Episodes

  • What really matters?

    What really matters?
    Sep 14 2025
    Philosophers and everyday men and women alike wrestle with the question, what is my purpose in life? What actually matters--and how do we discover the answers? In this episode, Alvean and Doug take on these pithy questions and offere their own experience and insights in response. For a full transcript, click here: LL17
    Show More Show Less
    12 mins
  • The wisdom found in pain

    The wisdom found in pain
    Sep 7 2025
    It sounds counter-intuitive but Alvean and Doug would tell you that some of our most painful experiences are also incredibly important teaching moments. Although no one seeks out suffering, especially where relationships are concerned, emotional pain, loss and grief take us to places where we can look at ourselves and our lives in a more objective perspective and emerge--either through one's own devices or with help into a better and healthier life. For a full transcript of this episode, click here:LL16
    Show More Show Less
    11 mins
  • The lies we tell ourselves

    The lies we tell ourselves
    Aug 31 2025
    Can we truly deceive ourselves? In this episode, Alvean and Doug talk about the ways we obfuscate, pretend and misdirect our intuition and intellect when matters of the heart are concerned. For a full transcript, click here:LL15
    Show More Show Less
    14 mins
  • Getting Over Heartbreak

    Getting Over Heartbreak
    Aug 24 2025
    Some have said that a broken heart is worse than any physical pain, and for many it is one of if not the hardest thing they may face at a young age. Alvean and Doug discuss the ways we mend and build on a stronger foundation following a difficult passage such as this. For more and a full transcript, click here: LL14
    Show More Show Less
    13 mins
  • Can you prevent cheating?

    Can you prevent cheating?
    Aug 17 2025
    As a followup to last week's episode, Alvean and Doug take on the thorny question, can anyone prevent their partner from cheating? Alvean unfolds her now famous dry grass analogy to explain how relationship fare when they are not regularly tended. And Doug tells a story about a marriage that foundered through inattention. For a full transcript, click here: LL13
    Show More Show Less
    15 mins
  • Can love survive infidelity

    Can love survive infidelity
    Aug 10 2025
    It may be the hardest test of a relationship, when one partner is unfaithful to the other. In this episode, Alvean and Doug discuss how to move on --whether the relationship is at its end or otherwise and how to know the difference between someone that cheated (and why) and someone who is a cheater. For more, and a complete transcript, click here: LL12
    Show More Show Less
    13 mins
  • The Best Advice Ever

    The Best Advice Ever
    Aug 3 2025
    Doug & Alvean share stories about the best advice they ever received regarding relationships. For a full transcript, click here: LL11
    Show More Show Less
    13 mins
  • Cross Cultural Relationships

    Cross Cultural Relationships
    Jul 27 2025
    A lot has been written and said about interracial or inter-religious relationships and the challenges they pose, but really these differences are only a part of what Alvean and Doug describe as cross cultural relationships because they involve more than race or faith, but a matrix of language, behavior social and cultural norms that may be wide or narrowly different between partners. In this episode, Alvean and Doug offer some thoughts on how to energize and remain open to thsoe diferences seeing them as opportunities rather than obstacles. For a full transcript, click here: LL10
    Show More Show Less
    15 mins