episodes

Mike de la Rocha joins Margaret to discuss grief, fatherhood, masculinity, and his new book SACRED LESSONS, a moving look at healing generational wounds, expressing emotion, and parenting boys with presence and compassion.

We return to the courtroom of everyday relationship annoyances in our "Husband Crimes" series. Listeners submit crimes perpetrated by their spouses, and we serve as (infallible) judge, jury, and executioner.

These days puberty starts sooner and lasts longer. That requires not one "The Talk," but a hundred small conversations. Dr. Cara Natterson and Vanessa Kroll Bennett, co-authors of THIS IS SO AWKWARD, offer tips for getting started.

Journalist Amy Larocca, author of the new book HOW TO BE WELL, joins Amy and Margaret to unpack the $6.8T wellness industry: whether it’s just beauty and weight loss in disguise, how it particularly targets women, and how we can spare our daughters from it.

Is your kid lying more than you’d like? In this episode, we break down why kids lie, what’s developmentally appropriate (and when it’s not), and how to handle fibs—from “I didn’t eat the cake” to “my dad’s the CEO of American Airlines.”

The word “tween” was popularized by marketers, who sold preteens stuff by treating them like they’re a lot older than they are. Which might explain why your kid is full of sass all of a sudden. But tweens’ brains really are different—here’s how.

Women face unique barriers in healthcare. Rebecca Bloom, author of the new book WHEN WOMEN GET SICK, joins Amy to share why this is true and what we can do about it.

Feeling jealous of other moms? You’re not alone. Margaret and Amy unpack the real reasons behind mom envy, how shame makes it worse, and why naming it helps.

How do we support our teenagers while providing them with firm yet reasonable boundaries? We asked our listeners for their best advice on raising teens, and they had so much great advice!

Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action and author of FIRED UP, shares how she reignited her life—and how listeners can too.

Genevieve Kingston, author of DID I EVER TELL YOU?, shares the extraordinary story of the chest full of letters and gifts her mother left her before dying of cancer just before Genevieve’s 12th birthday. Amy and Genevieve discuss how children grieve and the enduring power of maternal love.

Can a kid ever have TOO good of an imagination? Does there come a time when we need to lead kids back to reality? Will they take their imaginary friends to prom if we don’t? Here’s why an overly active imagination is almost always a wonderful thing.

How do we talk to our kids when tragedy strikes—whether close to home or far away? Amy and Margaret explore how to support children through scary news, sad events, and overwhelming emotions through ages and stages.

What happens when one child dominates your parenting bandwidth—whether due to illness, behavior, or giftedness? We unpack the impact on family dynamics and how to recalibrate.

What's the absolutely dumbest thing that you fully believed as a child? We asked our listeners, and share some of their—and our—most deeply held misbeliefs.

Parenting coach Danielle Bettmann shares how positive discipline can help parents of strong-willed or neurodivergent kids avoid power struggles and find calm, connection, and consistency.

Amy and Margaret offer five important topics to discuss with your kids this summer, from online safety to growth mindset. We also provide you with plenty of other episodes we've done on these topics for further listening.

Here are the mom lies that totally worked on our kids– or worked on us *as* kids. Whether it's the ice cream truck's “all gone” jingle, the "just sleeping” goldfish, or the broccoli factory field trip for kids who act up, these are our favorite fibs.

It can feel scary to discuss racism with our kids. But it’s the best way for us to protect them from its harms– and as Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, author of HOW TO RAISE AN ANTIRACIST, explains, kids can approach this work more easily than we might expect.

We asked our listeners to tell us about their pettiest and most long-held grudges. From spelling-bee unfairness to pumpkin-farm price gouging, we spill the tea on our own petty grudges and share some of your most hilarious answers.

Francesca Royster, author of the memoir CHOOSING FAMILY: A Memoir of Queer Motherhood and Black Resistance, explains what it means to build a “chosen family” of friends, and how to parent while yearning for the world that we want, but don’t have yet.

Ramit Sethi, author of the book MONEY FOR COUPLES, joins Margaret to talk finances in marriages: why we avoid it, how to reframe it, and how to design a rich life together.

Sometimes we never learn things because we think they're too hard. But we (and our listeners) are here to say that some of them aren't hard at all!

Ellen Kahn is an expert on LGBTQ youth and family life. She tells us how parents can create a home environment that affirms and accepts LGBTQ children, and how we can advocate for LGBTQ kids in the larger world, whether they're our own kids or not.