The Puberty Podcast

Sometimes buying gifts for tweens + teens can feel like a no-win situation. So we’re doing a verbal gift guide with lots of suggestions about the whole gift-giving process with kids. And maybe a gift idea or two ;) link in bio to listen 🎧

Wet dreams. Don’t talk about them! Why not? Because they’re embarrassing. This and more things we learn from TikTok comments. Link in bio to listen.

A listener sent in a question – via voice memo! – asking for advice: she’s a self-described introvert/nerd raising a highly social tween. So how can adults raise kids when those kids have unfamiliar temperaments? Link in bio to listen.

NEW EPISODE: Apologies. Sometimes we over apologize and sometimes we owe an apology but can’t seem to offer it up. This goes for every corner of our lives, including interaction with our kids. Vanessa kicks this episode off by owning a parenting fail for which she needed to apologize, BIG TIME.

Acts of service stretch far beyond a resume or a college application – giving back has been proven to enhance peoples’ social-emotional health. Natalie Silverstein, MPH, author of The Busy Teens Guide to Giving Back shares data, real life stories, and practical ways to help kids engage with their communities. Link in bio to listen and learn more.

Kids need to write their own stories of their intimate relationships. Which means helping them understand that porn is not real nor should it be the model for what sex looks and sounds like. These are hard conversations but not impossible. This week’s episode is here to help you start.

NEW EPISODE: There isn’t one path to raising thriving kids, but there is a special sauce to help tweens and teens get there. Our guest this week, educational psychologist and author of Thrivers, @drmicheleborba unpacks the strategies that best support and encourage kids. Link in bio to listen 🎧

Last week, we dropped our kids off at college. This week, we share the excitement, grief, pride, terror, and all of the other emotions that went along with it. It was a journey, from crying on airplanes to remembering there are siblings still left at home. Link in bio to listen 😢

An honest conversation with our interns about hook-up culture, situationships and friends with benefits. Yes, today’s sexual culture is just as confusing as it sounds. Buckle up — Link in bio to listen 🎧

When the most brilliant purveyor of 90’s teen girl nostalgia @itskatesteinberg hypes @caranatterson and @my.oomla we’re not sure summer could get any better. Check out her feed and prepare to pee your pants. Pardon us while we spray on Clinique Happy and head to Abercrombie to have our body image destroyed.

NEW EPISODE about ungendering body image with @char_markey, psychologist, professor and author of books about body image. Body image struggles affects ALL people not just teen girls — Charlotte makes a very complex subject feel approachable and accessible. Link in bio to listen.

Judging ourselves, judging other parents, judging our partners and judging our kids… none of these feels good, and all clog lines of communication. But this is a really tough habit to kick. The first step is owning our judgment, so in this episode we share a bunch of our own parenting fails and then (try to) forgive ourselves. Link in bio to listen 🎧

Guiding kids through the adolescent years requires finding true north, a trusted point in the distance during the chaos. So we interviewed education consultants and co-authors of @parentcompass to get guidance on how to support kids and get out of their way. Link in bio to listen 🎧 P.S. Thank you to @adviceigivemyfriends for matchmaking 🙏

Hair, Hair Everywhere

Everything you ever wanted to know about when and where hair grows as kids’ bodies change, the social and emotional implications of sprouting on different parts of the body, and how to handle conversations about keeping vs. getting rid of all this new hair. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puberty-podcast/id1576221880?i=1000558020751

Talking to Tweens About Sex

BONUS episode. Talking to Tweens About Sex — part 2 of a 3 part series. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puberty-podcast/id1576221880?i=1000555935971

What Do School Age Kids Need to Know About Sex

What do kids need to know about sex and when? This is the first in a 3-part series answering that question. In this episode, we focus on conversations with kids from Kindergarten through the start of middle school. We’ll help you build a foundation of anatomically correct vocabulary, consent, and privacy, offering age-appropriate and inclusive language. Listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puberty-podcast/id1576221880?i=1000555578440

Goodbye to Anxiety with Dr Terri Bacow

Anxiety is a humongous topic of conversation these days, especially with increasing rates among teens. @drterribacow, author of Goodbye, Anxiety: A Guided Journal For Overcoming Worry, helps sort through what falls into this category, points to the best resources for help, and offers anxiety-management tools for young people and the adults who love them. Link here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puberty-podcast/id1576221880?i=1000554846042 There is a link to a transcript of the episode in the show notes as well.* Transcript of audio in post: Vanessa: What can you tell us about what an adolescent might be feeling on the inside to be displaying those kinds of behaviors to the observer on the outside? Terri: Yeah. Well, one thing to keep in mind, this might not be intuitive, but adolescents experience emotions more intensely than people that are younger and older. So inside, internally, the experience that they're having, it's quite an intense one that hasn't really big feelings, really big the emotions, which makes it harder for them to make sense of these feelings and this kind of lack, this confusion, so to speak can lead to shame.

From the horse’s mouth: older teens give puberty advice.

Sometimes, the very best advice comes from a person who’s just out the other end of an experience. Listen in as our interns give the inside scoop on what adolescents need to know and how that information is best delivered. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puberty-podcast/id1576221880?i=1000554075455

It’s Sex Ed Season in America

What do schools cover - and what don’t they - in the famous Sex Ed curriculum? Turns out, there are lots of guidelines, but little consistency from school to school. We’re taking a deep dive into what kids are *supposed* to be learning, why they might not get that education, and the holes that parents/trusted adults need to fill at home. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puberty-podcast/id1576221880?i=1000552569371

This week Rachel Simmons, New York Times bestselling author of The Curse of the Good Girl, Odd Girl Out, and Enough As She Is, applies her years of research and work with adolescents to offer guideposts for empathetically raising kids. This conversation explores practical ways to support our tweens and teens with authenticity. Listen her to learn and laugh: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puberty-podcast/id1576221880?i=1000551872361

The Importance of Air (Down There and Everywhere)

NEW episode! As bodies grow, new smells emerge from head to toe, hair sprouts in dark, moist places, and both sweat and fluid begin to flow. To solve for odors, rashes and infections, there is a free remedy: AIR. This episode is all about how we can help our kids use air to keep their bodies healthy. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puberty-podcast/id1576221880?i=1000551153720

Meditation and self-reflection are practices everyone - including kids - can use to manage life’s stresses. In this unique episode, in addition to describing how breathing exercises and meditation impact the brain, Mallika leads us through a few very short ones. Listen… relax… and carry these tools into your daily life. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puberty-podcast/id1576221880?i=1000550429226

Most parents say they just want their kids to be happy. What if happiness comes when we find our “Unicorn Space” – a place at the intersection of purpose and meaning? In our conversation with Eve Rodsky, author of Unicorn Space and New York Times bestseller Fair Play, we explore how our expectations of our adolescents, our communication styles and willingness to share our own vulnerabilities can help our tweens + teens find their Unicorn Space. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puberty-podcast/id1576221880?i=1000548935152

NEW EPISODE: The Brave New World of Period Products. Everything you ever wanted to know about period products and were afraid to ask, from the old standby pads and tampons to brand new disruptors like menstrual cups and period underwear. This entertaining and informative tutorial walks through the many ways menstruators can catch their flow. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-brave-new-world-of-period-products/id1576221880?i=1000548223997

Our episode with Henry + Zoe Winkler is a father/daughter master class on how grandparents play loving, supportive and epicenter-of-fun roles in their grandchildren’s lives. If we’re lucky, children have grandparents who can act as an extra set of trusted adults, helping them navigate the twists and turns of childhood. But every parent knows that when it comes to grandparents, the rules tend to get thrown out the window - cake for breakfast anyone? We laughed and cried during this inspirational conversation with a very special family… we think you will, too. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-grandparent-episode-with-henry-zoe-winkler/id1576221880?i=1000547544646

How do we achieve body positivity in puberty? Complicated topic to say the least. Listen to this important episode with Zoe Bisbing founder of Full Bloom Project. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puberty-podcast/id1576221880?i=1000546876153

For any parent wondering how to talk to younger kids about their bodies, Kelly Fradin MD is an amazing resource. Conversations about changing bodies really should start before bodies morph - Kelly walks through what to say when and how. Plus, in this episode you’ll get a peek into the talks pediatricians have with tweens and teens when they kick parents out of the exam room.

Does eating oily food give you acne? Is breakfast the most important meal? Do we really need to drink eight glasses of water a day? Dr. Nina Shapiro, pediatric otolaryngologist, joins us to bust some adolescent myths and discuss her new book Ultimate Kids' Guide to Being Super Healthy, a terrific guide for helping kids understand the science behind why adults make the rules they do. Listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puberty-podcast/id1576221880?i=1000543494701

We want to raise our kids to be good people, but easier said than done, right? Science journalist Melinda Wenner Moyer and author of “How to Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes” joins us on this episode to tackle big topics like lying, sexism and consent. Listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-puberty-podcast/id1576221880?i=1000542088828

There’s a timeline for puberty - when it starts and how fast it proceeds - which means that there’s also “early” and “late.” Layered on top is the relativity of puberty: when everyone else is going through it (or not), the person who’s not (or is!) feels out of sync. This episode explores the science behind the timing of puberty and how adults - both parents and doctors - might approach a late bloomer. Listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-science-of-late-bloomers/id1576221880?i=1000541224073