Mood: Bad

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Growing Up Without Rules with Barbara Jessen March 27, 2007

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Barbara Jessen, Brian Jefferson, Stephanie D'Ambra
Category: Family & Parenting, Personal Growth & Change

Rules are love, argues Armand DiMele in this conversation with Barbara Jessen, executive director of a group home for at-risk teenage girls in Indiana. Together with Stephanie D’Ambra, LCSW, they examine what chaotic childhoods cost kids, how brain development shapes decision-making, and why structure feels foreign to children who never had it.

Jazz Creativity and the Creative Spirit with Sonny Fortune March 22, 2007

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Kent Robertshaw, Sonny Fortune
Category: Identity & The Self, Meaning, Spirituality & Philosophy

Legendary alto saxophonist Sonny Fortune joins Armand DiMele and Dr. Kent Robertshaw, MD, Psychiatrist, to trace how Fortune went from corrugated box factory worker and teenage father in Philadelphia to one of jazz’s most celebrated voices. The conversation moves through early perseverance, the power of mentors, and what separates artists who endure from those who walk away.

What Do You Know for Sure March 15, 2007

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Aging & Mortality, Personal Growth & Change

Armand DiMele opens with research on male biological clocks, aging eyesight, fertility cues, and Ambien sleep-eating before pivoting to a bigger question: what do you know for sure? Callers share overlooked personal skills, and Armand uses those skills as a mirror to surface deeper struggles like depression and lost direction.

Narcissism and Self-Love with Dr. Frank Yeoman March 13, 2007

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Dr. Frank Yeomans
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Identity & The Self

Healthy self-love and pathological narcissism are not the same thing. Armand and psychiatrist Dr. Frank Yeoman trace the spectrum from perfectionistic collapse (illustrated by the poem “Richard Corey”) to envy, aggression, and celebrity worship, arguing that most narcissistic suffering stems from an inability to feel genuinely good about oneself.

Shyness and the Fear of Social Life March 6, 2007

Host: Armand DiMele
Category: Anxiety & Fear, Personal Growth & Change

Roughly 40 percent of young people now call themselves shy, and the number keeps climbing. Armand DiMele traces the roots of social fear, from genetics and brain chemistry to absent fathers and sheltered childhoods, and makes the case that facing the world anyway, fumbles and all, is how confidence actually grows.

The Creative Life with Patricia Miranda February 22, 2007

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Patricia Miranda
Category: Emotions & Inner Life, Personal Growth & Change

Everyone is born an artist, but what keeps that alive? Artist and teacher Patricia Miranda joins Armand to explore creativity as a daily act, the physical intimacy of egg tempera painting, gold leaf, and why children need unstructured boredom to let their inner lives flourish.

The Burden of Manhood with Neil Chetnik January 17, 2007

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Neil Chetnik, Terry Jones
Category: Depression & Mood, Identity & The Self

Men are trained as warriors from birth, and that mission is killing them. Armand DiMele argues that male burnout, emotional numbness, and early death trace back to a broken model of manhood. Author Neil Chetnik joins to discuss his research on father loss and how absent fathers leave sons hungry for male validation throughout their lives.

Free Will Versus Determinism January 10, 2007

Host: Armand DiMeleGuests: Roberta Maria Atin
Category: Meaning, Spirituality & Philosophy, The Mind & Neuroscience

Do we truly choose our lives, or are we shaped by genes, culture, and forces beyond our awareness? Armand DiMele and co-host Roberta Maria Atti work through fatalism, determinism, and the neuroscience of repeated self-defeating patterns, arguing that understanding these forces can loosen their grip on us.

Feelings You Wish You Could Shake January 2, 2007

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

Some feelings arrive uninvited and refuse to leave. Armand DiMele opens the new year by cataloguing the emotions people most dread, from jealousy and rage to lust and melancholy, and asks why feeding a negative feeling only makes it more real. Callers and live email responses drive the conversation.

Resiliency and Letting Go December 26, 2006

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

Resilience is built on four pillars: a positive attitude, stress management, intentional participation in life, and self-care. Armand uses the year-end transition to encourage listeners to release old habits, grudges, and long-carried shame, and explores how a genuine apology can be the most liberating act of all.