Episodes

  • Spoiler alert: the only life hack for sleep deprivation is… more sleep! Lisa Lewis is the journalist who helped pass California’s new later school-start time law, all in an effort to prioritize teen sleep. This episode makes you look at sleep needs – for our kids and us, too – in a whole new light.  

    Show Notes:

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    Order our book This Is So Awkward


    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
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    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
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  • Adults often bring their own baggage into conversations with tweens + teens. Nowhere is this more evident than with body image. It’s a fraught and complex issue to begin with – helping kids achieve positive (or at least neutral) body image becomes nearly impossible when we entangle their feelings about their bodies with our feelings about our own. Psychologist and leading expert in body image research, Dr. Charlotte Markey, offers invaluable advice. 


    Show Notes:

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    Adultish


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    Produced by Peoples Media
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  • Listen more and lecture less. It’s the golden nugget piece of advice about being in conversation with tweens and teens. But zipping your mouth can be tough – because you know the right answer or because your worry overruns your self control or because constructive conversation gets hijacked by your frustration. This episode is all about how, why and when we need to shut our mouths.


    Show Notes:

    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 



    Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns

    Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD

    Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout!


    Order our book This Is So Awkward


    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
    To submit listener questions email [email protected]
    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • People often ask for advice about talking about tricky topics when there are big age gaps between kids in the home. The short answer is that there are some conversations everyone can be a part of, and others need to be handled individually. The longer answer, which we get into with journalist Ericka Sóuter, speaks to which conversations might be age-segmented and how to help kids understand what they should — and shouldn’t — share with their siblings.


    Show Notes:

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    Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns

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    Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout!


    How to have a Kid and a Life


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    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
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    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media

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  • As technology has evolved, family communication has changed right along with it. Enter the family chat – which can take place on messaging apps or social media platforms. This space might be a forum for political arguments, meme sharing, telling kids it’s time for dinner, or all of the above. It’s fun! It can be LOL funny! But how can we use text “conversations” to stay connected without further increasing our tech dependence?


    Show Notes:

    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 



    Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns

    Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD

    Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout!


    Order our book This Is So Awkward


    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
    To submit listener questions email [email protected]
    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media

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  • Changing bodies and fluctuating hormones require kids to develop a new awareness of their own bodies and new skills to care for them. Occupational therapist Dr. Allie Ticktin joins us to explore sensory integration, the importance of the 3 “hidden senses” (vestibular, interoception, proprioception), and what dysregulation looks like in kids this age. 


    Show Notes:

    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 


    Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns

    Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD

    Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout!


    Play 2 Progress


    Order our book This Is So Awkward


    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
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    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
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  • For today’s tweens and teens, youth sports specialization reigns supreme, a new “normal” that presents enormous physical, emotional and financial challenges for kids and their families. We get into all the pros and cons, from helping kids fulfill their potential and achieve their goals to keeping them safe and healthy. 


    Show Notes:

    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 


    Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market

    Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you.

    Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout!


    Order our book This Is So Awkward


    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
    To submit listener questions email [email protected]
    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Most people feel pressure to look a certain way regardless of gender or age. And at least as long as we can remember, fad diets and supplements have been marketed as shortcuts to achieve these goals. Things have only amplified over the past decade thanks to social media. So what diets are effective? And safe?? If any! And how should tweens and teens make sense of all of the information streaming their way at the very same time their bodies are transforming? We try to make sense of it all.  


    Show Notes:

    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 


    Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market

    Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you.

    Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout!


    Order our book This Is So Awkward


    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
    To submit listener questions email [email protected]
    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Tina Bryson provides a masterclass in the science of why it’s so important to show up for kids and how we can do it, even imperfectly.


    Show Notes:

    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 


    Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market

    Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you.

    Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout!


    The Power of Showing Up
    The Center for Connection


    Order our book This Is So Awkward


    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
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    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
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  • Days before they leave for college, Cara and Vanessa’s 2nd-born sons made their debut appearance on the podcast. Listeners will have to make their way through even more laughter than usual as we ask them hard hitting questions like: What’s it like being the second kid? What do they wish they could change about their mothers? And why are their rooms such a mess? Unvarnished, hilarious, and deeply honest, this episode is one for the ages.


    Show Notes:

    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 


    Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market

    Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns

    Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD

    Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you.

    Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout!


    Order our book This Is So Awkward


    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
    To submit listener questions email [email protected]
    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Homework can be a massive source of conflict throughout the school years. Brian Platzer is an expert on how to minimize this: he’s a teacher, tutor and writer. His advice isn’t just realistic and actionable, it changes the dynamic for good!  


    Show Notes:

    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 


    Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market

    Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns

    Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD

    Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you.

    Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout!


    Taking the Stress Out of Homework

    Teachers Who Tutor


    Order our book This Is So Awkward


    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
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    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
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  • Boys face strong cultural messaging about how they should look, act, and express themselves. Social media only amplifies the narrative, delivering it to tweens and teens in every imaginable way. Which is why our conversation with journalist and author Ruth Whippman was so valuable: starting from a place of deep understanding of science and data, she interviewed boys and young men and then wove their stories with her own parenthood in the new book BoyMom.


    Show Notes:

    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 


    Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market

    Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns

    Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD

    Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you.

    Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout!


    BoyMom by Ruth Whippman 


    Order our book This Is So Awkward


    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
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    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Dealing with executive functioning in tweens and teens can be a perfect storm of frustration, anger, and low self-esteem. Clinical psychologist, Tori Cordiano, shares insight into what’s happening in the brain and trade secrets about how kids and adults alike can maximize executive function skills at different ages.


    Show Notes:

    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 


    Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market

    Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns

    Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD

    Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you.

    Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout!


    Order our book This Is So Awkward


    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
    To submit listener questions email [email protected]
    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Teaching our kids to take charge of their personal health means covering everything from knowing their SSN to understanding their family’s health history. It’s an important part of the journey toward independence. So how can we educate our kids about all of these details and empower them to take charge of their personal health? Listen in!


    Show Notes:

    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 


    Three Sixty-Five brand by Whole Foods Market

    Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returns

    Get $25 off any Gabb smartphone GABB.com/AWKWARD

    Go to K12.com/AWKWARD today to learn more and find a tuition-free K12-powered school near you.

    Get 25% off your first order of Phyla, when you visit PhylaBiotics.com and use the code PUBERTY at checkout!


    Order our book This Is So Awkward


    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
    To submit listener questions email [email protected]
    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • 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.


    Show Notes:
    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 
    Nick Kroll on Being Late to the Puberty Party
    Roger Bennett on his English Adolescence 
    Order our book This Is So Awkward
    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
    To submit listener questions email [email protected]
    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Boys continue to be socialized to cover their true emotions, despite moves to shift away from this status quo. One of the strongest forces working to make change is Ashanti Branch, a pioneer in education reform and founder of the Ever Forward Club. Ashanti shares the necessary tools and support necessary to further rewrite this narrative.

    Show Notes:
    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 
    Ashanti’s Instagram/Twitter: @branchspeaks
    Ever Forward Club Instagram/Twitter: @everforwardclub
    Order our book This Is So Awkward
    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
    To submit listener questions email [email protected]
    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • There isn’t ONE time to start puberty or end puberty and someone has to go first. In this episode, Cara explains the science behind early puberty and we explore the social and emotional impact of being an early bloomer. Plus you get to learn what an orchidometer is! This is a great episode to listen to with your kids.

    Show Notes:
    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 
    Andrew Goldberg on Being a World Famous Early Bloomer
    Dr. Louise Greenspan’s on Puberty’s Dramatic Shift
    Order our book This Is So Awkward
    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
    To submit listener questions email [email protected]
    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • How tall will your kid be? Almost every parent asks their pediatrician… and given our height obsessed culture, kids begin to do the same from surprisingly young ages. This episode covers the science behind when and how kids grow, decoding all the different growth charts and, as always, offering the language to discuss these tricky topics.


    Show Notes:
    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 
    Order our book This Is So Awkward
    Late Bloomer episodes:
    Nick Kroll On Being Late To The Puberty Party
    Roger Bennett on his English Adolescence
    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
    To submit listener questions email [email protected]
    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • The number one puberty question we get asked is: when is my daughter going to get her period?!!! And while no one can say for certain, this episode will cover what are red herrings (pun intended) and what are true signs that her period is coming. Listen in for some practical information as well as Cara and Vanessa’s own first period stories.
    Show Notes:
    Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP 
    Order our book This Is So Awkward
    Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com
    To bring us to your school or community email [email protected]
    To submit listener questions email [email protected]
    Watch the full episode on Youtube!
    Produced by Peoples Media

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  • Young people get plastic surgery for a host of reasons, sometimes related to health and sometimes cosmetic. Plastic surgeon Dr. Steven Teitelbaum helps people put aside any judgment by explaining the various physical and emotional reasons why kids might get surgeries like breast reduction, breast augmentation, or rhinoplasty (AKA nose jobs)… and why at times they should not go under the knife.

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices