Math Therapy
Vanessa Vakharia, aka The Math Guru
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About This Podcast
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 class left on many of us, definitely do. And don’t worry, no calculators or actual math were involved in the making of this podcast ;)
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Recent Episodes
The best scientists follow the data AND their hearts w/ Imogen Coe
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)Vanessa's mentor and friend, Dr. Imogen Coe, holds many distinctions: Professor of Critical Thinking in Biomedical Sciences, award-winning scholar-activist,…
How a music studio is just like math class w/ Devon Lougheed
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)For the last month, Vanessa and Math Therapy producer David have been in the studio working on their band's next album, and Vanessa couldn't help observing…
How to change your life by changing your story w/ Gorav Menon
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)Today's episode is about storytelling. So much of our self-worth and perceived ability come from internal narratives that have been shaped by stories we've…
9 surprising reasons math scores are dropping
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)Everyone’s always ranting and raving about why student math scores are dropping, but are they focusing on the wrong reasons? In today's episode, Vanessa…
How math can help prison inmates turn their lives around w/ Christopher Havens
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)Christopher Havens is a mathematician with published research in number theory, but what makes him unique among fellow scholars is his entire career in math…
What neuroscience actually says about gender & math w/ Sarah McKay
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)A lot of brain-related questions often come up on this podcast, like:Is there a difference in math ability between genders?Is there even such a thing as a…
How believing in someone can change their life w/ Jo Boaler’s first student Sue Besant
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)Have you ever been so convinced you were bad at something that you didn’t even question it anymore? Not just as an insecurity, but like it was your full…
Don’t let math define your entire self-worth w/ Shelby Strong
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)Whenever Vanessa talks to math educator and coach Shelby Strong, they end up saying "why didn't we record that, it was basically a podcast!" So today we…
Can asking for help backfire?
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)As you may know, Vanessa and producer David are in a band together, and they're currently writing songs for a new album. The path through writer’s block and…
2026: The Year of Student Engagement!
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)Happy new year! To get in the mindset for a great 2026, here's a motivating episode about one of last year's hottest topics in math ed: student…
How Netflix saved both Christmas and math
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)Five years ago, Vanessa fell head over heels in love with a Christmas movie. The plot twist? This wasn't one of the countless Hallmark romcoms she actually…
How to make "show your thinking" less anxiety-inducing
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)Getting students to think is a hot topic - but what does it actually mean? When kids are asked to "show their thinking", can we really blame them for being…
Math Therapy's 100th (& most manic) episode!
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)Since our humble (and as you'll find out, quite disorganized) start in 2019, Math Therapy has come a long way ... and today we celebrate our 100th…
How to believe in yourself when nobody else will w/ Taylor Telfer-Thompson
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)Today we follow-up last week's episode with unfiltered celeb moms Cat and Nat (listen here) by interviewing Nat's daughter Taylor! Currently in Grade 11,…
Hard truths teachers need to hear from parents w/ Cat and Nat
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)From the moment Vanessa met bestselling authors/podcasters Cat and Nat on Breakfast Television, where the 2 moms proudly professed to hate math ... she knew…
Why we can’t binge-learn math like Netflix w/ Rob Baier
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)*call-out before we get into today's ep* - If you or a colleague/parent/student has a story about incorporating the absurd 6-7 phenomenon into actual…
What the Blue Jays taught us about math education
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)This past weekend, hearts across North America shattered as the plucky underdog Toronto Blue Jays lost to the LA Dodgers in extra innings of the deciding…
How to turn anxiety into empowerment
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)Most episodes, Vanessa is chatting with colleagues about the root causes of math anxiety/trauma and exploring how math education can change to avoid causing…
An unfiltered debate about "natural ability"
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)Sometimes an interview fires us up so much here at Math Therapy HQ, that we end up debriefing and debating it long after the guest has signed off - at which…
Why math sucks and how to fix it w/ Raj Shah
Send us a text! (US messaging rates apply)What is memory? Are different brains good at memorizing different things (like math vs music)? Is memorization even a good way to learn? Why don’t we teach…
Frequently Asked Questions
Math Therapy has published 112 episodes since October 2019, covering topics in Education, Mathematics.
Math Therapy is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 35m.
Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Math Therapy, including email and social media links.
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