On Mike Austin’s Radio Dad podcast (episode #15), Mike and I discussed a topic I covered in a recent Ask Family Man piece about the anxieties of expectant dads. Listen to the podcast (the third segment of his show), read the article, and check out Mike’s other podcasts and content at his Radio Dad site.
Mike Austin, a great guy with a golden voice and six kids, hosts an Internet radio program about fatherhood. The Wisconsin resident and publisher of the Radio Dad site has had me on a couple of times and the most recent one covered the topic of being a dad in difficult financial times. Take a listen to episode #7 at Mike’s podcast page and let me know what you think.
While baby and mom undergo the more strenuous physical experience when it comes to childbirth and the initial few months following the big event, men also go through a lot. The emotional effects of new fatherhood can manifest in everything from mild stress to severe depression, so it’s important for the guys to take care of their own health for their sake and that of their family. On this week’s Family Matters with Tracey Serebin, Tracey and I talk about ways for men to stay healthy and in sync with their changed lives. Tracey’s interview with me on her Internet radio program runs 30 minutes, following her segment with Dr. Shoshana Bennett, who covers mom’s health. Log on to the new installment and click “Listen Now” or “Podcast.” You can also read many of my suggestions for dad’s well being under the Ask Family Man section of this site.
From the summer of 2006 to the same season of 2007, my friend Rob Reed and I hosted a podcast about all things baseball. Life and the ever-growing demands of fatherhood for both of us forced us to take a break, though Rob continued doing a show and running his excellent PlayerTrack.com and BaseballGeeks.com sites. Now, he and I are returning to our show for a fun, efficient half-hour discussing the national pastime and its fantasy baseball step-child. The feeling is that baseball is one of our great loves and, frankly, our kids get a kick out of hearing their daddies keep their inner-children alive and well on the air.
Starting on January 13, hear us weekly on Tuesdays at 4pm PST at BlogTalkRadio.com/BaseballGeeks. Let us know what you think. You can fire off comments and questions on this blog entry.
Intimacy after childbirth and beyond is the topic on the new podcast of Tracey Serebin’s Family Matters. Get the dad perspective from me and the mom view from Tracey on this frank, sometimes funny, and frequently helpful segment. Tracey’s interview with me on her Internet radio program runs 30 minutes, following her talk with Wendy Jaffe, who covers the topic from the angle of a divorce attorney, who contributed an instructive piece to this site. Log on to the new installment and click “Listen Now” or “Podcast.” It’s about sex, so you gotta have opinions/stories to share via the comments option.
Listen to this week’s podcast of Tracey Serebin’s Family Matters and hear me talk about a dad’s role in helping mom recover from childbirth. Actually, I don’t know if anyone actually recovers — perhaps the term should be “reasonably functions.” In any event, Tracey’s interview with me on her Internet radio program runs 30 minutes, following her talk with a postpartum nurse/doula. I’m now a regular guest on Tracey’s show, which is growing rapidly (more news to come on that end). You can log on to the new installment and click “Listen Now” or “Podcast.” Or go directly to the podcast. Let me know what you think.
Yesterday’s firing of Don Imus has been widely commented on, but I’d like to throw in my two cents. The demeaning words Imus used to disparage the Rutgers women’s basketball team (which you can read about elsewhere: http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/04/13/imus.rutgers/index.html), were intended to provide shock value. That’s what Imus does and his massive popularity over the decades (predating Howard Stern) shows how willing many in the American public are to support someone who vents without censor, ridicules countless people, and appeals to our baser instincts. This is not to say that Imus is not intelligent — he has cleverly played to the public’s taste for a long time.
But his firing, by CBS radio and MSNBC cable TV, is a reaction to a public outcry to punish someone for showing insensitivity to race and gender that was too strong even for our jaded society. Maybe he did it just for the shock value, yet the fact that he did it was reprehensible and his corporate bosses followed through with a punishment that will hurt them perhaps more than him.
For our children, this is a fine example of how adults can be disciplined for misusing words. We often say that sticks and stones will never hurt, but we all know that they do. Pointing out this case may feel a little raw to our young people, however it is a great means of comparison for kids who don’t understand why they might get in trouble for similar comments in school, at home, or on the playground. It’s also good to note that the women of the Rutgers team handled themselves with diginity, never asking for Imus to be fired, but simply standing up for themselves as human beings. Part of me expects, and hopes, that although Imus claims he’s done apologizing, he will use his publicity to teach tolerance. In the meantime, his downfall is a prime opportunity to show our children that America means business when it comes to verbal abuse and equality.
It looks like I have Pittsburg Post-Gazette colmnist Peter Leo to thank for quoting my comments about the “numbskull” depitction of dads in the media: http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/morningfile/. Peter’s columns fit into that Jon Stewart mold of topical humor.
One more quick thanks to Meredith O’Brien, who got me to do this “dads are capable” rant in her blog (see post just below).
On Tuesday, May 23, 9:30am EST, I will take to the radio airwaves to talk with Darla Shine and Doug Stephan on the Good Day Show. I’ll suggest why women should “Get Out of Dad’s Way” (it’s not as contentious as the headline sounds — well, maybe it is) so he can be a better, more empowered father. Check out http://www.dougstephan.com/gooddayshow.cfm to see which station might be broadcasting the program in your area. Also, see the Ask Family Man piece that explains some of my suggestions: http://www.familymanonline.com/ask_familyman.php?id=10 .
