James Traub is a journalist, author, and scholar. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the New York Institute For The Humanities, and the Society of American Historians.
In this week’s conversation, Yascha Mounk and James Traub discuss why progressive pedagogy is failing American students, how classical schools are achieving better outcomes through traditional teaching methods, and ...
The debate over American education often devolves into ideological battles—left vs. right, "woke" vs. traditional—but James Traub’s analysis cuts through this noise by focusing on pedagogy. His observations reveal a systemic issue: many classrooms, regardless of political context, fail to engage students meaningfully. Progressive pedagogy, with its emphasis on critical inquiry over factual knowledge, risks leaving students without the foundational tools needed for deeper thinking. Meanwhile, cla...