Cathy and Todd discuss Why Heated Rivalry Matters, digging into why this hockey romance has become such a cultural lightning rod and emotional touchstone. They talk about Rachel Reid’s novel and the TV adaptation, but mostly they focus on what’s really happening alongside the sex scenes: two very different expressions of masculinity learning how to coexist without hierarchy, punishment, or performance. The conversation moves from the slow-burn relationship between Shane and Ilya to why so many women, queer viewers, and romance fans trust this story and feel oddly comforted by it. They explore how the show models emotional safety, real repair, and power that doesn’t turn into harm, and why that feels rare right now. It’s a mix of pop culture, psychology, and cultural reckoning about intimacy, vulnerability, and what people are longing for in relationships today.

Some Ways to Support Us

1. 1. Sign up for Cathy’s Substack
   2. Order Restoring our Girls
   3. Join Team Zen

Links shared in this episode:

For the full show notes, visit zenpopparenting.com.

This week’s sponsor(s):

• Avid Co DuPage County Area Decorating, Painting, Remodeling by Avid Co includes kitchens, basements, bathrooms, flooring, tiling, fire and flood restoration.
• David Serrano- Certified Financial Planner- 815-370-3780
• MenLiving – A virtual and in-person community of guys connecting deeply and living fully. No requirements, no creeds, no gurus, no judgements
• Todd Adams Life & Leadership Coaching for Guys

Other Ways to Support Us

• Follow us on social media
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
• Buy and leave a review for Cathy’s Book Zen Parenting: Caring for Ourselves and Our Children in an Unpredictable World
• Find everything ZPR on our Resources Page
• Guys- Complete a MenLiving Connect profile

Cathy and Todd discuss A Few Good Men, a courtroom drama set inside the military justice system about power, loyalty, and what happens when following orders starts to feel wrong. They go through their usual categories, talk about why the movie still works all these years later, and give props to Jo Galloway who was dismissed for being “too much,” yet was right all along. The share why this film hit so hard for people who grew up learning the rules and then had to decide when to question them. PLUS they spend the first 10 minutes discussing the Chicago Bears – Bear Down!

Some Ways to Support Us

1. 1. Sign up for Cathy’s Substack
   2. Order Restoring our Girls
   3. Join Team Zen

Links shared in this episode:

For the full show notes, visit zenpopparenting.com.

This week’s sponsor(s):

• Avid Co DuPage County Area Decorating, Painting, Remodeling by Avid Co includes kitchens, basements, bathrooms, flooring, tiling, fire and flood restoration.
• David Serrano- Certified Financial Planner- 815-370-3780
• MenLiving – A virtual and in-person community of guys connecting deeply and living fully. No requirements, no creeds, no gurus, no judgements
• Todd Adams Life & Leadership Coaching for Guys

Other Ways to Support Us

• Follow us on social media
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
• Buy and leave a review for Cathy’s Book Zen Parenting: Caring for Ourselves and Our Children in an Unpredictable World
• Find everything ZPR on our Resources Page
• Guys- Complete a MenLiving Connect profile

Some Ways to Support Us

1. 1. Sign up for Cathy’s Substack
   2. Order Restoring our Girls
   3. Join Team Zen

Links shared in this episode:

For the full show notes, visit zenpopparenting.com.

This week’s sponsor(s):

• Avid Co DuPage County Area Decorating, Painting, Remodeling by Avid Co includes kitchens, basements, bathrooms, flooring, tiling, fire and flood restoration.
• David Serrano- Certified Financial Planner- 815-370-3780
• MenLiving – A virtual and in-person community of guys connecting deeply and living fully. No requirements, no creeds, no gurus, no judgements
• Todd Adams Life & Leadership Coaching for Guys

Other Ways to Support Us

• Follow us on social media
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
• Buy and leave a review for Cathy’s Book Zen Parenting: Caring for Ourselves and Our Children in an Unpredictable World
• Find everything ZPR on our Resources Page
• Guys- Complete a MenLiving Connect profile

We decided to re-run an old “Pop Culturing” Podcast in honor of the tragic death of Rob Reiner and his wife Michele. We will be creating 4 new Zen Pop Episodes based off of 4 other Rob Reiner films for the month of January.

When Harry Met Sally… is a 1989 American romantic comedy film written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner. It stars Billy Crystal as Harry and Meg Ryan as Sally. The story follows the title characters from the time they meet in Chicago just before sharing a cross-country drive, through twelve years of chance encounters in New York City. The film raises the question “Can men and women ever just be friends?” and advances many ideas about relationships that became household concepts, such as “high-maintenance” and the “transitional person”.

Some Ways to Support Us

1. 1. Sign up for Cathy’s Substack
   2. Order Restoring our Girls
   3. Join Team Zen

Links shared in this episode:

For the full show notes, visit zenpopparenting.com.

This week’s sponsor(s):

• Avid Co DuPage County Area Decorating, Painting, Remodeling by Avid Co includes kitchens, basements, bathrooms, flooring, tiling, fire and flood restoration.
• David Serrano- Certified Financial Planner- 815-370-3780
• MenLiving – A virtual and in-person community of guys connecting deeply and living fully. No requirements, no creeds, no gurus, no judgements
• Todd Adams Life & Leadership Coaching for Guys

Other Ways to Support Us

• Follow us on social media
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
• Buy and leave a review for Cathy’s Book Zen Parenting: Caring for Ourselves and Our Children in an Unpredictable World
• Find everything ZPR on our Resources Page
• Guys- Complete a MenLiving Connect profile

Cathy and Todd discuss Love Actually as part of their “Christmas movies that might not actually be Christmas movies” month. Released in November 2003 and written and directed by Richard Curtis, the film uses its London-at-Christmas setting, stacked ensemble cast, and interwoven stories of romantic, familial, awkward, and heartbreaking love to reflect a long-held worldview: messy humans and basic decency still matter. Cathy and Todd go through their categories, debate the storylines, and unpack why its message that “love is all around” became an annual ritual for so many—and what lands differently when we watch it now..

Some Ways to Support Us

1. 1. Sign up for Cathy’s Substack
   2. Order Restoring our Girls
   3. Join Team Zen

Links shared in this episode:

For the full show notes, visit zenpopparenting.com.

This week’s sponsor(s):

• Avid Co DuPage County Area Decorating, Painting, Remodeling by Avid Co includes kitchens, basements, bathrooms, flooring, tiling, fire and flood restoration.
• David Serrano- Certified Financial Planner- 815-370-3780
• MenLiving – A virtual and in-person community of guys connecting deeply and living fully. No requirements, no creeds, no gurus, no judgements
• Todd Adams Life & Leadership Coaching for Guys

Other Ways to Support Us

• Follow us on social media
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
• Buy and leave a review for Cathy’s Book Zen Parenting: Caring for Ourselves and Our Children in an Unpredictable World
• Find everything ZPR on our Resources Page
• Guys- Complete a MenLiving Connect profile

Cathy and Todd talk about The Family Stone and why it works so well as “a Christmas movie that isn’t really a Christmas movie”. They explore how it’s a story about family systems, grief, belonging, and what happens when someone new steps into a familiar and often fragile emotional ecosystem. They get into the best family movies, the most uncomfortable scenes, each character’s role, birth order patterns, sibling energy, and the tension Meredith brings into the house. They also look at why this messy and tender story is still such a holiday staple twenty years later.

Some Ways to Support Us

1. 1. Sign up for Cathy’s Substack
   2. Order Restoring our Girls
   3. Join Team Zen

Links shared in this episode:

For the full show notes, visit zenpopparenting.com.

This week’s sponsor(s):

• Avid Co DuPage County Area Decorating, Painting, Remodeling by Avid Co includes kitchens, basements, bathrooms, flooring, tiling, fire and flood restoration.
• David Serrano- Certified Financial Planner- 815-370-3780
• MenLiving – A virtual and in-person community of guys connecting deeply and living fully. No requirements, no creeds, no gurus, no judgements
• Todd Adams Life & Leadership Coaching for Guys

Other Ways to Support Us

• Follow us on social media
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
• Buy and leave a review for Cathy’s Book Zen Parenting: Caring for Ourselves and Our Children in an Unpredictable World
• Find everything ZPR on our Resources Page
• Guys- Complete a MenLiving Connect profile

Cathy and Todd discuss Trading Places for “Christmas movies that might not be Christmas movies” month. John Landis’ 1983 comedy-satire dropped the same year as Return of the Jedi, Flashdance, WarGames, and Risky Business, yet still became one of the biggest hits of the year. With Dan Aykroyd, a very young Eddie Murphy (only 21!), Jamie Lee Curtis, and a plot that dives deep into class and privilege, they discuss what the movie was saying about wealth, meritocracy, and who gets access, along with the complicated, messy, and very 80s parts that would never make it past a studio today.

Some Ways to Support Us

1. 1. Sign up for Cathy’s Substack
   2. Order Restoring our Girls
   3. Join Team Zen

Links shared in this episode:

For the full show notes, visit zenpopparenting.com.

This week’s sponsor(s):

• Avid Co DuPage County Area Decorating, Painting, Remodeling by Avid Co includes kitchens, basements, bathrooms, flooring, tiling, fire and flood restoration.
• David Serrano- Certified Financial Planner- 815-370-3780
• MenLiving – A virtual and in-person community of guys connecting deeply and living fully. No requirements, no creeds, no gurus, no judgements
• Todd Adams Life & Leadership Coaching for Guys

Other Ways to Support Us

• Follow us on social media
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
• Buy and leave a review for Cathy’s Book Zen Parenting: Caring for Ourselves and Our Children in an Unpredictable World
• Find everything ZPR on our Resources Page
• Guys- Complete a MenLiving Connect profile

Cathy and Todd discuss Die Hard, the 1988 action classic that redefined the genre, covering everything from its Christmas Eve plot and iconic Nakatomi Plaza setting to the film’s surprisingly heartfelt themes of family, reconciliation, and love. They discuss why so many (including Cathy) consider it a Christmas movie, break down the characters and casting surprises, highlight the film’s legacy and genre-shaping influence, and share the behind-the-scenes stories that made Bruce Willis’s hero an unexpected cultural icon. From Hans Gruber’s unforgettable villainy to the film’s “Die Hard in a ____” effect across decades of action films, it’s a nostalgic and big-hearted look at why this movie endures and why so many of us return to it every holiday season.

Some Ways to Support Us

1. 1. Sign up for Cathy’s Substack
   2. Order Restoring our Girls
   3. Join Team Zen

Links shared in this episode:

For the full show notes, visit zenpopparenting.com.

This week’s sponsor(s):

• Avid Co DuPage County Area Decorating, Painting, Remodeling by Avid Co includes kitchens, basements, bathrooms, flooring, tiling, fire and flood restoration.
• David Serrano- Certified Financial Planner- 815-370-3780
• MenLiving – A virtual and in-person community of guys connecting deeply and living fully. No requirements, no creeds, no gurus, no judgements
• Todd Adams Life & Leadership Coaching for Guys

Other Ways to Support Us

• Follow us on social media
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
• Buy and leave a review for Cathy’s Book Zen Parenting: Caring for Ourselves and Our Children in an Unpredictable World
• Find everything ZPR on our Resources Page
• Guys- Complete a MenLiving Connect profile