The Matt Townsend Show

Matt Townsend specializes in energizing and involving audiences with his unique approach to building and maintaining successful relationships. Known as one of America’s top presenters in the field of Human Relations and Development, Matt blends humor and story telling with interactive, real-life solutions that motivate and inspire his listeners.

Latest Episodes:

Solar Eclipse, Turning Hardship into Success, Screen Cleaning Aug 11, 2017

Show notes

August Solar Eclipse (15:01) Darin Ragozzine is an Assistant Professor at Brigham Young University where he specializes in Planetary Science, Astrophysics, Exoplanets, and Astrostatistics. He has been the Science Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on multiple NASA grants and the Principal Investigator of multiple Hubble Space Telescope proposals/grants. A solar eclipse will be viewable in the United States on August 21st. This is the first total solar eclipse in the United States since June 8, 1918, and it will be the last one until the year 2024. Darin Ragozzine shares the significance of this event. The Adversity Advantage: Turn Your Childhood Hardship into Career and Life Success (1:03:33) Jude Miller Burke, Ph.D., is a psychologist, national speaker, author, and leadership coach. She owns her own business JAMB Consulting. Her special areas of expertise include management consulting, leadership development, team effectiveness, and employee performance improvement. She has worked for Honeywell and United Health Group where she provided and designed employee counseling programs. As an adult, you go to work, form relationships, and accomplish tasks on a daily basis. You probably have many successes and also issues that are constantly irritating or downright problematic for you. You may have work distress that keeps you awake at night ruminating about a possible solution. Often we look for answers and blame others for the distress, but often the answers to our work problems are within us. These problems require us to become students of life. In The Adversity Advantage, Jude Miller Burke shares her unique study to determine what childhood problems could lead to success and why. Screen Cleaning (1:55:10) Jeff Simpson talks about movies and TV helping you find family friendly options. Today he speaks with Neal Harmon, an Internet Entrepreneur and the co-founder of internet streaming service Vidangel which provides the ability for the user to choose what content to take out of the movie to make it more fa

ATM Security, Marriage in Motion,Strength Versus Structure Aug 10, 2017

Show notes

Pradeep Atrey - How secure are today’s ATMs? (16:49) Pradeep Atrey, Ph.D., an Associate Professor of Computer Science at the University of Albany. Dr. Atrey studies issues related to homeland security and privacy issues in multimedia surveillance systems. Automated teller machines, better known as ATMs, just turned 50 this past June. Yet, even 50 years later, we still have problems keeping the machines secure. Credit cards now have pins and magnetic strips, and the ATMs have cameras all around them, but thieves have kept up with the technology changes. Just how secure are today’s ATMs? Dr. Atrey, explains the current security surrounding the ATM's we use every day. Marriage in Motion (1:03:49) Laura Heck is a therapist with a private practice in Salt Lake City. She is a graduate of Antioch University Seattle and has completed advanced clinical training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy. Laura has served as the Director of Professional Development at The Gottman Institute (TGI) where she co-developed The Gottman Seven Principles Program. Laura’s passion to teach has led her to co-found forBetter, an instruction based web platform allowing couples to access powerful research based tips and tools for creating intimate relationships that are forBetter. We should always strive to make our marriage a top priority no matter what life brings. Constant communication, intentional quality time, and laughter keep us focused on building our relationship with each other. Marriage can be the most important relationship in your life and needs constant care and attention. When two people spend a lot of time together and start to share a life they are bound to disagree from time to time. These disagreements can be big or small, ranging from failing to complete a chore to what our financial situation is. Laura Heck shares a few helpful insights from her time as a marriage and family therapist. Strength Versus Structure (1:50:07) Timothy Pychyl, Ph.D, is the director of the Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University.

Problems with Prisons, Why Won't You Apologize, Dirt Is Good Aug 09, 2017

Show notes

Behind the walls of America’s prisons (16:02) Heather Ann Thompson, Ph.D., is a native Detroiter and historian on the faculty of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in the departments of Afro-American and African Studies, History, and the Residential College. She is the author of the book, Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy. The severe heat in Texas prisons is linked to several deaths and lawsuits. A new court order is forcing authorities to move over 1 thousand Texas prisoners to cooler cells, saying the inmates need air conditioning. In fact, the judge ruled that temperatures in some of the prisons are unconstitutional. Do prisoners deserve the same human and constitutional rights as those of us that are outside of prison? Heather Ann Thompson explains some issues surrounding the US prison system and why we should know more about what is going on behind the prison wall. Why Won't You Apologize? (1:05:54) Harriet Lerner is a psychologist who focuses on the psychology of women and family relationships. Harriet is the author of several books including The Dance of Anger and Why Won't You Apologize?. Harriet Lerner did her undergraduate work at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where she majored in psychology and East Indian studies and spent her junior year doing independent research in Delhi, India. She received an M.A. in educational psychology from Teachers' College of Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the City University of New York. Lerner is best known for her scholarly work on the psychology of women and family relationships, and for her many best-selling books. Feminism and family systems theory continue to inform her writing. Lerner lectures and consults nationally, while her psychotherapy practice remains at the heart of her work. Harriet Lerner shares her book Why Won't You Apologize? and explains why it is so tough for some people to say "I'm sorry." Dirt Is Good (1:52:20) Dr. Jack Gilbert is a Professor of Surgery at the

Future of TV, Marriage More Difficult, Screen Time Limits Aug 08, 2017

Show notes

Future of Cable TV (16:41) Amanda Lotz is a professor of media studies at the University of Michigan. She is the author of the soon to be released We Now Disrupt this Broadcast: How Cable Transformed Television and the Internet Revolutionized It All. Her research focuses on U.S. television, specifically the industrial shifts since the end of the network era and on representations of gender on television and in the media. Early this Spring, ESPN announced that they were laying off more people. Over the past two years, ESPN has lost around 7 million subscribers. Cable subscriptions, in general, have been on the decline since companies such as Sling, Netflix, and Hulu has taken over the entertainment industry. But does the downfall of ESPN show a stronger trend in the decline of cable television? Amanda Lotz explains where she thinks the TV industry is headed in the future. Marriage Is Harder in 2017 (and What You Can Do About It) (1:05:53) Jordan Johnson is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). For the past 8 years, Jordan has been helping individuals, couples, and families overcome issues that get in the way of living a productive and fulfilled life. It's no secret that marriage looks a lot different today than it has in years past. Change is inevitable, and as time progresses each new generation of married couples has a fresh set of distinct challenges and problems to navigate. With the increasing societal acceptance of cohabitation, out of wedlock births and single parenting, the institution of marriage has become less important in society’s eyes. Jordan Johnson on how to deal with the difficulties of marriage in 2017. Screen Time is about more than setting limits (1:54:29) Nathan Fisk is an Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity Education at the University of South Florida College of Education, and the Community and Outreach Liaison for the Florida Center for Cybersecurity. A lot of parents are concerned about how

White House Staff, After Graduating, Toxic Relationships Aug 07, 2017

Show notes

White House Staff Changes (19:06) Joe Cannon is the CEO of the Fuel Freedom Foundation, former Chairman of the Utah Republican Party, past assistant administrator in the US EPA, and editor of the Deseret News. Joe Cannon discusses the recent staff changes in the White House and the ongoing Russia investigation. Staying Smart After Graduating (1:07:23) Dr. Alison J. Head directs Project Information Literacy or PIL. PIL recently looked at how today’s Graduates continue to learn once they’ve completed college. After about 20 or so years of schooling, many adults strike out into the business world. But does the learning ever really stop? There are new positions, promotions and training to accomplish in the workplace that requires continual learning. But how proficient are we at asking questions and learning after we’ve exited the world of academia? Dr. Head shares the research. 5 Ways Toxic Relationships are Ruining Your Life (1:56:55) Susie Albert Miller is a relationship coach and has been a therapist and coach for the last 20+ years. She is the bestselling author of Listen, Learn, Love: How to Dramatically Improve Your Relationships in 30 Days or Less! Susie consults with businesses as a facilitator, coach, and trainer in the areas of company culture, effective communication, and employee engagement to increase productivity and profits. Susie Miller shares some tips on how to identify toxic relationships.

Music Industry Data, ADHD, Tech Undermining Democracy Aug 05, 2017

Show notes

How data is transforming the music industry (16:59) Brian Moon,Ph.D., an Assistant Professor at the Fred Fox School of Music where he is the Coordinator of Music in General Studies at the University of Arizona. How we listen to music is changing the industry. App subscriptions like Spotify, online radio like Pandora and even our internet searches use big data to figure what drives our music taste. Or do companies use big data to influence what we listen to and what we enjoy? Brian Moon explains how data is influencing the music industry. Explaining ADHD (1:05:38) Frank Ninivaggi, Ph.D., is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine Child Study Center, member of the Yale-New Haven Community Medical Group, and the Medical Director of the Devereux Glenholme School. He has many publications including his most recent books, Biomental Child Development: Perspectives on Psychology and Parenting, and Envy Theory. You can read his blog, “Envy This!” on psychologytoday.com. Dr. Frank Ninivaggi talks about ADHD reframing and to give us a new perspective on “performance deficit' disorder". Internet Companies Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy (1:53:47) Jonathan Taplin is Director Emeritus of the Annenberg Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California. He is the the author of Move fast and Break Things: How Google, Facebook, and Amazon concerned culture and undermined Democracy. If you got up this morning… around 61% of you checked your phone for notifications within five minutes go getting up. Just how social media and online platforms are slowly taking control of our lives, they are also taking control of the market and government. Could huge tech companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon, be contributors or even the reason for America’s ailing economy? Jonathan Taplin explains why it may be time to break up some of the biggest tech companies in the United States. 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:16:59 - How data is transforming the music industry 01:65:38 - Explaining ADHD 01:113:47 - Internet Companies Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy

Don't trash talk China, Finding Cause of Stress, Screen Cleaning Aug 04, 2017

Show notes

Don't trash talk China (15:47) Mark J. Perry is concurrently a scholar at AEI and a professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan’s Flint campus. He is best known as the creator and editor of the popular economics blog Carpe Diem. At AEI, Perry writes about economic and financial issues for American.com and the AEIdeas blog. Whether or not it’s for the best, America spends a lot of money every year on goods produced in China. Last year alone the U.S. spent $47 billion on Chinese durable goods, yet China hasn’t had the greatest reputation among Americans in recent months. Mark J. Perry explains how we benefit from China every day. Finding Cause of Stress (1:04:31) Anne Grady is a keynote speaker on change management, resilience, leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence. Anne has a master’s degree in organizational communication. She is the author of two best-selling books including Strong Enough: Choosing Courage, Resilience. She is a two-time TEDx speaker, and her work has been featured in Inc. Magazine, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, CNN, FOX Business, ESPN Radio NYC, and Entrepreneur Magazine. We stress when we are stuck in traffic and late for work. We stress over forgetting a loved one’s birthday. We become stressed when we have kids crying in the backseat of our car. Stress is a part of who we are, and even the strongest person can’t avoid stress completely. A majority of stress comes from the workplace, and surprisingly work related stress is blamed for 120,000 deaths per year. Anne Grady explains how to better handle your stress. Screen Cleaning (1:51:59) Jeff Simpson talks about movies and TV helping you find family friendly options. Tammy Hill is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a professor at BYU. Every semester she asks her students to do a project that sounds more like a RomCom than a school assignment. She asks them to participate in a 14-day fake relationship. Is this just a disaster waiting to happen or an opportunity to learn and grow? Tammy

Moral Outrage, Chase Happiness, Giving Kids Freedom Aug 03, 2017

Show notes

What are the costs to moral outrage? (19:55) Brandon Warnke is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. He writes about forgiveness, moral responsibility, and public discourse. It doesn’t matter how careful politicians are, there always seems to be someone who gets offended. Political correctness is becoming a monster and moral outrage has reached new heights on seemingly small issues. Are there costs to moral outrage? Brandon Warmke explains the dangers of moral outrage to public discourse. Chase Happiness (1:07:50) Susanna Halonen, also known as the Happyologist®, is a happiness coach and writer. She uses the science of positive psychology to help you to kill your self-doubt, embrace positive thinking and build a lifestyle you love. She is the author of Screw Finding Your Passion, a published researcher, a TEDx speaker, and a regular commentator in the media from the BBC to The Huffington Post and more. Passion is a form of positive energy that sits inside of you. Curbing our passion can actually hurt our success and happiness in life. Passion not only motivates success but allows us to truly unlock our potential. However, when we are constantly trying to find our passions we can miss out on finding joy in what we are doing. There is passion everywhere, we just have to find it within ourselves. Susanna Halogen addresses happiness, success and how to find your true passions. How to give your kids freedom (1:55:29) Heather Johnson, M.S., has been an adjunct faculty member at Brigham Young University for nearly 10 years. She is passionate about teaching students the principles behind successful families and the importance of families spending time together. Heather blogs at FamilyVolly.com. Heather shares tips for giving freedoms to our kids despite the fact that the world tells us things are more dangerous and we need to be more protective.

Tech and Democracy, Banning Kids Phones, Geriatric Infidelity Aug 02, 2017

Show notes

Internet Companies Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy (17:56) Jonathan Taplin is Director Emeritus of the Annenberg Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California. He is the author of Move Fast and Break Things: How Google, Facebook, and Amazon concerned culture and undermined Democracy. If you got up this morning… around 61% of you checked your phone for notifications within five minutes go getting up. Just how social media and online platforms are slowly taking control of our lives, they are also taking control of the market and government. Could huge tech companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon, be contributors or even the reason for America’s ailing economy? Jonathan Taplin explains why it may be time to break up some of the biggest tech companies in the United States. Banning Kids Smart Phones (1:08:15) Nick Bowman, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at West Virginia University, where he researches the uses and effects of communication technology. One of the questions we face as parents is what to do about smart phones. There can be a lot of risk and danger associated with access to the internet especially for children under the age of 13. This has become such a problem for some parents that in Colorado a new lobbying group called the Parents Against Underage Smartphones is trying to pass legislation that will ban companies from selling smartphones for underage use. As wonderful as the message of awareness is, media psychologist Nick Bowman discusses why this new movement might just be an exaggerated reaction to new technology. Older Americans Cheating (1:59:38) Brian Willoughby, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University. Dr. Willoughby is also the Director of the RELATE Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to studying and improving romantic relationships. Dr. Willoughby's research focuses on young adult dating and relationship patterns. Dr. Willoughby is the co-author of the book "The Marriage Par

Data and the Music Industry, Explaining ADHD, Teens Aug 01, 2017

Show notes

How data is transforming the music industry (16:56) Brian Moon, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor at the Fred Fox School of Music where he is the Coordinator of Music in General Studies at the University of Arizona. How we listen to music is changing the industry. Subscription services like Spotify, online radio like Pandora and even our internet searches use big data to figure what drives our music taste. Or do companies use big data to influence what we listen to and what we enjoy? Brian Moon explains how data is influencing the music industry. Explaining ADHD (1:05:38) Frank Ninivaggi, Ph.D., is an associate attending physician at Yale–New Haven Hospital, an assistant clinical professor of child psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine’s Child Study Center and the psychiatric director of the Devereux-Glenholme School in Washington, Connecticut. He is in private practice in New Haven, and teaches at Yale. He is a regular contributor to Psychology Today online and his book, Making Sense of Emotion: Innovating Emotional Intelligence has just been published. Dr. Frank Ninivaggi talks about ADHD reframing and to give us a new perspective on “performance deficit' disorder". Teens are as Sedentary as 60-year-olds (1:52:02) Ron Hager, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Exercise Sciences in the College of Life Sciences at Brigham Young University. His area is expertise is Chronic Disease Prevention. Dr. Hager shares a study that shows that teenagers today are not getting enough physical activity.

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