This Is So Awkward

Latest Episodes:

Exam Stress: Turning Down the Volume Mar 17, 2026

Show notes

Exams have always been a stressful part of growing up. But layer on growing college admissions pressure, spiraling teen mental health, and recognition of the wide variety of learning styles, and the volume turns way up. This episode was prompted by a listener's question seeking advice about how to get through exam season from every angle: from the role of AI to the necessity of exams in the first place. We get into it… along with some of our own applicable parenting fails.

Show Notes:

Watch the full episode on Youtube!

Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB

Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk

Order our book This Is So Awkward

Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com

To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com

To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com

Produced by Peoples Media

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The Hidden Science of Teen Motivation Mar 10, 2026

Show notes

What makes kids tick? Even when they appear uninterested, defiant, or lazy, there’s usually much more lurking under the surface. To learn how to pull it out of them––and how to connect and communicate, too––we’re joined by Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes (inspiration for the movie Mean Girls), who has spent her career exploring how to get the best out of tweens and teens.

Show Notes:

Watch the full episode on Youtube!

Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB

Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk

Order our book This Is So Awkward

Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com

To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com

To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com

Produced by Peoples Media

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How Kids Get Emotionally Intelligent Mar 03, 2026

Show notes

Emotional intelligence is often called EQ. Some might say it’s a soft skill, but in fact research shows it’s central to lifelong resilience and wellbeing. Building EQ takes years and years––adults are still working on it too!––but starting young, kids can develop self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and decision making abilities. This episode digs into all the ways to support kids' development of emotional intelligence and why it matters so much.

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Getting Real About Sex Ed with Shafia Zaloom Feb 24, 2026

Show notes

Sexuality education is proven to have positive impacts on kids’ lifelong wellbeing in all areas and yet, people assume it only covers S-E-X. In fact, as health educator Shafia Zaloom discusses on the podcast, this corner of education provides young people with a wide variety of life-critical skills like emotional intelligence, boundary setting, conflict resolution, and so much more. Yes, science-based sexual health is an important part of any good education but so too are the cornerstones of humanity like dignity, love, and respect.

Show Notes:

Getting Real About Sex Ed: What Today’s Students Need

Watch the full episode on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠!

⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB⁠⁠⁠⁠

Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠Quince.com/AWKWARD⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

Download the ⁠⁠⁠⁠FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk⁠⁠⁠⁠

Order our book ⁠⁠⁠⁠This Is So Awkward⁠⁠⁠⁠

Check out all our speaking and curriculum at ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.lessawkward.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ and our super comfy products at ⁠⁠⁠⁠www.myoomla.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

To bring us to your school or community email ⁠⁠⁠⁠operations@lessawkward.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

To submit listener questions email ⁠⁠⁠⁠podcast@lessawkward.com⁠⁠⁠⁠

Produced by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Peoples Media

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Teaching Kids to Trust their Guts Feb 17, 2026

Show notes

Gut instinct is only partially innate – it’s also very much learned and developed over time. And it turns out to be a fundamental safety skill kids need to master. To do this, we need to shed the “stranger danger” approach of the 1980s, replacing it with the concept of “tricky people,” because it turns out that those who harm kids are often not strangers to them at all. This episode is all about helping kids recognize when someone makes them uncomfortable, how to set boundaries, and express difficult feelings in relationships.

Show Notes:

Watch the full episode on ⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠!

⁠⁠⁠Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB⁠⁠⁠

Go to ⁠⁠⁠Quince.com/AWKWARD⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

Download the ⁠⁠⁠FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk⁠⁠⁠

Order our book ⁠⁠⁠This Is So Awkward⁠⁠⁠

Check out all our speaking and curriculum at ⁠⁠⁠www.lessawkward.com⁠⁠⁠ and our super comfy products at ⁠⁠⁠www.myoomla.com⁠⁠⁠

To bring us to your school or community email ⁠⁠⁠operations@lessawkward.com⁠⁠⁠

To submit listener questions email ⁠⁠⁠podcast@lessawkward.com⁠⁠⁠

Produced by ⁠⁠⁠Peoples Media

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Parents Have Feelings Too: Anger, Disgust + All the Messy Emotions Feb 10, 2026

Show notes

Parenting brings up so many difficult emotions like: disgust, disappointment, anger and more. Layer on top the shame parents experience for having those feelings! Two mental health professionals, Hilary Hendel and Julie Fraga, authors of Parents Have Feelings Too, join us to normalize the full emotional landscape of parenting and offer tools for moving forward in loving and constructive ways.

Show Notes:

Watch the full episode on ⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠!

⁠⁠Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB⁠⁠

Go to ⁠⁠Quince.com/AWKWARD⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

Download the ⁠⁠FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk⁠⁠

Order our book ⁠⁠This Is So Awkward⁠⁠

Check out all our speaking and curriculum at ⁠⁠www.lessawkward.com⁠⁠ and our super comfy products at ⁠⁠www.myoomla.com⁠⁠

To bring us to your school or community email ⁠⁠operations@lessawkward.com⁠⁠

To submit listener questions email ⁠⁠podcast@lessawkward.com⁠⁠

Produced by ⁠⁠Peoples Media

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s Not Fair! Feb 03, 2026

Show notes

Kids are constantly analyzing and expressing their views on fairness––they do it in school, at home, on the sports field, basically everywhere. There are two different interpretations of fairness: equity and equality. We explore the difference between meeting each person’s individual needs vs slicing the pie the same way for all. While the constant refrain of “It’s not fair!” can be irritating to adults, the skill of understanding fairness is critical to kids’ social and moral development.

Show Notes:

Watch the full episode on ⁠Youtube⁠!

⁠Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB⁠

Go to ⁠Quince.com/AWKWARD⁠ for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

Download the ⁠FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk⁠

Order our book ⁠This Is So Awkward⁠

Check out all our speaking and curriculum at ⁠www.lessawkward.com⁠ and our super comfy products at ⁠www.myoomla.com⁠

To bring us to your school or community email ⁠operations@lessawkward.com⁠

To submit listener questions email ⁠podcast@lessawkward.com⁠

Produced by ⁠Peoples Media

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mattering in Today’s World Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

It’s easy to feel untethered in a modern world filled with stressors and tech-laden realities, but research tells us that the secret sauce is mattering: a combination of feeling valued and offering value back. Mattering fuels wellbeing. Journalist Jennifer Wallace, author of Mattering, joins us to explain this beautiful concept, sharing data-driven ways to achieve it for ourselves, our families, and in our communities.

Show Notes:

Watch the full episode on Youtube!

Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB

Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk

Order our book This Is So Awkward

Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com

To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com

To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com

Produced by Peoples Media

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Wild West of AI + Education Jan 20, 2026

Show notes

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence is affecting every aspect of our lives, including education. When it comes to the impact of AI on kids’ learning and overall wellbeing, we don’t have the luxury of waiting on long-term studies. There is, however, a new “pre-mortem” study out from Brookings, looking at whether AI does more good or more harm in education. Here with the answers is Dr. Rebecca Winthrop, Director of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings Institution. She helps make sense of this new landscape and the best way forward for schools, policymakers, and parents.

Show Notes:

Watch the full episode on Youtube!

Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB

Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk

Order our book This Is So Awkward

Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com

To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com

To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com

Produced by Peoples Media

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Weightlifting + Cross Training in Teens Jan 13, 2026

Show notes

The pressure to look a certain way and perform at peak athletic levels keeps moving younger and younger. It begs the question: what’s actually healthy and safe for growing bodies? This episode starts with the science of growth spurts and then answers some of the most common questions we get: is it safe for tweens + teens to weight train? If so, at what age? How important is cross-training really?

Show Notes:

Watch the full episode on Youtube!

Join the LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP HUB

Go to Quince.com/AWKWARD for free shipping on your order and three hundred and sixty-five -day returns.

Download the FREE Playbook for Getting Your Kid to Talk

Order our book This Is So Awkward

Check out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.com

To bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.com

To submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.com

Produced by Peoples Media

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices