“You’re being a better neighbor by NOT putting chemicals on your lawn.” –Dr. Claire Gervais
Last week it was about how to go organic with your lawn. This week we’re addressing why.
Dr. Claire Gervais, a family physician on faculty at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, explains why eliminating pesticides from our lawn care routine is critical to our health.
Listen to her interview with Kathleen:
And if you missed it, here’s part one on organic lawn care (how to go organic) with horticulturist Dr. Astrid Newenhouse.
“Some of the best organic farmers and gardeners say we don’t grow food, we grow soil…we feed the soil, the soil feeds us.” –Gene Rosow
We know the importance of planting trees, conserving water, going organic…but there’s another crucial element to think about. Yes, we’re talking dirt. The health and availability of our soil affects the health and availability of our food.
And as filmmaker Gene Rosow depicts in his Sundance award-winning documentary Dirt!, we are quickly putting it at risk through industrial agriculture, pesticides, monocrops and urban development. In his interview with Kathleen, Gene explains why taking care of our soil is so important and what we can do to help create change. (Hint: Organizing a community screening of Dirt! is a good place to start).
Listen to Gene’s interview (he dishes on Sundance too):
Listen to Kathleen’s monologue about making simple changes in our own lives that can add up to big changes in the market and for our earth.
Is it just us, or does talk about hormones seem to be creeping up in every aspect of our health these days?
On a recent show Captain Charles Moore talked about how plastics in our ocean are disrupting and distorting hormones in fish leading to big health hazards for humans. Then, Dr. Michael Aziz came on the show to address how our food choices can wreak hormonal havoc on our bodies—causing obesity, diabetes and cancer.
And most recently, Dr. Alan Dattner, a holistic dermatologist, talked to Kathleen about how hormones contribute to wrinkles, brown spots and acne that appear on our aging faces. Fun.
So what can we do to keep our aging skin looking healthy? Dr. Dattner offers safe, holistic remedies to help make your skin look its best.
Listen to Dr. Dattner’s interview:
Listen to Kathleen’s monologue to hear about one of her favorite non-toxic skin care products:
When people and planet factor into the bottom line...
Part of the thrill of doing this job is talking to people who excite the heck out of me. These are the passionate and visionary ones who forge their own path and do what they love. They know their craft forward and backward. They are infectious.
Who knew that tea could have you on the edge of your seat? Or as my sound engineer Sarah said as I walked out the studio, “Who knew that tea could be so damn interesting?”
Joshua is clearly a man who loves his work. That ignites the sleeping giant in all of us and equally important gets us fired up about healthier options to put into our body.
Listen to the interview and you'll know exactly what I mean:
And did I mention Josh is a political science grad? Me too. Bonus points. (smile)
We need to support business leaders like Joshua—those who factor people and planet into the bottom line. It’s why I have chosen to partner with Rishi Tea. You too can send a clear message that organic and fair trade and high quality is important to you—by voting with your wallet.
“The stuff that gets thrown away from the meat plants for human consumption usually ends up in the dog food.” –Nadine M. Rosin
Nadine M. Rosin’s dog, Buttons, was diagnosed with cancer at eight years old and was given six weeks to live. Through detox and diet, she helped Buttons beat cancer and live 19 long, happy years.
In her interview with Kathleen, Nadine, now an author and holistic pet care consultant, talks about how commercial pet food (if you can call it food) and toxins in our homes (household chemical cleaners, harsh detergents and air fresheners) are making our pets sick. But she offers some safe alternatives and shares how a holistic approach to pet health can prolong our animals’ best years.
This information will make any pet owner think twice.
And when that inevitable time comes, Nadine also talks about how to say good-bye.
Listen to Nadine’s interview:
Listen to Kathleen’s monologue and find out why this was such a tough show for her:
With a mind-blowing 44% of men and 25% of women having extra-marital affairs, it takes true dedication to not become another statistic. That’s where marriage counseling can help.
Couples therapist Dr. Michelle Gannon flew all the way across the country to be in the studio with Kathleen and give our listeners a free counseling session.
So get out a pen and paper because whether you’re happily married or have seen better days, Dr. Gannon shares practical information on how to handle the stickier situations in marriage. And we hope that you don’t have to use this advice, but she also addresses how couples can recover (and even grow) from the ultimate heart breaker—infidelity.
Listen to Dr. Gannon’s interview:
Listen to Kathleen’s monologue and find out why she’s a huge fan (and user!) of couples counseling:
We love it when listeners share their stories with us. And recently we had Christine Pierangeli on the air to talk about how the show got her fired up to make some changes in her life.
Christine had just heard the podcast of Kathleen’s interview with best-selling author Kathy Freston (from about a year ago) and got turned on to her 21-day Quantum Wellness Cleanse—no caffeine, no animal products, no gluten, no caffeine and no sugar. She called into the show on day 15 to report in on how she was doing…
“I’m finding that I don’t have those sugar lows that I might otherwise have. I just feel like my body is able to glide along at just a little bit of an easier, gentler pace.”
Listen to the rest of Kathleen and Christine’s conversation:
It’s so fun to hear how you’ve all been inspired by our guests. So if you want to be a caller on the show and weigh in on any of our topics or share your own story, shoot us an email.
“We need to be active citizens in order to protect our own health” -Dr. Marion Nestle
We have more food being produced in our country than ever before, but is that a good thing? Not when it means that food companies are encouraging people to eat more and we’re getting sicker (and bigger) every day because of it.
So if you’re fired up about food like we are, Dr. Marion Nestle is your gal. She knows food. She knows what’s in it, where it comes from…and how power players are working behind the scenes to influence it, often at the expense of our health.
Kathleen recently chatted with this food guru about the food industry and its wide-reaching power to not only dictate what’s available and affordable, but also its influence over government leaders through deep pockets and campaign funding. Dr. Nestle exposes unethical marketing practices, food lobbyists and government subsidies for the ingredients that make up most of the processed junk we eat. And most importantly, she shares how we as consumers can fight back.
Listen to Dr. Marion Nestle’s interview:
Listen to Kathleen’s monologue for her thoughts on the crap food we collectively pay for with our tax dollars and expanding waistlines:
“Unwittingly, we get good at depression." ~Dr. Richard O'Connor
Dr. Richard O’Connor’s book Undoing Depression blew me away and his interview served up a powerful perspective on depression. A perspective well beyond more pills.
Because while medication can sometimes fix our brain chemicals (actually rarely except for the most severely depressed), they do nothing to address our habits of depression. To overcome depression, we also need "to replace depressive patterns of thinking, relating, and behaving with a new and more effective set of skills."
While Dr. O’Connor beautifully addressed some specific actions during the interview, there were many things we did not get to on air. I wanted to point out at least three very practical items from his book. I worry that these may seem oversimplified in this format, but I thought they were worth putting out there.
Hands on activities to help ‘undo’ depression:
3 good things: Once you turn off the light at bedtime, think of 3 good things that happened that day. (Even small things like what you had for lunch, an attractive person you saw, or a song you heard.) As you focus on those things, notice where you feel the joy in your body. Hold on to that moment and visualize the neurons in your brain forming new happiness circuits. (Yes, you are actually rewiring your brain with this task, helping to reset your happiness set point.*) Let yourself drift off to sleep with these good feelings.
Avoid enablers. The people who make it easy for you to perform your self-defeating behaviors.
Mood journal: When you start to feel yourself spiral into depression or anxiety, write down how and what you’re feeling. Doing so will allow you to start to see patterns in your moods so that you begin to realize they don’t just come ‘out of the blue’. Knowing the the triggers can help us manage them. Seeing a pattern will make us feel less crazy or out of control. Here is a link describing the mood journal in more detail: http://www.undoingdepression.com/livingwell/lwmoodjounal.html
*Likewise, research has shown that negative thoughts destroy these circuits in the brain. See Undoing Depressionfor more details.
Listen to Dr. Richard O'Connor's interview:
And here's my monologue...a few insights from my days selling psychiatric drugs:
What do you when you have a guest that makes your day and changes your audience’s life? You bring him back, of course.
The first time we booked Sir Ken Robinson I was excited because like millions of others I had seen his inspiring 2006 TED talk about creativity and had read his books. But I wasn’t prepared for the very real person behind the personality of “Sir Ken”. And although I knew he’d be motivating, I didn’t expect the dramatic and immediate impact that interview would have on individual listeners.
Many of you contacted me to say how that show moved you to go back to school, launch that business, change jobs, or take some time to seriously rethink where you are, how you got here, and what to do next. There’s very little that compares to getting this kind of feedback from you.
But this was also personal for me. Personal from the standpoint that I have been there and done that with dramatic changes in my work life—from selling pills, to making movies, to launching this radio show. I know how difficult it can be to make that jump and how incredibly sweet life can taste when you do. So I’m here. Use me (or the show) if you’re ready to bust out...and know that you’re not alone.
Noteworthy:
There’s one more thing about Sir Ken that is worth mentioning. In my role as host, I’m typically the one who asks the questions and thoroughly researches the guests. My job is to draw information and emotional responses from them and generally that is a one way street.
But Sir Ken surprised me. He asked me questions back. And he cared to hear my answers. He knew what to ask because he had actually taken the time to find out a little about me before coming on air. Because of that, this was not just an interview, but an authentic conversation. I realized I enjoyed it so much, not because it was rare in my line of work, but because it’s rare in life.
It’s listening that makes people so damn unforgettable…
My most recent interview with Sir Ken: Feel the fear...and jump!
And here's my monologue about becoming "fearless".
I'm a filmmaker, writer, and talk radio host. After a decade of schlepping drugs for big pharma, I finally got the ovaries to walk away from my career as a pill pusher and share what I knew on the big screen. I wrote and directed the feature film Side Effects (starring Katherine Heigl) as well as...(Read full bio)
The making of Side Effects starring Katherine Heigl
