It’s another year around the sun…My Birthday month has arrived and I decided to sit down with my producer Kyle Ferreira to discuss all the things October has to teach us! Along with the theme of Birthdays, and with Halloween quickly approaching, Kyle and I dive into what it means to “Wear a Mask” as a cover for what we may be feeling. It’s also National Bullying Prevention Month, and we make room to break down the terrible situation that happened in LA earlier this month, with an elected official making racist remarks about a transracially adopted child.
In September 2022, I sit down with NFL’S Chief National Reporter, Steve Wyche. Although Steve doesn’t have a personal connection to adoption, he does have a personal understanding of what it means to move around the world as a biracial person in America. This month, Steve and I discuss our shared experiences of identity development, our lives growing up, and the incredible impact Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling in protest against police brutality of people of color, has had on the world.
In August 2022, I sit down with my producer/nephew, Kyle to discuss all things “Back to School”. We dive into our thoughts around what it was like for us during school, our feeling around this ever growing fear of school shootings, what parents and professionals can do to help alleviate some of their children’s worries, and the importance of connection and validation.
In July 2022, I sit with Korean American adoptee, Milton Washington. Orphaned and adopted at the age of eight, and brought to the States at the age of ten, Milton had plenty to say and stories to tell about his experiences in a new family, with a new language and new culture. This month we discuss the intersection between freedom and independence as it relates to adoption, family, and identity.
In June 2022 I sit down with author, inspiring motivational speaker, and viral sensation, Derek “Rapping Dad” Clark! Derek and I discuss so much from foster care to fathering with so many poignant moments shared. And of course he wouldn’t be the “Rapping Dad” without dripping a rhyme or two!
DISCLAIMER: This episode contains challenging subject matter including violence, suicide, & sexual violence. Viewer discretion advised...
In this Women’s History Month episode host April Dinwoodie sits down with an amazing women, writer, editor, performer, teacher and adopted person, Susan Ito. Together they discuss the complex realities around what it means to be lucky in adoption as well as the importance of documenting narratives in adoption.
In a month filled with love and rooted in Black History, I sit down with adult transracial adoptee Hannah Jackson Matthews and her husband, Bret Matthews. Hannah is a writer, educator and a champion of the healing and humanity of transracial adoptees. Together, the three of us discuss the complexities of love, racial identity, relationships, and transracial adoption.
For this January 2022 episode, I sit down with adoptee advocate and the creator and host of the Adoptees On, Haley Radke. Haley and I discuss how we, as adopted persons, often experience the calendar differently than non-adopted persons, and how adoption can teach the world about grief.
Ending 2021 with someone I deeply cherish, former foster youth, adult adoptee and consultant, La Tika Jeffery. This month we discuss adoption as an adult and how La Tikas life circumstances impact her very clear choice to be a stay at home mom. We also dive deep into breaking old traditions and creating new healthier ones.
For National Adoption Awareness Month, I highlight some past conversations with guests that remind us of how adoption can show up at our holiday tables, how adopted children may feel the moment they realize they don’t look like their adoptive parents and how we must make room for the uncomfortable visitor of adoption to ensure adoption is experienced at the highest level of elevation.
It’s October which means one thing, Halloween, candy, and of course costumes and masks. This month, April is joined by the founder of Educate Don’t Incarcerate, a mentoring program that focuses on criminal, juvenile and educational reform, Terrence Coffie. April and Terrence steer directly into how masks have affected their lives growing up adopted or as a foster youth and even now as adults.
It’s September 2021 and that means Back to School! This month we sit with Korean Transracially adopted person Nam Holtz. Nam produced and directed a documentary film titled “Found in Korea”. The film follows Nam as she journeys back to Korea in search of her culture, roots, and identity. We dive deep into this idea of parents and professionals who are on this journey of better understanding adoption and foster care.
In this August 2021 episode we go back to school and continue our journey to better understand adoption with Dr. Bruce Perry. Dr. Perry is co-author along with Oprah Winfrey of “What Happened to You?” a book about the impact of trauma. We dive deep into Dr. Perry’s work with the neurosequential model and the importance of asking “what happened to you?” vs “what’s wrong with you?” specifically related to adoption and identity.
For this July 2021 episode we steer into an urgent conversation about what is and is not happening in education today. Host April Dinwoodie is joined by 2018 guest Cami Anderson to talk about the future of education and what parents and grown-ups that care about children need to know. Cami’s Thirdway Solutions Group supports policy, government, non-profit, corporate, and philanthropic leaders in pursuit of equity and justice to find innovative solutions to their most vexing challenges.
This month, host April Dinwoodie sits down with culture critic, podcast host, and author of the stunning memoir Surviving the White Gaze, Rebecca Carroll. In this spirited conversation, the two discuss identity, family, difference of race and culture and of course, what adoption can teach the world.
In this month’s episode, host April Dinwoodie sits down with writer, editor and author of “All You Can Ever Know,” Nicole Chung to discuss adoption, identity, and the mother of all holidays, Mother’s Day!
This month host April Dinwoodie welcomes her sister Dawn for a conversation that is as beautiful and authentic as their bond. From being dressed as twins as little girls to finding even more love and connection as adults, these sisters have so much to share about how together the navigated adoption and differences of race.
In this poignant episode of Born in June, Raised in April, host April Dinwoodie sits down with attorney turned nonprofit executive and transracially/transnationally adopted person Julie Young. Together they discuss the concept of luck from the perspective of an adopted person and the realities of complicated beginnings as women. They also make space to process the tragic shooting in Atlanta of 6 Asian women.
In the first episode of season 6 host April Dinwoodie sits down with adopted persons Christian and Anni to discuss all things love and adoption. This is the first time that April has been in conversation with a couple that shares the experience of being adopted and it was such a joy to have them on. Christian slid into Anni’s DMs and the rest is history...
Kicking off the new year, April Dinwoodie sits down with transracially adopted person and host of Los Angeles’s Good Day LA, Michaela Pereira. In a deeply personal and spirited conversation the soul sisters in adoption reflect on the search for belonging, the importance of representation, and the both/and of adoption.
With 2020 FINALLY coming to a close I sit down with my executive producer and nephew, Kyle Ferreira to wrap up the year focused on making and breaking traditions. We discuss how the pandemic is forcing us to change what we may have done for generations and how this may be a pivotal time for parents to incorporate new traditions. Also, ‘tis the season, so I made a little wish list!
In this November episode, host April Dinwoodie sits down with former foster youth, adoptive dad, founder of Comfort Cases and author of Forever Family: Fostering Change One Child at a Time, Rob Scheer. April and Rob discuss the challenges Rob faced within his family of origin and as youth in foster as well as the power and importance of names and holiday traditions. This conversation inspires us to steer into both family and adoption to experience the beauty and joy of living with eyes and hearts truly wide open.
Inspired by young people, host April Dinwoodie takes time to expand on her answers to poignant and powerful questions posed by students following a virtual school assembly.