Millennial Mom Thoughts

Two millennial moms...sharing some thoughts. As parents and as education professionals, we discuss our past, present, and future relationships with changing technologies. We're interested in how it impacts ourselves, our students, and our kiddos, and we're learning how to advocate for the issues we care most about.

Millennial Mom Thoughts is a kids podcast hosted by Jordan Spicklemire and Helen Plevka-Jones, with 48 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Jordan Spicklemire and Helen Plevka-Jones hosts Millennial Mom Thoughts, a kids show with 48 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  Episode #49

  EPISODE 49: Supporting Distraction-Free Schools

  Aug 12, 20261h 10mS3

  Just in time for back-to-school, Jordan shares all about The Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project (DFSPP) that she has become involved with over the past year. DFSPP is a joint initiative between the Becca Schmill Foundation and Smartphone Free Childhood US that advocates for a better, safer educational experience for every child through legislation with 3 model bills: Phone-Free Schools, Social Media-Free Schools, and Intentional School Technology Use. In addition to being the Illinois DFSPP co-lead, Jordan is now joining the national leadership team to help support and strengthen existing and new state teams. We then talk about the differences between the Senate’s Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the House’s Kids Internet and Digital Safety (KIDS) Act. We share our excitement about two upcoming book releases: Natasha Singer’s Coding Kids and Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath’s re-release of The Digital Delusion . Jordan gives the tech-related updates for her school district in Morton, including a bell-to-bell cellphone policy and the removal of direct student access to YouTube on school iPads, and she overviews the recent board meeting discussion about whether 1:1 devices should continue in grades K-2. Jordan ends by reading a few recent article titles from her ever-growing Google doc resource that has been shared across the country. Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . Join Jordan in ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #48

  EPISODE 48: What if it’s not the phones? Ok, but it is.

  Aug 6, 202658 minS3

  We kick off our episode with a brand new segment we’re calling “Gratitude,” complete with Helen’s on-the-fly segment theme song! Helen is fresh off the first day of her new job as the Clinical Coordinator for English Education, and Jordan has shared another newsletter for her reConnect Morton community group. For this episode, we’re talking all about a recent piece published in The Atlantic , “ What if It’s Not the Phones? An evolutionary psychologist is challenging the popular understanding of kids and technology .” The article discusses Peter Gray’s (a founder of Let Grow) stance that smartphones and social media did not lead to the mental health crisis they’re facing; he thinks Common Core is to blame. Jordan shares her frustrations with Gray’s position on internet exploration for children, given that he is such a champion for childhood independence and play. Gray refers to social media age minimums as a “violation of human rights,” and we talk through how as a society, we age-gate many things such as drinking, driving, and voting. We add yet another new segment called “words I didn’t know before but now I do” after Jordan comes across a word in the article she didn’t know. Find Helen on Substack at ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . Join Jordan in ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #47

  EPISODE 47: Happy 1st birthday, Millennial Mom Thoughts!

  Jul 31, 20261h 6mS3

  Put your party hat on because we are celebrating the 1st birthday of our podcast! It’s hard to believe we’ve shared a year of so many different Millennial Mom Thoughts with our listeners. After Jordan shares about her recent trip to visit family in Indiana, Helen delights us with her impressive sound effects. We then talk about how Meta recently reversed a decision to give users a feature allowing anyone to alter public Instagram account photos with an AI image generator. This leads to a conversation about a situation Jordan encountered where a friend uploaded a photo of her son into an AI image generator app. Jordan shares how she handled it and why these are discussions we all need to have. After a birthday party celebration, Helen realizes she has discovered a new passion: creating stickers! Helen then details her teaching experiences with the Upward Bound Summer Institute. A new Common Sense Media report details how Google’s AI search poses an “unacceptable risk” to students, which sparks a discussion about how AI is impacting education and how we navigate that as educators and parents (including reading Fairplay’s call for a pause on AI in schools and considering Schools Beyond Screen’s email template to district leadership). We then reflect on the many conversations we’ve had over the past year and how much fun we are having making this podcast. We’re looking forward to another year of great conversations, new guests, and plenty more laughs! Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . Join Jordan in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms. View the recording of the Skills Before Screens webinar.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #46

  EPISODE 46: A Conversation with Kevin Stinehart

  Jul 22, 20261h 12mS3

  We are thrilled to share our conversation with Kevin Stinehart, a fellow millennial who is a leading voice on what modern childhood is missing. Helen first shares with us her incredible running accomplishment: taking third place at the Cry Me A River Trail Half Marathon! And Jordan drops a small hint about a future project she’s working on. We then get to talk to Kevin about his amazing work and what is like to be featured in the global phenomenon book, The Anxious Generation . Although becoming an educator wasn’t his original plan, he has been recognized as Teacher of the Year in his school district and is now a doctoral candidate at Clemson University. We discuss the transformative Play Club initiative he began at his school in 2019, including both the local impact on his students and the global interest in its successes. In a recent essay on Substack , Kevin discusses what happens when we don’t allow kids to be kids and instead use devices to quiet or distract them. Kevin shares some of the amazing stories from his school Play Club that allows students the opportunities to play without adults leading the activities or interfering, even when conflict arises. Helen and Jordan have so many more questions than we have time for, so we hope to bring Kevin back for a part two! Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . Join Jordan in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  Episode #45

  EPISODE 45: Toys Over Tablets

  Jul 15, 20261h 2mS3

  Spoiler alert: There will be a few Toy Story 5 spoilers in this episode! We are discussing the summer blockbuster and the messages it sent (and didn’t send) to viewers. But first, Jordan shares a huge childhood independence experience for her six-year-old, and Helen discusses her daughter’s first week back at daycare. We also share about a recent IRL summer library storytime we attended together. Jordan published her first Substack essay sharing how she initially debated seeing Toy Story 5 with her family but wanted the experience of going to the theater together with friends. Helen asked Jordan how the film met her expectations on a scale of 0-10, and Jordan details why she gave it a 4. Frustrations are shared about how the film claims to (initially) portray the Lilypad tablet as the villain and yet Disney is ultimately a business, so the Lilypad tablet, made by Leapfrog, is currently available to buy. Another major sticking point is that when the tablet ultimately remains in childhood, it also remains in the bedroom. We then dig into the concerns about trusted messenger organizations , like Common Sense Media, that take money from and/or partner with social media and big tech companies . We end with Helen sharing the unique spelling of her favorite doll’s name. And sharing some fun sound effects. Find Helen on Substack at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resonances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ . Join Jordan in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠reConnect Morton⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ through Four Norms.

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on Millennial Mom Thoughts. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.