Episodes

What if luck isn’t random at all? Tina Seelig PhD reframes what we call “luck” as something you can actively create. Fortune grows from the choices you make and the risks you take when opportunity appears. Drawing on insights from her renowned TED Talk, she shares simple, practical strategies to help you build your own momentum—strengthening your mindset, surrounding yourself with the right people, and taking purposeful action. Through compelling stories and research-backed ideas, she explains h...

In her captivating memoir, Deborah K. Shepherd examines her first great love, with a man thirty-four years her senior. In 1968 and at age 21, she ditched college in Tucson for hippie life in New York. When that soured, she found a low-level corporate job, where she met Bill Shepherd, an unhappily married, 55-year-old senior executive. That they had a fling is unsurprising for the time. What is surprising is that they stayed together, for twenty years and two children, despite their age gap, diff...

Racism and how it has developed over the years is constantly evolving, shaped by shifting social norms, political power, and the everyday assumptions people often take for granted. Ainsley LeSure PhD offers some powerful insight on how racism since the end of the civil rights era has fundamentally weakened our ability to fight it. She explains how we got from the Obama era to Trump's openly racist politics--and why our current frameworks made this trajectory not just possible, but predictable. S...

Choosing Emotions For centuries, emotion has been debated, measured, regulated, and theorized, yet no single work has mapped the full range of everyday emotional experience across disciplines—until now. D. Earl Johnston introduces a groundbreaking reference that defines 272 emotional states, drawing on 3,000 years of thought spanning philosophy, science, linguistics, psychology, art, and spiritual traditions.Expanding far beyond psychology, the work integrates perspectives from seven fields and ...

Good Girl Detox Many women are socialized to act as constant caregivers, the “good girls” who prioritize everyone else’s needs above their own. However, mental health clinician, professor, and author Dr. Julie Merriman reminds us that you cannot pour from an empty cup. This deeply ingrained “Good Girl” pattern lives within the nervous system. Releasing it requires gentle, manageable steps that avoid overwhelming the body, while rebuilding connection to oneself and embracing small, guilt-free mom...

For generations, women have been conditioned to prioritize others, silence their voices, and neglect their own needs. In her latest work, Sara Hirsh Bordo addresses a critical gap in women’s wellness: the power of self-permission to speak, transform, and heal. Drawing on more than 50 hours of interviews, she explores why women often minimize their own suffering and health concerns, and offers a path toward self-prioritization. Her new book encourages women to put themselves first, alongside her ...

In a world of texts, DMs, and disappearing messages, one woman is bringing back the lost art of the thank-you note, typing over 1,000 letters a year on vintage typewriters, and the results are nothing short of extraordinary. Erica Gerard Di Bona explores why expressing gratitude in writing doesn’t just make someone feel appreciated; it strengthens relationships, boosts mental wellbeing, and even opens unexpected professional doors. Erica is a former producer in network news, The Playboy Channel,...

Many affairs happen in relationships that seem perfectly happy. And when betrayal is discovered, it doesn’t just break hearts; it shatters a person’s identity- their entire sense of who they are in the world. Lora Cheadle’s expertise is born from lived experience. When she discovered her husband had been unfaithful for 15 years, she faced a choice: remain a victim or become an architect of her own healing. She chose transformation. The work she and her husband did to repair their marriage—with a...

Mario Cartaya found the inner peace he needed by confronting memories he didn’t know he had. Born in Havana in 1951, he left Cuba at age eight, after the turbulent winds of change forced his family to immigrate to the United States. Years passed, and the memories of his childhood were seemingly lost—until 56 years later when he returned to Cuba to rediscover the faded origins of his existence. He offers the universal message that facing the challenges of our past provides the soul the clarity it...

Investigative journalist and abortion access correspondent for The Nation, Amy Littlefield had been reporting on reproductive healthcare and abortion for a decade when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Her immediate response to the ruling: “They are going to kill people.” Now she provides a deeply reported account critical to understanding the anti-abortion movement’s strategy over the past 50 years. Pairing her poignant reporting with her love for murder mysteries, Killers of Ro...

In an era marked by deep social and political divisions, disagreements can escalate quickly. Tensions surrounding politics, religion, and personal beliefs often lead to hostility, bullying, or emotional confrontations. Doug Noll offers a fresh set of listening and communication strategies designed to help people respond effectively when emotions run high. Through clear steps and relatable, real-world scenarios, he demonstrates practical ways to handle anger, both in others and within ourselves. ...

As millions begin the new year searching for motivation and direction, author and entrepreneur Joel Steele believes the real transformation starts within.He challenges the idea that change comes from external sources and instead introduces the “life switch”, a powerful internal shift that changes how people think, act, and pursue their potential. After facing major personal setbacks, including bankruptcy and possible jail time, he experienced his own life-changing moment that forced him to redef...

After a near-death experience as a teenager, Marie Diamond discovered a profound connection between environment, energy, and human potential. That life-changing moment inspired her lifelong mission: helping people transform their spaces so they can live, work, and thrive at their highest level. Marie has redefined Feng Shui for modern audiences by translating an often misunderstood ancient practice into clear, actionable guidance that produces real, measurable results. While her client list incl...

On September 6, 1970, twenty-year-old Mimi Nichter, wearing her green mini-dress, was returning home on a flight to New York/JFK Airport from a summer spent on a kibbutz in Israel when her airplane was hijacked by armed members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and redirected to a remote desert region in Jordan. The hijacking of Trans World Airlines Flight 741 was the first incident of international terrorism, and one of the most significant events in aviation history. Passeng...

Former Olympic boxer and professional champion Danny O’Connor delivers a searing, deeply personal memoir that confronts one of sport’s most overlooked crises: eating disorders in male athletes. From high school wrestling to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Boxing Team and a decade-long professional career, O’Connor lived in a world where extreme weight-cutting—starvation, dehydration, purging and physical collapse—was common practice. What began as discipline slowly became self-destruction, culminating in ...

In a memoir rich with human drama, hard-earned wisdom and enduring life lessons, Ed Hajim recounts the astonishing journey of his life. Kidnapped by his father at the age of three, he drifted through foster homes and orphanages, facing instability and hardship while struggling simply to survive. Despite rejection and deep family trauma, he refused to be defined by deprivation and adversity. Through resilience, discipline and unwavering determination, he rose to achieve the American dream, becomi...

When a teenage student from Manhattan’s elite Dearborn Academy dies on a class trip, three mothers must face the darkest secrets lurking beneath the surface of their lifestyles, their friendships, their children and themselves. As the investigation turns to murder, it becomes clear that everyone—the women, their kids and the school itself—is hiding something. The mothers discover they can no longer trust their own children, the school or each other. Emily Listfield threads together the power of ...

Divorce isn’t just the division of assets. It’s the unraveling of a shared life, and the decisions made in the process that can shape a woman’s future for decades. Seasoned divorce expert Beth Kraszewski shares the ten critical minefields women must avoid, from entering negotiations without a post-divorce plan to overlooking tax consequences or assuming a 50-50 split guarantees fairness. She explains how to build the right legal and financial team, how to understand what truly qualifies as a mar...

What does it really mean to choose the single life on purpose? Drawing on research from more than 20,000 people, Bella DePaulo PhD explains why many who are “single at heart” experience deep fulfillment, joy and psychological richness outside romantic partnerships. She shares evidence that some singles grow happier with age and may even navigate aging more successfully than those whose lives center on marriage. She also explores the stereotypes aimed at single people and why society’s obsession ...

Lena Fein was raised in madness by a violent and controlling mother, obsessed with household cleanliness and the beauty of her porcelain dolls. To survive, she perfected the art of dissociation, racing through school with straight A’s, becoming a top producer at a high-tech company, and clicking through two marriages without ever slowing down long enough to fully experience life. At fifty-one, she looks into the eyes of her dying mother, and her warped mirror finally shatters. She begins to expe...

Dr. Dale Atkins, author, former Today Show expert and psychologist is best known for sharing guidance on how to navigate life’s complicated questions and uncomfortable feelings. Now, she has a new mission: to help generations connect and experience the joy of being present. In her new book, Grandma Sylvia is an enchanting figure who embodies the spirit of a vibrant butterfly. She’s warm and welcoming, fearless, and curious about everything. Her granddaughter, Victoria, often finds her belly flut...

If you’re a well-intentioned man—or care about one—who sometimes becomes impatient, distant, or tense under pressure, bestselling author and psychologist Len Felder PhD, offers a smarter path forward. You’ll learn effective, real-world strategies to strengthen mindfulness and build creative cooperation at home, at work, and in your most important relationships. Avoiding abstract theory and empty jargon, he shares practical methods for responding to everyday tension with greater compassion and cr...

Most people freeze when asked “How are you?” especially when they are not OK. Owen Marcus explains why this seemingly simple question triggers anxiety, how body awareness helps produce grounded, honest answers, and why context matters when choosing what to say. He outlines three practical levels of response that allow people to be truthful without oversharing or overwhelming others. He also explores the cultural pressures that encourage people—especially men—to hide distress. Marcus is the Found...

In a time when personal safety is increasingly top of mind, author and former CIA officer and security expert Tim Beard launches a groundbreaking new series of three books designed to give readers the practical tools and mindset to stay alert, aware and protected in their everyday lives. He shows readers how to stay safe at home and at work, from identifying vulnerabilities to mastering basic precautions that greatly reduce risk. The book also offers step-by-step advice for navigating ordinary o...