Podcast by Kim Anderson & Jenny Chate
25 July 2026
Welcome to Season 3 of the Contagious Joy Podcast!
In this moving season premiere, Kim and Jenny catch up after a painful break following the passing of Kim’s father, Chuck, on Father's Day. Recording live from her childhood home on a peaceful lake in northern Minnesota, Kim reflects on the "beautifully sad" experience of being present during her dad's final days, the unexpected moments of comfort—like a sign from the lightning bugs—and the overwhelm of community support.
Meanwhile, Jenny shares her perspective from afar in Australia, navigating the deep distance during times of loss, the lingering warmth of past memories, and finding comfort in life's simple, cozy moments. Together, they explore how grief isn’t a burden, but rather "love refusing to let go"—and how true joy can still be found in the quiet middle of mourning.
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48:40
27 June 2026
Show Summary
In the Season 2 finale of The Contagious Joy Podcast, hosts Kim and Jenny pull back the curtain on the deeply personal and challenging realities unfolding in their lives. Fresh off celebrating a major milestone—surpassing 1,000 downloads—the duo opens up about why they must hit pause on the show.
Kim shares the heartbreaking news of her father, Chuck, entering hospice care, and the imminent life changes as she transitions to helping care for him. Meanwhile, Jenny recounts a terrifying weekend involving an emergency health scare with her daughter, Emily, alongside the profound emotional release of delivering her recent speech, Stories that Stir, in Sydney.
This raw, honest episode is a testament to practicing what they preach: choosing family, honoring capacity, and finding spaces of peace and joy even in life's heaviest seasons.
Show Notes
A Note to Our Listeners: We are so grateful for your love, prayers, and support. While the podcast is taking an extended intermission, the Contagious Joy community remains. Please keep our families in your thoughts during this season of transition.
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43:29
20 June 2026
In this touching and transparent episode of the Contagious Joy podcast, co-hosts Kim (Speaker A) and Jenny (Speaker B) explore the massive impact of psychological safety in the workplace. They contrast Jenny’s painful experiences with a toxic teaching environment against Kim’s current deeply supportive role, highlighting how a safe environment allows people to bounce back from mistakes and truly thrive.
The conversation also covers major life transitions, including Jenny's daughter and son-in-law packing up to move out, and her son Rowan’s recent university graduation and entry into the scientific workforce. Ultimately, the hosts remind listeners that joy is a deliberate choice and a radical movement, encouraging everyone to break down societal barriers with a simple smile or a kind conversation.
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45:13
13 June 2026
Joy doesn’t always arrive on the timeline we expect, but when it does, it can be profoundly sweet. In this episode of Contagious Joy, hosts Kim and Jenny sit down with Kim's dear friend Wendy to pull back the curtain on the emotional rollercoaster of reproductive grief, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), and infertility.
Wendy shares her raw and beautiful story of traveling across the world to Ukraine during the Orange Revolution to adopt her eldest son, Eagan. Just when she and her husband thought their family map was set, a switch in medical care led to the absolute shock of back-to-back natural pregnancies. From dealing with dismissive medical advice to navigating the beautifully chaotic reality of raising three boys, Wendy’s story is a vibrant reminder that your story is never truly finished.
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52:25
25 May 2026
Episode Summary
In this episode of The Contagious Joy Podcast, hosts Kim and Jenny wrap up their month-long series on family and motherhood as they prepare for contrasting seasonal changes—with Kim heading into summer holidays and Jenny bracing for a rainy Australian winter.
The episode centers on the complex, beautiful, and sometimes difficult realities of parenting and family systems. Kim shares an intimate look at a real-time parenting standoff with her son over chores and screen time, explaining why it is vital for children to safely experience boredom and why she purposefully uses a positive reinforcement structure to build an internal sense of pride in her child. Jenny reflects on how her own family dynamic has shifted over time.
Deepening the conversation, the hosts candidly look back at their own upbringings to explore how childhood structures shape adulthood. They discuss the profound impact of rules and expectations, navigating childhood traumas to dealing with ADHD and rejection sensitivity in motherhood, Kim and Jenny offer a comforting, raw reminder that while parenting stages never truly stop being hard, they are filled with opportunities to heal, grow, and pass down love.
Welcome Back to The Contagious Joy Podcast Kim and Jenny officially open the show by welcoming listeners back for the final week of May. They touch on their contrasting climates as Kim prepares for the U.S. summer break and Jenny faces a long, rainy winter in Australia.
Cross-Continental Core Memories The hosts reminisce about past family travels, detailing the lasting impact that cross-continental visits between American and Australian cultures have had on their children's worldviews.
Life Under Chuck’s Roof: Rules, Manners, and Telephone Etiquette Kim fondly remembers her father, Chuck, and his strict but loving rules for teaching neighborhood kids accountability, proper manners, and how to respectfully answer a landline telephone.
The Hard Realities of High School Counseling Drawing from her background as a school counselor, Kim discusses the heartbreaking realities of hidden childhood neglect, referencing an old family friend who realized for the first time as a guest in another home that "normal" fathers didn't have to be abusive alcoholics.
Rewriting the Script on Discipline Kim opens up about her childhood as a "prickly pear" and explains how her past experiences with strict parental yelling led her to consciously develop safe, boundary-focused parenting style with her son.
The Memorial Day Pool Standoff & Brain Rot Kim shares a humorous, real-time look at managing a three-day holiday weekend. She explains her strategy for handling her son’s reliance on YouTube, using the setup of a backyard pool to teach the valuable lesson that "if you want to have the fun, you've got to do the help too".
Parental Burnout and Mothers Who Are Jealous of Their Kids Jenny reflects on falling into a parenting role at just five years old to care for her siblings. She bravely opens up about her mother's severe mental illness and the complex trauma of having a parent who felt envious and frustrated by her child's capabilities.
Navigating ADHD and Rejection Sensitivity in Motherhood Kim dives into the emotional layers of parenting with ADHD, explaining how Rejection Sensitivity Dysmorphia (RSD) can make criticism agonizingly heavy. She shares how she actively manages her instinct to be a "prickly pear" so she can remain a safe, comforting space for her son.
From Everyday Chores to Prison Escapes Jenny tells a wild piece of family folklore about an ancestor who famously broke out of prison multiple times, bringing a hilarious conclusion to a conversation that started with simple childhood chores.
The Bittersweet Evolution of Motherhood The hosts close the episode by debunking the myth that the newborn phase is the only difficult part of parenting. They reflect on the bittersweet emotional trials of watching adult children pack up their things to officially move out, reminding listeners that motherhood is a beautiful, lifelong commitment.
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01:00:50
18 May 2026
In this episode of the Contagious Joy Podcast, hosts Jenny and Kim celebrate a massive milestone—reaching 800 downloads! Before diving into the main celebration, they pull back the curtain on their typical pre-recording technical chaos and dive into a hilarious debate over American versus Australian terminology. From the quick onset of American "hot flashes" to the enduring body-heat of Australian "hot flushes" (accompanied by toilet-flushing hand gestures), they compare the cultural quirks of their respective home countries.
The heart of the episode centers around a major family milestone: Jenny’s adult daughter, Emily, and her husband, Phil, have officially exchanged contracts on their very first home in Sydney’s notoriously brutal housing market. Jenny shares the grueling 12-month journey of hunting through poorly constructed units, avoiding real estate tricks, and the sheer pride she and her husband, Tim, feel in helping the couple finally break into the property ladder. The hosts also discuss the emotional side of packing up 28 years of life, how furniture reveals a couple's true personality, and why neither of them will ever live in a minimalist, all-white house.
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01:00:38