Bruce Barber

This time we’ll be talking about “Parenting College Aged Kids” with an expert in the field, Dr. Alan Kazdin from Yale, and several parents - Duo Dickinson, Susannah Bailin, Susan Jacobs, and Jon Crane.

We met over wood-fired pizza at Da Legna, a new restaurant on State Street in New Haven, and the conversation was almost as good as the pies!

This time we’ll be talking about “Grief and Loss”, an issue we’ve been struggling with since the unthinkable violence in Newtown on December 14th. As you’ll hear in the podcast, grief and loss comes in many different forms - everything from the the sudden death of a spouse or a child to the loss of a job, a pet, a relationship... or sometimes even “all of the above”.

For our 70th "in person"conversation, we’ll be talking about “Germs”, which came to mind because we’re having a really bad flu season, and because experts are now talking about the highly contagious (and extremely unpleasant) norovirus.

As we rounded the corner in to 2013, my thoughts turned from the food I had been eating during the holidays to the food I’ve been eating during the football playoffs, and I figured it was a good time to talk about what we put in our bodies on a daily basis.

For this conversation, I invited Yale Professor Kelly Brownell, writers Mary Elliott and Susan Campbell, Weatherman Matt Scott, home chef Rob Oliver and the formerly huge Duo Dickinson - to join me for a conversation about healthy eating.

I try to be a happy person, and I’m becoming more and more aware of the fact that to be truly happy, you have to look beyond yourself. (This seems particularly true when you consider recent events.) So I decided to pose the question “what role should things like “volunteerism, charity and giving back” play in our lives?

For episode 67 of the RLSG, we decided to talk about “holiday stress”. This was before our perception of the world changed - just two days ago - as the heartbreaking series of events played out in Newtown. There will be more than the normal level of stress during this holiday season, and for too many, life will never be the same.

It is with thoughts of those who are no longer with us, and of those who will never see their loved ones again, that we go forward, hoping for a future in which we can live together in peace.

This time I decided to focus on extreme temperatures and money - two things I have a problem with.

 For this conversation, I invited Duo Dickinson (who happens to be an architect with a passion for such matters), writer Bob Tedeschi, animal rescuer (and farm gal) Kathleen Schurman, travel industry goddess Katie Gerhard, and our resident genius, Harlan Brothers, to talk about how we heat (and cool) our homes for a reasonable amount of money.

The holiday season has me thinking about parties, decorations and family togetherness... and the way people freak out when things don't live up to their expectations. So, in honor of this "emotional minefield" of a time of year, I decided to convene a group of the usual suspects for a conversation about the broader subject of "getting along".

The great paradox of the holiday season for me has always been the way joy and stress walk hand in hand as we traverse the short days of November and December. In our never ending quest to find "joy", our intrepid producer Cindy Papish Gerber suggested we reach out to legendary chef Jacques Pépin to see if he might join us for a conversation about the decidedly joyful subject of "holiday cooking". Not only did Jacques say yes - he graciously invited us to record in his kitchen!

When you look at the degree to which families are worried about money these days, we're talking about something of fairly epic proportions. College tuitions have risen faster than Apple's stock price, while our economy has caused widespread belt tightening across a variety of social and economic lines.

What to do? Go to a fun spot (Duffy's Taven in West Haven) with a group of smart people to identify important topics for the Guide in the category of "family finances".

Out of all the things that confuse me (and there are many), parenting has to be at the top of my list. It's something I really, really, really don't want to screw up... but the correct path often seems so murky.

I've been working on the concept for The Real Life Survival Guide - in one form or another - since the mid nineties. The idea was to create a radio show that was helpful and funny, and to use the Internet to extend the conversation. Having celebrated (and recorded) our 50th Episode, I do believe we're getting somewhere!

As we near an important milestone in the evolution of the Real Life Survival Guide, our location selection for Episode 49 - as suggested by Gerry McGuire - was fitting. We gathered around a sunny table with stunning mountaintop views at Gouveia Vineyards in Wallingford.

This week’s editorial meeting for the RLSG was recorded just before Mother’s day, so OF COURSE we met at chocolate shop!

Big thanks to Jane Tamarkin, Danyel Aversenti, Susan Campbell, and Harlan Brothers for joining the conversation - and to Christian, Fritz, and everyone at the AMAZING Chocopologie in New Haven for hosting us.

It was a pretty raucous discussion at Caseus Fromagerie Bistro as we were joined by Owner (and Cooking Channel star) Jason Sobocinski who treated us to some great insights - and some incredible food and drink. (Mad props to Chuck from Chucklettes as well!)

No less insightful were our AMAZING group of guest editors; Susan Bailin, Janice Christopher, Elizabeth Larkin and Colin Caplan.

For the 41st meeting of our (extremely) informal "editorial board", we gathered, in the company of four *amazing* women, at Carmine's Tuscan Grill in New Haven. (Duo and I providing the "junk DNA".)

Over delicious (and healthful!) appetizers, we  talked about embarrassing moments, guilty pleasures - and choosing activities for summer vacations - with Deborah Pan, Kathy Barkin, and Anne Garland and Binnie Klein.

Episode 25 was recorded at Chips Family Restaurant in Orange (there's also a Chips in Fairfield) where we feasted on award-winning pancakes. (Thanks to Dina for her award-winning hospitality!)

Our guest editors were Susannah Bailin, Jaki Valensi-Lauper, Randye Kaye, and Helen Kauder.

The 15th recording session for the RLSG on WNPR occurred on Sunday, September 25th at Geronimo in New Haven.

We met at Claire's Corner Copia, among the hustle and bustle of downtown New Haven, and in the shadow of what Duo told us is "reputedly the first Gothic Revival structure in America". (We love Claire and we wanted to show our support after she and her husband Frank took a direct hit from Irene.)

Joining the conversation: New York Times columnist Mark Oppenheimer and food writer Todd Lyon.

We talked about wrestling, those little chairs the teachers make you sit on at back to school night, and the way that fall feels like the start of a new year...

Bruce

Joining the conversation this week: Paul Sessions, the Director of the Center for Family Business at the University of New Haven, dog adoption advocate Sarah Oren, co host Duo Dickinson, and Meteorologist Matt Scott.

We gathered at Manjares, a wonderful family owned restaurant in the Westville section of New Haven, on Sunday September 4th. In the previous week we had all experienced an earthquake, a hurricane, and long days spent without electrical power in our homes.

Needless to say, we had plenty to talk about...

Bruce Barber

We're now three months into producing a radio show and podcast for "The Real Life Survival Guide", and with summer winding down I thought it would be a good idea to reflect a bit. Joining cohost Duo Dickinson and me were author and radio host Binnie Klein, web designer Gary Choronzy, producer Cindy Papish Gerber, executive producer Kim Grehn and Kim's wife Deb.

I chose The New Haven Open at Yale as the site for our meeting because I'm a huge tennis fan...

Oh, and it's about a half a mile from my house.

It happened, on a recent Thursday afternoon in Woodbridge, Connecticut: we gathered at New England Brewing Company. This was because at Delaney's, Amanda told us how much she loves their beer... and, if you listen to the audiocast, we ended up loving their beer, too!

You’ll also hear from Yale Rugby coach John Broker, Amanda from Delaney's, Rob from NEB,  Duo Dickinson and freelance writer Alix Boyle.

...and you can join the conversation in the comments;

http://reallifesurvivalguide.com/2011/08/28/episode-11-new…rewing-company/

This week we traveled to Ashley’s Ice Cream in Branford Connecticut, to pay homage to the summertime ritual of cooling down from the heat through the consumption of delicious animal fats.

We gathered with Ashley’s co-owner Brian Anderson, organizing and lifestyle expert Lisa Lilas, cookbook author and personal chef Gloria Zimmerman, and Ed Bartlett, the publisher of CT Out and About.com.

We invite you to have a listen, and to add your thoughts in the Comments section.

Over Chef Bun Lai's creative, soulful, and sustainable cuisine - at the restaurant his mom started when there literally were no sushi restaurants in Connecticut - we gathered with three guest editors: Pam Landry, Mary Scanlon and Randye Kaye - our "fabulous female broadcasters in transition."

These are smart, funny women, and their pitches reflected their shared sensibilities, with questions ranging from preparing for your next job (Pam), to correcting your friends (Mary), to modern-day "choice paralysis" (Randye).

We hope you enjoy the show!

Orange Hills Country Club is a public 18 hole course in, not a surprise, Orange Connecticut. Our gracious hosts for the afternoon were Judy and Jud Smith; their father, Connecticut Golf Hall of Fame Inductee Walter “Bud” Smith, cleared much of the land for the course himself.

It has become apparent (to me at least) that we are drawn to guest editors and locations because we love them. This week was no exception: Duo and I travelled to Bishop’s Orchards Farm Market in Guilford Connecticut to hear pitches from our host, sixth generation family member (and mother of 2) Sarah Bishop DellaVentura, along with freelance writer for (Patch.com) Sarah Kyrcz, stay-at-home dad Gerry McGuire, serial entrepreneur Ryan Duques, and the founder and president of Zane's Cycles, Chris Zane.

This week we gathered at one of my favorite local watering holes, Delaney’s Tap Room and Restaurant in the Westville section of New Haven. We chose Delaney’s to follow up on several conversations we had in Episode 4 at Heirloom: the importance of community, the uncertainty of our changing times, and the possibilities to be discovered in doing the things you love.

Someone (it might have been Episode 4 guest editor Binnie Klein) commented recently that the show has been “a show about making a show”, and I don’t disagree with that assessment. Having worked on the Guide in one form or another for over ten years now, I’m finally learning not to over think things. (Gary, our web designer is constantly urging me to “grip it and rip it” – a golfer’s exhortation to stop standing there and hit the damn ball.) That’s what’s happening with the RLSG radio show: we’re trying things and finding out what works and what doesn’t.

By the time we were ready to record Episode 4, certain things were coming into focus. For starters, recording conversations with interesting people at fun (and interesting) places was working. The sound of the birds chirping and the haircuts in Episode 1; the clatter of dishes and late afternoon patrons talking in Episodes 2 and 3.

This winter, I woke up one morning and came up with a concept: why not have a modern day version of the “salon” (which Wikipedia describes as “…a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation.”) I got very excited for a couple of days, and then put the idea away. Fortunately, I keep this stuff.