Media & Technology

Wired Wednesday

In Pod We Trust...

For magazines seeking to extend their reach into podcasting, half the battle is finding members of staff who don’t sound like the kind of people you wouldn’t care to be stuck in a lift with.

David Hepworth

The podcast as we know it now was concieved in 2000. Think that makes it the first truly new art form in the 21st century. And there are podcasts about literally EVERYTHING, including our favorite subject here at Grounded Parents, (hint, its parenting.)

There are some good lists out there (I like this Feedspot list but fair warning, their website is pushy.) Unfortunately the number four on that list is the Focus on the Family podcast (Rationalwiki link.) But there are quite a few well done pods out there for parents interested in good advice backed by good evidence, or maybe just a friendly voice telling us we aren’t alone in the battle to raise new humans. I’ll share a couple I really like.

Mom and Dad are Fighting

Slate’s podcast on parenting has been around for 267 episodes and is currently hosted by Jamilah Lemieux and Dan Kois. They share their triumphs and fails and interview great guests. Like the rest of Slate, they have been focusing on the coronavirus catastrophe with compassion and humor.

The TiLt Parenting Podcast 

Debbie Reber, author of Differently Wired: Raising an Extraordinary Child in a Conventional World, hosts this excellent podcast dealing specifically with kids who aren’t neurotypical.

But when Debbie learned that her son Asher was differently-wired, she spent years figuring out how to best support him in school and in life, recognizing how incredibly difficult it was to find solid, reliable, useful, and most of all optimistic, information for parents like her. Many of the websites and organizations that did exist didn’t speak to her, nor did they help her figure out a plan for getting Asher what he needed while supporting herself in the process. Her best leads came from word-of-mouth from other parents who’d been down the road before her, but even then, figuring out what to do and where to turn next was like going geocaching without a GPS. She created TiLT so parents stuck in this place of not-knowing and frustration can feel connected and grounded as they move forward in figuring out what their child needs in a way that feels positive and hopeful for the whole family.

Last week she had a great interview with the Queen of Kindie Rock Laurie Berkner.

Raising Freethinkers

The paterfamilias of Secular Parenting Bloggers and all around awesome dude Dale McGowan caught the podcasting bug a couple of years ago and went a little bonkers. In addition to his excellent How Music Does That and The Lucky Ones (A Beginners Guide to Mortality,) Dale has picked up the parenting baton again with Raising  Freethinkers. Dale brings his usual wit and charm to subjects ranging from religious literacy (The Devil You Know) to moral development (Of Ant-Squishing, and Crystal Meth, and Jesus.)

Your Parenting Mojo

I discovered this podcast just this morning researching for this post and I’m already enchanted. Jen Lumanlan touts “research based ideas to help kids thrive,” which sounds dry. But with episodes like How to Dismantle the Patriarchy through Parenting, and Does the Marshmallow Test Tell us Anything Useful, Jen is anything but. I’ll be bingeing these for weeks. I really like this bit from her About Page.

If you’re new around here, you might want to check out my podcast Episode 000, in which I explain my philosophy and approach to parenting (because I think too many folks who publish information on parenting don’t tell us what theirs is).

There are many many more to choose from. Do you have a favorite podcast about our mutual mission to make adult humans? Drop us a link!

Featured Image: Podcasting by Nicolas Solop on Flickr and nicolassolop.com Shared with a Creative Commons License

Louis Doench

Lou Doench is a 52 year old father of three. Twelve years ago he married the coolest woman in the world and gave up the lucrative career of being a photography student to become a stay at home husband and Dad, or SAHD. An atheist geek, or a geeky atheist if you prefer, Lou likes reading, photography, video gaming, disc golf, baseball and Dr. Who. He has been playing Dungeons and Dragons since 1976. Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also an excellent home cook, not that his children would know because they only eat Mac & Cheese. Follow Lou on Twitter @blotzphoto or check out his photography at www.flickr.com/photos/blotz/

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