Math Therapy
The Math Guru
1 Creator
1 Creator
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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Top 10 Math Therapy Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Math Therapy episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Math Therapy for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Math Therapy episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
S2E06: The 40-year-old math virgin w/ Mike S
Math Therapy
07/09/20 • 37 min
Have you ever had the feeling that you might have peaked too early? Meet Mike: a math-dropout-turned-software-cloud-architect. He chats with Vanessa about faking it til’ you make it, learning that it’s ok to admit you don’t know everything, and that #selflove can sometimes be way harder than #SOHCAHTOA.
About Mike
Mike is a big phony who is somehow able to achieve all of his dreams and is waiting for it all to come crashing down. Is it luck? Is he just so innocently charming that you can't help but give him a shot? Is the bar for his dreams shockingly low? All of the above. He didn't pass grade 12 math and yet he can still afford to pay his rent. Mike is a Cloud Consultant working at one of the coolest tech companies in the world. How is that even possible?!
Today’s show notes & links: themathguru.ca/maththerapy/mikes
Reach Vanessa on all socials: @themathguru
06/18/20 • 41 min
What would you do if your high school math teacher told you that the only thing you were capable of doing was flipping burgers? Ummm ... become the king of the kitchen, of course! Today Vanessa talks to Miguel about how he went from killing it in the restaurant industry to a career 180 as a stats analyst rockstar with the Ontario government, all while battling some deep math trauma and persistent imposter syndrome. If you’re ready to turn your fear of failure into your greatest motivator, then this episode is for you!
About Miguel
Miguel Escobar is a Senior Business Analyst with the Government of Ontario and is a graduate of George Brown College where he completed the Hospitality Management program with honours. Miguel has had a love/hate relationship with math going all the way back to high school. From failing many, many times to being told he’d never get it, he struggled with numbers and avoided them at all costs. Now, some 20+ years later, he has embraced math and uses it almost every single day in his job. The fear and anxiety that came with being labeled “not a math person” is in the past and he now looks for every opportunity to help others who might struggle through the same things he did.
Follow Miguel on Instagram at @TheAgeingMillennial.
Today’s show notes & links: themathguru.ca/maththerapy/miguelescobar
Reach Vanessa on all socials: @themathguru
Fighting fake news w/ Science Sam
Math Therapy
05/14/20 • 30 min
Not sure what to do with all the COVID-conspiracy theories flying around? Finding yourself arguing on social media while your blood pressure rises and your friend/follower count drops?!?! Um, I FEEL YA. So I called up my dear friend and legit science super-star, Dr. Samantha Yammine (aka Science Sam), to break down exactly why #fakenews spreads so easily and what we can do to constructively and compassionately champion facts based in real math and science - something we have the power and responsibility to fight for.
Follow Science Sam on Instagram and YouTube
Today’s show notes & links: themathguru.ca/maththerapy/samanthayammine
Reach Vanessa on all socials: @themathguru
Introducing: Math Therapy!
Math Therapy
10/10/19 • 2 min
Have you ever said that you hate math? Do you avoid doing certain things JUST so that you don’t have to do math?! Do the words “I’m not a math person” sound familiar?!?! Math Therapy is a new podcast that works through your math trauma, one problem at a time! Each week, Vanessa Vakharia (aka The Math Guru) chats with a different guest about their relationship with math, and offers a prescription to help them start living their best lives. And don’t worry - no calculators or actual math were used in the making of this podcast ;)
Season 1 starts October 17 - subscribe now & connect with Vanessa on all socials @themathguru!
Extra Credit: Spirituality & Science
Math Therapy
04/27/21 • 12 min
This season's interviews were all done remotely over Zoom with our producer Sabina Wex and technical producer David Kochberg listening in, and the conversations were so much fun that we often kept chatting after the actual interviews were over! Vanessa's convo last week with astrologer Anthony Perrotta got us all especially fired up, and since she and Sabina are super into astrology and tarot, and David is super NOT, we wanted to share a little bonus episode diving further into the overlap of science and spirituality.
Have you had any spicy discussions like this? Tweet us @maththerapy about them! And we'll be back on Thursday with our next full episode featuring a real life mathfluencer - yes seriously a MATH INFLUENCER!!!
04/29/21 • 37 min
Yep, you read that right: mathfluencers are the future of education and today’s guest is leading the way! Esther Brunat and The Squadratics (think Mean Girls but like, if Mean Girls somehow had even MORE math) are on a mission to market math to Gen Z, and they’re gaining mad momentum. Today Vanessa talks to Esther about how teachers can embrace new technology, genuinely connect with their students, and even learn valuable marketing lessons from hideous footwear trends. See you on the 'gram!
About Esther
Esther Brunat is a high school math teacher in sunny South Florida. She prides herself on building relationships with her students through laughter and "staying hip." Her resources offer a fresh take on presentation and engaging visuals in the math classroom.
You can find teaching resources on her Teachers Pay Teachers account: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Esther-Brunat
Show notes:
- 26:50 - kentai.haven, the kid on TikTok who hilariously and brilliantly guesses people's height with something in their hand using math
- 32:40 - The article that Vanessa and Season 2 guest Michole Washington (who studies the common Black experience in math class) wrote about how math class mimics police brutality for Black kids
Connect with us:
- Esther Brunat: @estherbrunat (Instagram, YouTube, TikTok)
- Vanessa Vakharia: @themathguru (Insta, Twitter, TikTok)
- Math Therapy: @maththerapy (Twitter)
Transcript for today’s episode: www.maththerapypodcast.com
05/06/21 • 21 min
Late last year AT&T ran a full-page ad in the New York Times depicting a mother and daughter in despair over math homework, and Vanessa was NOT impressed. Whether we realize it or not (and we usually don’t), the media plays a massive role in shaping everything from our collective social values to our individual self-worth. So what if brands acknowledged that responsibility and used marketing not just to sell products but to also promote positive change in the world? Today Vanessa speaks with Candace Borland about how she is doing exactly that as president of Anomaly Canada, one of North America’s leading creative agencies. Together they explore the power of marketing to dismantle stereotypes instead of perpetuating them, and they discuss how consumers can constructively hold brands accountable.
About Candace
Candace Borland is the President and a Partner at Anomaly Toronto. At Anomaly, she has worked across pillar clients such as AB InBev, MINI, Nike, BRP, Hershey, CTC & Diageo. You can follow Candace and Anomaly’s work at Anomaly.com.
Show notes:
- 1:45 - AT&T ad depicting women in STEM
- 5:52 - “Underplayed” documentary about female DJs sponsored by Bud Light
- 12:58 - Gillette ad about sensitive men
- 13:07 - Barbie ad about girls being intelligent
- 15:02 - Nike ad about Colin Kaepernick
- 15:18 - Hijabi Ballers campaign with Nike that Candace and Anomaly worked on
Connect with us:
- Anomaly: @anomaly (Instagram, Twitter)
- Vanessa Vakharia: @themathguru (Insta, Twitter, TikTok)
- Math Therapy: @maththerapy (Twitter)
Transcript for today’s episode: www.maththerapypodcast.com
05/20/21 • 21 min
We all hate harmful stereotypes, but have you ever thought of breaking stereotypes ... by simply fulfilling them?! Being an Indian woman who doesn’t like STEM carries many consequences, and on today’s episode, Vanessa talks to South Asian comedian Abby Govindan about how women are pressured to either resist or conform to social and cultural expectations, and how she’s navigated that struggle through humour - especially through provocative tweets which is how Vanessa found her in the first place!
About Abby
Abby Govindan is a comedian. (ed. note - this is literally the bio she gave us :)
Show notes
- 1:49 - Abby’s viral tweet about women in STEM
Connect with us:
- Abby Govindan: (Twitter, Insta)
- Vanessa Vakharia: @themathguru (Insta, Twitter, TikTok)
- Math Therapy: @maththerapy (Twitter)
Transcript for today’s episode: www.maththerapypodcast.com
05/27/21 • 29 min
Alright teachers, this one’s for you! Today Vanessa chats with Dr. Roger Fischer, an educator from Montana who is not just a hardcore fan of the podcast but also a natural math therapist himself! Roger explains how small instances of math trauma can lead to long-term effects on students, how he incorporates mindfulness and compassion into his lesson plans, and how there is absolutely no such thing as a stupid question.
About Roger
Dr. Roger Fischer loves math. He hasn’t always loved it, though - it took a really good math tutor to show him how passionate he is about making sense of problems and helping others do the same. He has been teaching math for 16 years and developed a unique way to engage learners by first making them feel safe, heard, and validated. You can follow him on YouTube at Dr. Roger Fischer, connect with him on LinkedIn or visit his website compassionatemathtutoring.com.
Show notes
- 11:53 - “The Teaching Gap”, the book that talks about teaching as a cultural activity
- 12:45 - Vanessa’s interview this season with teacher/mathfluencer Esther Brunat
- 14:26 - “Becoming the Math Teacher You Wish You Had” by Tracy Zager, the book Roger gave to his student to help her become a math teacher
- 27:25 - The John Mighton episode from Math Therapy season 2 that Roger and Vanessa can't stop talking about
Connect with us:
- Roger Fischer: @rfischeresq (Twitter)
- Vanessa Vakharia: @themathguru (Insta, Twitter, TikTok)
- Math Therapy: @maththerapy (Twitter)
Transcript for today’s episode: www.maththerapypodcast.com
11/14/24 • 35 min
If you're a fan of the podcast, you've often heard Vanessa mention our producer "David" in reference to him getting mad at her for yelling into the mic or hitting the mic or generally doing things that impact the quality of this AUDIO medium. And if it isn't apparent, this is actually David typing, because I also handle publishing the episodes, so I'll stop referring to myself in the 3rd person because it's weird!
In September we released an episode in which I interviewed Vanessa about her career and about her new book Math Therapy, a resource for teachers to bring strategies in the classroom to help students build a better relationship with math. (After a little digitial mix-up, it is now shipping on Amazon/Kindle so go grab it!)
Afterwards, she decided to interview me about my own math journey, what I enjoy about working on the pod, and what I really think as an outsider about how intense the "math wars" debate has gotten.
About David:
In addition to producing/editing this podcast, I work as a mechanical engineer (3D CAD modelling and drafting) and play guitar & sing in the band Vanessa and I started in 2011, Goodnight Sunrise. I don't have any personal social media links but I'm usually the snarky one behind our Twitter, so connect with Vanessa at the usual places below!
- Vanessa Vakharia: @themathguru (Insta, Twitter, TikTok)
- Math Therapy: @maththerapy (Twitter)
- Math Therapy the book is out now - buy from Corwin Press or Amazon
- David interviews Vanessa (from September 2024)
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FAQ
How many episodes does Math Therapy have?
Math Therapy currently has 83 episodes available.
What topics does Math Therapy cover?
The podcast is about Mathematics, Self-Help, Therapy, Podcasts, Self-Improvement, Education, Science and Math.
What is the most popular episode on Math Therapy?
The episode title 'S2E10: Why is no one listening to John Mighton?! w/ John Mighton' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Math Therapy?
The average episode length on Math Therapy is 31 minutes.
How often are episodes of Math Therapy released?
Episodes of Math Therapy are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Math Therapy?
The first episode of Math Therapy was released on Oct 10, 2019.
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