The Talk

In this episode I chat with Dr. Nadine Thornhill, a Toronto-based sex and sexuality educator, about reasons sex can be so hard for us to talk about, the difference between sex and sexuality, and how we can talk to our kids about sex without talking about sex.

We also welcome back Julia Feldman to chat about masturbation, the dangers of heteronormative sex education, why most sex educators are women, and how to set our kids...

This is a conversation with Yolanda Williams, founder of Parenting Decolonized, a podcast and educational platform that focuses on the ways that racist structures and white supremacy impact the black family. We get into the ways the process of  decolonization looks different for black and white families, the role of capitalism in creating a racial divide in the United States, the root of the reasons that black parents tend to paren...

This is the full version of our conversation with actor, singer, educator, entertainer, parent, and human Justin Guarini. A portion of this interview appeared as part of our episode, RACE (Part 1).
In this conversation Justin and I chat about finding family balance during COVID, creativity, investing in ourselves, moving forward in faith instead of fear, and the Netflix show Big Mouth.
You can find "The Talk" on...

In part one of our exploration of communication with kids about race and skin color, we hear from Sarah Henson-Darko and Kwame Darko, a multiracial couple about the ways they engage on the subject of race with their kids: From being aware of what's happening in culture at large, to leaning in to their Ghanaian heritage, to preparing for "The Talk"—the one about surviving in your skin as a person of color.
We als...

When we talk about communication most of us default to the assumption that we're talking about...talking. But in this episode we start exploring the importance of non-verbal communication, and especially the ways that relates to our communication with our kids.
We chat with Yolanda Williams about her raising her daughter Gia, advocacy and racial bias in the medical community, and about why viewing single parents as superh...

Leo Wolters-Tejera is the creator of Conversations Official, an interfaith, intersectional, multi-platform community group that facilitates spiritually-minded conversations about life, belief, and the intersection of the two.
In this episode we have a chat with Leo about the ways western evangelical Christian culture have shaped our country's perceptions of gender, what is going well in that conversation, and how we can p...

Parenting Forward’s Cindy Wang Brandt is a writer, podcaster, speaker, and conference host who has built a valuable community around the concept of parenting with a focus on spirituality but absent of religious dogma.
Cindy and I sat down for an informal conversation and discussed our podcasts, being brought up in church (and then leaving church), how our own parents influence our relationships with our kids, and what it means...

For centuries gender roles and allowable expressions of gender have been dictated for boys and girls, men and women, by a rigid binary system of cultural expectations. Now, more than ever, the boundaries of gender are being flexed, experimented with, and outright shattered as we move into a time of greater acceptance for and celebration of individuals who desire to live and express themselves authentically through their gender iden...

Why is it so hard for us to talk about money? There's a real cultural taboo when it comes to how much money people make, and how they use it. And family units are hardly exempt from the serious lack of communication and openness in this arena, in fact, you might be hard pressed to find someone whose parents really taught them useful skills and knowledge growing up, when it comes to financial literacy.
In this episode of T...

In this episode we explore the ways that our culture has created a view of death that is often confusing, shrouded in secrecy, and downright dishonest, and the reasons it's important to talk with our kids about death from a young age.
I chat with Christian Shaefer, a funeral director, EMT, and Forensic Investigator about the reasons for including children in the conversation about death and the importance of acknowledging...

This bonus episode is an extended conversation with Atlanta-based playwright, screenwriter, actor, director, and educator Topher Payne. We talk about his childhood in suburban-rural Mississippi, putting down roots and becoming a full-time writer in Atlanta, his series of children's book parodies "Topher Fixed It", all the things his parents got right (and what they didn't prepare for), and finding mentors and st...

In part two of this episode, sex educator Julia Feldman joins me for a round of rapid-fire questions about bodily autonomy, exploration, boundaries, language, and about pushing back against cultural expectations.
I also talk with Lori Mannette about her adopted child Charlie, and how she encourages him (and everyone) to critically investigate their own beliefs and opinions.
Then I’m joined by Ellen & Tom Macy, about t...

In the first of a two-part episode, I have a conversation with actress, dancer, and social activist Dr. Shakina Nayfack about understanding, loving, and advocating for our bodies. And about giving children freedom and language at early ages to feel safe expressing themselves without shame.
You can find "The Talk" on Instagram and Facebook at @thetalkthepodcast, and on Twitter at @thetalkthepod. If you'd like to c...

School is a place where we don’t all fit in. On this episode I speak with alternative-education administrator Pam Hogan-Charron, parents of 5 kids Darcy & Kyle Morehouse, and public school social worker and mental health provider Poonam Dharni, about how we can shift our focus to make school a place that works for all students, and an experience that recognizes curiosity, diversity, and individualism.

You can find &qu...

Our culture often equates leadership with power, strength, and infallibility. On this episode we discuss talking to our kids about leading with kindness, compassion, and about ways of looking for leadership in unexpected places.

This episode's guests are Matt Hinkley, Fred Salomon, and Jane Burgess.

You can find "The Talk" on Instagram and Facebook at @thetalkthepodcast, and on Twitter at @thetalk...

On this episode I talk with Dr. Sara Heron about attachment, non-verbal communication, and representation within the mental health community. I also talk with my parents about their own parents and the decisions they made raising my sisters and me.

You can find "The Talk" on Instagram and Facebook at @thetalkthepodcast, and on Twitter at @thetalkthepod. If you'd like to contribute to the conversation by sha...