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PODCAST

BustED Pencils

BustED Pencils; Fully Leaded Education Talk is a powerful radio show/podcast dedicated to public education. BustED Pencils is known for its commitment to the hard facts with a humorous twist. Hosts Dr. Tim Slekar and Dr. Johnny Lupinacci cover the “real” issues in education. The show establishes an alternative space and discusses education reform from an entirely progressive perspective. Our approach is funny, edgy, passionate, witty and gritty and features an array of guests. BustED Pencils

news news commentary

All Episodes

15:16

State of Education- Homeroom

BustED Pencils ·

2025/09/22

Dr. Tim Slekar and Producer Jakob give their response to Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly's fifth State of Education address. How is Wisconsin's public education system performing in 2025? What's the cause of it's shortcomings? And does it all come down to Jill Underly, or are the challenges facing education more complicated than one woman can solve on her own? Tim and Jakob get into it on this Homeroom edition of BustED Pencils. BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded

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43:00

2 Hour Learning Meets 1 Hour Podcasting

BustED Pencils ·

2025/09/20

There are only so many hours in a day (around 26 or so, I think), and we all want to find ways to maximize the amount we're able to do in the time we have. That's why Dr. Tim Slekar was so excited to learn that something called Alpha School down in Texas had come up with a way to get a full day's worth of learning done in just 2 hours. How do they do it? Well if Tim's involved then you can bet A.I. is as well. Chris Locke, principal of the Alpha High School, joins Tim and Dr. Johnny Lupinacci to

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46:00

Just Watch What You Say. Producer’s Choice Show #17

BustED Pencils ·

2025/09/19

Today your host Producer Jakob is joined by two esteemed academics, Drs. Tim Slekar and Johnny Lupinacci, to talk about freedom of speech. It's on the tips of everyone's tongues these days, but what is it, really? Tim, Johnny, and Jakob offer their perspectives on the issue of freedom of speech and try to answer those tricky questions. What does it mean to have a right to expression? Who do our rights protect us from? What good are rights if we're still told to watch what you say? We ponder these

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25:48

The Ol’ Randi Rewind- Class in Session

BustED Pencils ·

2025/09/17

On the last Saturday show Drs. Tim Slekar and Johnny Lupinacci interviewed friend of the show Randi Weingarten about her new book Why Fascists Fear Teachers. Despite dedicating a whole hour to it over the weekend, Tim and Johnny have even more thoughts on the book and, more importantly, the implications of it. So join us as we do the ol' Randi rewind and keep on discussing the Saturday show! BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure

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14:52

Stop the Scam!- Homeroom

BustED Pencils ·

2025/09/15

Dr. Johnny Lupinacci and Producer Jakob preview an exciting upcoming digital event being held by friends of the show the Wisconsin Public Education Network. The Go Public Transparency Project aims to push for "private voucher and independent charter school costs to be listed on your property tax bills". Why does that matter? Johnny and Jakob are here to break it down for you. So join BustED Pencils and WPEN and stop the scam this Wednesday via their online training and toolkit. BustED Pencils:

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43:00

Why Fascists Fear Teachers

BustED Pencils ·

2025/09/13

Today one of our favorite guests makes her triumphant return to the show to talk about Dr. Johnny Lupinacci's favorite book! Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, has just finished writing an incredible new book called Why Fascists Fear Teachers, available now at all fine bookstores. It's a good book for teachers to read, and a GREAT book to help anyone learn about teaching and education in America. BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media

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38:30

Make Peace, Not Culture War. Producer’s Choice Show #16

BustED Pencils ·

2025/09/12

Today host Producer Jakob is joined by Drs. Tim Slekar and Johnny Lupinacci for a somber episode of the Producer's Choice Show to help him grapple with the frightening proliferation of political violence in America. In the wake of Wednesday's assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, as well as a tragic shooting at Evergreen High School in Colorado, violence continues to scar our educational environments. How do we begin to heal as a society? How can

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0:00

Can Tim and Johnny Read?- Class in Session

BustED Pencils ·

2025/09/10

This week Drs. Tim Slekar and Johnny Lupinacci are talking all about books and reading. Is our children learning how to read? Are phones and such hurting our comprehension? And what's up with our upcoming guest Randi Weingarten's brand new book? Find out this and more in TODAY's exciting episode of BustED Pencils! BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media. Subscribe to the podcast to be sure not to miss out on a single episode! Go to bustedpencils.com for swag, all of

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31:29

Staying Home, Producer’s Choice Show #15

BustED Pencils ·

2025/09/05

It's time to go back to school. You know what that means, don't ya? My tummy hurts... mom, can I stay home? Today your host Producer Jakob interviews two esteemed educators about their experiences with faking sick, hearing bad excuses from their students, enjoying snow days, and much much more. Drs. Tim Slekar and Johnny Lupinacci bring decades of experience as educators to this groundbreaking discussion on staying home from school on THIS exciting episode of the Producer's Choice Show!The

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22:12

Johnny’s Bursting to Roast This Dumb Test

BustED Pencils ·

2025/09/03

Today on BustED Pencils Drs. Tim Slekar and Johnny Lupinacci review the idiotic ideological purity test that Oklahoma actually spent some amount of money implementing. This test, designed by PragerU, will be given to new teachers from blue states before they're given the privilege of teaching in Oklahoma. While Producer Jakob passed it with flying colors easily, the Drs. have some doubts about it. Should we have purity tests for teachers? Is this stupid? No and yes. Also, Johnny had his appendix

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15:03

Reflections on the Minnesota Shooting

BustED Pencils ·

2025/09/01

As we go about our days on this Labor Day holiday, Drs. Tim Slekar and Johnny Lupinacci would like to take a moment to discuss the recent tragic shooting in Minnesota. It's nothing new at this point in American society, but that doesn't make it any less devastating every last time it happens. We share our thoughts, many of which you've heard before, many of which are sadly very fresh.Producer's Thoughts: Many may say that it is too soon to start talking about a tragedy like this in terms of

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43:00

Zero Dollars is a Problem

BustED Pencils ·

2025/08/30

Wisconsin State Representative Angelina Cruz makes her long anticipated debut on BustED Pencils! Drs. Johnny Lupinacci and Tim Slekar have been looking forward to this episode and boy did it live up to expectations! Representative Cruz talks us through her journey from educator to union organizer to her current position representing the fightin' 62nd assembly district. What motivates her to keep fighting for public education? Is our current education budget enough? And how do we bring about change

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48:30

Parents in Education. Producer’s Choice Show #14

BustED Pencils ·

2025/08/29

When we think about education, we usually think of two types of people; teachers and students. Today’s guests have played both of those roles at different points in their lives. But there’s a third role in education that Drs. Tim Slekar and Johnny Lupinacci have experience with as well. That’s right, parents! You can’t have a show about education without talking about parents. So what role should parents play in their children's education? What is the right role for parents in education? How should

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30:16

Judging a Chromebook By Its Cover- Class in Session

BustED Pencils ·

2025/08/27

Today as Dr. Tim Slekar has come down with the sniffles, Dr. Johnny Lupinacci and some producer talk about an interesting article they found online. High school chemistry teacher Marcie Samayoa is having her students put away their laptops and start working with pencil and paper again like it's the 1400s. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? How can educators decide what technologies they should integrate into their classrooms? And most importantly of all, how do we decide when and where tech adds

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17:00

The Blue Scare Continues in Oklahoma

BustED Pencils ·

2025/08/25

Ryan Walters is the superintendent of public schools in Oklahoma. Ryan is worried that there are too many people from New York and Los Angeles who are itching to move to Oklahoma and start spreading WOKE. In order to combat this, Ryan has mandated that teachers applying for jobs in Oklahoma from New York and California will now have to take a special test to make sure that they aren't liberals. That's how you create diversity of thought. This is dumb.BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk

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43:00

Tim Makes a New A.I. Friend

BustED Pencils ·

2025/08/23

Today on BustED Pencils Drs. Tim Slekar and Johnny Lupinacci welcome journalist Jeffrey Young onto the show! Jeffrey has long covered the intersection between technology and education, but he's finally taking a great leap forward into the future by starting his own podcast about AI and education. That's why Tim asked him to be here today and be his new best friend (Tim loves A.I.). Why did Jeff get into this line of work? What's so fascinating about technology in the first place? And why should YOU

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35:00

Get Back to School Ya Bums! Producer’s Choice Show

BustED Pencils ·

2025/08/22

Producer Jakob has had enough. This week he's sending Drs. Johnny Lupinacci and Tim Slekar back to school, whether they like it or not. But that's got his noggin' joggin'. What's it like to be a teacher when it's time to go back to school? Your host Producer Jakob asks Tim and Johnny to share some back to school stories, their thoughts on the move from teaching secondary school to teaching at university, and their go-to icebreaking activities for the first day of class on THIS exciting episode of

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28:50

Bleeding Edge Technology- Class in Session

BustED Pencils ·

2025/08/20

Dr. Tim Slekar and Producer Jakob are on the bleeding edge of technology; literally for Jakob and metaphorically for Tim. While Jakob's nose keeps gushing blood throughout the episode, Tim talks about a boring anti-AI professional development session that he recently had to sit through. Is AI all it's cracked up to be, or is it all smoke and mirrors? Should schools close their eyes to AI or take part in shaping the way it's implemented? Are we all just machines that mimic the behaviors we're taught

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18:17

Do You Remember Your Homeroom? – Homeroom

BustED Pencils ·

2025/08/18

Homeroom has been a staple of BustED Pencils for years and years. It's a name that invokes those precious memories we all hold in our brains of the times that we had homerooms of our own to attend back in our school days. But are all homerooms the same? Do students today still go to them? Was homeroom in the 1980s different from homeroom in the 2010s? Today Dr. Tim Slekar and his caretaker Producer Jakob compare their respective homeroom experiences to see what changed and what stayed the same over

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43:00

BustED Pencilsvania

BustED Pencils ·

2025/08/16

This week Dr. Johnny Lupinacci interviews his friend Dr. Tim Slekar about Tim's recent high honor. Tim was called upon to serve the great state of Pennsylvania by participating in a panel on higher education in the beautiful city of Harrisburg. What did Tim talk about? What plans does he have to improve education? Will BustED Pencils do a live show in Pennsylvania called BustED Pencilsvania? Find out this week on BustED Pencils!BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk is part of Civic Media

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