The Dad Bod

Neighbors don't necessarily become friends, but Alex and I have gotten to know each other through family hangouts and working together on the board of our co-op building. I think of myself as someone who has a lot of energy, but from what I could tell, Alex is at another level. In addition to being a dad and working as a software engineering manager at Meta, Alex is the unofficial engineer-in-residence for our building; serves ...

This episode is my reflection on Edwin, Two for One Dad. The story of Edwin and his wife, Pat, moved me deeply. I hope the excerpt below leads entices you to listen to the whole reflection.

"I’m imagining now a twenty-something Edwin arriving at work at 3 AM on a cold, dark winter morning to tend the invisible fire that warms the school. With a shovel in his hands and flames flickering in his eyes, Edwin’s thinking about t...

At 16 years of age and in the middle of high school, Royce independently decides that he needs to leave St. Thomas for the mainland, landing in, of all places, Attleboro, a city in Massachusetts that is a suburb of Providence, RI. It doesn't make sense. "Why did you leave St. Thomas?" I ask.

Royce shakes his head. "I can't explain it," he says. "I was at school one day and time literally stood still....

Jeff is the creator of Ambitious Dads, a program designed to help dads thrive in all spheres of life through a lens that views personal and professional life integrated rather than separate. In many respects, the idea for Ambitious Dads came to Jeff through his 25 year career as an executive coach, and more broadly speaking, as someone who has a lifelong passion for teaching and personal growth. "Transform your mindset. Make t...

I'm really excited to be sharing this conversation with you because in addition to being a dad, Drew has made helping other dads his very work and mission, specifically through his role as the Director of Dad Central, an organization that serves and equips dads in their personal journeys to be better dads. Prior to joining Dad Central, Drew founded Connected Dads, an enterprise born from his own transformational journey in lead...

Shout out to Carlton, Daddy's Boy Dad, and Rod's brother, Kervens, for introducing me to Coach Rod because of the passion that we share for lifting up fatherhood. In Rod's case, he is the co-creator of Black Dad Unfiltered, a media company dedicated to showcasing the profound influence of Black fatherhood. Although Black Dad Unfiltered is only a year old, they’ve created an incredible amount of positivity on YouTube, In...

I was introduced to Tom by Thomas from Season 1. I dubbed Thomas, "Chosen Dad," because one of the key things that he shared with me was the concept of chosen family, the people who aren't biologically family to you but become your family through the power and constancy of their presence in your life. Tom and Thomas became chosen family to one another through Young Life, a Christian ministry for teens where Tom, in hi...

My connection with Mario goes back to January, when I was part of the audience to his magic show, Mario the Maker Magician (@mariothemagician), for my niece's 6th birthday. As the lights dimmed in the theatre, I was expecting just a large scale version of magic shows that I'd seen at kids birthday parties, but looking back now, there were signs that this show would be different. The first was the location, the SOHO Playhous...

John and I met for the interview at his office, the type of space that works very hard just to keep up and yet remain ultimately indistinguishable from the other offices in midtown Manhattan. In this office, I could imagine John and I being introduced for professional reasons - we both work in finance - but instead, we were meeting as two dads to talk about fatherhood.  In a nod to the professional environment around us, the start ...

If the vision for the Dad Bod is to capture the hidden drama of what it means to be a dad today, then for me personally, this conversation really nails it because so much of what Micah has to say about the feelings of being a dad really resonates with me. Feelings like exhaustion, restlessness, and guilt, but also gratitude, astonishment, and of course, love. Sitting across from Micah felt like listening to someone speak on behalf ...

Talking with Mitch was like getting a chance to look at my life from a healthy, helpful distance by being airlifted to his higher perch in life as a dad of two dads, a grandfather of six, and a husband of 45 years.  This episode is from a second conversation that I had with Mitch where he identified and shared his perspective on the major moments of transition in a child's life that we as dads should be particularly mindful of ...

Like many of you, I'm in my 40s and at this very, very full stage in life.  In overwhelming moments, my wife and I often ask each other, what do you think your older self might say to you? The goal of this thought exercise is to access a clear-eyed perspective by looking at oneself from afar via a different moment in time, even if just in one's mind.  Well, talking to Mitch was like a super-charged version of that. At 73 ye...

In New York City, the person charged with the care, maintenance, and repair of a building is known as a "super." Short for superintendent, it also describes the quality of Alen's work and the superhuman way he seems to be in multiple places at once in the neighborhood, helping dozens of people get things done in their homes every single day.  That's exactly what he was doing in my apartment a few weeks ago.  We caught up while he i...

A few years ago, Doug moved with his family from New York City to Taiwan to live a life that gives them the freedom to travel frequently, enjoy outdoorsy activities, and raise their kids as native Chinese speakers in an immersive Taiwanese cultural environment, all while still operating by the US-based e-commerce business that Doug started once upon a time as a side hustle to his data analytics career in NYC.  As you're about to he...

I met Andres more than 15 years ago, when he was dating my wife's childhood best friend and with whom he just celebrated 14 years of marriage.  At 60 years old, he is ahead of me in life and in parenting, and so even though we've never lived in the same city and our actual contact with each other is infrequent, I've looked up to him for a long time.  As you'll hear, Andres has a lot of deeply rooted wisdom gained through his experi...

Like me, Charlie is an American-born son of immigrant parents.  Although the facts of our lives and cultures differ greatly, I recognize a lot of the same truths, and even though I’m not yet at his stage in life, I approach Charlie’s story with a great deal of self interest: what can I learn from his experience about supporting a parent in the decline of old age and about ushering grown children into adulthood?

This is one of the ...