• 41 minutes 22 seconds
    Fresh Take: Dan Heath on Fulfilling Careers, Better Decision Making, and What Kids Remember Most About Childhood

    What does it really take to build a fulfilling life—and how do we help our kids do the same? Bestselling author and host of the podcast "What It's Like to Be..." Dan Heath joins Amy for a conversation that challenges some of the biggest assumptions parents make about success, careers, decision making, and what their kids will remember most about growing up.

    Dan shares why meaningful work often comes from unexpected places and why room for experimentation and exploration is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children.

    Dan and Amy discuss:

    • Why there's no such thing as a universally "good" career
    • How to help kids discover passions without putting pressure on them
    • A simple exercise that creates unforgettable family memories
    • Why experimentation leads to more fulfilling work and life
    • Four common decision-making "villains"—and how to avoid them
    • Practical ways to make parenting, work, and everyday decisions with more clarity

    Here's where you can find Dan:

    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

    24 July 2026, 5:30 am
  • 37 minutes 37 seconds
    How Can Siblings Be Such Total Opposites?

    If you've ever looked at your very different children and wondered how they could possibly share the same DNA, same parents, and same upbringing, you're not alone— and you're imagining things.

    Research shows that while siblings are usually more alike in appearance and intelligence than we sometimes think, their personalities are as different from one another as they would be from a stranger on the street.

    Why is that? This week, we discuss:

    • Why siblings can have vastly different personalities despite common upbringings
    • How birth order influences family dynamics
    • Why "de-identification" tends to be more intense when siblings are closer in age
    • Why "the same household" doesn't actually tell the whole story Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

    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

    22 July 2026, 5:30 am
  • 32 minutes 39 seconds
    DEEP DIVE: Gaia Bernstein on Gaining Control Over Addictive Technologies

    This month, our "Deep Dive" is into some of our past episodes about screen time: the effects it has on our kids, how tech companies engineer their devices to be as addictive as possible, and how we can allow our kids to enjoy screens with supportive limits.

    How do we untangle ourselves from technology? We give ourselves a hard time for not being able to put our screens down, but the platforms we use are designed to be addictive. It's not our fault.

    ⁠Gaia Bernstein⁠'s new book: ⁠Unwired: Gaining Control Over Addictive Technologies⁠ shatters the illusion that we can control how much time we spend on our screens by the force of willpower, timers, or yelling.

    Margaret and Gaia discuss:

    • The psychological forces that make us keep scrolling
    • What Big Tech and Big Tobacco have in common
    • Why screen time limiters and other similar methods don't work

    Here's where you can find Gaia:


    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

    20 July 2026, 5:30 am
  • 38 minutes 55 seconds
    Fresh Take: Dr. Cassidy Freitas on How to Stay Calm When Parenting Feels Overwhelming

    What if the fact that we sometimes we "lose it" as parents doesn't make us bad parents? What if those times stem from an overwhelmed nervous system, and what happens when we get curious about what's underneath?

    Marriage and family therapist Dr. Cassidy Freitas, host of the "Holding Space" podcast and author of the new book MOM NEEDS A MOMENT, explains why parents "lose it," what our emotional reactions are really telling us, and how we can interrupt generational patterns without striving for perfection.

    In this episode, you'll learn:

    • How childhood experiences shape your parenting triggers today.
    • The difference between guilt and shame.
    • Why repair after conflict is often more powerful than trying to be a perfect parent.
    • How social media and intensive parenting culture fuel parental burnout and self-criticism.
    • What "creating margin" means—and why a few moments of space can transform your relationship with your children.
    • How to recognize your triggers before reacting.
    • The simple phrase Dr. Freitas uses to calm her nervous system in difficult parenting moments.

    Here's where you can find Dr. Freitas:

    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

    17 July 2026, 5:30 am
  • 42 minutes 53 seconds
    How Should We Support Our Kids' Passions?

    What are the best ways for us to support our kids' interests? Should we help them become the best gymnasts and singers they can be, as soon as they show glimmers of true interest? Or are they better off exploring many interests, without all of that added pressure?

    From travel sports to elite ballet training and specialized extracurriculars, childhood activities feel increasingly professionalized, with a lot less room for beginners, dabblers, or kids who just want to have fun.

    This week, we're wondering whether encouraging curiosity and exploration may be healthier than pushing early specialization.

    We discuss:

    • The difference between supporting a child's interests and managing their career
    • Why exploration—not specialization—is often the key to discovering lifelong passions
    • How parents can praise effort and enjoyment instead of performance
    • Why your child's purpose may be much bigger than any single job or talent
    • How to encourage resilience when interests change or dreams evolve

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

    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

    15 July 2026, 5:30 am
  • 33 minutes 52 seconds
    DEEP DIVE: Catherine Pearlman on Kids and Phones

    This month, our "Deep Dive" is into some of our past episodes about screen time: the effects it has on our kids, how tech companies engineer their devices to be as addictive as possible, and how we can allow our kids to enjoy screens with supportive limits.


    The dreaded question "When should my kid get a phone?" is one we're asked often. These days "whether" is not part of the equation, and the ages at which our kids' peers are getting phones seems younger than ever.

    Dr. Catherine Pearlman, author of the new book ⁠First Phone: A Child's Guide To Digital Responsibility, Safety, and Etiquette⁠, is the founder of ⁠The Family Coach⁠ and a licensed clinical social worker who has been working with children and families for more than 25 years. First Phone– a book written not for parents, but for our kids– puts the risks and rewards of a phone in perspective for our children, and helps them consider what parameters they themselves might want to put on their phones and how they can use them wisely.

    In this episode, Catherine, Amy and Margaret discuss:

    • What we often don't think about when we hand our kids their first phones [12:55]
    • When kids should get their own social media accounts [17:55]
    • How to teach kids about digital consent [31:00]

    Here's where you can find Catherine:

    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

    13 July 2026, 5:30 am
  • 42 minutes 49 seconds
    Fresh Take: Laura Clery on Codependency, Co-Parenting, and Starting Over

    Laura Clery has built a massive digital empire, of over 25 million followers, offering her own blend of silly sketch comedy and unflinchingly vulnerable reality. In this interview, Laura tells Margaret about her new memoir, WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU MAKES YOU HOTTER , and the unraveling of a marriage shaped by sobriety, relapse, codependency, fame, and the pressure of living so much of life online.

    Laura and Margaret discuss:

    • Her experience raising a child on the autism spectrum
    • What happens when a relationship falls apart in public
    • Why it can be hard to recognize destructive patterns from the inside
    • How motherhood has made Laura brave

    Here's where you can find Laura:

    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

    10 July 2026, 5:30 am
  • 40 minutes 23 seconds
    What Fresh Hell Is... Being the Only Grownup in the Room?

    You know how sometimes when you're in charge, in a really hard moment, you keep watching the door for an actual grownup to show up? Because it can't possibly be 42-year-old YOU who's in charge at this moment?

    In this episode we discuss the strange experience of being the person in charge while also feeling wildly underqualified. From broken bones and dinner logistics to taxes, travel mishaps, and medical decision-making, here are the times when we— and our listeners— were hoping for an authorit figure besides ourselves to show up and fix everything.

    Join our Facebook group to see all of our listeners' hilarious responses!

    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

    8 July 2026, 5:30 am
  • 30 minutes 22 seconds
    DEEP DIVE: Susan Linn on How “Big Tech” Targets Our Kids

    This month, our "Deep Dive" is into some of our past episodes about screen time: the effects it has on our kids, how tech companies engineer their devices to be as addictive as possible, and how we can allow our kids to enjoy screens with supportive limits.

    Psychologist Susan Linn, author of ⁠WHO'S RAISING THE KIDS? BIG TECH, BIG BUSINESS, AND THE LIVES OF CHILDREN⁠, isn't anti-technology. She's anti-advertising to children, and has spent her long career spotlighting the "monumental shift towards a digitized-commercialized childhood."

    With smart speakers and screens at arms' reach wherever kids go, digital technologies continue to evolve much faster than our understanding of the ramifications of their dominance in our kids' lives.

    Susan began her career as award-winning ventriloquist (here she is on ⁠Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood⁠!) and has become a world-renowned expert on creative play and the impact of media and commercial marketing on children. In this episode, Susan tells us

    • Why her point isn't to make parents feel guilty
    • Why the best kinds of toys for children do very little
    • How branding can creep in where we sometimes don't even perceive it
    • What we can do to set parameters on the commercializing of our own kids' lives

    Here's where you can find Susan:

    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

    6 July 2026, 5:30 am
  • 48 minutes 45 seconds
    BEST OF: What Kind of Monster?

    There are these things that you just don't understand why anybody would do. But some people do them.

    We aren't about judgment at the What Fresh Hell podcast, but we do sometimes have to ask: what kind of monster?

    What kind of monster listens to videos on speaker?

    Or keeps the keyboard clicks on their phone?

    What kind of monster takes up two parking spots?

    Puts empty cereal boxes back in the cabinet?

    Gives small children toys with one hundred tiny pieces?

    We went to our ⁠Facebook page⁠ and we asked people to share what kind of monsters they were encountering on a daily basis. In this episode we explore quite a few. And here's a disclaimer: we may each have been one or more of these monsters before.

    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

    3 July 2026, 5:30 am
  • 44 minutes 30 seconds
    When It's Too Much Change All at Once

    Have you ever felt like your life consisted of too many moving parts at the same time? In this episode, we explore why life tends to deliver too much change at once—and the difference between an actual change and the larger, more uncertain area of transition that both precedes and follows any big change.

    We discuss:

    • Why even positive and worked-toward life transitions can feel overwhelming once they arrive
    • What "change saturation" and "change fatigue" look like
    • How your business partners, family members, or loved ones might be going through the same change, but on a very different transition timeline

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

    Get tickets to see Amy in 42nd Street at the Sharon Playhouse, July 25th through August 9th! sharonplayhouse.org/42nd-street

    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

    1 July 2026, 5:30 am
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