In this episode, we explore the surprising power of storytime to shape who children become. Grounded in rigorous research from Mar, Lee, Larsen, and Chen, we unpack how reading storybooks to children aged 3 to 8 can measurably boost empathy, honesty, and kindness.

Through clever experiments — from broccoli vs. cookie mind games to sticker-sharing challenges and honesty tests inspired by George Washington — scientists have shown that stories aren't just entertainment. They're training grounds for the heart. But not all stories work the same: human characters outperform animals, and tales that reward good behavior beat those that punish the bad. Most powerful of all? Consistent, shared reading with emotional discussion over time.

Whether you're a parent, educator, or just someone who believes in the transformative magic of books, this episode offers practical insight and hope: that empathy isn’t just taught — it’s told.

In this episode, I explore why boys struggle with reading from an early age and what we can do to help. I unpack the science behind the gender gap, from brain development to classroom expectations, and share practical, research-backed strategies for parents and educators. We’ll cover phonics, movement-based learning, reading role models, screen time, motivation, and more — plus real-world success stories that prove change is possible.

Have a book your boys love? Send it my way — I’m building a reading list for future episodes.

Wise Beyond Their Years – How Reading Nurtures Children's Empathy In this episode, I explore the link between reading and empathy — and why some kids seem to carry emotional insight well beyond their age. It turns out, reading doesn’t just help with language — it reshapes the way we understand others, make decisions, and handle life’s challenges.

I get into:

• The Sally-Anne test and the roots of perspective-taking

• How stories help kids recognize and name emotions

• The power of interactive fiction to simulate real-life consequences

• What research says about reading and long-term success — in school, work, and wellbeing

• And why, even in a digital age, books still matter

This one’s for anyone passionate about child development, education, or the future of storytelling. Thanks for listening — and as always, hug the ones you love.

Welcome to The Chronicle.

A little over two years ago, I founded Chronicle Creations. Since then, we've defined our flagship product and assembled an incredibly talented team to bring it to life. That product is Dreambook — a story creation app that harnesses the power of generative AI to help children imagine, create, and explore their own narratives.

In this reboot of the podcast, I want to share the journey that brought us here: how Chronicle began, how Dreambook took shape, and where we’re headed next.

So — stay a while and listen. This is the story behind The Chronicle.

Franz Alvardo has watched the world of design evolve and along with it his career from the material to digital. Franz started at a jewelery story and over a ten year career now works as a principal designer at T-mobile and has amassed over 100 million downloads associated with the projects he's worked on. Many have heard of a full-stack developer, Franz is a full stack designer. Perhaps most evidently in his active desire to help others create. You can usually tell a true artist when they do what they're good at for free, so long as it's an interesting project.

I'm back after a half a year and ready to start this creative thing all over again. Let's get to work.

On this episode of the podcast we get into a good idea I learned from the author, Simon Sinek. What follows is a discussion of the movie 'Insomnia' one of Christopher Nolan's first which followed the wildly successful 'Memento. Featuring an excellent performance from Al Pacino and Robin Williams it is without question a fantastic film. Then, we end it all of with a discussion of love, heart break, and how at one point I used to be involved with music production.

From swimming with dolphins to a dicussion of corporate evil. The interstice podcast will not subject itself to things like being beholden to one particular range of topics.

Ever in search of the most light-hearted topics for the podcast this episode I chose to focus on the most cheery of all, death. Not only that of course, human evolution found its way in there as well. Finally we get into a discussion of what it takes growing older to avoid become embittered or left behind by life. You know, fun stuff.

I ran a social experiment on myself using a companion ai app. The results were very interesting. It will be a fascinating thing to see how ai companions and the relationships they have with us meat bags evolve over the next decade. If you thought life was weird now, just you wait. Other than that we go hard on the nerd discussion, touching on a great new indy game game I got to experience called 'Gris' as well we discuss the push pull history between aaa and indy games.