I love discovering new things about people through great conversation. But lately I’ve been thinking about how to avoid the pitfalls of asking a question that might make the other person feel uncomfortable or awkward. One of the reasons for that self-reflection is the fact that we have a junior in high school and previously, if I met up with one of her friends, I'd ask, “Where are you thinking about going to college?”  I had no idea how much stress just that simple question creates. (I wrote a blog about it here!) So this week, we asked you to send us your worst and best questions to mak ..read more

Welcome to our 3-part ADHD Is Awesome bonus series! This podcast series is inspired by our new book ADHD Is Awesome which comes out April 30, 2024. In this series, we plan to answer three big questions: 1) what does ADHD look like, 2) how do you best partner with someone who has ADHD, and 3) what do you do with your ADHD to (mostly) thrive. This week, we have Dr. Marcy Caldwell join us who had a big hand in helping research for the book. We also have our producer, Ann Marie Taepke, gives some insight into working with someone with ADHD and we take a voicemail from Heather. We can't wait to he ..read more

Most of you that have followed us for a while know I’m an anxious person. You know one thing that bizarrely doesn’t scare me? Artificial intelligence taking over the world. There's a lot of hills I'm gonna die on. But if there's a zombie apocalypse triggered by AI? Take me first, alien overlords. Penn is extremely worried about artificial intelligence and what could happen if it gets in the wrong hands. So we invited Dr. Helen Crompton, a professor at Old Dominion University and the Executive Director of the Research Institute for Digital Innovation in Learning at ODUGlobal, on this week ..read more

If you had a button to get rid of your ADHD or someone else’s, would you press it? The perception society has around Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is pretty negative. You would find it hard to believe there are benefits to something that has three unfavorable words as part of its name. I would rename ADHD in a heartbeat if I could. In our book, ADHD Is Awesome, we talk about alternate names we would use or others have come up with. But no matter what we were to rename ADHD, we need to reframe it.  This week we talk about changing the perception of ADHD, including the refr ..read more

I heard of schadenfreude for the first time while sitting in the audience of the hilariously wonderful Broadway show Avenue Q. It means pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune. But if schadenfreude is taking pleasure in someone’s misfortune, can you take pleasure in someone’s joy? Enter freudenfreude. On this week’s podcast, we had Dr. Catherine Chambliss teach us how to practice more freudenfreude. Dr. Chambliss shared some of the benefits of freudenfreude and easy practices to include it in our lives (like even if you aren’t feeling that joyous about someone else’s succ ..read more

I have a solid marriage, a great one actually, but most nights I look over to my husband, who falls blissfully asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow, and I’m filled with RAGE. How does he fall asleep so quickly?!? How does his body let him STAY asleep?! Apparently, sleep disruption like I am experiencing is one of the many (many) symptoms of perimenopause. But sometimes, I feel like it’s something *I* have done wrong, something *I* must be doing right. As if it’s all in my head.  I’m writing to tell you, it’s not.  This week, we invited Dr. Mary Claire Haver on the podcast to d ..read more

Penn here! This week, we recorded a live podcast at SXSW in Austin, Texas about how to (mostly) thrive with ADHD. We talk about how the world wasn’t built for ADHD and what systems I’ve put in place to make life more manageable. My hope is that we can find more understanding for those of us with different, but wonderful brains. If you have ADHD, how would you change your school or workplace to be more ADHD friendly? Big thanks to everyone who attended, we are so excited to get our new book out into the universe. You can pre-order it now: Our New Book, ADHD Is Awesome! Special Sale, Get o ..read more

Recently, we had the privilege of going on family vacation in the Caribbean and one of the activities we planned was snorkeling. He was particularly excited about seeing the “nerf shark.” (Yes, he said nerf shark instead of nurse shark.) Penn is very smart. He’s one of those annoying people who took the SAT and got an amazing score the first time. So, I cannot tell you how happy it made me that he thought a nurse shark was called a nerf shark. Easily my top moment on vacation.  This story led us to talking about the other things we’ve gotten loud wrong in our lives this week on our podca ..read more

We have very fun (but weird) jobs where we have to always be producing something. Small business owners know that you have to hustle in order to make a living. Your success (or failure) is a direct correlation of your work. And it’s a lot of pressure. This week on our podcast, we interviewed Celeste Headlee, author of Do Nothing: How To Break Away From Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving. I have to admit some of her advice about slowing down did not seem like it could work for small business owners like Penn and I. It was refreshing to hear even Celeste (who is self-employed) di ..read more

There was a time when we’d have a reservation at a cozy restaurant to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Things are different now, but not “bad” different. I don’t love my husband any less. In fact, there’s no way I could love him more, but we are not in our date night era. So this week, our producer Ann Marie Taepke (she also plays our Midwest Neighbor in videos) joins us! When you've been together for a long time, it's hard to find new things to talk about. Ann Marie brought us 10 wacky questions to make us laugh and learn more about each other. (Please message us and tell us what song you ..read more