4/5/09
Guest 1: Jamie Woolf, author of Mom-in-Chief
Topic: How wisdom from the workplace can save your family from chaos.
Issues: When to step in and when to step back; why working with your spouse is crucial to team happiness; how to maximize learning opportunities that come from mistakes; how to feel less like a maid and more like a skilled leader.

Guest 2: Richard Weissbourd, author of The Parents We Mean to Be
Topic: How well-intentioned adults undermine children’s moral and emotional development.
Issues: The difference between morality and religion; what a child’s behavior on the sports field says about his or her character; how organizing our children’s lives around achievement is harming them; how to regain our influence as moral mentors.

4/12/09
Guest 1: Mardi Horowitz, author of A Course in Happiness.
Topic: Mastering the three levels of self-understanding that lead to true and lasting contentment.
Issues: Discovering the conscious and unconscious mental processes that are the core of unhappiness; assembling all the pieces of your life into a complete “me”; remaining closely connected with family, friends, and others; knowing which of your values are most important and which are lower priority

Guest 2: Lisa Rene Reynolds, author of Still a Family.
Topic: Good parenting through divorce.
Issues: Emotions and reactions parents need to anticipate from their children while going through divorce or separation; common mistakes divorcing parents make; special issues for specific age groups; practical, down-to-earth advice on how to sensibly and comfortingly guild children through a painful process.

4/19/09
Guest 1: Lynn Kern Koegel, coauthor of Growing up on the Spectrum
Topic: Life, love, and learning for teens and young adults with autism and Asperger’s
Issues: Teaching kids the art of conversation; making and maintaining successful friendships and romantic relationships; making school successful; beyond the college years; improving daily life

Guest 2: Judy Converse, author of Special-Needs Kids Eat Right.
Topic: Strategies to help kids on the autism spectrum focus, learn, and thrive.
Issues: Assembling a team of qualified experts; simple substitutions that can be customized to suit your child’s needs; when to consider supplements and how to pick the right ones; strategies for staying on track at restaurants, holiday gatherings, school parties, and more.

4/26/09
Guest 1: Robin Fisher Roffer, author of Fearless Fish out of Water.
Topic: How to succeed when you’re the only one like you.
Issues: Figuring out who the “real you” is; using your differences to your advantage; the importance of support; learning to adapt; why taking risks is critical to finding your niche

Guest 2: William Damon, author of The Path to Purpose.
Topic: How young people find their calling in life.
Issues: How inundating students with activities may not help them in the long run; avoiding the lack of focus that hinders young people from finding their true passion; how parents can help young people identify what’s truly the most important thing for them; the difference between reasonable and unreasonable goals.

5/3/09
Guest 1: Marie Pinak Carr, coauthor of Sending Your Child to College.
Topic: Everything you need to know and do if you have a child going off to college.
Issues: Getting organized; digging through the paperwork; navigating the insurance maze; financing your child’s education; moving; staying in contact with your child

Guest 2: Jerilyn Ross, author of One Less Thing to Worry About
Topic: Coping with common anxieties
Issues: Understanding what triggers your anxieties and the ways you respond to them; how to tell whether an anxiety is healthy, helpful, or harmful; the difference between normal anxiety and anxiety disorders; transforming anxiety from a destructive force to a positive one.

5/10/09
Guest 1: Izzy Rose, author of The Package Deal
Topic: One woman’s not-so-glamorous transition from single gal to instant mom
Issues: Social supports (or the lack) for step mothers; keeping expectations reasonable; dealing with the pressure to love the kids right away; dealing with the children’s biological mother; how to introduce the kids (“my step-kids” vs “my kids”)

Guest 2: Amy Tiemann, author of Mojo Mom.
Topic: Nurturing yourself while raising a family.
Issues: how to negotiate a fair division of labor in the house; putting an end to the mommy wars; what happens to a new mother’s life when she brings home a baby? the huge identity shift that new parenthood creates.

5/17/09
Guest 1: Dara Chadwick, author of You’d Be So Pretty If…
Topic: Teaching our daughters to lover their bodies—even when we don’t love our own
Issues: What girls learn from mom’s attitudes about appearance; trigger words that set off a body image crisis; boys’ role in girls’ body image; what works and what doesn’t when talking to your daughter about healthy eating and exercise habits

Guest 2: Michael Gurian, author of The Purpose of Boys.
Topic: Helping our sons find meaning, significance, and direction in their lives.
Issues: What is purpose and why do we need one? How boys and girls develop purpose differently; how the loss of purpose in American boyhood is affecting families, women, and society as a whole.

5/24/09
Guest 1: Tom Heck, author of Duct Tape Teambuilding Games
Topic: Fun activities to help your team—and your family—stick together
Issues: Using team-building games and experiential learning to teach leadership, trust, cooperation, creativity, problem solving, and confidence.

Guest 2: John Bradshaw, author of Reclaiming Virtue
Topic: How we can develop the moral intelligence to do the right thing at the right time for the right reason.
Issues: The meaning of “inborn moral intelligence” and how we can cultivate it; how we can awaken in our children the desire to be good people; why our attempts to teach virtue fail so often; using movies and other cultural references to teach kids about virtue

5/31/09
Guest 1: Daniel Coyle, author of The Talent Code
Topic: Greatness isn’t born, it’s grown.
Issues: The three elements of the talent code: deep practice, ignition, and master coaching; How to identify and encourage deep practice; motivational tools used by the worlds greatest teachers and motivators; how to recognize a growing skill

Guest 2: Andrew Cherlin, author of The Marriage-Go-Round
Topic: The state of marriage and the family in America Today
Issues: Why religious Americans have a higher divorce rate than non-religious ones; the battle over same-sex marriages; why government support of marriage (over $100 million spent per year!) doesn’t produce the desired results.

6/7/09
Guest 1: Andrea Buchanan, author of The Double Daring Book for Girls.
Topic: A guide to everything a girl needs to know
Issue: Camping to schoolyard games, great women in history, shooting pool; how to throw and catch; making sand castles, the Greek alphabet, how to spin a hula hoop, and much more.

Guest 2: Allison Pugh, author of Longing and Belonging.
Topic: Parents, children, and consumer culture
Issues: How parents decrease their own power in the home by putting their children’s needs first; how to handle kids’ consumer desires in a down economy; what really drives consumer desires (hint: it’s not all about advertising).

6/14/09
Guest 1: Bruce Wolk, author of Made Here, Baby!
Topic: Finding the best American-made products for kids
Issues: Family businesses, green companies, minority- and women-owned businesses; how small manufacturers get distribution; why buying American products can help assure us of quality and safety.

Guest 2: Jean Twenge, author of The Narcissism Epidemic
Topic: Living in the age of entitlement
Issues: The characteristics of narcissism; how narcissistic values such as materialism, vanity, and entitlement have spread to the culture at large; the real costs of narcissism in the workplace, relationships, school, and everywhere else.

6/21/09
Guest 1: Joe Deyo, author of Checklists for the New Dad.
Topic: Pregnancy, delivery, and baby's first year
Issues: Building a solid plan for fathering; making a smooth lifestyle transition with a baby at home; improving yourself and your marriage; baby proofing the home.

Guest 2: Sam Apple, author of American Parent.
Topic: Strange ,surprising in modern babyland.
Issues: Is the Lamaze method a Stalinist plot (yes!); Does it sting when you pour baby shampoo in your eyes? Who invented waterbirthing? And many other odd, unusual, and strange thinks about parenthood.

6/28/09
Guest 1: Barbara Nicholson, author of Attached at the Heart.
Topic: Proven parenting principles for raising connected and compassionate children
Issues: Strategies to strengthen your emotional bond with your child; how to be a more conscious parent; how raising children with empathy and respect and improve society as a whole.

Guest 2: Jennifer Kolari, author of Connected Parenting
Topic: Transform your challenging child and build loving bonds for life
Issues: The CALM program (Connect, Match the affect of your child, Listen, and Mirror); foolproof strategies for setting limits and changing negative behavior for good.