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We share Sophia Lorenzi’s path from losing her father to suicide to investigating death row cases, tracing how grief, stigma, trauma, and systems shape lives. The heart of the talk: seeing people fully, not as problems to fix, and building care long before crisis.

• how invisible crisis can exist alongside visible treatment
• rising suicide rates despite reduced stigma and why access still lags
• 988 as vital crisis care and why prevention must start earlier
• community-based and peer models that move care upstream
• the four-hour window and limits of certainty in prevention
• death row investigations and the human roots of harm
• courts, prisons, and hospitals as systems misaligned with healing
• grief without blame and rejecting survivor shame
• boundaries, witnessing, and rituals that sustain healing
• writing as advocacy and the dignity of complex stories

To our listeners, if this conversation moved you, please share it. Someone you love might need to hear this today.
If you know somebody that is suicidal or you might be yourself, please call 988 or go to any local authority or anywhere that you can to get help.
You can find Sophia's work in Time, the Washington Post, and Substack, Sir her Substack, Surface Level, and many other publications. Follow her, read her words, and let them change how you see the world.

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Midlife isn’t a slow fade; it’s a volume knob. We sit down with Angela, the force behind Real Girls Guide and RGG55, to rewrite the script on aging and claim midlife as a comeback. From the lost folder that sparked her book to the candid truths she shares about hormones, identity, and self-trust, this conversation is a bright, unflinching look at how women can live on purpose and take up space.

We dig into radical self-possession, the everyday practice of saying “no” without an essay, trusting your own voice without apology.
Because at some point, you realize it’s not about being invited anymore, it’s about creating spaces that feel like home.
So, you build your own table. You fill it with people who get it. the ones who bring wisdom, laughter, truth, and light.
The ones who see you, not just your highlight reel.
And you start, even before you have a roadmap, because sometimes the most beautiful journeys begin before you know the way. Angela brings data and lived experience to the hormone conversation, connecting estrogen changes to mood, libido, and confidence, and showing how education powers better care and louder advocacy. We talk hot flashes and humor, because laughter disarms shame and opens doors. We trace the cultural shift making this moment possible: women 40, 50, 60+ with spending power, visibility, and the will to speak plainly about bodies, sex, ambition, and reinvention.

You’ll hear how identity pivots from “Who do I have to be?” to “Who do I want to be now?” We explore friendships that trade comparison for courage, boundaries that need no apology, and the grit it takes to begin again. Angela’s upcoming book—built from 120 women and 25 experts—acts as a companion, not a blueprint, reminding us we’re not alone and there’s always a path forward. If you’ve ever felt dismissed, “past your prime,” or stuck on the edge of a new chapter, consider this your nudge to start.

Join us, subscribe, and share this conversation with someone who needs a push to live louder. If it resonated, leave a review and tell us: what boundary will you defend this week?

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An Interview with Author of Property of the Revolution! This is part 2!

A Cuban family escapes with 48 hours’ notice and rebuilds a life defined by work, honor and love, seen through the eyes of a six-year-old who learns to turn pain into power. We trace culture, politics, and identity across borders, and why telling the truth preserves dignity.

• culture clash between performance and belonging
• abuela’s wisdom and loud, loving households
• tía’s hidden diploma and the right to keep education
• father’s honor, hard work and unexpected tenderness
• political rifts, CDR pressure and family fights
• racism, lost shifts and choosing dignity
• shame to pride in language, food and music
• citizenship, commitment and becoming American
• speaking up at college against stereotypes
• trauma resurfacing in motherhood and healing
• returning to the old house and reclaiming memory
• Cuba’s current crisis, exodus and silenced voices

Please get Ana's book, Property of the Revolution. It is a must-read. Visit anacubana.com — the audiobook is narrated by Ana.

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A motorcycle in the barrio. Forty‑eight hours to leave. A nearly six‑year‑old whose world narrows to the sound of an engine and the shape of fear—then widens again across an ocean. We welcome author Ana Hebra Flaster to explore her memoir, Property of the Revolution, and the intimate mechanics of exile: how a family becomes “gusano,” how permission to leave turns into a three‑year wait, and how love and duty hold when language and home are stripped away.

We follow Ana from post‑revolution Cuba to a New Hampshire mill town, where hunger, racism, and winter cold collide with simple, stubborn hope. She unpacks the difference between immigrants, migrants, and refugees—and why the words we choose can open doors or close minds. There’s the chilling classroom ice‑cream lesson that reveals how indoctrination works, and the everyday definition of freedom: the right to dissent without losing your future, the ability to live without ideology deciding your job, your school, or your healthcare. Ana’s mother becomes our north star—make yourself brave—standing up to mobs, protecting strangers, and refusing to adore any leader above principle.

We talk trauma without turning away: a child’s sleepless nights, the quiet tears of a grandmother who left her father behind, and the family story that kept them afloat—We won; we are not victims—until it was safe to name the wounds. There are vivid cultural insights, too: reading America through Rudolph the Red‑Nosed Reindeer (performance as currency), and Tía’s act of defiance—smuggling her doctorate out of Cuba sewn into a bra—because education earned should never be state property. Along the way, we challenge myths about Cuba’s past, listen for the throughline of dignity, and honor the resilience that keeps families together when history tries to break them apart.

If this conversation moved you, share it with someone who cares about freedom and family, subscribe for part two, and leave a review with the moment that stayed with you most. Your voice helps these stories travel.

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What if the love you learned was never love at all—but performance, peacekeeping, and fear dressed up as care? Ann sits down with Denise Bard to tell the truth about growing up inside conditional love, the survival roles that helped them get through, and the slow, stubborn work of building a love that heals instead of hurts. This is a tender, unsparing, and ultimately hopeful conversation about worthiness, boundaries, and the courage to stop disappearing.

We trace the childhood blueprints that formed our early ideas of public perfection masking private harm, attention mistaken for affection, and approval fused to identity. Denise shares how a shelter caseworker embodied unconditional love and rewired what was possible. Ann reflects on seeking safety in performance, hiding family trauma from partners, and the moment parenting shifted everything: presence over fear, repair over reactivity, and an actual “no matter what” for her kids. Together we explore how to break generational cycles, end contact with unsafe relatives, and create a home where truth doesn’t cost you belonging.

You’ll hear practical ways to rebuild self-worth affirmations that actually land, journaling that tracks progress, and boundaries that protect love rather than punish it. We talk about putting down burdens that were never ours, refusing to apologize for someone else’s harm, and letting “wanted” become part of your identity. If you’ve ever confused peace with people-pleasing or chemistry with chaos, this conversation offers language, tools, and a pledge to love differently: to be seen, to stay whole, and to choose connection without conditions.

If this resonates, tap follow, share with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help others find Real Talk with Tina and Anne. What’s one belief about love you’re ready to release?

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Randi Crawford, certified life coach and TEDx speaker, joins us to share her “Pickleball Parenting” philosophy. It is a fresh, practical approach to raising resilient kids who can face challenges with confidence and independence.

In this episode, Randi talks about the ways modern parenting often misses the mark and how small changes can make a big difference:

• Stop smoothing the path. Over-involvement robs children of the chance to build grit and quietly tells them, “I don’t believe you can handle this on your own.”
• Phones at night are a hard no. Randi explains that devices “let a thousand strangers into your child’s bedroom.”
• When parents step in to solve every conflict, kids learn to feel powerless instead of capable.
• The pandemic left lasting effects of isolation and anxiety, making it even harder for kids to develop social skills.
• Parenting out of fear prioritizes comfort over growth and weakens resilience.
• Create judgment-free zones where children can share their hardest truths without worry.
• Praise effort, not just results, so kids build real confidence.
• Teach kids the idea of a “mental bank account” where they recognize and celebrate their own wins.
• Healthy parent-child relationships are built on both boundaries and trust.

Randi’s approach is not about helicoptering and it is not about being hands-off either. It is about showing up in ways that help kids grow strong, confident, and capable.

Find out more about Randi at randicrawfordcoaching.com or follow her on Instagram and TikTok @RandiCrawfordCoaching. Her upcoming book will dive even deeper into these strategies for parents.

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What happens when everything you believe about your family turns out to be a lie? In this gripping conversation with novelist Leslie Rasmussen, we dive deep into her latest work, "When People Leave, Love Lies and Finding the Truth" – a story that will resonate with anyone who's ever questioned their family narrative.

Leslie, whose impressive career spans from writing for comedy legends like Roseanne Barr and Drew Carey to publishing award-winning novels, crafts a tale that's both heartbreaking and healing. Three sisters return to their childhood home following their mother's unexpected suicide only to discover that their entire lives were built on carefully constructed deceptions. As they unravel the truth, they're forced to confront how these hidden family secrets have unconsciously shaped every decision they've ever made.

Our conversation explores the profound ripple effects of family secrets – how they mold us even when we don't know they exist. We discuss the ways trauma manifests differently in each sister: through addiction, stagnant relationships, and abandoned dreams. Leslie beautifully articulates how our parents' patterns become our own, even when we're actively trying to be different, and how forgiveness becomes infinitely more complex when the person who hurt you is no longer alive to provide answers.

What makes this discussion particularly powerful is Leslie's compassionate portrayal of the mother character – a woman who lied not out of malice but from a place of fear and protection. Through this lens, we examine the impossible choices parents sometimes make and the heavy burden of carrying secrets for a lifetime.

Whether you've experienced family deception firsthand or simply appreciate stories that explore the complexity of human relationships, this episode offers profound insights into forgiveness, healing, and the courage it takes to break generational patterns. Listen now and join the conversation about how we can make peace with painful truths and find freedom in authenticity.

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Tina and Ann explore the complex relationship between joy and grief, examining how these seemingly opposite emotions often coexist and even strengthen each other. They share personal stories of experiencing both simultaneously and discuss strategies for allowing both emotions to breathe.

• Joy and grief create an emotional tug of war that varies in response – sometimes numbing, sometimes pushing, sometimes inspiring
• Past trauma can make it difficult to trust joy, creating a pattern of expecting something bad after experiencing happiness
• Grief can push someone into survival mode, making it harder to let joy in
• Holding onto grief can feel like the last connection to someone we've lost
• Allowing both joy and grief requires giving ourselves permission to feel everything
• Tina's son demonstrates remarkable resilience after a sports injury, showing character by focusing on supporting teammates
• Creating rituals to honor both emotions can help process grief while making space for joy
• Living with chronic grief doesn't mean excluding joy – it's a daily choice to let in both

Remember, there's purpose in the pain and hope in the journey. Joy and grief are not opposites but companions that reflect the full richness of life.

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