Jackie Tantillo
343 episodes listed below
Family stories, carried forward with care.
Should Have Listened to My Mother centers long, personal conversations about mothers and the lives shaped around them. Guests connect childhood, family expectation, loss, identity, teaching, creativity, and repair without forcing those stories into tidy lessons.
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Should Have Listened to My Mother is an interview series about the emotional inheritance people carry from mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers, and other maternal figures. It returns again and again to one plain question: is a person shaped because of a mother, or in spite of her. The answers are rarely clean. Jackie Tantillo gives guests room to tell stories with the pauses, tangents, and second thoughts left intact. That patience is the show’s strength. A conversation can begin with home decorating, teaching, music, food, or writing, then bend toward childhood fear, family loyalty, cultural pressure, or a private grief that still has weight. Lynda Huffman’s episode moves from beautiful homes to separation, a difficult stepmother, DNA revelations, and the choice not to live inside anger. Joan and Jane bring sharp memory and rough-edged humor to stories of work, family meals, vulnerability, and speaking honestly before resentment hardens. Amy L. Bernstein’s conversation lingers on a mother who wanted a larger life, but grew up in a time when defiance was harder to claim. Wenzl McGowen speaks about judging his mother when he was younger, then actively repairing that relationship and recognizing her authenticity. Tammy Haddad’s story links Navajo family history, education, shyness, scholarship, and a mother determined to widen the path for her children. Other guests bring in immigration, creative work, podcasting, caregiving, faith in young writers, and the ache of missed chances. The show is not a lecture about parenting. It is closer to a family table after the formal meal has ended. People remember what they were told, what they resisted, and what they understood too late. The tone stays warm even when the material is heavy. Some stories include estrangement, loss, and complicated parent-child bonds, but the series usually looks for the human shape inside the hurt. It favors testimony over takeaways. Listeners come away with the sense that family history is never just background. It is often the hidden architecture of a life.
Made for: For listeners who like intimate interviews about family history, mothers, identity, resilience, teaching, creativity, and the long aftermath of childhood. It fits anyone drawn to personal testimony more than advice-driven parenting talk.
What sets it apart: The show’s focus is unusually specific: maternal influence as remembered by adults across many kinds of lives. Its patient interview style lets guests move from ordinary family details to deeper truths about anger, gratitude, ambition, repair, and selfhood.
Host Jackie Tantillo is proud to announce that "Should Have Listened To My Mother " has won a 2024 People's Choice Podcast Award for best podcast in the Society and Culture Category. SHLTMM is also a 2024 Nominee in two additional categories including, "Best Female" Hosted Podcast & "Best Podcast" in the Kids and Family category. SHLTMM is an ongoing conversation about mothers/female role models and the role they play/played in ones life. The mother/son, mother/daughter bond is unique for each of us and it is like no other. "You'll be amazed at human nature and how we can overcome...
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Jackie Tantillo turns conversations about mothers into specific accounts of how family history continues to shape identity, ambition and reconciliation.
Jackie Tantillo keeps returning guests to one revealing question: how did a mother's choices, absences or example shape the person speaking now?
The June Cleaver dream meets a DNA surprise, then Jackie hands you the family mirror.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A family story about inherited hurt, chosen tenderness, and making a home.
Should Have Listened to My Mother follows a home-centered conversation that opens into something more intimate: what home means when family history is complicated, and how hurt can be redirected into care.
Twin-sister memories make family history feel immediate, sharp-edged, and unexpectedly tender.
Jackie Tantillo frames Joan and Jane's twin story around nature versus nurture, family memory, and the way work and temperament settle into adulthood.
A spare, thoughtful conversation about inherited lives, missed chances, and the shape of a mother’s influence.
The episode stays with a plain but sharp question: how much of a life is inherited, and how much is chosen against. Jackie Tantillo gives Amy L.
A reflective interview about family repair, creative drive, and learning to see a parent more clearly.
Jackie Tantillo keeps the conversation on a plain but lasting fault line: a child pulls away, then comes back with a better read on a parent. Wenzel McGowan talks about being raised by a single mom, judging her during puberty, and then trying to mend that bond.
A grounded family portrait of teaching, identity, and education's reach.
The episode traces Tammy Haddad's family line through teaching, from a grandmother who taught on Navajo land to a mother in special education, and then into Haddad's own work as a licensed elementary teacher and creator of kid-focused stories.
CTE professional development with real classroom grip.
Trust, talk and agency, one classroom question at a time.
Jackie Tantillo opens with the idea that home is more than walls.
Jackie Tantillo welcomes Joan and Jane, identical twins and former nurses, and frames their story around childhood, family influence, and the long pull of nature versus nurture.
Jackie Tantillo opens with her recurring question about whether people become who they are because of their mothers or in spite of them.
Jackie Tantillo opens with Wenzel McGowan's unusual creative path and the influence of being raised by a single mom.
Jackie Tantillo welcomes Tammy Haddad for a conversation rooted in teaching, family memory, and the way education shapes a life.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews guests about their relationships with their mothers, exploring the unique bonds and life lessons.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews a guest about the influence of his mother on his life and career.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews Suzy Chase about how her mother's lack of cooking skills inspired her successful cookbook podcast.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews Lisa Tate Stevenson about her mother's influence on her life and career.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews retired FBI agent Greg Schaefer about his mother's influence on his life and career.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews musician Jackson Nance about his debut single 'I Love You, Mom' and their shared experiences with motherly love.
Host Jackie Tantillo introduces a new episode featuring a guest sharing personal stories about mother-child relationships.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews Joe Pardavila about his mother's influence on his life and career.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews Ching Sun Stubis about her mother's life and lessons spanning four generations of Chinese women.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews Dr.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews Terri Hansen-Need, a helicopter pilot and author, about her complicated relationship with her mother and how it shaped her life.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews Dr.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews Dr.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews musician Jennifer Finch about her complex relationship with her adoptive mother and her journey through punk rock.
Host Jackie Tantillo discusses mother-child relationships and reads comments about a Holocaust remembrance post from a guest.
This episode features an interview with singer Nadia Turner and her daughter Zareh Isa, exploring their mother-daughter relationship, careers in entertainment, and shared experiences.
This episode features an interview with author Elaine Rusinko about her book exploring the life of Andy Warhol's mother, Julia Warhola, and her influence on the iconic artist.
This episode features an interview with business strategist and engineer Sairan Aqwari, exploring her journey from Baghdad to the U.S., her relationship with her mother, and her mission to help others overcome obstacles and make an impact.
This episode features an interview with Ukrainian-American executive Anya Tomko, discussing her background and the resilience of Ukrainian women amid the 2022 Russian invasion.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews guests about their relationships with their mothers, exploring how maternal influence shapes identity.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews guests about how their mothers or female role models influenced who they are today.
This episode features an interview with children's book author Gramps Jeffrey, exploring the role of his mother in his life and generational differences in parenting.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews a psychotherapist about her complex relationship with her mother, exploring themes of healing and forgiveness.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews Rochelle Bernstein about her mother and the influence of Judy Blume on childhood.
Host Jackie Tantillo interviews author Brendan Deneen and his mother Irene about their relationship and Brendan's career in comics and publishing.