat are motivated to figure
things out on their own.
What advice do you have foryoung people?
Austin Scholar (28:41):
Well you know I could say a million different
things, but the most importantthing that I think any kid can
learn is that they are capableof so much more than what
they're told that they are, andI think it's easy to fall into
(29:02):
expectations or subscribe tostandards and conform, but kids
are just capable of doing somuch, and you know, I think
that's just so clear.
I've just had such a clearexperience of that and you know,
all of my fellow seniors atAlpha have just done incredible
(29:24):
things throughout their journeyand I I just really, really
would would hope for every otherhigh school or every other kid
who wants to do something cool,that, first, that they know that
they can and, second, that theyfind something that they really
(29:45):
really love to do and theyreally really enjoy and that
they're willing to spend thetime to.
You know, become an expert, tobe uncomfortable, to post online
, grow an audience, build aproduct, do all of the things
that most people will tell youthat you can't do to.
You know, just try it out andtry doing it, because you know
(30:08):
you'll definitely get somethingincredible from it.
Stated.
Pete Newsome (30:12):
Awesome scholar.
Thank you so much.
You're an inspiration.
I look forward to watching yourprogress and seeing what
happens at Stanford and beyond.
You're going to do great things.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
Austin Scholar (30:23):
Thank you so much.
This was so great.
Pete Newsome (30:26):
Awesome.
All right, everyone.
Thanks for listening.
We'll put all your social mediacontact in the show notes so
everyone can follow you onTwitter and subscribe to your
newsletter.
So, austin Scholar, thanksagain.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.