Deep Dive with Camilo Ortiz & Lenore Skenazy on Free Range Kids

Kelly Corrigan Wonders

Kelly Corrigan Show

Society & Culture

4.8 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 July 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When well-meaning parents try to keep kids safe from every possible harm, they might actually be creating more anxious, less capable children. In this conversation recorded live on stage at this year's Aspen Ideas Festival, Kelly talks with Lenore Skenazy, who became known as "America's Worst Mom" after letting her nine-year-old ride the New York subway alone and psychologist Dr. Camilo Ortiz, who developed "Independence Therapy" to treat childhood anxiety through independence rather than avoidance. They explore how protecting kids from distress, disappointment, danger, and discomfort interferes with essential skill-building, why being around our children too much leads to over-parenting and how simple changes like waiting five seconds before jumping in to help can make a huge difference. The conversation covers practical strategies for fostering independence, the importance of mixed-age play and the hopeful news that 11 states have now passed laws protecting parents' rights to raise free-range kids. Special thanks to The Aspen Ideas Festival where this episode was recorded. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:08.8	Welcome to Kelly Corrigan Wenders.
1:10.0	I'm Kelly Corrigan.
1:16.0	Today I'm exploring childhood independence and anxiety with two fantastic guests.
1:29.8	Lenore Skenezy, who gave a talk at TED this year about free range kids that resonated with every bone in my body, became known as America's worst mom when in 2008 she let her nine-year-old navigate the New York subway alone with 20 bucks, a metro card, and no phone, and wrote about it
1:37.4	in the New York Sun, sparking a national conversation about the spectrum between overprotected parenting and negligence.
1:46.7	She went on to found an organization Free Range Kids and then co-founded the nonprofit Let
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