Read. Talk. Grow.

In mystery novels, the detective often has special abilities: an exacting eye for detail, a talent for getting people talking, or a mind for puzzles. In Emily Critchley’s book “One Puzzling Afternoon,” the protagonist trying to solve the murder has dementia. Emily and Mayo Clinic dementia expert Dr. Dixie Woolston join us to explore how Emily’s realistic portrayal of the disease helps illustrate t...

We talked with: Gladys McGarey, M.D. , is a pioneer in allopathic and holistic medical movements and continues to practice medicine even now that she is over 100 years old. She is a founding diplomat of the American Board of Holistic Medicine. She is the cofounder and past president of the American Holistic Medical Association. She lives and works in Scottsdale, Arizona. She has cared for thousand...

We talked with: Nicole Chung is the author of “A Living Remedy” and “All You Can Ever Know.” “A Living Remedy” was a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and has already been named a Best Book of 2023 by Time, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, USA Today, and Booklist, among others. Chung’s 2018 debut, the national bestseller “All You Can Ever Know,” landed on over 20 Best of the Year lists and has b...

We talked with: Ann Crile Esselstyn has been called "the Julia Child of plant-based-cooking." Ann's singular focus is on creating recipes to prevent and reverse heart disease, and she collaborates with her husband, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr., in counseling patients. Jane Esselstyn, R.N., is a nurse, researcher, middle school sex ed teacher and mother of three. She created the recipes for the #1...

We talked with: Helena Andrews-Dyer is an award-winning culture reporter for The Washington Post, covering the intersection of popular culture, race, politics and art. She's the author of "Bitch is the New Black," "Reclaiming Her Time," and this episode's focus: "The Mamas: What I Learned about Kids, Race, and Class from Moms Not Like Me." She lives in D.C. with a husband whose laugh can be heard...

We talked with: Lynn Cullen is a bestselling author of several historical novels including "The Sisters of Summit Avenue," "Twain's End," "Mrs. Poe," "Reign of Madness," and "I Am Rembrandt's Daughter." Lynn's novels have been translated into 17 languages. Her latest book is "The Woman with the Cure." Dr. Shikha Jain is a board-certified hematology/oncology physician. She is a tenured associate pr...

We talked with: Amelia Nagoski, D.M.A. (it stands for Doctorate of Musical Arts) is the co-author, with her sister Emily, of the New York Times bestselling "Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle" and the "Burnout Workbook." Dr. Cynthia Stonnington is a professor of psychiatry and the associate medical director of the Office of Joy and Wellbeing at Mayo Clinic in Arizona. She is the pre...

We talked with: Amy Bloom is the author of four novels: "White Houses," "Lucky Us," "Away," and "Love Invents Us"; and three collections of short stories: "Where the God Of Love Hangs Out," "Come to Me" (a finalist for the National Book Award), and "A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You" (a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award). She is the director of the Shapiro Center at Wesleya...

We talked with: Liza Marshall is a writer and community leader and volunteer. She graduated from Duke University and the University of Virginia School of Law. She helped to found a cancer support organization, Hope Connections for Cancer Support in Bethesda, Maryland. She continues to serve in leadership roles with Hope Connections, her church, and in her community. In 2006 when she was forty-thre...

We talked with: Laurie Notaro has been fired from seven jobs, laid off from three and voluntarily liberated from one. Despite all that, she has managed to write a number of New York Times bestselling essay collections, including "The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club," "Autobiography of a Fat Bride," and "Housebroken." She lives with her husband in Oregon. Her most recent book, "Excuse Me While I...

We talked with: Anthony Chin-Quee, M.D. , is a board-certified otolaryngologist with degrees from Harvard University and Emory University School of Medicine. An award-winning storyteller with The Moth, he has been on the writing staff of Fox's "The Resident" and a medical adviser for ABC's "Grey's Anatomy." He is the author of the memoir "I Can't Save You." Alyx B. Porter, M.D. , is a neurologist...

We talked with: Laura Tremaine is an author, podcaster and influencer. She launched the "10 Things To Tell You" podcast, a show born from her realization that sharing herself online and in person pulled her out of a long season of loneliness. From the "10 Things To Tell You" podcast came her first book "Share Your Stuff. I'll Go First: 10 Questions to Take Your Friendships to the Next Level." Her...

We talked with: Clare Pooley graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge, before spending nearly 20 years in the heady world of advertising. Clare worked hard, played hard and drank even harder. By the time she was 46 years old she knew she had to go sober. She started a blog called Mummy was a Secret Drinker by way of therapy. That blog went viral and became a memoir: "The Sober Diaries." Clare the...

We talked with: Laurie Frankel is the New York Times bestselling, award-winning author of four novels. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times and other publications. She is the recipient of the Washington State Book Award and the Endeavor Award. Her novels have been translated into more than twenty-five languages and been optioned for film and TV. A former college professor, she now w...

We talked with: Krys Malcolm Belc is the author of "The Natural Mother of the Child: A Memoir of Nonbinary Parenting." His essays have been featured in Granta, Guernica, The Rumpus and elsewhere. Caroline Davidge-Pitts, M.D., is an associate professor of medicine and associate practice chair of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition at Mayo Clinic Rochester. She is the medical dire...

We talked with: Catherine Newman is a writer who has written a gazillion columns, articles, and canned-bean recipes for magazines and newspapers. Her essays have been widely anthologized. She is the author of the memoirs "Waiting for Birdy" and "Catastrophic Happiness," the middle-grade novel "One Mixed-Up Night," and the bestselling kids' life-skills books "How to Be a Person" and "What Can I Say...

We talked with: Kirsten Miller is a groundbreaking feminist author in YA literature, best known for her popular Kiki Strike series. In addition to writing novels, Kirsten spent 25 years as a strategist in the advertising industry. During that time she worked for some of the largest agencies in the world, as well as boutique agencies and an eight-person startup. She's proud to have quit at least tw...

We talked with: Holly Whitaker is a writer, researcher, teacher, student and the author of the wildly popular, New York Times Bestseller, "Quit Like a Woman: The Radical Choice to Not Drink in a Culture Obsessed with Alcohol." Kristen Schmidt, M.D. , is a board-certified addiction psychiatrist at Park Nicollet. We talked about: In this episode, Dr. Millstine and her guests talk about: Reframing so...

We talked with: Abby Jimenez is a New York Times bestselling author and Food Network champion living in Minnesota. Abby founded Nadia Cakes out of her home kitchen back in 2007. She is also the author of five bestselling novels. Abby loves a good romance, coffee, doglets and not leaving the house. "Yours Truly" is her latest book. Mira Keddis, M.D., is a consultant and associate professor of medic...

We talked with: Heather Corinna is the author of "What Fresh Hell Is This? Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities and You." They are the founder and director of Scarleteen, the pioneering inclusive sexuality, relationships and health education resource for young people established in 1998, and the current sexuality chair at Our Bodies, Ourselves Today. Dr. Jewel Kling is a professor of medici...

We talked with: Dolen Perkins-Valdez is the New York Times bestselling author of "Wench," "Balm," and most recently "Take My Hand." In 2011, she was a finalist for two NAACP Image Awards and the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for fiction. Dolen is the current chair of the board of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. She is currently associate professor in the Literature Department at American University and...

We talked with: Jackie Polzin lives in West St. Paul, Minnesota, with her husband and two children. Her first novel, "Brood," won the Sue Kaufman First Fiction Prize and the L.A. Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, and was shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her writing has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, Literary Hub and The Idaho Review. Kate White, M.D., M.P.H...

We talked with: Stacey Swann holds an MFA from Texas State University and was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Her fiction has appeared in multiple journals, and she is a Contributing Editor of American Short Fiction. Her first novel "Olympus, Texas" has received critical acclaim. Jennifer Vencill, Ph. D., L.P. , is an assistant professor, board certified clinical health psychologist and A...

We talked with: Dr. Arline T. Geronimus , author of "Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society," is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. She is a Professor at the University of Michigan with appointments in the School of Public Health and the Institute for Social Research and is affiliated with the Center for Research on Ethnicity, Culture and Hea...

We talked with: Beth Macy is a Virginia-based journalist with three decades of experience and an award-winning author of three New York Times bestselling books: "Factory Man," "Truevine" and "Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America." Her newest book is "Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America's Overdose Crisis." Dr. Holly Geyer is an addiction medic...