We Should Talk About That

Send me a Text Message about the show! The fall season is upon us, which seems to bring with it the onset of comfort food cravings. But what does comfort food mean to you? For Jessica, it's cheesy baked pasta dishes, but there's often guilt attached to these indulgences. Enter Mary Beth Albright, an award-winning journalist and author of "Eat and Flourish: How Food Supports Emotiona...

Send me a Text Message about the show! In this WeSTAT bonus episode, Jessica Kidwell reconnects with Justin Jones-Fosu to explore the complex world of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). With over 20 years of experience, Justin shares his insights on how DEI has evolved from a corporate buzzword to a contentious topic, and whether there is hope for its future. This episode is a thought-provoki...

Send me a Text Message about the show! "I can vehemently disagree with your ideology and yet still passionately pursue your humanity." - Justin Jones-Fosu  As we approach a pivotal presidential election, the air is thick with divisive rhetoric. Join Jessica Kidwell in a timely conversation with Justin Jones-Fosu, an international speaker, social entrepreneur, and author of "I Respec...

Send me a Text Message about the show! The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause is the first documentary film that addresses the marginalized or ignored health crisis faced by millions of women as they go through menopause.  It premiers on PBS October 17th, 2024. Join Jessica and her guest this week, Denise Pines, as they delve into the complexity of women's health, the lack of resear...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Enjoy this collaboration episode with my other podcast, Neuroversity. "There's a lot of open tabs in my brain. It's like a pinball going in every direction." -Liz Schroeder Join Jessica Kidwell on this heartfelt episode of Neuroversity as she chats with her good friend and neighbor, Liz Schroeder. Liz opens up about her journey from recogn...

Send me a Text Message about the show! "Therapy is not something that anyone needs, but it is something we all deserve." -Dené Logan, Marriage and Family Therapist This week I sit down with Dené Logan, a marriage and family therapist with a specialization in depth psychology. Dené is the author of "Sovereign: A Guide to Healing Relationships by Reclaiming the Masculine and Feminine...

Send me a Text Message about the show! In this episode, I interview Lindsey Cormack, associate professor of political science and director of the diplomacy lab at Stevens Institute of Technology, and author of "How to Raise a Citizen."  We discuss the importance of teaching children about politics and civic engagement. Lindsey explains that civics education is often deprioritized in scho...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Sometimes there's just too much good content for one episode, or we veer off on a different topic.  But that doesn't mean you shouldn't get to hear it!  That's where WeSTAT Bonus comes in. This time it's with Gila Pfeffer, author of Nearly Departed . Our conversation touches on how Gen Xers, influenced by a mix of analog and digital e...

Send me a Text Message about the show! This week I welcome back humor writer and memoirist Gila Pfeffer, the author of "Nearly Departed: Adventures in Loss, Cancer, and Other Inconveniences." Gila shares her journey from losing her parents to cancer, discovering she carried the BRCA1 gene, and undergoing a preventative double mastectomy that turned out to be life-saving. Through humor an...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Welcome to Season Six! Jessica Kidwell dives into the discomfort of tough topics and how they can lead to personal growth and deeper connections. After a break, Jessica is back with a fresh energy and a new theme for season six: courage. With a hiatus filled with  taking time to read fiction and embracing small acts of bravery to planning new episodes, she&ap...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Well, WeSTAT community, we did it.    Today marks the completion of season five, the season of evolution, the first season on my own.  And I thought we should take a look back to see all that has happened this season. After 30 episodes, what worked?  What didn't?  I'll tell you what I think, and maybe you can let me know if you agree or want to add...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Not following the expected path isn't necessarily a recipe for success in a city like Washington, D.C.,  but that is exactly what my guest this week, Deesha Dyer, did.  At the age of 31, working full time and in community college part time, she took a chance on herself and applied for a White House internship in the Obama administration.  And thank goodn...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Mother's Day was yesterday, so to celebrate, I gave myself the weekend off! There's no new interview content for you today, BUT I do have a story for you. For those who know me personally, you'll already know this story, but for the rest of you, enjoy this personal journey to free my trapped dry cleaning. More interviews will resume next week,...

Send me a Text Message about the show!  In January I participated in a women's healing retreat with the Mystic Chics.  a healing group of 3 modern medicine women, 2 sisters and an aunt, who are passionate about awakening feminine power using multiple modalities of healing via energy, music, sound, movement and more.  I'm not a total "woo" person, but I'm also not a total c...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Have you heard of synesthesia? It is when your brain routes sensory information through multiple unrelated senses, causing you to experience more than one sense simultaneously. Some examples include tasting words or linking colors to numbers and letters. My guest this week, Emily Barth Isler, is an author of essays and children's books, including the mid...

Send me a Text Message about the show! I have a few things we should talk about this week! Do you think I need a permanent co-host? Why is it so hard to get people to talk on the show? Is Taylor Swift causing friendships to end? Mahjong It's a random assortment.  It's a monologue.  I promised I wouldn't do any monologues.  So what should I do about that? Support the show Keep up wit...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Did you know that the  six most common complaints about the sound of a women's voice are: Their voice is too high They sound like children They don't sound authoritative enough They have vocal fry They use too much upspeak Their voice is too low For a woman who wants to speak up publicly, it can start to feel like we are damned if we do, and damned...

Send me a Text Message about the show! I am a proud voting American.  From local, national, primary, or general, I never miss my opportunity to participate in my civic duty and cherished right to vote.  I love the process of going to my polling precinct and casting my ballot.  I slap that sticker on my chest and walk around all day with pride, knowing that instead of choosing to do nothing, I chos...

Send me a Text Message about the show! We should talk about Tik Tok.  As a Gen X-er, I cling to my Facebook and I feel fancy that I consistently use Instagram.  But if I'm being honest, I know that this makes me basically an elderly user of social media apps.  YouTube and Tik Tok are the social media apps where Gen Z and Gen Alpha are spending the majority of their time.  So, what's an &...

Send me a Text Message about the show! Join Jessica and her pop culture guest of the week, Joey Klei, as they discuss the pop culture topics that are front of mind for them.  Where is Princess Catherine? ***Big correction!! Jessica says MULTIPLE times that the timeline starts 12/23/23, but it really was 12/28/23.  In her excitement, she got the date wrong, a lot.  This is why she is not running fo...

Send me a Text Message about the show! "If we understand there is a biblical basis, there is a theological basis for understanding that transgender people and gender expansive people are created in the image of God -  just like all people- then it makes it easier to .... understand we don't have to choose between our faith and the people we love." Jamie Bruesehoff is an award-winnin...

Send me a Text Message about the show! “I’ve personally witnessed how Chelsey changes the lives of teenage girls for the better. This book is exactly what we all need right now, for our families and for our future voices in the world. " —Laura Dern, Academy Award-winning actress and New York Times bestselling author of Honey, Baby, Mine Teenage girls have a lot of assumptions made about them,...

Send me a Text Message about the show! We Should Talk About That is going on a break for a couple of weeks for a little refresh and re-tooling.  But before I go, I want to take a minute to honor a man who has meant so very much to me, my father in law, Vernard Charles Kidwell, Jr. Vern passed away February 4th, 2024 at the ripe age of 98 and I am just back from a weekend of honoring him and his in...

Send me a Text Message about the show! This week I welcome Jess Buchanan back on the show to talk about the release of  her second anthology series, Deserts to Mountaintops: Choosing Our Healing Through Radical Self Acceptance.   It was so great to catch up on what's been happening in her world and to discuss this project. In this episode: Find out why this topic was chosen for the anthology...

Send me a Text Message about the show! In September 2017, after years of physical abuse and sexual torture, Nicole "Nikki" Addimando fatally shot her abusive partner in self-defense.  And in February 2020, Nicole was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for killing the perpetrator of her abuse, where she became part of the 97% of women in prison nationwide who have experienced physica...