EPPiC Broadcast
179 episodes - English - Latest episode: 1 day ago - ★★★★★ - 20 ratingsWelcome to the EPPiC Broadcast: Empowering Parents and Protecting Children. Featuring personal stories, breaking news, and insightful commentary, we’ll encourage and inform you on the issue of family and parental rights as you guide and protect that child who is your world. From the Parental Rights Foundation. The EPPiC Broadcast welcomes discussion on a variety of viewpoints regarding parental rights issues; however, the views and opinions expressed by guests are solely their own.
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Episodes
Rewind: Better Outcomes for Families with Ernestine Gray
April 23, 2024 18:00 - 44 minutes - 30.4 MBThis week, we're rewinding to a a conversation with Ernestine Gray from April 2023. This week, we talk with former judge Ernestine Gray, who served for 35 years in the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court in Louisiana. During her tenure, the Orleans Juvenile Court went from what the New York Times described as “the worst juvenile court in the nation” to a model that other juvenile courts looked to for best practices. Ernestine tells us about her many years of striving to improve the child welfare ...
Progress for Parental Rights in Texas with Andrew Brown
April 16, 2024 18:00 - 47 minutes - 32.4 MBWhat effects would legislation proposed in various states have on families and the states' child welfare systems? To answer that, we looked to Texas, where the same measures have already become law. This week, we talked with Andrew Brown, vice president of Policy with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, about some of the laws Texas passed in recent years, including a new law guarenteeing a right to a second opinion for parents who have been accused of abuse by a child abuse pediatrician, a l...
New Parental Rights Legislation, with Patti Sullivan
April 09, 2024 18:00 - 26 minutes - 18.5 MBThis week, we’re talking with Patti Sullivan, the Parental Rights Foundation's Florida State Coordinator. Patti and Michael were in DC to bring attention to two national bills aimed at protecting parental rights: the Families' Rights and Responsibilities Act and the Parental Rights Amendment. They discuss those bills and their efforts in this episode. The EPPiC Broadcast is hosted by Michael Ramey, president of the Parental Rights Foundation. You can sign up for email alerts to keep yoursel...
The Child Welfare System and Homeschooling with James Mason
April 02, 2024 18:00 - 33 minutes - 23.4 MBThis week, we’re talking with James Mason, president and senior counsel at the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. Previously, James has served as the president of the Parental Rights Foundation and the host of the EPPiC Broadcast. This week, James tells us about a case in Texas that HSLDA has recently litigated on behalf of a homeschooling family caught up in a CPS investigation. The EPPiC Broadcast is hosted by Michael Ramey, president of the Parental Rights Foundation. You can sign up...
Addressing Child Welfare Disproportionality in Minnesota, with Joanna Woolman
March 26, 2024 18:00 - 28 minutes - 19.8 MBThis week, Joanna Woolman returns to the podcast! Joanna is an associate professor of law at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law and the executive director of the Institute to Transform Child Protection. Today, Joanna tells us about a civil rights complaint brought forward to address the disproportionality of African American children in Minnesota's child welfare system, as well as the African American Family Preservation Act, a bill introduced to address the racial disproportionality and pro...
Do Parental Rights Come from the Government? with Will Estrada
March 19, 2024 18:00 - 48 minutes - 33.4 MBThis week we talk with Will Estrada, senior counsel at the Homeschool Legal Defense Association and former president of the Parental Rights Foundation, as well as the former host of the EPPiC Broadcast. Will has also served as attorney with the Federal Department of Health and Human Services. In this episode, Will tells us about his upcoming law review article, in which he argues that parental rights are a pre-political right, and that the family is a basic building block of society. The...
Diagnosing a Verdict with Michelle Weidner
March 12, 2024 18:00 - 29 minutes - 20.2 MBThis week, we’re talking with Michelle Weidner, executive director of the Family Justice Resource Center in Illinois, which represents families in CPS cases across the country. Michelle is also a parent with lived experience dealing with the child protective system. In this episode, she tells about her experience being falsely accused by a child abuse pediatrician over a blur on her infant son’s medical scan. Michelle also tells about how the Family Justice Resource Center works to reunite...
Rewind: A History of Child Welfare, with Martin Guggenheim
March 05, 2024 17:00 - 1 hour - 46.7 MBThis week, we're rewinding to a a conversation with Martin Guggenheim from February 2021. In this episode, we talk with Martin Guggenheim, who has taught at the NYU School of Law for over 25 years, and is one of the foremost experts on family law and family rights today. Marty tells us about his lengthy career in the family law field, including how the current child welfare system came to be, and why it’s vitally important that parents receive legal representation in court. Marty also exp...
Motherhood and CPS Surveillance with Kelly Fong
February 27, 2024 05:00 - 38 minutes - 26.4 MBThis week, we’re talking with Kelly Fong, author of Investigating Families: Motherhood in the Shadow of Child Protective Services, published in 2023. Kelly is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California Irvine. In this episode, Kelly explains how child protective services exert an inescapable surveillance over many parents, especially low income and minority mothers. During her research, Kelly embedded herself in the child protective system to gain an inside perspec...
The Families Rights and Responsibilities Act, with Matt Sharp
February 20, 2024 19:00 - 28 minutes - 19.9 MBThis week, we’re talking with Matt Sharp, senior legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom. Matt tells us about the Families Rights and Responsibilities Act, recently introduced into the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives that aims to safeguard parental rights and provide parents with strong legal protections at the national level. Matt explains what’s in the bill, why it was created, and what you can do to help support it. The EPPiC Broadcast is hosted by Michael Ramey, president ...
Why Reasonable Childhood Independence Matters, with Diane Redleaf
February 13, 2024 19:00 - 38 minutes - 26.5 MBWelcome back to the EPPiC Broadcast! We’re kicking off season 8 with a returning appearance of Diane Redleaf. Diane is the legal consultant at Let Grow, an organization that promotes reasonable childhood independence. She’s also the author of They Took the Kids Last Night. In this episode, Diane tells us what reasonable childhood independence is and why it matters for protecting parental and family rights. Plus hear about her work advocating for families caught up in the child welfare syst...
A Conversation with Will Estrada
November 14, 2023 19:00 - 55 minutes - 38.2 MBThis week we talk with Will Estrada, senior counsel at the Homeschool Legal Defense Association and former president of the Parental Rights Foundation, as well as the former host of the EPPiC Broadcast. Will has also served as attorney with the Federal Department of Health and Human Services. Today, Will explains some of the parental rights-focused work that HSLDA is currently doing. Plus, hear about what he accomplished during his tenure as president of the Parental Rights Foundation and ...
International Homeschooling, with Kevin Boden
November 07, 2023 19:00 - 43 minutes - 30.2 MBThis week we talk with Kevin Boden, director of HSLDA International. Kevin tells us about the victories and challenges homeschooling is facing internationally. Kevin is the lead attorney for the Romeike family, who came to the US in 2006 after facing legal hardships in Germany for homeschooling their children. Support the show
Homeschooling and Parental Rights, with Jim Mason
October 31, 2023 18:00 - 48 minutes - 33.1 MBThis week we talk with Jim Mason, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association and former president of ParentalRights.org and the Parental Rights Foundation. In this episode, Jim explains how homeschooling has grown from its fringe roots in the 70's into an enduring education option today, with abundant resources to help parents best educate their children. He also explains what he believes is next for the homeschooling movement. Support the show
The Case for Abolishing Family Court, with Jane Spinak
October 24, 2023 18:00 - 54 minutes - 37.4 MBThis week we talk with Jane Spinak, author of The End of Family Court: How Abolishing the Court Brings Justice to Children and Families. Jane is a Clinical Professor of Law Emerita at Columbia Law School, where she directed clinical programs in family regulation for forty years. In this episode, Jane traces her journey from working to reform the family court system to advocating for its abolishment. She tells us about the history of the family court system, which was created to be benevolent...
Catching Up with Michael Farris
October 17, 2023 18:00 - 33 minutes - 22.9 MBThis week we talk with Michael Farris, constitutional law scholar, founding president of ParentalRights.org, and the former CEO and president of Alliance Defending Freedom. In this episode, Michael responds to a recent Washington Post article about his role in the parental rights movement and gives us an update on the projects he’s been working on recently. Support the show
New York’s ACS and Disproportionality with Joyce McMillan
October 10, 2023 18:00 - 53 minutes - 37 MBThis week, we talk with Joyce McMillian. Joyce is a thought leader, advocate, community organizer, educator, and the Founder and Executive Director of Just Making A Change for Families (JMACforFamilies). Joyce walks us through her work advocating for families that find themselves caught up in New York’s child welfare system, the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). Black, low income families are targeted by the ACS at a disproportionate rate. Joyce explains what factors play into ...
Giving the Choice to Parents, with Melissa Moschella
October 03, 2023 18:00 - 51 minutes - 35.4 MBThis week, we talk with Melissa Moschella, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America, where her teaching focuses on bioethics and the moral and political status of the family. Melissa is also the author of To Whom Do Children Belong? Parental Rights, Civic Education, and Children's Autonomy. Melissa explains her argument that parental rights are pre-governmental and rely on the natural rights of parents, rather than being conferred by the government, and why th...
Family Court and the Fourth Amendment, with Anna Arons
September 26, 2023 18:00 - 46 minutes - 32.4 MBThis week, we talk with Anna Arons. Anna is the Impact Project Director at the New York University Defense Clinic and formerly the acting assistant professor of lawyering at the New York University School of Law. She’s also an assistant professor of law at the Saint John’s University School of Law. In this episode, Anna discusses her law review article, The Empty Promise of the Fourth Amendment in the Family Regulation System. In her article, she explains how the child welfare system unfai...
Meet the Vice President, with William Wagner
September 19, 2023 17:00 - 37 minutes - 25.9 MBThis week, Michael talks with William Wagner, vice president of the Parental Rights Foundation. William is a distinguished Professor Emeritus of Law at the Western Michigan University Cooley Law School, and founder of Salt and Light Global. William has served as a federal magistrate judge in the U.S. Courts, as Legal Counsel in the U.S Senate, and as Senior Assistant United States Attorney in the Department of Justice. William tells us about his background in constitutional law and how he c...
Advocating for Parents’ Rights with Erin Phillips
September 12, 2023 18:00 - 41 minutes - 28.8 MBThis week, we talk with Erin Phillips, president of Power2Parent, an organization uniting parents who want to advocate for their children’s education. Power2Parent is based in Nevada, but maintains chapters in many states. Erin tells us about recent challenges to parents rights in Nevada that her organization has faced, plus victories in Nevada and across the country. Support the show
Preserving Family Connections, with Vivek Sankaren
September 05, 2023 18:00 - 36 minutes - 24.9 MBVivek Sankaren is a clinical professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School, and director of their Child Advocacy Law Clinic and the Child Welfare Appellate Clinic. He’s authored over three dozen journal and law review articles, including “The Ties That Bind Us: an Empirical, Clinical, and Constitutional Argument Against Terminating Parental Rights”. In this episode, Vivek discusses the arguments he makes in his law review article that children are best cared for and protected whe...
Reforming the Child Welfare System from the Inside, with Jerry Milner
August 29, 2023 18:00 - 47 minutes - 32.6 MBThis week, we talk with Jerry Milner, former Associate Commissioner of the Children’s Bureau in the US Department of Health and Human Services. Far too often, the US child welfare system creates incentives to unnecessarily separate families, harming the children it tries to protect. During his tenure with the Children’s Bureau, Jerry worked to create reforms that prioritize family preservation and reunification instead. Now, Jerry serves as the Director of the Family Justice Group. Support...
The World of Hidden Foster Care, with Josh Gupta-Kagan
August 22, 2023 18:00 - 44 minutes - 30.7 MBThis week, we talk with Dr. Josh Gupta-Kagan, Professor at Columbia University School of Law and author of “The Hidden Foster Care System.” Josh explains how many parents in child welfare investigations find their children placed with relatives, completely off the official record. While placing children with relatives, sometimes called kinship care, is not an inherently bad thing and can result in good outcomes for families, the severe lack of oversight and documentation in these placements ...
What Medical Child Abuse Is - and Isn’t, with Maxine Eichner
August 15, 2023 18:00 - 50 minutes - 34.7 MBThis week, we talk with Maxine Eichner. Maxine is a Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina, and she writes on legal issues surrounding families and social welfare law and policy. In this episode, Eichner explains the history of a concept called “medical child abuse” and how innocent parents of medically complex children can easily find themselves caught up in allegations of child abuse - all because some doctors don’t understand the medical issues their children f...
Reforming the Texas Foster Care System, with Andrew Brown
August 08, 2023 18:00 - 53 minutes - 36.7 MBWelcome back to the EPPiC Broadcast! We’re kicking off season 7 with Andrew Brown, Associate Vice President of Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. As an attorney, Andrew has represented children in the child welfare system, advocated for the rights of parents, and helped build families through domestic and international adoption. Andrew breaks down some recent major wins for Texas families in the child welfare system. Texas recently passed into law five bills that help families, w...
Adoption and Foster Family Advocacy with Laura Adams
May 23, 2023 18:00 - 49 minutes - 34.1 MBIn the final episode of Season 6, we talk with Laura Adams, founder of FACTS4safefamilies.com, which provides education, support, and advocacy to improve understanding of adoptive and foster children and complex trauma. Laura explains how through her work with international adoption and parenting her own adopted children with special needs, she saw firsthand the challenges that exist in getting the proper assessments and support in schools, especially in mental healthcare. Laura is an advoca...
Advocating for Parents with Erin Phillips
May 16, 2023 18:00 - 41 minutes - 28.6 MBThis week, we talk with Erin Phillips, president of Power2Parent, an organization uniting parents who want to advocate for their children’s education. Erin discusses her journey in advocating for her parental rights in her own children’s education and how Power2Parent was formed to give parents in her home state of Nevada and across the country the power to speak up for themselves and their children in our public schools. Support the show
Challenging CPS Overreach with Peter Kamakawiwoole
May 09, 2023 18:00 - 45 minutes - 31.2 MBThis week, Homeschool Legal Defense Association staff attorney Peter Kamakawiwoole returns to the Eppic Broadcast. Peter tells us about a case that he litigated on behalf of a mom who found herself dealing with an invasive CPS investigation including strip searches of her young children - all because she left her children in the car for a few minutes to buy coffee and muffins. Support the show
Fighting for Reasonable Childhood Independence, with Diane Redleaf
May 02, 2023 18:00 - 40 minutes - 27.8 MBThis week, we welcome Diane Redleaf back to the Eppic Broadcast. Diane is the author of They Took the Kids Last Night and founder of the Family Defense Center. Diane is working with Let Grow to pass legislation in Virginia and Utah that protects reasonable childhood independence, the idea that children should be able to pursue age-appropriate activities on their own without the threat of their parents being reported for child neglect. Reasonable independence laws have already been passed in ...
Putting Parents in the Driver’s Seat, with Patrick Garrison
April 25, 2023 18:00 - 35 minutes - 24.6 MBThis week, we talk with Patrick Garrison, founder and president of True Corrective, an education curriculum to help parents teach their children about America’s shared principles. Patrick explains what led him to found this curriculum program, including his background as a public school teacher. Plus, he explains how True Corrective can help parents reconnect with their children’s education. Support the show
A Doctor’s Perspective on Parenting with Roger Smith
April 18, 2023 18:00 - 39 minutes - 27 MBThis week, we talk with Dr. Roger Smith, a physician and pediatrician, and author of Parenting with Influence: Shifting Your Parenting Style as You and Your Child Grow. Roger gives a doctor’s perspective on how you as a parent can work best with your child’s pediatrician. Plus, he lays out some principles for how to stay connected with your children as they grow older and mature into adulthood. Support the show
Parental Rights and Strict Scrutiny with Hugh Phillips
April 12, 2023 18:00 - 41 minutes - 28.9 MBThis week, we talk with Hugh Phillips, a constitutional litigator at Liberty Counsel. Hugh has also served as a judicial law clerk for the Supreme Court of Alabama and he’s the author of a law review article entitled “Liberating Liberty: How the Glucksberg Test Can Solve the Supreme Court’s Confusing Jurisprudence on Parental Rights”. Hugh discusses his law review article and explains a path forward to consistently applying the strict scrutiny test to parental rights issues in our nation’s c...
Better Outcomes for Families with Ernestine Gray
April 04, 2023 14:00 - 44 minutes - 30.4 MBThis week, we talk with former judge Ernestine Gray, who served for 35 years in the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court in Louisiana. During her tenure, the Orleans Juvenile Court went from what the New York Times described as “the worst juvenile court in the nation” to a model that other juvenile courts looked to for best practices. Ernestine tells us about her many years of striving to improve the child welfare system in her parish, and how she’s worked to improve the lives of the parents and ch...
Building a Better Support System, with Chelsea Sobolik
March 28, 2023 18:00 - 40 minutes - 28.1 MBThis week, we talk with Chelsea Sobolik, the Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy for Lifeline Children’s Services. Lifeline Children’s Services assists families with international adoption in all 50 states, each of the U.S. territories and U.S. citizens living abroad. Lifeline also serves women in unexpected pregnancies and families through domestic adoptions. Chelsea tells us about the mission of Lifeline and how the organization is working to help provide better solutions for adoption...
Episode Five: Restoring Classical Learning, with Jeremey Tate
March 21, 2023 18:00 - 31 minutes - 21.6 MBThis week, we talk with Jeremy Tate, founder of the Classic Learning Test. The Classic Learning Test, an alternative to the ACT and the SAT standardized tests, emphasizes classical texts and key threads of Western culture that have been neglected in mainstream American education. Jeremy breaks down the history of public education for us and explains why the CLT is needed. He also gives us his perspective on what’s missing from our public education and how we can improve our schools in the ...
The Power of Classical Learning, with Robert Bortins
March 14, 2023 18:00 - 36 minutes - 24.8 MBThis week, we talk with Robert Bortins, the CEO of Classical Conversations since 2012, and a member of the board of directors of Homeschool Now USA. Robert tells us how Classical Conversations went from a single homeschooling classroom in a basement to the world’s largest classical homeschooling organization. Robert explains the process and philosophy of classical education, which aims to prepare students for whatever they may face in life and give them the tools they need to learn anything....
Child Abuse Registries and Due Process, with Timothy Sandefur
March 07, 2023 19:00 - 31 minutes - 22 MBThis week, we talk with Timothy Sandefur, Vice President of Legal Affairs at the Goldwater Institute. Timothy is representing a mother in Arizona who found herself falsely accused of child neglect and placed on the state’s central child abuse registry in a court case that challenges the constitutionality of Arizona's child abuse registry. Today, Timothy breaks down the details of the case and argues for why exactly child abuse registries are unconstitutional. You can learn more about Timothy...
Free Speech and Parental Rights with Suzanne Nossel
February 28, 2023 19:00 - 47 minutes - 32.7 MBThis week, we’re talking with Suzanne Nossel. Suzanne is the CEO of PEN America, a leading human rights and free expression organization, and she is author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All. Previously, Suzanne has served as Chief Operating Operator of Human Rights Watch and as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. How do principles of free speech interact with parental rights, especially in issues of education? Suzanne shares her perspective on book bans in school...
Free Speech and Parental Rights
February 28, 2023 19:00 - 47 minutes - 32.7 MBThis week, we’re talking with Suzanne Nossel. Suzanne is the CEO of PEN America, a leading human rights and free expression organization, and she is author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All. Previously, Suzanne has served as Chief Operating Operator of Human Rights Watch and as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. How do principles of free speech interact with parental rights, especially in issues of education? Suzanne shares her perspective on book bans in school...
An Inside Look at the Foster Care System, with Ethan Demme
February 21, 2023 20:00 - 48 minutes - 33.5 MBWelcome back to the EPPiC Broadcast, season 6! We’re kicking off our season by talking with Ethan Demme, President and CEO of Demme Learning, and member of the Parental Rights Foundation Board. Ethan is also an elected member of the board of supervisors in East Lampeter Township (Pennsylvania). As a foster and adoptive parent, Ethan explains how children are often brought into the foster care system and how we can better care for children in the system. Even though some children need to be ...
Today is Giving Tuesday!
November 29, 2022 09:00 - 28 minutes - 19.5 MBThis week, Parental Rights Foundation president Will Estrada and executive director Michael Ramey host a special discussion about Giving Tuesday. Giving Tuesday is a day to give back to nonprofits and charitable organizations, and it’s today, November 29th! Michael and Will discuss the mission of the Parental Rights Foundation and give us a snapshot into how the organization runs on a day-to-day basis. Plus, hear about our victories this year so far and the upcoming projects we’re working on...
Parental Rights and Vaccines, with Rolf Hazlehurst
November 22, 2022 19:00 - 48 minutes - 33.2 MBThis week, we talk with Rolf Hazlehurst, Rolf is a senior attorney with Children's Health Defense and has been actively engaged in the practice of law since 1995. Rolf breaks down the history of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, which should help families of children with vaccine-related medical injuries receive justice, but often just causes more problems for them instead. Plus, Rolf tells us what parents can do to help secure their parental rights in issues surrounding v...
The Problem with ASFA, with Joanna Woolman
November 15, 2022 19:00 - 36 minutes - 25.1 MBThis week, we talk with Joanna Woolman, associate professor of law at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law and the executive director of the Institute to Transform Child Protection. Joanna tells us about the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA), a key piece of legislation in America’s child welfare system. ASFA creates arbitrary deadlines and financial incentives for states to separate parents and children, and even terminate parental rights. Joanna explains why the law operates this way and ...
Election Day, with Will Estrada and Michael Ramey
November 08, 2022 19:00 - 10 minutes - 7.46 MBThis week, we feature a special discussion between Parental Rights Foundation president Will Estrada and executive director Michael Ramey about how important it is to go out and vote today for candidates that support parental rights. Support the show
Why School Choice Matters, with Quisha King
November 01, 2022 18:00 - 39 minutes - 27.2 MBThis week, we talk with Quisha King. Quisha is the host of the Quisha King Show podcast and the founder of the Mass Exodus movement, which aims to get children into better learning environments. She’s a national speaker on education issues and parental rights and she’s the mother of two daughters. Today, Quisha tells us about her journey to embracing parental rights issues and how she’s working to draw awareness to the importance of school choice and improving education for children. Suppo...
A Pediatrician's Perspective on Parental Rights, with Dr. Rodger Sayre
October 25, 2022 18:00 - 44 minutes - 30.9 MBThis week, we talk with Dr. Rodger Sayre. Rodger is a pediatrician and family doctor with over forty years of experience in the medical field, and he’s also a Parental Rights Foundation board member. He gives us expert advice on raising healthy children and explains how to interact with the medical community as a parent while ensuring that your parental rights are respected. He also explains how to respond to false claims of medical abuse or neglect. Support the show
A History of Parental Rights, with Stephen Krason
October 18, 2022 18:00 - 57 minutes - 39.2 MBThis week, we talk with Stephen Krason, Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, and Parental Rights Foundation board member. Stephen tells us about the historical background of parental rights, and why we have the parental rights laws that we have today. He also explains the legal underpinnings of our federal parental rights law, including key Supreme Court decisions. Support the show
Family is Fundamental, with Melissa Moschella
October 11, 2022 19:00 - 55 minutes - 38.3 MBThis week, we talk with Melissa Moschella, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America, where her teaching focuses on bioethics and the moral and political status of the family. Melissa is also the author of To Whom Do Children Belong? Parental Rights, Civic Education, and Children's Autonomy. Melissa discusses why parental rights are critical to society as a whole, and why the family is the most important, basic building block of society. She also tells us abou...
Family is Fundamental, with Melissa Moschella
October 11, 2022 19:00 - 55 minutes - 38.3 MBThis week, we talk with Melissa Moschella, Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America, where her teaching focuses on bioethics and the moral and political status of the family. Melissa is also the author of To Whom Do Children Belong? Parental Rights, Civic Education, and Children's Autonomy. Melissa discusses why parental rights are critical to society as a whole, and why the family is the most important, basic building block of society. She also tells us abou...