#189. One of Ancient Rome's Most Powerful Women

#189. One of Ancient Rome's Most Powerful Women

Jane Draycott [https://drjanedraycott.co.uk/] is a lecturer (professor) of Ancient History at the University of Glasgow and co-director of the University of Glasgow’s Games and Gaming Lab, focusing on Roman history and archaeology. In addition to interviews and writing book chapters and articles for academic and mainstream media, she is the author of several books, three on ancient medical practices in Ancient Rome, and two on prominent ancient women: Cleopatra’s Daughter: Egyptian Princess, Roman Prisoner, African Queen, published in 2023 and Fulvia: The Woman Who Broke All the Rules in Ancient Rome, published in 2025, which is the subject of today’s interview. Recorded 5/21/26.

#188. A Memoir that Explores the Tensions Between Devotion to Parents and Building One's Own Life

Manil Suri [https://www.manilsuri.com/] is a distinguished university professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and is also the author of three internationally acclaimed novels set in his native India: The Death of Vishnu, The Age of Shiva, and The City of Devi, which have been translated into twenty-seven languages and have won multiple literary awards. As a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, he has written several widely read pieces on mathematics, India, and LGBTQ+ issues. In October of 2022, I interviewed Manil about his book, The Big Bang of Numbers: How to Build the Universe Using Only Math, which marshaled his talent for storytelling in the sharing of his love of mathematics. (Episode #9) Today’s interview is about his latest book, in which he ably tackles yet another genre, A Room in Bombay, a Memoir, a sensitive and poignant portrait of his relationship with his parents and how he navigated their emotional dependency on him and still have his own life. Recorded 5/19/26.

#187. Attachment Theory: A Cornerstone for Understanding Our Most Intimate Relationships

Robert Karen is a clinical psychologist in private practice in New York City and author of numerous articles both in academic journals and mainstream media. His first book, Becoming Attached: Unfolding the Mystery of the Infant-Mother Bond and Its Impact on Later Life, published in 1994, provided a thorough and highly readable history of the ideas and thinkers behind attachment theory, which at the time was just starting to gain wider acceptance among both developmental researchers and psychotherapists. Thirty years later, in 2024, Dr. Karen, published an expanded, second edition of the book, with the title, Becoming Attached: First Relationships and How They Shape Our Capacity to Love [https://global.oup.com/ushe/product/becoming-attached-9780199398799?cc=us&lang=en&], which takes full stock of how attachment theory has become mainstream, not only as an explanation for how emotions and interpersonal lives develop throughout the lifespan, but also as a primary foundation for psychological interventions and for social policies that affect young children and their parents. He is also the author of The Forgiving Self: The Road From Resentment to Connection, an award-winning book published in 2001, which explores possibilities for relinquishing the stance of victim-in-need-of-revenge and, in the process, becoming open to the repair of our most intimate relationships.

#186. The Death of Her Parents at Fourteen Years Old

Erin Vincent [https://www.erinvincent.com/] is an author, essayist, journalist, and public speaker. In addition to literary contributions to anthologies and other publications, she has also appeared on national television and radio programs both in her native Australia and in the US. Her memoir, Grief Girl, published in 2008, chronicles her life and emotions following the death of her parents from an automobile accident. It was named a New York Public Library Best Book and was an American Library Association Best Book Nominee. Her second book, Fourteen Ways of Looking, published just this month, revisits the year her parents died by exploring wide-ranging associations to the number 14, evoking a wide variety of images and feelings in the process. Recorded 4/20/26 in the U.S. (4/21/26 in Australia.)

#185. A Humane and Effective Method for Helping Disruptive Students

Psychologist Ross Greene is the originator of the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions model and the non-profit Lives in the Balance.org [https://livesinthebalance.org/]. He is the author of several books about how teachers and administrators can help children with challenging behavior. The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children, first published in 1998 and now in its sixth edition, introduced parents to an alternative to disciplining their child with rewards and punishments. Parents learn instead to engage their child in together solving the problems that lead to frustration and melt-downs. Lost at School: Why Our Kids with Behavioral Challenges are Falling Through the Cracks and How We Can Help Them, published in 2008, extended the model for the school setting. Ross’s most recent book, The Kids Who Aren’t Okay: The Urgent Case for Reimagining Support, Belonging, and Hope in School, published just last month, provides a persuasive case for school personnel to transition to the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions model in their own school. Ross was on the faculty of Harvard Medical School for 20 years and is currently an adjunct professor at Virginia Teach and also in Sydney, Australia. Recorded 3/31/26.