The Exit Interview Has Won The Best Education Podcast Award from The Black Podcasting Awards!!
The Exit Interview: A Podcast for Black Educators
A podcast for Black educators, by Black educators

The Exit Interview: A Podcast for Black Educators

The Exit Interview: A Podcast for Black Educators is a storykeeping and archival project that documents the experiences of Black educators who have left or are reimagining their place within traditional education systems.
Hosted by educator, researcher, and Liberated Educators Lab founder Dr. Asia Lyons, each episode invites a Black educator to reflect on what brought them into education, what ultimately pushed them toward change, and where their brilliance, care, and expertise have taken them since. These honest conversations explore racial battle fatigue, workplace harm, wellness, identity, purpose, joy, and the many ways Black educators continue to shape education beyond conventional roles.

The Cost of Caring Too Much with Elisha Roberts
The Exit Interview: A Podcast for Black Educators
The Cost of Caring Too Much with Elisha Roberts

Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel!

The Migration of Black Genius

Six years of listening to Black former educators talk about work, departure, wellness, and what came next led Dr. Asia Lyons to a new question: What happens to what a person knows after they leave a traditional education space?

The Migration of Black Genius is a framework that grew from that question and from nearly 100 conversations preserved through The Exit Interview. It explores how Black genius moves with the person who carries it, expands in what it can do, and finds new places to live across space, place, and time.

 

Read More Here

Recent Episodes

View all
The Cost of Caring Too Much with Elisha Roberts
96
Oct. 19, 2026

The Cost of Caring Too Much with Elisha Roberts

What happens when you care deeply about education, but the personal cost becomes too great? Elisha Roberts, M.Ed didn't just want to change schools. She built one.
From challenging traditional school practices to creating spaces where students had a voice in their own education, Elisha spent years pushing the boundaries of what was possible. But innovation came with resistance, institutional politics, and sacrifices that extended far beyond the school building. In this episode, Elisha gets cand
Listen to the Episode
Listening As A Retention Strategy with Shani Dowell
95
Sept. 18, 2026

Listening As A Retention Strategy with Shani Dowell

Shani Dowell left a business career for a seventh-grade math classroom, then left the classroom to build Possip a listening platform now used by over 1,000 schools in 35+ states. In this episode, she talks candidly about her non-traditional path into teaching, the reality of a two-teacher household on a $30K salary, recruiting at HBCUs, and why "contentedness" might be the most underrated wellness strategy for educators. If you've ever had an idea and wondered how to start small, take a look at
Listen to the Episode
The Stories We Save: The Exit Interview at the Schomburg
94
Aug. 17, 2026

The Stories We Save: The Exit Interview at the Schomburg

In this special episode of The Exit Interview, Dr. Asia Lyons shares a milestone eight years in the making: the podcast's permanent archival at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the first podcast ever accepted into its collection. She traces the story back to her own 2018 exit interview, the moment of relief that sparked the idea to give other Black educators a chance to tell their truth. Ninety-three episodes later, what began as a search for a simple narrative of racism and b
Listen to the Episode
In Front of the Classroom to Behind the Camera with Stacie McClam
93
Aug. 3, 2026

In Front of the Classroom to Behind the Camera with Stacie McClam

Stacie McClam went from being bused to "better" schools as a Black child in LA, to teaching across DC, Japan, Denver, and Kuwait, and what she found everywhere was the same broken system dressed up differently. She became the "fix-up lady," repeatedly hired mid-year to salvage classrooms other teachers fled. She watched Black and Latino kids get pushed through grades without learning to read, saw phonics stripped from US curricula that worked brilliantly in Kuwait, and fought systems that cel
Listen to the Episode
Different Countries, Same Story with S. Jae Ali
92
July 21, 2026

Different Countries, Same Story with S. Jae Ali

S. Jae Ali, EdM, has taught in Charlotte, Chicago, China, and Brazil, and every classroom taught her something the next one couldn't fix. In this episode, the South Side Chicago native and former educator gets honest about the racism she faced in her teacher prep program, the mental health toll of toxic leadership, the thrill of watching struggling students soar, and why she ultimately walked away from the classroom. From COVID lockdowns in Zhengzhou to a private school in São Paulo where she wa
Listen to the Episode
When Equity Work Become a Cage with Dr. Danica Moore
91
July 10, 2026

When Equity Work Become a Cage with Dr. Danica Moore

Danica Moore, Ed.D. knew she was meant to teach before she even had a lesson plan, from sharpening skills with second graders at 10 years old to taking over her Sunday school class on a dare. With nearly 20 years in education, she's worn every hat: special ed teacher, ESL specialist, reading and math coach, equity facilitator, district office leader, and now founder of Fortified Educational Practices and Program Director for the National Freedom Schools Partnership. But this episode isn't jus
Listen to the Episode
View all Episodes

Recent Blog Posts

Being Committed without Being Consumed
July 5, 2026

Being Committed without Being Consumed

Black educators don't have to lose ourselves to show we care. From Letters from the Lab There’s a particular kind of quiet that can arrive after a Black educator leaves a school. Not peace, exactly. Not at first. The calendar changes first. Your…
Read the Blog Post
Community as a Survival Strategy
June 22, 2026

Community as a Survival Strategy

From Letters from the Lab When I asked Dr. Nadia A. Bennett what advice she would give Black women moving into educational leadership, she did not begin with certification, strategy, or a five-year plan. She said, “Find and keep community.” That …
Read the Blog Post
Parent Entitlement is a Black Educator Retention Issue
May 31, 2026

Parent Entitlement is a Black Educator Retention Issue

From Letters from the Lab When Melissa Leonard-Goodlett, EdD. talked about working in a school run by parents, the first image that came to mind was a screenshot. Screenshots from a group chat I was never supposed to see. A Black mother let me kn…
Read the Blog Post
View all posts

Sponsors

Liberated Educators Lab

Connect With The Exit Interview

Support The Exit Interview

When Black educators leave schools, their stories deserve to be heard and remembered. Your contribution helps cover the cost of recording, editing, and producing The Exit Interview: A Podcast for Black Educators, so we can keep sharing what Black educators experienced, what they carried with them, and what they’re building now. If the show has meant something to you and you’re able to give, thank you for helping us keep this work going.

Support The Exit Interview

Share Your Story as a Guest

Are you a Black former educator who has left school and district employment? The Exit Interview welcomes honest conversations about your experiences, your departure, and the life you’re creating afterward. Independent consultants and external providers who support schools may also qualify.

Complete the Guest Interest Form

Invite Dr. Asia Onto Your Podcast

Interested in a conversation about Black educator experiences, racial battle fatigue, storykeeping, archival justice, or The Migration of Black Genius? Share information about your podcast and the conversation you have in mind.

Submit a Podcast of Media Invitation

Book a Podcast Strategy Consultation

Building a podcast with a purpose? Book a focused, 60-minute consultation with Dr. Asia Lyons to discuss your questions about developing your podcast, navigating your next steps, and lessons from her storykeeping journey. Consultations are $250.

Book a Consulting Call

Explore Research and Storykeeping Partnerships

Universities, cultural institutions, researchers, and community organizations are invited to connect about commissioned research, oral-history projects, archival programming, and other paid collaborations grounded in Black experiences and community knowledge.

Email About A Partnership

 

SHARE YOUR STORY HERE!