The hottest Education Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top International Topics

GPT-5's debut is slop; Will AI cause the next depression? Harvard prof warns of alien invasion; Alpha School & homeschool heroes

The Intrinsic Perspective • 9157 implied HN points • 06 Aug 25
🕹 Technology Education
  1. GPT-5's first output shows it's still struggling with understanding context. It recommended a show about determinism instead of AI, which raises questions about its reliability.
  2. Since the year 2000, a significant portion of human experiences has happened, highlighting how recent advances have shaped our lives profoundly.
  3. Alpha School's education model focuses on two hours of learning a day using apps, but it's important to have real human interaction in learning. Just relying on AI and apps might not foster a true love for learning.

How To Stop Worrying And Learn To Love Lynn's National IQ Estimates

Astral Codex Ten • 31522 implied HN points • 15 Jan 25
🔬 Science Education
  1. IQ differences between groups may not be purely genetic and can be influenced by environmental factors like nutrition and education. This means that poorer conditions in some countries can lead to lower IQ scores.
  2. People often perceive those with low IQs differently based on specific syndromes, which can cause various functional deficits. A person with a low IQ might still lead a normal life in their context.
  3. The gap in IQ scores between different groups suggests there's potential for improvement through development initiatives. Better nutrition, health care, and education can help raise IQ scores in underdeveloped areas.

Botshit Gone Wild

Marcus on AI • 11975 implied HN points • 04 Jul 25
🕹 Technology Education
  1. Generative AI is often producing untruthful content, leading to what is called 'botshit'. This can create a lot of confusion and misinformation.
  2. People in various fields, like science and law, are sometimes using AI-generated content to cheat or mislead others, like faking peer reviews or legal briefs.
  3. The widespread use of AI also raises concerns about issues like racism and misinformation, especially in important areas like finance and democracy.

Networks

Points And Figures • 666 implied HN points • 01 Feb 26
💼 Business Education
  1. Networking means giving before getting; help people first and build genuine relationships instead of collecting business cards.
  2. Mapping and studying networks reveals why certain cities and groups hold lasting influence, and turning gut instincts into rigorous analysis helps you avoid bad decisions.
  3. An energized professional network is a practical tool for getting things done and spreading ideas across industries and regions. Leaders who can tap into those networks can implement solutions and save resources.

Dispatch from the occupation

Can We Still Govern? • 941 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education
  1. Federal immigration and other officers are carrying out aggressive, often warrantless raids across Minneapolis, abducting people (including U.S. citizens) and creating widespread fear and intimidation.
  2. The raids are disrupting daily life and basic needs — schools, food access, jobs, and housing are being interrupted as families hide and rely on community food and legal support.
  3. Neighbors are organizing peaceful, legal efforts to document and protect people but cannot stop heavily armed federal forces, so outside political pressure, donations to local groups, and regular contact with affected people are needed.
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Public Choice Links, 2/06/2026

In My Tribe • 318 implied HN points • 06 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education
  1. People disagree about why government can’t get things done. Some blame public distrust that blocks capacity, while others blame one-party dominance and weak electoral competition at the state level.
  2. Outsourcing welfare services to private firms can create incentives for fraud because firms may keep unspent money as profit. Alternatives include direct public provision or giving recipients cash to spend themselves, which proponents say would reduce waste.
  3. Social Security drifted from a modest safety net toward a broadly generous pension as replacement rates rose in the 1970s. One proposed reform is a flat benefit that focuses the program on protecting poor seniors rather than replacing middle- and upper-income retirement income.

The Other Type of Flynn Effect

Cremieux Recueil • 235 implied HN points • 23 Feb 26
🔬 Science Education
  1. Many reported Flynn and anti-Flynn effects are driven by measurement bias—tests change meaning across cohorts and norms get obsolete—so gains often reflect test-taking sophistication more than real changes in general ability.
  2. Some apparent cohort trends are actually sampling or compositional artifacts, for example later-born children tending to have more advantaged parents, and those apparent gains or losses often disappear in within-family (sibling) comparisons.
  3. Robust conclusions require checking measurement invariance, using within-family designs, and guarding against collinearity and low power; when those methods are applied, large population IQ shifts usually shrink or vanish.

The Epstein Saga: Rod Dreher, Nellie Bowles, and Robby Soave on the Files and the Fallout. Plus. . .

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 500 implied HN points • 04 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education
  1. The huge release of Epstein files has kept his crimes and elite connections at the center of public life, and how people interpret those documents can fuel widespread anger, conspiracy, or calls for major social change.
  2. Dumping millions of unvetted pages and media risks dragging innocent people into the scandal and exposing victims, creating a dangerous precedent where gossip and unverified claims spread with real consequences.
  3. The fallout reaches beyond the files themselves — journalists face scrutiny for past contacts, and the episode ties into larger debates about accountability, institutional trust, AI-powered watchdogs, and politicization of public institutions.

The new academy: modern intellectuals are writing their best ideas on Substack

read • 19320 implied HN points • 01 Jun 23
🎭️ Culture Education
  1. Substack provides a platform for academics to share their ideas more freely and immediately with a wider audience than traditional academic journals.
  2. Substack allows scholars to earn revenue from their publications and engage with readers in a more personal and direct manner.
  3. It offers a space for academics to innovate, challenge traditional academic norms, and explore intellectual contributions outside the constraints of conventional academia.

Cardinal Dolan’s Exit Interview. De-escalation in Minneapolis. Allie Beth Stuckey Responds to Hillary Clinton. Plus. . .

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 449 implied HN points • 05 Feb 26
📰 News Education
  1. Timothy Cardinal Dolan is retiring after 17 years as a blunt, influential voice for the American Catholic Church, and he’s been active in political and religious debates, notably speaking out on rising antisemitism.
  2. Big political announcements often don’t change outcomes: promises to disband the Department of Education haven’t come to pass, and ICE’s reported pullback in Minnesota coincided with local actions that still enabled federal immigration enforcement.
  3. Technology is shaking institutions and norms: AI and stolen exams have undermined the integrity of top high school math contests, while tech stocks and Bitcoin have fallen as markets rethink risky, growth-focused assets.

"We are sensitive machines"

Five’s Substack • 3197 implied HN points • 23 May 24
🎭️ Culture Education
  1. Most people only have about 5 good hours a day to focus and be productive, and this can vary a lot. It's important to recognize that sometimes it might feel like you have even less time to think clearly.
  2. To make the most of those good hours, you need to protect your time and avoid distractions. It takes discipline to choose better activities and stick to them.
  3. Having a set time dedicated to reading and writing can help create a space for creativity and deeper thought. It's about creating a routine that allows you to fully engage with your ideas.

What kids wrote in my eighth grade yearbook

Tao Lin • 1278 implied HN points • 18 Jul 24
🎭️ Culture Education
  1. Yearbooks capture memories and feelings from classmates. They show how friends viewed each other during middle school.
  2. Interactions can shape friendships, even if they start with jokes or silly moments. They highlight the fun and awkwardness of growing up together.
  3. People often remember the little things about each other, even if they didn't talk much. These small details can create lasting impressions.

Moms for Liberty activists starting taxpayer-funded charter school

Popular Information • 10082 implied HN points • 16 Jan 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education
  1. Moms for Liberty activists are starting a taxpayer-funded charter school with close ties to a right-wing curriculum
  2. The charter school avoids state oversight, raising concerns about accountability and quality of education
  3. Erskine College sponsoring multiple charter schools, including the Moms for Liberty founded academy, for financial support

26 Useful Concepts for 2026

The Prism • 1313 implied HN points • 28 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Education
  1. The information ecosystem is overflowing with AI-made and attention-seeking content, so what you see online is biased and truth is harder and costlier to find.
  2. Understanding human psychology—like how naming problems helps, boredom fuels creativity, and small challenges build resilience—lets you steer your life toward meaning and better choices.
  3. Systemic incentives in tech, academia, and politics reward short-term attention and easy optics, which produces propaganda, shallow fixes, and persistent bad behaviours even when they’re wrong.

The $140K Question: Cost Changes Over Time

Don't Worry About the Vase • 1612 implied HN points • 17 Dec 25
💰 Finance Education
  1. Real incomes and aggregate wealth have gone up, but many people still feel worse off because the costs and required standards of modern middle-class life (housing, health, education, childcare) have risen faster or in more painful ways than the headline numbers show.
  2. Housing is the central problem: legal and regulatory limits on building in the places with opportunity, plus higher interest rates, have made homes scarce and expensive and squeezed people’s ability to live where they want or raise a family.
  3. Official statistics miss key burdens — mandatory insurance tied to jobs, subsidies and hoops that distort choices, credential inflation, time costs, and administrative bloat — so even if some service prices have leveled, the real, lived cost and uncertainty remain high.

‘Charlie began taking in a lot of harmful ideological messages’

Wrong Side of History • 622 implied HN points • 17 Jan 26
📰 News Education
  1. The British state is portrayed as mixing authoritarian impulses with farcical incompetence, prioritising ideological conformity and community appeasement over honesty and effectiveness.
  2. A government-backed Prevent programme and related materials treat questioning mass immigration as a dangerous or extremist mindset, framing research or debate as risky and pushing counselling or referrals for youths who engage with those ideas.
  3. Institutional priorities like hitting diversity targets and managing 'community relations' are producing practical harms and contradictions — from bad hiring decisions and police deference to reduced opportunities and inconsistent restrictions for teenagers.

Derealization for a whole hour

Disaffected Newsletter • 779 implied HN points • 05 Aug 24
🎙 Podcasts Education
  1. Many people are feeling derealization, which makes them question if the world around them is real. This can happen even to those who are usually stable.
  2. A therapist is discussing what she's seeing in clients regarding derealization and offers advice for those worried about their mental state.
  3. There's a concerning situation in Vermont where the state's Supreme Court allowed schools to give vaccines to children without parents' consent, showing a troubling trend.

Where Democracy Still Works

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1850 implied HN points • 04 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education
  1. Everyday local civic life — neighbors, schools, churches, and volunteer groups — is where democratic habits are actually practiced, and that sustains the republic when national politics are broken.
  2. People are building practical, local solutions like microschools, community relief funds, volunteer disaster response, and neighborhood microgrids that meet needs faster than distant authorities.
  3. These routine acts of trust and cooperation show democracy can be rebuilt from the ground up and remains alive in communities even as federal institutions struggle.

I'm joining a fellowship at the Mercatus Centre.

The Common Reader • 7123 implied HN points • 25 Jul 25
🎭️ Culture Education
  1. The writer is starting a two-year fellowship at the Mercatus Centre in the USA, focusing on literature and liberal values. They aim to understand how great literature connects with ideas of human flourishing.
  2. They plan to explore how classical liberal thinkers and literature, like those by Adam Smith and J.S. Mill, can inform our understanding of society and individualism. They want to study the relationship between literature and liberal ideas.
  3. The writer believes in a revival of interest in the humanities and wants to encourage deeper reading of great works. They see this as essential for understanding life and happiness in today's culture.

Sex Differences Don't Go Away Just Because You Want Them To

Rob Henderson's Newsletter • 6969 implied HN points • 03 Aug 25
🎭️ Culture Education
  1. Men and women are becoming closer in education and job success, yet their political views are growing further apart. This shows that while they might achieve similar status, their perspectives on the world can still differ significantly.
  2. There are real differences in how boys and girls are raised and behave, influenced by both biology and society. These differences can shape their personality traits and preferences, affecting how they view and interact with the world.
  3. In wealthier and more equal societies, men and women's differences in behavior and personality can become more pronounced. This suggests that just creating equality isn't enough; understanding and acknowledging differences is also important for harmony.

Scholastic's "bigot button"

Popular Information • 14151 implied HN points • 16 Oct 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education
  1. Scholastic faces criticism for potentially excluding books featuring people of color and LGBTQ characters from book fairs.
  2. Scholastic claims to segregate books due to pending legislation in U.S. states, risking exclusion for teachers and librarians.
  3. There is a backlash against Scholastic from publishers like Brave Books that promote different values and books for children.

UPDATE: A case study in unethical journalism

Popular Information • 14406 implied HN points • 04 Oct 23
📰 News Education
  1. Popular Information reported on a school district in Florida instructing to remove books with LGBTQ characters.
  2. Social media played a role in spreading the report which was later confirmed by various media outlets.
  3. There was controversy surrounding a news report from certain TV stations presenting a different story and eventually taking down the report.

A Season of Creative Partnerships

Tech and Tea • 164 implied HN points • 18 Feb 26
💼 Business Education
  1. Leaving full-time work opened up creative energy that’s now being poured into collaborative projects with friends, and building together feels energizing and leverages complementary strengths.
  2. Practical offerings have been launched—courses like DRI Your Career and EM Survival Guide plus a fractional leadership firm (Noodle Labs)—all designed to be accessible, hands-on support for early-stage teams and managers.
  3. Making space for creativity is still a priority through a journaling course and small local projects like a neighborhood trinket trade box, emphasizing meaningful, joyful work over things that must scale.

let's talk about ai, baby

Both Are True • 145 implied HN points • 17 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Education
  1. AI can be a practical personal assistant that handles boring tasks, tracks deadlines and ideas, and helps you stay aligned with your values so you can focus on creative work.
  2. Relying on AI creates real ethical and authenticity questions — it can feel addictive or like cheating, so you need clear boundaries and rules about when and how you use it.
  3. People want to learn how to build these AI workflows, so teaching and productizing those setups creates community, income, and a way to spread useful practices.

To spoil the child

Disaffected Newsletter • 2417 implied HN points • 20 May 24
🎭️ Culture Education
  1. Many young people today lack the skills and maturity that previous generations had. This isn't entirely their fault, but it affects how they see themselves.
  2. Young generations often feel more knowledgeable and morally superior, but this can lead to them not accepting constructive criticism. They need to understand that feedback is meant to help them grow.
  3. There's a need for young people to recognize and correct their own incompetencies. Accepting help from older generations could help them develop into more capable adults.

A Capacitor Will Stop That... Right?

filterwizard • 19 implied HN points • 30 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Education
  1. Capacitors are used to manage electrical noise and improve stability in circuits. They help smooth out fluctuations in voltage.
  2. Understanding electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) can prevent interference between electronic devices. This is important for maintaining performance and reliability.
  3. Decoupling is a key technique in design to isolate different circuit parts. It helps reduce noise and improves the overall functionality of the system.

Franchise Thinking

Working Theorys • 242 implied HN points • 10 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Education
  1. Franchise thinking is when people fit new phenomena into pre-made, popular narratives instead of examining the specific, contextual causes.
  2. Because these franchises are safe, timely, and hard to falsify, media and platforms amplify them, crowding out original thought and making public discourse fragile and repetitive.
  3. The antidote is patience and curiosity: invest in new ideas, accept uncertainty, and prioritize careful, specific analysis over sequels and click-friendly narratives.

On quantity and quality

Austin Kleon • 3776 implied HN points • 02 Apr 24
🎨 Art & Illustration Education
  1. Making lots of work can actually help you create better work in the long run. The more you create, the more you learn from your mistakes.
  2. Focusing too much on making everything perfect can hold you back. If you worry less about perfection, you might surprise yourself with something great.
  3. The idea is that practicing quantity helps improve quality. It's about taking action and experimenting instead of just thinking about what could be perfect.

Pushing and pulling

Austin Kleon • 6754 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Education
  1. There's a difference between the push internet, where things are thrown at you, and the pull internet, where you actively seek out information. It's good to engage more with the pull internet.
  2. To discover your taste, explore artists, read their biographies, and connect with their influences. Following the connections can deepen your understanding and appreciation of their work.
  3. Take time to reflect and be intentional about what you consume. The goal is to search for content that enriches your life rather than just passively scrolling through feeds.

What's in the cards

Austin Kleon • 5215 implied HN points • 23 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Education
  1. Creating your own library checkout cards can be a fun project. You just need pockets, typewriters, and the right cards!
  2. New books by favorite cartoonists are now available. Check out Liana Finck's children's book and Kevin Huizenga's re-released work.
  3. Enjoying nature can be comforting, like watching baby eagles hatch on a live cam. It's a great way to connect with the world around us.

Coleman Hughes: What American Students Aren’t Taught About Slavery

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 7085 implied HN points • 18 Jun 25
🎭️ Culture Education
  1. Many American students aren't taught the full history and significance of slavery. It's important to understand this past to shape a better future.
  2. There's a wide discussion about how slavery has impacted many aspects of American culture and society. This includes different fields like business and social practices.
  3. Media and literature have changed how slavery is remembered, moving from ignoring it to exploring its deep legacy. This change helps us understand its effects on today's America.

Indiana Launches Anti-LGBTQ "Snitch Line," Users Flood With Memes In Protest

Erin In The Morning • 5503 implied HN points • 07 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education
  1. Indiana's Attorney General launched a tool for reporting LGBTQ+ education in schools, sparking a flood of memes in protest.
  2. Users submitted prank submissions to the reporting tool, including memes of Godzilla and the Bee Movie script.
  3. Similar attempts to launch 'snitch lines' by other administrations have also faced backlash and pranks.

Learning Assembly for Fun and Profit

The Chip Letter • 12886 implied HN points • 14 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Education
  1. Learning assembly language can help you understand how computers work at a deeper level. It's beneficial for debugging code and grasping the basics of machine instructions.
  2. There are retro and modern assembly languages to choose from, each with its own pros and cons. Retro languages are fun but less practical today, while modern ones are more useful but often complicated.
  3. RISC-V is a promising choice for learning assembly language because it's growing in popularity and offers a clear path from simple concepts to more complex systems. It's also open-source, making it accessible for new learners.

how to tell if you are the problem

bad cattitude • 206 implied HN points • 03 Feb 26
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Education
  1. Ask yourself one simple question: can you remain friends with someone who holds a significant political or social view you disagree with? If the answer is no, that’s a warning that your beliefs may have hardened into dogma that damages relationships and social cohesion.
  2. When a political faction gains unchecked power it often radicalizes and pushes ideology into institutions like schools, provoking backlash and deeper polarization; both left and right can do this and ideology-as-identity fuels censorship, purity tests, and broken ties.
  3. The cure is humility, honest questioning, and practical problem‑solving while preserving relationships across disagreement, but there are moral boundaries—people who advocate or seek to impose extreme harms (e.g., child slavery or forced child marriage) are rightly excluded and resisted.

This is How We Fall Out of Love with the World

Culture Study • 12118 implied HN points • 23 Feb 25
🎭️ Culture Education
  1. Art and essential services matter, but they often lack sufficient public funding in America. Many believe value only comes from profit, which overlooks the importance of community support.
  2. Cuts to public services mean that everyday Americans are forced to shoulder more costs. This creates a fragile system that risks collapse during tough times, like the pandemic.
  3. Passion jobs, where people work for love rather than money, are at risk as public funding declines. This leads to burnout and instability for those who dedicate themselves to these important roles in society.

Why I am not a polygenic score nihilist

Wyclif's Dust • 5365 implied HN points • 01 Jul 25
🔬 Science Education
  1. Polygenic scores can explain significant aspects of outcomes like education, despite having low R-squared values. This means they can still be useful even if they don't account for everything.
  2. The effects of genetics on educational attainment can be large, showing that having a higher polygenic score can significantly increase the chances of going to university.
  3. It's important not to dismiss polygenic scores just because they have low explanatory power. They can have real, substantial effects that matter for understanding outcomes.

Are Bad Researchers Bad People?

Heterodox STEM • 263 implied HN points • 01 Feb 26
📖 Philosophy Education
  1. Intellectual virtues like humility, open-mindedness, and integrity are crucial to sound inquiry because they help researchers notice and correct biases.
  2. Practicing these virtues improves research quality, helps expose pseudoscience, and reduces political polarization by making people less likely to dismiss opposing views or cling to weak evidence.
  3. Teaching and modeling epistemic virtues—through classroom practices, checklists, and dedicated programs—can strengthen scholarship and make public debate more reliable and civil.