Today we’re talking about a covid pivot that I’ve seen a bit lately - divorce.

Strange that being locked in a house with your partner would make you question your life’s choices…

Because I’m hearing anecdotal evidence about more people splitting this year than I’ve heard in the past, I decided to do some research into whether or not what I was hearing on the street was actually true. Turns out, it might be.

Rather than turning to a divorce attorney for an interview, I thought it might be more illuminating to hear from a marriage counselor - maybe we can come through this next 50 minutes with some advice and hope rather than doom for our relationships. Enter Zach Brittle.

Zach is a Gottman certified marriage therapist - you’ll learn what that means in the episode- he’s also a best selling author, and also a podcaster. His show Marriage Therapy Radio provides weekly insights into the daily struggles of marriage, and offers a look into the science behind great relationships. Zach agreed to lend his expertise on why couples might have had more conflict over the last two year and identifies ways we might re-evaluate our current relationships to set a new course for the future.

For anyone in a partnership, this episode isn’t a downer - it’s meant to give us all some new tools and perspective as we all reset post-covid. Let’s face it - most relationships could always benefit from some new tools in the toolbox.

Larkin Temme is the young principal of Holy Family Bilingual School in Whitecenter - just 10 miles south of Seattle.  We are separated by a short stretch of I-5, and a long stretch of socioeconomic circumstances.  The students at Holy Family are diverse, bilingual, and from backgrounds very different than the kids in NE Seattle.  I wanted to Ms. Temme educate me about how she’s pivoted her community to digital learning with no full-time Technology staff, how that was possible knowing that so many families don’t have basic internet access, and whether or not she’s concerned about this achievement gap created by internet based learning.  Spoiler alert - she is.