Psychjourney Audio Book Club

Toxic Childhood: How the Modern World is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do About It

Length-30 minutes, 45 seconds

Deborah Harper, President of Psychjourney, interviews Ms. Sue Palmer author of Toxic Childhood: How the Modern World is Damaging Our Children and What We Can Do About It published by Orion.

Ms. Sue Palmer

Sue Palmer is a writer, broadcaster and consultant on the education of young children. She is a regular contributor to the Times Educational Supplement and other journals, and author of more than two hundred books, TV programs and software for 3 to 12 year-olds – including the popular ‘skeleton’ materials, used in over 10,000 schools. She is also a popular speaker, addressing thousands of teachers each year across the UK and around the world, and acts as an independent adviser to many organizations, including the Department for Education and Skills and the BBC. In 2006 she published Toxic Childhood, about the impact of contemporary lifestyles on child development. Visit her website .

Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes

Length-42 minutes, 12 seconds

Deborah Harper, President of Psychjourney, interviews Dr. Lyn Mikel Brown, Ed.D., co-author of Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes by Sharon Lamb, Ed.D., and Lyn Mikel Brown, Ed.D., published by St. Martin's Griffin.

Lyn Mikel Brown, Ed.D.

Dr. Lyn Mikel Brown, Ed.D., is a mom, professor, and community activist. Her acclaimed work on girls social and psychological development has consistently broken new ground and challenged old perceptions. She is the co-author, with Carol Gilligan, of Meeting at the Crossroads: Women's Psychology and Girls' Development, a 1992 New York Times Notable Book of the Year that helped spark an international debate about the lives of girls and redefine our understanding of female development. Dr. Brown has written three other acclaimed books on girls social and psychological development: Raising Their Voices: The Politics of Girls' Anger, Girlfighting: Betrayal and Rejection Among Girls, and most recently Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters From Marketers Schemes (with Sharon Lamb; 2006 winner of a MS Books For A Better Life Award.

Dr. Brown received her doctorate from Harvard University in Human Development and Psychology. She is Professor of Education and Human Development at Colby College in Maine and co-creator of the nonprofit Hardy Girls Healthy Women She has also consulted for numerous film and television projects, including shows on PBS, and Fox Childrens Network. Dr. Brown lives in Waterville, Maine with her partner Dr. Mark Tappan and their twelve-year-old daughter, Maya. Visit her website.

The High Price of Materialism

Length-41 minutes, 48 seconds

Deborah Harper, President of Psychjourney, interviews Dr. Tim Kasser, author of The High Price of Materialism published by the MIT Press.

Dr. Tim Kasser

After receiving his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Rochester in 1994, Dr. Kasser accepted a position at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, where he is currently an associate professor of psychology.

He has authored numerous scientific articles and book chapters on materialism, values, and goals, among other topics. His books include, The High Price of Materialism, Psychology and Consumer Culture, (co-edited with Allen D. Kanner.

Dr. Kasser also serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Personality Processes and Individual Differences. In the last several years, he has become increasingly involved with activist groups who work against the commercialization of children and who work towards a more inwardly rich lifestyle than what is offered by consumerism. He lives with his wife, two sons, and assorted animals in the Western Illinois countryside. Visit his webpage.

Food Is Love: Advertising and Gender Roles in Modern America

Length-51 minutes, 1 second

Deborah Harper, President of Psychjourney, interviews Dr. Katherine Parkin, author of Food Is Love: Advertising and Gender Roles in Modern America published by University of Pennsylvania Press.

Dr. Katherine Parkin

Katherine Parkin is an assistant professor of history at Monmouth University . She received her B.A. in History and Sociology/Anthropology from Lake Forest College and her Ph.D. in History from Temple University (2001). The American/Popular Culture Association awarded Food is Love: Advertising and Gender Roles in Modern America ( University of Pennsylvania Press ) the 2006 Emily Toth Award for best book in feminist popular culture.  Visit her webpage.