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PODCAST

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making Life Better, with Two Funny Moms

Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson

When you"re a parent, every day brings a "fresh hell" to deal with. In other words, there"s always something. Think of us as your funny mom friends who are here to remind you: you"re not alone, and it won"t always be this hard. We"re Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables, both busy moms of three kids, but with completely different parenting styles. Margaret is a laid-back to the max;Amy never met a spreadsheet or an organizational system she didn"t like. In each episode of "What Fresh Hell" we offer lots of

kids & family parenting

All Episodes

37:37

How Can Siblings Be Such Total Opposites?

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/07/22

If you've ever looked at your very different children and wondered how they could possibly share the same DNA, same parents, and same upbringing, you're not alone— and you're not imagining things. Research shows that while siblings are usually more alike in appearance and intelligence than we sometimes think, their personalities are as different from one another as they would be from a stranger on the street. Why is that? This week, we discuss: Why siblings can have vastly different

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32:39

DEEP DIVE: Gaia Bernstein on Gaining Control Over...

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/07/20

This month, our "Deep Dive" is into some of our past episodes about screen time: the effects it has on our kids, how tech companies engineer their devices to be as addictive as possible, and how we can allow our kids to enjoy screens with supportive limits. How do we untangle ourselves from technology? We give ourselves a hard time for not being able to put our screens down, but the platforms we use are designed to be addictive. It's not our fault. ⁠Gaia Bernstein⁠'s new book: ⁠Unwired: Gaining

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38:55

Fresh Take: Dr. Cassidy Freitas on How to Stay Calm...

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/07/17

What if the fact that we sometimes we "lose it" as parents doesn't make us bad parents? What if those times stem from an overwhelmed nervous system, and what happens when we get curious about what's underneath? Marriage and family therapist Dr. Cassidy Freitas, host of the "Holding Space" podcast and author of the new book MOM NEEDS A MOMENT, explains why parents "lose it," what our emotional reactions are really telling us, and how we can interrupt generational patterns without striving for

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42:53

How Should We Support Our Kids' Passions?

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/07/15

What are the best ways for us to support our kids' interests? Should we help them become the best gymnasts and singers they can be, as soon as they show glimmers of true interest? Or are they better off exploring many interests, without all of that added pressure? From travel sports to elite ballet training and specialized extracurriculars, childhood activities feel increasingly professionalized, with a lot less room for beginners, dabblers, or kids who just want to have fun. This week, we're

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33:52

DEEP DIVE: Catherine Pearlman on Kids and Phones

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/07/13

This month, our "Deep Dive" is into some of our past episodes about screen time: the effects it has on our kids, how tech companies engineer their devices to be as addictive as possible, and how we can allow our kids to enjoy screens with supportive limits. The dreaded question "When should my kid get a phone?" is one we're asked often. These days "whether" is not part of the equation, and the ages at which our kids' peers are getting phones seems younger than ever. Dr. Catherine

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42:49

Fresh Take: Laura Clery on Codependency,...

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/07/10

Laura Clery has built a massive digital empire, of over 25 million followers, offering her own blend of silly sketch comedy and unflinchingly vulnerable reality. In this interview, Laura tells Margaret about her new memoir, WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU MAKES YOU HOTTER , and the unraveling of a marriage shaped by sobriety, relapse, codependency, fame, and the pressure of living so much of life online. Laura and Margaret discuss: Her experience raising a child on the autism spectrum What happens

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40:23

What Fresh Hell Is... Being the Only Grownup in the...

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/07/08

You know how sometimes when you're in charge, in a really hard moment, you keep watching the door for an actual grownup to show up? Because it can't possibly be 42-year-old YOU who's in charge at this moment? In this episode we discuss the strange experience of being the person in charge while also feeling wildly underqualified. From broken bones and dinner logistics to taxes, travel mishaps, and medical decision-making, here are the times when we— and our listeners— were hoping for an authorit

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30:22

DEEP DIVE: Susan Linn on How “Big Tech” Targets Our Kids

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/07/06

This month, our "Deep Dive" is into some of our past episodes about screen time: the effects it has on our kids, how tech companies engineer their devices to be as addictive as possible, and how we can allow our kids to enjoy screens with supportive limits. Psychologist Susan Linn, author of ⁠WHO'S RAISING THE KIDS? BIG TECH, BIG BUSINESS, AND THE LIVES OF CHILDREN⁠, isn't anti-technology. She's anti-advertising to children, and has spent her long career spotlighting the "monumental shift towards

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48:45

BEST OF: What Kind of Monster?

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/07/03

There are these things that you just don't understand why anybody would do. But some people do them. We aren't about judgment at the What Fresh Hell podcast, but we do sometimes have to ask: what kind of monster? What kind of monster listens to videos on speaker? Or keeps the keyboard clicks on their phone? What kind of monster takes up two parking spots? Puts empty cereal boxes back in the cabinet? Gives small children toys with one hundred tiny pieces? We went to our ⁠Facebook page⁠ and we

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44:30

When It's Too Much Change All at Once

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/07/01

Have you ever felt like your life consisted of too many moving parts at the same time? In this episode, we explore why life tends to deliver too much change at once—and the difference between an actual change and the larger, more uncertain area of transition that both precedes and follows any big change. We discuss: Why even positive and worked-toward life transitions can feel overwhelming once they arrive What "change saturation" and "change fatigue" look like How your business

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44:02

DEEP DIVE: When Mom Leaves Town

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/06/29

This Deep Dive series is all about tips to stay sane while traveling with family —immediate or extended, kids younger or older in tow, across the state or across the globe! Does it seem like just as much work to leave your kids behind for a couple of days as not to go in the first place? Do your instructions for family operational procedures during your absence run more than five pages? Getting away from our kids—for work, for the weekend, for a friend’s 40th—isn’t just good for us. It’s also

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36:37

Fresh Take: Sara Hirsh Bordo on Autoimmunity and the...

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/06/26

Why are autoimmune conditions so much more common in women? And does that have anything to do with the fact that those same conditions are misunderstood, under-researched, and accepted as things we just have to live with? Sara Hirsh Bordo, author of the new book AUTOIMMUNITY AND THE GOOD GIRLS, discusses the questions that led her to examine the connection between women’s health, caregiving, stress, and identity. After receiving her own autoimmune diagnoses, Sara began noticing that her fellow

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47:20

Why Family Vacations Feel Like Work (and How to Enjoy...

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/06/24

Why is it that our own vacations never look like the perfect, happy families on the posters enjoying their destination without a sunburn, meltdown, or lost bag in sight? Here's how to manage expectations while traveling with kids and enjoy your trip, whatever it ends up looking like! We share stories of Disney overwhelm, international travel wins and disasters, airport anxiety, and the unexpected moments that end up becoming the best parts of a vacation. Topics include: How age and stage

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45:53

DEEP DIVE: Traveling as a Family

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/06/22

This Deep Dive series is all about tips to stay sane while traveling with family —immediate or extended, kids younger or older in tow, across the state or across the globe! We asked our listeners what advice they have for harmonious family traveling.⁠ Here are our favorite tips they shared, plus a few of our own, from how early to get to the airport to hitting the top kid-friendly site in Paris! Amy and Margaret discuss: How to communicate effectively with your spouse before traveling

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36:15

Fresh Take: Why Human Connection Matters in Medicine...

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/06/19

As technology improves medicine, and AI accelerates change, how do we maintain the human connection that must exist between doctor and patient? Pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Alan R. Cohen, author of the new book COMFORT ALWAYS, explains what he's learned in four decades of working with families in extremely intense situations, and how being a "humble physician" remains the most important part of his work. In this episode, we discuss: Why empathy is a skill worth intention and focus The

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45:28

Am I a Patient Mom? Or a Punching Bag?

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/06/17

Moms hear it all the time: kids save their worst behavior for us because we're their safe space. Understood—but where’s the line between not taking every dig personally and becoming your kids' doormat?When kids lash out—whether it’s a preschooler kicking in a Target checkout line, or a teenager declaring you’re the worst parent in the world—when are we supposed to absorb it, or rise above? And when do we need to set a boundary? In this episode we discuss: Why it's important for parents to

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43:51

DEEP DIVE: Are Vacations Worth It?

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/06/15

This Deep Dive series is all about tips to stay sane while traveling with family —immediate or extended, kids younger or older in tow, across the state or across the globe! Why don't vacations feel like vacations for moms? Could it be all the prepping, packing, and traveling, with the additional pressure to make memories that will last a lifetime for our little ones? Here's how to make vacations truly fun and relaxing for the whole family. In this episode we discuss the wisdom of "taking

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36:07

Fresh Take: Talia Kovacs on How to Teach Kids Resilience

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/06/12

We know that resilience is a good trait for our kids to have. But can "grit" only be achieved through hardship and repeated failure? Can a kid whose everyday life is pretty cushy still be resilient, and if so, how is that resilience taught? We talk with resilience coach Talia Kovacs about how resilience is a skill that can be nurtured over time—even in the kid who regularly falls apart when the chicken nuggets touch the peas. Drawing from her experience as a classroom teacher, literacy expert,

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45:19

This One Thing Was a Life-Changer

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/06/10

What's the one thing you've purchased that has delivered outsized returns in joy and ease? We asked our listeners to tell us the one thing in their lives that has really overdelivered. From travel hacks to sleep upgrades, from time-savers to towels, here are some of our favorites.If you want links to all of the amazing products mentioned in this episode, sign up for our monthly newsletter here! What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables. We love the sponsors that make this

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40:05

DEEP DIVE: Tips for Vacationing with Extended Family

What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making... ·

2026/06/08

This Deep Dive series is all about tips to stay sane while traveling with family —immediate or extended, kids younger or older in tow, across the state or across the globe! We've both traveled with our extended families over and over again, and have loved the memories we've made together. But different bedtimes, sightseeing styles, and mealtime expectations can lead to unexpected conflict. Laura in our Facebook group wrote in to say: ⁠"Might be a fun episode before summer: large family vacation

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