Atomic Moms

Meet Kate Bowler, our new podcast mom friend. She's funny, sweet, and really, really smart, but like in a very-humble-and-also-loves-reality-shows kind of way. She teaches at Duke Divinity School. She's a historian specializing in the American prosperity gospel: think Joel Osteen. And she bravely challenges the strongly held religious belief that "everything happens for a reason" in her New York Times bestselling memoir EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON: AND OTHER LIES I'VE LOVED. Because, let's be honest, you'd have to be insane to think there could be any possible "reason" for this beautiful, vibrant young mother living with incurable stage 4 cancer to have her life cut short. She is not going to get better. And she is letting us all in on her journey.

We discuss the challenges in finding a mom crew, the ways our children teach us to live moment to moment, and the Instagram-worthy "simplicity trap" (I really think I'm onto something here. And yes, I still want this.) And she shares honestly about living with an incurable disease. Glennon Doyle, author of #1 NYT bestseller Love Warrior writes "I left Kate's story feeling more present, grateful, and a hell of a lot less alone." I felt similarly after our conversation.

I am so grateful for this memoir (she reads it herself on audible!), her podcast, and our chat together.

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#163 We offer support in this up to the minute podcast with renowned trauma expert Stephanie Small, LMFT, including: what to say to our children about the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida, how to find the courage to send our kids to school, how to support our teachers, and what to tell our children to do if they are in a crisis situation.

Our returning guest Stephanie Small consulted with local officials following the shooting at Sandy Hook elementary, as well as in San Bernardino, Paris, and Aurora, Colorado. She has committed her life to helping people heal after these atrocities. I'm honored that she took my call. I have recorded this conversation today in hopes of getting her message out to concerned families across the nation. x Ellie Knaus

Join us on Instagram: @atomicmoms, Facebook, and our PRIVATE Facebook page: click here.

Owen O’Neill: sound engineer

Jeremy Turner: original theme music

Show Notes: www.atomicmoms.com

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Our kids suffer more stress and anxiety today than children did a century ago. Clinical neuropsychologist Dr. Bill Stixrud and testing guru Ned Johnson explain why and what we can do about it in their new work The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives. Whether your child makes herself sick getting straight A's or has mastered the art of procrastination, whether she's just starting preschool or waiting for the college acceptance letters, our guests have an important message for us all about our true role as parents. x Ellie Knaus

Join us on Instagram: @atomicmoms, Facebook, and our PRIVATE Facebook page: click here.

Show notes:

GUESTS: Ned Johnson is the founder of PrepMatters, DC Metro’s premier provider of academic tutoring services, test preparation and educational planning. Dr. Bill Stixrud is a clinical neuropsychologist. He’s a member of the Adjunct Faculty of the Children’s National Medical Center, and he holds a faculty appointment as Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the George Washington School of Medicine. Together they have written THE SELF-DRIVEN CHILD: THE SCIENCE AND SENSE OF GIVING YOUR KIDS MORE CONTROL OVER THEIR LIVES (Feb 13 2018).

Special Thanks to Owen O’Neill: sound engineering and Jeremy Turner: original theme composition

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You may not feel like a goddess right now, but it turns out we have a lot in common with Inanna, the Sumerian mother goddess of Heaven and Earth. Drawing upon mythology and decades of experience as a childbirth educator, Dr. Brita Bushnell brings healing light to the unique challenges and identity shifts we experience as mamas. After all, motherhood is the ultimate rite of passage.

This episode is our early Valentine’s gift to women at every stage of motherhood.  xx Ellie Knaus

Show notes: atomicmoms.com

Join us on Instagram: @atomicmoms, Facebook and our PRIVATE Facebook page: click here.

Guest: BrittaBushnell.com

Special Thanks to:

Owen O’Neill: Sound Engineering

Jeremy Turner: Composing

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#160 Award-winning journalist and Lead NPR digital education correspondent Anya Kamenetz chats with Ellie Knaus about the benefits and risks of screen time. We share current research, funny personal stories, and insights from Kamenetz’ brand new book The Art of Screen Time: How Your Family Can Balance Digital Media and Real Life (Public Affairs 2018). From moms answering emails at the park to educational learning apps for kids to video game playing dads (or at least my husband), screen time affects us all, and you don't want to miss this episode!

Join us on Instagram: @atomicmoms, Facebook and our PRIVATE Facebook page: click here.

Bio from AnyaKamenetz.net

Anya Kamenetz is the lead digital education correspondent for NPR. Her team’s blog is at NPR.org/ed. Previously she covered technology, innovation, sustainability and social entrepreneurship for five years as a staff writer for Fast Company magazine. She’s contributed to The Village Voice, The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, Slate, and O, the Oprah Magazine.

She was named a 2010 Game Changer in Education by the Huffington Post and won 2009, 2010, and 2015 National Awards from the Education Writers Association. NPR Ed won a 2017 Edward R. Murrow award for Innovation from the Radio Television Digital News Association.

Special Thanks to:

Owen O’Neill: Sound Engineering

Jeremy Turner: Composing

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#159 Everyone goes into a family vacation with high hopes, but can mothers ever catch a break? Fresh off a weeklong family trip, host Ellie Knaus shares practical travel tips, cautionary tales, and ridiculous parenting moments.

In this Atomic Moms listener Q and A, we cover a variety of topics from making the whining stop, to sneaking in moments of relaxation, to baby packing tips, to keeping your cool when your children are trying to make you insane. Listen up!

Atomic Moms podcast is supported by Kabrita Gentle Goat Milk Formula. If you’d like to see if Kabrita is right for your family, you can order your trial kit at kabritaUSA.com.

Join us on Instagram: @atomicmoms, Facebook, and our PRIVATE Facebook page: click here.

Special thanks this week to atomic mamas Jessica, Alaina, Jamie, Janelle, Elisabeth, Katie, Anna, Jen, Katelyn, Sara, Olivia, Jess, Michelle, Tanya, Lora, Amy, and Lauren for your thoughtful questions.

And Carla at Kabrita Gentle Goat Milk formula for reaching out about supporting the podcast.

Sound engineering: Owen O’Neill

Music: Jeremy Turner

Additional Show Notes available on AtomicMoms.com  

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#158 The delightful Becky Friedman, twice Emmy nominated head writer of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood (PBS Kids), is in studio. We talk about her transition from preschool teacher to children’s media creator, her recent west coast migration, the new mom friends search, our babies’ celebrity dopplegangers, Fred Rogers' legacy, our comedic screenwriter husbands named Adam (hers executive produced The Daily Show with John Stewart), the kid games we play while lying down from exhaustion, pregnancy while parenting a toddler, and her journey from intern to head writer of a cultural phenomenon. Of course, I also get to the bottom of important listener questions like: why doesn't Daniel Tiger wear pants and how his mom is so frigging calm? xx Ellie Knaus

Atomic Moms podcast is supported by Kabrita Gentle Goat Milk Formula. If you’d like to see if Kabrita is right for your family, you can order your trial kit at kabritaUSA.com.

Join us on Instagram: @atomicmoms, Facebook, and our PRIVATE Facebook page: click here.

GUEST BIO:

Becky Friedman is a children's television writer whose work can be seen on such shows as Super Why, Creative Galaxy, Wishenpoof, the Stinky and Dirty Show, and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Most notably, she has been Head Writer for Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, for which she received two Emmy nominations, and countless questions about why Daniel doesn't wear pants. Currently she is working as the story editor for the forthcoming animated series Esme and Roy produced by Sesame Workshop. Becky also opined on her love of Marlo Thomas in an essay published in the anthology "When We Were Free to be, Looking Back at a Children's Classic and the Difference it Made." After living in New York City for 15 years, Becky, her husband, and 2.5 year old daughter Meadow just made the leap and moved to Los Angeles, CA...and then decided to add to the chaos of a cross-country move by getting pregnant with baby #2, due in February. Becky tells herself she thrives in chaos. Becky may or may not be correct.

Special thanks this week to atomic mamas Angelique for introducing me to our guest, her childhood pal.

Also, Lisa B. for all that you do for children with cancer.

And...

Samantha Midkiff at Art19 (thrilled to learn from a woman in tech) 

Carla at Kabrita Gentle Goat Milk formula for reaching out about supporting the podcast.

Sound engineering: Owen O’Neill 

Music: Jeremy Turner 

Additional Show Notes:

Fred Rogers 1969 Senate Hearing we shared a clip from. Watch from the beginning!

Listen to Jim Beuer’s impersonations - “Nicholson and Joe Pesci at a Golf Course story” - on Howard Stern. 

Buddy Hackett  

Mother, Writer, Monster, Maid by Rufi Thorpe 

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After a forced evacuation from the raging California fires, film and television actress (and dynamite human being) Rachel Blanchard, her composer hubby Jeremy, and their baby girl Maxine spent the week with us at Chez Sztykiel! It was a terrible situation, but we were so grateful to get to have the time with them. In this hilarious mom-friend episode, we're talking: calm walks turned stressful stroller fits, dixie cups full of wine, babies falling off beds, husbands with solitary jobs (screenwriter vs composer), baby raising while working on set, co-sleeping, crib mishaps, moving houses, children's privacy, social media free weddings, photo book making, evacuating fires, surviving the holidays, finding quiet time, postpartum complications, pubes, and the ridiculous way Ellie got a parking ticket.

Rachel Blanchard is an actress best known for - PEEP SHOW, FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS & FARGO. She can currently be seen on Directv’s YOU, ME, HER. Ellie also wants everyone to remember she was Cher in the television show CLUELESS. Her husband Jeremy Turner is Former Assistant Principal Cello with the Metropolitan Opera turned Emmy nominated composer (and the composer of Atomic Moms theme song!). P.S. Rachel never got that donut.

Ellie Knaus acts as host, senior editor, executive producer, show runner, technical director, president of programming, you get the point. This is a podcast by one mom for all of us moms.

Special thanks to sound engineer Owen O'Neill and composer Jeremy Turner.

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Show Notes and Streaming: atomicmoms.com

Instagram: @atomicmoms

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Happy New Year! We're back with brand new content next week, but while I recover from some sort of holiday season plague, here's one of our favorites from May 2017. Certified organizer Robyn Reynolds swears we can organize ANYTHING that’s worth keeping and bring harmony into our homes. This single mom with a can-do spirit and no-nonsense attitude whips Ellie’s haphazard “put away” habits into shape.

She teaches us how to streamline our kitchen in order to turn our morning routines into a well-caffeinated machine.

She walks us through the process of getting our closets under control (and saving money in the process!)

She gives an excellent mom hack for how the heck to keep track of what-you-put-where in all those darn diaper bag pockets.

In this podcast you’ll also laugh at what a rainy day means at Robyn’s L.A. home and how to keep your cool with home maintenance issues, like when the 1-800 customer service for your broken washing machine is leaving you high and dry.

Bravo TV, are you listening? Cause Atomic Moms is pretty sure that Robyn Reynolds, Long Island’s answer to Marie Kondo, needs her own show! xx Ellie Knaus

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(October 18, 2016) Detroit has a mother; her name is Rev. Faith Fowler. Best-selling author Mitch Albom (“Tuesdays With Morrie”) says our guest Rev. Faith Fowler is “…the most important currency of our city, a loving, egoless, inspiring leader who doesn’t see color, doesn’t see class, who looks at our poorest, most neglected citizens and sees only hope and opportunity. And humor.” She cares for and empowers thousands, including homeless mothers and children. In this episode, we talk to this fierce champion of ALL HUMANS about race, breaking the poverty cycle, addiction, her non-profit entrepreneurial projects including Tiny Homes. We chat about why she goes “tire hunting”, how can we be most effective with our talents, and she answers tough questions about parenting.

Even when you’ve lost faith, there’s Faith.

Check out Rev. Faith Fowler’s memoir: “This Far By Faith: Twenty Years at Cass Community.” I loved it!

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