"Welcome, everyone! Today we're taking a deep dive into the stages of human development — from the early ideas of Jean Piaget to the lifelong theory of Erik Erikson. These two thinkers laid the foundation for how we understand the way people grow, think, and behave over time.

We’ll begin with Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, which outlines how children's thinking evolves through distinct stages — from learning through senses and movement as infants, to developing logic, abstract thinking, and problem-solving as they grow.

Then we’ll explore Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages, which map out the emotional and social challenges we face at each stage of life — from building trust in infancy, to forming identity in adolescence, to finding meaning and integrity in our later years.

Along the way, we'll talk about how these theories connect to real life — in parenting, education, relationships, and even our own self-reflection. Whether you're a student, a parent, an educator, or just curious about why humans are the way they are, there's something here for you.

So let’s break it down, stage by stage, mind and heart, from birth to old age. Let’s talk development — Piaget to Erikson, and everything in between."**

Ep. 84 Stages of Development

Sunita Deshpande (IG @LUCKYSUNITA ) is an Indian-American actor, writer, director, and founder of Successful Spontaneity, a performance training company that helps professionals thrive in high-stakes moments through applied improvisation. She has taught improvisation to creatives, executives, and rising talent for over 15 years, including at Miami Ad School and major agencies like McGarry Bowen to Gyro. Her plays have been produced across New York City, and she was recently featured on the cover of Ad Age for a national commercial written specifically in her voice. With past credits including 8 episodes of Marvel’s Daredevil and a Samuel French OOB Finalist play, she believes in the power of presence over perfection.

Ep. 91 Sunita Deshpande

For the hope of it all.........

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), is a brain disease likely caused by repeated head injuries. It causes the nerve cells to die in the brain and gets worse over time. The only way to definitively diagnosis CTE is after death during an autopsy of the brain

Ep. 92 The life of a Swiftie

Eileen Álvarez is a Latina Writer/Actor/Director who was raised in the Bay Area by deeply
committed political activist parents who fled Argentina in exile during the "Dirty War." 

Eileenreceived a degree in Philosophy from UCLA, an M.F.A from the Actors Studio, and made her

directorial debut with Finding Mabel, an award winning documentary about Argentina's 30,000

Disappeared. Her sophomore film Grit, a dark comedy about infertility, won several festival

awards and was picked up by Elizabeth Banks' Whohaha. In 2020, Eileen's comedy Pilot Güera

took home first place during the Page International Screenwriting Awards, and in the same year

she joined the writers' room for the adult animated series Close Enough, for HBOMax. In 2021

Eileen joined the inaugural class of the Nalip and Netflix short narrative incubator for Latinx and

Women of Color, where she wrote and directed a psychological thriller comedy entitled Mama

Retreat, starring Annie Gonzalez. Mama Retreat went on to premiere at the Los Angeles Latino

International Film Festival (LALIFF). Eileen has had the pleasure of being hired to write scripts

for shows for Nickelodeon and Sony, and has gone on to develop TV series' with The

Tannenbaum Company, Wilmer Valderrama Entertainment, and Westbrook. Eileen is repped by

Stagecoach Entertainment and Paradigm.

Ep. 93 Eileen Alvarez

Ep. 94 BACK TO SCHOOL

Teaghan Young is a mutli-disciplinary artists and activitst who lives in Toronto

Ep. 95 Teaghan Young

Riva Goldband is a 40 something stay at home parent of 2 and native New Yorker currently living in the Atlanta area. She is a part time stylist with a closet edit business-find her @editbyriva on instagram. Honesty, sarcasm and realness are her brand, with a side of reality TV obsession. Her husband has a successful crime podcast called “Deviant” available wherever you get your podcasts! 

Ep. 96 Riva Goldband

Detra Payne, (MFA, The New School for Drama/Actors Studio Drama School), is an Assistant Professor of Instruction at Northwestern University, her area of focus is Acting. Professor Payne has acted professionally in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Memphis and in the Dallas Ft. Worth area. She is a founding member and board member of the Los Angeles based theatre company, Sacred Fools. Detra has produced and directed for stage, and has worked on films and television as an actor, production coordinator and talent coordinator. Her written work has been published in Theatre Journal, Theatre Topics and Studies in Theatre and Performance. Her research interests include the contributions made by African American Women to the American theatre scene, the intersectionality of acting, movement and other forms of art creation in devising theatre, and developing intentional theatre for online and the uses of AI in actor development and performance. Detra is a member of the Screen Actors Guild American Federation for Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), some of her acting credits include (television):  Chicago Fire, The Big Leap, 24, Moesha, and The Parkers; (film): Tempestad, Forced Move, Kudzo Killers, Imbroglio, Long Black Limousine S for Sally ; (theatre): The Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, A Christmas Carol, She-Wolf, Slideby Babette's Feast, Fabulation or The Re-education of Undine, Miss Edna Lewis, The Mountaintop, The Bluest Eye, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Steel Magnolias, Who Will Bell the Cat Prophet, It's Gulliani Time, and Baby Talk. She is a member of Actors Equity Association (AEA); National Alliance of Acting Teachers (NAAT); Black Theatre Network (BTN); Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) - as a member of the Nominations Committee, Black Theatre Association, the Acting Focus and the Directing Focus Group; and Steering Committee member for the Organization of Women Faculty at Northwestern and a committee member of Northwestern University School of Communications Access and Accountability Committee (AAC). Currently she is developing performances around the topic of grief and grieving, and a one woman show using Shakespeare’s sonnets and monologues.

We also discuss the vnew documentarty Unknown Number. 

If you wold like to attend the event at The Craft Sutdio here is the link https://www.hisawyer.com/the-craft-studio-upper-east-side-1/schedules/activity-set/1590914?day=2025-09-17&view=cal&source=camps

Ep. 97 Unknown Number and  Detra Payne

Alexis Marie Chute is a creative powerhouse—a bestselling author and award-winning artist, filmmaker, photographer, and curator—whose work spans two decades. Her abstract paintings, portraits, photography, films, and literary works have been showcased globally, and her artwork is represented by the Art Gallery of Alberta. Her debut memoir Expecting Sunshine (2017) was adapted into an acclaimed documentary film, followed by her Amazon-bestselling YA fantasy trilogy, including Above the Star (2018), Below the Moon (2019), and Inside the Sun (2020). Her recent nonfiction books—Prairie Spirits (2021), The Eternal Summer of Alberta’s Herbarium (2022), Memorable Murals (2023), and Moments in Focus (2024)—celebrate Alberta’s rich culture and landscape. Chute curates the Red Brick Common Public Art Gallery, Wild Skies Art Gallery, and InFocus Photo Exhibit, and co-founded Wild Skies Press. She is also a passionate public speaker and educator.

 

Where people can find me online:

Alexis Marie Chute https://alexismariechute.com/

Wild Skies Art Gallery https://wildskiesgallery.com/

Wild Skies Press https://wildskiespress.com/

InFocus Photo Exhibit & Awards https://www.infocusphoto.ca/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/alexismariechute/#

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/alexismariechute

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexismariechute

 

 

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) looks like it ceases to be! I’m sorry, I didn’t know it had shut down.

Ep. 98 Alexis Marie Chute

September is sucide prevention month if you would like to donate to https://afsp.org/ 

I talk about the Lauging Together event https://laughingtogether.org/ that I attended

And a deep tive into social media

Ep. 99 Online Discourse

My name is Katie, I am a mother, actor and teacher and I live in New York City.

Ep. 84 Stages of Development

Barbie Kong