Conversation Balloons

Best-selling author Dr. Robert Petterson describes his daughter's faith journey, from Peace Corps to Presbyterian, and Leah suggests that asking for grace from others is the key in fraught relationships.  Both have more suggestions for building bridges from one generation to another in this authentic interchange. Additional resources: legacyimperative.org

16-year-old Jordan Davidson got wisdom beyond his years the hard way: fighting his marijuana addiction. Now age 22, Legislative Affairs and Youth Outreach Coordinator working on Capitol Hill for Smart Approaches to Marijuana, Jordan details his journey out of the smoke, where denial and isolation nearly destroyed him. Additional resources: learnaboutsam.org Smokescreen: What the Marijuana Industry...

Our guest began activism with fighting abortion--now he confronts root causes such as poverty, "marriage deserts," and housing problems.  Colin LeCroy, co-Founder of Life on Belay, pours the intellectual foundation for better outcomes for moms in crisis, and their children.  Additional Resources: lifeonbelay.org Patrick Brown--Are Marriage and Parenthood Only for the Wealthy? h...

Are walkable cities ableist utopias?  What about strollers on subways, baby seats in Ubers, and Grandma's walker on the bus?  Internationally-acclaimed city planner Jeff Speck graciously and sagaciously parries these types of thrusts from Leah, in a conversation that will leave you looking at your city or town with new eyes.  Jeff Speck, the 2022 winner of the Seaside Prize, wa...

This episode can be found on YouTube in video form here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc_RFQ2x6vE Our Yuletide surprise is a poignant short story.  Read by the charming and talented Abigail Broeker, "The Gifts of the Child Christ" was written in 1882 by George McDonald, whose fiction and faith inspired C.S. Lewis.  This Victorian tale is an Ironic, perceptive, but ultimately hopeful p...

Sleep expert Dr. David Gozal gives us a good-natured look at sleep in the stages of infancy, childhood, and adolescence.  He enlightens us on topics like sleep apnea, co-sleeping, swaddling, and the connection between sleep disorders to nightmares and attention problems in youngsters.  Teaser: We are having him back in a few weeks to survey the features of and problems with sleep in...

How can grandparents stay close and connected to grandchildren who are being raised with different values?  Legacy Imperative, headed by Dr. Robert Petterson, inspires and guides grandparents in maintaining warm relationships with chilly adult children.  In this first of 2 episodes we did with him, Dr. Petterson mentions that 5 million kids in the U.S. are not in touch with their gr...

Tom Lutz hangs with Leah to talk about Millennials in the workplace, why people of no faith should listen to him, burnout and vision, why Pope John Paul II decided to keep his job, "marketplace chaplains," and what's wrong with the film version of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead . Additional resources: 1. Dorothy Sayers, "Why Work?"  https://www1.villanova.edu/content/dam/villanova/mission/faith/...

Medical marijuana and recreational cannabis are big business, and they want your kids to consume.  Ken Finn, MD, a board-certified pain management physician in Colorado and expert on marijuana, speaks with compassion and objectivity to your astonished host.

It's estimated that $4 trillion of church real estate will be distressed in the next 40 years.  About 70 churches close every week. But Blake Schwarz, a former Presbyterian church staffer, sees rich opportunity to benefit the church and the needy world in this environment: his doctoral work at the intersection of faith and economics is helping him reimagine church.  Leah talks with him a...

A megachurch pastor shares practical wisdom about visiting the elderly and ill, deriving joy and benefit from times that many people find uncomfortable.  Skills for such times with the aging, infirm, or dying can be learned, and the time is now! Additional resources: Dymer, C. S. Lewis "There is a Land of Pure Delight"  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qElMRKRZNzU https://www.beliefnet.co...

Dr. Peirong Lin is Deputy Secretary General for the World Evangelical Alliance.  Fortunately for our show, she's also a humble and wise conversationalist.  Peirong talks about her upbringing in Buddhism, her view of global Christian age groups, and the life stages of organizations like World Vision. Additional resource: Worldea.org

Award-winning national culinary consultant Callie Fowler Farish talks about the many factors that combine to make a school lunch what it is. In feeding thousands of kids per day, she has innovated with food trucks coming to campus, holding tasting events for students, and promoted field trips to understand local sourcing.  You will see your child's "lunch ladies" in a new light.&nbs...

Three 10 to 11-year-olds reveal what they think about bad teachers, getting scared at night, forgiveness, Greek mythology, graphic novels, Kindles, and God.  And they have plenty of advice for 7 to 9-year-olds

Tami Peterson evolved from high school guidance counselor to a life architect.  From her deep experience in charting college plans and beyond, Tami gives us compassionate portrayals of Gen Z and Millennials and their dreams.  Leah talks about folk dance, being a slob, and intercepting report cards.  Believe it or not, this was the same conversation.  Whether you or someone...

Lennell Haley recounts a life story that includes molestation and assault, but also hope and beauty.  If you want to hear what a Black woman's heart feels about growing up and raising kids in Compton and Watts, Los Angeles, where poverty and gangs ruled the streets, don't miss this episode. Hear the surprising thing the police did after Lennell was robbed.  Then Lennell reads her po...

An award-winning chef and kitchen designer gets personal with Leah about food, family, and table manners.  In this episode, Callie Fowler Farish of Fowler Culinary Concepts gives us a place at her table with her toddler and a "special-special."  Family memories, child nutrition training, and biblical ethics have shaped this young mother / renowned professional, and we get a taste of it a...

Fighting the trafficking and sexual exploitation of our precious children: this is Kristin Weis's mission at the Demand Project.  She and Leah talk about how listeners can thwart the efforts of pimps and molesters.  They discuss cartels, the southern U.S. border, sextortion on teens' cellphones, family trafficking, predators at school, the abuse rescue hand signal, and how...

Professor of Jewish Studies Ilana Horwitz's recent book God, Grades, and Graduation  looks at whether students do better in school when they believe in God and belong to a community of faith.  Leah explores with this sociologist such factors as parental influence, compliance with school rules, and socioeconomic inequality.  "Leah's Quadrant" is revealed, both women discuss atheist k...

What do the state of Michigan, ESPN, Indian tribes, LSU's sports program, and Caesar's in Las Vegas have in common?  According to Les Bernal of StopPredatoryGambling.org , they want you and your kids to gamble.  He connects the dots between state lotteries, online gaming, and the epidemic of child gambling.  You can hear the indignation in his voice when he tells us how FanDuel, MGM, Nicke...

Josh Lewis, host of Saving Elephants podcast, which connects Millennials to conservative ideas, joins Conversation Balloons to bring us up to speed on conservatism's younger adherents--and why there are not enough of them.  He examines factors such as technology, public school faculty, Occupy Wall Street, betrayals by trusted public figures, and a lack of civil education.  What's the imp...

Diane Beals, PhD, a specialist in childhood language acquisition, and Leah reminisce about studying emerging adulthood--whether males age 18-21 feel they are men or boys, and females, women or girls, and why.  The new CDC guidelines on child development, the use of religious texts in education, and the difference between a traumatized child and a child with ADHD all come up in their conversat...

Leah picks the lively brain of Tim Elmore, founder and CEO of Growing Leaders, an Atlanta organization taking leadership principles to the next generation.  We get vivid portrayals of Gen Z, Millennials, and Boomers: how they communicate, how they want to be compensated for work, and how they view employment, leadership, and job success.  Listen in if you want to grasp what "hacking an e...

Pastor of a Methodist megachurch, Jessica tells stories about and muses upon the elders among her congregation.  Leah asks how older Christians are different, what they need from church, and what religious organizations need from them.  How does aging affect the spirit of the believer, and their friends and families?  There were so many surprises and nuggets of wisdom in this conver...