Shows / Math Therapy
Math Therapy
Math Therapy explores the root causes of math trauma, and the empowering ways we can heal from it. Each week host Vanessa Vakharia, aka The Math Guru, dives into what we get right and wrong about math education, and chats with some of today’s most inspiring and visionary minds working to make math more accessible, diverse, and fun for students of all ages. Whether you think you’re a "math person" or not, you’re about to find out that math people don’t actually exist – but the scars that math…
Episodes
- Math Therapy
Bonus: What's your sign? (Vanessa has no clue)
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Given how much Vanessa talks about astrology on the podcast, what do you think her success rate was for guessing the…
- Math Therapy
Get the politicians out of the classroom w/ David Kochberg
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) If you're a fan of the podcast, you've often heard Vanessa mention our producer "David" in reference to him getting…
- Math Therapy
We're not teaching content, we're teaching students w/ Kevin Dykema
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Having attended and presented at the annual NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) conference, Vanessa…
- Math Therapy
Math Therapy is now a book! Vanessa tells all ...
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) HUGE news - Math Therapy is now a book! Vanessa has taken everything she's learned in her career helping students…
- Math Therapy
We are born to love math w/ Dan Finkel
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Dan Finkel is an author/educator who believes that humans are wired to be curious from birth, and that play is the…
- Math Therapy
Grit is your superpower w/ Dr. India White
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Dr. India White learned grit and resilience the hard way: facing down obstacles throughout her life and deciding she…
- Math Therapy
How to change someone's mind w/ Chris Luzniak
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) What if the secret to winning a debate was actually listening to your opponent? What if you could build confidence…
- Math Therapy
Math doesn't cause trauma, people do w/ Sean Nank
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) When Vanessa saw today’s guest deliver a deeply personal talk at a recent math conference, she was left with more…
- Math Therapy
Turns out some folks hate math w/ Jon Orr & Kyle Pearce
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Today’s another one for the teachers, featuring Jon Orr & Kyle Pearce of the Make Math Moments empire - they have a…
- Math Therapy
Teachers have trauma too w/ Brittany Hege
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) We’re often talking about trauma from the student perspective: how it happens in the classroom, and how it follows…
- Math Therapy
More clickbait in the classroom! w/ Howie Hua
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Of the truly infinite things Vanessa likes to rant about, few top the list like math’s marketing problem - which is…
- Math Therapy
The spiritual side of math w/ Francis Su
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) When you picture a mathematician, what comes to mind? Now … what about a “mathematical explorer”? Well, that’s what…
- Math Therapy
Tell your students you trust them w/ Zak Champagne
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Longtime listeners (like today’s guest, as you’ll discover…) will recall one name popping up in almost every…
- Math Therapy
The difference between equity & equality w/ Dr. Pamela Seda
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) On the Season 6 premiere of Math Therapy, Vanessa chats with Dr. Pamela Seda, an expert in all things education and…
- Math Therapy
Season 6 Trailer
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Season 6 drops March 28th - here’s a sample of who and what you’ll hear! Contact us: Vanessa Vakharia: Instagram…
- Math Therapy
Refresher: Pi Day in Prison
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) It's March 14th, aka 3.14 ... so Happy Pi Day! To help you get in the zone, we're re-airing an episode from last…
- Math Therapy
The Awkward Return?! (S6 is coming)
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) The rumours are true! (The rumours that Vanessa has been spreading herself.) Season 6 of Math Therapy launches March…
- Math Therapy
The Awkward Goodbye
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Don't worry, Math Therapy isn't going anywhere ... but here's a fun bonus episode as we look back on an incredible…
- Math Therapy
Embracing your limitless mind w/ Jo Boaler
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) In Vanessa's masters thesis titled "Imagining a World Where Paris Hilton Loves Math", there was nobody quoted more…
- Math Therapy
Teaching students to ... think?! w/ Peter Liljedahl
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Peter Liljedahl is literally changing the math classroom. His book "Building Thinking Classrooms" has taken the…
- Math Therapy
Mistakes: Villains or Heroes?
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Should mistake-making be encouraged in math class? Or should mistakes be shamed because “in the real world” you can…
- Math Therapy
Centering student voice in math class w/ Crystal Watson
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Today's guest literally entered the chat wearing a t-shirt that read "TRUTH MATTERS”, and that sure set the tone for…
- Math Therapy
Redefining "Success"
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) In today's episode, Vanessa explores the dangers of narrowly defining success and argues that contrary to popular…
- Math Therapy
Refresher: Drag queens & math class w/ Kyne Santos
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) In honour of Pride Month, we're taking a mid-season 5 break to re-air one of our all-time fave episodes featuring…
- Math Therapy
How struggle leads to growth w/ Robert Kaplinsky
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Think of this week's episode as a kind of reverse palate cleanser ... Vanessa and today's guest Robert Kaplinsky…
- Math Therapy
How trauma affects the brain w/ Liesl McConchie
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Last week's episode featured a deep dive with Vanessa into math trauma: what it is and how to avoid it. Today, brain…
- Math Therapy
What even is math trauma?
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Each episode, Vanessa discusses the impacts that math trauma can have on our collective relationship with math. But…
- Math Therapy
Mathers gonna math w/ Deborah Peart
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) You know how readers read and writers write? Well one day Deborah Peart decided that math should also be a verb, so…
- Math Therapy
Teaching math as an act of protest w/ Dan Meyer
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) When Vanessa crossed paths with Dan Meyer at a math conference, she sensed some pushback on her concept of math…
- Math Therapy
Season 5 trailer
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) We have some serious A-list math celebs coming at your podcast feeds over the next 10 weeks - here's a little sample…
- Math Therapy
Exciting update w/ Jill from Season 2!
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Longtime listeners will remember Season 2's Jill Waddell who shared her inspiring decision to switch careers at age…
- Math Therapy
Pi Day in Prison (Seriously)
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) There's no other way to say this: we went to prison for Pi Day this year. Longtime listeners will remembers…
- Math Therapy
Math reform under attack w/ Jo Boaler
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Math Therapy is (briefly) back! We've been hard at work on a new season which I can't wait for you to hear soon, but…
- Math Therapy
S4E10: Queering math w/ Dr. Anthony Bonato
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) In our final episode of the season, Vanessa chats with math professor Dr. Anthony Bonato about what it means to be…
- Math Therapy
S4E09: Giving students the voice they deserve w/ Rosalind Wiseman
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Did you know that the infamous math movie Mean Girls was actually inspired by Rosalind Wiseman’s non-fiction book…
- Math Therapy
S4E08: “Dude Walls” & the lost women of science w/ Katie Hafner
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) You may be thinking “what the F*CK is a dude wall?!”, and today Vanessa talks to the incredible Katie Hafner to find…
- Math Therapy
S4E07: Defying Asian math stereotypes w/ Steven Tran
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) One of the missions of this podcast is challenging stereotypes, and on today’s episode we tackle a big one: Asians…
- Math Therapy
S4E06: From mathochistic to mathcurious w/ A.K. Whitney
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) This one’s for all the adults out there who are like “hmmm maybe it’s not too late to learn a little math…”! On…
- Math Therapy
S4E05: Compassion & confidence in the classroom w/ Sophie Soberano
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Nothing shows how important teacher-student relationships can be than actually being friends with some of your…
- Math Therapy
S4E04: Dancing on the moon w/ Dr. Merritt Moore
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Today’s guest has a dream: to dance on the moon. With a robot. The craziest part? This is actually an attainable…
- Math Therapy
S4E03: 4 million subscribers watch this guy do math w/ Grant Sanderson
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Today’s guest is an actual celeb in the math-world. We’re talking A-list, we’re talking literally MILLIONS OF FANS…
- Math Therapy
S4E02: Is math the ultimate catfish? w/ Terilisha
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) We’re not the only ones who binge-watched Netflix’s The Circle over the pandemic, and one reason we were OBSESSED…
- Math Therapy
S4E01: Can math predict the Oscars? w/ Ben Zauzmer
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Will you be watching the Oscars this Sunday, comparing the winners with your predictions? Well one person who…
- Math Therapy
Season 4 trailer
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) We are BACK! We've got 10 incredible and inspiring guests lined up for the new season of Math Therapy, each with a…
- Math Therapy
S3E10: How math rehabilitated a murderer w/ Christopher Havens
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) When this podcast started, interviewing a convicted murderer - while he was still in prison, no less - was…
- Math Therapy
S3E09: I’m not a math person, don’t @ me w/ Bex
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) The year was 2020. A tweet went viral on the interwebs and Vanessa damn near lost her mind. Somewhere in the UK, Bex…
- Math Therapy
S3E08: There are no stupid questions w/ Roger Fischer
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Alright teachers, this one’s for you! Today Vanessa chats with Dr. Roger Fischer, an educator from Montana who is…
- Math Therapy
S3E07: Challenging stereotypes by fulfilling them w/ Abby Govindan
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) We all hate harmful stereotypes, but have you ever thought of breaking stereotypes … by simply fulfilling them?!…
- Math Therapy
S3E06: Why representation matters w/ Brittany Rhodes
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Forget Uber Eats - get some math delivered to your doorstep! Yep, that’s a thing, and it’s all thanks to Brittany…
- Math Therapy
S3E05: How brands can use their power for good w/ Candace Borland
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Late last year AT&T ran a full-page ad in the New York Times depicting a mother and daughter in despair over math…
- Math Therapy
S3E04: Mathfluencers, Mean Girls & more w/ Esther Brunat
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Yep, you read that right: mathfluencers are the future of education and today’s guest is leading the way! Esther…
- Math Therapy
Extra Credit: Spirituality & Science
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) This season's interviews were all done remotely over Zoom with our producer Sabina Wex and technical producer David…
- Math Therapy
S3E03: Albert Einstein was a f*cking Pisces w/ Anthony Perrotta
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) If you follow Vanessa on Instagram, you may know that a) she has really gotten into astrology, and b) that is…
- Math Therapy
S3E02: The math teacher that changed my life w/ Ewa Kasinska
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) It is no exaggeration to say that this podcast (and Vanessa’s entire career in math education) would not exist if…
- Math Therapy
S3E01: A drag queen walks into a math class ... w/ Kyne Santos
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Season 3 of Math Therapy kicks off today with a brand new theme: math in the media! Historically, media…
- Math Therapy
Season 3 Trailer
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) Season 3 starts April 8th, and for the next 10 weeks Vanessa Vakharia, aka The Math Guru, will be exploring the…
- Math Therapy
Mailbag #2: Teachers Tell All!
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) We're back!! Well, we'll be back for real April 8th when Season 3 of Math Therapy officially launches. To get in the…
Math TherapyThe square root of possible w/ the creators of Netflix's Jingle Jangle!
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) It’s a Math Therapy holiday miracle!! After bawling her eyes out watching the groundbreaking Netflix Christmas movie…
Math TherapyS2E10: Why is no one listening to John Mighton?! w/ John Mighton
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) This season of Math Therapy might be over, but not before Vanessa meets her own personal mathematical hero, Canada’s…
Math TherapyS2E09: Nature, meet Nurture w/ Tamara Rebick & her kids
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply) This week Vanessa goes out on a limb and does something she’s never done before on the pod: she talks to real…