Amanda Ashworth | Building Community: Creating a Worldschooling Hub in Goa
Amanda Ashworth shares how reading The Four Hour Workweek led her to question conventional success, homeschool her children, and eventually create the World Schooling Hub in Goa. She explains discovering her son’s hidden learning needs, why Goa became her family’s second home, and how the hub supports children, teens, and even parents through education, play, and wellness practices. We also explore community life, balancing family and business, and why parent and dad circles matter for building connection.🗓️ Recorded September 10, 2025. 📍 Åmarken, Lille Skendsved, Denmark🔗 Relevant linkshttps://www.worldschoolinghubgoa.com/https://www.instagram.com/worldschoolinghubgoa/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561303705469 https://www.linkedin.com/company/worldschooling-hub-goa/ https://www.tiktok.com/@worldschoolinghubgoa http://amandaashworth.com/ Support the showPODCAST INFOPodcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss SUPPORT & CONNECTSupport on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.familyFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamilyTwitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
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Leah McDermott of Your Natural Learner | Why I Chose Unschooling
What happens when a kindergarten teacher moves to teaching fifth grade and discovers that in just five years, the educational system has extinguished the light in children’s eyes? For Leah McDermott, this stark realization sparked a journey from conventional educator to unschooling advocate.In this episode we talk with Leah about her path out of the classroom and into unschooling with her own family. She shares what it was like to grow up homeschooled in a very rigid, school-at-home way, and how that experience shaped the choices she made later. We hear how becoming a mother pushed her to rethink education completely, and why she founded Your Natural Learner to support families making the same shift.Leah explains why homeschooling often repeats the same problems as school when parents bring curriculum, tests, and grades into the home. She talks about the process of deschooling for parents, unlearning the reflex to correct or measure everything, and learning instead to trust children’s natural curiosity. Her own son’s love of math shows what this can look like in practice—solving complex problems in his head without ever being taught traditional methods.We also talk about how unschooling can feel isolating at first, when friends and family don’t understand the choice. Leah reflects on the constant questions children face, like “What grade are you in?” or “What did you learn today?” and why shifting those questions toward real interests matters. She reminds parents that the pressure to justify unschooling often says more about their own uncertainty than about the curiosity of others.🗓️ Recorded August 28th, 2025. 📍 Åmarken, Lille Skendsved, Denmark🔗 Relevant linkshttps://www.instagram.com/yournaturallearner https://www.facebook.com/yournaturallearnerhttps://naturallearningshop.comhttps://bridgeacademy.us https://yournaturallearner.substack.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/yournaturallearner https://x.com/therealleahmcd https://www.youtube.com/@Yournaturallearner Support the showPODCAST INFOPodcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss SUPPORT & CONNECTSupport on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.familyFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamilyTwitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
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Blake Boles | Escaping Routine: Deep Conversation and wanting a Galactic Commune
Blake Boles joins us to talk about his recent editorial, "I Don't Want a Nuclear Family, I Want a Galactic Commune - on the pursuit of quality conversation", which is about the decline of quality conversation and his resistance to the nuclear family model. We discuss the difference between daily logistics and real dialogue, why travel often brings deeper connections, and how temporary communities can support richer conversations. Blake shares ideas like hosting travelers, playing structured games like Hot Seat, and treating every interaction as a chance to learn something new.Listen to our first episode together with Blake Boles | Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids To School? : https://www.theconrad.family/selfdirected48🗓️ Recorded August 26th, 2025. 📍 Åmarken, Lille Skendsved, Denmark🔗 Relevant linksWebsite: https://www.blakeboles.com/Blake on Substack: https://letters.blakeboles.com/ Podcast: https://www.blakeboles.com/dbr/ Website: https://www.unschooladventures.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blaketotheboles/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unschooladventures/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unschool.adventuresFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/blake.bolesBooks by Blake BolesWhy Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?: https://amzn.to/3RCDi20The Art of Self-Directed Learning: https://amzn.to/3GEXpXeBetter Than College: How to Build a Successful Life Without a Four-Year Degree: https://amzn.to/3RCiwzxCollege Without High School: A Teenager’s Guide to Skipping High School and Going to College: https://amzn.to/3RkZlc2 Support the showPODCAST INFOPodcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss SUPPORT & CONNECTSupport on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.familyFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamilyTwitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
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Chris Balme | Challenge Accepted: Turning Adolescence into Adventure Chris Balme
Adolescence is often seen as something to endure — awkward years full of turbulence and struggle. But what if these years could be a time of discovery, adventure, and growth?In this episode, Jesper and Cecilie Conrad talk with Chris Balme on the launch day of his new book, Challenge Accepted: 50 Adventures to Make Middle School Awesome. We were introduced to Chris by our friend and former guest, Blake Boles, and quickly said yes to the conversation.Chris shares why adolescence is one of the most powerful stages of development — with a brain growing faster than at any other time, and social awareness reaching new heights — yet why conventional schooling so often gets in the way. Drawing on twelve years of research with adolescents worldwide, he shows how adventures like starting a business, creating guerrilla art, or camping solo can help young people step into their capabilities and keep their curiosity alive.Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn, praises the book:“Buy this book for every middle schooler, or about-to-be middle schooler you know. It just might provide the spark that turns what can be difficult years into years of awesome adventure and growth.”We also explore Chris’s own path from unhappy student to educational innovator — founding a lab school and creating an apprenticeship program that connected more than 17,000 young people with real-world mentors (including one who learned to fly a plane at twelve!).🔗 Relevant linkshttps://www.chrisbalme.com/ https://www.instagram.com/chrisbalme https://www.facebook.com/ChrisBalme/ https://www.amazon.com/Challenge-Accepted-Adventures-Middle-Awesome/dp/B0FJ2R8DY8 Books mentioned in the podcastBaol by Stefano BenniThe Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Humans by Matt Haig🗓️ Recorded August 15th, 2025. 📍 Lindale, Grange-over-Sands, UK Support the showPODCAST INFOPodcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss SUPPORT & CONNECTSupport on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.familyFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamilyTwitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
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Sarah van Gelder | The Revolution Where You Live - Rebuilding Community in an Isolated World
How can we recover the essential human connections that make life meaningful and sustainable? How can we create a world where neighbors know each other's names, children play freely outdoors, and no parent faces the overwhelming challenges of raising children alone? Sarah van Gelder, founder of YES Magazine and author of "The Revolution Where You Live," joins us to explore the troubling fragmentation of our social structures and the promising alternatives emerging in response. A growing number of Danish households are single-person dwellings, and approximately 95% of Danish children attend daycare. There is a global trend toward smaller household units and increasing isolation that contributes to what the U.S. Surgeon General has called a mental health crisis of loneliness.Drawing from her experience raising children in a co-housing community and her 12,000-mile journey exploring grassroots solutions across America, Sarah van Gelder shares examples of how intentional communities create joy, support, and meaning. From worker-owned cooperatives transforming economic power dynamics to neighbourhood initiatives that rebuild social connections, these stories challenge the dominant narrative that privacy and independence should be our highest priorities.The conversation delves into the cultural forces driving our disconnection—media that emphasizes danger over cooperation, economic pressures that separate families, and the glorification of individualism that leaves people feeling they must solve all problems alone. The path toward more connected living doesn't necessarily require radical lifestyle changes—simple actions like organizing neighborhood gatherings or creating mutual aid networks can begin to rebuild our social fabric. 🔗 Relevant linkshttps://substack.com/@howwerise https://www.facebook.com/Sarah.van.Gelder/ https://www.yesmagazine.org/ https://www.instagram.com/sarahrvangelder/ https://x.com/sarahvangelderhttps://www.amazon.com/stores/Sarah-van-Gelder/author/B006ASKW2M 🗓️ Recorded August 6th, 2025. 📍 The Addisons, Whityham, UK Support the showPODCAST INFOPodcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple Spotify: https://theconrad.family/spotify RSS: https://theconrad.family/rss SUPPORT & CONNECTSupport on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Theconradfamily Share a review: https://www.theconrad.family/review-our-podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.familyFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/theconradfamilyTwitter: https://twitter.com/theconradfamily
Self Directed - A Podcast on Life, Learning, and Raising Free Thinkers. Hosts Cecilie and Jesper Conrad, full-time travellers since 2018 and parents of four, invite a new guest on the podcast every Thursday.
Netherlands