The History of Witches, Pumpkin Nights, Play is Productive, The Power of Promises

Important conversations and encouraging words to help you make every day a great one. The History of Witches (00:00) Who decided that a witch was a woman? When did witches become green, warty, pointy hat wearing, broomstick riding, and black cat shape shifters? But today Dr. Mary Eyring, assistant professor at Brigham Young University, is here to help us better understand the history of witches. Dr. Eyring is currently teaching a course titled “Writing, Witchcraft, and the World.” This English Senior Course delves deep into our country’s history by looking into the lives of Puritan New Englanders and their experiences with witches and witchcraft. Making the Holidays Less Stressful (17:08) Carrie Ann Rhodes and Lisa exchange tips and tricks to make the holidays less stressful. Pumpkin Nights (48:43) “Only the knife knows what goes on in the heart of a pumpkin,” Simone Schwarz-Bart once said. But artist Kathrine Kasen might know more about the heart of a pumpkin than your typical kitchen knife. Over the past 6 months, Kathrine has helped design and create pumpkin sculptures for an event called Pumpkin Nights. At Pumpkin Nights, visitors in four U.S cities walk through fantasy themed lands built with thousands of hand-carved pumpkins. The festival showcases the talents of local artists like Kathrine. Play is Productive (1:04:15) Parents want their kids to be successful. To many, the best way to ensure this success is to fill every second with so-called productive activities. This means that after the strict schedule of the academic day, kids are shuttled off to other structured activities—music lessons, sports teams, art classes—for much of their remaining free time. This leaves little, if any, space for unstructured play. Dr. Gail Saltz is a professor of psychiatry at the NY Presbyterian Hospital Weill-Cornell School of medicine and a psychoanalyst with the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. She’s the author of multiple books, most recently The Power of Different: The Link Between Disorder and Genius. The Power of Promises (1:22:47) We’ve all had some experiences with promises: made, kept, broken. Some of our promises are big and important—oaths in court, or wedding vows. Others are small and almost accidental, things we may not even notice are promises. As parents these promise-making habits are even more important because of the way they affect our children. Whether we break or keep our word, our kids are learning from our actions. Dr. Carl Pickhardt joins us to discuss the power of promises. His most recent books are Surviving Your Child’s Adolescence, Boomerang Kids, and Why Good Kids Act Cruel.