Health & Wellness, Non Fiction, Science, Self-help, Women's Issues

Mar 19: TV’s Dr Nita Landry Talks Better Sex, Better Health, Better You!

Dr. Nita’s Crash Course for Women Answers Questions You Don’t Want to Ask

Renowned expert on women’s health, Dr. Nita Landry, gets right down to it answering questions around female sexuality, from orgasms to what the orgasm gap is … and why you should focus less on having an orgasm and more on just having fun.

Dr. Landry also shares what we need to know about STDs — and you might be surprised by the rapidly growing age-group impacted by STDs. Plus we look at the latest medical guidance on health screenings for cancer of the breast and cervix. How to select the best doctor for you, and more.

About Dr. Nita Landry

Nita Landry is an MD, OB-GYN. In addition to cohosting The Doctors, she served as a medical expert on other TV programs including Good Morning America, Today, Dr. Phil, CBS national news, and Black Entertainment Television. And served as an ambassador for National Women’s Health Week from 2018 through 2021. Dr. Nita Landry’s book is Crash Course for Women: Better Sex, Better Health, Better you.

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Health & Wellness, Psychology, Science, Self-help

Mar 12: The Busy Brain Cure with Dr. Romie Mushtaq

Feel helpless to break the work, sleep, work cycle? Dr Romie’s 8 week plan maximizes focus, tames anxiety, & leads to a healthy sleep pattern.

The Busy Brain Cure with author Dr. Romie Mushtaq

Stressors are often misconstrued as a sign of a hectically important life, worn as a badge of honor, but the reality is that chronic stress kills. Dr. Romie Mushtaq discovered that the hard way when she suffered major career burnout, while simultaneously undergoing life-saving surgery.

The irony was not lost on her that, as a neurologist, she should have known better. But her wake-up call set Dr. Romie on a global journey to research and heal the negative impacts of stress responses on our brains, bodies, and teams. The Busy Brain Cure: The Eight Week Plan to Find Focus, Tame Anxiety, & Sleep Again takes an integrated approach to reduce stress, avoid burnout, and live with zest.

Find out why the constantly new trending diets and cleanses should give way to occasionally embracing certain comfort foods to fight stress. We discuss how to overcome the stimulant-sedative cycle, lower your caffeine independence by day and sleep aids at night. And Dr. Romie shares how to heal the root cause of ADHD, anxiety, and insomnia without addictive medications.

About Dr. Romie Mushtaq

Dr. Romie is a board-certified physician, award-winning wellness speaker, and the founder of brainSHIFT. She combines over 20 years of authority in neurology, integrative medicine, and mindfulness to deliver programs and create cultural change. Dr. Romie currently speaks and consults for Fortune 500 companies, professional athletes, & global associations. She is also the Chief Wellness Officer (CWO) for Great Wolf Lodge. And was formerly the CWO for Evolution Hospitality, where she scaled a mindfulness & wellness program for over 7,000 employees. Her expertise is featured in the national media, such as NPR, NBC, TED talks, and Forbes.

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Essays, Humor, Inspirational, Memoir, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

Mar 05: Itching to Love with Award-winning Author Shelley Fraser Mickle

The Story of a Dog

Itching to Love with author Shelley Fraser Mickle

“[Shelley’s writing] warms us with the wisdom and perspective that come from a lifetime filled with animals, people, history, science, and literature. An absolutely unique memoir by one of the South’s great storytellers.”

Danny Rubin, Screenwriter (Groundhog Day)

When you’re used to being needed and hearing someone shout “Mom” a hundred times a day, who are you, and what do you do when the kids leave home? Like millions of other moms, award-winning writer Shelley Fraser Mickle faced that same dilemma. Her solution found her.

Today Shelley shares why she wrote to author William Faulkner and how that worked out. We discuss the importance of storytelling and passing down family stories. How humor helps us physiologically; why we should laugh out loud and try to find the humor even during dark days. Shelley shares her love of horses, and the dog who saved her, Buddy. We also discuss the challenges and joys of writing a memoir, ITCHING TO LOVE: The Story of a Dog.

Meet Shelley Fraser Mickle

Shelley Fraser Mickle is a multiple award-winning author and beloved storyteller. Her readings delighted listeners on National Public Radio’s Morning Edition from 2000 to 2006.  Shelley’s second novelREPLACING DAD, won a Friends of American Writers Award and was adapted into a Hallmark Channel movie. Currently, her 2023 narrative history WHITE HOUSE WILD CHILD: HOW ALICE ROOSEVELT BROKE ALL THE RULES AND WON THE HEART OF AMERICA is in development as a film series. ITCHING TO LOVE: The Story of a Dog is Shelley’s memoir.

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Conservation, Memoir, Nature, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

Feb 26: Bad Naturalist – Paula Whyman

One Woman’s Attempt to Restore 200 Acres of Farmland in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Bad Naturalist with author Paula Whyman

With humor, humility, and awe, writer Paula Whyman faces her limitations, while getting to know a breathtaking corner of the natural world.

When she first climbed a peak in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains looking for a home in the country, she had no idea how little she knew about hands-on conservation, or how quickly her tidy backyard ecology project would grow into a massive endeavor.

From Bad Naturalist: One Woman’s Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop we explore some of Paula’s many challenges, failures, and successes as she learns hour by hour how to work with nature and its seasons, with indigenous versus invasive growth, and nature … the ultimate boss.

Meet Paula Whyman

Paula Whyman’s new book, Bad Naturalist: One Woman’s Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintopis a blend of memoir, natural history, and conservation science. Her short story collection You May See a Stranger, earned praise from The New Yorker, a starred review in Publishers Weekly, and won the Towson Prize for Literature. Paula Whyman’s stories have appeared in journals including McSweeney’s Quarterly and Virginia Quarterly Review, and her fiction was selected for the anthology Writes of Passage: Coming-of-Age Stories and Memoirs from The Hudson Review. Whyman’s nonfiction has been featured on NPR, and in the Washington Post, The American Scholar, and The Rumpus. She is co-founder and editor-in-chief of the literary journal Scoundrel Time.

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Adventure, Exploration, Historical, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

Feb 19: Outdoor Adventure Author Buddy Levy with Realm of Ice & Sky

Triumph, Tragedy, and History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue

Realm of Ice and Sky with author Buddy Levy

Winner of 2023’s National Outdoor Book Award, Buddy Levy, returns to Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair, this time to talk about his latest Arctic survival book, Realm of Ice and Sky: Triumph, Tragedy, and History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue.

  • “The gripping account of a fatal polar adventure. Hair-raising suffering and heroism in the Arctic.” ~ Kirkus Reviews

Levy says it’s not the history of one voyage. It’s the history of one TYPE of voyage – trying to reach the north pole airborne, in an airship. If successful, it would signal a changing of the guard – from dog and sled travel, to the new technology of airborne travel.

We explore “the greatest Arctic rescue” a dramatic, nearly forgotten 19th-century mission that tested human resilience, ingenuity, and survival in one of the most unforgiving environments on Earth. We also discuss the journeys of the three key explorers; their challenges, failures, and successes. And Buddy shares how he pieced together these 19th century adventures to make a riveting story.

Meet Buddy Levy

Buddy Levy is the author of nine books including Realm of Ice and Sky, and Empire of Ice and Stone: The True Story of the Canadian Arctic Expedition That Went Horribly Wrong. [Hear that PODCAST.] His work has been featured or reviewed in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, USA Today, The Washington Post, and many other outlets. He was the co-star, for 25 episodes, on HISTORY Channel’s hit docuseries Brad Meltzer’s DECODED. In 2018 he was an on-camera expert on the 4-part TV Series THE FRONTIERSMEN: The Men Who Built America (HISTORY, Executive Producer Leonardo Di Caprio).

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Health & Wellness, Non Fiction, Women's Issues

Feb 12: Say No to Cervical Cancer with Dr. Linda Eckert

Expert advice in ENOUGH: Because We Can Stop Cervical Cancer

Enough: Because We Can Stop Cervical Cancer with Dr. Linda Eckert

Did you know that cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women? That it’s highly treatable and almost 100% preventable? Yet each year, approximately:

340,000 women around the globe die of cervical cancer.

14,000 women in the U.S. receive news that they have cervical cancer.

Over 90% of cervical cancer cases are caused by the Human Papillomavirus, or HPV as it’s commonly known.

In ENOUGH: Because We Can Stop Cervical Cancer, Dr. Linda Eckert integrates scientific evidence, personal stories, and policy advocacy to inspire readers to take action. We discuss what you need to know — from symptoms to treatments and prevention. She busts common myths around vaccines, HPV, which groups of women are disproportionately affected. And how HPV can also affect men. Most of all, Dr. Eckert leaves us with hope, and the knowledge we need to help wipe out cervical cancer.

Meet Dr. Linda Eckert

Dr. Linda Eckert is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist with over three decades of experience in women’s health. She serves as a professor in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Global Health at the University of Washington, where her clinical practice is centered at Seattle’s Harborview Women’s Clinic. Her areas of expertise include vaginal and vulvar infections, vaccines, cervical cancer screening, and cross-cultural medicine. In addition to her research and clinical practice, Dr. Eckert serves on the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s Expert Immunization Committee and is the organization’s liaison to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. She was also the obstetrics lead for the Global Alignment of Immunization Safety in Pregnancy Program.

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Creativity, Health & Wellness, Nature, Non Fiction

Feb 05: Creativity Expert Michael Gelb on the Health, Productivity, & Creative Benefits of Walking Well

A new approach for comfort, vitality, and inspiration in every step.

Walking Well with coauthor Michael Gelb

Today’s guest, creativity expert Michael Gelb, coauthored WALKING WELL: A New Approach for Comfort, Vitality, and Inspiration in Every Step with movement artist Bruce Fertman.

Michael Gelb shares the science behind the transformational benefits of walking, including how the immune system, the brain’s neuroplasticity, the gut, our kidneys, longevity, weight, anxiety, mood, and more can improve with regular movement. We also discuss what he calls The Four Dignities. And how walking in nature – as many of our creative guests have attested to – helps spark creativity and combat stress.

Meet Coauthors Michael J. Gelb and Bruce Fertman

Michael J. Gelb is a pioneer in the fields of creative thinking, executive coaching, and innovative leadership. He’s a fifth-degree black belt in aikido and teaches tai chi and the Alexander Technique. The author of 17 books – including the international bestseller How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci – Michael Gelb is also a professional juggler who performed with the Rolling Stones.

Bruce Fertman brings 60 years of study as a movement artist and educMator to his work. His training includes gymnastics, modern dance, ballet, contact improvisation, the Alexander Technique, tai chi chuan, aikido, chanoyu (Japanese tea ceremony), Argentine tango, and kyudo (Zen archery). For the past 30 years Fertman’s taught in Europe, Asia, and the Americas helping people experience the interconnectedness of physical and spiritual life.

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Historical, Journalism, Non Fiction, Writers on Writing

Jan 29: Michael Cannell Discusses Blood and The Badge

The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked The Nation

Blood and the Badge with author Michael Cannell

Michael Cannell‘s BLOOD AND THE BADGE reads like a novel – except it’s not. This true tale features Louis Eppolito and Stephen Caracapp, two decorated NYPD detectives, who double-dipped as Mafia informants and paid assassins.

Considered the most corrupt chapter in NYPD history, Cannell sheds new light on Eppolito and Caracapp, who the Mafia cap called his “Crystal Ball”.

We discuss: Why the FBI couldn’t indict them. What motivated both cops to betray their own, frame innocent people, set up assassinations. And, what drove the detective who finally broke the cold case, putting them where they belong – behind bars.

Meet Michael Cannell

Michael Cannell is the author of five non-fiction books, most recently Blood and the Badge: The Mafia, Two Killer Cops, and a Scandal That Shocked the Nation. His previous books include A Brotherhood Betrayed: The Man Behind the Rise and Fall of Murder, Inc., and Incendiary: The Psychiatrist, the Mad Bomber and the Invention of Criminal Profiling. Cannell has worked as a reporter for Time and an editor for The New York Times. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated and many other publications.

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Fiction, Historical, Writers on Writing

Jan 22: Hold Strong with Robert Dugoni & Jeff Langholz

A Novel Inspired by the Deadliest Accident in US Military History. A Story of Courage. Perseverance. Faith. Resilience.

Hold Strong with coauthors Robert Dugoni and Jeff Langholz

When Chris Crabtree discovered a little known historical story from WW2, he found a personal connection with someone from the true event. That began a 12 year odyssey. Chris mentioned the story to Jeff Langholz who went down a research rabbit hole for the next decade, as they tried to recreate the event in novel form.

So how, when, and why did bestselling author Robert Dugoni get involved? We discuss that today with two of the three coauthors – Robert Dugoni and Jeff Langholz.

They share the significance of the title, Hold Strong. How they collaborated as authors, and who played what role in the development and writing of the book. Where the authors took creative license and why. Which characters were a composite of multiple characters and why. And much more.

Meet Coauthors Robert Dugoni, Jeff Langholz, & Chris Crabtree

ROBERT DUGONI is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Amazon Charts bestselling author of the Tracy Crosswhite series, the Charles Jenkins series, the David Sloane series, and several standalone novels. He’s a multi-time winner of the Friends of Mystery Spotted Owl Award for best novel set in the Pacific Northwest. And a recipient of the Nancy Pearl Book Award for fiction.

JEFF LANGHOLZ is an award-winning teacher, researcher, entrepreneur, and writer. His work has appeared in more than 250 media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and National Geographic. He’s a professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, CA.

CHRIS CRABTREE (not joining us today) teaches middle and high school English language arts in Costa Rica. Chris’s discovery of Father Tom Scecina’s heroism and sacrifice during the deadliest accident in US military history (the sinking of the Arisan Maru) sparked the journey of HOLD STRONG.

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Journalism, Non Fiction, Social Issues

Jan 15: Protect Yourself from Cyber Attacks with Nicole Perlroth

What You Can Do Today to Keep You and Your Data Safe from the Cyber Weapons Arms Race

This is How They Tell Me the World Ends with Author Nicole Perlroth

Even if everything seems to be working and functioning normally, chances are, a cyber attack has already infiltrated your digital world without your knowledge.

In This is How They Tell Me the World Ends, Nicole Perlroth reveals unreported stories of the cyberweapons market, the most secretive, invisible, government-backed market today. We discuss the active participation of the US. How a pre-strike of cyber attacks on Ukraine aided Russia before they attacked on land. And the singularly most vital thing you can do to protect yourself and your data.

About Nicole Perlroth

Nicole Perlroth was the lead cybersecurity, digital espionage, and sabotage reporter at The New York Times for a decade, where her work was optioned for film and television. She’s a regular lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Today, she increasingly prefers life off the grid. This Is How They Tell me The World Ends is Nicole’s first book, and a New York Times bestseller.

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