Are we infantilizing teens to the point that we are raising a nation of wimps? Is adolescence extended so long that people have grey hair by the time they become adults? Robert Epstein, Director Emeritus of the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies in Massachusetts and author of The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen talks about these questions and more on today’s podcast. Epstein’s new book argues that adolescence is an artificial and unnecessary part of life that people are better off without. Find out how your teen’s exposure to school and Western media may be setting him or her up for incompetence, poor judgement and social-emotional turmoil. What can you do about it? Read the book or listen to the podcast to find out. Or go take Dr. Epstein’s competency test to find out how adult your teen is (or how adult you are) at www.howadultareyou.com or visit his website at drrobertepstein.com.

Nancy Pelosi’s recent, and roundly criticized, trip to the Middle East has stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversy. Get the psychology behind the disaster in this week’s podcast. Also on the couch this week are the semantics of “War on Terror.” In which the term plays the role of unwanted stepchild.