This Is So Awkward

There’s a timeline for puberty - when it starts and how fast it proceeds - which means that there’s also “early” and “late.” Layered on top is the relativity of puberty: when everyone else is going through it (or not), the person who’s not (or is!) feels out of sync. This episode explores the science behind the timing of puberty and how adults - both parents and doctors - might approach a late blo...

Over the past two decades, puberty has crept up earlier and earlier, redefining what it means to be “early” or “late.” But why? Is it the food we’re eating? The water we’re drinking? The cosmetics we use? The medications we take? Is it caused by stress? Or screens? If we just had a culprit, we could fix this. Pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Louise Greenspan, author of the lauded book The New Puberty...

For so many adults, addressing kids’ hygiene -- keeping their bodies clean, smells at bay, zits minimal, and all the rest -- feels really tricky. We never want to shame kids, but we all want them to learn how to take care of themselves. So what topics need covering? And what’s the best way to say what we think they need to hear? This week’s episode is all about hygiene…or lack thereof.   Show Note...

How we talk to our kids about complex topics like puberty and sex depends both on our kids’ personalities are ours, too. There is no one-size-fits-all on how to have these tricky conversations. In this episode, Vanessa and Cara break down the cast of characters in both the kid roles and the adult roles, offering up guidance for having these talks in our families while making room for the different...

Wendy Mogel, clinical psychologist and New York Times bestselling author, discusses raising kids through adolescence, a time of the “greatest anguish and the greatest ecstasy.” With humor and honesty, Wendy advises us to be “emotional archaeologists” with the kids we love and learning to “keep quiet, keep captivated and keep respectful” when navigating this tricky time as caregivers. Produced by D...

Andrew Goldberg, co-creator of Big Mouth, the hit Netflix animated series about puberty, and world famous early bloomer, joins us in conversation about what it felt like to be the first of his friends to hit puberty. Andrew shares his experiences from those fraught years, what was talked about and what wasn’t, and he discusses how he and his wife are choosing to raise their own children based on w...

There isn’t ONE time to start puberty or end puberty and someone has to go first. In this episode, Cara explains the science behind early puberty and we explore the social and emotional impact of being an early bloomer. Plus you get to learn what an orchidometer is! This is a great episode to listen to with your kids.   Shownotes: Dynamo Girl  Guy Stuff by Dr. Cara Natterson Care and Keeping of Yo...

Dr. Hina Talib, adolescent medicine specialist and host of the popular @teenhealthdoc on Instagram, joins us for a deep dive on periods. We discuss menstruation as a vital sign, what’s considered normal for teen menstruation and what’s not, when to worry and when to seek advice from medical providers. We’ll cover everything from mittelschmerz (WHAT?!!!) to endometriosis, so tune in for accessible...

Erections and nocturnal emissions – AKA boners and wet dreams – are big pieces of puberty that often go unmentioned unless they’re punchlines in a joke. Which is a big conversational miss, because these topics can cause unnecessary confusion, shame, worry, or awkwardness. In this episode, we break down the science behind boners and wet dreams (and yes, we use the language that kids use) and then b...

Dr. Lisa Damour, New York Times bestselling author, columnist and co-host of the Ask Lisa Podcast, joins us for a back-to-school episode on lessons learned from the previous two school years under Covid. This episode explores the adaptability, emotional honesty and family rituals we developed and how we can use them in constructive ways to create new models for parenting as we move forward.   Show...

Dr. Molly Colvin helps us understand the upsides and the downsides of the adolescent brain, in and out of pandemic. Her adage that tween and teen brains are “consistently inconsistent” provides critical insights for adults navigating the ways to communicate with and support the adolescents for whom we are caring. Dr. Colvin’s offers guidance for when we should push their “growth edge” and when we...

The word “puberty” means the process of sexual maturation - by the end of puberty, a person has the ability to reproduce. But the path through puberty is not a stepwise ladder where one part of the body changes, then another, then another. Rather, it’s a winding path, a checklist of physiological shifts that happen in no particular order. This episode walks through the details of what happens to t...

Roger Bennett, author of #1 the New York Times bestseller (Re)Born in the USA and co-host of the popular Men in Blazers podcast, shares the hilarious and painful experiences of his English adolescence of the 1970’s & 1980’s. He discusses what passed as sex-ed at that time, what it felt like to be a (very) late bloomer and when was the moment everything changed. This episode is intended for people...

One of the hardest things about raising kids through puberty is leaving our own baggage at the door. Our past experiences are seared into our brains and we’re so tempted to talk about them, but so often, our kids don’t want to hear about them. We need to let their puberty be their puberty. This episode is about why it is critical that we leave our puberty baggage at the door and how we can do that...

Dr. Aliza Pressman, host of the Raising Good Humans Podcast, joins us to discuss the ways we can respond to the emotional ups and downs of parenting kids in puberty. Aliza’s practical and actionable advice boils down to this: what’s going on for our kids and how can we meet them in a kind and constructive way? This episode looks at a few common scenarios we face when raising adolescents and walks...

The number one puberty question we get asked is: when is my daughter going to get her period?!!! And while no one can say for certain, this episode will cover what are red herrings and what are true signs that her period is coming. Listen in for some practical information as well as Cara and Vanessa’s own first period stories.   Show Notes: Dynamo Workshops for Families   Produced by Dear Media Le...

In the very first episode of The Puberty Podcast, Dr. Cara Natterson and Vanessa Kroll Bennett make the case for why talking to kids about puberty matters. It boils down to this: if we want to keep kids healthy and safe, we need to talk to them about puberty (but you should still listen to the episode!)   Show Notes: Cara Natterson’s Bio  Care and Keeping of You Series  Dynamo Girl Website Decodin...

Nick Kroll, comedian, actor and Big Mouth creator, sits down with Vanessa Kroll Bennett (his sister) and Dr. Cara Natterson for an honest conversation about what life was like as someone late to the puberty party. The episode is not quite as hilarious (or dirty) as Big Mouth but just as authentic. Nick offers a window into how being a late bloomer affected him in good and hard ways throughout the...

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