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ParentData with Emily Oster

ParentData with Emily Oster
Author: ParentData
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Parenting is full of decisions — starting the moment you learn you’re pregnant (sometimes before) and continuing indefinitely. For the past decade, Emily Oster has been a guide through the challenges of pregnancy and parenthood using data. She translates the latest scientific research into answers to the questions people have in their day-to-day lives. ParentData brings Emily together with other experts in areas of pregnancy and parenting to talk about some of the most complicated of these issues, from labor induction to food allergies to parenting through a divorce. Each conversation brings us closer to Emily’s mission: to create the most data-literate and informed generation of parents yet.
30 Episodes
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Self-care is everywhere. Bubble baths, massages, Instagram encouraging you to “take time for yourself.” Get up early to have coffee and meditate, or take a forest walk. It can get to the point where self-care itself is yet another thing to check off the to-do list. Send emails. Make lunches. Clean Cheerios off floor. Take forest walk.
Today on ParentData, psychiatrist Dr. Pooja Lakshmin wants to push back on this performative, box-checking, crystals-and-baths form of self-care. Her book Real Self-Care: A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness is about what it actually takes to create wellness for ourselves. She talks about setting boundaries, tuning out the critics, and what true self-care can mean to each of us.
Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting.
Earlier this year, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a new advisory about the effects of social media on the mental health of young people. These advisories are rare; we're used to seeing them on the sides of cigarette packs, where the negative health risks are indisputable. But social media and smartphones are more complicated. Today on ParentData, Dr. Murthy discusses the individual and systemic issues that led him to issue the advisory, and what he hopes, as both the nation's doctor and his kids’ father, it will accomplish.
Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting.
It’s time to make things awkward! Our journey through puberty is mercifully over, but we’ve still got to help our kids through it… and it may not be what we remember. Pediatrician Dr. Cara Natterson and journalist Vanessa Kroll Bennett, authors of “This is So Awkward: Modern Puberty Explained,” are here to dive headfirst into the surprising complexities of the endocrine system and how to stay close to our kids as they navigate today’s journey of adolescence.
Subscribe to ParentData.org for free access to new articles every week on data-driven pregnancy and parenting.
We need your stories! Click on this form for our upcoming episode themes and instructions on how to contribute your voice. We can’t wait to hear from you.
Even under the best of circumstances, the decision to end a marriage is often painful and always complicated - and even more so when kids are involved. Today on ParentData, writer and social worker Miranda Featherstone delves into the endless choices that accompany divorce, including making the initial decision, what it means to share your kids, what (and how much) to tell them, and other ways of thinking about the emotional and logistical aftershocks of making the right choice for yourself.
Please look into support from the Domestic Violence Support Hotline, if it applies to your situation.
Subscribe to ParentData.org for ad-free podcast episodes, hundreds of articles on pregnancy and parenting, and more.
We need your stories! Click on this form for our upcoming episode themes and instructions on how to contribute your voice. We can’t wait to hear from you.
You probably remember peanut butter being everywhere when you were a kid: commercials, birthday parties, packed in your school lunchbox. Now peanuts are notable for their absence. What accounts for such a dramatic change in such a short amount of time? When did something so commonplace become so high-risk? Dr. Gideon Lack led the study that aimed to understand what happened. Today on ParentData, he explains the precipitous rise in peanut allergies over the last twenty years, our own unfortunate role in the rise of allergies, and the best ways to safely introduce allergens to your babies.
Read Dr. Lack’s randomized LEAP trial paper in the NEJM and the American Academy of Pediatrics’ subsequent revised recommendations.
Subscribe to ParentData.org for ad-free podcast episodes, hundreds of articles on pregnancy and parenting, and more.
We need your stories! Click on this form for our upcoming episode themes and instructions on how to contribute your voice. We can’t wait to hear from you.
Kids today face an unprecedented pressure to succeed, and it's pushing their mental health, and their families, to a breaking point. Today on ParentData, journalist Jennifer Breheny Wallace explains her research in her bestselling book, "Never Enough," how we got here, how these problems exist across both class and culture, and how we can combat this pressure by simply allowing our kids to matter as much as we already know they do.
Subscribe to ParentData.org for ad-free podcast episodes, hundreds of articles on pregnancy and parenting, and more.
We need your stories! Click on this form for our upcoming episode themes and instructions on how to contribute your voice. Or you can record a voice memo on your phone and email it to us at podcast@parentdata.org. We can’t wait to hear from you.
Becoming a parent is transformative. It is also terrifying. From conception and pregnancy onwards, you’re handed a new set of rules to follow with little explanation of the reasons or risks. For each decision, you want to do the “right” thing — but how, with conflicting advice from all directions? For the past decade, Emily Oster has been a guide through the biggest decisions and most challenging moments of pregnancy and parenthood by translating the latest scientific research. ParentData brings Emily and other experts together to debunk myths with data and navigate understudied areas of pregnancy and parenting, from the impact of social media on teens to navigating a complicated birth. Each conversation brings us closer to Emily’s mission: to create the most data-literate and informed generation of parents.
I’m thrilled to share the audio from an event we held earlier this month to mark the 10-year anniversary of my first book, Expecting Better. It was hosted by Dr. Sara Readon (also known as The Vagina Whisperer) and we were joined by Amy Schumer, who helped put the book on the map. We also announced my new book, The Unexpected, which is coming out next spring!
ParentData relaunched in September 2023. Please enjoy this episode of the earlier version of the podcast from our archives. You can read transcripts and listen to all of our episodes at parentdata.org/podcast.
Want more on data, pregnancy, and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at parentdata.org.
I spoke with Dr. Anupam Jena, known as Bapu, who hosts the podcast Freakonomics, MD, about his new book, Random Acts of Medicine, written jointly with Dr. Christopher Worsham. The book is out this week, and after you listen here, I highly recommend you pick it up.
ParentData relaunched in September 2023. Please enjoy this episode of the earlier version of the podcast from our archives. You can read transcripts and listen to all of our episodes at parentdata.org/podcast.
Want more on data, pregnancy, and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at parentdata.org.
Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman is a PhD student at Harvard in economics and public policy. Last year, she edited The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions for a Broken System, which features Black scholars and experts across economics, education, health, climate, criminal justice, and technology. This week, the book is out in paperback. In honor of this, she and I connected to chat about two of the chapters — on education for Black girls and representation in children’s books.
ParentData relaunched in September 2023. Please enjoy this episode of the earlier version of the podcast from our archives. You can read transcripts and listen to all of our episodes at parentdata.org/podcast.
Want more on data, pregnancy, and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free atparentdata.org.
When I do my weekly Q&A on Instagram (@profemilyoster), I get a lot of questions about running. Rather than interrupt the parenting content, we thought we’d collect those separately and put them in podcast form. And then I convinced Laura Green to ask the questions. If you do not follow Laura on Instagram, she puts out very funny running comedy; it is seriously the best. So: if you like running and parenting and discussions of the pelvic floor, please give this one a listen.
ParentData relaunched in September 2023. Please enjoy this episode of the earlier version of the podcast from our archives. You can read transcripts and listen to all of our episodes at parentdata.org/podcast.
Want more on data, pregnancy, and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at parentdata.org.
I heard about Virginia Sole-Smith’s new book, Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture, a few months ago and was so excited I immediately insisted on reading it and interviewing her. I’m a big fan of Virginia’s — she is a journalist, an author, a podcaster, the writer of the excellent Substack newsletter Burnt Toast, and a mom. Her new book is about kids and weight and food, and I think it is an absolute must-read for all parents, especially for that moment when your child asks, “Does this shirt make me look fat?” and you know there is a right thing to say, but in the moment you don’t know what it is and instead you melt into a floor puddle, never to be seen again.
ParentData relaunched in September 2023. Please enjoy this episode of the earlier version of the podcast from our archives. You can read transcripts and listen to all of our episodes at parentdata.org/podcast.
Want more on data, pregnancy, and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at parentdata.org.
I speak with Megan Nix about her book Remedies for Sorrow, in which she recounts her journey with her daughter, Anna, who was born with congenital CMV. I would highly recommend the book, which is a combination of informative and deeply affecting.
ParentData relaunched in September 2023. Please enjoy this episode of the earlier version of the podcast from our archives. You can read transcripts and listen to all of our episodes at parentdata.org/podcast.
Want more on data, pregnancy, and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free atparentdata.org.
I’m finishing out Black Maternal Health Week with an interview with Erica Chidi — writer, entrepreneur, doula, and more. We talk about issues around Black maternal health, maternal health in general, and possible solutions.
ParentData relaunched in September 2023. Please enjoy this episode of the earlier version of the podcast from our archives. You can read transcripts and listen to all of our episodes at parentdata.org/podcast.
Want more on data, pregnancy, and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at parentdata.org.
I’m excited to be joined today by Kelly Fradin, who wrote a new book called Advanced Parenting: Advice for Helping Kids Through Diagnoses, Differences, and Mental Health Challenges. I think this book is a must-read for any parent struggling with a complicated parenting problem. And as Kelly describes in this conversation, it’s also a book for every parent, since all of us face the challenges of advocating for our kids at one point or another. Her book is full of tools and resources that will help you manage the stress and navigate the business of care. And we’re going to cover some of her top tips in today’s conversation.
ParentData relaunched in September 2023. Please enjoy this episode of the earlier version of the podcast from our archives. You can read transcripts and listen to all of our episodes at parentdata.org/podcast.
Want more on data, pregnancy, and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at parentdata.org.
A bonus episode where Emily answers your personal questions about her journey with pregnancy and parenting — thanks for sending in so many great questions on Instagram at @profemilyoster!
ParentData relaunched in September 2023. Please enjoy this episode of the earlier version of the podcast from our archives. You can read transcripts and listen to all of our episodes at parentdata.org/podcast.
Want more on data, pregnancy, and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at parentdata.org.
Today’s episode is an audio recording from one of my recent appearances in Montclair, New Jersey. It was an amazing night. I was so lucky to be joined by Hillary, who asked me some really thoughtful, smart questions about my book The Family Firm and my work on parenting. If you don’t know her, Hillary is the creator of the podcasts The Longest Shortest Time and Here Lies Me and author of the book Weird Parenting Wins.
ParentData relaunched in September 2023. Please enjoy this episode of the earlier version of the podcast from our archives. You can read transcripts and listen to all of our episodes at parentdata.org/podcast.
Want more on data, pregnancy, and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at parentdata.org.
I am thrilled to feature an interview with Majka Burhardt, a professional ice climber (seriously) and the author of a new book called More: Life on the Edge of Adventure and Motherhood, which is a really raw, gripping book about the first years of parenthood. It’s a book that I had a hard time putting down, even when it pulled me back into the uncertainties and fears of the beginning of parenting.
ParentData relaunched in September 2023. Please enjoy this episode of the earlier version of the podcast from our archives. You can read transcripts and listen to all of our episodes at parentdata.org/podcast.
Want more on data, pregnancy, and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at parentdata.org.
A bonus episode where Emily answers your personal questions about her career and more — thanks for sending in so many great questions on Instagram at @profemilyoster!
ParentData relaunched in September 2023. Please enjoy this episode of the earlier version of the podcast from our archives. You can read transcripts and listen to all of our episodes at parentdata.org/podcast.
Want more on data, pregnancy, and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at parentdata.org.
I am thrilled to feature an interview with two professional women runners, Lauren Fleshman and Molly Huddle. Lauren has a new book out tomorrow called Good for a Girl, which is the impetus for our interview, and we’ll also talk about Molly’s book How She Did It from last spring. We talk about running, but I promise this is really a conversation about postpartum and post-puberty and finding a way to excel in male-dominated spaces and tons of other stuff. It’s a good listen even if you do not love to run.
ParentData relaunched in September 2023. Please enjoy this episode of the earlier version of the podcast from our archives. You can read transcripts and listen to all of our episodes at parentdata.org/podcast.
Want more on data, pregnancy, and parenting? Subscribe to the ParentData newsletter for free at parentdata.org.