The Authority: Nolan Bushnell and Dr. Leah Hanes on ExoDexa and Shaping the Future of Education

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We're pleased to share this special episode from The Authority Podcast, part of the Be Podcast Network.

The Authority is hosted by Ross Romano, a leadership coach, storytelling strategist and edtech advisor. He interviews leading authors from the education world and beyond to draw out their invaluable insights on leadership, culture-building, transformation, and student & educator success. Subscribe to The Authority here: https://authoritypodcast.net

My guests are Nolan Bushnell — the “father of electronic gaming” who has founded 20+ companies, including Atari, Chuck E. Cheese’s, and Catalyst Technologies — and Dr. Leah Hanes, CEO of the Two Bit Circus Foundation (2BCF).

Nolan and Leah are currently working together on the new gamified education company ExoDexa and have co-authored the book Shaping the Future of Education: The ExoDexa Manifesto.

Ross talks with Nolan and Leah about:

• How Nolan got interested in tackling education
• Steve Jobs: “What if you’re in a room and everybody thinks you’re wrong, but you think you’re right and you’ve thought more deeply about it than anybody?”
• The vision and goals of the school of the future
• What it really means to be designed around students first
• Artificial intelligence (AI) and why we should embrace it
• Entrepreneurship in the classroom
• “Competing” with video games vs. leaning into their organic ability to support learning
• “Games should be easy to learn but difficult to master.” Are schools focusing enough on mastery?
• The St. Crispin’s Day Speech and the “band of brothers”

Shaping the Future of Education is available on Amazon. Learn more at https://www.exodexa.com.

About today’s guests

In 1972, Nolan Bushnell created an industry when he founded Atari and gave the world Pong, the first blockbuster video game. Today his design credo―that games should be “easy to learn and difficult to master”―is inspiring a new generation of developers. A prolific entrepreneur, Bushnell has started more than 20 companies, including Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theater; Catalyst Technologies, the first Silicon Valley incubator; and Etak, the first in-car navigation system. In the process, he pioneered many of the workplace innovations that have made Silicon Valley a long-standing magnet for creative talent. Bushnell was the first and only person ever to hire Steve Jobs, which he details in his 2013 book, Finding the Next Steve Jobs.

Leah Hanes, PhD, is CEO of the Two Bit Circus Foundation (2BCF). During her tenure, first as executive director and then CEO, 2BCF has developed a strong voice in the current STEAM education discourse. Bringing potent creative play allies like T4T.org, STEAM Carnival, Imagination.org, and LA Makerspace under the 2BCF big top helped increase both reach and impact in education.

About the host

Ross Romano is a co-founder of the Be Podcast Network and CEO of September Strategies, a coaching and consulting firm that helps organizations and high-performing leaders in the K-12 education industry communicate their vision and make strategic decisions that lead to long-term success. Connect on Twitter @RossBRomano or LinkedIn.

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