Hosts: Armand DiMele

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Authority Figures and the Father Wound with Shreya Mundal August 2, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Shreya Mundal
Category: Communication & Conflict, Identity & The Self

Why do some people clash with every boss, landlord, or police officer they encounter? Armand DiMele and Shreya Mundal, a forensic social worker and mitigation specialist at the Legal Aid Society, trace recurring authority conflicts back to early parental relationships, arguing that unresolved powerlessness keeps people locked in the same losing dynamic.

The Power of Kindness August 1, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Personal Growth & Change

Kindness is framed not as a soft sentiment but as evolutionary glue and a cornerstone of sanity. Armand DiMele maps the virtues of a well-balanced person and argues that fear, envy, greed, and jealousy, the classic deadly sins, are precisely what block us from genuine, give-without-getting kindness.

The Social Power of Reputation July 26, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Identity & The Self, Society, Culture & Current Events

Why does reputation matter so deeply? Armand DiMele traces the primal need for social acceptance from tribal survival through modern credit scores and gendered slurs, arguing that obsession with how others see us can hollow out intimacy and drive social phobia. Callers share their own struggles with image and belonging.

Hypochondria Panic Attacks and Psychosomatic Pain with Dr. Kent Robertshaw July 13, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Kent Robertshaw
Category: Anxiety & Fear, The Mind & Neuroscience

Panic attacks feel like heart attacks, and hypochondria can be a disguised craving for care or an unconscious flirtation with death. Armand and Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, Psychiatrist, argue that fibromyalgia, irritable bowel, and chronic pain are often psychosomatic, and that most doctors overtreating vague symptoms do more harm than good.

Knowing When to Leave July 6, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Communication & Conflict, Emotions & Inner Life

Most decisions to leave, whether a job, a relationship, a therapist, or a church, are driven by unexpressed anger rather than genuine incompatibility. Armand DiMele argues that learning to voice what bothers you is nearly always the alternative to walking away, and that unspoken resentment turned inward becomes depression.

The Psychology of Thinness with Roberta Maria July 5, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Roberta Maria Acchi
Category: Depression & Mood, Emotions & Inner Life

Thinness is socially prized but psychologically understudied. Armand DiMele and nutritionist Roberta Maria dig into the BMI research linking low body weight to higher suicide risk and lower serotonin, then argue that extreme thinness is a ‘being disorder’ as much as an eating disorder, one that rarely gets the clinical attention it deserves.

The Language of Touch and Body June 29, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Communication & Conflict, Emotions & Inner Life

Words are often the worst way to communicate. Armand DiMele surveys the full spectrum of nonverbal language, from somatic cues like blushing and blanching to personal space, paralanguage, gesture, and adornment, then turns to the science of touch and why Americans are so confused about it.

The Power of Human Touch June 28, 2006

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Neil Shatka, Jean Liedloff, Roberta Maria Atti
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Personal Growth & Change

Without touch, infants die and adults wither. Armand and co-host Roberta Maria Atti trace the evolutionary roots of touch from homunculus brain maps to the Tellington method, while examining how American culture’s deep ambivalence about physical contact has produced high rates of child beatings and low rates of nurturing affection. Jean Liedloff, Author, whose Amazon fieldwork inspired the previous episode, hovers over the discussion.

The Fear of Being Punished June 22, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Emotions & Inner Life

A deep fear of punishment lurks beneath nearly every psychological disorder, Armand argues. From hypochondria to phobias to infidelity secrets, the expectation of being punished shapes behavior in ways most people never examine. Callers raised in alcoholic homes illustrate how childhood chaos instills this fear early.

The Weight of Secrets June 21, 2006

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Trauma & Healing

Secrets shape us from childhood onward, and keeping them can quietly corrode a life. Armand DiMele invites listeners to call in and unburden themselves on air, drawing out stories of sexual abuse, infidelity, addiction, and shame, and exploring why telling the truth, even to a stranger, brings relief.