Parenting and Politics

In this episode Diana talks to Nadine Smith, Executive Director of Equality Florida, about everyone should be paying attention to what is happening in Florida, how the tide is turning and she remains hopeful abotu the future. Nadie discusses how Equality Florida is fighting anti-LGBTQ policies in Florida (and how they're winning).  In this candid conversation, Nadine also shares the incredible org...

In this episode, Diana chats with Victoria Nichols, the project director of  Free the Pill to discuss the Opill, which is the first-ever over-the-counter birth control pill which will be available online and on store shelves soon. The Free the Pill coalition is a group of more than 200 reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations, research and advocacy groups, youth activists, health car...

 In this episode, Diana talks to Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, the Executive Director of the Children's Defense Fund, an organization which focuses on advocating for the whole child. CDF envisions a nation where marginalized children flourish, leaders prioritize their well-being, and communities wield the power to ensure they thrive.  In this heartwarming and powerful conversation, Diana and Dr. Wilson...

What happens when your infant child has medical needs you need to tend to, but there is no paid family medical leave in place? You get pushed out of the workforce, an that is exactly what happened to Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and Co-founder of MomsRising. It was this event, which Kristin appropriately calls an unforeseen "health crisis" that pushed Kristin out of the workforce. S...

What would happen if we put children first in our country? What would happen if we empowered children at all ages and centered the law to protect our youngest citizens? In this episode Diana talks to Adam Benforado, a children's rights expert, an award winning author and law professor at Drexel University, about how prioritizing children's rights would benefit us all. In his critically acclaimed n...

In this episode, Diana talks to Mark Greene, an expert on healthy masculinity and author of The Little #MeToo Book for Men, and founder of a community called "Remaking Manhood" on Instagram.  They discuss what man box culture means, how it affects our boys, and what we can do as parents to ensure that our boys are not adhering to the precepts of man box culture that can hurt their ability to be fu...

Why are Latinx voters being targeted with disinformation? What does young Latinx Voting Power in 2024 look like? In this episode Diana talks to Maria Teresa Kumar, the Executive Director of Voto Latino, about the possibilities that young Latino voters bring as so many turn 18 before the 2024 election. They also discuss why and how bad actors are targeting the Latinx community by spreading disinfor...

In this conversation, Diana talks to Lupe Rodriguez, the Executive Director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, about why Latinas are the group most impacted by abortion bans around the country and what the Latina Institute is doing to fight for abortion rights, particularly in the states where latinas are the most affected: Arizona, Texas and Florida.  In this episode, Dian...

At a time when the USA has struck down Roe v. Wade and there are attacks on women's reproductive freedoms, the opposite has been happening in Latin America. In this episode, Diana talks to Paula Avila Guillén, the Executive Director of the Women's Equality Center about the Abortion Rights Fight in Latin America and La Marea Verde-- the Green Wave-- that has arrived in the USA.  They discuss the ab...

"The decision to become a parent is one of the most life decision that anybody can make." In this episode Diana has a candid conversation with Lupe Rodriguez, Executive Director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice about Latinas' and the Latinx community's access to reproductive care:   -what that looked like before the overturning of Roe v. Wade -the specific barriers to acce...

Earlier this week, the people of Kansas went out to the polls and had their voice heard… coming out in record numbers to say they want abortion rights protected in the state constitution.  In this episode, Diana chats with Josh Siebenaler, organizer with the Kansas Abortion Fund.  They discuss what organizing for abortion rights looks like in traditionally red-state like Kansas, what other states...

In this episode, recorded a day after the Uvalde mass shooting where elementary school children and teachers were murdered, Diana talks to Sarah Montoya, a joyful motherhood coach and mom in San Francisco.  They discuss why parenting IS political, how politics affects every part of our children's lives and why we must be engaged and pay attention to what elected leaders are doing-or not doing. The...

In this episode, Diana talks to Dr. Dana Suskind, the author of Parent Nation, Unlocking Evey Child's Potential, Fulfilling Society's Promise Dr. Suskind is a pediatric neurosurgeon who decided to use her experience working with children and families and brain research to write a book about what families need and how a society can help families thrive through policy. They discuss: What is happenin...

We are kicking off Season 2 with Rev. Amanda Hambrick Ashcraft from Raising Imagination  and we're chatting about abortion rights, how we can talk to our kids about what is happening-- and where does God and faith fit into all this, as parents who are committed to raising empathetic, respectful citizens of the world.  Amanda shares what her Christian faith teaches her about abortion and how we can...

As we're getting close to the second anniversary of the pandemic, we wanted to talk about how parents and children are feeling-- what's normal? What isn't? How should parents be coping with (what feels like) incessant changes to every day life.  Diana talks to Lina Acosta Sandaal, a parenting and child development expert, about what is considered normal for the times we are living in, and what to...

What happens when a woman is denied an abortion? That's exactly what Dr. Foster set out to find out in the groundbreaking Turnaway Study.   which followed two sets of women for five years: one who had access to a wanted abortion, and a group who was denied.  In this very timely discussion on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Dr. Foster shares her findings about what the physical, financial, emotiona...

In this episode Diana talks to Julie Kashen, Director of Economic Justice at the Century Foundation, about the family friendly policies that parents need and why these policies shouldn't be looked at separately, but why we need them together.  We discuss why this is a historic moment to finally get the family friendly Policies families in the USA need now: paid leave, the child tax credit, afforda...

In this episode, Diana is talking to Nina Perez, the National Director of Early Childhood at MomsRising.org about why this is the moment to make a comprehensive, high-quality child care and pre-k system for families a reality.  Nina is an expert in child care advocacy and in this episode she discusses how we *almost* got to universal child care under the Nixon administration, what the current legi...

In this episode Diana talks to Katie Hamm, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development, at the Office of Early Childhood Development in the Biden Administration.  Diana and Katie discuss: - The Child Tax Credit and making it permanent - How the AFP will help families with a 0-5 childcare plan - a federally funded universal 3K and UPK. - "How are we going to pay for all this?" AN...

"Education funding should be non-negotiable... We are already not getting what we deserve-- how can we possibly cut any more? It's such an injustice."  In this episode, Diana talks to Evie Hantzopoulos, a mom, educator and community leader who is running for NYC Council in District 22, in Queens, NYC.  They discuss all things public school education: reimagining schools to serve the whole child ge...

When people asked Liuba Grechen Shirley what she needed to run for office, she replied "child care." They told her they couldn't help with that, but luckily for us, Liuba ran anyway, even though she had a 1 year old and a 3 year old. In this episode, Diana and Liuba discuss what it's like to run for office while raising two toddlers, why child care is a racial equity issue, canceling student loan...

In this episode, Diana talks to S. Nadia Hussain, a fierce activist, mother and Senior Campaign Director at MomsRising. In a candid conversation a day after Kamala Harris became our nation's VP, Diana and Nadia, who is Bangladeshi-American, talk about why representation matters and what this historic win means for children (both white and of color). Nadia shares why she decided to run for school b...

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Who needs 24-hour childcare?  When we think of child care, we think many things, but usually we think of a standard child care situation for parents who work 9-5 jobs... but who takes care of the children of the people who work around the clock? People like Deloris and Patrick Hogan, who have been childcare providers since 1985, operating a 24 hour daycare out of their home. In this episode, Diana...

In this episode Jenna Arnold is BACK to debrief with Diana on the 2020 election results. They talk about President Elect Biden, Vice President-Elect Harris, and discuss all the issues the results of this election have shed light on... how many people voted for Trump, why Trump is a cult leader,  what is Trump going to do after this, why we need a baseline of beliefs and the work is only starting,...