Episode theme: laughter
“To be sane is to laugh. Laughter is a necessary release valve from grief, an invitation to silliness, a gift of levity, of delight. Laughter recalls a childlike surprise at the world, and often, we have to go looking for it.” —Laura Joyce Davis
Season 2, episode 1: Cyclops in Vegas
“If you don’t cherish your children, then you should reconsider being a father.”
A harsh test of character on our first full day on the road — and lessons on wayfinding from a friend in an uncertain and unexpected future.
Episode 88: temper tantrum
“Gabe, buckle your seat belt!”
”I wanna watch a movie…”
”Where’s my cocky?”
”ARRRRRGGH!”
We all have those times when life is a perfect storm of disasters and we just can't take it anymore. Sometimes it's our kids who have temper tantrums. Sometimes, it's us. Today I share the biggest one we've had yet during this quarantine, and what it's teaching us.
Special thanks to Dan Livsey & Mary Reed, Alice & Damon Snyder, and Alexis & Matt Iaconis for becoming supporters of Shelter in Place.
Episode 60: Trixi
“But at some point over the course of the next two years, the tide began to turn. It might have begun with my older siblings…”
How uniting around a common cause can help former adversaries become allies--even when those allies are your siblings, and the common cause is bringing someone else down.
Episode transcript
Episode 100: performance review
“This wasn’t just a podcast. It was a chance to rethink life.”
At the end of season one, after 100 episodes, it was time to meet with Shelter in Place HR. Here’s how that meeting went.
Episode 71: more caught than taught
“But the kids have occasionally seen me pee in the bushes in our back yard when I was doing yard work and didn’t feel like going inside. It’s good for the plants.”
In parenting and in life, real change comes from a little less talk and a lot more action.
Episode transcript
Episode 54: Mullethawk
“He put his arms around me and we shared the kind of airport kiss you find in romantic comedies--but I was distracted by his hair.”
What a decade-long fight taught Laura about relationships, laughter, and the grace we need to keep giving each other.
Episode transcript
Episode 99: my fabulous foolproof formula for fame and fortune
“Our dominant, externally defined model of success has been, for the most part, a failure.”
Long before this pandemic, entrepreneur John Hall was rethinking what it meant to be successful in one's career. In this COVID-19 economy, American cultural historian Lawrence R. Samuel, Ph.D is continuing that conversation with an even broader lens. In this penultimate episode of Shelter in Place season one, I share insights by John and Lawrence, as well as the things that have mattered most on the journey of letting go of the success I thought I had to have.
Episode 25: a time to laugh
“I need to use the bathroom,” I said to Melissa, trying to make my voice sound natural.”
Laura takes a break from the usual pondering about the meaning of life to bring you an episode devoted entirely to laughter, and why we need it now more than ever.
Episode transcript