Diwali, Joy Seeker, Family Dinners, Wildfire Trauma, Housing Trend in Growing America, Weekend Review

Diwali (0:00:00) What do you know about Diwali? This holiday is celebrated in many countries around the world and is one of the largest and most significant religious observances today. Not only is it celebrated by Hindus, but many other religious and peoples as well. We want to understand more about this delightful and festive holiday. Here to help us is Neeta Bhasin, the president and CEO of ASB Communications, and a Diwali event organizer for Times Square. Joy Seeker (0:15:34) We all want to be happy, and we try to find joy in a million different places. We work really hard to be successful in our careers, to have interesting friends and live in cute, clean houses. But a lot of times those things don’t actually make us happy. If anything, they just make us stressed and grumpy. Shannon Kaiser realized that these things were not bringing her joy or fulfillment, so she set out to travel the world to find what makes her happy. She documents her journey and joins us to share what she learned about happiness in her new book, Joy Seeker. Family Dinners (0:30:53) Despite the obstacles that keep us from spending time as a family, dinner time is a great setting to be all together. Recent studies show that regularly eating dinner as a family is physically, emotionally and socially beneficial. Dr. Anne Fishel, founder of The Family Dinner Project, joins us to share more on the benefits of family dinner, as well as to give us tips on how to make it part of our schedule.  Wildfire Trauma (0:50:35) We’ve talked about it a little bit this week, but if you haven’t heard, California is suffering from some pretty horrible wildfires right now. The fires have displaced tens of thousands of people in the California area and put millions of people from California to Arizona on red flag warning. When disasters like this happen, it can be difficult to cope, especially if you’re directly affected. Dr. Joyce Mikal-Flynn, a California resident and researcher of trauma informed care and post-traumatic growth, is here to share with us some tips for coping with trauma.  Housing Trend in Growing America (1:07:14) You live in a world of hustle and bustle – things are constantly going on around you, and you’re busy all the time, but somehow, you’re still lonely. According to TIME.com, you might not be alone. One of their reports states that an estimated 42.6 million people in America are suffering from chronic loneliness. According to TIME, one of the trends popping up across the country that addresses this, is the growth of intentional communities. So, what is an “Intentional Community?” And how can it help? Arthur Kopecky is an Advocate for Intentional Communities and has experienced these communities himself. We wanted to talk with him about intentional communities and how they can help our society. Weekend Review (1:24:35) Lisa and Richie update us on the newest movies to see this weekend, and talk about what's going on around the country in case you don't have weekend plans yet.