Parenting talk that trusts nuance over neat rules.
Denaye, founder of Simple Families, brings a PhD in child development and her own experience raising kids to talks about moral growth, first crushes, disability and delegating at home. Her guests include a psychotherapist and a negotiation researcher, and she also takes some subjects on alone.
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Simple Families is led by Denaye, founder of the Simple Families community, who holds a PhD in child development and draws just as readily on raising her own kids. The show mixes guest conversations with solo episodes. Its subjects run wider than a parenting label might suggest. In a solo episode on moral development, Denaye introduces Lawrence Kohlberg's three levels, starting with pre-conventional morality in early childhood. She describes a child who shows low empathy as one still building perspective-taking skills, not as a bad kid. She also strips the loaded word consequences down to its plain meaning: whatever happens next after a behavior. And she says outright that the topic sits outside her own area of expertise, which keeps the episode honest about what it is. The guest episodes bring in very different kinds of expertise. Jessica Slice calls disabled people brilliant innovators and talks about the things disabled parents create to keep their kids safe and protect their bodies. Denaye asks her directly how living with chronic illness differs from identifying as disabled. Jessica remembers falling ill within a day and how hard it was, as a young woman, to be believed. Lisa Phillips says there is nothing 'just' about a first crush and sees it as a chance for parents to talk with a child about love and attraction. Adam Galinsky Ph.D. brings research on negotiation, finding that people focused on success reach better outcomes, and not only for themselves. He also points out that people react against pressure, and he connects this to one of his kids asking 'what about me' when a sibling gets praised. The conversation with Emily King stays closer to the kitchen table: delegating, a husband who takes on a lot but misses certain details, and Eve Rodsky's book Fair Play with its idea of owning a task from start to finish. With the psychotherapist Niro Feliciano, author of a book on feeling less frantic during the holidays, the talk argues against neat, black-and-white answers to questions like when a child should get a phone or when to cut off a family member. Relationships take work, the argument runs, and sometimes the hard part has to come before the healing. That respect for nuance is the most useful thing the show offers. Research names and ideas come up, from Kohlberg to Fair Play to negotiation studies, but they are explained in plain language and tied to ordinary family moments. For a first listen, the moral development episode shows Denaye on her own, and the Jessica Slice conversation shows how far the guest list can travel.
Made for: Suits a parent who wants research-informed thinking on child behavior and family life in conversation rather than as a checklist, and who is glad to hear about disability, first crushes and leadership alongside the everyday work of running a household.
What sets it apart: Denaye pairs a PhD in child development with plain candor, including saying when a subject falls outside her expertise. Her guests take the show past standard parenting advice into disability, negotiation research and the emotional weight of a first crush.
Simple Families offers solutions for living well with children. In this show, we focus on child behavior, positive parenting, family wellness, and decreasing the mental load. As a Mama with a doctorate in Child Development, Denaye’s perspectives are grounded in research, but more importantly real life.
The sports bag has a manager; somehow, you're still the backup manager.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A calm, practical holiday conversation about family pressure, imperfect peace, and living with unresolved mess.
Holiday calm comes with an asterisk here, and that is the useful part. Returning after a six-month hiatus, the host brings in a psychotherapist and author to talk through a holiday book built around 31 short chapters on feeling less frantic and more festive.
A candid conversation about disability, parenting, and learning to live with a body that changed.
Jessica Slice's conversation with Danae considers disability, parenting, and the slow recognition that a changed body may not be temporary. Slice recalls becoming sick in 2011, when a single day left her unable to walk, run, or get out of bed, followed by two years of searching…
A calm, research-rooted discussion of empathy, consequences, and children's moral learning.
Moral development is framed as a practical parenting question: how children absorb values, sort out right from wrong, make choices, and connect behavior with consequences.
A steady conversation about helping teens handle crushes, first love, and the emotional work of growing up.
Teen crushes are treated here as a real family milestone, with Lisa Phillips making the case that longing, attraction, and uncertainty deserve respect rather than a quick brush-off.
A grounded conversation about handing over family tasks without keeping the mental load.
Delegating family work is the live question here: how does a parent hand off a task without still being the one who tracks every detail? Danae sets Eve Rodsky's Fair Play framework against a messier home reality, where even assigning packing can leave one partner asking what to…
Parenthood and bodies, told one honest story at a time.
A parenting podcast discussing how to manage big feelings and find contentment during the back-to-school season.
Simple Families' December 1 episode centers on Danae and Nero Feliciano's book All is Calm-ish, How to Feel Less Frantic and More Festive During the Holidays.
Jessica Slice tells Danae that disabled parents are 'brilliant innovators,' then explains a lap-baby strap, a mouth diaper change, and other adaptations she documented in Unfit Parent.
Danae of Simple Families opens on moral development as the lifelong process of learning values, right and wrong, and decision-making, drawing on her PhD in child development.
["On Simple Families, Danae and Lisa Phillips talk about First Love, Guiding Teens Through Relationships and Heartbreak, and treat first love as a parenting topic with real stakes.", "Phillips says the book began when her 13-year-old daughter started dating a neighbor boy, which forced her to confront her own teen memories and her urge to protect her child from pain.", "She argues that smartphones, social media, one out of four high schoolers identifying somewhere on the LGBTQ spectrum, and rising depression and anxiety have made first love more complex than it was a generation ago.", "The conversation stays practical: how parents can set transparent rules, talk through crushes and distraction, keep doors open around Reddit and AI advice, and avoid shaming teens into secrecy."]
Danae from Simple Families talks with Emily, CEO and co-founder of FAYE (findfay.com), about delegating the mental load of family life.
Simple Families host Danae interviews Columbia Business School professor Adam Galinsky about applying leadership research from his book Inspire to parenting.
Simple Families host Danae interviews licensed professional counselor Eli Harwood, author of Raising Securely Attached Kids, about secure attachment as attuned, predictably responsive caregiving rather than breastfeeding, bed sharing, or baby wearing.
Danae, founder of Simple Families and a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, explains how to simplify routines by identifying recurring obstacles instead of imposing schedules that do not fit a household.
Simple Families host Danae interviews Zoe Kim, founder of Raising Simple and author of The Minimalist Family, about applying minimalism to children ages 10 through 18.
Simple Families host Danae interviews child psychologist Tova Klein about her book Raising Resilience and helping children handle uncertainty.
Interview with Julie Lythcott-Haims about her book 'How to Raise an Adult' and breaking free from over-parenting.
A holiday Q&A episode where the host answers listener questions about compromise, flexibility, and finding your why during the holiday season.