The Mighty Writers Podcast... with Maureen Boland

We end the second season of the award-winning Mighty Writers podcast in my personal comfort zone, as I sit down with a former student,16-year-old Brooke Fulton.

Brooke talks to me about her childhood …

In Philadelphia, one figure who needs absolutely no introduction is the Phillie Phanatic, the team mascot who is as iconic in these parts as Dr. J, Ben Franklin, or Rocky Balboa.

Beyond being a key fi…

Philadelphia is awash in grieving children and families. But it’s not all bad news, because where there are serious problems, there are humans at work on serious solutions.

In my years as a classroom…

I’ve been obsessed with coming-of-age stories since I first read “A Catcher in the Rye” when I was in seventh grade. That obsession is probably what made me feel entirely at home when I became a nint…

I often say that my favorite thing about being a classroom writing teacher was my access to stories. It was enriching to me as a teacher and as a human being to learn about my students' lives through…

My close friend and colleague Liz Wesley knows what it’s like to fight for fairness in a profoundly unfair world. She battled her way through the education system as a child only to find herself up a…

LuQman Abdullah caught my attention when I read his commentaries on gun violence in the Philadelphia Citizen.

He emphasized something that had become evident to me through my work as a classroom teach…

I am an obsessive people-watcher. Which is one of the reasons working in a school never-got old for me. Schools are full of people and stories. 

When I started the podcast, I thought about other workp…

Here's a taste for what's in store for our second season! Season 2 officially launches on December 14th. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Season 2 of the Mighty W…

We kick off the second season of the Mighty Writers Podcast with a conversation with former NFL safety and two-time Super Bowl champ Malcolm Jenkins who recently published a revealing and introspecti…

On paper, Maureen Boland and Pat Cooper might seem like unlikely friends. They come from very different backgrounds and have had totally disparate life experiences. Maureen was Pat’s high school teac…

The U.S. is facing an unprecedented youth crisis: 1 in 10 young adults is dealing with some form of homelessness each year, and the numbers of them struggling with mental health issues has increased …

In this episode, we speak with award-winning Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Helen Ubiñas about her career path, themes in her writing, the challenges of being a woman of color in journalism, and why…

Kennett Square, PA, aka the Mushroom Capital of the World, is about an hour south of Philadelphia. Fully half of the U.S. gets its mushrooms from Kennett Square, and the majority of people who make t…

Kirkus called Jane Wong’s debut memoir about her childhood in Atlantic City “a generous, steaming stew of a book loaded with personality and originality and sprinkled with the fiery chili of rage.” I…

In January, Yale psychology professor Laurie Santos adapted her popular “Science of Well-Being” course for teen audiences. That curriculum was picked up by Philadelphia high school teacher Kate Reber…

“A brilliant and fucking fearless debut.” That’s what acclaimed author Carmen Maria Machado said about “Sink” by Joseph Earl Thomas — and that was just the beginning of the raves, from Kiese Laymon t…

In 2021, mother, writer and yoga instructor Linda Geraghty was featured in the stirring and critically acclaimed documentary Our American Family. The project, which was filmed over the course of a ye…

Thirty-year-old Akeiba Emerson shares her journey from foster care to adoption. Like too many children, Akeiba experienced abuse and neglect as she moved through 22 different foster care placements b…