Listen: Lin-Manuel Miranda & Robert Lopez Talk With Their Teachers on ARTS EDUCATORS SAVE THE WORLD Podcast

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Robert Lopez talk with their elementary school teachers on today's launch of a new podcast celebrating the life-changing impact of early arts education,

Listen below!

Executive Produced by the Award-Winning Story Pirates, the the weekly podcast is hosted by University of Wisconsin professor and author Erica Halverson. The first episode features a conversation with Lin-Manuel Miranda, Robert Lopez and their elementary school arts teacher. Coming soon are Josh Radnor, Annaleigh Ashford and other top artists in conversation with the mentors who shaped them.

When artists write unforgettable songs or give iconic performances, they can change our lives. But first, someone changes theirs. In the new podcast "Arts Educators Save the World," launched today, artists talk with author and professor Erica Halverson alongside their teachers and mentors about how those collaborations made them who they are today.

In today's first episode on August 29, Lin-Manuel Miranda, the ultra-prolific creator of "Hamilton," and Robert Lopez, the first-ever double EGOT winner, and co-writer of songs from "The Book of Mormon," "Avenue Q" and "Frozen", sit down with their elementary school music teacher Barbara Ames. Both artists credit her for guiding them toward their life's work.

The show's host, Erica Halverson, is a professor and department chair at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of How the Arts Can Save Education, a blueprint for how the arts can transform our broken system of teaching and learning. With "Arts Educators Save the World," she offers origin stories that remind us of the critical importance of arts education in a time when the arts have been devalued and defunded at an alarming rate. Guests share personal narratives about the mentors who harnessed the power of creativity and helped them not just understand art, but life itself.

"Arts Educators Save the World" is executive produced by the Story Pirates, a nationally renowned group of top comedians, musicians, best-selling authors, and incredible teachers with fifteen years of experience creating content that celebrates the imaginations of kids. Winner of both the 2020 and 2022 iHeartRadio Award and the Webby Award for Best Kids and Family Podcast, the "Story Pirates Podcast" has been downloaded more than 60 million times and is one of the top three kids and family podcasts in the world.

In upcoming weekly episodes, Halverson will lead conversations with Josh Radnor, Annaleigh Ashford, Sharif Bay, (MacArthur Genius award recipient) Bill Strickland, Faisal Abdu'Allah, Fraser James, Kate Baldwin, also talking with the educators who set their trajectories in the arts. The show is produced by Alek Lev ("Meeting Tom Cruise") and Doug Matejka ("Whistleblower"), with sound design by Justin Asher ("Levar Burton Reads").

More information is available at www.artseducatorspodcast.com, and the show will be available on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, and other popular podcast platforms.

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