The Talk

In part one of our exploration of communication with kids about race and skin color, we hear from Sarah Henson-Darko and Kwame Darko, a multiracial couple about the ways they engage on the subject of race with their kids: From being aware of what's happening in culture at large, to leaning in to their Ghanaian heritage, to preparing for "The Talk"—the one about surviving in your skin as a person of color.
We also have a conversation with actor, musician, author, and entrepreneur Justin Guarini, about growing up split down the lines of his own race, struggling to find belonging, and how he has finally begun to fully take ownership of his own identity as a mixed-race person.
You can find "The Talk" on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and if you'd like to contribute to the conversation by sharing your story about one of our episode topics, you can do so by sending a voice memo or an email to [email protected].

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When we talk about communication most of us default to the assumption that we're talking about...talking. But in this episode we start exploring the importance of non-verbal communication, and especially the ways that relates to our communication with our kids.
We chat with Yolanda Williams about her raising her daughter Gia, advocacy and racial bias in the medical community, and about why viewing single parents as superheroes is counterproductive.
We also talk with Dr. Patricia Speier about the importance of understanding non-verbal communication, and about various strategies that all parents can learn and employ to maximize effective communication between parents and kids.
You can find "The Talk" on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and If you'd like to contribute to the conversation by sharing your story about one of our episode topics, you can do so by sending a voice memo or an email to [email protected].

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Leo Wolters-Tejera is the creator of Conversations Official, an interfaith, intersectional, multi-platform community group that facilitates spiritually-minded conversations about life, belief, and the intersection of the two.
In this episode we have a chat with Leo about the ways western evangelical Christian culture have shaped our country's perceptions of gender, what is going well in that conversation, and how we can prepare future generations to see and interact with gender in healthy ways.
You can find Leo and Conversations in all its various forms by visiting ConversationsOfficial.com.
You can find "The Talk" on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and If you'd like to contribute to the conversation by sharing your story about one of our episode topics, you can do so by sending a voice memo or an email to [email protected].

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Parenting Forward’s Cindy Wang Brandt is a writer, podcaster, speaker, and conference host who has built a valuable community around the concept of parenting with a focus on spirituality but absent of religious dogma.
Cindy and I sat down for an informal conversation and discussed our podcasts, being brought up in church (and then leaving church), how our own parents influence our relationships with our kids, and what it means to strive to raise kids who are socially, globally, and culturally conscious human beings.
You can find Cindy's work at cindywangbrandt.com, and be sure to check out her facebook group, Raising Children Unfundamentalist, a wonderful community for folks who want to parent in healthy moral and ethical ways, without the structures and strictures of organized religion.
You can find "The Talk" on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and If you'd like to contribute to the conversation by sharing your story about one of our episode topics, you can do so by sending a voice memo or an email to [email protected].

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For centuries gender roles and allowable expressions of gender have been dictated for boys and girls, men and women, by a rigid binary system of cultural expectations. Now, more than ever, the boundaries of gender are being flexed, experimented with, and outright shattered as we move into a time of greater acceptance for and celebration of individuals who desire to live and express themselves authentically through their gender identity.
In this conversation with writer and professor Dr. Emer O'Toole, we talk about the performative aspects of gender, social conditioning, pronouns, and why many parents aren't doing as much as they think they are when it comes to providing a gender liberated environment for their children.
We also hear from Lori Mannette, who first appeared in our episode BODIES (Part 2), about her adopted child Charlie, who is intersex, and how they navigate the world of gender in their lives.
You can find "The Talk" on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, and If you'd like to contribute to the conversation by sharing your story about one of our episode topics, you can do so by sending a voice memo or an email to [email protected].

Support the show