In this episode of The Soft Parts, Nik and Nhi explore the connections between parenting, emotional regulation, masculinity, and the growing normalization of violence in American society.

The conversation begins with a disturbing experience Nhi had at a pumpkin patch, where an older child threatened her six-year-old nephew while the adults responsible seemingly looked the other way. This encounter sparks a broader discussion about childhood behavior, accountability, and the importance of teaching empathy, boundaries, and healthy emotional expression.

Drawing from their personal experiences and professional backgrounds in healthcare and mental health, Nik and Nhi examine how children learn through observation, the influence of social media and gun culture, and the consequences of growing up without the tools to manage anger, rejection, or conflict.

The discussion takes a deeply personal turn when a recent shooting near Indiana University's Bloomington campus brings back memories of a terrifying Halloween night during their college years. As gunfire erupted at a crowded party, Nik and Nhi found themselves fleeing for safety; an experience that raises questions about trauma, survival, and the devastating consequences of unchecked anger.

Ultimately, this episode challenges listeners to consider the role of parents, communities, and society in shaping future generations. If we want children to grow into emotionally responsible adults, what behaviors do we need to stop normalizing, and what patterns do we need to unlearn ourselves?

Join Nik and Nhi for a candid, thought-provoking conversation about parenting, accountability, generational patterns, and the responsibility we all share in creating a less violent society.

Content advisory: This episode discusses bullying, threats toward children, gun violence, death, and traumatic experiences. Listener discretion is advised.

For The Soft Parts’ first guest episode, Nik & Nhi are joined by Faith, a therapist, social worker, colleague, friend, and certified baddie.

What starts with stories from Faith’s work inside a women’s prison quickly turns into a very real conversation about what it means to take care of other people for a living while still trying to take care of yourself.

Faith, Nik & Nhi get into workplace safety, inappropriate patients, emotional exhaustion, the things nobody warns you about before entering a helping profession, and what happens to all the shit you absorb when the workday ends. Faith talks about why this therapist has a therapist of her own, while Nik & Nhi share how crisis mental health and urgent care have shaped the way they manage stress, boundaries, safety, and their own mental health.

They also talk about why; despite the chaos, the burnout, the bodily fluids, the wild stories, and the occasional desire to clock out immediately, they would still choose the work again. And somewhere along the way, the interview turns into three friends laughing, calling each other out, talking about friendship and future dreams, and reminding each other that nobody has to have everything figured out.

At the center of it all is one simple reminder: the people caring for everyone else are human too.

Be kind. You never really know what someone is carrying.

**If you live in AZ and wish to connect with Faith, you can do so here:

• Faith's PsychologyToday

RESOURCES:

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline : Call or text 988 for free, confidential crisis support in the United States.

• Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 for free, confidential crisis support.

This week, Nik and Nhi talk about the exhaustion of being a woman in a world that constantly asks women to anticipate their own harm.

Using the recent allegations involving a former Cornell student and members of the Chi Phi fraternity as a starting point, Nik and Nhi unpack consent, intoxication, victim shaming and blaming, the pressure to be the “perfect victim,” and what happens when institutions and bystanders fail the people they’re supposed to protect.

But the conversation quickly becomes bigger than one case.

They talk about the constant risk assessments women make without even realizing it; where they park, who they’re alone with, who made their drink, whether they should walk down that hallway, whether their clothes will somehow become evidence against them, whether saying no will actually be respected, and whether anyone will believe them if something does happen.

Nik and Nhi also ask what responsibility men have when the danger isn’t coming from them personally, but from another man they know. Is simply saying “I would never do that” enough? What happens when misogyny, objectification, harassment, or violence is happening right in front of someone and they choose not to intervene?

And if something different is going to exist for the next generation, the conversation has to start much earlier than sex. Consent is also about teaching children to respect “no,” recognize another person’s boundaries, keep their hands to themselves, and understand that nobody else’s body, space, or autonomy belongs to them.

This episode is angry. It’s sad. It’s personal. And mostly, Nik and Nhi are tired.

At some point, the question becomes: How much smaller do women have to make themselves before the responsibility finally stops being theirs?

CONTENT NOTE:
This episode includes discussion of sexual assault, rape, drug-facilitated assault, victim blaming, violence, and capital punishment.

EDITOR’S NOTE:
During the episode, Nik and Nhi referenced early reporting that Larry Nassar had recently been removed from Michigan’s sex offender registry. Subsequent clarification from Michigan State Police established that Nassar was never listed on Michigan’s registry and therefore was not among those removed. More than 20,000 other people were removed from the public registry following a Michigan Supreme Court ruling concerning retroactive application of the state’s registration requirements. This note is included to correct that information.

RESOURCES:

• National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN)
  Free, confidential, 24/7 support for survivors of sexual violence.
  Call: 800-656-HOPE (4673)
  Text: HOPE to 64673
  Chat: RAINN.org/hotline

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
  Free, confidential crisis support.
  Call or text: 988
  Chat: 988lifeline.org

• National Domestic Violence Hotline
  Support, safety planning, information, and resources for people affected by relationship abuse.
  Call: 800-799-SAFE (7233)
  Text: START to 88788
  Chat: TheHotline.org