Episodes

What does commitment look like when illness changes everything? How do we care for someone we love without losing ourselves along the way? And where do we find the strength, dignity, and resilience to navigate a long goodbye? With remarkable honesty and humor, Nita Tucker shares the often-unspoken realities of being a partner caregiver—the heartbreak, exhaustion, unexpected laughter, and relentless resilience required day after day, sometimes for years. Her deeply personal story is a heartfelt g...

For many of us, life's challenges can leave us feeling stuck, disconnected, and uncertain about who we are and what's possible. We find ourselves reacting to life rather than embracing all it has to offer. But what if we could move beyond standing still and begin reaching for more? Through personal stories of struggle, loss, love, joy, and unexpected grace, Caroline C. Barney explores what it means to be a work in progress and the possibilities that emerge when we choose to move forward. With wa...

Halloween brings millions of children onto neighborhood streets and private property after dark, creating a predictable mix of poorly lit walkways, temporary decorations, extension cords, traffic, excited children, pets, costumes that impair visibility and crowded haunted attractions. When someone gets hurt, what looks like a holiday accident can quickly raise complicated questions about negligence, premises liability, insurance coverage and who may ultimately be responsible. Legal analyst Rusty...

Imagine fearing that a single bite of food could send your child to the emergency room—or threaten their life. For families navigating severe food allergies, this fear is an everyday reality. For too long, food allergies were viewed as conditions to manage through caution and avoidance, rather than urgent challenges requiring scientific breakthroughs. Dale T. Umetsu MD dared to challenge this perspective. Concerned by the rising prevalence of food allergies in children and their potentially deva...

When Marcy Kelly learns that her son Michael has been found on the floor of his apartment, her world shatters. In her moving memoir, she recounts the rawness of her grief and her struggle to accept his death. She searches for answers about what happened to him while navigating the painful first holidays without her son. Both an unflinching account of loss and a celebration of the forty-five years she shared with the son she adored, she reveals that acceptance doesn't mean letting go. It means fi...

Getting along with people is hard. Understanding why can make all the difference. Mark Schroeder brings philosophy to the everyday challenges of human relationships, from political polarization and painful coming-out experiences to having your ideas ignored in a meeting—until a male colleague repeats them. He even explains why your partner still loads the dishwasher the "wrong" way, no matter how many times you've discussed it. Through engaging stories and practical ideas, he explores what it me...

Marcia Chatelain shines a spotlight on thirteen extraordinary Black women artists and activists whose contributions to the 1963 March on Washington have long been overlooked. While history remembers the powerful speeches, iconic figures, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of equality, the women who helped organize the March, performed on its grand stage, and were honored for their courageous fight for freedom remain largely invisible. She brings their compelling stories to life, revealing the vo...

Overdose deaths fell nearly 21% last year, and October marks National Substance Abuse Prevention Month but award-winning author and licensed psychotherapist Lynne Hugo says the numbers don't capture what's actually happening inside families still living with addiction. Her new novel follows 4 women whose lives fracture around a young couple's slide into opioid addiction. As warning signs are ignored and truths obscured, quiet unease escalates into tragedy. When one death is ruled an accident — a...

Should you tip for takeout? Should you let someone cut in line? And if you’re worried a politician you dislike will win, should you bet on them—and profit if they do? Ward Farnsworth and Saul Levmore explore these everyday dilemmas with humor, curiosity, and a healthy dose of logic. Their point isn’t necessarily to give you the “right” answer, but to show that how you think through a problem matters just as much as the conclusion.Drawing on economics, law, philosophy, and sports, they introduce ...

AI can offer career advice in seconds, but should technology have a say in decisions that can shape an entire life? Charisse Lillie explores where AI-assisted guidance ends and human judgment begins—and why trusted mentors, meaningful relationships, and experienced advisors still matter. Drawing on her new book, Upon a Turning Stage, Lillie shares lessons from a remarkable five-decade career spanning civil rights law, government, corporate leadership, philanthropy, the Federal Reserve, and major...

After her mother’s death, theater director Gwen Rivlin is determined to keep the large, shabby turreted house where they grew up. But the cost, suburban setting, single-family zoning laws, and skeptical neighbors all seem determined to drive her out. Seeking both a way forward for the changing community and an escape from her grief, Gwen stages Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard inside her home—a play about a family fighting to save its own estate. She casts friends, coffee-shop coworkers, and local r...

Empathy is facing a growing public backlash. Elon Musk has called it “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization,” while evangelical bestsellers such as Toxic Empathy and The Sin of Empathy portray compassion as a liability. In the manosphere, empathy is often dismissed as weakness. Conflict mediator Doug Noll acknowledges that empathy without boundaries can be harmful: “Drowning in ‘bleeding-heart, ‘feel-everything’ empathy is a liability.” But he argues the answer isn’t to harden our hea...

Blending personal experience, research, and practical guidance, Katie Rose Pryal PhD shares her journey as a neurodivergent mother raising neurodivergent children. Her work offers an empathetic and empowering perspective on parenting in a world that often overlooks the needs of neurodivergent families. She explores the unique challenges these families face while celebrating the strengths, resilience, and individuality of both neurodivergent children and their parents. She also provides thoughtfu...

On the eve of his 60th birthday, small-town mechanic Rusty Wilson takes a bullet while saving patrons in a Colorado diner, only to awaken in a mysterious realm between life and death. There, he discovers that his story is not over. Reflecting on a life shaped by disappointment, grief, and painful family estrangements, Rusty is given the chance to explore the paths he never took. Guided by people from his past and present, he experiences an alternate reality, including what might have happened if...

Most people have heard how artificial intelligence is transforming the way we work, shop, and communicate. But could AI also help families navigate complicated legal challenges following a serious injury or medical tragedy? David Roddenberry, co-founder of Mama Bear Law, explores this question and introduces “Mama,” an AI-powered legal assistant designed to help families find information and guidance more quickly during difficult times. He brings an impressive academic and legal background to th...

Parents often worry about the messages children receive from classmates, social media, and the world around them. However, physician and author Dr. Tiffanie Tate believes one of the most powerful voices children will ever hear is the voice they develop within themselves. Her children’s picture book, Perfectly Perfect, gives parents, caregivers, and educators a meaningful way to start important conversations through an age-appropriate story about friendship, bullying, apologies, self-image, and t...

With sharp clarity and emotional depth, Margaret Eastman Smith offers an intriguing coming-of-age memoir set within the controversial global movement Moral Re-Armament (MRA), formerly known as the Oxford Group. Influential yet polarizing, MRA has been characterized by some as a cult. Oprah Winfrey also criticized the organization in the documentary The Me You Can’t See. She explores what it means to grow up within a tightly bound ideological world and what it takes to move beyond it without losi...

Drawing on years of clinical experience, Dr. Tamir Aldad challenges conventional wisdom about codependency and introduces readers to a frequently overlooked relationship dynamic: what happens when one person’s emotional survival gradually becomes another person’s responsibility. Through real-world clinical stories, neuroscience, and practical exercises, he teaches readers how to set healthy boundaries while preserving empathy—and without sacrificing themselves in the process. He also addresses a...

Sex is a natural part of life, yet many parents struggle to talk openly with their children about it. Without these important conversations, children, adolescents, and young adults may be uninformed and more vulnerable to sexual abuse, warns Dr. Janet Rosenzweig, a nationally recognized child welfare and sexual health expert. In the fully revised and updated edition of her book, The Sex-Wise Parent, She gives parents practical guidance for helping their children develop safety, confidence, and h...

Laurel Woods offers an intimate, unflinching look at growing up inside her father’s strip club and the unexpected path her life took as an adult. After an injury ended Michael Woods’ career with the California Highway Patrol, he entered the adult entertainment industry, opening the Jet Strip Club with his partner, Horace Joseph McKenna Jr. (Big Mac). Their business flourished, leading to multiple clubs and millions of dollars in success. Twelve years later, Big Mac was found shot to death in his...

For millions of women, television wasn't just entertainment; it was an instruction manual, teaching us what relationships should look like, how ambitious women should behave, and how much of ourselves we should sacrifice to be accepted. As conversations around toxic relationships, beauty standards, mental health, and women's empowerment continue to dominate the cultural landscape, Doménica Feraud poses a provocative question: What if the stories that raised us got it wrong? Funny, insightful, an...

Building a successful career and leaving a lasting legacy requires more than just business achievement. Drawing from his distinguished trajectory as an entrepreneur, CEO, professor, and prominent business school leader, James G. Ellis offers a comprehensive roadmap for leaders at all stages.Ellis shares actionable principles for navigating career transitions, cultivating resilience, and fostering deeply meaningful relationships. His perspective on leadership was forged through pivotal encounters...

For millions of therapists—and millions of people in therapy—the experience is familiar: shortness of breath, a racing heart, and sweaty palms. When we perceive a threat, our bodies naturally activate fight-or-flight responses, both physically and behaviorally. This protective fear system is simply the nervous system doing what it is designed to do. When a client’s fear system goes into overdrive, the therapist responds, resonating with what is happening in the room, much like strings on an inst...

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than 7 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease, and that number is projected to rise to nearly 13 million by 2050. Watching a loved one experience dementia can be heartbreaking, but Teri Roche Dropnick offers a unique and hopeful perspective in her memoir about her father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Through her father’s longtime best friend of 80 years, she discovers stories and memories that help her reconnect with the father s...