Megan and Luke are married and have just adopted a baby boy. We talk about how much children should know from their parents and when should they know it. Megan’s friend just had an unplanned pregnancy and had to tell the truth to her teenage children. Luke talks about whether withholding truth from their son someday is the best thing.

Claudia is in medical school and studying ethics as part of her training. This coursework is showing her that there are often more questions than answers when dealing with her patients, in particular, just how honest to be about their prognoses.

I asked Julia at St. Mark’s Coffeehouse if honesty is the best policy and she said being truthful is about more than just one person being honest. It’s about creating something better for the world at large. But she’s also fudged the truth in her own life every now and then….

Mehdi told me at St. Mark’s Coffeehouse that honesty isn’t the best policy because a small action on his part – admitting to an affair – could have catastrophic affects on others.

Michelle has been reading a book that is helping her understand what truth and honesty are all about. She had to shift a romantic relationship into a friendship in order to see if things could work out.

Is honesty always the best way to go? Vaughn is 12 and already he understands that sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn’t.

Is honesty the best policy? Tremaine starts his answer saying yes, but when probed further, he admits that in relationship it’s often better to just fudge the truth, at least at the beginning.

Is honesty the best policy? Ben says that’s a question of semantics. He tells me the story of a time when being silent was the best way to handle the truth.