By the time Ana Lorena Fabrega was 15 years old, she had attended 10 different schools in seven different countries.

"We moved from Panama to Colombia to Venezuela to India to Mexico to Brazil then back to Panama and then I did college in the U.S," Fabrega told The Profile. "When I reflect on my schooling experience, I realized I didn't remember the things I was supposed to be learning."

As she got older, Fabrega's experience as a student fueled her passion for teaching. She wanted to find ways to inspire young people and spark their love for learning. So she became a teacher. After five years, however, she became frustrated that the traditional school system wasn't designed to nurture children's natural curiosities and interests.

"The way I saw it was that we have taken learning out of context by placing it in this institutional framework that focuses on things like grades, obedience, and compliance instead of the things that really matter, which are the joy of learning and exploration and thinking independently," she says. "We focus on the wrong things because we have the wrong incentives in place."

So Fabrega asked herself the following questions: "How can students be self motivated to learn if they are not given the opportunity to explore their curiosities or the things that excite them? How can teachers cultivate in students a love for learning that lasts forever, when they are forced to teach a one-size-fits-all curriculum that rewards grades and standards over creativity and choice?"

Education, Fabrega thought, shouldn't be about passing tests. It should be about self-directed learning and creative exploration. There had to be another way.

In 2020, Fabrega became the Chief Evangelist at Synthesis, an online enrichment club where kids learn through games and simulations. Students enrolled in Synthesis learn mental models, decision-making, and game theory by playing complex and collaborative games.

"In school, things are very straightforward and we water things down so it's easier to grade," Fabrega says. "With Synthesis, it's the opposite. We make things complex because we know that kids can not only handle complexity, but they actually crave it.”

In this conversation, Fabrega explains why traditional education is broken, how kids can learn to think independently, why games are so important in the process of learning, and so much more.

(Below is an excerpt of the interview, but I encourage you to listen and watch to the full interview here)

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Meet Ana Lorena Fabrega, the Educator Focused on Independent Thinking and Mental ModelsBy Polina Marinova PomplianoPodcast episode

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Tara Westover, the author of "Educated," says she has held racist, homophobic, and sexist views. To Tara, the classroom was a safe place where she could express those views out loud, which taught her that she could change her mind. How safe is it to express those types of views in a classroom today?

FABREGA: It's not safe at all. It's not a safe space to talk about things, and parents play a big role here. I was the kind of teacher where I liked to hold these conversations, but then I would encounter parents who would say, "Why are you even talking about these things? These are just nine-year-olds." And I would say, "Well, because they had a question and they were asking me, and I am a trusted educator, so if I don't give them a good answer, they're going to look it up on YouTube or ask a kid on the bus that might give them the wrong answer."

It's so crazy because what Tara talks about there, I haven't experienced in any school. In school, we need to be so careful about the things that we say and the things that the kids talk about because there are all these "taboo topics" we can't touch on. A lot of it comes from the culture of parents and what they feel like kids should or shouldn't know.

I always say that information is power. With the internet, kids can figure things out so quickly. What they need is an adult role model or someone they trust who will answer their questions and say, "I don't know that answer, but let's look it up," and someone who will listen to them and debate their ideas.

The way it's approached in school is almost as if it weren't our problem. And then what happens is the kids go home and parents say, "Schools should be handling this," but there's clearly a miscommunication. So this isn't really being handled anywhere.

I often think about this: If you're not allowed to ask questions as a kid when you're trying to make sense of the world, understand right and wrong, and form your opinions, then when are you going to get to ask these questions? Because as an adult, if you haven't formed your own opinions and your own way of independent thinking, then you're not able to think for yourself. To me, we have it so backwards.

School should be a place where we let kids ask a ton of questions and let kids fail and fail often without making a big deal about it. Those two things aren't happening. We're punishing kids for asking questions and we're punishing them with grades that go on permanent records every time they fail. If they're not getting the opportunity to do these things as a kid, then when are they going to get to do it?

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PROFILES.

— The Kardashian preparing for her next act
— The bestselling author whose obsession ruined her life
— Hollywood's most radical woman
— The actress who made chess sexy
— The wannabe food influencer wanted by the FBI
— The company building the future of audio[**HIGHLY RECOMMEND**]
— The drug giant preparing for future pandemics
— The bookstore that lost its workers

PEOPLE TO KNOW.

The Kardashian preparing for her next act: Just because ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ is about to come to an end, it doesn't mean that the Kardashian-Jenner complex is over. Momager-mogul Kris Jenner is already looking to what's next: a multiyear deal at Hulu, the launch of Safely, a plant-based cleaning and self-care product brand with Chrissy Teigen, and her own skin-care line in the works. (WSJ; reply to this email if you want access to this article)

“She’s one of the best dealmakers that I’ve ever seen deal.”

The bestselling author whose obsession ruined her life: This story reads like a thriller, but it's real life. Sara Gruen, the bestselling author behind the novel Water for Elephants, became obsessed with freeing a man from prison. The prisoner, Charles Murdoch, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. But Gruen was convinced he was innocent. After years of money, time, energy, and missed deadlines, Gruen's “absolutely broke," “seriously ill,” and her next book is “years past deadline.” (The Marshall Project)

"He’s taken a toll on every single aspect of my life, but I think I made the right decision.”

Hollywood's most radical woman: At 83, actress and activist Jane Fonda is showing no signs of slowing down. During her life, she's authored eight books and starred in era-defining films. She launched an entire workout video industry that she used to fund her political activism. She has been married and divorced three times. For the last six years, she's starred in Netflix's beloved Grace and Frankie. Her next act? Fonda’s latest preoccupation is the climate crisis. (Harper's Bazaar)

"My energy doesn’t come from anybody else. It comes from inside myself.”

The actress who made chess sexy: Anya Taylor-Joy's performance in The Queen’s Gambit made it — and her — a global phenomenon. In this story, she answers the question: "How on earth do you make chess enthralling?" Taylor-Joy says, “We used to joke on set that we were bringing sexy back to chess. We didn’t really think that’s what people would actually think.” Well ... they did. Sales of chess sets soared by 125% in the weeks after the show premiered. With more in the works, this is a lovely profile of Taylor-Joy's rising star. (Vanity Fair)

“She is different and strange in ways that are fascinating both toward darkness and toward light.”

The wannabe food influencer wanted by the FBI: Gavin Ambani, whose real name is Hargobind Punjabi Tahilramani, tried to infiltrate the London restaurant influencer scene while being on the run from the FBI in the United States. In Hollywood, he was a con artist who lured behind-the-scenes workers — makeup artists, personal trainers, stuntmen — to Indonesia with promises of wealth and stardom, largely made through phone calls. Here's the story of an international fraud hunt for an "aspiring influencer" who managed to dupe everyone in his path. (The Guardian)

COMPANIES TO WATCH.

The company building the future of audio: Clubhouse is an invitation-only audio social network that has drawn millions of people eager to socialize and listen in on an endless stream of conversations. Its meteoric rise has been a blessing and a curse. It arrived at a perfect moment—and could be worth billions. But first, it will have to answer the hardest question in tech: How to, in real time, host a global gabfest free of toxicity? (WIRED)

“Audio is potentially the most intimate medium. It allows people to be very real and authentic.”

The drug giant preparing for future pandemics: Merck, which has a deep history of public-health development work, including on HIV and Ebola, struck a deal to buy antiviral drug molnupiravir and start the types of large-scale trials that could get it authorized by regulators. Should Merck succeed in demonstrating that molnupiravir is effective and free of serious side effects, it could be a boon to the company, and to society, for many years to come. (Bloomberg)

“There has not been as focused a strategy of investment in developing antivirals for pandemics."

The bookstore that lost its workers: The Strand is New York City’s most iconic bookstore. When the state closed all non-essential businesses in March 2020, 188 employees were laid off. The store remained in hibernation until the end of June, when management brought back a skeleton crew. Since then, the Strand and its unionized workers have been locked in a struggle over money, priorities, and safety. Take a look inside the mess plaguing New York City's most beloved bookstore. (New York Magazine)

“It can be painful to live inside the contradiction of being treated badly by such a beloved place of business.”

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AUDIO TO HEAR.

Emily Heyward on brand storytelling: In this conversation, Red Antler co-founder Emily Heyward explains the importance of branding. She says many companies fail to develop an emotional connection with their consumer simply because they do what they've been told to do: Be consistent in your messaging. That's wrong, Heyward says. "The brands we love the most weave in surprise and contradiction," she says. "It's interesting to think about ways we can defy expectations, surprise people, and create tension." (Link available to premium members.)

Brian Koppelman on overcoming fear: As an artist or a writer, Brian Koppelman says, you need to be able to overcome your fears of vulnerability. "You know that if you work from the most creative part of yourself, that means you're going to take risks," he says. Here's how to cure your deepest fears that come with creating something original. (Link available to premium members.)

Lori Gottlieb on the power of getting to ‘unknow’ yourself: Psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb says she helps patients “edit” the stories they tell themselves. She believes we’re all the unreliable narrators of our lives, and in many cases, using logic isn’t enough to revise the plot. Here’s how she helps people — especially in times of great uncertainty — examine the accuracy of their stories. (Link available to premium members.)

VIDEOS TO SEE.

Anthony Pompliano on the future of money: In this conversation, investor Anthony Pompliano (who is also my husband) discusses the manipulation of currency, how the automation of money has the power to change our society, and Bitcoin's role in the future of finance. It's one of my favorite interviews he's done so far. (Link available to premium members.)

Vlade Divac’s friendship of a lifetime: To say that I love this documentary would be an understatement. It’s about two friends — Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac — who grew up with a love for basketball. Together, they both went to America where they became the first two foreign players to attain NBA stardom. But with the fall of the Soviet Union, a war broke out between Petrovic's Croatia and Divac's Serbia. Suddenly, these two men, once best friends, were now on opposite sides of a deadly civil war. (Link available to premium members.)

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