"Something old, something new, something red white and blue."

The American Book of Fables is Dr. Matthew Mehan and artist John Folley's latest children's book—or, rather, family book—presented for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It offers a delightful education in civics, geography, history, and love of country by combining the American founding documents, short poetry, new and ancient fables, and whimsical oil paintings all mapped to the American landscape.

This week on HeightsCast, Dr. Mehan shares the ideas behind the book's creation and what he hopes "littles, middles, and bigs" can all come to appreciate through a layered work like this.

3:01 Picture books and the role of the poet

8:21 A family book for littles, middles, and bigs

13:18 What's in the book

18:19 Fables: training your "good mother wit"

23:46 Hugh Manatee and humanity

28:33 John Folley's illustrations

30:55 The American city

34:49 The current discourse on duty

36:47 Presenting founding documents to kids

41:37 Celebrate America250 as a family

48:26 Despair and hope

56:00 Book launch events

58:45 Excerpt: "American Morning"

The American Book of Fables by Matthew Mehan

The Handsome Little Cygnet by Matthew Mehan

Mr. Mehan's Mildly Amusing Mythical Mammals by Matthew Mehan

National WWI Memorial, sculpture by Sabin Howard, installed 2024

Catholic Information Center Event with the Author, Washington, DC / livestream available – June 30, 2026

The American Book of Fables Website – Sophia Institute Press, for future book launch events

Patriotism and Piety: Honoring Founders and Fathers featuring Dr. Matthew Mehan

Teaching the American Founding after 250 Years featuring Dr. Matthew Spalding

Children's Literature and Human Flourishing: The Handsome Little Cygnet featuring Dr. Matthew Mehan

Why Our Politics Need Poetry: Mr. Mehan's Mythical Mammals featuring Dr. Matthew Mehan

Imagination: The Raw Material for Thinking featuring Dr. Matthew Mehan

As a top cybersecurity expert in the commercial sector, Mark Ryland has spent nearly a decade following the development of AI systems—their possibilities, their risks, and their limits. And he's found reason for measured optimism.

At this year's Heights Parents Conference on "AI and Our Sons: Optimism in Uncharted Waters," Mr. Ryland brought a moderating perspective to the podium, sharing his insights into how AI really operates and what kind of impact it may have on the job economy our children will inherit.

00:04:41 A recent history of AI
00:10:31 Intelligence: human, animal, and artificial
00:14:15 Brains vs. minds
00:16:55 Incredible possibilities through pattern recognition
00:21:21 AI's dependence, "model collapse"
00:24:49 Expected impact on economy sectors
00:32:47 AI limits: reinforcement learning
00:36:12 AI risks: safety, job loss
00:42:01 Thoughts on the home
00:44:01 Thoughts on the classroom
00:48:07 Catholic chatbots

The Mind & The Machine, podcast by Dr. Michael Augros on AI, science, and philosophy
Coding after Coders: The End of Computer Programming as We Know It, NYT, March 12, 2026
Why It's Getting Harder to Measure AI Performance by Timothy B. Lee, Understanding AI Substack

Attention Is All You Need, seminal paper on generative AI by a Google Team, June 2017
How One Paper Changed Everything, concerning "Attention Is All You Need," Medium, October 10, 2025
Scientists Research Man Missing 90% of His Brain Who Leads a Normal Life, CBC Radio, July 14, 2016

The Walled Garden: Critical Considerations for Classroom AI featuring Andrew Cantarutti

A Humane Way of Life: The Research Behind Home Tech Decisions featuring Clare Morell

AI tech has come knocking at the classroom door, and schools across the country are rushing to design their AI policies around information that seems to change by the day.

At this year's Heights Parents Conference on "AI and Our Sons: Optimism in Uncharted Waters," writer and educator Andrew Cantarutti shared the research and critical analysis necessary for school communities to consider the claims of AI ed-tech. In the end, he says, the question will be how best to raise citizens rather than simply users.

00:03:25 Turkish proverb: the trees and the ax
00:04:09 The attention crisis
00:08:46 AI: a different kind of technology
00:14:08 Adolescence and brain architecture
00:15:03 AI knocks on the classroom door
00:17:34 Walled Garden vs. Marketplace Mirror schools
00:21:03 Building AI literacy
00:27:04 AI's personalized education
00:27:47 Benefits of the traditional classroom
00:31:34 Our role as parents
00:34:25 Turkish proverb, decoded

The Walled Garden, Andrew Cantarutti's Substack

Attention Span by Gloria Mark
Empire of AI by Karen Hao
Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt in Essay Writing, MIT Media Lab, June 10, 2025

Center for Humane Technology, co-founded by Tristan Harris, former Google employee

Classroom Habits of Attention in the Age of AI featuring Andrew Cantarutti

A Humane Way of Life: The Research Behind Home Tech Decisions featuring Clare Morell