Real Talk with Tina and Ann

Send us Fan Mail What if the reason you struggle to use your voice has very little to do with speaking—and everything to do with what you've lived through? After the unimaginable suffering of World War I, one man's search to heal his own trauma became the foundation for a movement that has helped generations of people rediscover their authentic voices. His work was passed from teacher to...

Send us Fan Mail Your voice is more than the words that come out of your mouth. It tells the story of what you learned was safe, what you learned would be punished, and what you believed would finally make you seen. Sometimes "finding your voice" isn't about becoming more confident. It's about healing the parts of yourself that learned it was safer to stay silent. In this deepl...

Send us Fan Mail  Erin Simpson on Trauma-Informed Education, Mental Health, Autism, ADHD, and Helping Every Child Thrive  A child melts down in class and the adult response is almost automatic: calm down, make a better choice, try harder. We want better outcomes, but those words often land on a nervous system that’s already in fight, flight, or freeze. Today we’re joined by Erin Simpson, principal...

Send us Fan Mail A single quote sparks a hard truth: the longer we hold on to pain, the heavier it becomes. We talk through emotional weight, how survival and masking become habits, and why healing starts when we decide some things no longer belong on our shoulders.  • the quote that frames the whole message: holding on makes things heavier  • emotional weight we carry: shame, fear, resentment, di...

Send us Fan Mail A family gets 48 hours to leave Cuba and suddenly everything becomes a decision made under fear. We sit down with author and journalist Anna Hebra Flaster for Part 2 of her story, and what unfolds is equal parts heartbreaking and darkly funny, from translating “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” to realizing how quickly a new country can turn “difference” into a test you have to pass...

Send us Fan Mail What if the very things we've been taught to hide are actually our greatest strengths? For so long, neurodivergence has been viewed through the lens of deficits, delays, and difficulties. But what if we looked at it differently? What if, beside every struggle, there was also a gift? In this solo episode, Ann explores the beauty, complexity, and strengths that often accompany...

Send us Fan Mail A single sound can carry a whole country inside it. When author Anna Hebra Flaster talks about hearing a motorcycle, she’s not being poetic, she’s describing a trauma stamp from childhood, the moment her family learned they had permission to leave Cuba and only hours to surrender their life and disappear. Ann sits down with Anna to unpack what exile really costs and what it demand...

Send us Fan Mail What if the hard isn't a sign to quit? What if the resistance, the setbacks, the waiting, and the closed doors are actually preparing you for the very thing you've been praying for? After reading Adassa's memoir, Love Keeps Showing Up, and hearing her incredible story of perseverance, Ann couldn't stop thinking about one powerful truth: Don't let the hard...

Send us Fan Mail Disney magic rarely shows you the part where the dream takes an unplanned detour. Our guest, Adassa, the Golden Globe, Oscar, and Grammy-winning artist who voiced Dolores in Disney’s Encanto, tells the full behind-the-scenes story: the 20-plus years of sacrifice, the moves and setbacks, and the mindset that kept her working like the promise was still real even when life said other...

Send us Fan Mail A Mother’s Day drive turns into a hit-and-run with a drunk driver, and we walk through the shock of trying to keep our kids calm while the help we expect never arrives. We connect that crash to a separate crisis where mental health funding collapses without warning, and we ask what families are supposed to do when broken systems hold the power. • a rear-end collision that flips a...

Send us Fan Mail Love that Stays: A Light That Remains. Not walking through the hardest of times alone. Listen to Tina share how her friend’s calling hours changed her. Listen to Ann share how a stranger at a Neurodivergent Conference reached out to be an external brain. She did not want it, but by the end of the conference, she was thankful. Help may never look how we expect it to. Don’t walk thr...

Send us Fan Mail We talk honestly about why success can feel scarier than failure. We name the pattern of shrinking right before growth and remind ourselves that being seen is not selfish.  • struggling with visibility even while hosting a growing podcast  • feeling safest as the sidekick and behind-the-scenes supporter  • linking success with danger and learning that early association  • noticing...

Send us Fan Mail We talk honestly about sextortion, how quickly it escalates, and why shame keeps kids silent when they need support the most. We share practical, step-by-step guidance for parents who want awareness without panic and a home where kids come to us first.  • defining sextortion and how fast the trap closes  • why boys ages 11 to 17 are heavily targeted  • how fake accounts and urgenc...

Send us Fan Mail We celebrate a personal milestone as Ann finishes her memoir and turns the writing process into hard-won lessons about trauma, neurodivergence, and self-compassion. We unpack how survival skills can masquerade as personality, and how healing starts when we stop shaming the parts of us that kept us alive.  • finishing a 70,000-plus-word memoir and entering the submission process  •...

Send us Fan Mail A spotless house. A raging mother. A silent father. And a child who learns to survive by shutting down her own heart. We’re joined by Lena Fine, author of *Shattering the Mirror: One Woman’s Journey of Healing*, for a raw conversation about childhood emotional abuse, shame, and the kind of “good family” image that can hide deep disconnection.  We talk about what it does to you whe...

Send us Fan Mail The internet didn’t arrive with fanfare for most people, but Michael Yang remembers the exact moment it became real: a friend opens the Mosaic browser, types a simple URL, and information appears from far away. That flash of possibility turns into a conviction that the World Wide Web will reshape how we live and shop, long before “online commerce” becomes everyday language. We fol...

Send us Fan Mail A life can look “successful” from the outside and still be held together by courage you never see. We sit down with Michael Yang, author of *Coming Alive on the Ride*, to trace the real roots of his drive: family history shaped by Japanese occupation, the Korean War, poverty, and a homeland still divided. He names the ache as “han” and explains how it echoes through generations, e...

Send us Fan Mail Your child throws the sandwich, melts down on the floor, and you can feel every set of eyes in the room. We know that moment, and we also know the shame spiral that comes right after it. Today we’re sitting with Dr. Kristen Cook, pediatrician, mom, and author of Parenting Redefined: A Guide to Understanding and Nurturing Your Child's Behavior to Help Them Thrive, to replace t...

Send us Fan Mail A 12-year-old watching his grandfather die in the hallway doesn’t just lose a person, he loses direction. Our guest, professional boxer Ryizeemmion  “Johnny” Ford, grew up in Ohio as one of eight kids raised by grandparents after parental absence, addiction, and incarceration shaped the home he didn’t choose. What followed was the kind of survival mode many people recognize: anger...

Send us Fan Mail A single trip back to Cuba turns into a confrontation with the one place Mario Cartaya never truly left: his own childhood. After 56 years away, he walks familiar streets, returns to his old school, and finds himself pulled toward a balcony where a long-buried scene suddenly plays in full color. What follows is as intimate as it is unsettling, a moment where he can almost see his...

Send us Fan Mail This week’s episode is one everyone needs to hear—a story of miracles, identity, and the kind of closure most people never expect to find. In his book Journey Back into the Vault: In Search of My Faded Cuban Childhood Footprints , Mario Cartaya shares a life that began in Havana and was forever changed when he fled Cuba at just eight years old. He went on to build an extraordinary...

Send us Fan Mail What if dementia isn’t the end of connection, but an invitation to a different kind of presence? We sit down with author and advocate Marilyn Raichle, whose book Don’t Walk Away, A Care Partner’s Journey chronicles how her mother’s unexpected paintings—and later, simple rituals of song and touch—reframed Alzheimer’s from pure loss to a space where joy can still flicker. Tina opens...

Send us Fan Mail Today we’re talking about something every parent wants for their kids but often struggles to build in the middle of real life— resilience. We’re joined by clinical psychologist and author Kate Lund , whose work focuses on helping families move away from perfection and toward emotional strength that actually lasts. Her books Bounce: Help Your Child Build Resilience and Thrive in Sc...

Send us Fan Mail What do you say when a five-year-old whispers, “Can someone take the disease out of grandma?” That tender question anchors a conversation about late-stage Alzheimer’s, new diagnoses for our kids, and the gritty, everyday work of loving people where they are when answers won’t come. We don’t offer platitudes. We tell the truth about layered grief, the soul-tired fatigue of caregivi...

Send us Fan Mail We dig into the real-life supports that help neurodivergent brains thrive, from the hard science of FASD to daily tools for executive function, transitions, sensory needs, and affect regulation. RJ Formanek and Ann Kagarise share candid stories, and swap strategies that trade shame for structure and self-forgiveness. • neuroanatomy changes shaping behavior and perception • amygdal...