The Release Podcast

What kind of a learner is your child? What kind of a learner were you? How much does it matter?  

There is a theory that teens these days are increasingly disengaged in school, and that it matters far more than we think. My guest this week is Jenny Anderson, coauthor of THE DISENGAGED TEEN, a toolkit for the parents of checked out and stressed out teens, to get them engaged in their own learning. And in their own futures. Anderson ...

Have you ever considered the science of luck?

What if we are all super lucky, and just fail to notice the opportunities around us every single day? What if luck is really just opportunity, and it's your own mindset that’s blinding you to how lucky you were meant to be? What if it doesn’t have to be so hard?


My guest this week is Nicole Perrone, a renowned mortgage banker better known as the Billion Dollar Banker, whose keynote...

When was the last time you tired yourself out trying to explain for what feels like the hundredth time how your feelings were impacted by someone's behavior, twisting yourself into a pretzel to convey why their behavior was not okay, only to have them fail yet again to see where you’re coming from? Have you ever wondered whether they’re not grasping the point because they can’t….or perhaps because they actually just don’t want to? ...

In every life there are some turning points. Moments when we need to change course, or face the consequences. To finally live life the way we always suspected we wouldn’t be allowed to. Or at least that nobody would approve of. For Deirdre Abrami, a sixth generation psychic intuitive on her father’s side who grew up in a home where ‘psychic’ was a dirty word…that journey was sparked by a near fatal brain aneurysm she ...

If you want a good reason never to leave the house again, ask people for their worst online dating story. Trust me.

A few years ago, Sean Cook, and IT industry veteran who had been horrified watching his 60 year old mom being catfished and disappointed routinely online…decided to do something about it. He launched the Tea App, which is not a dating app but rather a "dating safety app" for women. Tea lets you complete background c...

What exactly qualifies you as a grown up? Paying your bills? Managing your emotions? Turning 21?

Raffi Grinberg has some thoughts, which he taught in a popular course at Boston College called Adulting 101, and which he has now turned into a book, published last month entitled "How to Be a Grown Up: The 14 Essential Skills You Didn’t Know You Needed (Until Just Now)." Raffi is a business leader, author, and educator and was also c...

Imagine that you're overwhelmed and worn out, lying on the living room carpet, noticing the crumbs that need sweeping, the toys that need putting away, and the curious sensation of nearly losing your mind. And imagine that you are overcome with the sneaking sense you were meant for more….but that it would be scary, weird, and probably alienate you from a lot of people. Imagine your sneaking suspicion was that you were psychic, and ...

Do you still look forward to your birthday? Do you plan it, or have faith that someone else will do something to commemorate another year of your time on this earth? Or does it loom large like a threat, stressing you out and promising to lay bare the wastage of time? Tamar Hurwitz-Fleming is the author of “How To Have A Happy Birthday: Create Meaning, Fulfillment & Joy On Your Special Day.” After a childhood with...

Have you ever had the chance to see a mentalist or a magician, live? What is the line between what we cannot see, and what is an actual illusion? And how much does it matter?

My guest today is Gerard Senehi, known as the Experimentalist. He has been recognized as a “superstar” mentalist, featured in TV shows as diverse as the Today Show” and “Ellen, and has even performed for corporate audiences, private events and US presidents ...

How much control do any of us really ever have…over anything? Kidnapping survivor Jess Buchanan has some thoughts.... Is it more important to be safe in body or in mind? What does safety even mean? Jessica Buchanan had 93 days to consider questions like this while she was held captive in 2011 somewhere deep in the Somali desert. A 32 year old American schoolteacher who was working with a Danish aid organization helpi...

Most married people know very little about divorce, and prefer to keep it that way. But what they don’t know, can hurt them, and those they love. For a lifetime.

My guest this week learned that the hard way during her own divorce process, and in the aftermath of launching a small women’s support group that led her from her original career as an investigative reporter…to her new life as th...

Feeling overwhelmed by the relentless news cycle? There's a reason for that.

Jennifer Walter is a Swiss sociologist, podcast host (Check out The Scenic Route) & mental health advocate. She’s also a self-described rebel marshmallow, and a highly sensitive person. Grounded in sociology and a deep understanding of the structures that shape our perception of who we are, where we fit, and what is possible, she coaches clients to f...

Why have we as a society gone from simply glorifying youthful looks to aiming for a consequence-free, childlike lifestyle? When was the last time you saw an ad that showed adults behaving like…adults? How did we devolve within just one generation from teens who could not wait to a driver’s license…to teens nowadays who barely register excitement over a driver’s test? Or their first set of car keys? Or apartment keys, ...

How lonely are we...really? When does loneliness go from a signal like thirst to a problem like chronic dehydration? What will the world look like if in fact…we don’t collectively figure out how to do anything about it?

My guest today is Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a psychology and neuroscience professor at Brigham Young University, and the director of their Social Connection & Health Lab. She is als...

Does a fish really need to understand that it's swimming in water? How about if that water is laced with arsenic? Does it matter what level of arsenic? How about if a woman spent her entire life for example marinating in misogyny (but I mean like low-key non-toxic levels of misogyny for the most part)? Would her accomplishments make immune? Would her beauty? Her privilege? And for how long?

My guest today is Dr. Amanda Hanson and ...

Have you ever felt what seemed like a connection....only to eventually awaken to the reality that it was probably something else? There is a key difference between connection and attunement, according to this week's guest Dr. Peter Salerno.

Trusting your own judgement can be tricky after you’ve escaped an emotionally abusive relationship. Its about far more than just picking better the next time around. Dr. Salerno is a psychothe...

What's your gut reaction to learning somebody is a single mom? Sympathy? Curiosity? Judgement? Or maybe a mix? You wouldn’t be alone. But we are not homogenous; the face of single motherhood is changing, and not necessarily in the ways you might think.

Some 10 million US households are headed by a single mom, almost 40% of births in 2022 were to unmarried women, and there has been a huge growth in the ranks of the single moms by ...

Cassindy Chao is a former Goldman Sachs banker turned ultra-high-end matchmaker who we can all learn a lot from, whether we’re partnered or not. Because unlike some matchmakers, she’s focused on building relationships that last, rather than just on making matches that click. 



On this week’s podcast we are talking about her book (Ancient Wisdom Modern Love) and her marriage of 25 years and counting to the man she was truly compa...

Does choosing more wisely with a future partner require that we fully process why we chose poorly in the past?

Meet Esther Goldstein, a New York based LCSW and trauma therapist, or as I now see her, the trauma therapist’s therapist. Based on an article she wrote entitled The Allure Of The Dangerous Man, I reached out to ask Esther about healing after traumatic relationships, and whether f...