FRIDAY, MAY 09, 2008
Hey Moms: I’ve Got a Few Words for You
Attention mothers (and fathers) on this Mother’s Day weekend! Want to communicate the exact right message to your kids? Then you don’t want to miss today’s show. My guest — and good friend — is David Staal, the author of Words Kids Need to Hear. This is a little book with big ideas. In particular, David says there are seven statements kids need to hear regularly, audibly or otherwise, from their parents. Tune in and learn all seven.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2008
Liars, Cheaters, and Thieves . . . Oh My!
“I’m dishonest and proud of it.” Believe it or not, that’s what a lot of our kids think. But can this national character collapse be solved? Our public schools, with their “character counts” curriculums, seem to think so, although my guest today is skeptical. Mona Charen — a nationally syndicated columnist, bestselling author, and good friend — tells Lynne and I that this feel-goodism won’t get us very far. But is there anything wrong with our schools taking a stab at teaching “trustworthiness,” for instance? And what can we parents do to quell the dishonesty pandemic? Mona has some great answers and you’ll want to tune in.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2008
Divorce, in Dollars and Sense
Divorce doesn’t come cheap in America — and I’m not talking about lawyer fees. According to a new report, divorce in this country is costing taxpayers a whopping $112 billion a year. Of course, that number is not going to discourage folks who really want to split with their partners. But it might persuade our government to be a bit more pro-marriage. A worthwhile pursuit? Maggie Gallagher — columnist and author of The Case for Marriage — helps me add it all up.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2008
Hook-Up Downturn?
A recent New York Times Magazine story actually says kids on college campuses — even the elite campuses of MIT and Harvard — are turning their backs of the hook-up culture. But are these kids setting a new standard, or are they just swimming upstream? Carol Liebau, my guest this show and author of Prude: How the Sex-Obsessed Culture Damages Girls (and America, Too!), knows her way around this topic. Have we traveled too far down the sex-soaked road to ever come back? Tune in and find out.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, APRIL 04, 2008
God? Science? Why Not Both?
Have you ever noticed that Christians are fine with having God and science coexist? In fact, Christians see scientific discoveries as strengthening their faith precisely because they reveal the marvel of the world. So why is it that so many scientists seem to hate the idea of God so much? Are they the ones who can’t coexist with Him? The documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed — which opens in a thousand theaters this month — asks these excellent questions. You don’t want to miss it. Nor do you want to miss today’s show. We’ve got Expelled producer Mark Mathis in the house. He’ll explain the movie, how it came to be, and why it’s so important to think correctly about creationism and evolution.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, MARCH 28, 2008
In the Money with Dan Miller
Are economists overreacting when they say a recession is heading our way, or that we’re in one already? And how can families best deal with falling home prices, higher mortgage rates, rising food costs, and the prospect of gas at $4 a gallon? Since today’s economic questions are big, I made sure to recruit a guest with the big answers: Dan Miller. Dan, formerly of the Chicago Sun-Times and now with the Heartland Institute, is a leading Chicago business writer and economic observer. Got economy-related concerns? You’ll want to tune in.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2008
The Kids Are All Fight?
With nine kids between us, my producer Lynne and I are pretty familiar with sibling rivalries. But that doesn’t mean we’re experts on dealing with it. For that, we can turn to today’s guest, Adele Faber — the best-selling author of Siblings Without Rivalry and How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk. I may disagree with Adele about her emphasis on “all feelings are okay,” but so much of what she’s written has been helpful to me as a parent. Got kids who fight? You’ll want hear what Adele has to say.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, MARCH 07, 2008
Get Your Geek On!
You should cultivate your child's inner nerd. Or so says Marybeth Hicks, columnist and author of the forthcoming book, Bringing up Geeks: How to Protect Your Kids in a Grow-up-too-fast World.
Hicks says we should redefine the word GEEK to stand for “Genuine, Enthusiastic, Empowered, Kids.” The question I’ll ask Hicks is “is it we parents who worry too much sometimes about whether our kids are cool?”
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2008
The Play Is the Thing
My guest today is Robin Henig, who recently wrote a provocative essay on the science of play for the New York Times Magazine. As I wrote in my column this week, Henig suggests that with all the research that has been done on why we play, the importance of play, and what may be the loss of play in our children’s lives, we may need no other insight than: We play because it’s fun. Wouldn’t it be great not to have to agonize over something as simple, and wonderful, as play? (Of course, I’m thinking real play — not video games!) Henig thinks so, and she let’s us parents know why.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2008
What Happened, Hillary?!
Apparently it doesn’t take a village to win a presidency! What happened, Hillary?! On today’s show I ask National Review senior editor Ramesh Ponnuru if he’s as stunned as I am —and you are, I’m sure — that Hillary Clinton’s campaign has fallen into such dire straits. Is it really over for Hillary? Where did she go wrong? And what can we learn from this amazing collapse? The ever-brilliant Ramesh has some answers.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2008
Smells Like Teen Romance
We live in a sex-driven culture that encourages our teens to be involved in very romantic relationships. But our young teens aren’t capable of handling the powerful chemical changes these relationships elicit. What are we as parents to do? Producer Lynne and I — along with “favorite mom” Anne Morton — discuss the answers.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 01, 2008
Making Conflict Work
Ken Sande is president of the international mediation group, Peacemaker Ministries, and today he talks with Lynne and me about sibling conflict. Ken points out that it’s not always smart to avoid conflict. In fact, he says conflict always produces an opportunity for positive things to happen. You know what? I agree. (This is true in every area of life.) Tune in to find out how to make conflict work!
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, JANUARY 25, 2008
Guess What? Pro-Life Is on a Roll
As many of you know, this week marked the commemoration of the tragic Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. But the good news is that minds and hearts continue to change in the pro-life direction. Where exactly does the nation stand in this process — legally, politically, and culturally? My dear friend Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony list (an important pro-life political action group), has the answers. You will not want to miss this show — Marjorie’s terrific!
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, JANUARY 18, 2008
Life on the Bright Side
My guest this episode is Wall Street Journal science writer Robert Lee Hotz, who’s somewhat of an expert on the science of optimism. Yeah, optimism. It seems we humans are built for it. Literally. We have optimism compartments right in our brains. (This makes a lot of sense to me and my producer, Lynne. With nine kids between us, how else could we get up in the morning?!) But the key is to tap into our optimism. Hotz offers an easy and surprising technique for building on the optimism that we were created to experience. You’ll definitely want to tune in!
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, JANUARY 11, 2008
Why Are Kids So Unhappy Today?
Today we talk to Dr. Madeline Levine, a practicing psychotherapist and author of The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids. She deals in her practice with teens who get plenty of attention from parents and school, they have a good standard of living - but they are extraordinarily unhappy, more so than teens in the past. Did you know studies show the highest rates of depression and substance abuse are in the most affluent teen communities? What’s going on?
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, JANUARY 04, 2008
Kids Can’t Always Get What They Want!
Dr. Wendy Mogel is the author of The Blessing of a Skinned Knee — one of my favorite parenting books ever. She’s also a wonderful child psychologist who is just filled with common sense. In today’s show we talk about one of my big beefs: Ungrateful kids! As Dr. Mogel puts it, “Advertisers have brainwashed our children to think that everything they want is something they need.” Of course, kids don’t need half of what they want. Here’s how we parents can make that clear.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2007
Faith of Our Children
It’s Christmas time, so of course we’re concerned with matters of faith. But for us parents, this needs to be a consuming passion throughout the year — not just at Christmas. (In some ways I think Christmas even gets in the way of faith, but that’s for another time!) In today’s show, Daniel Darling, author of Teen People of the Bible, points out that most children and teens raised in faith will fall away from their faith in college. Why? For one, Dan argues that too many Christian parents — and churches — “dumb Christianity down.” Dan makes some great points, so be sure to tune in.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2007
Women, War, and Kate O’Beirne
National Review magazine’s Washington editor Kate O’Beirne is a former member of the President’s Commission on the Assignment of Women in the Armed Forces, making her something of an expert on the subject of women and war. Do the two go together? Kate and I agree they shouldn’t. Indeed, what does it say about a culture in which men stay at home to keep the home fires burning while women go out to do the fighting? Tune in and hear what Kate has to say.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2007
It Takes a Parent . . . to Care for a Parent!
Many of us are in the sandwich generation: We’re called on to take care of our kids and our aging parents. How can we manage these challenges? And what options are available to an older generation that, blessedly, expects to live longer, fuller, and more independent lives than ever? Two great guests from a vibrant senior living facility in Chicago have some answers. They talk about the options for both independent living and senior care — all available under one roof — that are springing up around the country. I hope you’ll tune in!
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2007
A Parental Rights Amendment? Michael Farris Says Yes
I’m a skeptic when it comes to amending the Constitution for almost anything. But Michael Farris, president of the new parental-rights group ParentalRights.Org, lays out a very reasoned case for why we need a Constitutional amendment to protect the parental rights that are now implicitly, but not explicitly, laid out in the law. One big concern? A push from the left after the next election to adopt the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. This show is not about spanking, per se. It’s about government standing between parents and their children. Tune in: This is important.
LISTEN |
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2007
Dr. Carol Dweck on Self-Esteem
Dr. Carol Dweck is fascinating. A renowned researcher on self-esteem and motivation issues, she explains why it’s not a good idea to tell a child she’s “smart,” how we are raising our children to be “entitled and fragile,” and that we need to be raising kids who don’t have a “fixed” mentality, but a “growth” mentality. The difference can be life-changing. I can’t encourage you enough to listen in.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2007
Charles Sykes and “Adult Supervision”
Charlie Sykes, author of 50 Things Your Kids Won’t Learn in School, just wrote a really great piece for the Wall Street Journal called “Adult Supervision.” In it he describes a culture that seems to want to shroud our kids in bubble wrap. Take the reporters at ABC News, for instance. They recently revealed that — gasp! — many playgrounds have germs! (ABC should see my kitchen. Actually, they shouldn’t.) What’s an overprotective culture costing our children? Charlie Sykes has added it up. Tune in.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 09, 2007
Talking Pilgrims with Leland Ryken
What would Thanksgiving be without the Pilgrims? You know, big hats, dour expressions, the Mayflower, making friends with the Indians, right? Well, there’s a lot more to it. Leland Ryken, prolific writer, Puritan scholar, and professor at Wheaton college, talks with me about using Thanksgiving as an opportunity to reflect on who these Puritans really were, what they gave us, and why it matters that parents get it right.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 02, 2007
The Pushy-Parents Epidemic with Neil Swidey
Neil Swidey, who just wrote a great piece for the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine — “Rush Little Baby. . . ” — talks with me about the epidemic of parents who push their kids academically and otherwise. What is going on with the push to Harvard at age two? Are our egos tied up in our kids? And how as parents do we get off this track if we’re on it?
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2007
The Rise of the Good Girl with Wendy Shalit
In her provocative 2000 book, A Return to Modesty, the brilliant Wendy Shalit argues for the feminine virtue of keeping your clothes on. In her 2007 follow-up, Girls Gone Mild: It’s Not Bad to Be Good, Wendy puts us in touch with girls who essentially are rebelling against their mother’s generation: They’re going mild, not wild! Can we encourage our own daughters to “go mild” — and our sons to appreciate such women? Wendy and I sort it all out.
LISTEN |
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2007
What to Do About Pornification? With Chris Clapp
I, like many parents, am sickened by what Laura Ingraham rightly calls the “pornification of the culture,” particularly when it comes to our own kids and the Internet. In this show I get to the heart of the matter by talking to Cris Clapp of Enough Is Enough in Washington. The wide availability of sexual images may now be the “new normal” on the web and in society, but Clapp tells us parents that that we really can say “enough is enough.”
LISTEN |
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2007
Talking Boys with Christina Hoff Sommers
In this show I talk to Christina Hoff Sommers, the best-selling author of The War Against Boys, about the incredible success of the new Dangerous Book For Boys. Full disclosure — I love the book. It fits right in with my belief that boys need to be civilized, not feminized.
LISTEN |
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 04, 2007
Karen Pallarito Offers Tips on Childhood Obesity
Karen Pallarito, a lifetsyles and health writer, discusses the growing trend, so to speak, of child obesity. She has some suggestions on how to tackle this problem, both in our culture and in our own homes when it’s necessary. You definitely want to tune in!
LISTEN |
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2007
Fun with Meredith O’Brien
Meredith O’Brien is the author of A Suburban Mom: Notes from the Asylum, a complilation of her often hilarious and always very funny parenting columns and blogs. We talk about whether or not there’s a backlash against overwrought and overworried parenting. She’s terrific, and has some very sage advice from one of her own children’s teachers about homework!
LISTEN |
|
|
| 
|
