Stella & Sasha welcome former public defender and education advocate, Maud Maron to the show for a fascinating conversation examining the intersection of education and politics. Maud reflects on the troubling shifts within schools, where merit and academic standards are being overshadowed by ideological pressures.
Maud Maron is the founder and President of ThirdRail, an Ideas Consultancy that creates environments where ideas, not ideologies, work in service of strategy and organizational success.
Maud began her career as a public defender and later served as an Associate Clinical Professor of Law at Yeshiva University. She also led Manhattan's largest School Board, advocating for merit-based admissions in NYC’s Specialized High Schools, and co-founded PLACE NYC, a parent-led education advocacy group. After running for Congress and City Council as a moderate Democrat, she became an Independent.
A seasoned political commentator, she regularly contributes to outlets like the NYPost and Newsweek and has appeared on major TV programs including Fox News and The Megyn Kelly Show.
In this episode, Maud discusses the evolving landscape of education, where traditional academic standards are increasingly being influenced or overshadowed by ideological pressures from social and political agendas. She highlights the impact of identity politics, gender ideology, and equity measures on core educational values.
Drawing from her personal experiences from pushing for enhanced math standards, to becoming embroiled in a heated debate over gender guidelines in New York City's public schools, Maud recounts the tactics used to silence her dissent.
Despite her efforts to initiate a respectful dialogue on the impact of gender policies–specifically for female athletes– Maud faced heckling and intimidation tactics that have broad implications for free speech in schools and elsewhere.
Maud tells the story in reference to these videos from a New York Community Education Council meeting about the passing of Resolution #248 requesting the establishment of a Gender Guidelines review committee comprised of “female athletes, parents, coaches, relevant medical professionals and evolutionary biology experts”.
Activists disrupted the meeting with persistent humming impeding productive and informative dialogue, effectively silencing supporters of the resolution’s passing. The approved requested review committee being protested would be “authorized to propose amendments, changes and additions to the Gender Guidelines which are the result of an inclusive, evidence-based process concerning the impact on female athletes when the category of sex is replaced by gender identity.”
This episode offers invaluable insights for parents, educators, political followers, free speech advocates, and those curious about how the politicization of education and ideological pressures are diluting the emphasis on academic performance, sparking concerns about the long-term impact on students' education and society at large.
Resources & Links
Explore more from Maud Maron: https://www.maudmaron.com/
@MaudMaron on X
ThirdRail, a consultancy that builds flourishing workplaces where ideas – not ideologies – inspire strategy
PlaceNYC (Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education)
FAIR (Foundation Against Intolerance & Racism)
Will New York Stand Up for Girls?, by Maud Maron (City Journal)
Radicalized sex-ed: A telling tale of how NYC educrats shut out parents, even on Community Education Councils, by Maud Maron (The New York Post)
Check out Maud Maron’s recommendations:
Bad Therapy: Why The Kids Aren’t Growing Up
Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters
This was an excellent episode. Thank you Maud Maron for sharing your story and insightful perspective.
Thank you for this wonderful and insightful conversation. Have you all heard about the Overton Window strategy?
The humming meeting...
At its least offensive, the humming is simply rude and disruptive to others who would like to listen. At minimum, they should've been required to leave the space. Where was the chairman on that?
Humming would limit their ability to hear. What appalling sense of entitlement they have, to not care about the opinions of the other participants of female sports. They shouldn't be allowed to play, on those grounds alone. Strikingly poor human behaviour. No tolerance.
Humming could distract and disable the critical minds of those who would like to listen - a very aggressive act - I'm cynical.
Regarding the little boys dressed in girls clothes, sent in to talk. I wouldn't give them an inch. I would say that even their pre-pubescent boy muscles in their little boy bodies (they were 'wrongly' born into) are stronger than girl muscles, differently organised, and that they have different biomechanical advantages over girls, and that if they wanted to ACTUALLY play sport rather than be ACTIVISTS there are places in boys sports for them, ready made. It is unfair for the girls if they play.
I hope every attendee was required to register their name and address - wouldn't want groomers and pedophiles turning up to pressure decisions of school boards.
So thanks Maud, that was fairly horrifying. You seem to be a very skilled and assertive operator. Keep going. Stay low stress. It's just a process.