Dad 2.0 Podcast

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.

Glen Henry left Baltimore feeling worthless and suicidal, but after "starting over" with his father in San Diego, Beleaf has discovered his purpose as a visible example of fatherhood and mentorship. He works hardest to establish trust, and sets goals without limits in order to keep the past from gaining on him. We talk about raising a family in the limelight, his upcoming fatherhood e-course, and coping with one of the biggest parenting mistakes he's ever made. And why can't he be Mister Rogers in a yellow beanie?

In her seven years editing The Washington Post's On Parenting, Amy Joyce has used her platform to discover new writers and help parents raise good people. We talk about the publication process from pitch to byline, the importance of soliciting dads' opinions, and helping her sons understand the message behind those "The Future Is Female" t-shirts. Plus: Should you arrange a playdate while there's an insurrection two miles away? And why is Pittsburgh the Venice of America?

When we try to redeem 2020, Thom Hofman's story is a great place to start. After a life of scoring beers at 6am landed him in the hospital for the fifth time, he got sober by learning to "resensitize to the mundane." He's been home helping his kids with their online learning, resuming his homeless outreach, and celebrating the 25th anniversary of his first date with his wife. We talk books and music, living in the present, the mythos of boozing writers, and realizing that among his amazing canon of writing, he's done his best work sober.

Jason Kravits is the type of writer/performer who relaxes by working—on his Lords of the Playground web series, his Off The Top improv revue, his crowd-sourced "Sing-Alone" videos—and as host for many years of the Dad 2.0 Summit Live Lounge. We talk about inspiration, getting started as an actor, trying everything, and what it's like on set during the pandemic. Plus: Hell's Kitchen feels like the safest place in the world, goofing on Gal Gadot, and inviting Paul Rudd to watch you bathe.

The new year begins with a provocative title for provocative times. We discuss some of the myriad responses to our 2020 recap, the great art that offset our less-than-great moments, and the themes we'll continue to revisit often in 2021 (paid leave, gender equality, family advocacy, prioritizing home life, etc.) as summed up nicely by our Instagram Top Nine. Plus: Can vintage sneakers heal the world?  (For the record, the title merely refers to podcast advertising and the addictive use of social media. But just the same, you  should probably avoid Googling it.)

We're pretty sure 2020 can't get any more wretched in its last three days. But among that wretchedness, Jeff got married and launched a literary project. Aaron and John got new jobs. Mike started grad school. Michael and Brad and Tom published books. Stewart and Taylor and Penn had productive years in video. Jamie launched a new consulting career. Alec and James did the South Bronx proud. And the listener community for the Dad 2.0 podcast tripled in size. These are just some of the stories of creativity and progress that defiantly withstood the fear and frustration that dominated our lives this year. As the pandemic recedes, we're looking at 2021 as a chance to start fresh, with healthy priorities intact.

During a long career in content marketing and SEO, and as he rebuilds his personal life after his wife's protracted illness and death last year, Rob Ainbinder has learned a lot about Why People Click. We first came to know him as a blogger, whose Team Angela FB group helped build a community around his family, but he also has tons of salient advice for small business owners can use marketing to become bigger business owners. Join us for a discussion about the nature of grief and the power of therapy, advice for content creators as COVID starts to recede, and the remarkable kink you can find on OnlyFans sites. 

After he became a work-at-home dad in the early '90s, David Stanley began his career of pitching writing and voice-over projects that he synthesized into his brilliant Masterpitch Theatre workshop at Dad 2.0 Digital. He has great advice about how to catch someone's eye, how to be courteously persistent, and how to convert the inevitable rejections into greater motivation. He has also developed an abiding talent for sonnets since his father died, as anyone who saw him deliver the opening Dad Blogger Spotlight at Dad 2.019 will attest. We talk about how parenting never ends, his resemblance to Mike Mills, and his plans for Sonnetember 2021.

Danielle Wiley sits with us from the unique perspective of having spoken at the first Dad 2.0 Summit, just a few months after she launched Sway Group, and at our most recent in-person Summit back in February. Her experience as both a blogger and an executive at Edelman Chicago informs her advice for influencer dads to share their stories about coping with COVID, be social on social media, and up their Instagram game. Join us to discuss how she built a two-page resume in two years, became an executive in two days, and  why dads are more viable as influencers than ever.