Episodes

There is a pivotal sea change happening in children’s development. The age of puberty has been trending earlier for decades. Bullying doesn’t just happen on the playground, but over text and DM. Couple earlier puberty with ill-equipped, developing brains and the onslaught of new media and stressors that never existed when we were kids, and it’s clear that parents need a new guide to raise this new generation. Dr. Sheryl Gonzalez Ziegler knows firsthand how challenging these years can be—yet she ...

Jo, a driven environmental attorney based in Washington, DC, and Lauren, a spirited young woman from Britain on a journey of self-discovery, find themselves in a serendipitous encounter at a lively London pub in 1981. Their brief yet profound connection generates a whirlwind of emotions, but the vast ocean, Jo's career aspirations, and immigration hurdles thwart their burgeoning romance. Fast-forward 22 years, and Lauren and her partner travel from Europe to visit Jo in her San Francisco home. T...

Charlotte “Charlie” Hastings never missed her mother. But when her late father visits her in a dream and reveals the letters her mother had written to him over the years, she begins yearning for a connection she never desired to make. Reeling from a mix of emotions, she embarks on a soul-searching cross-country journey to California to find the mother she thought she never needed. Anna Gomez, an award-winning Asian American author brings us along on this emotional trip guided by letters left beh...

How many of us have to endure the loss of parents and are then left with the sobering task of cleaning out their houses, dividing up their belongings among siblings or friends, and trying to make the houses ready for someone else to live in? Annie Guest, a mental health therapist, and attorney, inherited her house after her parents passed away and this is her story of how she brought new life to the house for a new resident – herself - and how she reclaimed her identity doing it.

Drawing from his experience as Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs at the University of Michigan and CEO of Michigan Medicine, Dr. Marshall Runge examines how technological advances, policy changes, and emerging business models are fundamentally transforming American healthcare. He argues that healthcare stands at a revolutionary inflection point where multiple disruptive forces are reshaping every aspect of care delivery. He systematically analyzes major healthcare disruptors including...

Unhappiness is our brain’s natural default state, but we’re taught that happiness is “normal.” This makes your natural ups and downs seem like a disorder. It suggests that others are happy and you are missing out. It diverts you from building skills that would actually spark your happy brain chemicals. Why are we getting such bad information about our biology? It’s politics. Not politics in the sense of electing leaders, but politics in the sense of winning support by saying what’s popular. Dr. ...

As a species, we are increasingly characterized by stress, isolation, and digital detachment. Christopher Hadnagy, a leading expert in global security and a master hacker, reveals how principles of human communication can be employed to establish rapport, enhance relationships, and influence others' decisions constructively. This isn't about manipulation, but rather about building genuine connections and regaining confidence in our interactions. With his guidance, readers can soon find themselve...

Once you’ve been admitted to college, the next step is to develop a strategy of how to find your best life there. Some avoid challenging experiences, follow a path of familiar expectations, and rely on shortcuts. Others aim for perfection, ignore their friends and health, labor over what subjects to study, and neglect spending time outside the classroom. The pressure to make college valuable and interesting can feel overwhelming. Now James T. Hamilton shares important lessons to help you find pu...

Sexual assault, physical attacks, gross mismanagement, and false promises. These are just a few of the crimes and abuses that Judy Karofsky’s elderly mother endured in assisted living facilities after suffering an incapacitating stroke. With Karofsky’s help, her mother eventually cycled through six facilities in the hope of finding adequate care. Each one turned out to be as dysfunctional as the last. Now she chronicles her efforts to find appropriate care for her beloved mother in a system that...

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is challenging, even without factoring in devastating losses or significant life changes. But when these events (such as the death of a loved one, a difficult divorce, or a trauma) surface, it can be quite challenging for many health-conscious people to eat healthily. Bestselling author, health journalist, certified health coach, and life coach Connie Bennett experienced this unexpected setback when her mother passed away from cancer. Realizing that even the most ...

Stressed out and overloaded is seemingly the norm for most people these days. How did we get this way? Julio Vincent Gambuto offers a witty outlook for those who are simply done with the constant nonsense the world demands that we take on, process, believe, and manage all day long. He starts with the premise that life in America in 2025 is relentless. He then breaks down into two important parts to answer two pressing questions: how did modern life get this way? And what do we do about it? He is...

As a professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization, Jim Murphy’s sense of worth used to revolve around results. He was focused on achievement but also afraid of failure. But then, when he started coaching professional and Olympic athletes, he often encountered the same limiting mindset. So he became obsessed with learning how the best in the world performed with poise under pressure. And after years of research, he had a revelatory insight: the pursuit of extraordinary performanc...

Are you ready for the ultimate revelation in mother-daughter relationships? Dr. Debra Mandel does a deep dive into the shocking truths of mother-daughter dynamics and uncovers her three-step plan to heal broken bonds and create unbreakable connections. Exposing untold stories of feuds, dismissals, and the path to reconciliation, she teaches us to break free from the "too nice" mom syndrome, eliminate the shame and guilt we may feel, and discover the keys to a treasurable connection with your dau...

Most of us are looking to downsize when we move or when we are going through a transition in life. However, what do we know about “rightsizing”? Best selling author and lifestyle columnist Marni Jameson explains exactly how to simplify our homes and lives especially when we are navigating through emotional terrain. Her fresh approach goes beyond typical decluttering advice by addressing emotional hurdles, offering actionable steps to create a life that reflects personal values and supports happi...

Richard Jay Hutto draws on never-before-published memoirs and declassified CIA documents to resurrect the incredible journey of Muriel White, the daughter of a revered American diplomat and wife to a Prussian count. She moved seamlessly among Europe’s elite until the specter of Nazism cast its long shadow. Faced with unspeakable evil, she leveraged her aristocratic connections to secure escape routes for Jewish families, mentored emerging royalty like the future Queen Geraldine of Albania, and u...

When renowned professor Dr. Aidan Ryan vanishes without explanation, he leaves behind a haunting message revealing he has a new life and can never return. His devastated daughter Sofia embarks on a global search to uncover the truth behind her father’s disappearance. What she finds is more shocking than she could have imagined—a web of family secrets and lies that challenge everything she thought she knew. After clues lead her to Italy, Sofia reconnects with her estranged mother, Ella, who revea...

Susan Shapiro Barash takes a deep dive into the complexities of female friendships. By peeling back the societal narrative that our friendships are meant to last forever, she uncovers a more nuanced reality: the closest bonds do falter. Through groundbreaking research and 150 interviews with women ranging in age from 20-80, she reveals an emerging trend — estrangement among female friends. She provides an eye-opening investigation/practical guide for women navigating murky waters of suboptimal f...

In 2004, Tamara Dean stepped away from the sterile hum of office life and moved to a farm in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area—a land marked by steep hills and deeply carved valleys, laced with spring-fed streams. She was searching for a different way of being: to live lightly on the planet, to find grounding in the rituals of self-sufficiency, and to imagine a future that would be resilient in the face of climate upheaval. She shares twelve finely honed essays that weave together nature, history, and ...

The underrepresentation of girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields is a pervasive issue that continues to shape the future of education and innovation. Despite young girls performing equally well, if not better, than boys in STEM subjects at an early age, the numbers of women pursuing careers in these fields remain disproportionately low. Loxley Browne is the writer of the CHARMS book series, a collection of stories that blends adventure with a deep exploration o...

At the tender age of twenty, Jenn faces a pivotal moment when her boyfriend, Morey, proposes marriage after only a few weeks of dating. Her intuition urges her to say no, but she’s spent the entirety of her teenage years caregiving for family; she yearns for adventure, and she thinks relocating to California with Morey will give her the freedom she craves. So she says yes—only to find herself back in the caregiver role after he becomes disabled a few years into their marriage. But it’s Morey’s v...

Through a rich trove of stories culled from her years in the eldercare industry, author Lisa Skinner offers insight into the difficult questions families face and debunking the most common myths about Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia. Skinner’s’s book provides an unconventional path to peace of mind for caregivers and loved ones facing this devastating diagnosis. She is a behavioral expert in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. In her 20-year career as a community cou...

Guiding kids and tweens through their formative years has always been a delicate balancing act, filled both with the joys and the challenges of their growing independence. But today’s parents face unique hurdles: the ever-present screens, the negative impact of social media, the looming threat of climate change, and fears around school violence. Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg offers a practical and compassionate approach to navigating this uncertain moment while also setting the foundation for lifelong re...

When people talk about today’s biggest challenges—pollution, misinformation, inept CEOs, and politicians—they tend to frame the conversation around “bad people” doing “bad things.” But is there more to the story? Humans are intrinsically wired to seek short-term success at the expense of long-term prosperity. Kristian Rönn, an entrepreneur formerly affiliated with the University of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute, calls these deeply rooted impulses “Darwinian demons.” These forces, a by-pr...