Positive Parenting | Mr. Dad

Mark Borg, author of Don’t Be a Dick. Topic: Change yourself, change your world. Issues: What does it mean to be a dick and why are some people (including ourselves) that way? The difference between internal dicks and external dicks; how to quit being a dick—and get others to quit too; how to avoid backsliding; lessons for parents; much more

Liz Frazier, author of Beyond Piggy Banks and Lemonade Stands. Topic: How to teach young kids about finance. Issues: The “right” to talk with kids about money; teaching about money in an increasingly cashless society; allowances; what is money, how do we get it, and what do we do with it? Advanced topics such as interest, lending, the economy, and more.

Leslie Schrock, author of Bumpin’. Topic: Navigating the journey from conception through birth—and beyond. Issues: Getting your bodies and your lives ready; drafting your healthcare dream team; pregnancy issues and myths (such as that having an epidural or a c-section is “failure”); difference between a birth plan and going overboard; what you don’t know about having a baby; the importance of communication between partners; dad’s important role; much more.

Mike Berland, author of Become a Fat-Burning Machine. Topic: Overcoming metabolic syndrome. Issues: How to lose the belly fat, end sugar cravings, and gain energy; identifying foods that store fat vs. those that burn it; a new workout strategy that burns fat more effectively than whatever you’re doing right now; diet and fitness myths that are sabotaging your success; implementing these fat burning and fitness strategies with your family.

Kurt Newman, author of Healing Children. Topic: Stories from the frontiers of pediatric medicine. Issues: A longtime pediatric surgeon talks about the story of his career and some of the hundreds of children he’s treated; the triumphs and tragedies he’s seen; the revolution taking place in children’s medicine; what children need to thrive in today’s world.

Devorah Heitner, author of Screenwise. Topic: Helping kids thrive and survive in their digital world. Issues: The differences between “digital natives” and “digital immigrants,” assessing your own digital literacy; becoming a tech-positive parent; friendship and dating in the digital age; how much screen time do kids really have? the “forever” nature of the Internet; where do we go from here?

Lauren Sandler, author of One and Only. Topic: The freedom of having an only child, and the joy of being one. Issues: What are only children really like? Debunking stereotypes and myths about “onlies”; the benefits to children, relationships, and society of having–and being–an only child.

Jessica Lamb-Shapiro, author of Promise Land. Topic: One woman’s journey through America’s self-help culture. Issues: Overcoming phobias and fears; walking on hot coals; coping with grief at the saddest camp in the world; the trouble with the Law of Attraction; the best and the worst of the self-help gurus.

George Lynn and Cynthia Johnson, coauthors of Breaking the Trance. Topic: Parenting the screen-dependent child. Issues: The difference between dependence and addiction; how to tell whether your child is screen dependent; what screen dependence does to children’s mind, nervous system, and body; effects on boys of screen dependence; regaining control.

Jennifer Hanin, author of What to Do When You Can’t Get Pregnant. Topic: Options for couples facing fertility issues. Issues: Advances in natural products for women; new supplements, medications, and treatment protocols; the latest in egg freezing, vitrification, gender selection, and genetic testing.

Terri Apter, author of Passing Judgment. Topic: Praise and blame in everyday life. Issues: The important role that praise and blame play in relationships (whether between adults or between parents and children); the “magic ratio” or praise to blame and how it correlates to a couple’s probability of staying together; the damage done by insincere praise; how social media has made it easier to gossip and blame others.

Sam Weinman, author of Win at Losing. Topic: How our biggest setbacks can lead to our greatest gains. Issues: How we win from losing (and sometimes lose from winning); inspirational stories from famous people on how they coped with loss and use it to propel them to even greater success.

Catherine Price, author of Vitamania. Topic: How vitamins revolutionized the way we think about food. Issues: How vitamins were discovered and named; the surprising story of America’s blind devotion to vitamins at the expense of our health; why so much we “know” about vitamins is actually wrong; what vitamins actually do (and don’t do).

Susan Greenhalgh, author of Fat-Talk Nation. Topic: The human costs of America’s war on fat. Issues: The politics and culture of fat in America; how the war on fat damages the physical and emotional health of our young people and disrupts families and intimate relationships; how to change the national conversation and reframe our relationship with our bodies and our health.

Leon Scott Baxter, author of Secrets of Safety-Net Parenting. Topic: Raising happy and successful children. Issues: The importance of letting our children fail—and learn from the experience; helping children find their passions and strengths; the difference between nudging a child in a particular direction and pushing; why you’re not your child’s friend—and shouldn’t try to be.