Make It a Great One with Dr. Dan: #1 Podcast for Inspiring Conversations to Live and Lead On Purpose

Parent Footprint with Dr. Dan celebrates our 200th episode today!  Parent Footprint is a family and so today Dr. Dan celebrates you – our podcast family! We thank every listener, every parent, every guest, and every individual on our podcast journey. We also want to say a very special thanks to our podcast parents - Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff, the founders of Exactly Right (and co-hosts...

Dr. Dan interviews Kelly Smith, host of the meditation podcast Mindful In Minutes, founder of Yoga For You, and mom. Kelly uses yoga and meditation to find calm, reduce anxiety, and mindfully parent. On today’s episode Dr. Dan talks to Kelly about using meditation and yoga to foster mindfulness. Kelly shares her personal story with Dr. Dan about how her mom’s cancer diagnosis first led her to yoga...

Dr. Dan and Jessica Grose (opinion writer at The New York Times, author, founding editor of Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter) discuss and examine the unrealistic expectations we place on mothers and her new book Screaming on the Inside: The Unsustainability of American Motherhood. Dr. Dan and Jessica (mother of two daughters) discuss her parenting experiences, mom burnout, self-care, motherhood myths, d...

On this new episode, Dr. Dan and Phil Rossi (our podcast audio engineer, Dad of two daughters) answer your listener questions about peer pressure and disturbing videos; messy bedrooms; men and mental health (prompted by a Black History Month article about mental health/fathers); babies and earrings; and newborn names. Every month Dr. Dan answers your questions about parenting (and sometimes adulti...

Dr. Dan welcomes Barbara Rosenblat (Orange is the New Black’s Miss Rosa) (and Winnie-the-Pooh!) to the podcast today to discuss storytelling, creativity, audiobooks, acting, and of course life lessons and wisdom (think Zen and The Tao of Pooh) from Winnie-the-Pooh. Currently, Barbara is the narrator of Winnie-the-Pooh, a new podcast from AudioFile Magazine for kids and kids at heart. Barbara bring...

Dr. Dan is excited to welcome an inspiring parenting advocate, mom, and social media star to today’s episode: viral phenomena Beth Leipholtz joins Parent Footprint to talk about inclusion, raising a deaf son, and so much more.  Dr. Dan also talks to Beth about her work as an  accessibility advocate who believes in creating a more accepting world for our children.  As the hearing mother of a deaf c...

Dr. Dan returns to a very personal topic on today’s new episodes: dyslexia. Dyslexia has touched Dr. Dan and his family. Dr. Dan’s always speaks honestly and openly about this topic and today he brings back popular podcast guests Dr. Fernette Eide and her husband Dr. Brock Eide (founders of the nonprofit Dyslexic Advantage) to talk about the updated version of their paradigm shifting book The Dysl...

Dr. Dan and guest Mike Rucker talk about fun today on the podcast - including a discussion about Mike’s book The Fun Habit: How the Pursuit of Joy and Wonder Can Change Your Life. Mike offers the latest compelling scientific evidence about the concept of fun and teaches us all how to make having fun a habitual and authentic part of our daily life. This episode is for anyone seeking joy, happiness,...

Welcome to 2023’s first Sitting Down With Dr. Dan Bonus Episode #19! On this new episode, Dr. Dan and Laura Rossi (our podcast producer, twin mom, and a special needs parent) answer your listener questions about jellyfish parenting, teens having s*x when parents are in the house(!), school refusals, and when it is ok to leave kids home alone. Every month Dr. Dan answers your questions about parent...

On this episode Dr. Dan and Dr. Dana Dorfman (parenting expert and author) discuss worry and anxiety as well as her new book WHEN WORRY WORKS: How To Harness Your Parenting Stress And Guide Your Teen To Success. This episode focuses on the growing national teen mental health crisis: achievement pressure. Dr. Dan and Dr. Dorfman also address how parents inadvertently and unknowingly exacerbate worr...

How do we give our children our best effort 365 days a year? Today host Dr. Dan has a great conversation with guest Deborah Farmer Kris, PBS Parent's national columnist, child development specialist, education journalist, parent educator and the author of the “All the Time” picture book series.  In this episode, Dr. Dan and Deborah focus specifically on awe and wonder. What exactly is awe? What do...

Dr. Dan interviews health journalist, author, parent Chelsea Conaboy about her book Mother Brain: How Neuroscience Is Rewriting the Story of Parenthood.  This interview - like Chelsea’s book - explodes the concept of “maternal instinct” and tells listeners a new story about what it means to become a parent.  Conaboy talks to Dr. Dan about the changing, parental brain – and offers revelations that...

Dr. Dan welcomes back parent and author Laura Zigman to discuss parental grief, Well-Child Syndrome, sibling loss, and her book Small World. Laura Zigman grew up in the shadow of her parents’ grief after her oldest sister died.  In her just released novel Small World, Laura fictionalizes and writes poignantly about her own childhood as a typical sibling of a disabled sister who died. Despite the f...

Dr. Dan interviews Deanna Singh, host of the Uplifting Impact podcast, Diversity Equity & Inclusion Expert, and champion for marginalized communities. Dr. Dan and Deanna discuss how and why we should approach the topic of diversity, equity and inclusion in a positive light with our kids. Deanna’s enthusiasm, curiosity, drive, and passion will energize listeners. Deanna is the author of American Gi...

Originally aired on December 27th, 2022. Welcome to the last Bonus Episode of 2022 of Sitting Down With Dr. Dan – exclusively for Wondery + subscribers.   On this December episode, Dr. Dan and Phil Rossi (Dad and the podcast’s audio engineer) answer your listener questions about self-advocacy, New Year’s Resolutions for tweens, and Gentle Parenting. Dr. Dan also gives parents great advice for 2023...

*TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE AND RELATED TOPICS DISCUSSED* Today Dr. Dan is in conversation with Jill Bialosky to discuss suicide and the 10 year anniversary edition of her extraordinary memoir History of a Suicide: My Sister’s Unfinished Life. This episode offers an essential, sensitive, and very intimate discussion about suicide with a survivor. In 1990, Jill Bialosky’s 21-year-old sister committed...

Today Dr. Dan interviews journalist Lisa Lewis about her important book The Sleep-Deprived Teen: Why Our Teenagers Are So Tired, and How Parents and Schools Can Help Them Thrive.   Dr. Dan and Lisa hope to provide listeners with the critical information they need right now about teens and sleep. This episode addresses crucial questions including: How much sleep do teens need? What happens when tee...

Originally aired on November 29, 2022. Welcome to the November Bonus Episode of Sitting Down With Dr. Dan exclusively for Wondery + subscribers. ***Trigger warning: this bonus episode discusses mass shootings including the November 2022 University of Virginia campus shooting and deaths. Dr. Dan and Laura Rossi (our producer and twin expert) answer your virtual mailbag listener questions about the...

Dr. Dan interviews Kurt Braunohler -- Dad, comedian, and co-host of Exactly Right’s Bananas podcast – about parenting, humor, and his just released streaming special PERFECTLY STUPID. Dr. Dan and Kurt’s conversation today is funny, sometimes bananas(!), and will make listeners laugh out loud. They discuss comedy, kids, Dad humor, parenting, Dad-ing, and how laughter really is the best medicine Kur...

Dr. Dan talks to Einat Nathan (parenting expert, public speaker, bestselling author, parent) about her magical book My Everything: The Parent I Want to Be, The Children I Hope to Raise.   The message of today’s episode is simple and powerful:  “No parent is perfect and that is ok!” because parenting requires courage, energy, and love. Parenting is not about being perfect.  Parenting is messy. List...

Dr. Dan and parent, advocate, author Kayla Taylor speak about National Bullying Prevention Month (October) as well as the journey (now a book Canaries Among Us: A Mother’s Quest to Honor her Child’s Individuality in a Culture Determined to Negate It) of her own child who was bullied at an elite private school and officials turned a blind eye to the cruelty and tried to hide it.  Today’s necessary...

Dr. Dan interviews psychiatrist, expert, and author Dr. Tracey Marks about her therapy practice, popular YouTube channel, and her book Why Am I So Anxious?: Powerful Tools for Recognizing Anxiety and Restoring Your Peace.   Anxiety seems to be everywhere in today's world.  Dr. Dan and Dr. Marks answer these questions and more: How can we take control of our anxiety? How can we take control of our...

BONUS EPISODE Originally aired Tuesday, October 25, 2022 It’s Spooky Season! Welcome to October’s new “Sitting Down with Dr. Dan.” Dr. Dan and Phil Rossi (our audio engineer and GirlDad) answer your virtual mailbag listener questions about topics including Halloween and more. Every month Dr. Dan answers your questions about parenting (and adulting, too!) on our “Sitting Down With Dr. Dan” bonus ep...

Dr. Dan and award winning filmmaker Marc Smolowitz discuss Gifted/Talented/Neurodiverse Awareness Week (GTN Awareness Week 10/24/22 - 10/28/22) and the documentary The G Word, directed and produced by Marc. Their conversation reveals that bright, neurodiverse children are everywhere – Gifted/Talented/Neurodiverse learners exist in every zip code. Marc defies popular myths that assume most gifted p...

Dr. Dan talks to Robin DeWeese, Ph. D. of Arizona State University about her recently released, timely, and important study about kids, fitness, health, and “active commuting."  The main finding:  Kids who walk, skateboard or ride their bikes to school when they are young are more likely to keep it up as they get older, reaping the health benefits. In the study, the researchers found that kids are...