Dad 2.0 Podcast

Felice Primavera! As we celebrate the first week of Spring 2022 and bring Season 4 of the podcast to a close, we look back at the many high points, of both this season and the four-season cycle as a whole. The stories we've learned, the advice we've taken, the mere act of conversation that sustained us while the world wobbled toward normalcy. And if we hadn't recorded before the Oscars, we probably would have spent a good bit of time telling Will Smith to sit on his hands in timeout and think about what he did. 

Born on April 1st and raised in a town that gambled on cow poop, Joel Willis began his editorial career with a dad blog called the Glad Stork. From there, after years as a contributing writer at Scary Mommy, he was tapped to pilot The Dad as its editor-in-chief in 2017. We talk about the content and strategies that built a platform of two million Instagram followers, integrating with its new step-brother Fatherly, and how dad jokes can be deployed as "the neutron bomb of conversation."

On the fifth anniversary of the day he joined GISH, Charlie Capen returns to talk about what it's like when your job is finding where help is needed and marshaling big-hearted weirdos to fill that need. Each year, Misha Collins's brainchild generates global goodwill, in funds and in deeds, by gamifying the generosity of its players.   We also talk about how to regenerate and focus your philanthropic energy, helping your kids interpret the current news, and why he'd rather be publicly naked than turn 40.

Dave Lesser started his dad blog, "Amateur Idiot, Professional Dad" soon after he left his legal career to stay at home with his two kids. And after two years of sobriety, he remembers the night that scared his family and got him off booze for good. We also talk about how running helps him manage his addictive tendencies, adopting his child's nonbinary pronouns, and his new career as a preschool teacher and writer of children's books.  

After auditioning for a few too many "dumb dad" roles, actors Kevin Laferriere and Evan Kyle Berger found the perfect name for their Dumb Dad podcast and TikTok channel. And in their short, comedic history, they've built some huge platforms based on some widely shared viral moments. We talk about their origin story, outline their publication strategies, and explain the discipline needed to make content around their lives as stay-at-home dads with young children. Comedy and fatherhood, it turns out, have a lot in common if you're not afraid to fall on your face. 

Slate staff writer Aymann Ismail nearly pulled his first-person piece about postpartum depression and anxiety because it seemingly paled in comparison to pregnancy's physical toll on women. Just two months later, it has gone viral, generated conversations all over the world, and inspired a forthcoming book. We talk about the state of modern journalism, growing up Muslim in the shadow of the World Trade Center, the tyranny of too much information, and how his marriage and fatherhood have regained their footing.

In 2008, before the influencing Earth cooled, John Andrews and Ted Rubin came together over a radical new idea to involve bloggers in marketing campaigns. Their new book, Retail Relevancy, offers strategies based on 14 years of research, common sense, and lessons learned to help brands convert content to commerce. We talk about content marketing's humble beginnings at Collective Bias, the myth of large followings, and how influencers of any size can find their place at the table.

Since his first appearance, Dude Dad's Taylor Calmus has had a third child, written a second book, and launched his first foray into basic cable, as Super Dad debuts on the Magnolia Network this weekend. Join us for a historic discussion (as Jeff Zooms in from the way-too-balmy Antarctic Circle) about catering to an enormous online platform, how to unwittingly name all three kids after parts of the brain, and why his third kid arrived by soaring majestically across his back yard.

Frequent Dad 2.0 contributor Julie Nowell started 3C Consulting in order to inspire a slow, boring, disciplined business ethic among the influencers she hires for brand partnerships. She sees an industry that was primed for a reset cruising back into high gear between smarter brands and rejuvenated creatives. If you've spent some time on the sidelines, it's time to reconnect with agencies, editors, and other professionals who are still offering good work to platforms of all sizes. And Julie has some great insights into what they all want and how to keep them knocking on your door.

When Patrick Quinn last appeared on the podcast (pre Dad 2.020 and pre-COVID), he was ebullient about the bright future of influencer marketing. And now, two or 10 or 3,000 years later, he's back to assure us that business is still booming, and brands recognize more value in independent content creators than ever. He shares more tips for showing your value to your potential brand partners, getting the compensation you want, securing more business in the future. grieving his late father, and wrangling his five-year-old at Disney World.

Just like Doug Zeigler's life, this episode has everything: A dystopian lottery! Redemptive agony! Prophylactic cosplay! Plus a cameo from the Beetlejuice of toxicity! As he recovers from a heart attack that required five stents in his genetically narrow arteries, Doug talks about reading his post about his gambling arrest at Dad 2.018, the long road toward restoring his parents' trust, the vast spectrum of gender and sexuality within his blended family, and staying connected through Brothers In Booze.

If Brian Gordon hadn't lost his marriage, his job, and his dog over several dark months in 2015, he may never have created the wildly popular cartoon Fowl Language. And now, he's looking to support his blended family by expanding into merch, animation, NFTs, a partnership with TinyView, and whatever else will keep the lights on. We talk about being "Airbnb parented" (trademark pending), the pressures of an enormous platform, how his cartoons function as a graphic dad blog, and why his goal is always laughs, not claps.

There's nothing niche about Tshaka Armstrong, who admits he emerged from the womb blessed with big-time Neil DeGrasse Nerdery and loves to explain all he's learned. He works as a TV producer and tech reviewer, but he's not afraid to let loose his opinions on politics and race as Villain McBeardface. We talk about his rocky teenage years, the benefits of a bifurcated marriage, raising curious kids, and how tech can save our society only if the people learn to use it right.

Ever since he started Message With A Bottle, Chris Illuminati's primary plan has been to mimic his fitness regime and persevere as incrementally as possible. Eight hundred notes later, he has built a multi-vertical platform comprising books, podcasts, calendars, his own branded lines of Post-It Notes from 3M, and a huge Instagram following. We talk about subtle ways to motivate your kids, the underappreciated beauty of a good pen, and his formative years hanging out in his father's bar.

When Kurt Warner and Zachary Levi get together to promote their upcoming movie American Underdog, the first thing that comes across is how well they get along. We had a great chat about the movie's many fatherhood themes, the complicated relationships with their own fathers, and the unexpected joy Kurt felt showing his kids what his life was like before they came along. Importantly, you can enjoy American Underdog without knowing a thing about football. There are enough messages of love, perseverance, and family to rename it “American Dad Blog.” American Underdog opens Christmas Day.

Chris Ballew fronted the Presidents half his life ago and just wrapped 19 albums and 1,247 live shows as Caspar Babypants, and at 56 he's publishing under his own name and feeling more creative than ever. He credits his parents for encouraging his empathy and silliness, and he wanted to have kids because "I thought I could make two good ones." We talk about cultivating creativity, analyzing his divorce and staying friends with his ex, and why his first instinct when the Presidents hit it big was to blow the whole thing up.

As a writer, social worker, and Hebrew school instructor, Aaron Yavelberg has a wealth of experience as a father and father figure to children, adolescents, and young adults all over New York City. On this second night of Hanukkah, we talk about teens and social media, making goals reachable by setting up pragmatic steps, and why it's important to teach kids that anti-Semitism is still a thing. And every so often, his philosophy degree helps him convince kids that existential crises are mostly normal. This episode is supported by GSK's Ask2BSure.com.

The product of a blended family and blended citizenship, Kevin Shafer is an associate professor at BYU who specifically chose fatherhood as his primary research concentration. He uses his PhD, his Twitter platform, and his copious research to defend paid paternity leave and says American dads can be as involved with our kids as we want to be if we follow the Canadian template. We also talk about his upcoming book, progressivism among Mormons, and his optimism that his students will save us all.

For our 100th episode, Jeff reports in from the farthest point to which he had ever flung himself — Dubai, en route to the Maldives — to (mostly) remember the conversations we've had during the podcast's first two years. Amid the myriad storylines of our 67 guests, some important themes emerge: the incentive to take risks, the power of a supportive partner, the appreciation of someone else's very different life experience, and how conversations help us learn more and do better. We're also supported by Horizon Therapeutics, who has sponsored an important conversation about Thyroid Eye Disease Awareness Week.

Our last double-digited guest is Simon Holland, the work-at-home father of two whose brilliant humor writing has built two colossal platforms on Twitter and Instagram. He's an inspiration to anyone with a desk job and a family that you can still make the time to leverage your talent and make the world laugh. We talk about how he discovered humor early, how he ignores the pressure to create, and why managing your emotions and fixing your toilet aren't mutually exclusive skills.

Watching his dad build an executive career from scratch taught prolific author Jon Finkel the value of daily discipline and chasing opportunity. His peripatetic childhood also helped him develop a versatile skill set that took him from The Man Show to manhood's ultimate test: being a stay-at-home dad of two tweens. We talk about how he found his author's voice, the bonding value of sports worship, why marketing your books is essential and fun, and how he turned into the love child of Stephen King and Bill Simmons (except jacked).

In early September, the "remnants" of Hurricane Ida flooded metropolitan Philadelphia -- and took out the entire first floor of Jared Bilski's house. And like all good writers, he turned the resulting flood of neighborly goodwill into a front-page story about the diverse, dedicated community that came to his family's aid. We talk with him about the writer's life, the close collaborators he met at Dad 2.0, and the psychology behind his initial difficulty to accept help when he so clearly needed it. And what exactly is Wawa bait?

After years online, counseling parents how to raise children without gender stereotypes, the writer f/k/a Mike Reynolds has adopted Emme as their new name and begun experimenting with their appearance as a way of declaring their ongoing nonbinary self-discovery. Emme talks frankly with us about the conversations they've started, the pain they've endured and the peace that has followed, and the wonderful support their community has given their "quite queer little family."

Now that Season 2 of Ted Lasso has concluded, Doug and guest host Whit Honea discuss (with many, many spoilers) all the brilliant and baffling narrative choices the writers made in their sophomore season. We also break down the inspiration and process behind Whit's brilliant Washington Post article about the power of positive male role models on his teenage sons. Themes of fatherhood, for good and for ill, run rampant throughout the first 22 episodes, and the challenge will be to wait patiently until Season 3 drops next August.  

We're back! And Season 4 begins with Jeff and Doug catching up on all the new things that happened over the summer. Travel is back, schools are in-person, and Dad 2.0 has a new partnership with American Underdog, the story of how Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner became the NFL's best player who was never drafted. We ramble, we laugh, we launch into a bunch of weird, tangential rabbit holes. We talk about Jeff's new book and make fun of his search history. And we get excited about this next season and where Dad 2.0 is headed next!

Our Dad 2.0 Digital closing keynoter Richard Kind wanted kids all his life, but he didn't become a dad until age 45 because he admits he spent too much time thinking he wasn't ready. Now, he says, Don't wait. You'll figure out how to provide the life you know they need, and before you know it you'll have three kids that you love, like, and trust. We also talk about sharing his father with a jewelry store, long-term co-parenting, and how he builds and maintains the many friendships that overwhelm his phone with texts.

After 13 years of on-the-job training, Shannon Carpenter has stocked his upcoming Ultimate Guide to stay-at-home fatherhood with lessons and advice he wants you to learn more easily than he did. This book resulted from his proactive decision to care for his kids and pursue his writing career, and he discusses how he plans to achieve the lofty goals he's set for each. Plus: Finding his agent on Twitter, how electrocution facilitates better flirting, and don't ask him for biscuits without a very clear context.

We met Christopher Persley while he was blogging at The Brown Gothamite, but now he's focused on how best to support his daughter Pepper's burgeoning career as a sports journalist. And mentorship is in short supply, because not many dads have a 10-year-old who has broadcast an NBA playoff game. We talk about his work to improve diversity in schools, trying to trust the father that walked out when he was five, helping Pepper preserve her childhood while surrounded by adults, and that swell of when she drained her first three-pointer.

Our first return guest is Aaron Gouveia, this time with his wife MJ; their new book Men and Miscarriage arrives tomorrow, July 6. They talk and write candidly about losing five pregnancies in nine years, struggling to share their feelings about them, and the stresses of collaborating on a book that dredged up so many painful memories.  We also discuss that time they Facebook-Divorced for six months, and why sometimes the best breakthroughs in a marriage start with a little benign subterfuge.

Damon Brown is one helluva Google. Scroll through his multi-faceted website that comprises his TEDx talks, his coaching business, his 26 books, his Inc. column, and his YouTube channel, and you won't believe he's also a stay-at-home dad for his two young sons. He's essentially living proof that focus and flexibility can help us make room in our lives for whatever we want to achieve. And whatever your circumstances, it's never too late to take stock, assign your main priority, and Build From Now.

In the ten years we've known Caleb Gardner, he's moved from digital strategy at Edelman to social media for Barack Obama to building the backbone of the mission economy at 18 Coffees, He also moderated our Parenting It Forward panel, about breaking the cycle of flawed fatherhood, months after he had met his own institutionalized father for the first time. We talk about talking with his three sons about privilege, supplanting "cancel culture" with accountability, and why he almost named his company "18 Bananas Foster." 

The arrival of Fatherhood The Movie on Netflix today seems like a fitting coda for the segment of Matt Logelin's life as a world-famous widower. So Part II of our conversation (Part I is here) focuses on the now-teenaged Maddy, her mother's foundation, and the future Matt anticipates so readily. After 13 years, he gets to recede into a comparatively normal life as a stay-at-home dad with two daughters (and a third due in October), while his wife co-writes Deadpool 3. Glorious tedium awaits, and after all the turmoil, he deserves it.

When Matt Logelin's wife died just 27 hours after their daughter Maddy was born, he processed his grief by starting the blog that became the book that is now the movie "Fatherhood," which opens Friday, June 18, on Netflix. We're celebrating Father's Day week with a two-part interview with a lot of inside information about working with the director and screenwriter to adapt his book, what that first year of Maddy's life was really like. and how it felt when the Obamas asked to help produce his cinematic life.

"Hard work is a given," says Philadelphia Union coach Jim Curtin, who has made a career out of following his father's advice: Let your results speak for themselves. And from the Villanova Hall of Fame to MLS Coach of the Year, his results resonate throughout the terraces at Subaru Park. We discuss how the strategies that won the 2020 Supporters' Shield apply to parenting his three kids—and preserving their kidhood as long as possible. He's happy to watch them find their respective passions, stay in the background at their soccer games, and raise them in the city "near all the crazy soccer bars."

For the first time since Episode 5, Doug and Jeff celebrate the return of human contact by reuniting on his NYC rooftop and recording face to face. Amid the usual BS about movies, sports, and designer grilled cheese, we talk about the complex emotions surrounding our re-entry into social situations, work spaces, and pants. If you're wondering if you're ready, or if you did enough with your "down" time, cut it out. You did what you could, and you made it this far. That's reason enough to appreciate everyone else who's still with us and honor those who aren't — like Jeff's dad, whose passing has inspired Jeff's upcoming book about keeping your dad's stories alive.

Rich Wallace rose from a childhood in foster care to become a self-made activist and serial entrepreneur, and his youngest son Jason has built a 15-year career in politics, public service, and podcasting. We talk with them both about how their different childhoods inform their different parenting styles, why Jason developed his ambitions in third grade, and that time when Jason accidentally creeped on the Obamas. Jason Wallace wants his Office of Fathers, Men, and Boys to give dadfluence the governmental backing and outreach it needs. When the District of Columbia becomes a state, we look forward to supporting his eventual Senate campaign.

We've known Jim Lin since our beginning as a dad blogger and PR executive, but he's really a septuple threat (at least). And since he's been writing funny things and studying their impact since he was a kid, he's the perfect guest to discuss how successful influence works, where it's going, and why it involves Chuck E. Cheese. We talk about how he learned fishing as a kid to avoid people (and martial arts to confront them), why his blended family works, and how an Asian dude from Boston joined a Texas HOG.

In 1995, Armin Brott's "The Expectant Father" did what no bestseller had done before: It became an accessible, reassuring, and indispensable resource for new and expecting dads. Millions of copies, syndicated columns, fatherhood classes, and radio shows later, the book's fifth edition has been updated with more information, more case studies, more reader input -- and more discussion of the importance of the mental health of both parents. We talk about how Armin wanted to turn his anger into a force for good, why he joined the Marines to learn Russian, and why you should never tell your drill sergeant how to do their job. 

Asha Dornfest and Christine Koh began teaching us how to edit our lives long before it was cool, and we're celebrating Mother's Day week with a look at how their prescience has paid off. Emerging from quarantine will feature deep breaths, narrowed focus, and listening to signals instead of making plans. We talk about how great partners complement each other, maintaining optimism about social media, and the resurgent value of offline interaction. And what exactly is the secret behind snail mucin? 

For 26 years, journalist Matt Villano has built his freelance writing career by pursuing true stories, standing up for marginalized voices, and occasionally dressing up as a humongous wine bottle. He also chronicles road trips with his three daughters, in whom he hopes to instill his commitment to kindness, integrity, and service. We talk about how to build relationships with editors, how quarantine forced him to rethink what exploration means, and why his kids call him "Matty Magic." And why doesn't the game of Life have purple pegs?

This week, we chat with our good friend, fellow Wall Walker, and Sexiest Man Alive Jason Greene about ten years of work, play, and butt portraits at the Dad 2.0 Summit. He got into performing to entertain his mom, and as a stay-at-home father of four, he got into dad blogging to tell stories about New York City, home schooling, and the "experiential classroom." Since we've last seen him, Jason has gotten COVID twice and signed a brand partner for his new running obsession. We talk about the power of the "Just Ask" panel in San Francisco, how he won that Mayor's award, and why he's best friends with Liam Neeson.

Is there anything about fatherhood that is gender-specific? In his new book, Father Figure: How to Be a Feminist Dad, the "urgent and intellectually rigorous" Jordan Shapiro used depth psychology and social theory to explain why the answer is "Not really." More importantly, he details why supporting feminism does not correspond to disadvantaging men. We talk about how life as a line cook prepares you to co-parent four teenagers, whether Freud would be canceled today, and finding love through hot meat sexual innuendoes.

There's a literal Spring in our step as we guardedly envision a post-pandemic, mostly-vaccinated world where actual human contact no longer seems like a luxury. With guarded optimism, we're making plans for the summer, celebrating a book deal and a move to New York City, and hashing out how our businesses can work together to showcase the best writers in the Dad 2.0 Community. We also have a passionate debate over the merits of April Fool's pranks, recount the highlights of our Fatherhood on the First newsletter, and Jeff offers to host the next IRL Summit in his apartment.

On New Year's Eve 2013, La Guardia Cross decided the best way to become a self-sustaining artist was to show his process online and have his viewers hold him to account. Little did he know fatherhood would provide the boost he needed, and now his New Father Chronicles, featuring hilarious interviews with his young daughters, has over 565,000 subscribers. From the origins of his goofy creativity to the sobering reality of his wife's suicide attempt, La Guardia talks frankly to whomever needs to listen, because he knows communities thrive when they learn from and lean on each other.

Through adoption and surrogacy, Brian Rosenberg and Ferd van Gameren went from a childless couple to fathers of three in a mere 17 months. Since then, they've built Gays With Kids into the preeminent online resource for gay, bi, and trans men who want to be (or to become) the best dads they can be. They've overcome a lot in their 28 years together (HIV-positivity, immigration issues, dumb questions from other parents), and they're eager to show how the unique experience of family life, whatever form it takes, is universal for every father.

What do Madonna, Michelangelo, and Michael Stipe have in common? We compare them all to James Breakwell, who built his writing career by workshopping material on Twitter. In his fifth book, How To Be A Man (Whatever That Means), the man behind Xploding Unicorn attempts to determine what manhood is by declaring and dismissing all the things it isn't. We talk about his writing process, making revisions at 3x speed, how his newsletter has built a solid audience for his book sales, and the burst of pride you feel when your pig makes the police blotter. 

The founder of Promundo was wired at an early age to study how men behave and to include men in global discussions about parenthood. He's devoted his career to gathering data and viewpoints to help the world realize that gender equality makes better lives for everyone. We talk about how family life will change after COVID recedes, finding solace in writing novels, and the fun of making your daughter snort applesauce. And why do hot tubbers always Instagram their feet?

Before co-founding City Dads Group, Matt Schneider and Lance Somerfeld were enrolled in extreme parenthood training as elementary school teachers in the South Bronx. Since 2008, they've built their two-person weekly meetups into a network of 20,000 dads in 41 North American cities, creating opportunities for fathers of every type to gather and share experiences. We talk about the strategies behind their brand relationships, the challenges they've faced as "flex-caregivers" during lockdown, and the weird feeling of visiting museums with your kids and feeling like an exhibit.

From Ugandan refugee to CEO, Derreck Kayongo has made indelible contributions by working at Amnesty International and CARE, founding the Global Soap Project, running the Center for Civil and Human Rights, and closing the 2016 Dad 2.0 Summit with our first and only singalong. He sees everyone who has helped him get where he is as an investor, and he is driven to give each of them a strong return. We talk about the example his father set when everything was taken away, the unnerving parallels between African and American politics, how to make civil rights "sexy," and the musical about his life that actually does exist.

In the two years since his diapering photo went viral, Donte Palmer and his Squat For Change platform have led a global effort to install changing tables in men's bathrooms. Beneath that blinding spotlight, though, he's also a husband, father, and author with a lot to say about blending his complicated family, his evolving opinion of cops, and how unselfish parenting sometimes requires making self-serving choices. Abrupt fame is difficult, whether or not your name anagrams to MODEL PARENT. We talk about forgiving his father, combating impostor syndrome, and exerting more control over his brand. And can your marriage be just a 10,000-day Tinder hook-up?

Eight years after his now-famous fatherly photo went viral, Doyin Richards has written a new book, Watch Me, about how his father emigrated from Sierra Leone (and named his son Adedoyin, or "son of the king," to help preserve his African heritage). He's also launched his Anti-Racism Fight Club and speaks often, to everyone from five-year-olds to Fortune 50 executives, about helping people recognize each other's humanity. We talk about wearing his "non-threatening Black man costume," teaching baristas how to pronounce his name, and why his parents didn't know he existed until three days before he was born.