This Is So Awkward

When kids misbehave or act out, it’s natural for adults to react with anger, disappointment, punishment, or even disconnection. But struggling kids actually need the opposite – their behavior improves when they feel connection and belonging. Psychologist and lifelong educator Doug Bolton translates decades of experience into actionable, empathic ways forward. His book, Untethered, offers a beautiful path to change the way we all think about dysregulation, community, and raising kids.Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchaseGet 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARDVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipUntethered by Doug BoltonOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Adults are baffled, bemused, and slightly horrified by what they hear about teen dating. Our 16-year-old guest, Elle Kristine, helps set the record straight on today’s teen relationships. She uses decidedly modern methods to offer teens relationship advice, like her @AskElle account on TikTok and her AI-based teen dating app. Ultimately, Elle believes that today’s teens are looking for the same things they have always sought in relationships: connection and love. Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchaseGet 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARDVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The language of teen relationships is literally foreign: the glossary-requiring terms they use to describe their romantic lives vary from kid to kid, with little agreement. What do words like “situationship,” “talking” (which isn’t actually talking), and “hook-up” mean? Now layer on the virtual world in general – and social media in particular – and you can feel like you need to get a PhD in the language of young love. Journalist Lisa Phillips, author of First Love, defines it all, ultimately creating a playbook of the realities of youth romance.  Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchaseGet 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARDVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipFirst Love by Lisa PhillipsOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It can be increasingly hard to find valid, science-based health guidance in this age of rampant misinformation and now missing information. This episode zooms in on the prevention of pregnancy and STI/STD transmission, one corner of health and sex education that is in the midst of erasure from many government websites. We cover everything from abstinence to barrier methods, hormonal contraception, and IUDs. And if for some reason the content of this podcast gets censored, it’s all in our book: This Is So Awkward!Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsHead to http://lumen.me/AWKWARD for 20% off your purchaseGet 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code AWKWARDVisit equip.health/AWKWARD to get a free consultation from EquipOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Teens can be so brutally honest at some moments and utterly clueless at others. Chip Leighton, the self-described middle aged dad influencer Leighton Show and author of What Time Is Noon, memorializes it all with a hefty dose of barb-filled humor. Chip lays bare a hilarious, unvarnished view into the experience of parenting teenagers.Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiersGo to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsTo celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout.TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@the_leighton_showInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_leighton_show/Order our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Parenthood is complicated by a million complex issues, only ramping up in the tween + teen years. Then layer on the common truth that any two people can disagree. Adults bring their own knowledge and history to parenting – their upbringing, temperament, and even values can differ radically, often landing them on different sides of the same question. So what are co-parents to do when they don’t see eye-to-eye on issues like substance use, screen time, clothing choices, or just general independence-seeking?Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiersGo to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsTo celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout.Managing Divorce with AdolescentsOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Life is messy. Tyler Moore AKA Instagram’s The Tidy Dad helps families declutter not just their physical messes but also their emotional baggage too. Everything from middle school mayhem to toilet bowl hygiene, this episode is chock full of practical advice. But there’s no judgment for those who have a ways to go before they qualify as tidy!Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiersGo to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsTo celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout.Order our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is not a political episode but sex education is a political issue. At the start of a new presidential administration we are already seeing shifts in what can and cannot be taught in schools. Our guest, Jaclyn Friedman, helps clarify the facts and project what the future of sex ed may look like.Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiersGo to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsTo celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout.Order our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why do we double down on a decision even when all evidence points to it being the wrong choice? It’s often thanks to the phenomenon known as cognitive dissonance and its companions: self-justification and memory rewriting. Social psychologist Carol Tavris explains what these words mean, how they play into decision-making, and why adults can’t help but fall into this trap even as their kids get older. This fascinating episode will blow your mind!Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiersGo to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsTo celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout.Mistakes Were Made (but not by ME)Estrogen MattersOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

New Year’s resolutions are fine, but goal setting is better. This reframe makes physical and emotional wellness more achievable, for kids as it is for adults. But sometimes, in an effort to get “healthy,” people of all ages develop behaviors that are anything but. This episode opens with our what’s in and what’s out list for 2025 – far more fun than standard resolutions – and offers tips for identifying when health goals turn unhealthy.Show Notes:Join our LESS AWKWARD MEMBERSHIP Go to airdoctorpro.com and use promo code AWKWARD to receive UP TO $300 off air purifiersGo to Quince.com/awkward for free shipping and 365-day returnsTo celebrate Phyla’s exciting new launch, we’re offering 25% off your first order. Go to phyla.com and enter the code "puberty" at checkout.Episode on OrthorexiaOrder our book This Is So AwkwardCheck out all our speaking and curriculum at www.lessawkward.com and our super comfy products at www.myoomla.comTo bring us to your school or community email operations@lessawkward.comTo submit listener questions email podcast@lessawkward.comWatch the full episode on Youtube!Produced by Peoples Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices