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When it’s finally time to have “The Talk”

Part 4 of the TED Radio Hour episode The Birds and the Bees.

Talking with kids about sex can be awkward – for children and parents. Comedian Julia Sweeney remembers having “The Talk” with her daughter, and how it went in some unexpected directions.

About Julia Sweeney

Julia Sweeney is a writer, actress, and comedian. She was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1990-1995, where she was known for an androgynous character named Pat.

Known for her comedic and dramatic monologues, Sweeney has performed across the U.S. Another of her monologues was fashioned into a book, If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother.

Her most recent show, “Older & Wider,” was filmed in 2020 and will be available soon.

This segment of the TED Radio Hour was produced by Katherine Sypher and edited by Katie Simon and Rachel Faulkner. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at [email protected].

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. utm

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Rachel Faulkner White is a producer and editor for TED Radio Hour.

During her time at NPR, Faulkner White has helped create more than a hundred TED Radio Hour episodes, including a long-form interview on navigating grief and hardship, a look at how family income affects childhood brain development, a conversation on loneliness and human connection and an exploration of outer space and gravitational waves. She was also a producer for How I Built This for five years, where she directed live tapings of the podcast as well as produced fan favorite episodes like The McBride Sisters, Rent The Runway, Bumble and filmmaker Ava DuVernay.

Faulkner White is part of the TED Radio Hour team that received a 2018 Webby Award for their Manipulation episode. She also worked as a research assistant for Professor Steven V. Roberts, author of the memoir Cokie: A Life Well-Lived, about his wife (and one of NPR's Founding Mothers) Cokie Roberts.

Faulkner White joined NPR in 2016 as an intern. She started producing while finishing college, coming into the office between classes, and joined NPR full-time after finishing her bachelor's degree in journalism and mass communications from George Washington University.

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