Dying To Ask

Get The ‘Write’ Idea About Thank-You Cards With Edie Lambert

Write a thank-you card. Change a life. Seriously, it's that easy.

New research has proved that sending someone a thank-you note generates an ecstatic response in the recipient. Did you catch that? Ecstatic! It gets better. Writing the note creates a positive response in the sender, too.

On this Dying to Ask:

• I chat with KCRA 3's Edie Lambert, a fellow devotee of the thank-you card, about why we're addicted to putting a stamp on saying thank you.
• We pay homage to Princess Diana, one of the most prolific thank-you card writers in history.
• We break down how two psychologists studied the "thank-you card effect" and why even the psychologists were floored by what they found.
• We share when we send expressions of gratitude and how we make it easy to pull off, even for our kids.
• And, we invite you to join our "thank you card challenge" in 2020.

This Is Why Most Of Your Stuff Is Worthless

Most of what you own is worthless. I'm not being judgmental. It's a fact.

A recent viral article with the headline "Most of What You Own is Worthless: 3 Things You Should Be Doing to Reduce What You Own" explains why a lot of what we hold dear isn't worth the box you're storing it in.

The author of that article? My sister, Siobhan Fitzpatrick Kratovil.

Siobhan is a lawyer and mom of four who writes a legal blog called "The Law Mother."

She wrote this article after she and her husband had to clear her late mother-in-law's home to sell it. The experience radically changed how she looks at all the stuff in her own home. As a mom of four girls, she's got a lot of stuff -- most of it pink. As a lawyer who does a lot of estate planning, she's now advocating for families to look at what they really leave behind when they die.

On this Dying to Ask:

• How little (financially) your family heirlooms are worth
• Why things like china and so-called brown furniture aren't worth much at estate sales
• How to be VICIOUSLY THOUGHTFUL about what things you allow into your house. Wait until you hear how she handles kids' artwork!
• And I give my younger sister one shot to publicly hold me accountable for one transgression from our youth. You won't believe what she's been hanging onto for decades. #getoverit 

Jeff Rossen, Consumer Correspondent

 

It's a good thing Jeff Rossen and I don't share an office. I'd probably talk his ear off all day long. Jeff is the newly named chief national consumer correspondent for Hearst Television. 

He joined Hearst after a decade at NBC News and "The Today Show," where his franchise, "Rossen Reports," exposed scams, tested products and cost big companies big money when it turned out they weren't delivering on their promises. 

He's as impossible to ignore in real life as he is on TV. It's an energy that fuels his creative side that even he admits can be exhausting to be around! (I might relate to that.)

On this Dying to Ask:

• How Jeff knew it was the right time to make the leap from NBC to Hearst Television and his advice to anyone thinking about pivoting from an established career
• The role a chimpanzee played in his rise to getting noticed at a network and, ultimately, created his niche as a consumer reporter and his award-winning franchise, "Rossen Reports"
• What Jeff does in his free time that he says creates the only space in his life where he's not thinking about work
• And proof Hearst's new chief national consumer correspondent might have a solid second career as a relationship expert!

Dying to Read More

2020 is the year of self-care for a lot of people. There's no quicker way to calm your mind than by shutting off your phone (after you listen to this podcast, of course) and picking up a book.

But, a lot of us struggle to find time to read. How many times have you said, "I don't have time to read"? Are we really that busy? Or, is it just easier to zone out on Netflix and social media?

This episode of our "Dying To" series on "Dying to Ask" will help anyone dying to read more by outlining three simple ways to fit more reading into your life.

Leslie Guillon is my guest this week. She's one of my closest friends, and last year, she set a goal of reading 12 books in 2019.

Leslie is a single mom of two, an attorney, an ultra runner and the epitome of busy. But she realized she was cheating herself with her choices of how to spend free time. She just finished her "12 book challenge" and she's sharing the three things she changed in her life to pull off the goal.

And, she's getting real about what she noticed in her mental health and overall happiness. Is reading a book the quickest road to self-care? Read between the lines and you'll find out the answer is yes!

Tim Collom, Goal-Setter

Did you know you are 42% more likely to follow through with a goal or resolution if you write it down?

Seriously, just writing a goal down is that powerful.

That's not surprising to Tim Collom. He's been writing 100 goals a year down on paper for the last 25 years. It started as a high school assignment, but it's transformed into a life-changing affirmation of where he's been and where he's going.

Tim credits his financial success in business, his creative success in art and his personal happiness to the fact that he writes down those goals.

Great reads to start the new year

Read anything good lately?

Your answer will be a resounding 'YAAASS' after you listen to our annual guide to holiday reading.

Our favorite bibliophile, Tina Ferguson, is back with her picks for both adults and kids to read or gift over the holidays.

On this "Dying To Ask," witness Tina's big confession regarding "50 Shades of Grey," find out why you can expect to see more romance on your nightstand in 2020 and I commit to reading Tina's pick about the zombie apocalypse -- which is surely a sign of the zombie apocalypse.

Dying to control your money with Farnoosh Torabi

Show me the money. If getting control of your finances is one of your 2020 goals, you're not alone.

My guest is financial expert Farnoosh Torabi. Farnoosh is the host of the top-rated podcast, "So Money" and the author of books including her latest, "When She Makes More." She's a financial contributor for O, The Oprah Magazine and a frequent guest on the Today Show.

On this Dying to Ask:

• How to set and achieve big money goals in 2020 whether it's paying down debt or buying your first house. 
• We go into surprising news about millennial spending habits and what they think of homeownership. 
• And we talk about the major podcasting milestone Farnoosh is reaching with "So Money's" 1,000th episode.

PODCAST: Dying to break up with your phone

It's not me. It's you. Ever felt like saying that to your phone?

Smart phone fatigue is a real deal but we're finding it harder and harder to separate from devices that connect us to everyone and everything.

Tech Expert Jennifer Jolly is back with a renewed warning about how our digital dependence is affecting our mental health and human interactions. 

 Learn tips to disconnect -- after you listen to this podcast of course!

New York Times Journalist Lindsay Crouse | LIVE before the CIM

You may not know Lindsay Crouse by name. But, you've likely seen her work scrolling your social media feeds.

Lindsay is a journalist for The New York Times whose specialty is producing video op-eds and op-docs. Her most recent work has 7 million views and counting. It's headline: "I was the fastest girl in the world, until I joined Nike."

It features Mary Cain, a former child running prodigy who used her video to tell a story of physical and mental abuse by the famed Nike Coach Alberto Salazar. Cain's raw account of her time training with the Nike Oregon Project included public weight shaming and encouragement to diet to the point of losing her period and broken bones due to bone deterioration. 

Salazar is currently facing a four-year ban on doping. Nike has, at the time this episode published, supported him. So have some of his top athletes.  But other Salazar athletes, including Olympians Kara Goucher and Amy Yoder-Begley, have backed Cain's claims of abuse under Salazar's leadership and Nike's oversight. 

On this Dying to Ask, how Crouse created her unusual niche and pioneered a new way of storytelling at the New York Times.  We break down how she puts op-docs and op-eds together. And, we explore the impact those those viral videos are having on the national conversation of what it means to win at all costs.

REPLAY: Darnell Abraham of Hamilton

This episode starts with some big numbers and some big news about Season 4 of the podcast.  And then, enjoy a replay of one of our favorite episodes from Season 3. 

Darnell Abraham grew up in Bakersfield knowing he loved entertaining people.   He found his voice, quite literally, in college.  And, what a voice.  He made a HUGE impression on a guy he met at choir camp. That guy? PRODUCER GEOFF!!!  You couldn't make this one up.

Now Darnell is starring as George Washington in "Hamilton" at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco after appearing with Hamilton's creator, Lin Manuel Miranda, in "Hamilton" in Puerto Rico.On this Dying To Ask:-How Darnell Abraham made it to the biggest stage show of our time, only 5 years after his first audition.