MINI EPISODE: Keeping Schools Safe from Moms for Liberty (with Laura Pappano)

The Department of Education is being dismantled before our eyes. Why does it matter, and can it be rescued? Reporter Laura Pappano joins us with updates on these things, and her latest visit to the Moms for Liberty conference in Florida, where a new tactic is emerging. 

Full transcript is available here at relationscapes.org. 

Show Notes

• "Moms for quote-unquote 'Liberty,' (with Laura Pappano)," Relationscapes (September 2, 2025)
• Relationscapes, "How Children's Rights Impact Everyone (with Adam Benforado)."

Recent Laura Pappano articles: 

• "Moms (and Cool, Young Podcasters) for Liberty," Slate (October 20, 2025).
• "At Moms for Liberty summit, parents urged to turn their grievances into lawsuits," The Hechinger Report (October 20, 2025).
• "The new reality with universal school vouchers: Homeschoolers, marketing, pupil churn," The Hechinger Report (November 6, 2025).

About the Author

Laura Pappano is an award-winning education journalist, author, and founder of The New Haven Student Journalism Project. Her latest book is called School Moms: Parent Activism, Partisan Politics and the Battle for Public Education. She is a former education columnist for The Boston Globe, and has published work in places like The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Salon, The Washington Post, USA Today, Slate, The Atlantic, and The Christian Science Monitor.