Real Talk with Tina and Ann

Send us Fan Mail Ever watch someone recite the rules and still miss the first step? We dive into that gap with FASD advocate RJ Formanek to reveal what’s actually happening under the surface —and why replacing blame with understanding can change a life. We’re talking brain wiring, not character flaws; symptoms, not “bad behavior.” Through raw stories and clear examples, we map how memory, language...

Send us Fan Mail The room changes when a true maestro enters—yet the most revealing stories often happen offstage. We sit down with Nancy Shear to explore the hidden lives behind classical music’s brightest names and the personal courage it takes to step through doors that weren’t built for you. From a conductor who needed worship more than love to a cellist whose wild openness defied a regime, th...

Send us Fan Mail Today on Real Talk with Tina and Ann we are talking about neurodivergence and share a raw, practical look at “diagnosis day,” advocacy, and the tools that actually help our kids thrive. Nothing about our kids changed with labels; only our map did, and that map guides support with less shame and more clarity. • early signs, and the long road to evaluation • diagnosis day emotions o...

Send us Fan Mail A teenage girl finds her way through the stage door and into the inner life of a great orchestra, learning how courage, craft and attention can open rooms that seem shut. Nancy Shear reflects on mentors, trauma, Stokowski’s charisma and the quiet work that shapes sound. • sneaking into the Academy of Music and earning trust • learning the orchestra library and serving an apprentic...

Send us Fan Mail What if you’re not behind at all—you’re right on time for a life that finally feels like yours? We dive into nonlinear living and redefine progress as capacity, not speed. Instead of chasing milestones and highlight reels, we talk about the quiet work that actually changes us: noticing overwhelm sooner, asking for help before the breaking point, and choosing rest without guilt. To...

Send us Fan Mail We sit with creator Deborah Weed to explore how love, loss, and art can coexist, and why self-worth must be defined from within. Her stories of hospice dignity, cross-country wandering, and the evolution of Paisley the Musical point to a courageous path back to voice and purpose. • holding grief and joy in the same body • caregiving as dignity and soul polishing • the year of firs...

Send us Fan Mail Tina and Ann explore gratitude that tells the truth in crisis: not a list, but a lifeline beside cancer, caregiving, and long grief. Kara Lockwood’s story and Robert Emmons’ research anchor practical ways to find small joys that help us keep showing up. • Cara Lockwood’s remission story and irreverent wisdom • Robert Emmons’ research on gratitude and resilience • Fake gratitude ve...

Send us Fan Mail  Fear is not the enemy, until it starts running the show. In this episode, we sit down with USA Today bestselling author Cara Lockwood (aka Cara Tanamachi) to discuss her book, There Is No Good Book for This But I Wrote One Anyway: An Irreverent and Brutally Honest Guide to Crushing Breast Cancer, a refreshingly honest and laugh-out-loud take on navigating cancer.  A mom of five i...

Send us Fan Mail We trace a life rebuilt through acceptance, humor, and purpose, from paralysis and autism advocacy to grief, faith, and the daily practice of choosing better. The path moves from why to how, from pity to power, and from isolation to community through Pathfinders for Autism. • tracking tiny gains with a “better than yesterday” list • Madison’s autism story and early ABA access • fo...

Send us Fan Mail Some stories don’t fit inside neat arcs. Rebecca Galli’s life holds a brother gone at 17, a son who passed at 15, two children with special needs, and sudden paralysis nine days after divorce. What unfolds is not a list of tragedies but a blueprint for living when certainty disappears: short morning rituals that steady the mind, phrases that reframe pain, and a practice of choosin...

Send us Fan Mail We follow a wrong turn that became a mission and explore how dignity-based service transforms both givers and receivers. Gil shows how housing, education, and reciprocity can turn charity into equity, and why true joy is found when we serve. • enlightened self-interest and why service elevates the giver • rent-to-own housing tied to education and community service • girls’ scholar...

Send us Fan Mail We bring the border into focus as a lived place, not a line, and confront how wealth disparity, US demand, and policy choices shape human lives. Gil Gillenwater shows why enlightened self interest, housing with dignity, and education beat walls and fear. • wealth disparity between $18 an hour and $14 a day • the border as community, not an abstract boundary • enlightened self inte...

Send us Fan Mail A single weekend can reroute a life. When Deborah Meyerson, a tenured Stanford professor, suffered a stroke that stole her speech and altered her body, she and her husband, Steve Zuckerman, had to reimagine everything—career, communication, purpose, and the very shape of partnership. What began as an “it’ll pass” blip became a blueprint for growing forward, not going back. We dig...

Send us Fan Mail The Tuesday before Thanksgiving can feel ordinary—until it isn’t. Fifty years ago, a dad kissed his child goodbye and didn’t come home, and that single day rewrote every holiday that followed. We open the door to that memory and walk through its rooms: the neighbor who showed up at swim practice, the crowded living room where silence said more than words, the TV playing Happy Days...

Send us Fan Mail A glossy holiday is easy to post, but the real story of Thanksgiving often lives in the places that ache. This year, our table looks different—empty chairs, fading memories, and traditions that no longer fit who we are now. Still, gratitude finds a seat beside grief. We talk about the tenderness of a rare moment of clarity with a loved one whose memory is slipping, and the sting o...

Send us Fan Mail We dig into life with FASD beyond labels: how shame warps identity, how routines protect mornings, and why late-blooming brains change everything. RJ shares the red shoes origin, practical language for kids, and a hopeful path from rage to self‑acceptance. • removing shame and naming “it’s not your fault” • morning reboot, windows, slow processing • routines for sensory load and h...

Send us Fan Mail We share real, lived experiences from someone navigating life with FASD:  the diagnosis, the data, and the dignity that often get lost in the conversation. Together, we unpack the daily struggles and the deep relief that comes from hearing the words, “It’s not your fault.” What follows is a powerful journey from shame to self-forgiveness, as we explore person-first support, resili...

Send us Fan Mail We share Sophia Lorenzi’s path from losing her father to suicide to investigating death row cases, tracing how grief, stigma, trauma, and systems shape lives. The heart of the talk: seeing people fully, not as problems to fix, and building care long before crisis. • how invisible crisis can exist alongside visible treatment • rising suicide rates despite reduced stigma and why acc...

Send us Fan Mail Midlife isn’t a slow fade; it’s a volume knob. We sit down with Angela, the force behind Real Girls Guide and RGG55, to rewrite the script on aging and claim midlife as a comeback. From the lost folder that sparked her book to the candid truths she shares about hormones, identity, and self-trust, this conversation is a bright, unflinching look at how women can live on purpose and...

Send us Fan Mail An Interview with Author of Property of the Revolution! This is part 2!  A Cuban family escapes with 48 hours’ notice and rebuilds a life defined by work, honor and love, seen through the eyes of a six-year-old who learns to turn pain into power. We trace culture, politics, and identity across borders, and why telling the truth preserves dignity. • culture clash between performanc...

Send us Fan Mail A motorcycle in the barrio. Forty‑eight hours to leave. A nearly six‑year‑old whose world narrows to the sound of an engine and the shape of fear—then widens again across an ocean. We welcome author Ana Hebra Flaster to explore her memoir, Property of the Revolution, and the intimate mechanics of exile: how a family becomes “gusano,” how permission to leave turns into a three‑year...

Send us Fan Mail What if the love you learned was never love at all—but performance, peacekeeping, and fear dressed up as care? Ann sits down with Denise Bard to tell the truth about growing up inside conditional love, the survival roles that helped them get through, and the slow, stubborn work of building a love that heals instead of hurts. This is a tender, unsparing, and ultimately hopeful conv...

Send us Fan Mail Randi Crawford, certified life coach and TEDx speaker, joins us to share her “Pickleball Parenting” philosophy. It is a fresh, practical approach to raising resilient kids who can face challenges with confidence and independence. In this episode, Randi talks about the ways modern parenting often misses the mark and how small changes can make a big difference: Stop smoothing the pa...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when everything you believe about your family turns out to be a lie? In this gripping conversation with novelist Leslie Rasmussen, we dive deep into her latest work, "When People Leave, Love Lies and Finding the Truth" – a story that will resonate with anyone who's ever questioned their family narrative. Leslie, whose impressive career spans from writin...

Send us Fan Mail Tina and Ann explore the complex relationship between joy and grief, examining how these seemingly opposite emotions often coexist and even strengthen each other. They share personal stories of experiencing both simultaneously and discuss strategies for allowing both emotions to breathe. • Joy and grief create an emotional tug of war that varies in response – sometimes numbing, so...