This Deep Dive series is all about tips to stay sane while traveling with family —immediate or extended, kids younger or older in tow, across the state or across the globe!

We asked our listeners what advice they have for harmonious family traveling.⁠ Here are our favorite tips they shared, plus a few of our own, from how early to get to the airport to hitting the top kid-friendly site in Paris!

Amy and Margaret discuss:

• How to communicate effectively with your spouse before traveling
• Useful packing tips - ⁠here's the carry-on bag Amy loves⁠
• Vacation scheduling advice
• How to include kids in planning vacations

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

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As technology improves medicine, and AI accelerates change, how do we maintain the human connection that must exist between doctor and patient?

Pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Alan R. Cohen, author of the new book COMFORT ALWAYS, explains what he's learned in four decades of working with families in extremely intense situations, and how being a "humble physician" remains the most important part of his work.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why empathy is a skill worth intention and focus
• The benefits and drawbacks of electronic medical records
• Why parents' instincts remain a crucial part of their children's care
• How to advocate for yourself with a disconnected provider
• Why uncertainty is part of medicine—and part of life

Here's where you can find Dr. Cohen:

• https://www.dralanrcohen.com/
• Buy COMFORT ALWAYS: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9798895656198

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Moms hear it all the time: kids save their worst behavior for us because we're their safe space. Understood—but where’s the line between not taking every dig personally and becoming your kids' doormat?

When kids lash out—whether it’s a preschooler kicking in a Target checkout line, or a teenager declaring you’re the worst parent in the world—when are we supposed to absorb it, or rise above? And when do we need to set a boundary?

In this episode we discuss:

• Why it's important for parents to allow small children to express negative emotion
• Why adolescents hand parents their "emotional trash" (h/t Dr. Lisa Damour)
• the role of "projection" in heightened emotions
• how parenting an adolescent often means acting as a "wall" for kids to push off—and why that push can manifest as an insult or a slammed door
• Strategies for responding without escalating conflict

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Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

• Lisa Damour for the NYT: Parents of Teenagers, Stuck Taking Out the Emotional Trash
• Jody Podl for Your Teen Mag: How Can Loving and Kind Parents Cope With Their Mean Teenagers?
• Jessica Gudmundson et. al for Infant Behavior Development Journal: Links between mothers' coping styles, toddler reactivity, and sensitivity to toddler's negative emotions.
• Sharon Selby, MA, blog: What Is Happening When A Child Projects Feelings On To You?
• Sharon Selby, MA, blog: What Do Parents, A Swimming Pool and Child Development Have In Common?
• East Bay Behavior Therapy Center Blog: Relationship saboteurs: It’s all your fault versus it’s all my fault

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Deep Dive series is all about tips to stay sane while traveling with family —immediate or extended, kids younger or older in tow, across the state or across the globe!

Why don't vacations feel like vacations for moms? Could it be all the prepping, packing, and traveling, with the additional pressure to make memories that will last a lifetime for our little ones?

Here's how to make vacations truly fun and relaxing for the whole family. In this episode we discuss

• the wisdom of "taking turns being tired"
• why "going with the flow" is not an additive stance to vacation preparation
• why vacations get better as kids age

Here are some links to some writing on the topic that we discuss in this episode:

• Marie Holmes for HuffPost: ⁠Behind Every Precious Vacation Memory Stands An Exhausted Mother⁠
• CafeMom: ⁠Moms Don't Get to 'Relax' on Family Vacations, For the Husbands Who Don't Get It⁠
• Colleen Lanin for ⁠Travel Mamas: Ain’t Nobody Happy if Mama Ain’t Happy – Tips for Happy Travel with Kids⁠
• The Onion: ⁠Mom Spends Beach Vacation Assuming All Household Duties In Closer Proximity To Ocean⁠

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We know that resilience is a good trait for our kids to have. But can "grit" only be achieved through hardship and repeated failure? Can a kid whose everyday life is pretty cushy still be resilient, and if so, how is that resilience taught?

We talk with resilience coach Talia Kovacs about how resilience is a skill that can be nurtured over time—even in the kid who regularly falls apart when the chicken nuggets touch the peas.

Drawing from her experience as a classroom teacher, literacy expert, and parent coach, Talia explains why today’s kids are struggling with perfectionism, fear of mistakes, and anxiety—and how parents may be unintentionally reinforcing those patterns.

She shares why resilience doesn’t require hardship, how spirituality (a concept distinct from religion) can help children feel grounded, and why independent play and healthy risk-taking matter more than ever.

The conversation explores the difference between raising capable kids versus constantly protecting them, why parents’ own nervous systems shape family resilience, and how changing the stories we tell about our children can help them develop confidence and self-trust.

Here's where you can find Talia:

• https://taliakovacs.com
• Substack: https://substack.com/@taliakovacs
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taliakovacs/

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's the one thing you've purchased that has delivered outsized returns in joy and ease? We asked our listeners to tell us the one thing in their lives that has really overdelivered. From travel hacks to sleep upgrades, from time-savers to towels, here are some of our favorites.

If you want links to all of the amazing products mentioned in this episode, sign up for our monthly newsletter here!

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Deep Dive series is all about tips to stay sane while traveling with family —immediate or extended, kids younger or older in tow, across the state or across the globe!

We've both traveled with our extended families over and over again, and have loved the memories we've made together. But different bedtimes, sightseeing styles, and mealtime expectations can lead to unexpected conflict.

Laura in our Facebook group wrote in to say:

⁠"Might be a fun episode before summer: large family vacation traditions. I'm wondering if there are favorite games/foods/tips/funny stories on going away with lots of members of your non-immediate family."⁠

As usual, our listeners responded with great tips for maintaining both organization and sanity when vacationing with extended family, and in this episode we discuss them all, including:

• Which conversations to have ahead of time—and which conversations never to have at all
• Systems for family vacations that don't fall on one person (or one gender) to execute
• Limiting your non-negotiables as a nuclear family ahead of time

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/⁠

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What do hormones actually do—and why are they often misunderstood? We talk with Dr. Gillian Goddard, an endocrinologist and author of The Hormone Loop: An Empowering Guide to Restoring Hormonal Harmony from Puberty to Menopause. Dr. Goddard explains how hormones affect far more than reproduction, influencing everything from metabolism and sleep to mood, stress responses, and cardiovascular health.

She breaks down the concept of the "hormone loop" and explains the four major hormonal systems that work together to keep our bodies functioning: reproductive, thyroid, growth hormone, and adrenal (stress) loops. The conversation explores how hormonal changes during puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause can affect the entire body—not just reproductive health.

We also discuss why women's symptoms are so often dismissed, how cultural attitudes about hormones can prevent women from seeking care, and why tracking symptoms can help patients advocate for themselves more effectively.

Other topics include:

• The relationship between estrogen, the immune system, and thyroid disorders

• Hormone replacement therapy: benefits, misconceptions, and current research

• The role of GLP-1 medications in midlife health and weight management

Here's where you can find Dr. Goddard:

• @thesavvypatient on IG
• https://savvypatient.substack.com
• Buy THE HORMONE LOOP: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9780063455047

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does it mean to get “mogged,” to be “chalant,” or to “put the fries in the bag”? In this episode we attempt to decode the latest Gen Z slang. (Although now that we've cracked the code, all these words are so nerfed.)

Sign up for What Fresh Hell Plus on Supporting Cast to get all episodes ad-free, plus monthly bonus episodes. Supporting Cast works right where you already listen! Go to whatfreshhell.supportingcast.fm to subscribe in two taps for just $4.99 a month, or $39.99 a year.

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Deep Dive series revisits some of our past episodes on discerning what we need as moms, and then asking for it confidently.

Do you hate feeling unable to help people in crisis, or do you worry about getting too involved and stepping on toes? There are ways to give help to people in need that are productive and considerate, and our listeners wrote in with some excellent examples.

Amy and Margaret discuss:

• How to avoid the "let me know if you need anything" trap
• The "comfort in, dump out" model of caretaking
• The perils of too many lasagnas

The best help you can give may be something that feels inconsequential to you but is actually a huge help to the people in need. Whatever your role ends up being during a crisis, accept it graciously, and don't expect a hero's fanfare for your efforts.

Links!

Anne Helen Petersen: ⁠A Shortcut for Caring for Others (and Being Cared for Yourself)⁠

Susan Silk and Barry Goldman for the LA Times: ⁠"How not to say the wrong thing"⁠

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What should parents know if they're considering divorce? Margaret talks with family law attorneys Kristen Holstrom and Samantha McBride—the hosts of the "Custody Queens" podcast—about custody disputes, co-parenting conflict, child support, digital footprints, and the biggest mistakes people make during separation.

Drawing from years of experience in high-conflict custody and divorce cases, Kristen and Samantha explain how family court actually works, why “amicable” divorces can still require strong boundaries, and how parents can protect themselves and their children emotionally, financially, and legally.

The conversation covers:

• Why every custody case is unique—and why Facebook advice can backfire
• The difference between staying amicable and giving up your rights
• How courts evaluate custody arrangements and parenting concerns
• Child support myths, enforcement, and financial responsibility
• The long-term consequences of social media posts, texts, and digital evidence
• Why courts care more about safety concerns than personal betrayal
• Co-parenting with a difficult ex or a new romantic partner in the picture
• How therapy, documentation, and realistic expectations can reduce conflict

Here's where you can find Samantha and Kristen:

• https://custodyqueens.com/
• @custodyqueens and @custodyqueensonair on IG
• @custodyqueens on TikTok
• @custodyqueenson-air on YT
• Listen to "Custody Queens" wherever you listen to podcasts
• Custody Queens Off the Clock, Kristen and Sam's true crime pod

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices