Sold a Story - Sold a Story 2: What Happened to Teaching

Episode Date: October 1, 2026

Sold a Story is back with a new season that goes beyond reading. Emily Hanford explores an approach to teaching that's been largely rejected by the education system — despite decades of evidence that it works.Video: Watch the trailer on YouTubeMore: soldastory.orgDive deeper into Sold a Story with a multi-part Extra Credit email series from Emily Hanford.

In the 1960s, the federal government set out to answer a profound question. What are the best ways to teach? They evaluated different philosophies of education. The idea is let's try to find out what works. The study involved hundreds of thousands of students and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The largest educational experiment, at least that we know of, in the history of the world. It took almost a decade. When it was over, one way of teaching stood out above the rest.

We beat them in everything. This way of teaching had kids doing basic algebra... Seven plus a equals... In preschool. Yo, seven plus how many equal, 11? Yeah, how'd you work? You got seven, you want to get to 11. If I had had that type of teaching throughout my life,

I don't know where it would have taken me. But a lot of people didn't like it. One educator is called the approach totalitarian, another horrible. There was a terrific backlash against the program. It was totally new and totally controversial. There's a wide range of people against it. It doesn't fit what they want education to be. And the critics won.

It was like a baseball bat to the head. The study was buried. Most teachers have never heard of it. and the kind of teaching that works so well, most schools don't do it. I'm Emily Hanford. My podcast Sold a Story investigates the science behind learning, and what happens when deeply held beliefs clash with evidence. The first season of Solda Story revealed why so many schools were struggling to teach kids

how to read, and it sparked a wave of change across the country. And after the podcast came out, out, teachers were telling me, it's not just reading. The majority of our kids are two to three grade levels behind. In the new season of Solda Story, we go beyond reading. We look at teaching itself, and we dig into decades of research on what actually works. Solda Story Season 2, What Happened to Teaching? Coming October 15th to your favorite podcast app.

And if you want to learn more about what we've uncovered, sign up for our newsletter. at solda story.org slash email.