View Details

There’s a new feature documentary in town called The Pathological Optimist. It’s about Dr. Andrew Wakefield.

You know, the British gastroenterologist who’s credited/blamed with linking vaccines and autism to millions of parents and thereby single-handedly birthing the modern anti-vaccine movement.

Yes, that Andrew Wakefield.

Andy inspires… hyperbole. Mention his name and it’s likely to provoke a fight. In a 2015 New York Times article: he was alternately described as “one of the most reviled doctors of his generation” and “Nelson Mandela and Jesus Christ rolled into one.”

I mean, Mengele or Mandela… seriously?

There’s gotta be more than meets the eye here, right?

We live in Tabloid Nation, after all, where paparazzi roam free and no one is immune. Why hasn’t someone been curious enough to take a closer look?

Who is Andrew Wakefield really? And he’s a family man? How could any family survive this kind of circus? What do his wife and kids make of all this?

Miranda Bailey is a mom and a smart cookie. She’s a Hollywood actress who’s drawn to great, revelatory stories. Stories that teach us a little bit more about who we are. She also happens to be a very good filmmaker.

Miranda wanted to know. She contacted me when she started doing research on the MMR vaccine scandal and we became friends.

“Louise, can you introduce me to Andrew?”

This was almost 10 years ago. Miranda has been making her “Wakefield doc” for a while now. I don’t want to think about the number of times she rued the day she met me (and Andy).

Like most good things, this movie took time. Miranda spent weeks following Andy all over the country and in Austin, TX with the Wakefield family. The storyline evolved real time multiple times as she filmed and filmed. And edited and edited. It was almost done when Tribeca happened. It’s a testament to her stubbornness.

I saw an early version last year and the final version in April, so I can tell you what you need to know.

No matter how you feel about vaccines or autism or Andrew Wakefield, this film is for you. It’s a character portrait so intimate that you can’t look away.

It raises all sorts of questions that you get to ask and answer in the privacy of your own mind because attending this movie is not a statement of anything. Except the virtues of curiosity. And an appreciation for the genre of documentary filmmaking.

The Pathological Optimist is not a pro-vaccine take-down or an anti-vaccine anthem.

It stands squarely in that narrow sliver of real estate that dares to present an exceptionally controversial person without taking a position. It asks the question — who is this man? — and respects you enough to leave you alone to wrestle with it.

ps. Buy tickets now. It’s going to sell out and you’re going to want to watch.

pathologicaloptimist #liarhealer #monstersavior #TPO #dontmissit

Miranda Bailey is a passionate producer, actor, and director known for bringing a diversity of strong, well-crafted stories to the screen. Miranda has delivered 20 films over 15 years, including the Oscar-nominated THE SQUID AND THE WHALE; the Spirit Award-winning THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL; James Gunn’s SUPER; the Sundance hit SWISS ARMY MAN; and the critically acclaimed NORMAN. She has directed two documentaries: GREENLIT, which premiered at SXSW and is available on iTunes, Amazon, and Hulu; and now THE PATHOLOGICAL OPTIMIST opens September 29 at the Angelika Film Center in NYC and can be seen on VOD November 14. Read more about Miranda here.

Andrew Wakefield MB.BS. is a co-founder of the Autism Media Channel and director of the film VAXXED. An academic gastroenterologist, Andy received his medical degree from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School, London in 1981. He qualified as Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1985 and trained as a gastrointestinal surgeon with a particular interest in inflammatory bowel disease. He was awarded a Wellcome Trust Traveling Fellowship to study small-intestinal transplantation in Toronto. He was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists in the U.K. in 2001. Andy has published over 140 original scientific papers, reviews, and book chapters.

Louise Kuo Habakus is the founding director of Fearless Parent™. She is a bestselling author; runs two non-profits, Center for Personal Rights and Health Freedom Action; lectures widely; and has appeared in numerous media outlets, including ABC World News Tonight, Fox & Friends, and The New York Times. Louise was a Bain consultant and a C-level executive in the financial services industry. She holds two degrees from Stanford University. Louise serves as an advisor to Focus for Health Foundation, GreenMedInfo, The Documenting Hope Project, and SHE Living TV. She is a certified KRI Kundalini Yoga teacher and the mother of two.

View Details

105 — What is Transhumanism? ** August 23, 2017

Guest // Zoltan Istvan ** Host // Pratik Chougule, JD

Look around and you’ll see humanity not just engaged with technology but integrated in ways that are unexpected, sophisticated, fascinating, and for many of us, fundamentally alarming. There’s a nostalgia for the simplicity of the pre-internet past… for the time that my teenage kids call “ye olden days.”

It’s pretty clear, however, that we aren’t stuffing tech back into the box anytime soon. And humanity is beset with all sorts of problems. Development of these technologies is accelerating and impacting human intelligence and physiology in ways that might transform what it means to be… human.

How do we wrap our heads around these ideas? How can we explore, plan, and lead responsibly? Join co-host Pratik Chougule and guest Zoltan Istvan as they discuss:

• What is the transhumanism movement (often abbreviated as H+)?
• Is transhumanism just an extension of human progress or something more radical?
• Why pursue a transhumanist future through the political system?

Zoltan Istvan is a Libertarian candidate for California Governor in 2018. He is often considered one the world’s leading transhumanists after his popular run in the 2016 US Presidential race as a science and technology candidate. Zoltan began his futurist career by publishing The Transhumanist Wager, an award-winning, #1 bestseller in Philosophy that has been compared to Ayn Rand’s work. Zoltan is also a leading technology journalist, a successful entrepreneur, and a former filmmaker and on-camera reporter for the National Geographic Channel. His futurist work and promotion of radical science has reached over 100 million people. He is a graduate of Columbia University, and lives in San Francisco with his physician wife and two young daughters. Learn more at ZoltanIstvan.com.

Pratik Chougule, JD is an executive editor at The American Conservativemagazine. He served as the policy coordinator on the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Huckabee. From 2008-2009, Chougule was a Bush administration appointee at the State Department in the Office of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security. Chougule graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University and holds a JD from Yale Law School.

View Details

Free speech is the right to articulate one’s opinion without fear of retaliation or censorship or societal sanction. The First Amendment of the US Constitution states: “Congress shall make no law… abridging freedom of speech.”

Universities have traditionally been a place where burgeoning, radical, heated ideas are first expressed and take hold. Student activism has given rise to important political, economic, and social change. Think civil rights and the Vietnam era protests, for example.

It’s not news for self-righteous students to express such vehement certainty that they are not interested in hearing other perspectives. But how do we feel when college administrators cave to their demands to shut down dialogue and the open exchange of ideas… you know, free speech? It’s a trend that has USA Today and others asking, What happened to American universities?

There’s a provocative new documentary that’s probing a profoundly unsettling question: Is the University Killing Free Speech and Open Debate? Flmmaker Rob Montz wants to understand how and why his alma mater, Brown University, and other prestigious universities have been run down by this kind of “nasty censoring species of student activism.” Why can’t we just have a conversation? What does this say about our country today and where we’re headed?

Rob Montz is a fellow at the Moving Picture Institute and a director at We the Internet TV. His work has been featured in the New York Times, BBC World News, the Economist, USA Today, and the Washington Post. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife, daughter, and genius corgi, Bronson. Find more of his work at RobMontz.com.

Pratik Chougule, JD is an executive editor at The American Conservative magazine. He served as the policy coordinator on the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Huckabee. From 2008-2009, Chougule was a Bush administration appointee at the State Department in the Office of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security. Chougule graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University and holds a JD from Yale Law School.

View Details

The Politics of a Vaccine Safety Commission February 21, 2017 Guest // Pratik Chougule, JD Hosts // Robert J. Krakow, Esq and Louise Kuo Habakus

Is it a good idea to convene a presidential vaccine safety commission? We just finished reading a cogent, probing, and well-researched article: “Why the Kennedy-DeNiro Vaccine Challenge Matters” whose author says, “Yes.”

Pratik Chougule, JD, executive editor of The American Conservative, eschews the usual trashing of advocates who challenge the government’s vaccine safety program. Curious about this compelling voice emerging from the fray of naysayers, we were eager to hear more from Pratik. Some the questions we’ll address include:

• What are the historical origins of the American vaccine safety movement?
• Why are vaccine safety advocates dismissed in the mainstream press?
• How did Trump become interested in the vaccine/autism issue?
• What factors will influence Trump’s decision to tackle the vaccine issue?
• What political impact will a vaccine safety commission make?

Pratik Chougule, JD is an executive editor at The American Conservative magazine. He served as the policy coordinator on the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Gov. Mike Huckabee. From 2008-2009, Chougule was a Bush administration appointee at the State Department in the Office of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security. Chougule graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University and holds a JD from Yale Law School. His relevant writings include: My political journey; My piece on the decline of small-government conservatism in the Republican Party, which, I think, will influence the vaccine debate; and An op-ed on the alt-right, which may be an ally in the vaccine safety movement.

Robert J. Krakow, Esq is an attorney in private practice in New York City focusing on the trial of civil and criminal cases, and specializes in the representation of persons injured by exposure to environmental toxins and vaccines. Bob started his legal career with NYPIRG. He was a prosecutor with the New York County District Attorney’s office and served as Bureau Chief of the special narcotics prosecution division. Bob is committed to working for individuals with disabilities. He is on the board of Focus for Health Foundation and Lifespire, Inc. where he was Board Chair for 7 years. He founded and/or serves/served on the boards of prominent autism and vaccine safety advocacy organizations including EBCALA, Center for Personal Rights, A-CHAMP, National Autism Association, and SafeMinds. He lives in NYC with his wife and their two children.

Louise Kuo Habakus is the founding director of Fearless Parent™ and lead host and producer of Fearless Parent Radio™. She is a bestelling author; runs two non-profits, Center for Personal Rights and Health Freedom Action; lectures widely; and has appeared in numerous media outlets, including ABC World News Tonight, Fox & Friends, and The New York Times. Louise was a Bain consultant and a C-level executive in the financial services industry. She holds two degrees from Stanford University. Louise is on the board of Focus for Health Foundation, and the advisory boards of GreenMedInfo, The Documenting Hope Project, and SHE Living TV. She is a certified KRI Kundalini Yoga teacher and the mother of two.

View Details

Healing Your Love Relationship with Stacey Martino – Episode 102 Healing Your Love Relationship with Stacey Martino – Episode 102 February 8th, 2017 Guest // Stacey Martino, Relationship Expert Host // Lea @ Maverick Kitchen As a Fearless Parent, you’ve turned over every rock to achieve maximum physical health for you and your family. But when is the last time you’ve “taken the temperature” of your relationship?

There is growing evidence that relationship stress can directly impact your health [source]. As someone recovering from a number of immune illnesses as well as recently separating, I know first-hand the toll relationship stress can take on your overall well-being.

And it all changed when I met this episode’s special guest and took big steps to heal my relationship along with my body.

Join me for my first episode of the Heart Beat segment of Fearless Parent Radio, where she will explore love from all angles. This episode welcomes Stacey Martino, a Tony Robbins-certified relationship expert who has helped thousands of couples and singles built everlasting love with their partners and themselves. I am one of those people and now a devoted member of Stacey’s tribe of “lovies”.

In this inaugural episode, we’ll be exploring thoughts around:

• How one person truly can transform their relationship WITHOUT their partner’s involvement
• How Stacey went from being the “ice princess” to her mission to enable lasting love for others
• How taking responsibility for your contribution to the relationship’s state is key to thriving
• How to trigger the best in your partner by being your best authentic self
• One simple, 10-minute strategy you can use starting today that will transform your relationship

Stacey Martino is a sought-after relationship expert who knows that Better Relationships equal a Better LifeTM! Stepping out of the old relationship paradigm of couple’s coaching, our guest and her amazing husband empower individuals with the tools & strategies to transform, not only, their love relationship but ANY relationship…and the craziest part? You don’t need your partner to participate for this to work for you!

View Details

101 — The Power of Pussy and Sister Goddess Activism ** December 28, 2016

Guest // Laura Brayton, DC ** Host // Louise Kuo Habakus

We’re ending 2016 with a bang and kicking off the new year with a gift to our sisterhood of women (and the men who love us). it’s time to take back what’s rightfully ours, the full responsibility and embodiment of our radiance, our power, and our joy. Mother Earth has been waiting for us. She knows it is the divine feminine that creates, gives, and protects life.

Laura has been patiently asking to do a podcast with me. As much as I love connecting with our tribe of holistic healers, I just wasn’t so jazzed about doing another empowered mama wellness talk. But, I admitted, I did have a twinkle in my eye about something. I had just finished reading Pussy by Regena Thomashauer. Was she willing to go there? Laura was game. And I knew we were going to have some fun.

This book is, imo, required reading for all women. The title is the portal and the message inside is even more provocative and revolutionary. Mama Gena has a recipe for true healing for what ails us. Heal the women, heal the world:

• What does the shame around this word, pussy and her sister the C- word, have to do with the reasons we push away compliments, play small, don’t ask, and keep a lid on it in a world where we feel worried and wrong?
• Who is the Goddess, the powerful woman?
• Why does Thomashauer say our truth is present when we know desire?
• What does it matter if our culture does not honor grief, and her kinswomen: rage, longing, jealousy, frustration? What happens when we don’t feel our feelings?
• Women no longer need to trade sex for food. We are breadwinners and supermoms. Congresswomen and CEOs. Our partners are more egalitarian than ever with housework and childcare. So what’s wrong?

Mama Gena has lots of homework assignments. Laura and I will do some of them together, on the air. Through our discussion, you’ll get to know this passionate and brave healer.

Laura Brayton, DC is a holistic chiropractor, author, and educator who’s passionate about healthy families. She is certified in chiropractic pediatrics, Webster Technique for breech presentation, Sacro-Occiptal Technique, and is an advanced practitioner of Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Technique (NAET). Laura is a BioEnergetic practitioner utilizing Applied Kinesiology to “eavesdrop” into the body and determine its current needs for health. Check out her popular podcast “Well Adjusted Mama” and her websites www.drlaurabrayton.com and www.braytonbirthmethod.com.

Louise Kuo Habakus is the founding director of Fearless Parent™ and lead host and producer of Fearless Parent Radio™. She is a bestelling author; runs two non-profits, Center for Personal Rights and Health Freedom Action; lectures widely; and has appeared in numerous media outlets, including ABC World News Tonight, Fox & Friends, and The New York Times. Louise was a Bain consultant and a C-level executive in the financial services industry. She holds two degrees from Stanford University. Louise is on the board of Focus for Health Foundation, and the advisory boards of GreenMedInfo, The Documenting Hope Project, and SHE Living TV. She is a certified KRI Kundalini Yoga teacher and the mother of two.

View Details

When she was told that her 20-month-old son had autism, Andrea Libutti MD was devastated. Therapists said he would never communicate with others, nor would he ever form meaningful relationships. Still, Andrea refused to accept that dim prognosis and instead embarked on a years-long journey of discovery and healing.

Using her position as a physician to gain access to a variety of specialists, she explored every promising biomedical and behavioral therapy.

Eventually, she came to see that we must consider autism not just from a physical perspective but from an emotional and spiritual one as well. In Awakened by Autism, Andrea distills the results of the research she undertook and relays her personal experiences as she tried one treatment after another in search of a way to help her son.

From the interview you will learn:

• The multifactorial nature of autism and the problems inherent in how many health-care professionals view the disorder.
• How each child has unique needs and requires a personalized plan for healing.
• How changing our beliefs about the possibilities for those with autism allows us to uncover their hidden brilliance, while taking steps to improve their well-being.
• What she learned from her many intriguing interviews with shamans, energy healers, homeopaths, and educators from her “Awaken to Autism” webinar which aired just a few weeks ago.

Andrea Libutti, MD is a board-certified emergency medicine physician and spent several years in private practice treating children with autism from a mind-body-spirit perspective. Her book Awakened by Autism (Hay House, April 2015) is a culmination of her extensive knowledge and a guide for viewing autism from a new mindset. Her greatest hope is to empower families to embrace their special children with love and acceptance, while taking useful action to restore their well-being. Her own son with autism has been her greatest teacher.

Mary Coyle, DIHom is a homeopath with extensive training in homotoxicology and German Biological Medicine. She is the director of the Real Child Centerin New York City. Homotoxicology utilizes cellular drainage, nutrition, and time-tested homeopathic techniques to stimulate the self-healing mechanism in your child. It is a therapy geared to enable your child to move to the next level of health. Mary writes and speaks about detoxification at the cellular level. She is a contributing author of Cutting Edge Therapies for Autism (Skyhorse,

View Details

99 — How to Raise A Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor

April 27, 2016 Guest // Sally Mendelsohn, CNM : Host // Maya Shetreat-Klein, MD Do you have a pediatrician you love? Do you even know what that could look like? In the current polarized medical climate, finding a like-minded — or even open minded — pediatrician is not always easy.

But… there was one pediatrician who was willing to swim against the tide — loudly and proudly — even back in the 1970s. In this episode, homebirth midwife Sally Mendelsohn and Dr. Maya discuss Dr. Robert Mendelsohn’s “renegade” ideas, including his books How To Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor and Confessions of a Medical Heretic.

How did Dr. Mendelsohn start on his visionary path and how was it received by the medical establishment?

What were his thoughts about birth, ultrasound, breastfeeding, and vaccination?

What, if any, practices and attitudes have changed since he wrote his books?

Robert Mendelsohn, MD (1926-1988) was one of the first outspoken, renegade pediatricians. A graduate of University of Chicago for both his undergraduate studies as well as medical school, he went on to write numerous books including How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor, Confessions of a Medical Heretic, Male Practice: How Doctors Manipulate Women, and more. He was selected by President Johnson to lead Project Head Start’s Medical Consultation Service. He publicly questioned the mainstream attitudes about medication, parenting, birthing, ultrasound, immunizations, hospitalization and surgery. He appeared on over 500 television and radio talk shows.

Sally Mendelsohn, CNM is the daughter of Dr. Robert Mendelsohn and a leader for women in her own right. After getting her undergraduate degree at Brandeis College, she graduated from Georgetown and Cornell Universities to eventually became a Certified Nurse Midwife in 1982. During her 25 year career, she delivered babies both in home and hospital settings. Most recently, she taught midwifery in the graduate program at New York University. Sally and her family have recently launched a new website to more broadly share the ideas of her father. Learn more at www.thepeoplesdoctor.net.

View Details

98 — Tech Brain: The Vice Grip of Screens and Lights ** April 20, 2016

Guest // VIctoria Dunckley, MD ** Host // Carla Atherton Has technology grabbed ahold of your kids’ brains, with the vice grip of blue screens and blinking lights? It’s affecting our children socially. It’s messing with brain function and development. It’s causing health problems from fatigue to sleep problems. It’s a catalyst of emotional upset, from tantrums and depression to addictions and even violence.

Gulp.

Do you have a daughter who’s not responding well to treatment? Do you suspect that you son is being medicated unnecessarily?

Could screentime be affecting your child’s grades, happiness, sense of self, relationships, and overall quality of life? Could it be at the root of an ADHD or Oppositional Defiance Disorder diagnosis?

Find out during this interview, and learn how you can join host Carla Atherton and Dr. Dunckley for a screenfast challenge. Reverse these tech side effects and develop new, healthy relationships with technology.

Victoria L. Dunckley, MD is an award-winning integrative child psychiatrist and a leading expert on the disruptive effects of electronic media on brain health and development. In the past ten years, her Reset Program has helped more than five hundred children, teens, and young adults who failed to respond to conventional treatment alone.She blogs for Psychology Today, and has been a featured expert on the Today show, NBC Nightly News, and the Investigation Discovery Channel. She is the author of a groundbreaking new book, Reset Your Child’s Brain: A Four Week Plan to End Meltdowns, Raise Grades and Boost Social Skills by Reversing the Effects of Electronic Screen-Time.

Carla Atherton, MA, Director of the Lotus Health Project, Writer and Editor, Workshop Instructor, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner, Transformational Nutrition Coach, Yoga Instructor, Health (R)evolutionary, and Children’s Health Advocate. Carla is a trained Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner and Transformational Nutrition Coach, and is a creative and academic writer, lecturer, workshop instructor, acreage-living, unschooling mom of three. She is passionate about health and wellness, which, to her, involves all aspects of health including the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Carla created the Lotus Health Project, the Children’s and Teen Health (R)evolution, and its biannual online Children’s and Teen Health Summit in order to further her mandate – to let people know, both young and old, they are not alone in their health challenges or management and that anything can be overcome if you have the right mind and information.

View Details

97 — Which Nutritional Supplements Are Right For Me?April 13, 2016Guest // Tieraona Low Dog, MDHost // Maya Shetreat-Klein, MD

We are constantly bombarded by mixed messages that a given nutritional supplement is good for us one day, and the next day it’s not. With more than 30,000 dietary supplements in the marketplace and new studies coming out every day, it’s no wonder we all feel confused and overwhelmed.

Dr. Tieraona Low Dog has a masterful command of this science, which she brilliantly lays out in her new book, Fortify Your Life. Listen to her share her wisdom and hear her recommendations for using food and supplements to meet your nutritional needs:

• Which common nutrient depletions are of particular concern for women, especially during pregnancy?

• What nutrients do babies need that they might not be getting from your breast milk and that are not in your prenatal vitamin?

• What nutrient-dense foods are you avoiding that could protect your body and brain?

• How nutritional deficits in children can impact behavior, attention and intelligence quotient.

Tieraona Low Dog, MD is an internationally recognized expert in dietary supplements and integrative medicine. In addition to her many years as a clinician and educator, she has been involved in national health policy and regulatory issues, serving on advisory panels for the White House and the U.S. National Institutes of Health and chairing two committees on dietary supplements for the U.S. Pharmacopeia. She is the author of Healthy at Home, Life is Your Best Medicine, and Guide to Medicinal Herbs. Learn more at drlowdog.com or follow her on Twitter @Lowdogmd.

View Details

96 — Teen Boundaries Around Tech Usage

February 24, 2016 Guest // Emily Roberts, MA, LPC Host // Carla Atherton Do you have trouble talking to your teens about creating boundaries around their usage of technology?

Do you feel like they are sometimes lost to you, immersed in a world of blue lights and virtual relationships?

Do you want your teenager to have communication and social skills and healthy real-life relationships with their peers, family, and themselves and are worried about the power technology has over them?

Uh, yes!!! Please…

This whole new world of texting and the world wide web of the internet has made it such a massive challenge for parents to keep their kids safe. It is an added challenge to teach them healthy boundaries around what the internet exposes them to and what influences their choices, both of which influence the formation of their very self-esteem and self-image. BIG stuff!

Technology isn’t going away. How can we allow our children to use technology as a tool rater than become enslaved while still allowing them space for self-expression and connection? Listen to (R)evolutionary Mama’s interview with the Guidance Girl, Emily Roberts, about how we need to effectively face this issue head-on with clarity and direction.

Emily Roberts, MA, LPC is a psychotherapist, parenting consultant, educational speaker, and published author. She is part of the Hartstein Psychological Services team in New York City practicing Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). Emily writes a weekly blog “Building Self-Esteem” for HealthyPlace.com and is the parenting consultant for Neurogistics Corporation. She is the co-founder of The Talking Room, a proactive program for girls ages 5-9 specializing in developing self-esteem, confidence, leadership, friendship skills, and stress reduction activities with an emphasis on creating healthy boundaries with technology. Emily has a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology from St. Edwards University, Austin, Texas, specializing in children, young adults, adults, and families. She is LPC licensed and has extensive training and experience in working with a variety of populations and diagnosis including challenges such as life transitions, anxiety, depression, relationships, and eating disorders.

View Details

Since the HPV vaccine was introduced to the public in 2006, it has been surrounded in controversy:

• conspicuously fast tracked by the FDA;
• speedily endorsed by the CDC;
• rapidly introduced to be mandated by nearly every state in the US;
• unusually challenged by some of the media and medical establishment, including the New England Journal of Medicine, the New York Times, and even one of its inventors;
• hailed by Pharmaceutical Executive magazine as “brand of the year” for its innovative and breakthrough marketing savvy;
• so aggressively promoted by Merck that Gardasil sales exploded, far eclipsing its flagship Measles, Mumps and Rubella II vaccine and bailing the company out of its staggering Vioxx litigation woes; and
• so widely adopted that, today, approximately 60% of adolescent girls and 42% of adolescent boys have received the vaccine.

Time to add another bullet point to the above list…

On January 14, 2016, the activist blog SaneVax revealed the details of an open letter sent by Sin Hang Lee, MD to the World Health Organization claiming “manipulation of data and suppression of science in order to maintain the illusion of HPV vaccine safety in the face of valid contradictory evidence.”

Valerie Borek, Esq interviews SaneVax chief Norma Erickson about the stunning allegations:

• Who is Dr. Lee and why/how is he in a position to make these statements?
• What, exactly, did he say?
• What are the policy implications of this announcement?
• What has been the response of medical and government authorities?
• Is the HPV vaccine safe? What should parents do?

Norma Erickson, President of Sane Vax, Inc., was an average citizen working as an independent business consultant and freelance author before she became aware of the number of people experiencing reported adverse reactions to the HPV vaccine. In 2010 she established SaneVax as a direct response to the worldwide devastation left in the wake of HPV vaccination programs. The SaneVax team believes no vaccine should be approved for public use without first being proven Safe, Affordable, Necessary and Effective.

View Details

94 — Is Fluoride Safe?January 20, 2016Guest // Susan KanenHost // Lisa BloomquistWater fluoridation is the controlled addition of fluoride to a public water supply to control tooth decay. The CDC says that the safety and benefits of fluoride are well-documented. It’s also in our toothpaste. Dentists promote it. Maybe you took fluoride pills when you were a child or you give fluoride in vitamin drops to your baby. We’ve been fluoridating our water for over 70 years; so long, in fact, that few people question its wisdom.

But there is much more to the story. The Fluoride Action Network shares some surprising facts, including:

• 97% of Western Europe does does not fluoridate its water
• Fluoridated countries do not have less tooth decay than non-fluoridated countries
• 40% of teens show visible effects of fluoride over-exposure (36 studies show a correlation between fluoride and lower IQ)

Did you know that the fluoride that is put in our water is a toxic byproduct of the fertilizer and aluminum industries?

The dominant paradigm used to be, “The solution to pollution is dilution.” Now we are discovering that many toxins accumulate in our bodies and our environment.

Could many chronic diseases of modernity be linked to water fluoridation?

Susan Kanen is a biochemist who worked in water treatment facilities. She suffered from multiple health maladies, which she attributes to multiple exposures to fluoride. Find out how Susan’s chronic health problems are connected to water fluoridation, and learn how to protect yourself and your family.

View Details

Guest // Suzanne Somers

Host // Kelly Brogan, MD

Yes, we want to be healthy. Once we stop nodding at the basic platitudes — sound sleep, regular exercise, smart nutrition — however, we’re left wrestling with the brutal realities of living in the real world:

• It’s hard to be healthy. I’m not smart enough to reconcile so much conflicting information. Do whole grains promote health or cause inflammation?
• I’m too busy to be healthy. Who has time for this? I run out of day before the end of my job and family obligations.
• It’s stressful to be healthy. When I have free time, I want to chill out. I do not want to research about health.
• It’s bad for my social and family life to be healthy. People think I’m weird or they feel implicitly criticized by my actions. My family wants to fire me.
• It’s not enough to be healthy. I want to look good. What happens when the thing that’s healthy conflicts with the thing that makes me look and feel my best?

We page through women’s magazines and wonder about the airbrushed images that stare back. These women are flawless but looking like that can’t be healthy. Gel manicures, make up, and highlights? Laxatives? Is there an oasis of sanity in Hollywood… a health maven and wellness guru who really knows her sh*t? Because we have questions:

• What does she wish she knew when she was in her 20s and 30s?
• What are the little “health nudges” that we should never ignore?
• What are the ten things she does every single day?
• And seriously… what is she really eating and how on earth does she get her hair and teeth to look so perfect?

We want to talk turkey with someone who conquered the Hollywood game, confronted a terrifying health scare, and emerged a real life superstar. Join us for an hour with Suzanne Somers, a fearless advocate for reclaiming health, naturally.

Suzanne Somers is an actress, bestselling author, and businesswoman. Her latest book, Tox-Sick, was released earlier this year. She defied conventional medicine, beat cancer, and became a health activist who’s helping to redefine what it means to be robustly, vibrantly resiliently healthy.

View Details

92 — CPS and Medical Marijuana

Guests //Indra Lusero, Esq and Heather Thompson, PhD

Host // Valerie Borek, Esq

Across the country, states are legalizing marijuana use. Parents are discovering that medical marijuana can offer life-changing relief for their chronically ill children. But when child protective laws are not simultaneously updated, families can be caught in the middle.

Join co-host Valerie Borek, Esq as she interviews two activists in the trenches. They explore this disconnect, with a lively and important discussion on personal, medical, legal, and privacy rights, and how to protect our families:

• How legal marijuana use can have negative consequences on families.
• The importance of informed consent in maternity care.
• The problems with the dissociation between criminal and child protective laws with respect to legal marijuana.
• Understanding your options if you or your newborn tests positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) when you are pregnant, a parent, or breast feeding.
• Understanding what we know, what we think we know, and what we believe about marijuana use in pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Resources* Elephant Circle — website and Facebook page * “Clearing the Smoke” Blog and Webinar (register for 12/9/15 event) * Family Law and Cannabis Alliance * National Advocates for Pregnant Women * Birth Rights Bar Association

Heather Thompson, MS, PhD is an applied molecular biologist, parent and birth worker. She is Research Director at Mountain Midwifery Center, Inc. and on the leadership team of Elephant Circle, a reproductive justice organization based in Colorado. She is passionate about supporting and educating Colorado families on the health and legal consequences of legal marijuana use.

Indra Lusero, Esq is a longtime advocate of family privacy rights. She is on theElephant Circle leadership team (“supporting strong people during a vulnerable time,” and President of the Birth Rights Bar Association.

View Details

Guest // Meghan Brookler

Host // Carla Atherton About 5% of children have difficulty receiving “normal” sensory inputs from the environment — sound, light, smell, clothing, food, movement — and respond in ways that are deemed inappropriate, like crying, screaming, covering their ears, or tuning out.

Maybe they’re challenged in school or social situations; at the restaurant, mall, or airport; even with clothing tags or automatic flush toilets in public restrooms, to name just a few. Not all children are hypersensitive over-responders, however. Some might be under-responders who might be quiet, with a flat affect and low arousalresponse.

These children might have a kind of “neurological traffic jam” going on. If the adults in a child’s life don’t understand what’s happening, the child can be labeled and medicated in a variety of heartbreaking ways. The next time you hear that a child that is difficult, clumsy, picky, anxious, oppositional, quirky, etc., it might be worth looking into something called Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD).

• What is SPD? Is it sometimes misdiagnosed as ADHD?
• How does SPD differ from Sensory integration dysfunction?
• What do parents wish that the medical community better understood about SPD?
• Is there a connection between colic/gastrointestinal symptoms and SPD?
• What kind of treatments are helping children today and what’s on the horizon?
• How are parents leading the way?

Meghan Brookler is a certified nutritionist with an MS in Nutrition and Integrative Health, holistic practitioner, avid researcher, and a loving mom of a child with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). Ever since discovering how to turn her family’s sensory struggle around through nutrition, occupational therapy, meditation and other holistic steps, she has been passionate to share what she’s learned. Her mission is to help every SPD family she can reach to stabilize their SPD struggle and start living happy, peaceful, empowered lives together. It’s not always easy, but she believes we can tap into tools to create more ease, understanding and support that nourish our families and makes for happier people!

Carla Atherton, MA, Director of the Lotus Health Project, Writer and Editor, Workshop Instructor, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner, Transformational Nutrition Coach, Yoga Instructor, Health (R)evolutionary, and Children’s Health Advocate. Carla is a trained Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner and Transformational Nutrition Coach, and is a creative and academic writer, lecturer, workshop instructor, acreage-living, unschooling mom of three. She is passionate about health and wellness, which, to her, involves all aspects of health including the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Carla created theLotus Health Project, the Children’s and Teen Health (R)evolution, and its biannual online Children’s and Teen Health Summit in order to further her mandate – to let people know, both young and old, they are not alone in their health challenges or management and that anything can be overcome if you have the right mind and information.

View Details

Host // Carla Atherton

Imagine that your healthy, happy child contracts a common illness and, seemingly overnight, becomes a different child, with emotional outbursts, physical aggression, strange body movements and vocalizations, and other surprising behaviors.

Parents are perplexed and wringing their hands. They are witnessing dramatic and worrisome transformations in their previously healthy children.

The sequence goes something like this:

• Infectious agents, environmental exposures, or other triggers are involved.

• There’s an unintended immune or autoimmune response that results in brain inflammation.

• The inflammation provokes severe, uncontrollable, and undesirable behaviors. These include OCD/tics, anxiety, sensory processing difficulties, and changes in varied areas, from cognition and personality, to handwriting and eating habits.

Doctors don’t know what to make of it, let alone how to treat your child. But parents, registering that their children are in desperate need of help, are on the front lines of this condition that has become common enough to merit a name: Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome(PANS). You may be more familiar with the variant, called Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcus Infections (PANDAS). Many parents have been stunned to learn that their children have sky high ASO and Anti DNAase B titers showing strep infection.

Then what? Parents have questions:

• Is PANS/PANDAS real? How prevalent is it?
• What are the signs and symptoms? Do they vary significantly among children?
• Do children heal? What treatment options are available?
• What happens if you don’t treat it? Can children outgrow PANS on their own?
• What advice do experienced parents offer?

Heather Korbmacher, MED, NBCT is the founder of Courageous Educational Services LLC and mom of two. She has taught for more than 20 years in the K-12 and post-secondary classrooms as a Special Educator, Behavior Specialist, and Adjunct Professor. She recently left the classroom to care for her oldest son who contracted PANS nearly two years ago. This has changed her understanding of behavior and health and she is now dedicated to helping other families access information and services on their journey to wellness, while at the same time, educating the professionals who work with our courageous children and their parents..

Carla Atherton, MA, Director of the Lotus Health Project, Writer and Editor, Workshop Instructor, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner, Transformational Nutrition Coach, Yoga Instructor, Health (R)evolutionary, and Children’s Health Advocate. Carla is a trained Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner and Transformational Nutrition Coach, and is a creative and academic writer, lecturer, workshop instructor, acreage-living, unschooling mom of three. She is passionate about health and wellness, which, to her, involves all aspects of health including the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Carla created theLotus Health Project, the Children’s and Teen Health (R)evolution, and its biannual online Children’s and Teen Health Summit in order to further her mandate – to let people know, both young and old, they are not alone in their health challenges or management and that anything can be overcome if you have the right mind and information.

View Details

Guest // Alan Phillips, EsqHost // Valerie Borek, Esq All fifty states provide for medical exemptions to mandatory vaccination for day care and school admission. Forty-eight offer a religious exemption and 20 have a personal belief or philosophical opt-out provision…

Until July 1, 2016, anyway… when SB277 takes effect and California joins Mississippi and West Virginia as the three states in this country to deny the option for a parent-directed vaccine exemption.

More states may follow California’s lead; they are surely trying.

On the heels of this legislative offensive and irrespective of state statutes, schools across the country have been putting the pressure on parents this fall.

• Can a school choose not to follow state law?
• Can a school exclude a child based on vaccination status?
• Do I have to explain my religious beliefs to obtain an exemption? Is this constitutional?
• What happens when a private day care or school won’t honor a religious vaccine exemption?
• What can we do to protect our rights?

Attorney Alan Phillips is a nationally recognized vaccine law expert. For over a decade he has been dedicated to legislative activism to preserve exemption rights, educating the public on vaccine law, and helping individuals and families secure their rights in public and private settings. Check out his website, his eBook, The Authoritative Guide to Legal Exemptions, and his show, The Vaccine Agenda on Blog Talk Radio.

View Details

Host // Kelly Brogan, MD

Wouldn’t life be easier if you just knew how to raise your kids? No endless hours on the internet, frantic calls to friends and family, expensive and tedious appointments with doctors and experts, stacks of books to collect?

There certainly aren’t many parents who can claim to navigate the challenges of family life and child rearing with the trifecta of wisdom, grace, and evidence-based research, but Sarah Kamrath is one of them.

Tune in to hear about her path to parenting from a space of inner knowledge, informed by her experience as a parent, researcher, writer, filmmaker, doula, and yogi:

• What is a parent’s most important parenting tool?
• What are top priorities for a healthy pregnancy and birth?
• What information is needed to avoid unnecessary interventions?
• Why kundalini yoga, what is it, and how did it change your marriage and parenting?
• How is your parenting different from what you read and see in the mainstream?
• Tell us about your goals and approaches for educating your children? How do they like it and how does it impact their social lives?
• What hopes do you have for humanity when it comes to parenting and family life?

Sarah Kamrath is the mom of two beautiful children, an evidence-based researcher with a passion for learning what makes children and families thrive, akundalini yoga teacher, a prenatal yoga teacher trainer, a doula, a writer, and a filmmaker on a mission to share invaluable information about pregnancy, childbirth, and your baby’s first year. She spent several years traveling and interviewing the top OB/GYNS, midwives, pediatricians, scientists, psychologists, anthropologists, childbirth educators, sleep experts and lactation specialists. She read their books, took their workshops, filmed the interviews, and compiled all of their gems of wisdom and expertise into a comprehensive childbirth video series called Happy Healthy Child. Her goal is for parents “to understand ALL of your options so that you enter this incredible time in your life feeling empowered and excited, not fearful and unprepared.” Read more about Sarah and her work here.

Kelly Brogan, MD is Medical Director of Fearless Parent and mom of two. She is board certified in Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Integrative and Holistic Medicine. Holistic living, environmental medicine, and nutrition are the bedrock of her functional medicine practice. She serves as medical advisor to GreenMedInfo, Pathways to Family Wellness, and Fisher Wallace. Kelly holds degrees from MIT and Cornell Medical School.

View Details

Guest // Alison Smith

Host // Carla Atherton Do you view parenting as largely a fear-based exercise?

Left to their own devices, will children revert to a Lord of the Fliesethos?

Are kids inherently naughty and boorish?

Were you raised by time outs, consequences, spankings, or behavior charts?

Do you believe they’ll be grateful for your firm hand and “tough love” when they grow up?

What if the strict rule-oriented adversarial, “manipulation not friendship” parenting model isn’t quite right for your kids?

Alison Smith was a school teacher who left her conventional world following three catalyzing events — the first was her life partner’s serious illness, the second was the road to his subsequent recovery, and the third was motherhood. Alison is a life coach, entrepreneur, author, and educator. She is a Creator’s Code Certified coach and author of the Gentle Parenting Manifesto.

Learn more about her work at Alison Smith Coaching.com.

View Details

Guest // Tami DuncanHost // Mary Coyle, DIHomTami Duncan began her soul’s mission of vibrational healing through the process of recovering her son from autism. Although diagnosed with ASD at age seven, a later a diagnosis of Lyme disease was what provided Tami the clues that ultimately led to his remarkable progress.

But the healing didn’t stop there. Tami’s desire to dig deeper into the full realms of healing led her to the vibrational healing arts, including Reiki.

We know that the human body is an amazing information gatherer. The nervous system zings when confronted with a menacing stranger; and our olfactory nerves delight in the aroma of freshly baked cookies.

But what about the other body — the one that resides outside of the physical? Often referred to as the astral body, the spiritual body, or the soul — how can accessing this realm of our existence enhance our lives? These days, it’s no longer considered fringe to visit a medium, medical intuitive, or a host of other practitioners who journey to these higher planes. Our deepest desire is to understand just a little bit more. to find resolution from a painful experience, to heal.

Join co-host Mary Coyle, DIHom for a fascinating show and:

• Learn how vibrational healing can positively impact your over-all health
• Discover how your thoughts influence your well-being
• Hear some basic techniques on how to balance your child’s energy
• Find out why an imbalanced energy body may sabotage your healing

Tami Duncan is the author of Vibrational Healing for Autism aka Awesome Kids! She is also the founder of the non-profit organization Lyme-Induced Autism (LIA), which was created to help other parents become aware this poorly understood disease, and how it can negatively impact a child’s health. Once Tami began delving into this deeper understanding, including its power and healing capacity, she created Epiphany Healing to share it with others. Tami conducts group healing, mentoring sessions, online classes, and weekend retreats. You can reach her at:www.EpiphanyHealingArts.com.

Mary Coyle, DIHom is a homeopath with extensive training in homotoxicology and German Biological Medicine. She is the director of the Real Child Center in New York City. Homotoxicology utilizes cellular drainage, nutrition, and time-tested homeopathic techniques to stimulate the self-healing mechanism in your child. It is a therapy geared to enable your child to move to the next level of health. Mary writes and speaks about detoxification at the cellular level. She is a contributing author of Cutting Edge Therapies for Autism (Skyhorse, 2013).

View Details

85 — Essure Dangers: Permanent Birth Control Pain ** October 7, 2015

Host // Lisa Bloomquist

Essure is a kind of non-surgical sterilization that was approved by the FDA in 2002. Since then, three-quarters of a million women have signed up. We’re talking about the insertion of metal coils inside the fallopian tubes, which is supposed to prevent hookups between egg and sperm.

A one-time, hassle-free procedure. Modern technology has surely improved upon the IUD of yore, right?

It sounds simple enough.

So, why are thousands of women complaining of:

• debilitating pain
• weight gain, hair loss
• depression, brain fog, fatigue
• flu-like symptoms
• digestive disorders
• occluded fallopian tubes
• unintended pregnancies
• did we mention the pain?

These thousands of women are joined by consumer activist extraordinaire, Erin Brokovich who set up the Essure Procedure.net website to encourage more women to come forward and share their stories. The legal system isn’t open to these women because of something called “federal preemption” of class III medical devices. But these women aren’t taking this lying down. They’re making so much noise, challenging manufacturer Bayer AG, that the FDA is taking another look.

Lisa Saenz is a 46 year-old mother of 4 daughters and 2 grand children. She is a licensed Social Worker and currently works as a Crisis Intervention Social Worker with high risk patients addicted to opiates. Her background includes 23 years as a patient advocate for the mentally ill. As a victim of these awful devices, she joined and helped promote the Essure Problems Facebook page. This led to her current role as a passionate patient advocate for women’s health and reproductive safety.

Lisa Bloomquist is a patient advocate who was injured by Cipro in 2011. She runs Floxie Hope, a fluoroquinolone toxicity advocacy site, and manages The Fluoroquinolone Wall of Pain. Lisa is a guest blogger for Hormones Matter and Collective Evolution, and hosts The Floxie Hope Podcast. Lisa has vowed to continue to screaming about the dangers of fluoroquinolone antibiotics until those in the medical professions start paying attention to their Hippocratic Oath, until proper informed consent is established for administration of these drugs, and until physicians stop giving them to children. Lisa is a Colorado native who enjoys the mountains, Pilates, and her cat. She has a BA in Economics from Colorado State University and a Masters in Public Administration from University of Colorado, Denver.

View Details

84 — Why My Brain Isn’t Working (Like It Should) ** September 30, 2015

Host // Kelly Brogan, MD

We’re a nation beseiged with brain damage. Cognitive problems, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis. Autism. ADHD. Check out the mind boggling index of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and your brain will surely hurt.

This is not something that luminosity.com can handle.

Neither can conventional neurologists. They just don’t have much to offer patients beyond a diagnosis. Part of the problem? It is a failure to recognize, honor, and treat the gut-brain connection.

Enter Dr. Datis Kharrazian, a humble, heart-centered brainiac who has brought the art of diagnosis back into the holistic arena and brought holism to the diagnostics of the conventional realm. In his acclaimed and densely referenced book Why Isn’t My Brain Working? he takes us on a tour of modern day insults to the brain and what to do about it.

• Learn about vital bodily connections that hold the key to brain recovery
• What are the first signs of neurodegeneration?
• What are three ways to heal your gut-brain connection?

Datis Kharrazian, DHSc, DC, MS, MNeuroSci, FAACP, DACBN, DABCN, DIBAK, CNS is one of the leading experts in non-pharmaceutical applications to chronic illnesses, autoimmune disorders, and complex neurological disorders. Patients from all over the world fly to his San Diego practice for guidance, knowledge, and inspiration, including the application of natural medicine alternatives to help them improve their quality of life. Dr. Kharrazian has become the referral source for many doctors nationally and internationally when their cases become too complex to evaluate and diagnose. He is one of the most sought after educators in natural medicine, laboratory analysis, and nutrition. Dr. Kharrazian has personally trained several thousand healthcare professionals and currently has educated a group of more than a dozen exceptional doctors to lecture nationally in order to meet the demands for education in his patient management model.

Kelly Brogan, MD is Medical Director of Fearless Parent and mom of two. She is board certified in Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Integrative and Holistic Medicine. Holistic living, environmental medicine, and nutrition are the bedrock of her functional medicine practice. She serves as medical advisor to GreenMedInfo, Pathways to Family Wellness, and Fisher Wallace. Kelly holds degrees from MIT and Cornell Medical School.

View Details

83 — Great Expectations: Chiropractic in Pregnancy

Host // Jeanne Ohm, DC

Chiropractors are the third largest group of doctorate-level primary care providers, behind medical doctors and dentists. Chiropractic has become mainstream treatment, with more than 30 million people annually. When it comes to pregnancy, however, women have a lot of questions:

• Is chiropractic care during pregnancy safe?
• Are chiropractors trained to work with pregnant women?
• Can birth outcomes be improved with chiropractic adjustments?
• What is intrauterine constraint and how can a misaligned pelvis affect the fetus?

Did you know that chiropractic treatment can mitigate nausea, reduce time of labor and delivery, relieve back and joint pain, and prevent a potential caesarian birth?

Jeanne Ohm, DC is a chiropractor who has practiced family wellness care since 1981 with her husband, Dr Tom. They have six children who were all born at home and are living the chiropractic family wellness lifestyle. Jeanne is an instructor, author, and innovator. She is Chief Executive officer of the ICPA and Executive Editor of Pathways to Family Wellness magazine.

View Details

Guest // David WhiteHost // Carla AthertonAmericans are ballooning up — adults and kids alike. Suddenly, normal food portions are super sized, clothing manufacturers are resorting to sizes 0, 00, and even 000 to avoid offending touchy customers, and people are spilling over the armrests of their airplane seats.

We’re left wondering… what on earth happened?

What are the repercussions of this alarming trend?

What do we need to do about it?

Host Carla Atherton interviews David White about his Childhood Obesity Project:

• What is this obesity project and what do you hope to accomplish?

• Are children simply small adults? How do kids experience obesity? Can you give is insight into the child’s perspective?

• Why are children becoming obese at such a rapid rate these days?

• What are the top ten gems that were shared with you during the interviews you conducted for your project?

David White is a CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach level 3, CHEK Practitioner level 1, recovered food addict, and former incredibly sick and overweight child. Dave has been coaching clients (and getting coached by his clients) for about 7 years now and is currently studying Musculoskeletal Therapy. Dave believes that health and medicine aren’t things that any one institution owns, but are owned by the person looking to achieve their health goals. Dave believes that health is in our own DNA and innate wisdom of our bodies and that the best medical practitioners teach people how to be their own doctors.

View Details

Guest // Chris D. Meletis, NDHost // Lisa BloomquistThe mitochondria have important things to do, including production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP—the universal energy molecule), cellular apoptosis, calcium homeostasis, and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Mitochondria are the engines of our cells, and so it follows that mitochondrial health is related to all other aspects of health. Mitochondria are mighty, but they are also vulnerable, and are damaged by many of the toxins in our world.

So, what does this mean exactly?

• What is the relationship between mitochondrial health and many of the “mysterious” diseases of modernity?

• How can we protect our precious mitochondria?

• Can “resuscitating” mitochondria improve health outcomes?

• Since mitochondria and hormones are inextricably connected, how does mitochondrial health affects hormonal health? How do both affect chronic disease and aging?

Chris D. Meletis, ND is a naturopathic physician out of Beaverton, Oregon. He is an educator, author and lecturer. He has written over 200 nationally published article and a dozen books, with the sole purpose of sharing his passion and amazement of the human body and what is required to maintain health. Dr. Meletis served as Dean of Naturopathic Medicine and Chief Medical Officer for 7 years at NCNM and was awarded the 2003 physician of the year by the American association of Naturopathic Physicians. His personal mission is “Changing World’s Health One Person at a Time.” He believes that when people become educated about their body, that is the moment when true change and wellness begins. www.DrMeletis.com

View Details

Guest // David George Haskell, PhDHost // Louise Kuo HabakusThe #1 ranked high school in the country is requiring this book, The Forest Unseen, as summer reading for all incoming freshmen. I picked it up and was hooked. The premise is simple — what can we learn by closely observing the same square meter of forest over a one year period?

It’s no surprise that the forest can teach us biology. But does it also hold lessons about social connections, social responsibility, and our essential humanity?

Yes.

Imagine a contemporary biologist who writes like a poet — giddy with delight about the surprises and secrets that Nature will disclose to anyone who cares to take a closer look.

We know that our kids need to spend more time outdoors. For this to happen, maybe parents need a dose of inspiration, too. This isn’t a quick read; you won’t (and shouldn’t) knock it off your list in a weekend. I’m reading it with my boys, individually. Each is drawn to different ideas — the brutal parasitism of the horsetail worm… stripping naked in -20F weather to experience winter as the chickadees do — but it feeds curiosity and spurs some terrific conversations.

If you’re headed to the lake or mountains — or wish you were — this is the perfect summer read. The chapters are short and the insights are unexpected. It’s no wonder that this book was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize and received numerous awards, including the National Academies’ Best Book Award for 2013, the 2013 Reed Environmental Writing Award, and the 2012 National Outdoor Book Award for Natural History Literature. A profile in The New York Times said that Haskell “gives the natural world the kind of open-minded attention one expects from a Zen monk rather than a hypothesis-driven scientist.”

David George Haskell, PhD holds degrees from the University of Oxford and Cornell University. He is Professor of Biology at the University of the South, where he served as Chair of Biology. His scientific research on animal ecology, evolution, and conservation has been sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the World Wildlife Fund, among others. David serves on the boards and advisory committees of local and regional land conservation groups. His classes have received national attention for the innovative ways they combine science, contemplation, and action in the community. David was born in England, raised in Paris, educated at Oxford and Cornell, and now lives in Tennessee where he helps his wife run a CSA called Cudzoo Farm.

View Details

Guest // Patricia Lemer, LPCHost // Beth LambertWhen a child is sick and parents are in “get it done” mode, stand back. We’re booking appointments, stocking up on supplies, recruiting therapists, setting up protocols, implementing new programs, and buying lots (and lots) of supplements. It’s a relief to be productive but the feeling doesn’t last. Our frenzied, sleepless activity gives way to a kind of unnatural calm where we ask:

What am I missing?

There are elements of a child’s growth and development that are almost always overlooked. This is true for all children but it’s especially true for those on a healing journey. For example:

• State-of-the-art won’t mean a thing if the basics aren’t covered — think: sleep, sunshine, laughter.
• What are retained primitive reflexes and what do they have to do with memory, sensory integration, emotional maturity, eating, handwriting, and stress management (among many, many others)?
• Did you know that visual acuity (i.e., can your child see the blackboard?) is just one component of vision?

Patricia S. Lemer is a Licensed Professional Counselor, and practiced as an educational diagnostician for over 40 years. She was co-founder and Executive Director of Developmental Delay Resources (DDR), and international, non-profit organization for 20 years. DDR merged with Epidemic Answers in 2013, and Patty serves as Board Chair. She holds a Masters of Education in counseling and learning disabilities from Boston College and a Masters in Business from John Hopkins University. Patty lectures internationally on developmental delays, including autism spectrum disorders. From 2012-2014, she served as Chief Consultant in the establishment of a center for young adults with disabilities in Kuwait. She is the author of EnVISIONing a Bright Future: Interventions that Work for Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Outsmarting Autism. Visit her website for more information.

View Details

Guest // Jennifer Wiessner, LCSW, AASECTHost // Carla AthertonSex ed. Those two words are enough to have many of us running for the hills. Fall in, parents! Kids are consuming more media than ever before and the not-so-hidden messaging about sex is everywhere. Hate to break it to you but sex education is important for children BEFORE their school’s typical initiation in fifth grade. The good news is, it’s easier to talk about sex when children are younger. Legions of parents can tell you what happens if you wait too long — the never ending eye roll isn’t the half of it.

Join host Carla Atherton and her favorite sex ed guru on kids and the “birds and the bees”:

• At what age should we start these chats?
• What are the top three myths about healthy sexuality that get in the way of conversations with our children?
• How, uh, specific do we really need to be and doesn’t this open up a can of worms? [Ed. note: It will definitely get their wheels turning. I was feeling pretty smug having had a good first discussion with my boys. As I was saying good-night and turning off the lights, my 8 year-old asked, “So, how exactly does the sperm get to the egg, ma?” My response? “Great question! My, it’s late. We’ll talk about that tomorrow.”]
• What do you mean when you say that we need to address our own issues about sex first?
• Do you have any scripts you can share with us… please?

Jennifer Wiessner is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and certified Sex Therapist with a strong history working with adolescents and families. The added roles and responsibilities taken on by men and women today are giving rise to added stress, marital concerns, depression and anxiety causing struggles within relationships and families. Jennifer is the first female AASECT certified Sex Therapist in the state of Maine. Clients with sexuality concerns, sexual dysfunction and pain, gender identity issues, sexual interest questions, fetishes and general relationship issues are welcome. She is a Kink and Poly aware therapist. Jennifer offers sexual health psychoeducation sessions for parents of young children alone or with their adolescents who wish to have guidance with how to encourage positive and responsible sexual health behaviors and attitudes as well as educational consultations with physicians to ensure best practices with patients relating to sexual health. For more information, go to the HOPE Counseling Services website.

View Details

Guest // Lawrence Caprio, NDHost // Mary Coyle, DIHomChildhood illness has changed so much since the early 20th century. Mortality rates are down markedly, and that’s a good thing. But we seem to have traded infectious disease for chronic illness.

Some of most common afflictions affecting so many children are allergies — food, environmental, and idiopathic in origin. Parents and clinicians alike are bewildered. Why are kids so darn red and itchy, bumpy and rashy anyway? Debating the causes doesn’t get us far. We’re more concerned about relief.

• What happens if you don’t treat allergies?
• What are the most effective allergy treatments?
• What’s the relationship between allergy symptoms and chronic illness?
• What’s possible for children when allergy treatment is effective?

Lawrence Caprio, ND recognized early in his career the importance of allergy treatment as an effective adjunct to the management of the majority of chronic degenerative diseases seen in medical practice today. Subsequently, he was among the first to pioneer the Interro System of computerized testing developed in Provo, Utah and the science of ‘phenolic food compounds’ researched by Dr. Robert Gardiner at Brigham Young University. Dr. Caprio successfully integrated these modalities and developed a uniquely effective system of non-invasive allergy testing and sublingual immunotherapy which he currently uses. This system of computerized non-invasive electrodermal testing and optimal dose sub-lingual immunotherapy allows for the safe, rapid desensitization of acute allergy symptoms, as well as the effective long term management of chronic allergic problems. Dr Caprio attended the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon, where he obtained his degree in 1979. Since that time, he has built a successful 35+ year practice of Naturopathic and Preventive Medicine in Westport, CT. He treats patients worldwide.

View Details

Guest // Matt HernHost // Carla AthertonCarla Atherton interviews Matt Hern, lecturer, writer, historian, about lifelong learning, self-directed learning, deschooling, and compulsory education – tune in for an inspiring discussion about how we can better unleash our children’s minds and inspire them in their learning.

Matt Hern lives and works in East Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories, with his partner and daughters. He has founded and directed the Purple Thistle Centre, Car-Free Vancouver Day and Groundswell: Grassroots Economic Alternatives among many other community projects. His books and articles have been published on all six continents and translated into ten languages. He currently teaches in CBU’s MBA program is an Adjunct Professor in UBC’s SCARP program. He has taught at many other universities, and continues to lecture globally. To learn more about Matt, visit his website.

View Details

Guest // Nicholas Gonzales, MDHost // Sayer JiWhy do we get sick? What is cancer? Are dietary changes, coffee enemas, and large amounts of supplements and enzymes truly able to accomplish miracles? How can a world renowned cancer doctor also help patients with CFS, MS, and other intractable, mysterious conditions?

Imagine new paradigms on health and healing that use natural, individualized approaches and achieve extraordinary outcomes.

Join co-host Sayer Ji and leading cancer physician Nicholas Gonzales, MD for a fascinating show about health and healing; toxicity and pathology; and the implications of some amazing new research on… water.

Nicholas J. Gonzalez, MD graduated from Brown University, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude, with a degree in English Literature. He worked as a journalist, first at Time Inc., before pursuing premedical studies at Columbia and then receiving his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College. During a postgraduate immunology fellowship under Dr. Robert A. Good, considered the father of modern immunology, he completed a research study evaluating an aggressive nutritional therapy in the treatment of advanced cancer. Since 1987, Dr. Gonzalez has been in private practice in New York City, treating patients diagnosed with cancer and other serious degenerative illnesses. His nutritional research has received substantial financial support from Procter & Gamble and Nestle. Results from a pilot study published in 1999 described the most positive data in the medical literature for pancreatic cancer. More details on his background and accomplishments here.

View Details

Guest // Holly Grigg-SpallHost // Kelly Brogan, MDDo you know how The Pill works? Millions of women — healthy women who take this powerful hormonal medication daily from their mid teens to menopause — have absolutely no idea.

Cultural mythology and pharmaceutical marketing have sold women on The Pill as liberation, freedom, and independence. Who’s going to tell us that this drug impacts every organ and function in the body? Who will disclose that it’s implicated in depression, anxiety, paranoia, rage, panic attacks, and more?

Although some may dare to suggest these women are traitors of feminism, we know better. A growing number of women are looking for non-hormonal alternatives for preventing pregnancy. And brave voices are piercing the veil. Holly Grigg-Spall is fearless, and her courageous advocacy on behalf of women whose stories are too often silenced is a model for others trying to make positive change through health activism. Read the book and get inspired, get angry, and most importantly get information. Sweetening the Pill is exactly the thing needed to energize and mobilize this important women’s health conversation.

Holly Grigg-Spall is a writer and women’s health advocate. Her book Sweetening the Pill: Or How We Got Hooked On Hormonal Birth Control has been featured inElle, the Sunday Times Style (UK), Marie Claire, New York magazine, The Guardian,and on CBC and the BBC, amongst others. The book was optioned by Ricki Lake and is the inspiration for a forthcoming feature documentary. She currently writes frequently for LadyClever.com.

View Details

Guest // Zen Honeycutt ** Host // Toni Bark, MDParents marching in solidarity — across the United States — for food integrity. Hundreds of activist leaders organizing hundreds of community events in two short years.

This is what happened after one mom started feeding her three boys organic food to avoid GMOs and pesticides and watched their allergy and autism symptoms abate. She realized that thousands of parents are making the same discovery.

• Has the food issue “tipped”?
• Who’s behind this movement and how did it start? (Hint: watch this TED Talk)
• How does something so personal become a national movement?
• What are the lessons for other health freedom activists looking to catalyze a national movement?
• What’s next in food-related activism and what can we do to get involved?

Zen Honeycutt, is the Founder and Director of Moms Across America, a National Coalition of Unstoppable Moms, with the motto “Empowered Moms, Healthy Kids.” MAA has over 400 leaders who have created 600+ community events in 46 states in its first two years. Moms Across America empowers and amplifies the voice of the mom locally and nationally to create healthy communities by raising awareness about GMOs and related pesticides in our food. MAA is expanding to Moms Across the World with co creator Vandana Shiva. Zen has been seen on CNN, the Dr.Oz show, CSPAN, Fox News, and more. She is an international speaker, powerful leadership coach, speaker and consultant. She is currently working on a book called ” Unstoppable Love: Empowering Community Leaders to be Global Game Changers.”

Toni Bark MD, MHEM, LEED AP received her medical doctorate from Rush Medical College and trained in pediatrics and rehab medicine. She was director of the pediatric ER at Michael Reese hospital then studied naturopathic medicine. An intense interest in environmental impacts on health led her to seek LEED accreditation. After working in Haiti post-earthquake, Toni began her studies in health care emergency medicine and disaster planning, including vaccine policy, ethics, safety, and production. She is a contributor author to Vaccine Epidemic (2nd ed) and co-produced her first documentary with executive producer, Jeff Hays.

View Details

Guest // Dean Raffelock DC, Dipl Ac, CCN, DIBAK, DACBN, DAAIM (Retired)Host // Kelly Brogan, MDPhoto Credit // Claudio Divizia

Dean Raffelock is a pioneering intellect in the field of women’s health. He has focused much of his clinical work on the complexities of a woman’s hormonal physiology, but he goes beyond estrogen and progesterone into the interconnectedness between hormones, neurochemistry, and the immune system.

Where conventional medicine is lumping postpartum depression into the convenient, pharmaceutically-defined box of “chemical imbalance”, Dean offers women science-based insights into the “why” of postpartum mental illness along with radically natural interventions that work.

With only 3 placebo-controlled trials for the efficacy of the reflexive treatment – antidepressants – let’s see what else we can offer today’s mothers.

• Has postpartum depression always been around? If it’s more common today, then why?
• What we are calling depression may represent many different “problems”. What does depression really mean?
• What are some major causes of postpartum depression? Risks?
• What are important elements of a “natural approach”?
• Top 3 recommendations for any new mom?

Dean Raffelock earned his Doctor of Chiropractic degree in 1976 from Western States Chiropractic College in Portland, Oregon. His internship included gynecology and obstetrics along with assisting with multiple deliveries.

During his 36 years in practice he earned board certifications in Clinical Nutrition (DACBN), Acupuncture (Dipl. Ac.), Integrative Medicine (DAAIM), and Applied Kinesiology (DIBAK) along with becoming a certified clinical nutritionist (CCN). He was also certified by and a website host and lecturer for the Institute for Functional Medicine. His unique background and skillset allows him to have a truly integrative perspective regarding human health.

Dean’s book, A Natural Guide to Pregnancy and Postpartum Health explains many ignored causes of postpartum depression and recommends effective natural remedies.

Having retired from active practice in late 2013, Dean now consults and formulates nutritional supplements and information products for the nutrition and healthy foods industry. This allows him to reach many people with his knowledge of health and nutrition.

View Details

Guest // Mary Coyle, DIHomHost // Louise Kuo HabakusPhoto Credit // ptnimages

Homotoxicology is a long name for a simple therapeutic model designed tosafely remove damaging toxins stored in our organs and body fats.

Based upon the principles of homeopathy “Let like cure like,” Homotoxicology functions on both extracellular and intracellular levels. Most of us are familiar with chelation therapy, colonics, or dietary/supplement detox strategies for detoxification. This nearly 100 year old “best kept secret” can function independently or synergistically with these modalities. As its popularity grows in the US, more and more families have begun to integrate Homotoxicology into their lives to gain and maintain better health at a deeper level.

This show features one of the leading practitioners of homotoxicology, particularly as it applies to children with chronic and neurodevelopmental conditions:

• What are the foundational principles of Homotoxocology and how does it differ from classical homeopathy?
• What’s the science behind how and why it’s effective?
• What is the body’s capacity for processing toxicity and what are its limits? What are the differences between detoxification and drainage?
• Tell us about Progressive and Regressive Vicaration as health begins to shift.
• Can you share a case study?
• Who might benefit from homotoxicology and what do we need to know about implementing this kind of program?

Mary Coyle, DIHom is a homeopath with extensive training in homotoxicology and German Biological Medicine. She is the director of theReal Child Center in New York City. Homotoxicology utilizes cellular drainage, nutrition, and time-tested homeopathic techniques to stimulate the self-healing mechanism in your child. It is a therapy geared to enable your child to move to the next level of health. Mary writes and speaks about detoxification at the cellular level. She is a contributing author of Cutting Edge Therapies for Autism(Skyhorse, 2013).

View Details

Guests // Jody Selander & Sharon YoungHost // Chandler Marrs, PhDAlthough prominent in Chinese Medicine and across most mammalian species, placental ingestion or placentophagy, has only recentlygained popularity in Western cultures. The placenta plays an important role in endocrine functioning and fetal nutrient supply during pregnancy. After childbirth, the mom is depleted of these critical hormones and nutrients. According to placentophagy practitioners and researchers, the hormones, nutrients and other compounds contained within the placenta at the time of parturition may still be beneficial to mothers during their postpartum recovery.

Over the last decade, an entire industry supporting postpartum placental ingestion has sprung up. Women are clamoring to experience the purported health benefits associated with placentophagy. Stories abound detailing the positive experiences associated with placentophagy along with a few not so positive experiences. Is it safe? Is it effective?

For this episode of the Heal with Friends podcast, we’ll talk to leaders in the field of placentophagy, Jodi Selander, founder of Placenta Benefits, and graduate student Sharon Young. Both women have worked arduously to understand the risks and benefits of placentophagia.

Jodi Selandar has been working with postpartum women for over nine years. She is the Director of Placenta Benefits, an informational resource and training organization dedicated to natural postpartum recovery. She launched the first training course for placenta professionals in 2007. Since then, she has published numerous articles on postpartum wellness, including peer-reviewed research articles on human maternal placentophagy. She is a member of the Placentophagy Research Team at UNLV. She is also the author of The Postpartum Survival Guide, a guidebook for parents. Jodi is a regular speaker at conferences on the subject of postpartum and teaches classes for parents and care providers. She is a single mom and lives in Las Vegas with her three young daughters.

Sharon Young is a PhD candidate in the Anthropology Department at UNLV studying biomedical anthropology. Her research focuses on maternal reproductive health and, more specifically, human maternal placentophagy. She has studied placentophagy with an interdisciplinary team of researchers for the past seven years and this work has been highlighted in university, local, and national media outlets including newspaper and magazine articles, and television and radio interviews.

View Details

Guest // Mandy LeeHost // Beth LambertWant to feel inspired? Listen in as Beth Lambert interviews Mandy Lee, nutritional therapist, author, blogger, natural health enthusiast, mother/foster-mother to seven children and owner of one of the biggest and most generous hearts.

More than 250,000 children in the U.S. enter the foster care system every year, and millions of children across the world are in need of a home. What few people realize is that the vast majority of these children are sick. Very, very sick. Mandy Lee and her family have made it their life’s work to help support and recover the health of foster children through nutrition and clean, holistic living.

According to Mandy, “Almost every child we bring into our home has an illness: cancer, eczema, allergies, gum disease (at 18 months old!) and more. It is appalling now that 1 in 2 children have a chronic illness. We see it!” Some of the children that have come to live with Mandy and her family have demonstrated the following symptoms: Severe behavioral issues, drug toxicity, widespread allergies to foods, severe tooth and gum decay, physical injuries, ADD/ADHD, growth delays, missing reproductive organs (affecting hormone regulation) and many other chronic symptoms. But Mandy has made it her mission to fight this epidemic of chronic illness, with love, and one child at a time.

Mandy says “Many times I have wondered if all these sick children we foster is a coincidence or if this is just the population of children today… and I wonder if these foster children are more sick than the children that belong to a loving family. Based on our short experience of the last 5 years, 100% of foster children are sick!”

Tune in to find out how Mandy has helped so many vulnerable children reclaim their health and vitality.

“Our joy and hope is to love children, orphans, and families and teach how easy it is to transition your health” — Mandy Lee www.fosteringnutrition.com

Mandy Lee is a Nutritional Therapist who hopes to inspire better health for you and your family. After obtaining a Bachelor of Science, and advanced studies from California Polytechnic State University, Mandy began to see a decline in children’s health. Her first son and first foster-to-adopt son presented with chronic illnesses. As a result, Mandy began to further investigate diets and became educated as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and Nutritional Response Tester. After recovering the health of her child, Mandy began to foster/adopt other children and experienced first hand many of the “new childhood epidemics”: Autistic expression, cancer, eczema, severe tooth/gum decay and more. The recovery and learnings were so profound, that Mandy started a philanthropic business, “Fostering Nutrition” so she could help more children and teach other parents simple ways to keep their children healthy. Mandy intends to encourage a new generation of parents to reclaim health for their children. It’s all about empowerment! She continues to teach that everyone deserves to BE HEALTHY and BELONG!

View Details

April 22, 2015Host & Guest // Jeanne Ohm, DCHow does a woman become a mother? What is the alchemy that transforms us from eager students to knowledgeable parents? Where are the teachers? What are the lessons and traditions and stories we need to hear?

Fearless Parent Radio™ welcomes Dr. Jeanne Ohm and there is no better guest for her inaugural show than Jeanne herself. She has been teaching parents for decades, empowering and inspiring us to trust and respect our conscious and informed choices for family wellness. This process requires a shifting of our paradigm. Instead of delegating our power and responsibility to “experts,” she shows us to honor the seat of wisdom within ourselves. Instead of coming from fear, we must learn to lean into and to celebrate our internal intuition.

Jeanne Ohm is a chiropractor who has practiced family wellness care since 1981 with her husband, Dr Tom. They have six children who were all born at home and are living the chiropractic family wellness lifestyle

Jeanne is an instructor, author, and innovator. She has many passions — training chiropractors to learn specific techniques for care in pregnancy, birth, and infancy; forming national alliances for chiropractors with like-minded perinatal practitioners; empowering mothers to make informed choices; and offering pertinent patient educational materials.

She is Chief Executive officer of the ICPA and Executive Editor of Pathways to Family Wellness magazine.

View Details

Guests // Activists from CA, VT, PA, and NJHost // Louise Kuo Habakus There is a legislative assault currently underway across the country, ostensibly in reaction to the Disneyland measles outbreak.

See that map on the right? If state lawmakers have their way, many more states will be colored red — for no parental exemptions.

On the heels of 134 confirmed measles cases (as of 4/10/15), there are 116 bills in 38 states (as of 4/11/15) that seek to significantly curtail individual rights and expand governmental authority by:

• expanding vaccine mandates
• restricting or eliminating vaccine exemptions
• expanding police and emergency powers
• expanding or requiring vaccine status tracking for enforcement
• publishing detailed compliance and exemption rates

Based on media reporting and this extreme legislative response, vaccination rates must be plummeting and exemption rates must be sky high, right? Wrong.

Vaccination compliance rates are at an all time high across the U.S.. The CDC reports that over 99% of children receive at least one vaccine in early childhood, 90-95% are fully vaccinated, and the median total exemption rate is 1.8%. These numbers far exceed published herd immunity thresholds.

Three states have rejected stricter mandatory vaccination laws. What are we seeing in other states? Join us for a lively discussion on the front lines of the legislative battle with leading activists from CA, VT, PA, and NJ.

• If vaccine compliance rates are so high, what are these bills really about?
• What does the ACLU have to say?
• CA’s bill sponsor says medical exemptions are easy to get – true or false?
• We hear it’s one in a million. How rare is vaccine injury?
• What should concerned citizens be doing?

Guests:

• Valerie Borek, Esq (PA) focuses on birth, parental, and family rights.
• Jen DeLugach, RN (CA) has a background in maternal child health.
• Jennifer Stella (VT) has a background in microbiology and is President of the VT Coalition for Vaccine Choice.
• Ray the “The Reluctant Advocate” is a public official, professional educator, and parent.

View Details

Guest // Lara Briden, NDHost // Chandler Marrs, PhDWhat’s happening with your period? Does it come every month? Does it come at all? Is it heavy or painful or difficult in some way? Maybe you’ve just come off the pill, or are thinking about coming off the pill.

No matter your age or your situation, it’s time to get to know your period because it’s trying to tell you something about your underlying health. Every month, your period gives a faithful account of what is happening with you and your health. Do you wonder what it means when you have:

• Irregular periods
• Period pain
• PMS
• PCOS
• Acne

That information is incredibly valuable; how better to know what you need to do and what you need to change? Lara Briden, ND will talk us through different period symptoms and what they mean. She’ll also provide treatment ideas.

Lara Briden is a Naturopathic Doctor who practices in Sydney, Australia. She graduated from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in 1997 and has been working in women’s health ever since. Lara’s e-book,Period Repair Manual, is available on Amazon. She also blogs at Lara Briden’s Healthy Hormone Blog.

View Details

Guest // Michael B. Schachter, MDHost // Kelly Brogan, MD Think cancer is always a death sentence?

Think surgery, chemo, and radiation are basically non-optional treatments?

Is cancer something we need to “get out” of our bodies, or is it an invitation to go in, look around, and clean house?

• What are the top 3 myths dominating the field of conventional oncology?
• What are the major drivers of the cancer epidemic? Is there really more cancer? What is causing it, if so?
• Is there a role for supplements in cancer treatment? Vitamins? Fish oil?
• What are some of the most important evidence-based natural treatments?

Join the conversation with Michael Schachter, MD who has been supporting cancer patients for over 40 years at his holistic center in Suffern, NY.

Michael Schachter, MD is the founder and director of the Schachter Center for Complementary Medicine in Rockland, NY. He has 40 years of clinical experience in Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine. Michael is board certified in Psychiatry, a Certified Nutrition Specialist, and has obtained proficiency in Chelation Therapy from the American College for Advancement in Medicine (ACAM). He is a 1965 graduate of Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons. Read more at MBSchachter.com.

View Details

Guest // Rabbi Benay LappeHost // Toni Bark, MDCrisis is inevitable.

We know this. But what happens during those moments of tumultuous and dislocating change in our lives… when we’re caught flat-footed and lacking in grace, emotional reserves, and judgment?

Did you know that we’re faced with only 3 choices when things don’t turn out as planned? There’s something called “Crash Theory.” It explains why we stubbornly cling to truths we have been taught, even when we realize they are not actually true. It is a simple paradigm that explains how we can better navigate all life’s “crashes” — social, religious, and personal.

Rabbi Benay Lappe is the founder of SVARA, a “traditionally radical” yeshiva that welcomes learners of all faiths. Her teaching focuses on the radical methods of legal change recorded in the Talmud. Her work on the evolution of religious traditions has led her to develop her Crash Theory (listen to her TEDx talk). Benay has served on the faculties of the University of Illinois, Temple University, The University of Judaism, University of California, Berkeley, and The Wexner Institute. She is Director of Education and Senior Fellow at the Institute for the Next Jewish Future. Ordained by The Jewish Theological Seminary, Benay is one of The Forward’s 2014 Most Inspiring Rabbis and Jewrotica’s Sexiest Rabbis of 2013. She is a licensed pilot, shoemaker, and patent-holding inventor.

View Details

Guest // Thomas Seyfried, PhDHost // Toni Bark, MD Half of men and one-third of women will receive a cancer diagnosis sometime during their lives. Increasingly, more patients are declining conventional treatment. They are interested in a different kind of approach to cancer management and prevention.. one that is more cutting edge and incorporates the latest research.

If we can understand what cancer is, what feeds it, and why metastasis happens, then we can find and apply more effective strategies to shrink (and hopefully eliminate) tumors.

Meet Professor Thomas Seyfried. He is a biochemical geneticist who has been investigating the lipid biochemistry of cancer for thirty years. His pioneering research expands on Otto Warburg’s groundbreaking theory that cancer is a disease of energy metabolism. With this framework, he’s able to explain the relationship between cancer and inflammation, vascularization, cell death, drug resistance, and genomic instability. Discussion topics during today’s show include:

• How does this view differ from the direction in which much of current research and funding is heading? (i.e., genetics)
• Is the controversy largely a matter of cause and effect (i.e., mitochondrial respiration and genetic damage)?
• What has been the response of the scientific community?
• Where is the research heading? (i.e., mouse to man, clinical trials?)
• What is the ketogenic diet and how is it implemented? How does this differ when applied to children?
• What is the Press-Pulse metabolic strategy for cancer management?

If you have questions, be sure to send them before the show or meet up with us on the blog afterwards to discuss.

Thomas Seyfried, PhD focuses on gene environmental interactions related to complex diseases, such as epilepsy, autism, brain cancer, and neurodegenerative (the GM1 and GM2 gangliosidoses) diseases. He investigates many of these diseases from the perspective of, genetics, lipidomics, and energy metabolism. Tom received his Ph.D. in Genetics and Biochemistry from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1976. He was an Assistant Professor in Neurology at Yale University School of Medicine. Tom has received awards from the NIH, The American Society for Neurochemistry, and the Ketogenic Diet Special Interest Group of the American Epilepsy Society. He was Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee for the National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association and serves on several editorial boards, for Nutrition & Metabolism, Neurochemical Research, the Journal of Lipid Research, and ASN Neuro. Read more about his work here.

View Details

Guest // Alan Sherr, DCHost // Larry Palevsky, MD Dr. Larry Palevsky interviews Dr. Alan Sherr. They have known each other for 14 years, and have been working side by side for almost 10 years.

In this upcoming hour, they will explain, confide, and dish about the varied ways they partner and share in the care of children and families:

• What are their respective approaches and how do they incorporate them into their practices to maximize the health of children?
• What is their position on the topics of nutrition, vaccines, preventive health, and the nervous and immune systems?
• What kinds of acute and chronic conditions do they treat together?

There are different types of medical doctors and different types of chiropractors who practice varying degrees of conventional, integrative, and holistic medicine. After listening to this hour of conversation, you will glimpse at the future of health care, where a team approach can help you maintain your children’s optimal well-being.

Alan Sherr, DC has been in private practice for more than 34 years in Long Island, New York. He is founder and director of the Northport Wellness Center, a holistic health care practice which takes a “vitalistic” approach to health care. Alan encourages patients towards the realization that life and healing come from within and maintenance of health is superior to the treatment of disease. He champions the philosophy of chiropractic, which emphasizes the uniqueness of each individual and views health as a dynamic process involving the body, mind and heart. Alan graduated from New York Chiropractic College in 1980. His book Heart of the Healer won the Benjamin Franklin Award for the Best New Publication. Alan’s practice includes healthy adults and children, and those with autism, chronic disease, and musculoskeletal illness.

View Details

Guest // Terry Wahls, MDHost // Kelly Brogan, MD Imagine that you or a loved one are diagnosed with a degenerative disease that randomly attacks the brain and spinal cord.

Let’s say that the constellation of symptoms cluster around muscle (balance, numbness, tremors), bowel and bladder (leakage, urge, withholding), vision (discomfort, loss,involuntary movement), pain, depression, memory loss, fatigue, and more.

Maybe it’s called Multiple Sclerosis but maybe it’s something else. These symptoms sound uncomfortably familiar and are shared across numerous disorders.

Mainstream medicine says there’s no known cure for MS and the goal of treatments is to control symptoms. It’s understandable to be gripped by fear and feelings of helplessness. What do you do?

Please meet Terry Wahls, MD. Terry has secondary progressive multiple sclerosis and was confined to a tilt-recline wheelchair for four years. She is a physician-scientist who rejected the mainstream narrative about MS. Terry scrutinized the medical literature, created new theories, and tested them on herself with truly stunning results. She now bikes 18 miles at a clip and is galvanized by her new mission to teach about the power of intensive, directed nutrition and lifestyle changes to heal and restore health.

In addition to asking Terry about her amazing experience, we also want to know…

• how do we manage our emotions, including fear and hope, post-diagnosis?
• what does she recommend to patients when choosing their medical team?
• what strategies can we employ to help us with our own medical research?
• what would she have done differently?
• what is the applicability of her protocol to other diseases and syndromes, too?

And send us your questions for Terry, too.

Terry Wahls, MD is a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa where she teaches internal medicine residents, sees patients in a traumatic brain injury clinic, and conducts clinical trials. She is the author of The Wahls Protocol: How I Beat Progressive MS Using Paleo Principles and Functional Medicine. Terry is also the lead scientist for a funded clinical trial testing the effectiveness of the interventions she used so successfully on herself in others with secondary progressive MS. Favorable preliminary results were presented at the international 2011 Neuroscience conference in Washington D.C. Read more about her work at TerryWahls.com.

View Details

Guest // Lisa BloomquistHost // Chandler Marrs, PhDWhen we think about adverse effects of antibiotics, we think about microbiomes…

– environmental microbiomes in the rise of antibiotic resistance, and

– human microbiomes and ecosystem resiliencefollowing gross perturbations, including antibiotics.

However, antibiotics can injure in other ways.

We heard a lot about Cipro during the anthrax scares following 9/11. Cipro is part of the fluoroquinolone family of antibiotics: Cipro/ciprofloxacin, Levaquin/levofloxacin, Avelox/moxifloxacin and a few others. Unlike most antibiotics, fluoroquinolones can cause a multi-symptom, often chronic disease called Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome (FTS).

FTS includes damage to connective tissue (tendons, ligaments, cartilage, fascia, etc.) throughout the body, damage to the nervous systems (central, peripheral and autonomic), and more. The damage done by fluoroquinolone antibiotics can destroy a person’s quality of life or even kill them. There is a time and a place for drugs with dangerous side effects. If you find yourself in a septic shock induced coma, fluoroquinolones may save your life.

Unfortunately, fluoroquinolones are not being reserved for life or death situations. They are prescribed for urinary tract infections, suspected prostate infections, upper respiratory infections, and as a prophylactic for travelers’ diarrhea, ear infections, pink eye, and more. Thousands of people have suffered needlessly from the devastating effects of fluoroquinolone antibiotics, when another safer antibiotic could have, and should have, been used.

Lisa Bloomquist will discuss her journey through FTS and share what she has learned, including:

• fluoroquinolones 101 — the basics
• warning signs of FTS
• aspects of Fluoroquinolone Toxicity that make it tricky to recognize
• treatments that have helped Fluoroquinolone Toxicity patients, and
• urgent pointers that parents must know when treating their child’s bacterial infections.

Lisa Bloomquist is a patient advocate who was injured by Cipro in 2011. She runs the Fluoroquinolone Toxicity Syndrome advocacy site and manages The Fluoroquinolone Wall of Pain. Lisa is a guest blogger forHormones Matter and Collective Evolution, and hosts the Floxie Hope Podcast. Lisa has vowed to continue to screaming about the dangers of fluoroquinolone antibiotics until those in the medical professions start paying attention to their Hippocratic Oath, until proper informed consent is established for administration of these drugs, and until physicians stop giving them to children. Lisa is a Colorado native who enjoys the mountains, pilates, and her cat. She has a BA in Economics from Colorado State University and a Masters in Public Administration from University of Colorado, Denver.

View Details

Guest // Judy Mikovits, PhDHost // Sayer Ji On July 22, 2009, a special meeting was held with 24 leading scientists at the NIH to discuss early findings that a newly discovered retrovirus was linked to chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), prostate cancer, lymphoma, and eventually neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

When Judy Mikovits, PhD finished her presentation, the room was silent for a moment, then one of the scientists said, “Oh my God!”

The resulting investigation would be like no other in science.

Host Sayer Ji will give us the down low on what happened and why.

• Why is Judy’s new book called Plague?
• What’s a human retrovirus and how does transmission occur? What’s the amount of retrovirus found in the normal population?
• What do we know about retroviruses and chronic disease?
• How do environmental toxins add to the problem?
• Why do the CDC and NIH view Judy’s research as a threat? Is it related to author Hillary Johnson‘s foreword: A Disease Able to Affect the Economies of Nations?
• What kind of research is urgently needed? What advice would you give regarding the best way to structure and fund these studies?
• What are things we can do to protect our families?

Judy Mikovits, PhD earned her BA from University of Virginia and PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from George Washington University. In her 35 year quest to understand and treat chronic diseases, she has studied immunology, natural products chemistry, epigenetics, virology, and drug development. In 20 years, she rose from lab tech to director of the lab of Antiviral Drug Mechanisms at the National Cancer Institute before leaving to direct the Cancer Biology program at EpiGenX Pharmaceuticals in Santa Barbara, CA. She became attracted to the plight of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and autism and is primarily responsible for demonstrating the relationship between immune based inflammation and these diseases. She has published over 50 scientific papers.

View Details

Guest // Jerry M. Kantor, CCH, LAc, MMHSHost // Mary Coyle, DIHomMost women will experience at one time in their lives a health issue unique to us ladies. When we consider these health challenges, and their subsequent treatments, the following come to mind:

• Hashimoto’s disease and the use of synthroid
• bioidentical hormones for menopausal symptoms
• birth control and the regulation of menses, and, of course,
• injection of hormones to tackle infertility.

As we know, all conventional approaches have not served women well. Fortunately, we can turn to the alternatives within alternative medicine.

Join two homeopaths for a deep dive into the world of women’s health. Host Mary Coyle leads a discussion with licensed acupuncturist and homeopathic practitioner, Jerry Kantor as he walks us through not one, but three, different healing paradigms. He’ll discuss his novel multi-model approach, as he redefines the true meaning behind the diagnosis.

Through a unique integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), homeopathy, and biomedical modalities, Jerry explains the critical role each plays in restoring the health of the modern woman. Listen to his revolutionary insights and know-how as he “surrounds the dragon” in determining the etiology — and his quest to find real and lasting solutions:

• What are some of the basic concepts of TCM and homeopathy?
• Why is the integration of these healing models important to restoring women’s health?
• What are the insights from ancient healing practices and how are these updated to create a new approach for today’s health challenges?
• How can we apply these ideas to two case study examples: Lupus Erythmatosus and Post-Partum Depression?

Jerry Kantor, CCH, LAc, MMHS is executive director of the National Institute of Whole Health in Wellesley, MA and principal owner of Vital Force Health Care, a homeopathy and acupuncture practice specializing in mental illness, autism spectrum ailments, ADHD, chronic disease, and infertility. He has taught at Harvard Medical School since 1999, has staff credentials at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. Jerry is the author of two books: Interpreting Chronic Illness, the Convergence of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Homeopathy and Biomedicine and The Toxic Relationship Cure, Clearing Traumatic Damage from a Boss, Parent, Lover or Friend. His new book on the treatment of autism will be coming out in 2015. Jerry graduated from Nanjing College of Traditional Medicine’s Advanced Acupuncture Program for Foreign Students and the New England School of Acupuncture. He holds a fourth degree black belt in Aikido. Read more about Jerry and his work at VitalForceHealthCare.com.

View Details

Guest // Diana Shulla-CoseHost // Toni Bark, MDThis program cuts through the Common Core and “U.S. education in crisis” debate with a single question: What if our emphasis on standardized testing and structured lesson plans was all wrong?

Imagine for a moment that a very different kind of focus, one that centers on social-emotional learning, could turn our educational model on its head and deliver real. results. Results that, for example, exceed the national average in high school graduation and college admission rates.

Now, what if I told you that this is already happening in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the country where violence, drugs, and high school dropouts are the norm?

If you’re a parent, educator, or taxpayer, you need to listen to this show:

• What is social-emotional learning?
• Why are some educators now saying that grit is the best measure of future success?
• Who created this curriculum and why?
• How do the foundational elements of social-emotional learning — relationship building, the conversation cycle, active listening, and wrap-around services — work together?
• Where are the success stories, at the individual, school, and larger community levels?
• What’s next and who’s doing it?
• How can parents incorporate aspects of social-emotional learning for their children no matter what type of school they attend?

Resources:

• 26 Principles of A Disciplined Life
• How Children Succeed by Paul Tough
• Mindset (book and podcast) by Carol Dweck, PhD
• The Key to Success? Grit (TED) by Angela Lee Duckworth, PhD

Diana Shulla-Cose is co-founder and President of Perspectives Charter Schools in Chicago. After working as a public school teacher, Diana co-founded Perspectives as a school-within-a-school in 1993. As one of the first charter schools in Chicago, Perspectives is now a network of five 6th-12th grade schools educating over 2,300 students from under-resourced communities. Perspectives students graduate from high school, enroll in college, and persist towards graduation at rates above the national average. The key to these results is a program that Diana co-created called A Disciplined Life®. This curriculum and culture will soon be shared with schools throughout the country through a government grant. Diana is a contributing columnist for Smart Business and the Executive Producer of the “I Am for Peace” documentary. She recently led a Lab at Chicago Ideas Week 2014 on social-emotional learning. Diana has a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Loyola University Chicago.

View Details

Guests // Leslie Wakefield, Erin Luyendyk, and Philippa Bridge-CookHost // Chandler Marrs, PhDYou have endometriosis, adenomyosis, ovarian cysts and/or fibroids. Your menstrual periods are hellish, bowel movements are disrupted, bladder functions are awry, and forget about sex. You have suffered through years of pain, have tried countless prescription meds, and likely have had many surgeries, some more successful than others.

For many girls and women without access to specialists, the excruciating pain will continue. Most can’t get a diagnosis let alone appropriate treatment, but we can address this with education and awareness. The more you know about these women’s health issues, the more likely you will be able to find help for yourself and for your daughters, should they develop these conditions.

In part two of our multipart series on endometriosis, menstrual and pelvic pain syndromes, we’ll be talking about exciting and effective non-invasive options for managing abdominal and pelvic pain syndromes: women’s health physical therapy and anti-inflammatory diets.

Women’s health physical therapy is an emerging, specialized treatment modality to heal inflammatory conditions that affect the abdominal and pelvic regions. Adhesions and fascial restrictions that developed as result of the chronic inflammation and/or surgeries can be softened or released, so the pressure they place on surrounding areas is relieved, pain is reduced, function is restored, and quality of life improves. Find out if this form of physical therapy might help you or loved ones live pain-free?

Did you know that certain foods can trigger inflammation and exacerbate pain while other foods reduce inflammation? Did you know there are diets specifically designed to help manage endometriosis, interstitial cystitis, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), PMS, and other common conditions?

Join host Chandler Marrs for a conversation about women’s health and healing with three incredible women:

Leslie Wakefield, DPT, CSCS is a doctor of physical therapy specializing in Women’s Health and Pelvic Rehabilitation. She is the owner of Wellsprings Health, a holistic therapy clinic in Hollywood, Florida, and Director of the Miami Clear Passage clinic. Leslie writes about women’s health physical therapy for Hormones Matter.

Erin Luyendyk, RHN is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Nutrition Educator, Raw Chef, and founder of Nutritionista, inspiring women around the globe to nourish themselves healthy. As an endometriosis sufferer herself, she has both expertise and a special passion for using integrative nutrition to help manage endometriosis, PCOS, and PMS. Erin consults with private nutrition clients and health professionals internationally.

Philippa Bridge-Cook, PhD is a scientist working in molecular diagnostics and trained in medical genetics and microbiology. She is an endometriosis survivor, advocate, and regular contributor to Hormones Matter. Phillippa is a board member of The Endometriosis Network Canada, a non-profit organization that promotes a patient-centered approach to managing endometriosis to increase the quality of life for those living with it.

View Details

December 17, 2014Guest // Robert J. Krakow, EsqHost // Louise Kuo HabakusSo you think they’re your kids? Sure, you gave birth to them. You raise them, teach them your values, ferry them far and wide, and shower them with love and stuff.

Did you know they can be taken away from you in a heartbeat and it doesn’t take much?

You might have no warning before there’s a knock at the door from Child Protective Services(CPS).

Let’s back up for a moment. It’s understandable that our reflexive response is to support structured resources that protect children from abuse or neglect. We’ve read terrible stories of little ones tortured beyond imagination. We whisper a quiet prayer that, please, the next time, a curious neighbor or concerned teacher might find the courage to intervene. We’d like to imagine CPS caseworkers as a caped avengers of sorts, swooping in to save the day.

But what happens when you’re on the other side of the equation? Let’s say you get into an argument with a doctor or a teacher. What if a neighbor doesn’t like the way you’re raising your child? Can anyone call CPS about you? Is it true that allegations can be unsubstantiated and calls can be made anonymously? CPS is obligated to investigate every single call. And more parents than you can imagine fall down the rabbit hole. They find themselves in a true nightmare, waging an epic battle for their children.

Join me and Bob Krakow for an eye-opening and sobering discussion about the things that can and do happen to parents and what you need to know to protect your family:

• What if the hospital says your child urgently requires a certain medical intervention and you disagree?
• What if you and your child’s doctor don’t see eye to eye about supplements, alternative treatments, or vaccination?
• What if you’re falsely accused of Münchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP)?
• Who are Mandated Reporters?
• What are the laws and limits? What do we need to know about the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA)?
• What rights do parents have?
• What are the top things that parents must know to protect their families?

Robert J. Krakow, Esq is an attorney in private practice in New York City focusing on the trial of civil and criminal cases, and specializes in the representation of persons injured by exposure to environmental toxins and vaccines. Bob started his legal career with NYPIRG. He was a prosecutor with the New York County District Attorney’s office and served as Bureau Chief of the special narcotics prosecution division. Bob is committed to working for individuals with disabilities. He is on the board of Lifespire, Inc. and was Board Chair for 7 years. He founded and/or serves/served on the boards of prominent autism and vaccine safety advocacy organizations including EBCALA, Center for Personal Rights, A-CHAMP, National Autism Association, and SafeMinds. He lives in NYC with his wife and their two children.

View Details

Guest // Kate Rhéaume-Bleue, NDHost // Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist Millions of people are taking calcium and vitamin D supplements thinking they’re helping their bones. The truth is, without the addition of vitamin K2, such a health regimen could prove dangerous, even deadly.

Without vitamin K2, the body cannot direct calcium to the bones where it’s needed; instead, the calcium resides in soft tissue (like the arteries)—leading to a combination of osteoporosis and atherosclerosis, or the dreaded “calcium paradox.”

It’s time to bring attention to the enormous health benefits of Vitamin K2 in making the body less susceptible to dental cavities, heart disease, prostate cancer, liver cancer, diabetes, wrinkles, obesity, varicose veins, and other ailments.

Kate Rhéaume-Bleue, ND is a popular health expert on Canadian television and radio, and a contributing editor to several health-related publications. She is the author of Vitamin K2 and the Calcium Paradox. Kate graduated from McMaster University with an honors BSc in Biology and completed her professional training at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto. Born and raised on Montreal’s West Island, Kate now makes her home in Ancaster, Ontario (just west of Hamilton) with her husband, sons and Chloe, the Great Dane.

View Details

Guest // Suzanne Humphries, MDHost // Kelly Brogan, MDThe CDC website has information on Vaccines for Pregnant Women and Guidelines for Vaccinating Pregnant Women. Here, pregnant women and clinicians are told:

• Vaccines can keep mama and “her growing family” healthy.
• Specific vaccines that are needed are based on age, lifestyle, medical conditions, type and locations of travel, and previous vaccination.
• Get up to-date with vaccines before getting pregnant
• Some vaccines cannot be given during pregnancy (i.e., rubella).
• Some vaccines should be given during pregnancy: pertussis, hepatitis B, flu.
• It is safe for a woman to receive vaccines right after giving birth, even while she is breastfeeding.

Together, these pages raise more questions than they answer. Kelly Brogan raises a collective, manicured eyebrow on behalf of many dubious women and dig into the research with these probing questions:

• Where’s the science showing safety and efficacy for both mom and fetus?
• If vaccination should vary based on age and lifestyle, then where’s this discussion and the underlying evidence base?
• What do we know about maternal-fetal immunology?
• Which vaccines are Category C pharmaceutical drugs and what does this mean?
• Can we speak very specifically about the reasons women cannot get some vaccines while pregnant? Is it just the live virus vaccines?
• What are the adverse events that have been documented following vaccination while pregnant?
• What’s the down low on flu shots? Efficacy, statistics, mist vs injections, and lessons from the 1917 epidemic and recent swine flu campaigns? How does the CDC justify its recent decision to recommend live virus flu shots to 2 year olds when so many pregnant women have toddlers at home? (Live attenuated rubella virus is excreted from nose and throat 7 to 28 days after vaccination. – MMR II package insert, p. 5)
• Why is the mercury-based preservative thimerosal still in the flu shot, recommended to virtually everyone, including babies and pregnant women?
• What’s cocooning and do you buy it?
• What adverse events have been reported following vaccination of pregnant women?
• Is there a better way for women to boost the immune system during pregnancy?

This discussion is for girls and women of reproductive age, the people who love them, and parents and guardians of young children.

Suzanne Humphries, MD is a conventionally-trained physician who participated in mainstream medicine from 1989-2011. During those years, she saw how often that approach fails patients and creates new diseases. Suzanne is board-certified in nephrology and was formerly certified in internal medicine. She graduated from Temple University Medical School. Read more about Suzanne on her website DrSuzanne.net.

View Details

Guest // Leda ScheintaubHost // Toni Bark, MD Are you ready to get cultured foods into your kitchen? We have answers to your questions!

What are cultured foods? Why are they called cultured? Are they just pickles or is there more to it?

Are we talking about German sauerkraut and Korean kimchi? Japanese miso and Greek yogurt? (Quick answer: all of them!)

What are some of the different ways to use ferments? Are they just snacks and accents or can they be part of your daily recipes? Tell us about rejuvelac and kvass!

How can you tell the difference between a live ferment and a pasteurized pickle?

How, exactly, are these foods nourishing and healthy? What do they have to do with probiotics?

Are ferments difficult to make? What tips can you offer? Will my kids eat them?

Host Toni Bark interviews the author of The Cultured Kitchen, which draws on the traditions of fermentation from around the world.

Leda Scheintaub trained as a chef at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York and has been a recipe developer and tester, editor, and writer for the past twelve years. She has contributed to the following books: Organic Avenue, Doctor’s Diet Bookbook, Easy Sexy Raw, and The Ciao Bella Book of Gelato and Sorbetto. Her next book, with whole foods pioneer Rebecca Wood, is The Whole Bowl: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Soups and Stews. Visit her atLedasKitchen.com and on Facebook and Twitter.

View Details

Guest // Jeff HaysHost // Louise Kuo HabakusTo some degree, most of us are “bought.” If we shop at big-box stores or watch mainstream TV, for example, we willingly expose ourselves to some of the best influence that money can buy. We may think we have freedom of choice when, in fact, we participate in and fund (through our purchases) a process that allows our choices to be constrained for us.

No one believes she’s an easy mark. But there’s a good reason that drug companies spend like mad (24% of total revenues) to sell us hard. It works. Americans fill 4 billion prescriptions per year costing $320 billion (excluding OTC meds and vaccines). Since 30% of us opt out, we’re talking about 18 prescriptions — not pills! — per Rx-popper.

Now what if I told you that Americans spent more on healthcare ($3.8 trillion!) and less on food than any other country in the world? Would that make you curious? Would you wonder if there was a relationship? Would you follow the money where it took you, inside the controversy and to the front lines of the battle? Would you take on vaccines and GMOs and place a bullseye on Big Food and Big Pharma?

Let’s take a successful filmmaker with an independent streak and a passion for telling the truth. He starts scratching beneath the surface and becomes engrossed, amazed, and then completely pissed off. He’s a guy after our own hearts. He does something about it. He makes a movie called Bought and it has been quite a trip. Don’t miss this inside look into the making and the telling of the hopeful and heart-breaking truth about America’s health. Watch now… the six week online release ends in 2 days!

Jeff Hays is a successful filmmaker and entrepreneur. He has been producing films for over 20 years and has been short-listed for an Academy Award. Jeff holds 8 patents and the 20+ companies he has founded have collectively raised of $100 million in capital. The most important roles in his life are as father of 9 and grandfather to 10. Read more about Jeff’s work at Jeff Hays Films.

View Details

Guest // Rachel Ramsey CruzeHost // Louise Kuo HabakusThere’s a new narrative about entitled and unmotivatedchildren that has taken hold and it’s dangerously incomplete. It goes something like this:

Children today think that money grows on trees!

Kids demand the latest of everything! They don’t know how good they have it.

I thought my daughter was launched but she boomeranged back home!

The New York Times recently reported that 60% of people in their 20s and early 30s receive financial support from their parents and another 20% live at home. Money magazine’s latest article, Paying For Your Kids… Forever? features loving parents postponing retirement to cover their children’s groceries, cell phone bills, and rent payments. “Emerging adulthood” is now viewed as a new and permanent life stage. Pretty sobering stuff.

But there’s something else going on that isn’t covered in these headlines. Kids have front row seats to their parents’ financial dramas. American adults are woefully ill-informed about money:

• 25% of Americans have no emergency savings
• About half do not pay their credit card balances in full
• Consumers are taking out larger auto loans
• The typical bankruptcy filer is older and married
• The average student loan debt is $32,656
• 1.5 million Americans aged 50+ lost their homes since 2007

This isn’t just a “kid” problem, it’s not about being spoiled and lazy, and it’s not about bad luck that happens to us. Children who don’t understand money grow up to be adults who don’t understand money. Fortunately, there’s something that can be done.

This is where financial expert Dave Ramsey and his daughter Rachel Cruze come in. They wrote Smart Money Smart Kids to help parents raise the next generation to win with money. I gobbled this book up in one sitting and then handed it to my 13 year-old. It’s remarkably simple and simply brilliant. Kids want to learn. We have to teach them. Dave and Rachel talk about work, spending, saving, and giving. They challenge our baked-in attitudes about allowances, debt, college, and more. My son can’t put the book down. I’m betting this show will convince you that, no matter how old your child is, it’s time to start setting expectations, laying ground rules, and building a common sense foundation that may end up being one of your most important legacies.

Rachel Cruze is the co-author of Smart Money Smart Kids. She appears regularly in national and local media. Rachel uses the knowledge and experiences from growing up in the Ramsey household to educate students and young adults on the proper ways to handle money and stay out of debt. Her father, Dave Ramsey, has written four New York Times best-selling books and his radio show is heard by over 6 million listeners on more than 500 radio stations.

View Details

Guest // Philippa Bridge-Cook, PhDHost // Chandler Marrs, PhD“Every month, when her period comes, my daughter is down for the count. She misses school and is in absolute agony.”

Is this normal?

Although many women and girls experience some discomfort during menstruation, “killer cramps” are NOT normal – despite what many physicians, the media, friends, and even well-intentioned loved ones tell us. Pain is the body’s way of saying something is wrong. Excessively painful periods, month after month, might be endometriosis.

Endo-what?

Although endometriosis affects 176 million girls and women worldwide, it’s poorly understood and often goes undiagnosed for many years leaving girls and women to suffer needlessly. Here are some basic facts from the global forum Endometriosis.org:

• Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent disorder where endometrial tissue forms lesions outside the uterus.
• It affects an estimated 10% of women in the reproductive-age group.
• Symptoms include painful periods, painful ovulation, pain during or after sex, abnormal bleeding, chronic pelvic pain, fatigue, and infertility.
• There’s a 38% greater loss of work productivity due to pain.
• The estimated annual cost of endometriosis treatment in the U.S. is about $20 billion (2002 data).
• There is no known cure.
• Most current medical treatments are not suitable long term due to their side-effect profiles.

Join us for the first of a multi-part series about endometriosis and menstrual health.

Philippa-Bridge Cook, PhD is a scientist working in molecular diagnostics and trained in medical genetics and microbiology from the University of Toronto. She is also an endometriosis survivor and advocate. She is regular contributor to Hormones Matter on topics related to endometriosis and more recently, cyclic vomiting syndrome and she serves on the board of directors of The Endometriosis Network Canada, a non-profit organization that promotes a patient-centered approach to managing endometriosis to increase the quality of life for those living with it.

View Details

Guest // Stephanie Seneff, PhDHost // Kelly Brogan, MDEver wish Google Translate could convert Science into Plain English? Wouldn’t it be great if your best friend was a scientist and you could ask her whatever you wanted?

We’re bringing you not one but two talented MIT alums who are fluent in science and health and not on the payroll of Big Food or Big Pharma. They’ll discuss:

• What does the latest research really say about why kids are so sick today, with autism, allergies, food sensitivities, ADHD, and sleep problems?
• How are these disorders connected?
• Which prevalent toxic chemicals cause the most concern?
• When it comes to toxins in our food, what should we eat and avoid? Does eating organic make a difference?
• How about toxins in vaccines? How do we sort out the scoop from the spin?
• Where are the biggest areas of disconnect between the scientific literature and what we read in the mainstream press about food and vaccines?
• Does she really believe that, at today’s growth rate, 1 in 2 children will have autism by 2025?

Dr. Stephanie Seneff gets down to brass tacks and points the finger squarely at the toxic chemicals in food and vaccines. Together, these poisons work synergistically to erode our health. Two of the most significant poisons are glyphosate (in the herbicide Roundup) and aluminum. These substances have become so common in our environment that we mistakenly dismiss them as harmless.

Autism is a complex condition but Stephanie can explain multiple known features of autism through direct links to glyphosate and aluminum. She can also explain sleep disorders, which are associated with many neurological diseases, and which are rising in frequency in the US in step with the rise in the use of Roundup on core crops.

Stephanie Seneff, PhD is a Senior Research Scientist at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. She holds degrees from MIT in biology with a minor in food and nutrition (BS) and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (PhD). Stephanie has authored over 150 peer-reviewed journal and conference proceedings papers. Since 2007, she has focused on nutrition, health, and the environment, and has published over a dozen papers on these topics in medical and biological journals. Her most recent research is on the pervasive toxicants: aluminum and glyphosate. Stephanie proposes that low-nutrient food combined with pesticides and toxic metals play a crucial role in many modern conditions and diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, gastrointestinal problems, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, ADHD, and autism.

View Details

Guest // Alex and Wendy MurrayHost // Mary Coyle, DIHomPolly Murray was the first person to focus on what came to be known as Lyme disease. She and her husband were raising their four children in beautiful Lyme, Connecticut in 1965 when something started making her sick. When it spread to her family (and neighbors), she embarked on a 20 year medical journey to figure out what was wrong. Doctors had no answers and worse, exhibited hostility, rejection, and no sense of urgency to help her family.

Polly persevered. She kept meticulous records of her family’s rashes, flu-like illnesses, swollen knees, pain, and other symptoms. Her attention to detail and investigative work led to the 1982 discovery of the spirochete (corkscrew-shaped bacterium) borrelia burgdorferi by Willy Burgdorfer, MD, PhD. Her story is riveting and inspiring. There are parallels with modern day chronic disorders (autism comes to mind) and offers hope to parents engaged in a similar battle for recognition and resources towards prevention, treatment, and a cure.

When Polly’s children ask her which of her life accomplishments bring her the most pride, her career as a fine art painter or discovering Lyme Disease, she always says: “Lyme Disease.” Two of Polly Murray’s children, Alex and Wendy, will participate in the show. Alex Murray works in the wine trade as a distributor and educator. He was first stricken with Lyme Disease in 1974 as a senior in high school, before the disease had been identified. He was captain of the varsity soccer team and hobbled around with swollen joints during the final game of his career. The disease caused massive swelling and joint dislocation in his left knee, and sidelined his hopes playing soccer in college. Now 40 years later, Alex still suffers from pain in his left knee. Wendy Murray is an education editor living in New Jersey. Their family’s story was profiled in the Boston Globe in 2013 (part 1 and part 2).

View Details

Guest // Jenn Giustra-Kozek, LPCHost // Beth LambertThe number of children diagnosed with ADHD in this country has reached epidemic proportions. Eleven percent of children ages 4-17 have an ADHD diagnosis and 1 in every 5 boys will receive this diagnosis during their childhood. That’s 20% of our boys!

Most of these children will be put on some form of stimulant medication that can deplete the body of essential nutrients; impact sleep, appetite, and growth; and result in a whole host of negative side effects including anxiety, tics, rage, kidney and liver problems, manic episodes, and altered personality.

It gets worse. In May 2014, the New York Times reported that at least 10,000 toddlers are currently medicated outside current pediatric guidelines, which does not really recognize ADHD as a valid diagnosis before age 4.

If no one seems alarmed by that fact that one-fifth of our boys are walking the halls of their elementary schools on psycho-stimulant medications, surely, the drugging of babies will make somebody stand up and take notice?

And it has.

Meet Jennifer Giustra-Kozek, LPC, HpN, author and licensed psychotherapist with 15 years of clinical experience treating clients with an array of health disorders including Asperger’s, depression, anxiety, OCD, and ADHD. Jennifer has seen this epidemic unfold in her own private practice and watched the harmful impact of medication on her many young clients:

I’ve frequently seen medication change sweet and agreeable children into angry, depressed and/or foggy children their parents didn’t recognize.

The ADHD epidemic turned personal when Jennifer’s young son was diagnosed. She plunged into a world where parents have found safe and natural healing modalities outside of the pharmaceutical model. Her son is now recovered from ADHD and apraxia. Jennifer’s new book Healing Without Hurting will be released in November. Jennifer began consulting and blogging with thousands of moms through social media to teach them about alternative and natural solutions for healing autism spectrum disorders. Since the creation of her Facebook page, over 100,000 weekly visitors turn to her for guidance and support.

View Details

Guest // Rick Strassman, MDHost // Toni Bark, MDResearch into the class of drugs known as psychedelics has made a resurgence in mainstream medical institutions, including Johns Hopkins and New York University. There are many reasons for this, including the need for better treatments for PTSD, depression, anxiety, and addiction.

Psychedelics are psychoactive substances that produce hallucinations and an expansion of consciousness. LSD is the best known of these. Dimethyltryptamine or DMT is another such substance.

Questions abound! Topics to be addressed on this show include:

• What’s it like to be on DMT?
• What’s happening to the body?
• What insights does this research provide into the way the brain and mind work?
• Does our brain chemistry allow entrance into other realms of existence? What is the utility of this and is it something we can control?
• What’s the neurochemical basis for experience?
• Can DMT be used as a treatment for psychiatric issues?

This research is provocative, intellectually courageous, and expands the boundaries of science and medicine. It offers tantalizing insights about human consciousness and the metaphysical world.

Rick Strassman, MD is a psychiatrist, Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico, and a researcher in clinical psychopharmacology. He discovered the first known role of melatonin in humans. In 1990, he began US government-funded human research with psychedelics. His book DMT: The Spirit Molecule has been translated into 12 languages and is the basis for an independent documentary of the same name. Rick is president and co-founder of the Cottonwood Research Foundation, which conducts scientific research into the nature of consciousness. He graduated from Stanford University and received his medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. Rick lives in western New Mexico.

View Details

Guest // Jeanne Ohm, DCHost // Kelly Brogan, MDThere’s a lot going on during the weeks and months before and after birth. It’s called the perinatal period, from preconception to at least 9 months after birth. Many couples obtain their guidance from clinicians who perform routine tests and scans by stage of gestation. But perinatal wellness isn’t about standardized checklists. And sometimes what’s on those lists can lead mama down the wrong path.

What can women teach each other about wellness? Are we suffering from a lack of heritable wisdom? Who is showing us how to believe in our bodies and our babies? Join host Kelly Brogan, MD as she dives in with Dr. Jeanne Ohm who has been mothering mothers and their loved ones for almost 35 years. Jeanne is a perinatal wellness chiropractor who is deeply invested in progressing the paradigm of women’s health. This hour will undoubtedly leave you inspired by the simplicity of holistic medicine, and the radical empowerment that it offers.

• How have we been indoctrinated into the Western health paradigm? How can we think differently about our wellness?
• What does a chiropractor bring to prenatal care?
• Is chiropractic safe for infants? What can it help with?
• What are the most important things for women to know about perinatal health?
• What are the top three pearls for today’s pregnant woman?
• Isn’t chiropractic about bad backs? Why do babies need it? Is it safe? What can it help with?

Jeanne Ohm, DC is Executive Coordinator of the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association and editor of the parent magazine: Pathways to Family Wellness. She travels internationally teaching Doctors of Chiropractic specific skills to care for pregnant women and children, and is on post-graduate faculty for numerous chiropractic colleges.

View Details

Guest // Barbara Loe FisherHost // Larry Palevsky, MDVaccination. It’s one of the most challenging subjects that parents encounter. Doctors vaccinate pregnant women and babies receive 33 doses of 14 vaccines by 15 months of age, starting on the day of birth.

More parents are saying “no, thanks.” This is described as an educated, upper middle class phenomenon but the truth is that vaccine ambivalence cuts a wide swath. In addition to philosophical and religious objections, people are seriously concerned about the new childhood normal of sick, fat, and at risk kids.

When parents try to talk about vaccine safety, they are quickly shot down (pun intended). In the media and in our neighborhood, risks are downplayed, parental fears are sidestepped, and name calling ensues. Parasite. Freeloader. Typhoid Mary. Non-vaccinating parents are told “the book is closed” (on the autism-vaccine link) and they are accused of medical neglect and spreading disease.

These assertions are repeated by industry spokespeople and public health cops, but they are not supported by the evidence base. Mainstream media parrot the party line and fail to acknowledge serious, legitimate concerns. Parents want the straight story from true experts. Board-certified pediatrician, Larry Palevsky, interviews the nation’s leading vaccine safety advocate, Barbara Loe Fisher, and asks the burning questions:

• Are vaccines safe and effective?
• Can vaccines cause autism and chronic illness?
• Are all pediatricians required to vaccinate?
• What can parents do if they suspect a vaccine injury?
• How do parents opt out of vaccines?
• What does the close public-private partnership in vaccine promotion and development mean for vaccine safety?
• If vaccines are safe, why does government compensate individuals for harm and death caused by vaccines?
• Why are more parents questioning authority?
• What are good sources of information?
• Can you explain the meaning of the recent CDC whistleblower statement?

Whether you’re a parent or contemplating vaccines for yourself, doing your own research starts with an open mind. Listen in.

Barbara Loe Fisher is president of the National Vaccine Information Center, a non-profit charity she co-founded with parents of DPT vaccine injured children in 1982. Co-author of the seminal 1985 book, DPT: A Shot in the Dark, she has led a three-decade public information campaign to secure informed consent protections in U.S. vaccine policies and laws.

View Details

Listening to this show (and then buying Brian’s funny and wise book) is the perfect way to be introduced to the basics. It’s Holistic Parenting 101… enlightening for brand new parents, affirming for parents in the thick of it, and entertaining for everyone.

Brian is mellow, zen, and super insightful. He had me before page 1. In the Preface, Brian describes responding to his wailing 2 year-old, Benji, by sequentially implementing specific pointers from the vast library of parenting books he had just read. Benji stopped crying but Brian had no idea why.

You have to love anyone who reads 19 parenting books to figure out how to talk with a toddler. He’s not afraid to make fun of himself. And as any parent knows, there’s an awful lot of material to work with, when we’re willing to lighten up a bit.

We’ll be talking about circumcision, home birth, vaccines, and some of his favorite parenting philosophers, including Alfie Kohn and Lenore Skenazy. We also talk about the role of fear in parenting and how it feels when some of your choices go against the herd.

Brian Leaf is an author of numerous books, including Misadventures of a Garden State Yogi: My Humble Quest to Heal My Colitis, Calm My ADD, and Find the Key to Happiness, and Misadventures of a Parenting Yogi: Cloth Diapers, Cosleeping, and My (Sometimes Success) Quest for Conscious Parenting. He is a math tutor and owns the New Leaf Learning Center in Northampton, MA. Brian has studied, practiced, and taught yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda for 25 years.

Louise Kuo Habakus is Executive Director of Fearless Parent, lead host and producer of Fearless Parent Radio, and mom of two. She is a published author, runs the non-profit Center for Personal Rights, lectures widely, and has appeared in numerous media outlets, including ABC World News Tonight, Fox & Friends, and The New York Times. Louise was a Bain consultant and a C-level executive in the financial services industry. She holds two degrees from Stanford University. She is an advisory board member of GreenMedInfo.

View Details

We are living in an era of chronic disease brought on by environmental exposures.  Our genes may load the gun, but our lifestyles are certainly pulling the trigger. Mainstream medicine has yet to truly acknowledge the role of diet, stress, and environmental toxins in health and disease.  After 30 years of increasingly aggressive screening and treatment, the goal of decreased breast cancer mortality has not been realized, according to prestigious journals and even conventional regulatory agencies.  If our current methods of detection are themselves carcinogenic, and lead to overdiagnosis and overtreatment, what alternatives do we have?  Join me in a discussion with Philip Getson, DO, family physician and board-certified thermologist, to explore the myths and facts surrounding thermography and its potential to fill this void in women’s health:  What is thermography and how does it work? Why might it be a good choice for cancer screening? Are there reasons not to use thermography? Do we know enough about what cancer really is yet? Beyond breast cancer, what are some other applications? When should women begin screening, and how frequently?

View Details

Adrenal-related issues are seemingly epidemic today—many people complain of some degree of “adrenal fatigue” or “burnout.” This is hardly surprising given the incredibly stressful world we live in today. The unfortunate truth is adrenal-related issues are poorly understood.  In addition, most conventional healthcare providers still practice using outdated theoretical models from the 1950s, which fail to hold up in the face of modern stress physiology. In fact, the vast majority of so-called “adrenal issues” have nothing whatsoever to do with the adrenal glands themselves!  Nora Gedgaudas offers a cutting-edge paradigm that will not only help modernize adrenal concepts, but will also help individuals better identify what type of “adrenal dysregulation” they have and what to do about it.

View Details

We have the Thinking Moms Revolution, Holistic Moms Network, and Mothering.com. When it comes to family health and wellness, moms are usually in charge.  But not always. Dads do it, too! Admit it… you’re curious, right?  Dr. Larry hands the microphone to a gregarious and inspiring dad in his practice and plans to ask the things we want to know:  What does it look like when the dads take the lead? How did they make the shift to living more holistically? What did it take to get their wives and other family members on board? How do conversations go with other men about health and raising their kids? How did holistic medicine help them evaluate and deliver more appropriate care for their children? This promises to be a show full of passion and lots of heart.

View Details

Guest // Nicole Glassman, HHCHost // Mary Coyle, DIHomHolism starts with the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (thanks, Aristotle). And it builds on the realization that great insights can be gleaned in understanding how the parts relate to each other.

Because they are interconnected. And they comprise a system.

When we talk about Mind Body Spirit, the components are straightforward enough:

• Mind: our intellect and reasoning, the faculty of consciousness and thought, what enables us to be aware of the world and our experiences;
• Body: our entire material or physical reality;
• Spirit: the nonphysical part that is the seat of emotions and character, also called the soul.

Mind Body Spirit isn’t just a buzzy, New Age way to describe a kind of well-being that goes beyond the physical. It’s also a way to help us better understand the physical. Our emotions are tied to specific organs in our bodies and will, over time, present as specific physical ailments. For example, feelings of defeat and low self-esteem are tied to the pancreas and manifest as impaired sugar handling (or glucose tolerance).

• How does what’s going on in the mind and spirit impact our bodies?
• Is dis-ease the physical manifestation of unease, stagnation, or negativity in our thoughts and feelings?
• What are the various interrelationships and connections?
• How do we start to feel the greater, integrated whole again?

Join us for a fascinating discussion about our emotions, the root cause of most of our health issues.

Nicole Glassman is a holistic nutritionist, blogger, public speaker, founder of Mindful Health. She completed her Masters in Food Studies at New York University, Holistic Health Counseling Certificate at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, and Dr. D’Adamo’s Blood Type Certification course. Her philosophy toward health stems from her own life changing struggles with stress and troubled digestion. She sees her clients’ health struggles as unique to their bodies, with a mission to support wellness from within.Emotions: The Root Cause of Illness - 08/20/14

View Details

Guest // Jennifer Fugo, HHCHost // Kelly Brogan, MDNPR reports that 1 in 3 Americans is trying to avoid gluten. We’ve heard that eliminating gluten can reverse autoimmune disease, mitigate our children’s behavioral problems, and even help us lose weight and feel younger.

Gluten-free must be a fad, right?

The truth is, gluten-free can completely backfire. You can end up sicker and heavier, too.

Let’s parse out fact from fiction on the whole gluten-free movement. Once we are thoroughly convinced that there is a role for gluten elimination in health, wellness, and avoidance of conventional medical care, then we need to get down to brass tacks:

• What is gluten?
• Why is it potentially dangerous to our health?
• When and for whom is gluten elimination indicated?
• How does one start a gluten-free diet?
• What are tips and tricks to do this on a budget?
• Are there other hidden concerns with gluten-free choices that can sabotage our health?

Jennifer Fugo, HHC is the founder of Gluten Free School, an online platform that teaches gluten-sensitive women simple, savvy, and empowering steps to get healthy (a top pick of Dr. Mark Hyman’s). She is a sought-after expert, advocate and speaker on healthy, gluten-free living, and the author of The Savvy Gluten-Free Shopper: How To Eat Healthy Without Breaking The Bank.

View Details

Margo Gasta, MS, RD, CCN, CHomwith Judy Converse, MPH, RDIt’s not so easy to figure out what to feed our kids anymore. Just when you think you’ve gotten it down, you learn there’s new research implicating a true staple in your family’s diet; something you would’ve sworn was healthy and unassailable.

What happens when “China Study” mom mixes it up with “Paleo dad” and each plants a seed of doubt in the other?

Join host Judy Converse and fellow nutrition expert Margo Gasta for a lively discussion on what parents are trying, what works, what doesn’t, and what evidence and clinical experience say about how we feed our children.

They’ll discuss many questions we wrestle with on our own, including:

• What way(s) of eating are best and why?
• Does milk really make bones strong?
• Are animal fats good or bad?
• Can vegetarian diets work for children?
• Or are animal foods critical to their growth and development?

And they’ll discuss what they feed their own kids!

Bonus: if you send your questions ahead of time, as a reply to this blog post, Judy and Margo will address them on the air!

Margo Gasta, MS, RD, CCN, CHOM, owner of Sante Vie Nutrition and Homeopathy, is an integrative and functional medicine dietician and a certified homeopath. Margo provides individualized assessments and protocols addressing a wide range of health concerns, including gastrointestinal disorders, autoimmune disease, mood and cognitive support, emotional eating, and infertility. She holds degrees from from California Polytechnic University and Texas Woman’s University.

View Details

Hope and Healing in a Military Familywith Beth LambertRecovering a child from a severe chronic illness is neither a myth nor a rare occurrence. Every day in this country children are regaining their health and wellness thanks to the intense love and commitment of their parents and caregivers, often in partnership with courageous, dedicated, and cutting edge clinicians.

The journey to recovery is challenging, expensive, and emotional. Now imagine guiding your child to recovery while managing the stress of having a newborn while your husband deploys to Afghanistan.

Military families have nearly double the rate of autism as the general population, and the stresses in these families are uniquely challenging. And yet, there is hope for families in the military.

View Details

Amy Wright GlennA Doula’s Reflections on Life and Deathwith Cornelia MazzanThis is a beautiful gem of a book, written by a woman who looked within and then outside her inherited Mormon faith and traditions to find insights into life’s biggest questions about love, pain, and mystery.

Critical of the corruption found in the denial of feminine intuition and curiosity, Amy Wright Glenn remained hungry for spiritual support and missed having rituals to honor the the rites of passage and life, including weddings, funerals, births, and deaths.

As a privileged witness of miracles in her roles as birth doula, hospital chaplain, and yoga teacher, she focuses on meditation and the power of breath to open the heart and to facilitate remarkable journeys at the thresholds of life, motherhood, and death.

Amy Wright Glenn is a scholar of comparative religion and philosophy. She earned her MA in Religion and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She taught in The Religion and Philosophy Department at The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey for over a decade, where she was the recipient of the Dunbar Abston, Jr. Chair for Teaching Excellence. Amy is a Kripalu Yoga teacher, a DONA certified birth doula, and a hospital chaplain. She lives in Florida with her husband and son.

Cornelia Mazzan is Creative Director of Fearless Parentand a co-host of Fearless Parent Radio. She is a mom of one. She is co-leader of NJ BirthNetwork and is trained as a birth doula, a yoga instructor, and a Reiki / energy work practitioner. Cornelia is the past President of Real Mama, Inc and an aspiring midwife. She has a degree in Fine Arts and is a web and print Visual Designer with nearly 20 years of experience.

View Details

with Larry Palevsky, MDAmala Holt’s son had significant asthma and food allergies, and her daughter had eczema and skin rashes. She consulted with Dr. Larry in 2012 and 2013 for guidance regarding both children.

Dr. Larry and Amala will talk through her journey. She will speak about her deep concern about her children’s health struggles, the advice delivered by conventional physicians, the information she received from Dr. Larry in the office, how she used it to make dramatic changes in her home, and the process by which she became empowered to improve her children’s health.

Amala will share how she feeds and cares for her children, such that her son no longer wheezes, and can tolerate more and more foods without reactions, and such that her daughter no longer develops the kind of skin outbreaks that interfered with her health and her social life.

Join us for a fascinating, nuts and bolts show about food, supplements, healing, and how Amala was inspired to take action and help her children enough to stay out of Dr. Larry’s office. She will share how the information she learned in the office helped improve her own health, too.

Amala Holt, a software engineer by profession and a stay-at-home mother of three by choice, was born and raised in India. She immigrated to the United States to pursue a graduate degree in Computer Engineering. Here true passion for good food and for good health led her into her side career, to open the CT School of Indian Cooking. Amala enjoys teaching with lively, heart warming anecdotes about the health benefits of Indian spices and the traditions of soaking, fermenting, and sprouting. She has done a few cooking segments for local television. Amala gave birth to her children in a birth center at the hands of midwives. Having suffered asthma all her life, she was searching for a way to heal her third child’s evolving asthma symptoms without the use of conventional medicine, the ones she had taken all her life. Along with her immigrant European husband, Amala believes she might finally know the cause of much that ails us: food; and the solution to much that ails us: food!

View Details

Maya Shetreat-Klein, MDwith Kelly Brogan, MD According to governmental statistics, 12% of children 3-17 are neurodevelopmentally impaired. Genetics cannot explain skyrocketing rates of ADHD, sensory processing problems, and autism spectrum disorders. Child behavioral health cannot be viewed as a head-up phenomenon any longer. It requires the intuition, cutting-edge investigative science, and a systems-based approach that looks at the whole child in their environment. Seeing children’s bodies as messengers sounding the alarm about what is out of balance, this is what a holistic pediatric practitioner is adept at. Maya Shetreat-Klein is pioneering a gentler, more effective approach toward pediatric neurology. She stands in very sparse company at the top of a new paradigm in children’s health.

• Should we be medicating child behavioral problems?
• What is driving the epidemic of chronic pediatric illness?
• What should kids be eating for brain and body wellness?
• What are the top three supplements for supporting brain health in children?
• What are the most important diagnostics for vague psychiatric and behavioral problems?

Maya Shetreat-Klein is a board-certified pediatric neurologist offering an integrative approach to neurological, behavioral and cognitive problems for those who believe that children can regain health without using medication as the first option. Her treatments consist mainly of using nutrition as well as supplements, herbals and mind-body, supported by medical evidence. Maya is board-certified in Adult and Pediatric Neurology as well as in Pediatrics. She teaches integrative neurology as faculty at New York Medical College and UMDNJ, and lectures widely. She completed residency training for Pediatrics at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and then her Adult and Child Neurology fellowship at Montefiore Medical Center. Maya received her medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where she was awarded the Edward Padow Award for Excellence in Pediatrics and graduated with a Special Distinction in Research in Child Neurology for her work in Autism. She graduated from Columbia College in New York City with a B.A. in English literature.

View Details

Dolphin Parenting, A Tiger-Free Zonewith Louise Kuo Habakus I was transfixed by Amy Chua’s “Tiger Mom” book and read it in one breath. I was simultaneously embarrassed for her and morbidly impressed. Her two daughters seemed awfully accomplished, after all.

I squashed the seed of insecurity that was planted and promptly gave the book to my son to read. Ha! That was fun.

Fast forward a few years, and the link to this gem of a book, The Dolphin Way, that landed in my inbox (thanks, Cornelia!). My first reaction was, Oh brother. Someone is trying to write the next Tiger Mom bestseller.

I cracked it open and was hooked.

The first chapter describes the problem with power-assertive, negative parenting and author Shimi Kang totally nails it. She proceeds to describe a new parenting model, with a friendlier, more appealing mascot.

While it sounds hoky, the moniker fits. Dolphins are joyful, playful, and highly social. She explains how we build the skills most needed in our increasingly complex, modern world: creativity, adaptability, critical thinking, and the ability to collaborate and work effectively with others. The model makes sense, and inspires us to do better. Shimi honors parental intuition, but also uses neuroscience and behavioral research to support her recommendations.

Shimi Kang, MD is a Harvard-trained child and adult psychiatrist. She is the medical director for Child and Youth Mental Health community programs in Vancouver, British Columbia. Shimi witnesses firsthand the consequences of parental pressure (anxiety, stress, suicide, addiction), and draws on her own childhood and parenting experiences for contrast and support.

View Details

with Larry Palevsky, MDOn today’s show, Dr. Larry will be speaking to two moms in his practice, Maxine and Nicole. Maxine has two daughters, and Nicole has a daughter and a son.

Listeners will hear Dr. Larry interview both moms regarding their experiences navigating the conventional pediatric world for their first children, and then have them explain what made them move towards living a more holistic life, while also gravitating towards more holistic pediatric practices.

Nicole Leahy will discuss her experience with her conventional pediatrician in regards to her eldest daughter’s food reactions and rashes, and then describe her interactions with the conventional world when her son required surgery.

Nicole is a 27 year-old mother of Harper (2) and Gunnar (5 months). Nicole’s husband is a career firefighter and the chief of their local volunteer fire department. Nicole works from home as the CEO of a green pest control company and is also a volunteer EMT and firefighter. Nicole enjoys yoga and teaching her children how to grow their own food through gardening. Harper’s birth was a traumatic experience, which led them to seek other safer options for birthing. Gunnar’s home birth was a healing and uplifting experience.

Maxine Webber will talk about her interactions with her conventional pediatrician when her eldest daughter received her first set of vaccines, and what transpired for her health going forward. She will also talk about her second daughter’s failure to gain weight, and how she navigated through the holistic pediatric world to help her grow and thrive without medications.

Maxine is a 27 year-old mother of two happy and thriving girls, Emerson (3) and Sierra (2). Her husband is a NYC police officer, volunteer fireman, and a combat veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Maxine is a professional, published photographer specializing in birth, newborn, and family photography. They take great pride in teaching their children about the great outdoors, sustainable living off the land, and independence. Her family’s ultimate goals are happiness, a sense of safety, and robust health.

View Details

Izabella Wentz, PharmDwith Kelly Brogan, MD Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis sounds… exotic. And something that happens to other people. But it’s not. It affects up to 5% of adultsin Western countries. It’s seven times more common in womenthan in men and often emerges in middle age. Join Kelly for a fascinating interview with Izabella Wentz, PharmD. She is the co-author of the new book Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause. In addition to hearing about Izabella’s journey and how she went about taking charge of her own health, we also want to know:

• Do lots of people have this disease, unbeknownst to them? Could I have Hashimoto’s?
• How is it diagnosed and what does it feel like?
• Is it also related to acid reflux, food allergies, leaky gut, anemia, and adrenal insufficiency?
• Why is the thyroid gland so vulnerable?
• What’s the difference between hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s?
• Can it be reversed? What lifestyle changes can we make to feel better and get our lives back?

Izabella Wentz, PharmD, FASCP is a passionate pharmacist dedicated to empowering patients with knowledge to improve their health. After being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis in 2009, Dr. Wentz was surprised at the lack of conventional medical knowledge about lifestyle interventions for Hashimoto’s, hypothyroidism, and autoimmune conditions. She decided to take on lifestyle interventions as a personal mission in an effort to help herself and others with Hashimoto’s.

View Details

with Mary Coyle, DI HomHey, mom! We know you’re super busy taking care of everyone else.

How are you doing?

Are your eyes puffy? Bad morning breath? Constipated? Acne? Achy joints?

The human body seems like such a mystery sometimes. Until you realize that it’s not. The body gives us little signals to nudge us to pay attention. You just need the secret decoder ring.

Too busy to go to the doctor? No worries! There are simple, inexpensive things you can do right now to identify and address health problems early, long before they become a crisis.

Learn the signs of adrenal stress, overworked kidneys, how to get… um… things moving, and more.

And by the way, if you have a child with allergies, asthma, diabetes, or other chronic immune or autoimmune disorders, chances are that you have something going on, too.

Sandra Stewart, HHP is a board-certified holistic health practitioner, consultant, and professional educator on natural modalities and wellness. She is a registered healer of the International Natural Healers Association, a graduate and former instructor for the International College of BioEnergetic Medicine, and is certified or professionally trained in EAV, homotoxicology, homeopathy, muscle testing, and neurotransmitter support.

View Details

Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD with Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist

Earth Day 2014 has come and gone and once again the focus was on how “veg centric” diets will help save the world and our health.

But is this really true?

Kaayla Daniel says it’s not that simple. Far from contributing to personal and planetary health, the “Meatless Monday” trend and popularity of plant based diets encourage more of a feel good consciousness rather than adoption of genuine, sustainable solutions.

Learn why Kaayla and Sarah are keeping our Mondays meaty:

• Why the true threat to our environment is not animals.
• Why plowing pastures and rangeland to plant crops is not sustainable and won’t do much to feed the hungry and save the environment.
• How America’s topsoil has been devastated by mono cropping and how animals are the key to restoring the health of our soils.
• Why if people give up meat, the alternatives: grains, beans and tofu are not a good option for seekers of truly vibrant health or those concerned with the environment.

The Naughty Nutritionist™ joins The Healthy Home Economist® for a lively and controversial conversation!

Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN is is known as The Naughty Nutritionist™ because of her ability to outrageously and humorously debunk nutritional myths. She is the co-author with Sally Fallon Morell of the upcoming book Nourishing Broth: An Old-Fashioned Remedy for the Modern World (Grand Central Life and Style (September 2014). Her book The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food (2005), has been endorsed by leading health experts, including Drs. Russell Blaylock, David Brownstein, Larry Dossey, Nicholas Gonzalez, Joseph Mercola, Kilmer McCully, Doris J. Rapp, JJ Virgin, and Jonathan Wright. As a nutritionist, Kaayla works with privately with clients all over the United States, offering whole solutions for healthy aging, cognitive enhancement, digestive disorders, reproductive health issues, infertility and recovery from soy and vegetarian diets.

View Details

Carol Dweck, PhDDeveloping a Growth Mindset!with Louise Kuo HabakusWhen someone says “there are two kinds of people in the world,” what comes to mind?

• Those who walk into a room and say “There you are!” and those who say “Here I am!” (Abigail Van Buren)

• People who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. (Mark Twain)

• Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. (Clint Eastwood in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly)

Those with a growth mindset, and those with a fixed mindset.” (Stanford professor, Carol Dweck)

In her groundbreaking book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol explains why…

• abilities and talent aren’t enough to bring success
• praise and positive labels are dangerous and may actually kill motivation
• the way we respond to failure, and the potential for failure, may hold one of the keys to fulfilling our true potential.

She discusses the truth about ability and accomplishment, and offers fascinating insights into the pivotal role of mindset in sports, leadership, (love) relationships, and more. This book may change the way you parent.

Carol Dweck, PhD is one of the world’s leading researchers in the fields of personality, social, and developmental psychology. She examines the self-conceptions (or mindsets) people use to structure the self and guide their behavior. She researches the origins of these mindsets, their role in motivation and self-regulation, and their impact on achievement and interpersonal processes. Carol is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

View Details

Brian Thornburg, MD with Kelly Brogan. MD

Pediatrics today:

• Crowded waiting rooms
• Sneezing, snotting kids
• 7-10 minute visits
• prescriptions
• and shots.

Meet Dr. Brian Thornburg. The second national concierge practice, he is pioneering a new way to return to caring for the whole child, in their whole family.

Join us as we explore some hot topics including:

• What’s wrong with pediatrics today?
• Why are kids sick in the way that they are? Both chronically and acutely?
• How is your practice model different?
• What are well visits really for? Who do they benefit?
• Decision-making around vaccination has been demonstrated to be most heavily influenced by provider-education. How do you approach this in your practice?

Brian Thornburg, MD is a board-certified pediatrician who trained at the Medical College of Georgia Children’s Medical Center and at Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine. He has a strong interest in child development, patient education, the mind-body-spirit connection, healthy living, and personalizing the medical system to meet the needs of each family. He practices with his wife, Helen Thornburg, MD, an emergency medicine physician. They have eight children ranging, in birth dates from 2002 to 2013.. The family lives on a small farm in Naples and raises cows, goats, chickens, guinea hens and peacocks. They promote self-sustainability and grow a wide variety of organic fruits, vegetables and herbs.

View Details

This book makes me positively giddy.

Why, you might ask?

Because I’m on the brink of making some big changes!

Every New Year’s Eve, I make resolutions. They’re always the same. And I’m embarrassed to admit that they always fall by the wayside. Maybe I’m not committed enough? Maybe I already have too much on my plate? It only comforts me a little to know I’m not alone. Fully 92% of people fail to keep their shiny new personal commitments for one full year.

Enter, Caroline Arnold. She’s a managing director of a major Wall Street firm who won a major award for building the auction system for the Google IPO. She’s clearly very accomplished in her professional life. But she struggled in making personal behavioral changes. In her words: “For most of my life, I lived the common experience in resolution making–I failed nearly all the time.”

That is, until she discovered the art and joy of making microresolutions.

This is a really fun book, most of all because it’s both practical and hopeful. Caroline is smart, savvy, and humble about the change process. I really loved her advice about sleep, food, clutter, relationships, and more. Listen in… you won’t regret it.

Oh, and in case you’re curious, the Book of Odds lists the top New Year’s resolutions for 2014. They include losing weight, getting organized, saving money, staying fit and healthy. Maybe yours can be found in this list? Caroline offers thought provoking research and surprisingly simple, small shifts in the areas of sleep, clutter, punctuality, and more.

Spring is a time of renewal and transformation. In the spirit of the season, let’s make our first set of microresolutions together. Because thinking small can lead to great things!

View Details

Host: Judy Converse, MPH, RD, LD

Guests: Jill Tappert and Tasmin Cordie, DC Children and teens today face enormous struggles just to learn, play, socialize, or comply with simple requests.

Estimates range from six to forty percent of our kids using stimulant or other psychotropic medications in America today, depending on age and whether they are in foster care.

Can we bring some of the joy and ease of learning and growing up back into our children’s lives? Yes, we can – and food may be the most pivotal piece.

This show is about the ways that food, fats, and fungus (yup, fungus) may be working against your child’s efforts to learn, grow, thrive, and experience more success with friends and studies.

Jill Tappert, Esq is a leader in the Colorado autism community, an attorney, a wife, and the parent of two children, one of whom has significant medical and mental health challenges. From the beginning, Jill found that her daughter’s needs often do not fit into existing boxes, options or categories. Determined to give her child the best chance at a safe, fulfilled, and reasonably happy life, she has been working tirelessly to create change and opportunity for her daughter and the broader community. Jill co-founded the Boulder Campus of The Joshua School. She served on the Boards of The Joshua School and the Autism Society of Colorado.

Tasmin Cordie, DC is a chiropractor who has shifted her practice heavily in to nutrition using a technique called Nutrition Response Testing. Learn about how this nuanced skill set has changed the lives of people in Tasmin’s practice, and why she found that just using chiropractic techniques alone was not enough for her patients.

View Details

Surprising Lessons from Medical History

Did you ever wonder what healthy living meant to people living in the 1800s in America?

Erika Janik did. For her new book Marketplace of the Marvelous, she delved into the history books and unearthed a barrel full of eccentric compounds, remedies, suggestions, cures, and ideas.

Not only are these ideas really fun to read, but they’re provocative and offer insights because they are the precursors of today’s notions of healthy living. And they offer real insights into our understanding of medicine today. Pioneers of what we now call alternative medicine made significant contributions by responding to serious failings and popular outrage about “regular medicine.” Janik shows us how they fostered an openness for new research, ideas, and treatments. They were innovative. They viewed health as an attainable goal, advanced modalities that demonstrated healing did not have to hurt, and uncovered important discoveries that we take for granted today.

Early Americans were stubbornly self-reliant, believed they had the common sense to take care of themselves, and had a justifiably cynical attitude towards doctors and the conventional medicine of the time. It didn’t matter that medical schools had minimal requirements, because most doctors attended no school at all.

A wide variety of alternative medical theories and systems sprouted up and were embraced by many of the leading thinkers of the time, including Thomas Edison, John D. Rockefeller, Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, and Henry David Thoreau.

We’ll also talk about the role of women in medicine. Next to teaching, medicine attracted more women than any other profession of that time.

Now you know this is going to be a really fun show.

Erika Janik is “curious about everything” and we are the fortunate beneficiaries of her twin passions: writing and history. Erika is the producer and editor of the Wisconsin Public Radio series Wisconsin Life. She is the author of four award-winning history books. Her work has appeared in Smithsonian, Mental Floss, and Midwest Living, among other publications.

View Details

Guest: Chris Kresser, Lac

Host: Kelly Brogan

Women are in crisis, and our children are following suit.

What if there were a simple solution to infertility, poor obstetrical outcomes, and chronic disease in our kids? What if we could leverage the power of nutrition to right these wrongs?

Kelly Brogan grabs “health detective” and food expert Chris Kresser for an hour and asks our burning questions.

• Where would we start?
• What would the recommendations be?
• Would they really make a difference?
• What are optimal foods for fertility, pregnancy, breastfeeding?
• What are ideal first foods for babies?
• What are the top three food toxins to avoid?
• How should we be customizing our diets?

Chris Kresser, MS, LAc is a licensed acupuncturist and practitioner of integrative and functional medicine. He’s a blogger, podcaster, teacher, and a Paleo diet and lifestyle enthusiast. Chris launched The Healthy Skeptic in 2008 to “help others see through the common myths and misdirections peddled by the media and medical establishment.”

He now blogs on his eponymous ChrisKresser.com, one of the most respected natural health sites. Chris frequently appears in national media outlets, including Time, The Atlantic, NPR, and Fox & Friends. His new book, The Personal Paleo Code, is based on over ten years of research, his own recovery from a debilitating, decade-long illness, and his clinical work with patients. Chris maintains a private practice in Berkeley, California, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

View Details

In 2009, Robyn O’Brien published her landmark book, The Unhealthy Truth, and had parents across America shaking in their boots.

Motivated by her own children’s severe allergic reactions to “normal food,” this mom of four set out on a mission to figure out why. Using her research skills honed as a food industry analyst, she uncovered some basic facts:

1. The U.S. food supply is manipulated, subsidized, and toxic to a degree that is not seen in most developed countries.

2. It has the fingerprints of Big Food, Big Money, and Big Government all over it.

3. We’re all sicker for it, especially our kids.

She became “one of those moms.” You know, the mom with the my-kids-can’t-eat-list. No corn. No soy. No dairy. No eggs. No yogurt. No processed. No nonorganic. And she desperately wished she could take back every uncharitable, “unsympathetic thought, misinformed reply, and every judgment” she had ever passed.

Fast forward five years. It’s 2014 and Robyn hasn’t been standing still. We have some burning questions to ask. Has there been progress? What are new things parents should know that they aren’t hearing in the mainstream press? How are her kids doing? How do we fall back in love with food?

Robyn O’Brien is a best-selling author, activist, public speaker, and strategist. Her work has appeared on CNN, the TODAY Show, Good Morning America, Fox News, in the Washington Postand countless media outlets, and she currently writes a column for Prevention. Robyn is the founder and Executive Director of the AllergyKids Foundation and doing strategic advisory work for companies making trend-setting changes in the food industry. She was named a “Women To Shape the World” by SHAPE magazine, one of “20 Inspiring Women to Follow on Twitter” by Forbesmagazine, and one of its 15 Top Visionaries by The Discovery Channel. Her TEDx talks have been widely received.

View Details

What is the relationship between gut bacteria and immune health? Can lifestyle changes to reverse immune conditions like psoriasis and asthma? Kelly Brogan, MD interviews “The Paleo Mom” on the intersections between nutrition, immune health, and lifestyle factors, such as stress, sleep, and circadian rhythms.

• How to eat in pregnancy for your child’s immune system.
• Top three lifestyle recommendations for anyone with allergic or autoimmune conditions.
• What are the most dangerous toxic foods?
• What are the first food-related steps to healing?
• What are the most important superfoods?

View Details

Could we think more effectively? Edward Burger, PhD thinks so. He and co-author Michael Starbird have a new book called The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking that offers concrete strategies on how to provoke ourselves into a more brilliant thought process. They draw upon the five Chinese elements–earth, fire, air, water, and the quintessential element of change –as a sort of “intellectual GPS” to explain their recommendations and techniques.Beyond an interest in this topic, what drew us to their book is the breadth of their teaching experience and connection to college students for decades.

In our interview we want to know how college kids look these days? What makes kids want to learn? How can parents nurture their kids to become critical thinkers and engaged, passionate learners? We’ll be talking with Ed about ways to sharpen our thinking, so we can inspire our kids with their learning, and ourselves to make better parenting and life decisions.

View Details

To an increasing number of working mothers at every income level, “having it all” is accompanied by insomnia, depression, anxiety, medication, and overwhelming feelings of failure. In her staggering new book, Maxed Out, Katrina Alcorn tells a story that has women nodding in sympathy and recognition.

In our interview, Katrina describes the emotional and physical signals she experienced revealing her life was far out of balance, the strong ties she felt to her work life which made acknowledging these warning signs so difficult, and the wealth of insight into the need for systemic change so clear to her as she came out the other side.

Katrina says that women often “compare their insides to other people’s outsides.” In this program we examine the inside and outside of the work and family balance.

View Details

Children spend 7 hours 38 minutes per day using entertainment media. And due to media multitasking (i.e., surfing while texting), they actually pack 10 hours 45 minutes of media content into those 7+ hours.

Do you know how the brain responds to video games and watching TV? Would it surprise you to know that children are overstimulating the part of the brain responsible for activating the “fight, flight or freeze” survival responses? And we are under-stimulating the activities that simulate the part of the brain responsible for empathy, relationship building, and executive function (i.e., planning, decision making, judgment).

Today we interview Kristen Race, PhD author of Mindful Parenting who integrates cognitive neuroscience, positive psychology, and child development offering suggestions that are grounded in the science of the brain. Kristen emphasizes small changes that can make a big difference. In this program she will teach parents the tools of resiliency, brain coolers, and the benefits of nurturing a mindfulness practice that can change how our brain works.

View Details

The emotional and financial toll of infertility is overwhelming. Couples report feelings of frustration, shame, social isolation, jealousy, and exhaustion. Ten to fifteen percent of US couples are infertile.

What can we learn from the best information available today on infertility?

• What are the major drivers of infertility?
• Are there natural strategies?
• Can couples improve their prospects for conception through lifestyle changes?
• How about supplements?
• What do traditional medicine practices have to teach us?
• Three changes to make today if you are looking to conceive this year.

Kelly Brogan, MD engages infertility expert Victoria Maizes in a candid, evidence-based discussion on the various ways women can prepare their bodies and minds for a healthy conception, pregnancy, and birth.

Victoria Maizes, MD is the Executive Director of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and a Professor of Medicine, Family and Community Medicine and Public Health, at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. She is a recognized leader in integrative medicine and lectures worldwide to academic and community audiences. A graduate of Barnard College, she received her medical degree from UCSF College of Medicine, completed her residency in Family Medicine at the University of Missouri, and her Fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. ODE magazine named Victoria one of the world’s 25 intelligent optimists in 2009. In 2010, she co-edited Integrative Women’s Health, published by the Oxford University Press. Her newest book is Be Fruitful: The Essential Guide to Maximizing Fertility and Giving Birth to a Healthy Child (Scribner, 2013).

View Details

Tanya Selvaratnam was inspired to write The Big Lie: Motherhood, Feminism And The Reality Of The Biological Clock after her third miscarriage at the age of 40 in the fall of 2011. It was the book she needed then. So she wrote it, sharing what she had learned through her attempts to become a mother and exploring how delaying motherhood intersects with science, feminism, evolution, popular culture, female friendships, global economics, and more.

In the book she lays bare The Big Lie that we can do things on our own timetables, that we can manipulate evolution and that we don’t need feminism anymore.

This show is a conversation-starter with an eye towards social policy-change as part of the solution. The author's brave personal revelations set a safe a tone for an open conversation free of the guilt and failure women often feel around the issues of abortion, miscarriage, and infertility.

View Details

What would you do if your child was diagnosed with a psychiatric condition, and medication has been prescribed? What is ADHD, for example, and what options do parents have? Some part of you, as a parent, might resist drugs, thinking I don't want to go down this road. There may be an equally strong sense that you need help, that something is wrong. Join us as we explore the nuances of Whole Child treatment with Dr. Scott Shannon, author, internist, acupuncturist, and child psychiatrist. We will learn about how this pioneering clinician approaches child behavior, brain health, and full body wellness.

View Details

Couples create a ‘normal’ together. A lot of it works. But sometimes, not so much. We have strengths and stuck places in our marriages. You know the expression “You never really know another person’s marriage”? But what if you could? Would you like to hear how other couples manage money and kids, spice things up in the bedroom, and divvy up the housework?It turns out the happiest couples have some things in common.

What they are might surprise you.

Chrisanna Northrup wanted to know. In the midst of a relationship crisis, she created The Normal Bar project to help create a “marital rebirth.” Chrisanna recruited two renowned Ivy League PhD sociologists: Pepper Schwartz (Yale) and James Witte (Harvard). They helped her to analyze the results from nearly 100,000 people who were surveyed about their romantic relationships and on today's show we're interviewing Chrisanna on what her data reveals about the 'New Normal' for couples who describe themselves as extremely happy.

View Details

What’s going on with middle school girls? They’re ruthless in their criticisms of each other. (You’re so ugly/fat/stupid. She wears fake Uggs. Her Ziploc bag is from the dollar store.) They form cliques and delight in keeping people out. Their social media pages are filled with unkind comments and photos from private parties. The subtext: I’m so popular and you’re a loser.

Girls return home from school in tears, demanding the latest brands as a form of armor against the next round of bullying. Parents scratch their heads and wonder if they should give in.

We talk with author and Girl Talk founder Haley Kilpatrick about mean girls and bullying, what daughters wish from their moms, and the varied ways that unkindness plays out in the larger world, including boys and adults.

View Details

Six-time New York Times bestselling author + Personal medical crisis + Happy family expert = Bruce Feiler on parenting after something bad happensAcross the country, families are already struggling with financial worries, time strain, and emotional stress.

What happens to families when a health crisis hits?

Are there parenting lessons about coping?

Can we find grace and wisdom on a road filled with pain and heartache?

We’ll be interviewing author, television personality, and dad of two Bruce Feiler about parenting through his “lost year” fighting life-threatening cancer, anticipating fatherhood in absentia via his inspired Council of Dads, and how the experience informed his new book The Secrets of Happy Families.

Bruce writes the “This Life” column about today’s families for the Sunday New York Times, including the recent Together at Home and at Work, which offers conflict resolution advice for spouses who are working together. He is talking about professional projects but I think there’s potential applicability to any kind of shared, intense, goal-specific undertaking (including research and treatment options during a medical crisis).

He is the author of six consecutive New York Times bestsellers, including Council of Dads, which was the subject of a one-hour documentary on CNN and Walking the Bible, which has been translated into fifteen languages and inspired a PBS series by the same name.

View Details

We’re getting down and dirty with Kimberly Ford Chisholm, the author of Hump: True Tales of Sex After Kids.Talk of sex and parents inspires lots of silly jokes and witty wordplay. One my favorites is a variant of Carpe diem…Seize the lay! All kidding aside, this is a really important discussion that yields some great advice inside hilarious, bawdy, angst-filled storytelling.When we floated the topic with some dad and mom friends and unnamed spouses, this is what we heard:

Families are less functional when parents stop having sex with each other.

If you’re not having sex with your spouse, don’t assume no one is having sex.

Even if it’s absolutely, unequivocally the very last thing in the world you feel like doing, do it anyway. I’m always glad I did.

Give a little, get a little.

Listen to our interview with Kimberly then share the podcast with your favorite adult in the house. You’re welcome.

View Details

Something is urgently wrong with the way that American women are giving birth. Can it be that we are doing it in the wrong place? With the wrong types of professionals? Under the bright lights and prodding equipment of modern medicine? We rank near the bottom of industrialized countries in maternal and infant mortality, and in countries with the best maternal/infant outcome, cesarean rates hover around 15%, and 20-30% of births happen at home. Carefully manipulated studies promoted by obstetricians have showcased the dangers of a physiologic birth at home. Meanwhile, these same physicians are practicing in a field that bases only 30% of its recommendations on quality evidence. Join us as we wade through the myths and lore around hospital-free birthing.

View Details

It keeps us safe. It tells us when we need to do more research. And when we should consider a different path.We’re talking about that funny feeling we get. A sixth sense. A hunch about something or a vibe from someone. When the hairs on the back of our our neck stand up. Gut. Instinct.

We’ll be talking about the ideas and strategies presented in the New York Times bestselling book, The Gift of Fear and the companion book Protecting the Gift: Keeping Children and Teenagers Safe (and Parents Sane) by Gavin De Becker.

On any given day, we make hundreds of big and small decisions. Yes, it’s the uneasy feeling about a babysitter or the odd vibe from a stranger that makes us take the next elevator. It’s also what helps us choose among lots of options: the day care program or school for our children, the best job offer, the next book we’ll read.

We rely on on intuition more than we know.

Join us for a fascinating discussion about the technology of intuition and the gift of fear.