As doctors and scientists do more research, we're finding out more and more why a healthy gut and microbiome are super important. Not only does gut health impact our overall health, but it can help us fight off diseases and other sickness.

Gastroenterologist Dr. Robynne Chutkan has become one of the leading voices in spreading the word about gut health. She's written 4 books, her latest being 'The Anti-Viral Gut: Tackling Pathogens From The Inside Out.' That's what we're chatting about today. How can a healthy gut help you fight off diseases such as COVID, and how certain things you're putting into your body may be working against you.

We all have a favorite HBO show. For most it's The Sopranos. Personally, my favorite is Tales From The Crypt and it continues to break my heart that the show is not available on HBOMax.

But for all the love we have for the programming on the network, do any of us know how HBO came to be? How did it start? What were the philosophies behind programming decisions?

On today's episode of Adult Education, I'm speaking with journalist and author John Koblin. He and Felix Gillette teamed up to write a book titled 'It's Not TV: The Spectacular Rise, Revolution, and Future of HBO.' This book has everything you could ever want to know about the network from its successes to its failures. I find the story to be fascinating and I hope you enjoy the conversation.

So glad to have Adam Doleac on the show this week. I had the chance to meet him a couple of times over the last few years. I became a fan right out of the gate. I love his voice and his energy.

Adam just dropped his debut album, 'Barstool Whiskey Wonderland.' We caught up about his life growing up in Mississippi, his early connection to Jameson Rodgers and our thoughts on the current state of the music industry.

Please enjoy my conversation with Adam Doleac!

Like many of you, I was bullied when I was younger. I had two particular bullies that seemed to follow me wherever I went up until high school. It's not fun. But, back in those days, bullying was viewed as a right of passage. Parents would always say it made you tougher.

That's not necessarily true, and we know that to be fact now thanks to research that's been done in recent years. Bullying has changed drastically with the inventions of smart phones and social media.

I caught up with Dr. Amanda Nickerson to discuss more about bullying and what's being done to help prevent it. She's the Director of the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention at the University at Buffalo Graduate School of Education. Amanda was a wealth of knowledge and I really loved this conversation.

YouTube…you all know what it is…in fact…there’s a strong possibility that you use it on a daily basis.  Whether it’s just for laughs…to learn something new…or to find out what’s coming soon to theaters…you can find just about anything you want on YouTube.  But…where did it come from?  How did it become this massive juggernaut in the tech world?  Does it get the credit it deserves for completely changing the internet game.

We’re going to talk about YouTube with tech reporter and journalist Mark Bergen.  He spent the last 2 plus years interviewing current and former YouTube employees…creators…and so many more to find out the story about YouTube.  He published his work in a book called LIKE COMMENT SUBSCRIBE: INSIDE YOUTUBE’S CHAOTIC RISE TO WORLD DOMINATION.

The book is fascinating.  I don’t think people understand how critical YouTube has been to our society.  It’s not only changed the way we use the internet…it’s also created all kinds of new industries and created jobs for millions of people.  Not to mention really being the basic ideas behind things like TikTok, Vine…Instagram and more.  We talk about all of these things in our conversation.  I hope you enjoy.

Today's conversation will take us to 1980's New York City during the height of the AIDS epidemic that swept through the gay community.

I'm joined by author Bill Konigsberg and we're talking about his new novel, 'Destination Unknown.' I don't often speak with fiction authors for this show but the premise for this story sounded so interesting. I'm glad I checked it out because it's a work of art.

Konigsberg transports us to this tumultuous time by introducing us to two young gay teens as they navigate life. They're complete opposites of each other on the outside. One closeted and the other out and proud. But beneath the surface there's a lot more going on.

What I really loved about this story is how it paints a picture of an era that I didn't know much about. I'm familiar with the AIDS epidemic but all I know is from articles and history books. This story gives me a different perspective from a couple of teenagers who were living it and learning about who they are through it.

I hope you enjoy my conversation with Bill Konigsberg.

We are social beings by nature. Yet millions of people say they experience regular feelings of loneliness. Feelings of isolation and loneliness have seen a sharp increase over the last decade. That was only exasperated by the pandemic when so many of us were trapped in our homes.

Marisa G. Franco, PhD has been doing research on friendships, social circles and the idea of platonic love and she's published many of her findings in her new book, 'Platonic: How The Science Of Attachment Can Help You Make-And Keep-Friends.'

We talk about the importance of friendships and how maybe I'm a weirdo because I prefer to be alone. I hope you enjoy this week's conversation.

When we had our daughter, my wife and I couldn't wait to start feeding her solid foods. We figured that every baby had this intuition, or instinct, that made them want to eat. It was not the case. We started with the traditional puree baby food you get at the store and our daughter hated it. She really struggled. But then my wife came across the idea of baby led weaning. Essentially it's all about giving food to the baby to have them use their hands to eat themselves. That worked so much better.

I tell you that story to introduce my guests for today. They are Judy Delaware and Megan McNamee, otherwise known as Feeding Littles. These women have taken over instagram with their hilarious videos and amazing tips to help parents get their children to eat. They've taught my family so much.

They recently teamed up with Ali Maffucci to write a recipe book called 'Feeding Littles and Beyond: 100 Baby-Led-Weaning-Friendly Recipes the Whole Family Will Love.' The book is great, and so was our conversation.

Finding a good leader in the workplace is becoming increasingly difficult. The idea of 'leadership' is not valued the way it should be. People often get promoted because it's the next step in their careers, but it's not because they have the capability to properly run a team.

I'll be honest, in all the bosses I've had in my career I can count on one hand how many have been leaders.

Carla Harris has taken her decades of experience in the business world to discuss leadership and how we can grow better leaders. It's all part of her new book 'Lead To Win: How To Be A Powerful, Impactful, Influential Leader In Any Environment.' She says it's not good enough to just have a management title. Workers are looking for good leaders and solid inspiration. When they don't find it, or they don't feel valued, they leave to find different opportunities.

I loved this conversation with Carla Harris. I hope you do as well.

Jane Esselstyn, and her mom Ann, have been blazing trails for the plant based community for decades. The two of them are bursting with energy and are living breathing examples of what kind of health benefits can come from eating a whole food plant based diet.

The pair recently published a book called 'Be A Plant Based Woman Warrior: Live Fierce, Stay Bold, Eat Delicious.' I had the chance to speak with Jane about their work and about all the amazing recipes that people can find in the book.