http://radio.nationalreview.com/betsyhart/ en-us Copyright 2008 National Review Online National Review's Betsy Hart talks books with influential conservative authors. Betsy Hart National Review's Betsy Hart talks books with influential conservative authors. Betsy Hart betsyhart@nationalreview.com Betsy Hart My guest today is Neil Swidey, author of a Boston Globe Magazine cover story on kids and privacy and texting and cell phones. My question is when is too much information (for us parents) about our kids not good? (Hint: I'm definitely more for being a "parent over the shoulder" than Neil is.) We'll also touch on the story of the mom who put her nine-year-old all alone on a New York subway and the whole world went nuts. Tune in. Fri 13 Jun, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart Remember Kirk Cameron, teen heartthrob and star of that '80's show, Growing Pains? Well he's my guest for a discussion of Hollywood and Christianity. I know, the two don't go together, do they? And that's the point. Kirk became a Christian in his teens, and has been battling the secular Hollywood culture ever since. In short, Kirk's got guts -- the kind you want your kids to have, too. Tune in. Fri 6 Jun, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart How do you feel about all those little salespeople coming to your home selling everything from chocolate bars to wrapping paper, to support everything from their sports clubs to the school? Do you know these kids sell some two billion dollars a year worth of stuff? And by the way, are they selling it - or are their parents? We talk to writer Meghan Gurdon, who penned a piece for the WSJ recently on the "Little Lomans" phenomena. Fri 30 May, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart The hook-up culture is thriving on college campuses. And where goes the blame? My guest Donna Freitas, author of Sex and the Soul, fingers the campuses that "do not provide an environment where acting on romantic desires, rather than sexual ones, is feasible." In fact, Donna says "it takes a village" to set standards for dating. Moms and dads of college-age kids - or kids of any age - will want to tune in! Fri 16 May, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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. Fri 9 May, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart "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. Fri 25 Apr, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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. Fri 18 Apr, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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. Fri 11 Apr, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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. Fri 4 Apr, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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. Fri 28 Mar, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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. Fri 14 Mar, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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?" Fri 7 Mar, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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. Fri 29 Feb, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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. Fri 22 Feb, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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. Fri 15 Feb, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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! Fri 1 Feb, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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! Fri 25 Jan, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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! Fri 18 Jan, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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? Fri 11 Jan, 2008 09:00:00 EST Betsy Hart 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. Fri 4 Jan, 2008 09:00:00 EST