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Episodes

May 6, 2025

141: Success: What nobody tells us about the role of siblings. Are parents that important?

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? What really shapes success — nature, nurture, luck? It's a perennial question. The Family Dynamic is a brilliant, captivating exploration of families in which all of the children became high-achievers. The award-winning author, Susan Dominus, has woven academic research into a book of wonderfully engaging family stories that tease out the role played by our environment: Parents with a bold vision, ...…

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April 29, 2025

140: Respect, artifical intelligence and toxic femininity - the teenage view

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? When I asked listeners for their questions one stood out as a worthy of almost an entire episode: 'What does it take to respect people around you, especially your parents?' There's so much that could be said on this topic that it think I might give it a deeper dive at some point, but the insight from my teens was very interesting nonetheless. Artificial Intelligence is everywhere in the news…

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April 22, 2025

139: Secondary school, friendship groups, and those awkward talks about porn and sexting

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? In this episode my teens, Phoebe and Amelia, joined me in the studio to help answer some questions emailed in by listeners, and sent to me on social media. We kick off by chatting about exploring their identity and what they think is the key to gettting them out of their bedrooms. QUESTIONS: 1: My 14 year old is such a lovely, talented and kind girl. She had lovely friends, and she's very sweet and ki…

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April 15, 2025

138: How to get your teenager out of their bedroom - even one who's into gaming.

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? So many parents feel a deep loss when their teenager begins to separate from them; staying in their room and behaving as if the person they used to adore is the most embarassing thing they have ever witnessed. In today's episode I brought in Anita Cleare, author of How to Get Your Teenager Out of Their Bedroom, to discuss the challenges of parenting teenagers. In her book she covers the key things tha…

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April 8, 2025

137: Identity formation - the main job of a teenager?

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? In psychology, the term "identity" is most commonly used to describe the distinctive qualities or traits that make an individual unique. Identities are strongly associated with self-esteem, and individuality and - for a teenager - forming their identity is a crucial job. It's been over two years since I created the first episode looking at the topic of identity formation. In this episode I h…

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April 1, 2025

136: Are education and hard work less important now than parents?

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? I grew up believing in a meritocracy; with hard work - and government funding of my university education - I eventually escaped a difficult home and poor schooling to succeed in journalism. But times have moved on, and the reality now is that getting a university education is no longer the gateway it used to be. In fact, according to generational expert and historian, Dr Eliza Filby, our life chances and .…

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April 1, 2025

135: Adolescence: Help for parents with the core themes. How to discuss and connect with our kids

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? The mini-series, Adolescence, is a global hit, topping Netflix charts in 71 countries and amassing 24.3 million views in its first four days. It's sparked a global conversation about parenting, masculinity, and the impact of social media on young people. It's brilliance rests on holding up a mirror to everyone in society, showing us the complex factors that cause toxic ideas to take root. When I …

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March 18, 2025

134: Are we too cynical? Helping our kids see hope in a world of cynicism.

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Twenty years ago The Times asked young people in Britain a series of questions. The new Millenials gave answers which showed that the majority thought the UK was forward-looking and tolerant; they were proud to be British. This year that same survey - this time asking Gen Z - has brought in radically different results. 48 per cent thought that Britain is a racist country, compared with 36 per cent who did …

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March 10, 2025

133: How to plan ahead for an empty nest that's full of possibility

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Empty nest syndrome is real, and can be very painful to navigate. I've already discussed it with Susie, including ideas for how we can manage our feelings in a positive way to help us move on. https://www.teenagersuntangled.com/empty-nest-how-to-cope-when-your-teen-moves-out-also-manners-what-are-they-and-what-should-we-te/But are we looking at it in the wrong way? Change management specialist, Hanna …

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March 4, 2025

132: Work: What we parents can do to help our kids end up with a meaningful role in society.

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Another day another newspaper headline that says young people aren't working. According to the Financial Times newspaper, 13.4 per cent of people in the United Kingdon in the 16 to 24 age group were not in employment education or training - “NEET” - at the end of last year. The ONS figures showed a higher rate of young men outside work or training, with 14.4 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds classed as …

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Feb. 25, 2025

131: Accepting our kids for who they are, not what our culture tells us they should be.

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Parenting is a hard enough, but doing it in a culture that is different from the one we grew up in creates an extra layer of challenges to navigate. When it's our kids who have the greatest connection to that new culture it can be their demands that make us grow the most in our role. It might seem strange, because I'm a white woman who always spoke English and had English parents, but arriving in…

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Feb. 18, 2025

130: Worries about skin care obsessions? The social media 'Sephora' kid craze from a teen perspective

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Most teens go through a phase of being hyper-focused on looking good; whether it's clothes, bodybuilding, skin-care or makeup. What can seem like an obsession could be a normal part of the process, so when should we start to worry and how should we step up? When Clare wrote in worried about her daughter's skin-care regime she was hoping to get a teen perspective. Here's what she said. I woul…

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Feb. 11, 2025

129: Parenting stages: Coaching and mentoring teens and young adults

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Before I had kids I literally had no real idea of what I should expect. I think that's partly why I have spent the years as a mother panicking and reading everything; having learnt that I was wrong about how complicated the job is. Susie and I are in a similar stage with our kids but feel differently about it, so I thought it would be lovely to bring her in to have an open, honest conversation about h…

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Feb. 4, 2025

128: Life skills: How to supercharge them with a working holiday.

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Sponsored by JENZA Positively life changing is how I would sum up the time I spent working abroad during my gap year. I met people with a completely different world view, different language, and learnt to navigate many challenges alone. It gave me a positive, can-do attitude to life. Now my teens are 16 and 18, I want to make sure they have the confidence to meet whatever life throws at them head-on. Given…

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Jan. 28, 2025

127: How to be a good parent to teenagers, using evidence. An interview with Matilda Gosling

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? It's one thing to get advice on how to parent, it's another to have independent studies that give real evidence on how well one approach works rather than another. Faced with raising two young kids in a COVID lockdown, social scientist and skilled researcher Matilda Gosling looked for a book that gave her advice that was based on sound evidence. She discovered that such a book didn't exist, …

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Jan. 24, 2025

Community catch up: Relaxing, skin care obsessions, leaving school and finding work and boredom.

Send us a text This is Community Catch-Up: Your bonus episode BOOKS MENTIONED: Of Boys and Men by Richard Reeves 10-25: The Science of Motivating Younge People - David Yeager https://www.teenagersuntangled.com/motivation-how-...

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Jan. 21, 2025

Momguilt: reducing the overwhelming mental load to decrease stress. An interview with Sam Kelly. 125

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Stress can be a major problem for parents who're constantly juggling tasks and responsibilities. The mental load can feel overwhelming at times and the list literally never ending. So when I discovered Sam Kelly has a brilliant way to: ✅Avoid burnout. ✅Have a happier home life. ✅Help our kids to be successful in life. ✅Avoid nagging. ✅Break the old stereotypes cycle. I had to get her on the show. A mo…

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Jan. 14, 2025

How to motivate our teens to love learning and why parents are the missing piece of the puzzle. 124

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? We parents are deluding ourselves about how much our kids enjoy school, according to research for the book The Disengaged Teen. In survey responses 65% of parents thought their 10th grade kid loved school, whilst only 26% of 10th graders actually said they did. A lot of educators admit that things go wrong in the teen years, and many fine minds are trying to work on ways to tackle the problem. In the meant…

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Jan. 7, 2025

Enduring sibling relationships: Why some last and others fall apart, and how we parents can help. 123

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? There are siblings who love spending time with each other as often as possible, some tolerate it once or twice a year, and there are others who would rather eat glass than have to speak to each other. Why? What happens to their relationship? Is there something we parents can be doing to set our kids to be the ones who love and support each other as we age and after we die. When one listener asked for a dee…

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Dec. 31, 2024

New Year 2025: resolutions, stress, being more fun, most interesting books, and most downloaded. 122

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? MAKING RESOLUTIONS: https://www.teenagersuntangled.com/70-new-years-resolutions-love-them-or-loathe-them-the-question-is-how-can-we-make-them-work-for-u/ https://www.teenagersuntangled.com/blog/Be-the-person-you-want-to-be-not-the-person-others-think-you-should-be/ PARENTING STRESS: https://www.teenagersuntangled.com/109-parenting-stress-is-now-a-major-health-issue TOO MANY CHOICES: https://www.teenagersun…

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Dec. 23, 2024

Family gatherings without the fireworks, and staying connected with your young teen. 121

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Connection is at the root of human happiness, but staying connected through the turbulent teens and keeping family traditions and gatherings positive can be a challenge. In this episode we help Helen with her question about how to stay connected with her daughter who's on the brink of becoming a teenager. We also talk about hosting gatherings, drawing on advice from the expert, Priya Parker. How to pu…

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Dec. 17, 2024

Suicide: How to talk about it with teens, and offer proper support. 120

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? In a recent column in The Times, Caitlin Moran wrote about how five young men in her social circle have taken their lives in the past 18 months. She's not alone. My daughter has experienced this, as has Benedicte's son, the listener who contacted me to suggest I cover it in an episode. In the UK, the leading cause of death for men under the age of 50 is suicide, and the statistics in the US are e…

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Dec. 10, 2024

Support: It takes a village to raise a child... as long they do it my way. 119

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? So many of us bemoan the loss of a village, but do we really know what we mean by that? Being in a village or community requires us to give as well as take; often not on our own terms. It also means that we have to brush shoulders with people who might have radically different viewpoints from us on things like politics or religion. Many of us have got used to our busy, overscheduled lives, and don...

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Dec. 3, 2024

Girls: Sexism, beauty standards, entitlement and misogyny an interview with Jo-Ann Finkelstein. 118

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Encouraging our kids to make the most of themselves is a vital job for parents, but how do we talk with girls about the barriers they face? From the subtle expectation that girls and women be humble to the not so subtle focus on their worth based on body parts and beauty, we parents are left with a tricky path to tread. We want to encourage our girls to be bold, and try to achieve their dreams, but how do …

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