The Connection with Marty Moss-Coane

Psychologist Joshua Coleman was estranged from his young adult daughter after his divorce,  remarriage and the start of a new family. She said he had let her down and she didn’t feel like a priority in his life. She cut off contact, which Coleman said was the most painful experience of his life. They did reconcile after a few years and now Coleman treats families who are estranged. Families are complicated. They can be the source of boundless love and support, and the cause of emotional pain and suffering. This week on The Connection, what drives parents and children apart, what it takes to make amends and rebuild the relationship, and how to grieve and move on when reconciliation becomes impossible. Coleman’s book is Rules of Estrangement: Why Adult Children Cut Ties and How to Heal the Conflict. Also with us is psychologist Lucy Blake, author of No Family is Perfect: A Guide to Embracing the Messy Reality.

Millions of people share their lives with dogs, opening their homes and hearts to their canine companions. It’s a partnership that goes back thousands of years. We love and care for them, feed and groom them and they give us joy, loyalty and what feels like unconditional love. Today we examine the dog-human connection from both perspectives and look at what makes it so unique and fulfilling. Our guests are Alexandra Horowitz who studies dog cognition at Barnard College and is the author many dog books including, Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell and Know, and Our Dogs, Ourselves, and Clive Wynne, who heads the Canine Science Collaboratory at Arizona State University and is the author of Dog is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You. (originally aired April 5th, 2024)

Psychologist Jamil Zaki explains how to avoid cynicism and why most people are better than we think.

Dr. Francis Collins, former director of the NIH and the Human Genome Project, on finding common ground and the role of science and faith in his life.

Belonging is a powerful need for us human beings whether we’re a sports fan, a member of a book group, part of a neighborhood clean up crew or a member of a political party.

Men hold most of the leadership roles in American politics with majorities in governorships and the U.S. Senate. College presidents are mostly male, and men dominate the business world. And they still beat out women when it comes to the gender pay gap. But there is a jarring disconnect when looking at boys and men in America. They commit most of the homicides, are most likely to be victims of violent crime, are more likely to die by suicide compared to women and have shorter life spans. Our guest, developmental psychologist Niobe Way, has spent decades listening to boys and young men and says they are experiencing a crisis of connection, driven in part by our narrow view of masculinity. Her new book is Rebels with a Cause: Reimagining Boys, Ourselves and Our Culture. She joins us to talk how “boy” culture, which values thinking over feeling and independence over dependence, hurts boys and the rest of us.

Stress, exhaustion and negativity can lead to workplace burnout. Kandi Wiens explains how to become more resilient and reset your relationship with work.

Human beings are built for sleep. It’s a normal, natural process and yet many of us have a troubled relationship with it. How can we make peace with sleep? And what are the best ways to get a good night’s rest? We’ll dive into the fascinating physiology of sleep and explore what our brains and bodies are doing during these “off” hours. We’ll also discuss how sleep affects our memories and mood, how our daily activities affect our sleep cycles and what we can do to get restorative shut eye. Our guests are Duke University sleep medicine specialist Jade Wu, author of Hello Sleep, and Penn Medicine sleep specialist Indira Gurubhagavatula.

What are you? That’s a question that people who are biracial get asked all the time, either directly or indirectly. Are you Black? Are you White? Are you Latino? If you are mixed race in the U.S., you are part of the fastest growing segment of the population. The presidential candidacy of Kamala Harris, who is of Black and South Asian heritage, has put a spotlight on the issue of identity and race, just as Barack Obama did in 2008 when he ran for president. On this week’s edition of The Connection, what do you call yourself if you are mixed race? We’ll talk about the challenges and advantages of having multiple racial identities, especially with our country’s troubled past. We are joined by three guests. Psychologist Sarah Gaither heads Duke University’s Identity and Diversity Lab. Journalists Daralyse Lyons and Malcolm Burnley are cohosts of the podcast, On Being Biracial.

Did you have a favorite stuffed animal or blanket when you were a kid? Do you still have it today? Childhood possessions are filled with memories and meaning so we hold on to them for many years. In this hour we explore the uniquely human behavior of owning things and why we become attached to our belongings. We’ll look at how they connect us with a person or experience and become part of our identity. And we’ll talk about the downsides of having too many possessions – there are more than 50,000 self-storage facilities in the country filled with our overflow. Our guest is psychologist Bruce Hood author of Possessed: Why We Want More Than We Need.