What can monsters, middle-grade fantasy, and community-centered storytelling teach us about the world we live in today?
In this episode, Tricia Friedman sits down with New York Times bestselling author Claribel A. Ortega (Witchlings) to explore how fantasy fiction helps young readers navigate identity, belonging, and hope in turbulent times. Ortega shares her creative process—from plotting complex magical worlds to writing on planes during book tours—and reflects on the power of friendship, grief, and imagination as tools for resilience.

This episode is perfect for educators, librarians, creative writers, and fans of middle-grade fiction who want to learn how storytelling can mirror society and spark empathy.

00:02 – Monster Studies & Modern Mythmaking
Tricia introduces the idea of “monster studies” and how the creatures we imagine reflect the cultures that create them.

00:51 – Writing Through Chaos
Claribel discusses how writing became her way to channel frustration, community care, and activism during turbulent times.

03:27 – From Pantser to Plotter
How a tight outline and collaborative editing process transformed her creative flow — and how she wrote Witchlings: Scepter of Memories in just 38 days.

07:19 – Creativity in Airports and Coffee Shops
Claribel explains how she trained herself to write anywhere (even mid-flight) and why she resists being “precious” about her creative rituals.

10:03 – Fandom, Feedback, and Fanfiction
Balancing reader expectations while staying true to her creative North Star — and why fanfiction is a beautiful sign of connection.

13:43 – Imagination as a Muscle
Advice for aspiring writers: read current books, consume youth culture, live fully, and reconnect with your playful, curious side.

17:23 – Upcoming Projects
Claribel reveals her next graphic novel 30 Ways to Kill Your Avatar — an exploration of grief, gaming, and resilience.

Claribel A. Ortega, New York Times bestselling author of Ghost Squad and the Witchlings series, and Pura Belpre and Eisner Award-winning author of the graphic novel Frizzy, is a former reporter who writes middle grade and young adult fantasy inspired by her Dominican heritage. When she's not busy turning her obsession with pop culture, magic, and video games into books, she's co-hosting her podcast Bad Author Book Club and coaching authors on how to navigate publishing. Claribel has been featured on BuzzFeed, NPR, Good Morning America, and Deadline. You can find her on social media at @Claribel_Ortega and on her website at claribelortega.com.

Tricia Friedman is an educator, podcaster, and digital humanities advocate exploring how creativity, community, and technology intersect. Her shows help educators and leaders reimagine how storytelling, AI literacy, and futures thinking shape learning today. triciafriedman.com

Today, a college diploma is no guarantee that graduates have the competencies that businesses need, including using emerging technologies, communicating, working in teams, and other necessary skills. So, it’s fair to ask, “Do students really need a college degree”?

Brandeis University President, and nationally respected higher education leader and researcher, Arthur Levine has been at the forefront of the changing role of higher education. Co-author of THE GREAT UPHEAVAL, HIGHER EDUCATIONS PAST PRESENT AND UNCERTAIN FUTURE, Levine argues that in the next 20 years, consumers of higher education will determine what higher education will be, and that every institution will have to change.

Today, the United States is undergoing change of even greater magnitude and speed than it did during the Industrial Revolution as it shifts from a national, analog, industrial economy to a global, digital, knowledge economy. At the same time, public confidence in higher education has declined. Threatened by a demographic cliff in most states where fewer students will be graduating from high school over the next 20 years, the increased competition for students means that a larger number of higher education institutions will be closing or merging with other institutions. It is expected that as many as 20 to 25 percent of colleges, particularly liberal arts colleges and comprehensive regional colleges, will close in the coming years.

Learn more about The Great Upheaval:

New content producers and distributors will enter the higher education marketplace, driving up institutional competition and consumer choice and driving down prices. We are already seeing a proliferation of new postsecondary institutions, organizations and programs that have abandoned key elements of mainstream higher education. These emphasize digital technologies, reject time and place-based education, create low-cost degrees, adopt competency or outcome-based education, and award nontraditional credentials. Increasingly, libraries, museums, media companies and software makers have entered the marketplace, offering content, instruction and certification. Google offers 80 certificate programs and Microsoft has 77. The American Museum of Natural History has its own graduate school, which offers a Ph.D. in comparative biology, a Master of Arts degree in teaching, and short-term online courses that teachers can use for graduate study or professional development credit. The new providers are not only more accessible and convenient, offering a combination of competency- and course-based programs, they are also cheaper and more agile than traditional colleges and universities which will lead to more contraction and closings?

This episode is made possible by our partner Poll Everywhere

Poll Everywhere’s new version makes student engagement faster, simpler, and smarter. With AI-powered poll creation and seamless LMS integration, it’s built to transform lectures into truly interactive learning experiences. Try it out today with special promo code '25OFF'

Raghad shares her remarkable journey from Syria to Canada through the Second Chance program. She discusses the challenges of being one of the few students applying to universities abroad from Syria, her initial rejections and waitlists from U.S. universities, and how Second Chance opened new doors for her education and future as a changemaker.

• Growing up in Syria with dreams of studying abroad
• Navigating an unfamiliar application process with no local precedent
• Working with Dawn Network, a program supporting Syrian women in higher education
• Selected as one of four girls from across Syria for support
• Applied to 20 U.S. universities in senior year

• Introduction to the program as a "late decision" alternative
• Acceptance as one of 40-45 students from 300 applicants
• Immediate sense of personal connection and individual recognition
• Diverse cohort from Africa, Middle East, Russia, and beyond
• Fast-paced process of informational sessions and applications

Ready to learn more about Second Chance?

​​​​​​Every year, brilliant low-income students from around the world risk being left behind — not for lack of talent, but for lack of financial means to accept their college admission offers. Until Second Chance takes action.​​​​​

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Each April, at the final hour of the admissions cycle, we identify a cohort of extraordinary students and connect them with full scholarships at leading universities worldwide.​​​​​​

https://www.secondchance.global/

Karam Abboud shares their Second Chance story.

If their story inspires you, consider exploring ways to make even more stories like this a possibility.

Learn more:

https://www.secondchance.global/

​​​​​​Every year, brilliant low-income students from around the world risk being left behind — not for lack of talent, but for lack of financial means to accept their college admission offers. Until Second Chance takes action.​​​​​

​​​​​​

Each April, at the final hour of the admissions cycle, we identify a cohort of extraordinary students and connect them with full scholarships at leading universities worldwide.​​​​​​

Thank you to Oskar Diyali for creating the intro and outro music for this episode.

​​​​​​Every year, brilliant low-income students from around the world risk being left behind — not for lack of talent, but for lack of financial means to accept their college admission offers.

Until Second Chance takes action.​​​​​

​​​​​​Each April, at the final hour of the admissions cycle, we identify a cohort of extraordinary students and connect them with full scholarships at leading universities worldwide.​​​​​​

On the podcast you get to hear first hand from students who have experienced the mission of Second Chance.

This September, we invite you to Step Up for Second Chance, and figure out how you, and your community can support them in helping even more students.

The intro and outro music is composed by Second Chance student
Oskar Diyali .

Learn more:

https://www.secondchance.global/

Second Chance was conceived in 2018 when 60 of the world’s best students had their full scholarships revoked by a university at the last moment.

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Every year, high-achieving, high-need students around the world miss out on university for reasons outside of their control. These students have applied to university, but are not able to access the financial aid they had hoped for.

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This is where Second Chance comes in. Each year, they identify a cohort of the world's most brilliant students who face financial and other barriers to higher education, who have not gained access to university in the usual application cycle. These students come from the most difficult circumstances worldwide.

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After April 1, when universities have usually finalized their funding, their team of highly committed, experienced college counselors rapidly place these students at excellent universities around the world, with full scholarships.

Learn more:

https://www.secondchance.global/about

In this conversation, Leo Trottier discusses the interdisciplinary foundations of Fluent Pet, emphasizing the importance of cognitive science in understanding animal behavior and communication. He explores the emotional connections humans have with their pets and the implications of interspecies communication for animal rights and empathy. The conversation also touches on the future of technology in enhancing communication between species and the role of education in fostering empathy in children through interactions with animals.

Chapters

00:00 Interdisciplinary Foundations of Fluent Pet
03:34 Understanding Interspecies Communication
09:11 The Emotional Connection with Pets
13:27 Future Aspirations in Interspecies Communication
17:52 Teaching Empathy Through Animal Interaction
22:29 Exploring the Depth of Animal Communication
25:47 The Future of Animal Rights and Communication

Learn more about FluentPet

https://fluent.pet/en-ca

Learn more about Emily MacLean's new podcast:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1lkuugFdimhfDhdDDOV3X2

Catch Tricia with AAIE this Fall:

https://www.aaie.org/leadership-learning/future-foresight-community