Send me a Text Message about the show! Well, I've saved the best for last in this season finale. In 2022 I introduced you to my daughter, Grace. Close to finishing up her freshman year in high school, we talked about her experience being autistic and what ways she felt like she was different than "typical" teenagers. Now, three years later, Grace just graduated from high school and is about to embark on new adventures. I asked her if she would join me one more time on the po...

Send me a Text Message about the show! We should talk about divorce. I mean, talk about a topic that absolutely fits the theme of this show: talking about the things people DON’T want to talk about. Divorce is gotta be top three. Right? And it is definitely a topic that leaves those going through it feeling very isolated and alone. Because, no one wants to talk about it. Sharing a life with someone is hard. Raising kids is hard. Aging is hard. Changing is h...

Send me a Text Message about the show! May is Foster Care month I could not think of a better person to talk about child welfare, child poverty, and children in the care of the state than David Ambroz. David is a national poverty and child welfare expert and advocate. He was recognized by President Obama as an American Champion of Change. He currently serves as the Head of Community Engagement (West) for Amazon. His best-selling memoir A PLACE CALLED HOME gives us a front row seat to t...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Melinda Wenner Moyer is back to talk about her latest book, Hello Cruel World, Science based strategies for Raising Terrific Kids in Terrifying Times, which comes out 5/27/25. This book is a science-based, hopeful guide on how to raise children who will not just survive, but thrive in this challenging, terrifying world—and who could ultimately help save it. Melinda talks with me about the 10 skills necessary to foster in children (and ourselves!) t...

Send me a Text Message about the show! What if joy has been misdefined? What if it isn't some luxury that we have to find and keep, but instead something inevitable? Something that always finds it's way back to us? Dr. Mary Catherine McDonald joins me this week to talk about her new book, The Joy Reset, and it is exactly what I needed to hear. Maybe it's what you need too? The Joy Reset Dr. MC McDonald Resources mentioned: Unbroken: The Trauma Response is Never Wrong ...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Daria Burke is an American writer, speaker, and wellbeing advocate. Daria largely raised herself in Detroit, tiptoeing around the mood swings of a drug-addicted mother, often without running water at home. She became a model student, hiding any evidence of struggle.and determined to leave Detroit and her past behind. She sped up the corporate ladder at the biggest beauty brands, rising to the C-Suite level. She was the picture of success. An...

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Send me a Text Message about the show! Nicole Graev Lipson is the author of Mothers and Other Fictional Characters, which is a memoir written in essay form. Each essay in the book provides insight into her experience inl the many roles that she, and other women often feel pressure to play. With a goal of going beyond the ready made stories of womanhood, she has managed to provide a very revealing and affirming picture of the woman she has become today-as well as who she is still becomin...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Ronald Young Jr, 4-time award winning podcast host and pop culture commentator, joins me to talk about his podcast "Weight For It'. Fresh off his 2025 Ambie Award as best podcat host, and in anticipation of season three coming out in the fall, Ronald sat down with me to talk about the series. Over the first two seasons, Ronald has shared about his journey with weight, his insights on body image/mental health, and how the media shapes our perc...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Raffi Grinberg is a Business leader, educator, and author of the new book "How to Be a Grown Up: The 14 Essential Skills You Didn’t Know You Needed (Until Just Now)”. Based in Washington DC., he co-founded The Constructive Dialogue Institute (with Jonathan Haidt) and runs the invite-only society, Dialog, which brings together an incredibly wide ranging group of global leaders and thinkers for informal conversations that can end up shaping our policy and ...

Send me a Text Message about the show! I’m a little late to highlight rare disease month. Technically, the month of February traditionally is Rare Disease awareness month with Rare Disease Day falling on February 28th. But, sadly, as is happening with so many awareness months and days in the US, the FDA/NIH planned 2 day meeting focused on Rare Disease Day on 2/27 and 2/28 was cancelled this year. So, I guess I’m not too late after all, and instead I’m declaring today, the d...

Send me a Text Message about the show! The broken rung: a phenomenon even more pervasive than the glass ceiling in holding women back from career success. Women around the world do extremely well when it comes to their education. They graduate at higher rates than men do and have higher average GPAs. But then a strange thing happens: Upon entering the workforce, they immediately lose their advantage. When the first promotions come around, the slide continues—for every 100 men who are p...

Send me a Text Message about the show! I like talking about uncomfortable things. It's why I have this podcast-so that I have a space to be able to explore topics that might make some people feel uncomfortable, but are typically things we should be talking about more often. Today is no different. Today I want to talk about death. This isn't the first time I've covered this topic. In fact, WAY back in 2020-even before the world shut down in a pandemic-I talked about dea...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Is talking about the environment controversial? Nope. And yet.....why does the worry wort inside my head always stop and ask "Uh oh-will this be seen as political"? Luckily, I have the fearless Debbie Levin as my guest today to quiet that pesky worry wort and lead me in a fantastic conversation about sustainability and improving the environment. For more than twenty years Debbie has been a powerhouse in Hollywood, and...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Time to do an update on how things are going in the Department of Education now that we are 623 days into the Trump administration. Wait, no…..I’m being told it has actually been 27 days. I’m sorry. So when I last spoke about the Dept of Education, it was November 18th and I was reacting to the release of then President elect Trump’s 10 point education plan. I did an overview on the history of the Department of Education and an overview of th...

Send me a Text Message about the show! I am overwhelmed. There is so much information coming out each day that it becomes difficult to figure out what I should pay attention to -and I think that is the point. Flood the zone so no one thing can catch too much attention and so many many issues just flow right past us without notice. That's why I have been really trying to use discernment on the places I count on to get my information. And I want to be transparent with y...

Send me a Text Message about the show!What does it mean to be a "good" mother? And who determines those measures? Nancy Reddy joins me for a conversation about motherhood. Her new book, "The Good Mother Myth: Unlearning Our Bad Ideas About How to Be a Good Mom" is part memoir, part research based, and ALL thought provoking. -What are the four major myths that contribute to an impossible standard for a mother to uphold? We talk about that.-What were the major rese...

Send me a Text Message about the show!January 20th, 2025Today I want to talk about Martin Luther King Jr. About the day that commemorates one of the most important civil rights leader of our country.How did this day come to be? You might be surprised to hear the long road it took to have this day become a federal holiday.And it is also a National Day of Service. So, what does that mean, and how do I find ways to be of service?https://www.americorps.gov/serve/volunteer/mlk-da...

Send me a Text Message about the show!HAPPY NEW YEAR!!Welcome to 2025, the year of the snake. Hmmm...that's interesting.So, what's in for 2025?Well, Donald Trump, for one. And, mouth tape! What's out?I think it's safe to say that feminism is looking very out for 2025. And I'm worried that Millennials are becoming as invisible as Boomers and X'ers.Join me and my favorite pop culture girlfriend, Amanda Pedigo, for a welcome to the New Year. We should talk about 2025...

Send me a Text Message about the show!Jessica Kidwell and her guest, Liz Minnella, explore the importance of engaging in grassroots activism and the challenges of identity politics, particularly among white women voters. They discuss the creation of Chicago Women for Harris, the dynamics of political engagement, and the need for authenticity in messaging. The conversation highlights the necessity for Democrats to adopt a more aggressive strategy in the face of political challenges and the imp...