Parental Control is a monthly parenting and lifestyle podcast created by My Baba and hosted by the website's founder Leonora Bamford. The first episode came about when Leonora became increasingly frustrated at how challenging it is to keep her children safe online and wanted to find out what teenagers really think about being online and staying safe. Parental Control is about feeling in control as a parent or prospective parent and feeling confident tackling problems head-on. Each month, we'll discuss current and on-going issues that affect mums and dads throughout parenthood and tease out the solutions with the help of some brilliant guest and expert speakers.
My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.
The Good, The Bad & The Chaos Of Parenting With Nigel Clarke & Sasha Hall
Are we making parenting harder than it needs to be? With endless advice, conflicting opinions, parenting experts and products promising to make family life easier, it can sometimes feel as though raising children has become more complicated than ever.
In this episode of Parental Control, My Baba's Ellie Thompson is joined by TV presenter, dad and founder of Dadvengers Nigel Clarke, alongside educational psychologist and fellow My Baba Awards judge Sasha Hall, for a refreshingly candid conversation about what parenting actually looks like behind closed doors.
From the expectations they had before becoming parents to the battles they've learnt to let go, parenting fails, questionable advice and the things their children have taught them along the way, Nigel and Sasha share the lessons that only really come from doing the job. They also tackle whether knowing too much about child development can make parenting harder, what children genuinely need from us and whether today's parents are drowning in information. Qs for Nigel and Sasha
Plus, as judges of the My Baba Awards 2026, they turn their attention to the products that really make family life easier, what modern parents actually want from brands and what it takes for a product to genuinely stand out.
Email us at info@mybaba.com
Follow us on Instagram @mybabainsta and @mybabagram (https://www.instagram.com/mybabagram/)
Show notes
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What is My Baba?
My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.
Visit mybaba.com (http://mybaba.com/)
The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/
28 Sept 2026
Where Do We Go When We Die? Dr Eben Alexander On Life After Death, Consciousness And Billy
What happens when we die? It's a question most of us will ask at some point, but for Parental Control host Ellie Thompson, it became impossible to stop asking after losing her little boy, Billy.
In this deeply personal episode, Ellie is joined by Dr Eben Alexander, neurosurgeon and bestselling author of Proof of Heaven. For much of his medical career, Eben believed that consciousness was dependent on the brain. Then, in 2008, a severe brain infection left him in a week-long coma — and what he says he experienced during that time completely transformed his worldview.
Since Billy died, Ellie has found herself searching for answers in places she might never previously have considered — exploring science, consciousness, near-death experiences and the possibility that the people we love might somehow still be with us.
Eben's work has become an important part of that journey.
In this episode, Ellie and Eben explore his extraordinary experience, the nature of consciousness, what near-death experiences might tell us about death, signs and connections with those we've lost, and whether science could ever help us understand what happens when we die.
It's a very different episode of Parental Control, and one of Ellie's most personal conversations yet.
Email us at info@mybaba.com
Follow us on Instagram @mybabainsta and @mybabagram (https://www.instagram.com/mybabagram/)
Show notes
Dr Eben Alexander — official website — his books, work on consciousness, talks and resources.
Sacred Acoustics — the brainwave-entrainment audio and meditation work associated with Eben and Karen Newell. Their site also has free training resources.
Inner Sanctum Center — Eben and Karen's community and courses exploring consciousness, including monthly online sessions.
Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies — research organisation focused on evidence concerning survival of consciousness after physical death and the nature of an afterlife.
Laura Lynne Jackson — official website — psychic medium and author whose work you discuss in the episode.
What is My Baba?
My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.
Visit mybaba.com (http://mybaba.com/)
The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/
17 Sept 2026
Katharine Radice On How Many Clubs Should Your Child Actually Be Doing?
Swimming on Monday. Football on Tuesday. Music on Wednesday. Gymnastics at the weekend. Sound familiar?
For many families, extracurricular activities have become an almost automatic part of childhood. We want our children to try new things, build confidence, make friends and discover what they love. But somewhere along the way, have we started to believe that every empty space in their diary needs filling?
In this episode of Parental Control, Ellie Thompson welcomes education expert Katharine Radice (https://katharineradice.co.uk/) back to the podcast. With more than 20 years' classroom experience and in-depth knowledge of education and adolescent development, Katharine advises schools nationally and internationally and is the author of The Parent's Guide to Exam Stress.
Together, they ask a deceptively simple question: how many clubs should our children actually be doing?
From the benefits of extracurricular activities and the warning signs of an overscheduled child to knowing when to let kids quit, Katharine explores whether every child really needs a packed diary and how much of the pressure is actually coming from us as parents.
And what about doing absolutely nothing?
They also discuss the importance of boredom, free play and giving children the space to simply be children. Because perhaps the question isn't how much more we can fit into their week, but whether we're in danger of scheduling the childhood out of them.
Email us at info@mybaba.com
Follow us on Instagram @mybabainsta and @mybabagram (https://www.instagram.com/mybabagram/)
Show notes
What is My Baba?
My Baba provides the daily scoop on family, food and lifestyle - we're not just experts at all things parenting.
Visit mybaba.com (http://mybaba.com/)
The Content on this podcast is provided by My Baba and represents our sole opinions and views. For more information on our terms and conditions please refer to the website: https://www.mybaba.com/terms-conditions/
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.8 / 5
5 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 46 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
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