Dying To Ask

Stop the summer brain drain by getting your kids hooked on reading this summer. This is part two of the 10th annual KCRA summer beach reads series. Last week, we took a look at the best summer beach reads for adults with Tina Ferguson, owner of "Face in a Book" bookstore. This week, we're focusing on books for kids of all ages. Tina says the key to getting a kid to put a screen down is to offer a...

It's time for our annual "Summer Beach Reads" episode on Dying to Ask. The 2025 summer titles will not disappoint. Tina Ferguson, owner of Face in a Book bookstore, is back as our guide to all things literary. Tina and I have been doing a beach reads segment or podcast episode for 10 years now. And her pics this summer are a delightful blend of non-fiction and fiction. But our episode starts with...

Feeling blah? Head outside. Mother Nature may be the ultimate mood booster. Science has long backed the health benefits of the great outdoors. In this re-release, we're looking at how spending time outdoors impacts your physical and emotional health. Going outside can fight depression and lower blood pressure. Feel cranky after a long day indoors at school or work? A 10 minutes walk outside soakin...

Can you fidget your way to fitness? You can if you're a NEAT person. We're not talking about the organized type of neat.  NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. It's the energy you burn when you're moving about the day and *not when you're in a purposeful workout at the gym. It's things like walking to your car, folding the laundry, pacing on a phone call, taking the garbage cans out...

Move over, hustle culture. An Ivy League school says we're not lazy enough. Yale University researchers studied stressed-out students. They discovered that a scheduled day of doing nothing had powerful health benefits. Read more about the study here . Students reported improvements in mood, sleep, and anxiety almost immediately. Love being productive? That's great. But scheduling some downtime mig...

Say this, not that. Knowing what to say in the heat of the moment is key to defusing workplace drama. Karin Hurt  and  David Dye  should know. They wrote the book on it. Karin and David are leadership experts and the founders of  Let's Grow Leaders . They surveyed 5,000 people in 45 countries to gauge the most common forms of workplace conflict. The results aren't good. Workplace conflict is more...

Have you ever kept up a streak? A mini streak is a great way to start a new habit. A mini streak is a short period of time of intense focus on a behavior you hope to make a long-term habit. It's a bite sized commitment that can be easily attainable and perhaps inspire bigger, more meaningful change at a later date. In this re-release of a "5 with Fitz," episode, we're looking at three ways to try...

Grab a timer and get ready to say goodbye to procrastination. The Pomodoro Method is a data-backed way of getting stuff done. The time management technique is named after Francesco Cirillo. He was an Italian student in the 1980s who struggled with procrastination. Francisco had a tomato-shaped kitchen timer on his desk. Pomodoro is the Italian word for tomato. He set it for 25 minutes and committe...

All I need is three more hours in the day and life would be great.  I've told myself that a million times.   But Laura Vanderkam says it's not the number of hours in a day that's the problem. It's how you use them.   This episode is a re-release of one of my favorite author experts to follow on social media. Vanderkam is a time and productivity expert.  Vanderkam  is the New York Times best-sellin...

Olympic gold medalist Jonny Moseley's workout secret? ChatGPT. "You can be like hey, give me a give me a six week routine for getting ready for skiing that Olympic champion  Hannah Kearney  would do. And it just like spits out stuff that they used to have whole departments for at the U.S. Ski Team," says Moseley. Moseley  is a two-time Olympic freestyle skier who won gold in moguls at the 1998 Nag...

From burned out to fired up. Maryam Sharifzadeh takes the woo out of corporate wellness. Maryam is a corporate wellness consultant. Companies hire her to create and implement wellness strategies to improve employee mental and physical health. Healthy employees tend to be happier employees. Happier employees tend to clock in and be productive. "There's a lot of good research coming out that when we...

Springing forward got you down, or up? Check out this re-release of our episode with U.S. News & World Report sleep expert Julia Forbes. Can't sleep? You're not alone but getting some good ZZZ's could be one hack away. The  U.S. News & World  Report annual  survey  on sleep is out. Survey says: 75% of us are too stressed out to get a good night's sleep. Julia Forbes  is the magazine's slee...

Go to bed. Saying night-night to your devices at the same time every night could do wonders for your sleep and overall happiness. It's called a digital sunset and the new trend is easy to try. Start by setting an alert on your phone or iPad to remind you to wind down. That's your cue to put the phone or any other device away for the night. The goal is to set it at the same time every night at leas...

How much attention do you give to your financial wellness. The answer is likely "not enough." Jean Chatzky wants to change that. Jean  is the CEO and creator of  Her Money , a personal finance brand that teaches money through media. It's a website, newsletter, podcast and more designed primarily for women, by women. You likely know Jean from her more than 20 years as the financial editor of the "T...

Is it just me or is making new friends as an adult harder than when you were a kid?  There are entire Reddit boards dedicated to helping people in their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond make new friendships.  The reality is we form new connections differently as we age. Some of it is location based.  College students have built in opportunities to meet new people through classes and shared living arrangem...

It's easy to leave a job when you're miserable. It's way harder when you're happy. And David Wise loves his day job.  And that's why the 34-year-old freeskier has decided to push to make his fourth Olympic Team despite being one of the older competitors in freeskiing.  "I still love going out there and grinding and doing this day in and day out, and so I don't want to stop before I feel like I'm d...

Where's your battery level? It might be the best question you can ask to gauge your mental health. That's the advice from David Ko. His new book,  Recharge , challenges readers to give their mental health the same attention they give their cellphone battery. "Everyone looks at their phone battery. Some people want to keep it charged all the time at like 90%. Some people will take it all the way do...

Willpower is great until it isn't. You need to plan to make habit changes and goals stick. And Michael J. Lopez is the man with the plan. He's a transformational expert who helps companies and individuals develop strategies to follow through on goals.  Lopez  has worked with everyone from DoorDash to Chlorox to Meta. The former football player-turned-coach says everyone needs a set of systems to p...

Do you hear that? If your answer is "no, I hear nothing," your mental health may be better than most. There are a lot of brain benefits to the sound of silence. Science backs improvements to health and creativity. The easiest way to find some peace and quiet? Drive in silence. That's just one of the hacks we're exploring in this week's episode. Have high blood pressure? Take a minute and sit in si...

Two words. Don't quit. Easier said than done, especially on Quitter's Day. The second Friday of January is known as 

Have you ever kept up a streak? A mini streak is a great way to start a new habit. A mini streak is a short period of time of intense focus on a behavior you hope to make a long-term habit. It's a bite-sized commitment that can be easily attainable and perhaps inspire bigger, more meaningful change at a later date. In this 5 with Fitz, learn three ways to try out a habit mini streak.   Other place...

Jill Martin is coming off one of those "what's next" kind of years. And, she says she's kinder and more grateful because of it. "I mean this year. First it's breast cancer, and you know, through the kitchen sink then a divorce. A new company. But it's it's turning around," says Jill. For 18 years, lifestyle host  Jill Martin  has dazzled Today Show fans with her style and energy. Her trademark ' S...

Is a phone call an act of aggression? The answer is it depends. The latest digital trend recommends texting before calling someone and it's a dividing people based on their communication preferences. Diane Gottsman  is the founder of the  Protocol School of Texas . She coaches professionals across the county on modern etiquette which often comes down to communication styles. "My best advice is to...

Can't sleep? You're not alone but getting some good ZZZ's could be one hack away. The  U.S. News & World  Report annual  survey  on sleep is out. Survey says: 75% of us are too stressed out to get a good night's sleep. Julia Forbes is the magazine's sleep editor. She says there's a lot keeping us up. "Life stressors. You have work. You have kids. There are big world events that are top of mind...

Planning on making a goal for 2025? Don't set it until you road test it. The start of a new calendar year seems like a great time to start a new challenge or resolution. But is it? In this Five with Fitz, we're making the case for road testing a personal challenge in December. Listen to this short episode for hacks on how to make sure that resolution is worth setting.