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Home > Getting Smart Podcast > 272 - Ada Palmer on Learning From the Past and the Future


	Podcast:		Getting Smart Podcast
	Episode:		272 - Ada Palmer on Learning From the Past and the Future
	Category:		Education
	Duration:		00:50:00
	Publish Date:		2020-07-29 02:00:00
	Description:		In today’s interview, the Getting Smart team is talking to Ada Palmer, a history professor at the University of Chicago. As a historian, Ada studies the long-term evolution of ideas and the history of religious radicalism, science, and freethought, especially in the Italian Renaissance, Enlightenment, and Classical Greece and Rome. In addition to being a historian, Ada is also a composer and an award-winning science fiction author. In Tom and Ada’s conversation, they discuss how we can learn from the past and the future. Ada shares her insights on historical pandemics; how society has changed; how history may influence the future; how sci-fi can help society integrate new, ethical frameworks; and how investigating the past and the future can help us navigate the complex here and now. Key Takeaways: [:10] About today’s episode. [:41] Tom welcomes Ada to the podcast! [:48] As a historian at Chicago, what does Ada believe that history can teach us about a world that’s currently going through a pandemic as well as the current BLM movement? [6:05] Donald Ferguson has said that historians study crisis. Does Ada think about studying history in this way? [8:21] Ada shares her thoughts on what the Golden Age really means and why it is so incredibly important to study. [12:19] Ada talks about her passion for space exploration, space launches, and the space program and what it all means to her. [13:19] How true social change actually happens (using examples through history). [24:15] About Getting Smart’s resource on equity work. [24:51] Ada shares about her role as a teacher and how she thinks about learning. In particular, she highlights her teachings about the Italian renaissance and why she has her college students reenact the fateful Conclave of 1492. [32:50] Why Ada writes science fiction, particularly ‘big ideas’ science fiction. [35:05] How science fiction can help us create new ethical frameworks and dynamic frameworks for changing the world. [38:10] Ada’s take on the rise of synthetic content such as deep fakes. [40:32] What an ideal high school curriculum looks like to Ada. [48:51] Tom thanks Ada for joining the podcast! Mentioned in This Episode: Ada Palmer ’s Blog GettingSmart .com /EquityWork 1492 Conclave Ada Palmer ’s Books Who Owns the News ?: A History of Copyright, by Will Slauter Get Involved: Check out the blog at GettingSmart .com. Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe. Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You’d Like Covered? To get in contact: Email Editor @GettingSmart .com and include ‘Podcast’ in the subject line. The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!
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