When we launched the Equal Parts podcast more than a year ago, our mission was to help working parents balance it all while caring for all they love – including themselves.
This mission has been reinforced – and reaffirmed – by the absolute doozy of year we all just lived through. Behind the scenes, we sometimes laugh about the tagline that opens every episode: Being a working parent is HARD! (our host, Emily Paisner, says it with such gusto!). But now, this simple refrain has become the unofficial motto of 2020. We all feel it. Every day. Profoundly. Put it on a t-shirt.
We are humbled by the brilliant people we’ve talked to on the podcast this year: professors, authors, leaders, and working parents. They all lend their expertise and advice on parenting, personal growth, and how to navigate work and life like a boss.
You can listen and subscribe to Equal Parts here, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your pod on. Below, we’ve grouped this year’s 33 amazing episodes by the ten topics we think encapsulate life in 2020 for working parents. Have a listen…
Pandemic parenting support
Parents: your patience (and sanity) has been officially tested this year. Between taking care of the kids, playing teacher, and taking Zoom calls in your PJ bottoms, school, work, and life are all happening under one roof. Let these experts help you win at parenting during a pandemic.
- Parenting during a pandemic, with Anya Kamenetz, NPR Education Correspondent, co-host of NPR’s Life Kit: Parenting podcast, and author of The Art of Screen Time
- Helping your kids deal with stress and anxiety, with Katie Hurley, child and adolescent psychotherapist and author of No More Mean Girls and The Happy Kid Handbook
- Pre-teens and quarantines, with Phyllis Fagell, K-8 school counselor, journalist, and author of Middle School Matters
- Ideas for summer camp at home, with Catherine Newman, Real Simple etiquette columnist and author of Stitch Camp and How to be a Person
- Supporting your teen during COVID-19, with Lisa Heffernan, co-founder of Grown and Flown and co-author of Grown and Flown
Teaching kids to be kinder humans
Empathy, kindness, and gratitude are the building blocks of character. It all starts at home. Instill moral and social values into your kids at a young age, and be consistent with modeling the right behaviors. These guests teach you how.
- Raising kind and caring kids, with Richard Weissbourd, child and family psychologist, author, Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Faculty Director of the Making Caring Common Project
- Teaching kids empathy, with Michele Borba, educator, speaker, and best-selling author of UnSelfie
Building children’s strength and resilience
Lockdowns and quarantines have kept us far apart from friends, colleagues, and extended family. But households are more close-knit than ever. Use it as an opportunity to partner with your kids to help them solve problems, learn from failure and frustration, and discover their voice.
- Raising confident and ambitious girls, with Marisa Porges, PhD, Head of the Baldwin School, former Naval Flight Officer and senior advisor in the Obama White House, and author of What Girls Need
- Parenting plans – and strategies – to deal with kids' behavioral challenges, with Ross Greene, PhD, clinical child psychologist, author of The Explosive Child and Raising Human Beings, and founder of Lives in the Balance
- Raising a resilient child, with Jessica Lahey, teacher, writer, and author of The Gift of Failure
Taking care of #1
Your mental and physical health affect all aspects of work/life: how you relate and connect to others, how you lead teams, how you parent. Get practical advice on how to de-stress, practice mindfulness, and take good care of your body, mind, and spirit.
- Finding mindfulness and meaning in a year of burnout, with Lisa Abramson, executive coach, author, keynote speaker, and mindfulness teacher
- Meditation for working parents, with Matthias Birk, mediation and leadership expert, and adjunct professor at NYU’s Graduate School of Public Service and Columbia Business School
- Staying sane and self-compassionate during a stressful year, with Ali Mattu, clinical psychologist and host of The Psych Show
- A leadership framework for working parents, with Stew Friedman and Alyssa Westring, authors of Parents Who Lead
Working moms absorbing the shock of our caregiving crisis
The pandemic has exposed America’s broken care infrastructure, and women are picking up the caregiving slack. Sadly, it’s a big reason why one in four women are now considering "downshifting" their careers or leaving the workforce. Learn what life is like for working moms right now, and what employers can do to support them.
- The pandemic’s impact on working moms, with Marianne Cooper, sociologist at the Stanford VMware Women's Leadership Innovation Lab and lead researcher for Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In
- Staying in sync with your partner during COVID-19 quarantines, with Eve Rodsky, author of Fair Play
- How 2020 changed life for working mothers, with Blessing Adesiyan, founder and CEO of Mother Honestly
- Gen X women’s midlife crisis, with Ada Calhoun, author of Why We Can't Sleep
Confronting racism in America
We’ve all watched and read in sadness and anger as Black people in the United States have been senselessly killed. How do we talk to our kids about racial injustice? Get guidance on how to have important – often difficult – conversations with children of all ages about race, racism, and Black Lives Matter protests that are empathetic, constructive, and compassionate.
- Talking to kids about race and racism, with Beverly Daniel Tatum, president emerita of Spelman College, psychologist, and author of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
- Raising actively anti-racist children, with Reverend Jennifer Harvey, professor at Drake University, educator, racial justice activist, and author of Raising White Kids
Health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic
In so many ways, COVID-19 has turned our world upside down and created new risks in our lives. Armed with facts, science, and data, we can make informed decisions to protect ourselves and our families. These guests share the evidence-based information you need to know.
- Advice from an expert: What parents need to know about Covid-19, with William Haseltine, PhD, scientist, entrepreneur, President and Chair of ACCESS Health International, and author of A Family Guide to Covid and A Covid Back to School Guide
- Back-to-school in the era of COVID-19: What the data says, with Emily Oster, Brown University economist, author of Expecting Better and Cribsheet, and contributor at COVID Explained
Managing kids’ screentime and technology use
Kids (and adults!) are relying heavily on screens and devices this year to learn, work, play, and connect. But what’s the impact on our kids? Is all this extra screentime doing more harm than good? What are the rules of the digital road? Here’s your roadmap.
- What’s “too much screentime” for kids in the era of COVID-19?, with Devorah Heitner, digital citizenship expert and author of Screenwise
- The do’s and don’ts of “sharenting,” with Leah Plunkett, faculty associate with the Youth & Media team at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, Special Director for Online Education at Harvard Law School, and author of Sharenthood
Navigating the digital classroom
Working parents added a “fun” new job title to their resume: homeschool teacher. As you know by now, the job ain’t easy! Get practical tips and advice on how to set your kids up for at-home learning success, no matter their age, grade, or academic ability.
- Staying motivated and focused in the virtual classroom, with Kristen DiCerbo, Chief Learning Officer at Khan Academy
- Homeschooling lessons for parents, with Ana Homayoun, educator, school consultant, and author of Social Media Wellness
- Supporting your differently wired student, with Debbie Reber, parenting activist, author, and founder of TiLT Parenting
Talking politics and understanding policy
The political landscape this year was, um, bonkers. New COVID-19 legislation added some relief (but also confusion) to the year. Learn how to talk to kids about politics, partisanship, and elections – in language they will understand. And understand what two important laws – the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the CARES Act – mean for families and their caregivers.
- Talking to kids about politics and the election, with Christia Spears Brown, author, professor of Developmental Psychology, and director of the Center for Equality and Social Justice at the University of Kentucky
- New COVID-19 legislation: What families and caregivers need to know, with Eva MacCleery, Director of Client Services, Care.com HomePay
Practical parenting advice
Parenting comes with a lot of questions. For example: What does your pre-teen need during the tumultuous middle school years? How much sleep do babies really need? How do you work up the nerve to start a dialogue with your own parents about money? These pros help you find some answers.
- Navigating the middle school years, with Phyllis Fagell, K-8 school counselor, journalist, and author of Middle School Matters
- Data-driven parenting, with Emily Oster, Brown University economist, and author of Expecting Better and Cribsheet
- The science behind how babies and toddlers sleep, with Erin-Flynn Evans, PhD, MPH, sleep scientist and co-founder of Baby Sleep Science
- Talking to your parents about their finances, with Cameron Huddleston, journalist and author of Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk
Our guests have inspired and uplifted us during this difficult year. We hope they made work/life a little bit brighter for you, too. Here’s looking ahead to 2021!
We want to hear from you! Have feedback or a guest/episode idea you think we should know about? Email us at careatwork@care.com.
