Upcoming Shows

An 83-year-old psychotherapist and grandmother of two, long described as a noted relationship expert, made headlines recently when she shared a very different side of herself. In an essay published last August in Air Mail, Diana de Vegh described an affair with the 35th president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, starting when she was 20 years old.

 “Young woman, Great Man. Predictable outcome: heartbreak for her, no consequences for him. But wait … there’s a twist. He dies, abruptly, although he lives on in song and story, in history and in her story. “She”—her, me … I just plain live on. Flattened at first, marked by an invisible hoofprint seared into my being, but then reconfiguring and gathering speed toward an unexpected life”. Join Francesca when she interviews Diana De Vegh on Wednesday, September 7th when Diana will talk not just about her affair but the imbalance of power between men and women.

Susan McPherson is the founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, a communications consultancy focused on the intersection of brands and social impact. She is the author of The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Relationships  and contributes to the Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Forbes. She has appeared on NPR, CNN, USA Today, The New Yorker, New York Magazine and the Los Angeles Times. Susan is the recipient of Forbes magazine’s 50 over 50—Impact 2021 award. She has also won numerous accolades for her voice on social media platforms from Fortune Magazine, Fast Company and Elle Magazine. Currently, Susan invests in and advises women-led start-ups, including: iFundWomen,Inc., Messy.fm, Our Place, The Riveter, Park Place Payments, Hint Water, Apolitical, Arlo Skye, Giapenta and The Muse. She serves on the boards of USA for UNHCR, The 19th News, and the Lower Eastside Girls Club, and serves on the advisory boards of The List and Alltruists. Additionally, she is a member of the MIT Solve Women and Technology Leadership Group and serves as an adviser to several nonprofits, including Girls Who Code, She’s The First, and The OpEd Project.

Being a girl is already confusing for Caroline Kautsire, and growing up in a small African country of Malawi, she is constantly asked the question, “What kind of girl behaves this way?” She chooses to stand out by taking risks that are curious beyond what is proper, leading to disapproval and harsh consequences. At just 9 years old, she finds herself enrolled in a high school at a boarding school far from her home and her parents. Alone, she must finally answer the question “What kind of girl are you?” for herself.

In the U.S., roughly one in 10 children live with at least one parent with a drinking problem, and alcohol is the third-highest preventable cause of death. It’s implicated in a lot of partner abuse, sexual assault, and fatal accidents. All of these damning truths  are acknowledged in Edward Slingerland’s “Drunk.” This absorbing book is a thoughtful and spirited defense of intoxication.  Dr. Slingerland, an expert in Chinese philosophy with eclectic academic interests approach is stone-cold sober, “defending the power of Dionysus . . . in a way that bows to Apollo,” as he puts it. Dr. Slingerland argues that, despite its downsides, getting drunk has been, on balance, good for us, “enhancing creativity, alleviating stress, building trust, and pulling off the miracle of getting fiercely tribal primates to cooperate with strangers.”

Renowned sex therapist Ian Kerner shares his unique and indispensable methodology used to help thousands of couples get unstuck and into sexual sync. Dr. Ian Kerner is a Sherlock Holmes of the bedroom—a sexual detective helping individuals and couples solve the mystery of their sexual distress. His secret weapon? Kerner has perfected the art of the “sex script analysis,” a way of taking a magnifying glass to a recent sexual event and looking at the entire sequence of interactions—beginning, middle and end—from multiple angles.  Ian is regularly quoted as an expert in various media, with recent features in The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Economist and NPR. He contributes regularly on the topic of sex for CNN Health. He lectures on topics related to sex and relationships, with recent presentations at New York University, Yale, and Princeton.  

Did you know that blueberries can help you cope with the aftereffects of trauma? That salami can cause depression, or that boosting Vitamin D intake can help treat anxiety?
When it comes to diet, most people’s concerns involve weight loss, fitness, cardiac health, and longevity. But what we eat affects more than our bodies; it also affects our brains. And recent studies have shown that diet can have a profound impact on mental health conditions ranging from ADHD to depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, OCD, dementia and beyond.Dr Uma Naidoo, Director of Nutritional and Lifestyle Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, is a Harvard trained Psychiatrist and one of the pioneers in the more newly recognized field of Nutritional Psychiatry. Featured in the Wall Street Journal, ABC News, Harvard Health Press, Goop, and many others, Dr Uma has a special interest on the impact of food on mood and other mental health conditions. In her book, This Is Your Brain On Food, Dr Uma shows the cutting-edge science explaining the ways in which food contributes to our mental health and how a sound diet can help treat and prevent a wide range of psychological and cognitive health issues, from ADHD to anxiety, depression, OCD, and others. 

For each feeling of burnout, there is opportunity for resilience.It’s all two sides of the same coin, said J. Bryan Sexton, associate professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke’s School of Medicine and an expert in the idea of resilience, the ability to bounce back from life’s obstacles. The trick is to build mental muscles to deal with challenges thrown our way, both personally and professionally, when many feel like they’re asked to do more.“Once we normalize it and make it less taboo to talk about burnout and resilience, then we can do something about it,” Sexton said. “You can eat right, sleep right and call your mom each week, but it’s more than that.”Sexton suggests these three ways to deal with the threat of burnout and increase resilience.

Stop the spread! Gossip…..Amir Fathizadeh, prominent personal improvement expert discusses how to stop gossip before it builds up a head of steam and sows its seeds of destruction. A genius on the topic, his method

s works wonders in fostering an atmosphere of positive interpersonal communication within families, circles of friends, social groups and companies.  His new book, Gossip, The Road to Ruin is a must read if you want to know how to end the vicious cycle.

Global health expert Alanna Shaikh talks about the current status of the 2019 coronavirus outbreak and what this can teach us about the epidemics yet to come. Alanna Shaikh is a global health consultant and executive coach who specializes in individual, organizational and systemic resilience. She is the author of “What’s Killing Us: A Practical Guide to Understanding Our Biggest Global Health Problems.

“What is a hunch or intuition exactly? Roughly 90 percent of the critical decisions a person actually makes will generally be based more on their gut about the right thing to do rather than hard data. So if you are walking around with a stomachache..maybe something is off!!! Great intuition is not ESP or magic, it’s making quick, good decisions on experience. Take firefighters, for example, they are able to make life-and-death decisions rapidly because they pick up on the clues of what is happening and know intuitively how they should react without requiring detailed analysis.  Cognitive psychologist Gary Klein, a keen observer of people in their natural settings  is going to chat with us about when, why and how insights are formed. Gary is the author of Seeing What Others Don’t, The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights.

Everyone wants desperately to believe that in a world where love can be so hard to find, one kind of love is unbreakable…a mother’s love.
Our entire culture believes not only are all females naturally more nurturing than men, but that motherhood is instinctual and that of course, all mothers love their children unconditionally. But science researcher writer, New York Times best selling author and Psychology
Today blogger Peg Streep has done a ton of research and she tells us otherwise.

Wednesday Martin’s newest work of non-fiction, UNTRUE: Why Nearly Everything We Believe About Women, Lust, and Adultery is Wrong and How the New Science Can Set Us Free cuts through the junk science and regressive cultural narratives that have shaped our beliefs about female infidelity for centuries, revealing a truth both liberating and disconcerting: women are no more “naturally monogamous” than men; nor are their libidos shrinking violets. Rich with game-changing data and polemical writing, it promises to take us far out of our comfort zone, and may change the way you think about women and sex.

Whether or not we mean to, we have the tendency to form judgment about people from reading the visual cues that we experience like their facial expressions or the gestures they display through their body language. We use these nonverbal signs to not only decide whether or not to trust them but also in order to help form clarity around the relationship. But as you’ll learn from Mark Bowden, a repeat guest on Talk With Francesca, “we go out there and we try either consciously or unconsciously to read other peoples body language, when it’s nothing like a book.”Mark is one of the foremost authorities on nonverbal communication and body language and this week we’re talking about his latest book, Truth And Lies: What people are really thinking.
I know you’re going to love this discussion, and you’re going to learn a ton from Mark Bowden
Listen to Wednesday’s episode at 8:30pm on 95.9FM and discover:
Why nonverbal communication is not actually a language.
When you should suspend judgement – which we don’t do enough.
Why reading body language isn’t as helpful to people as they think it might be.

When Leslie Morgan divorced after a twenty-year marriage, both her self-esteem and romantic optimism were shattered. She was determined to avoid the cliché of the “lonely, middle-aged divorcée” lamenting her stretch marks and begging her kids to craft her online dating profile. Instead, Leslie celebrated her independence with an audacious plan: she would devote a year to seeking out five lovers in hopes of unearthing the erotic adventures and authentic connections long missing from her life. Leslie Morgan  is an author, consultant and thought leader on women’s leadership, work-life balance, inspirational parenting, overcoming adversity and surviving violence against women. She recently completed ,The Naked Truth, a memoir which explores female aging and sexuality after motherhood and divorce. 

Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, which is being adapted as a television series with Eva Longoria joins Francesca this week live on WATD Wednesday at 8pm. In addition to Lori’s clinical practice, she writes The Atlantic’s weekly “Dear Therapist” advice column and contributes to The New York Times and many other publications. A member of the Advisory Council for Bring Change to Mind and a contributing editor for the Atlantic, she has written hundreds of articles related to psychology and culture, many of which have become viral sensations. She is a sought-after expert on relationships, parenting, and hot-button mental health topics in media such as The Today Show, Good Morning America, The CBS Early Show and CNN.

Suzanne Venker, author of The Alpha Female’s Guide to Men and Marriage, has helped women embrace the way men and women are naturally wired,prioritize marriage and relationships over career, enjoy the power of their femininity in sex and relationshipsand build a lasting, satisfying relationship with a man. Suzanne’s work has appeared in publications such as Time, USA TODAY, The New York Post and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Atlantic, Forbes, The Huffington Post and London’s Daily Mail  Her TV credits include Fox and Friends, STOSSEL, The View, CNN, and ABC.

At the age of 16, Edith Eger, a trained ballet dancer and gymnast, was sent to Auschwitz. Hours after her parents were killed, Nazi officer Dr. Josef Mengele forced Edit to dance fo his amusement and her survival. Edie spent decades struggling with flashbacks and survivor’s guilt. She raised a family and practiced and studied psychology. Thirty-five years after the war ended, she returned to Auschwitz and was finally able to fully heal and forgive the one person she’d been unable to forgive- herself.  Winner of the National Jewish Book Award and Christopher Award, we are discussing her memoir, The Choice, Embrace the Possible.

Racheal Robertson is the second female in the world to lead a team at the Antarctic Station. She endured one year of a cold and demanding 24 hour a day job. She oversaw survival, safety, and adversity in the Antarctic’s brutal winter conditions. This unique leadership experience was an isolated, inaccessible voyage for Rachael and her team of  80 travelers and the delivery of the Australian Government’s 20 million dollar science program. Upon her return to her home in Australia, Rachel has become one of the most sought after speakers in her home country. She has been a featured speaker on some of the worlds biggest conference platforms both national and internationally such as Apple, Google and IBM. 

Dr. Bernie Siegel believes that love and joy plays a vital role in the healing of the body from illness and disease. After having written several books on how hope, peace, and faith all play a part in preventing an/or curing chronic sicknesses, Dr. Siegel made waves in the medical field by citing how mind-body medicine can be the alternative to pills and potions. Voted Top 20 Most Spiritual Humans on the Planet by the Watkins Review, he makes it a priority to live and die in peace. Additionally, he helps patients all around the world lead a life of happiness by living the motto of being one ’s most authentic self through spirituality and homeopathy.

International best selling author and author of new book “Nobody Hates Trump More Than Trump: An intervention” David Shields shares his psychological investigation findings of the 45th President. It is a satirical look at his language, actions and how they came to be. Shields lets President Donald Trump tell his own stories through numerous and extensive quotes. David Shields has authored several books and has published many essays with the New York Times, Harper’s, Esquire, etc. His work is translated in over 2 dozen languages to reach audiences from all over the world.

Meredith Koch is a survivor that went from treating patients with severe injuries to becoming one herself. On her 25th birthday, a life-altering incident gave Meredith a new lease on life. She was crushed by an 850 pound piano. Rather than dwelling on the “Why Me?” Meredith took control of her life and embodied what it truly meant to adapt. With her injury came a new look at life and what it meant to be Adaptively Abled.

This past May, a workplace injury caused Bernadette Coughlin to lose her job when a drug test came back positive for marijuana. Recreational marijuana use is legal in Massachusetts, but without any employee protections in place, the company was able to fire her. Now, with the help of lawyer David Hadas (Drohan, Hitt, and Hadas), Coughlin has sought legal action against her former employer and has brought the issue to the attention of state officials. She hopes to fix this obvious legislative flaw and protect others from suffering the same fate as her.

Erik Vance will do anything in the name of science. As part of the research for his latest book exploring how the mind and body shape our realities, Suggestible You, he was burned, electrocuted, hypnotized, and cursed by a witchdoctor. In the past, Vance has been a biologist, a rock climbing guide, an environmental consultant, and an environmental educator, but now he focuses on the human element of science, writing about the people who do it as well as how it affects others in positive and negative ways. Over the course of his career, Vance has written for the New York Times, Nature, National Geographic, and a variety of local and national publications.

Self-described as the “collaborator lady,” Phyllis Karas has dedicated her recent works to telling the stories of the women of the Irish mob. Her most recent nonfiction (to be released in September), The Women of Southie, was written in collaboration with Anna Weeks, the wife of Kevin Weeks, the chief enforcer and confidante of James “Whitney” Bulger. The book tells the stories of six Southie women, aged between 30 and 60, each one describing the struggles and successes of their lives. Over her career, Karas has written eleven books, and she currently teaches journalism at Boston University.

Sam Gosling has spent the last ten years studying how people project, and protect, their inner selves. In his book, Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You, he dives into our private worlds (bedrooms, clothes, cars, and more) to show how we project our personalities in unexpected ways. He also explores how we create personality, communicate it, and interpret the world around us. Gosling was the recipient of the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution, and he is also a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.

Peggy Orenstein explores the changing landscape of modern sexual expectations and its troubling impact on adolescents and young women. From her groundbreaking book, Schoolgirls, to her latest, Don’t Call Me Princess, author Peggy Orenstein interviewed young women across the country, mapping the terrain of adolescent female sexuality and gender expectations. Her interviews reveal an uncomfortable truth: although women may display self-confidence in public society, their knowledge of their own sexuality has plummeted. In addition to her bestselling books, Orenstein writes for New York Times Magazine, comments for NPR and was recognized by the Columbia Journalism Review as among its “40 women who changed the media business in the past 40 years.”

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a subject that has long been considered taboo. But with the recent onslaught of women coming forward with their stories along with the ouster of many prominent figures in both Hollywood and Washington, the conversation is finally ready to be had. To that end, join Francesca in welcoming Steve Weisman, Legal Editor for Talkers Magazine and Susan Harrow, author, coach, and publicity extraordinaire who has developed courses to help prevent sexual harassment for women in absolutely any situation. Together these two guests will discuss Matt Lauer’s swift termination and the now, “NOT ME MOVEMENT”.

Mark Shaw is a former criminal defense attorney and legal analyst for major networks such as CNN and ESPN. An investigative reporter with over a decade of experience and the author of 25 books including Miscarriage of Justice, The Poison Patriarch, and Beneath the Mask of Holiness. Shaw has written for USA Today, Huffington Post, and the New York Daily News. A man whose stated passion is “to make people stop and think about historical subjects and important issues confronting society today.” His latest book The Reporter Who Knew Too Much concerns the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of media icon Dorothy Kilgallen in the wake of her investigation into the JFK assassination.  

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Dr. Ernie Bodai, director of Kaiser Permanente’s Breast Cancer Survivorship Institute will join Francesca this week. He created the first Breast Cancer Research Stamp in 1998 to raise money for a cure.  The stamp sells for 11 cents higher than the standard rate. Since its inception, the stamp has raised about 92 million dollars; it surpassed the Elvis Commemorative stamp, which was America’s bestseller. Dr. Bodai’s Breast Cancer Research Stamp was the first stamp ever to be unveiled at the White House, with Hilary Clinton doing the unveiling.

Gary Chapman is the best-selling author of The 5 Love Languages series and the director of Marriage and Family Life Consultants, Inc. He travels the world presenting seminars. His ideas are simple and conveyed with clarity and humor, making his book practical as it is personable. He says applying his ideas will forever change your relationship.

Tara Mohr is the founder of the acclaimed global Playing Big Leadership Program for Women. An expert on women’s leadership and well-being, with a deep commitment to amplifying women’s voices, Tara empowers women to play bigger in their work and in their lives. Tara has an MBA from Stanford University and a BA in English literature from Yale.  Author of Playing Big: Practical Wisdom for Women Who Want to Speak Up, Create and Lead, named a Best Book of the Year by Apple’s iBooks. Airs this Saturday.

Dr. Cortney Warren has come to believe that self-deception is our biggest obstacle to living a fulfilling life. It can stop us from feeling true happiness, thwart our ability to grow, and leave us with massive amounts of regret. We are, in fact, excellent liars because self-deception helps us avoid confronting realities that cause us the most psychological pain. In this way, it is actually a good survival strategy to manipulate the truth to be more consistent with what we can psychologically accept. Despite the function of our self-deception, the lies we tell ourselves come with profound consequences to ourselves, our loved ones, and to our communities. She is the author of Lies We Tell Ourselves: The Psychology of Self-Deception. 

Val Wright, author of Thoughtfully Ruthless airs this Saturday on Talk with Francesca. Her unique approach, which she has trademarked as Thoughtfully Ruthless^TM, has produced typical clients results of market domination in extraordinarily short timeframes along with compassionate truth telling, fearlessness, and extensive creative, technical, and leadership gains. She is an internationally acclaimed innovation expert and was named as one of the top 50 resources for Chief Operating Officers by ClickSoftware. She is one of only 64 experts inducted into Million Dollar Consultant® Hall of Fame. The global clients who have requested her help include Starbucks, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Financial Times, and DreamWorks Animation. Val’s corporate experience includes tenures during dramatic growth periods at Amazon, BMW, Microsoft, Harrods, Marconi, and Sema Group.

Doreen Rainey loves to shake things up! A dynamic, seasoned and no-nonsense personal and business coach and speaker, she is the founder of the RADICAL Success Institute and Vice President of the Operations and Transformation Division of the Steve Harvey World Group. Her work with Steve Harvey’s “Act Like a Success” platform provides tools and resources to assist others in gaining clarity, creating a plan and moving into action.

Thousands of entrepreneurs, coaches, philanthropists and other leaders from around the world have turned to Andrea J. Lee’s teaching to make their dreams come true. In her latest title, We Need to Talk, she offers her practical, yet unconventional wisdom to the topic of the toughest of conversations we experience at work, showing us how we can defuse anger, tension among colleagues, and even proactively avoid workplace violence with a set of three simple questions. She reminds us that the skill of having peaceful conversations is a learnable one, that starting at work leads to more harmony at home. Whether you’re hungover from a conversation you should have had in the past, or you anticipate one in the future that is interrupting your sleep, you will want to tune into Talk with Francesca to hear the conversation with Andrea.

Lee Milteer is an internationally known and celebrated entrepreneur, visionary,  best-selling author, award-winning professional speaker, TV personality, and intuitive business mentor. Milteer provides business and success advice and resources to nearly 250,000 people around the world. She is the founder of the Millionaire Smarts® coaching program which supplies tools for other coaches and businesses. Lee is former partners with GKIC (Glazer-Kennedy Insider Circle) and Peak Performers Implementation coaching program for entrepreneurs. Lee hosted America’s Premier Experts TV Show, which was aired on NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox Affiliates.

If you’re like most people, you’re constantly looking for financial advice that is easy to understand and straightforward. Liz Davidson, CEO of Financial Finesse and Forbes contributing writer, will be talking to us about her new book, What Your Financial Planner Isn’t Telling You. She will give us 10 essential truths about your money.

Does confidence come from our genes or can we learn it? Is it best demonstrated by bravado or is there another way to be confident? Is confidence more critical for success than competence? Why do so many women, even the most successful, seem to struggle with feelings of self-doubt? Francesca will interview Katty Kay, co-author of The Confidence Code.

Dr. Joel Salinas feels your pain. He is an Instructor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. He specializes in brain health, including neuropsychiatry and cognitive behavioral neurology, and conducts research in social and behavioral epidemiology to understand the complex neurobiological interplay between social relationships and brain health. He chronicles his experiences as a doctor living with synesthesia in his new book, Mirror Touch: Notes from a Doctor Who Can Feel Your Pain.

Dan Ariely, author and professor of psychology at Duke University will discuss the predictability of being irrational and the honest truth about dishonesty. Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University and is the founder of The Center for Advanced Hindsight.  Ariely’s talks on TED have been watched over 7.8 million times. He is the author of Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality, both of which became New York Times bestsellers, as well as The Honest Truth about Dishonesty.