Podcast 4 Intro

April’s Topic: Body Image and Sexuality

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This month’s Round Table challenge comes from our guest Christine Whelan’s new book Generation WTF: From “What the #%$&!” to a Wise, Tenacious, and Fearless You, which features traditional virtue-based guidance remixed for today’s young (and not-so-young!) adults.

In order to create the solid moral foundation needed to withstand the negative influences of popular culture — including those regarding body image and sexuality — Dr. Whelan encourages us to take the time to discover and acknowledge our five core values and then find ways to focus on those values each day.  The steps are:  1) figure out what drives you— and where you want to go, 2) uncover five common values behind those goals, 3) acknowledge those as your core values and 4) find ways to remind yourself daily of your five core values.

We challenge our listeners to follow this advice and to encourage the young people around them to do the same. For more information, help, quizzes, and community check out the book’s website.

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Guest bio: Dr. Christine B. Whelan is an author, speaker and professor. She is the author of Generation WTF: From “What the #%$&!” to a Wise, Tenacious, and Fearless You (February, 2011), Marry Smart: The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to True Love(Simon & Schuster, 2009), and Why Smart Men Marry Smart Women (Simon & Schuster, 2006).

Dr. Whelan is a visiting assistant professor in the Sociology Department at the University of Pittsburgh. She earned a masters and doctorate from the University of Oxford and has held teaching positions at Princeton University and the University of Iowa. She has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The New York Times, among other national outlets. She writes a bi-weekly relationship advice column for BustedHalo, a young-adult website and a monthly column on everyday virtues for BigQuestionsOnline. She has appeared live on television programs and radio programs across the nation.

Dr. Whelan graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Princetonian and was awarded the Daniel M. Sachs Scholarship to attend Worcester College at the University of Oxford. She and her husband, Peter, live and work in Pittsburgh with their dictator cats, Chairman Meow and Evita Purrron.