When Garrett Holt graduated from college, he had opportunities to move across the country and pursue adventure.

Instead, a mentor gave him simple advice:

“Go with your friends.”

More than a decade later, that decision shaped his career, his family, his community, and hundreds of students at Atlanta Classical Academy.

In this episode of The Liberty Show, Matthew Kirby sits down with Garrett Holt to discuss teaching, coaching, friendship, fatherhood, and the role community plays in forming meaningful lives. Garrett reflects on his journey from a young teacher fresh out of college to one of the most beloved educators and mentors at Atlanta Classical Academy.

Along the way, they explore classical education, character formation, faculty culture, coaching athletics, digital distraction, and why the relationships we build often matter more than the opportunities we chase.

Topics include:

• Why community matters more than career advancement
• Lessons from teaching fifth grade and high school students
• Building meaningful friendships after college
• Coaching, leadership, and character formation
• The role of history in developing wisdom and judgment
• Why schools should help form virtuous citizens
• The importance of intergenerational relationships
• Fatherhood and finding a slower pace of life
• Fighting distraction in a digital world
• Advice for aspiring teachers

Whether you’re a parent, educator, coach, student, or recent graduate, this conversation offers a thoughtful reflection on what makes a life well-lived.

🎙️ About the Guest

Garrett Holt serves as Dean of Student Life and History Teacher at Atlanta Classical Academy. Since helping launch the school in 2014, he has taught across multiple grade levels, coached championship athletics, mentored students, and helped cultivate a thriving school culture rooted in friendship, virtue, and intellectual formation.

📚 Learn more about Liberty Classical Schools:
https://libertyclassicalschools.org

Subscribe for more conversations on classical education, character formation, leadership, and human flourishing.

What can artificial intelligence never replace?

In this episode of The Liberty Show, Matthew Kirby sits down with investor, lifelong reader, and Atlanta Classical Academy supporter Walter DuPre to discuss the enduring value of great books, liberal arts education, and lifelong learning.

Walter shares how reading transformed his own life, why he believes classical education prepares students not just for careers but for life, and why great literature remains essential in an age increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

The conversation explores virtue, writing, critical thinking, parenting, and the habits that help students become wise, thoughtful, and capable of self-government.

Topics include:

• Why great books still matter
• Reading in the age of AI
• Aristotle, virtue, and character formation
• Why writing clarifies thinking
• Raising children who love learning
• The purpose of education
• Liberal arts and lifelong learning
• What makes classical education different
• Why Atlanta Classical Academy gives him hope

Whether you’re a parent, educator, student, or lifelong learner, this conversation offers a thoughtful perspective on what education is truly for.

🎙️ About the Guest

Walter DuPre serves as a Portfolio Manager at Buckhead Capital Management and has spent decades studying great books, mentoring young people, leading reading groups, and supporting classical education. He is a longtime supporter of Atlanta Classical Academy and currently leads a Great Books discussion group for parents and teachers.

📚 Learn more about Liberty Classical Schools:
https://libertyclassicalschools.org

Subscribe for more conversations on classical education, character formation, virtue, and lifelong learning.

What is education really for?

In this episode of The Liberty Show, Matthew Kirby sits down with Bryan Franklin, Director of Fine Arts at Atlanta Classical Academy, to explore the role of music in shaping not just the mind, but the heart.

Together, they walk through what classical education looks like in practice, including a live classroom-style lesson using Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World.” Along the way, they discuss how music connects to history, imagination, and the formation of young people.

This conversation goes beyond curriculum. It gets at something deeper.

• Why music and the arts are essential, not optional
• How great teachers bring subjects to life
• What it means to cultivate wonder in students
• Why education should aim at forming meaningful lives

If you care about education, culture, or the development of the next generation, this episode is for you.

About the Guest
Bryan Franklin serves as Director of Fine Arts at Atlanta Classical Academy, where he has taught since the school’s founding. He leads a flourishing arts program and is known for bringing music, history, and imagination together in the classroom.

Learn more about Liberty Classical Schools:
https://libertyclassicalschools.org

👍 If you enjoyed this conversation, consider subscribing for more episodes of The Liberty Show.

Why should we be proud of America?

In this episode of The Liberty Show, Matthew Kirby sits down with Burt and Anita Folsom to explore the historical foundations of American liberty and why those ideas still matter today.

Drawing from their work on American history and their recent pamphlet Three Reasons to Be Proud of America, the Folsoms walk through the principles that shaped the nation and the stories that are often overlooked in modern education.

They discuss how the Declaration of Independence established enduring truths about human equality and rights, why entrepreneurship played a critical role in shaping the modern world, and how America’s actions on the global stage have impacted history in profound ways.

In this conversation:

• The foundational truths of the Declaration of Independence

• Why rights come from God, not government

• How America helped lead the abolition of slavery

• The role of entrepreneurship in shaping the modern world

• Why the U.S. rebuilt Europe after World War II

• How history should be taught to the next generation

This episode is a reminder that understanding history is essential to forming thoughtful, informed citizens.

About The Liberty Show

The Liberty Show features conversations with educators, historians, and leaders shaping the future of classical education and culture.

Produced by Liberty Classical Schools, where students are formed through an education rooted in truth, beauty, and goodness.

Learn more:

https://libertyclassicalschools.org

Subscribe for more conversations on education, history, and formation.

#TheLibertyShow #LibertyClassical #ClassicalEducation #AmericanHistory #EducationMatters

What makes a great teacher?

In this episode of The Liberty Show, Matthew Kirby sits down with David Hahn, lower school principal at Atlanta Classical Academy, to explore the deeper purpose of education and what it looks like to form students in both mind and character.

David shares his journey from aerospace engineering to education and reflects on the mission that drives classical schools: cultivating students who are not only knowledgeable, but virtuous.

In this conversation, they discuss:

• Why education must go beyond academics to shape character

• What it means to form students in both heart and mind

• How great teachers bring learning to life

• The role of community in sustaining educators

• Why coaching, feedback, and growth are essential to school culture

• How parents and schools can partner in raising children

This episode offers a practical and inspiring look at what it takes to build schools that form students for lives of purpose, responsibility, and leadership.

Learn more about Liberty Classical Schools:

https://libertyclassicalschools.org

Subscribe for more conversations on classical education, formation, and culture.

#TheLibertyShow #LibertyClassical #ClassicalEducation #CharacterFormation #EducationMatters

What is education actually for?

In this episode of The Liberty Show, we sit down with sociologist and author Dr. Margarita Mooney Clayton to explore the deeper purpose of education and why modern systems may be missing something essential.
Much of education today is focused on credentials, outcomes, and career preparation. But historically, education aimed at something much greater: the formation of the whole person. The cultivation of wisdom. A love for truth, beauty, and goodness.

Dr. Mooney Clayton helps us rediscover why these ideas still matter and why recovering them could transform the way we educate the next generation.
In this conversation, we explore:

• Why modern education has drifted away from its deeper purpose
• The role of beauty in shaping the human soul
• How the liberal arts form wisdom, not just job skills
• Why great teachers must love the subjects they teach
• The importance of moral formation alongside intellectual development
• How parents and educators can restore meaning to education

Dr. Mooney Clayton shares insights from her work as a sociologist and educator, offering a vision of education that develops both the mind and the character of students.

About Dr. Margarita Mooney Clayton

Dr. Margarita Mooney Clayton is a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and the founder of the Scala Foundation, an organization dedicated to restoring meaning and purpose in American culture through the integration of education, art, and religion.

Learn more about her work:
https://margaritamooneyclayton.com
https://thescalafoundation.org

About The Liberty Show

The Liberty Show features conversations with educators, scholars, and leaders exploring the ideas shaping the future of education and culture.
Produced by Liberty Classical Schools, where students are formed through an education rooted in truth, beauty, and goodness.

Learn more about Liberty Classical Schools:
https://libertyclassicalschools.org

What is education ultimately for?

In this episode of The Liberty Show, Matthew Kirby sits down with Robert Kelly to discuss the deeper purpose of classical education.

Beyond credentials and career preparation, Liberty Classical Schools exists to form students in moral and intellectual character — preparing them not only for success, but for responsible citizenship.

Together, they explore:
Why character must precede systems
How classical education cultivates thoughtful, virtuous citizens
The relationship between formation and freedom
What it takes to build schools that strengthen communities

This is a conversation about education as formation and about the kind of people our schools are shaping.

Learn more about Liberty Classical Schools:
🔗 libertyclassicalschools.org

Subscribe for more conversations on classical education, civic formation, and meaningful leadership.
#TheLibertyShow #LibertyClassical #ClassicalEducation #Citizenship #CharacterFormation

What is education ultimately for — achievement, or something higher?

In this episode of The Liberty Show, Matthew Kirby sits down with Dr. Shilo Brooks — professor of political science at SMU, CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, and author of the forthcoming book Noble Ambition.

Dr. Brooks shares his powerful journey from West Texas to St. John’s College, where a Great Books education reshaped his life. He reflects on the mentor who made his education possible, the discipline of reading Homer and Aristotle line by line, and why liberal education remains essential to forming free citizens.

🎓 In This Episode:

• The difference between ambition and noble ambition
• How Great Books cultivate judgment and character
• Why liberal education prepares students for self-government
• The responsibility that comes with opportunity
• How mentorship can change the trajectory of a life

Dr. Brooks also co-hosts the YouTube podcast Old School, where he and his colleagues explore classical ideas, politics, and culture through the lens of the Great Books. If you enjoy this conversation, be sure to check out Old School for more thoughtful dialogue.

📘 Look for Dr. Brooks’ upcoming book, Noble Ambition
🎙️ Watch Old School on YouTube
🔗 Learn more about Liberty Classical Schools: libertyclassicalschools.org

Subscribe for more conversations on classical education, civic formation, and raising knowledgeable, virtuous citizens.

#TheLibertyShow #LibertyClassical #ClassicalEducation #NobleAmbition #OldSchoolPodcast #GreatBooks #LiberalEducation #CivicFormation #LeadershipDevelopment