Ben Averbook Podcast

Dr. Matt Bateman: How Traditional Schools Kill Agency (And Montessori Fixes It)

Matt Bateman is a philosopher and founder of Montessorium, working on building Montessori schools enhanced with AI. What’s the difference between patiency and an agency? In this conversation, Matt explains why agency matters more than test scores, how AI can scale personalized learning, why education reform keeps failing, and what the world would look like if every child learned to be an agent instead of a patient. Follow Dr. Bateman on X: https://x.com/mbateman [https://x.com/mbateman] Follow me on X: https://x.com/benaverbook [https://x.com/benaverbook] Check out Montessorium: https://montessorium.school/program [https://montessorium.school/program] (0:00) Would Maria Montessori Love AI or Hate It? (3:14) How AI Scales the Montessori Method (5:43) The Right Way vs Wrong Way to Use AI Tutors (7:23) Why Matt Bateman Believes Montessori Is the Best Education Philosophy Ever Created (9:45) Inside a Montessori Morning Routine: Students Running Their Own Day (14:20) What Is Agency and Why Does It Matter More Than Test Scores? (18:30) Traditional Schools Teach Kids to Be Patients, Not Agents (22:00) Can You Build Agency After 13 Years of Being Told What to Do? (24:45) Three Strategies for Developing Agency as a Young Adult (28:50) Why So Many Thiel Fellows Went to Montessori Schools (30:20) What the World Would Look Like If Everyone Had a Montessori Education (33:40) Can Montessori Scale to a Billion Kids? (36:10) Why Education Is Like Medicine Before Galen (37:50) Why Most Education Startups Die (And Why Khan Academy Weakened After Gates Foundation Money) (39:20) The Only Two Paths to Fixing Education: Build Schools and Make Arguments (41:18) School Choice and Free Market Dynamics (42:59) The Real Cost of Public vs Private Education (44:21) The Zombie Bureaucracy Blocking Education Reform (46:20) Teachers Unions Are the Biggest Problem in American Education This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.benaverbook.com [https://www.benaverbook.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Austen Allred: GauntletAI produces better AI engineers than any university (for free)

This is my conversation with Austen Allred. Austen is the founder of Gauntlet AI which is a 10 week in-person training that, if completed, guarantees a $200k+ AI engineering job at the end. Just to make it sound more crazy, it’s completely free. If selected, you do 2 weeks virtually and then if still in the cohort, they will fly you to Austin, TX, house you, and feed you, all at no cost to the student. Please enjoy. benaverbook.com/subscribe [http://benaverbook.com/subscribe] x.com/austen [http://x.com/austen] x.com/benaverbook [http://x.com/benaverbook] gauntletai.com [http://gauntletai.com] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.benaverbook.com [https://www.benaverbook.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

MacKenzie Price — How To Make Kids Love School More Than Vacation

This is my conversation with MacKenzie Price, founder of Alpha School. Since the first Alpha School opened almost 10 years ago, MacKenzie has been working towards making kids love school more than vacation. In this conversation we talk about: * Why schools are still banning AI in late 2025 while Alpha’s kindergartners use it to build apps and practice public speaking * The Harvard study showing AI tutors beat Harvard professors at teaching physics * How kids can learn 2X, 5X, or even 10X faster with personalized AI tutoring * The student who realized she was a “robot” with no passions after years of traditional schooling * Why capitalism and profit are desperately needed to fix education (and why nonprofit models breed mediocrity) * The “don’t boil the frog early” philosophy: why kids don’t need 12 years of training in how to be bored * Training kids to be creators instead of consumers (building TikTok audiences vs doomscrolling) K-12 education is an obviously broken system and Alpha is at the cutting edge of fixing it. MacKenzie hosts a podcast called “Future of Education” which you can find here [https://open.spotify.com/show/5zqHqSQ1kLnD22mdXTCZ9E?si=0b2dcfce34844620]. Follow MacKenzie on X [http://x.com/mackenzieprice] Follow me on X [http://x.com/benaverbook] Alpha School [http://alpha.school] Subscribe on Substack [http://benaverbook.com/subscribe] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.benaverbook.com [https://www.benaverbook.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

#2: Benjamin Franklin - An American Life

This is a narration of the blog post written about lessons from Walter Isaacson's biography titled "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life" [https://amzn.to/4pU4Izm]. Subscribe to get all posts sent to you here: benaverbook.com [http://benaverbook.com] Follow me on X: x.com/benaverbook [http://x.com/benaverbook] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.benaverbook.com [https://www.benaverbook.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

#1 Brave New Words

Episode Description In this solo episode, Ben dives deep into Salman Khan's groundbreaking book "Brave New Words," exploring how artificial intelligence is poised to revolutionize education as we know it. From the fundamental flaws in our current education system to the transformative potential of AI tutors, this episode unpacks why the next decade could be the most consequential in human history for learning and human development. Book: "Brave New Words" by Salman Khan (May 2024) [https://amzn.to/43xkypy] Platform: Khan Academy and Khanmigo AI tutor Research: Benjamin Bloom's 1984 study on personalized tutoring Previous Episode: Interview with Dr. David Ruth on AI in education [https://www.benaverbook.com/p/dr-david-ruth-fixing-higher-ed-and?r=3mxabc] Notable Quotes "We're moving from passive consumption of information to active dialogue with the knowledge itself." "AI doesn't take your job. AI enables you to do any job." "This moment can be an existential risk or an existential opportunity for all of us." Connect with Ben: Follow me on X [http://x.com/benaverbook] Subscribe on Substack [http://benaverbook.com] Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast platforms. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.benaverbook.com [https://www.benaverbook.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]