Dear Old Dads
Hey kids, get ON our lawn! Dear Old Dads is a podcast examining and deconstructing all things Dad. From parenting to patriarchy; manning the grill to manning up; Dear Old Dads asks — what even is a dad anyway? What does it mean to be a good man in today's world? What should it mean? Listen along as we definitely find the correct, concise answers to all these questions and more! Featuring Eli Bosnick, Thomas Smith, and Tom Curry.
Best of Tom: The Car Wash Fight Club (December 2022 Bonus)
Best of Tom continues, and this one has never been on the public feed. It's a patron bonus from December 2022, and it holds the story we've called back more than any other: Tom's first job, at the car wash fight club. It's a repeat for patrons, and every download helps keep Tom's share of the show coming while he's out.
We work through a backlog of listener questions: what activities we'd want for our kids, how hard to push them into sports, finding a kid's "thing", and who their role models should be. Thomas tells the story...
Best of Tom: Are We Spoiling Our Kids? (DOD4)
Best of Tom continues. While Tom recovers, we're replaying his classic stories in order so the running jokes make sense, which means we're still in the early episodes, and they're packed with lore. This one is an all-time favorite, full of jokes we still reference to this day. It's a repeat, and every download helps keep Tom's share of the show coming while he's out.
Are we spoiling our kids? Three dads raised on strict, bare-bones childhoods look at how much we give our own kids, from clothes and toys to screens, phones and car keys. Tom's...
Best of Tom: How Do We Protect Our Kids From Bullies? (DOD3)
Best of Tom, part 2! While Tom recovers, we're replaying his classic stories in order. They're repeats, but each one is the extended patron cut, so if you're not a patron, there's a story at the end you've never heard. These early episodes were all about our backstories, so this one is loaded with deep Tom lore, plus maybe the best Eli lore ever recorded. Every download helps keep Tom's share of the show coming while he's out.
Bullies: the one topic that might turn these progressive dads into cave men. But should it? Is the problem solved...
Best of Tom: Get to Know the Dads (DOD1)
While Tom recovers, Dear Old Dads is on a break, so this month we're replaying the Best of Tom: a curated run of his classic stories, in order. These are repeats, and each one is the extended patron cut, so if you're not a patron, there's a story at the end you've never heard. Every download helps keep Tom's share of the show coming while he's out.
We're starting at the very beginning, with the inaugural dadisode from June 2022. Why and how are we dads? How were we dadded as kids? Our upbringings span a very interesting...
Tom's Not Ok. We're Taking A Break.
Yeah so you kinda have to hand it to Tom's luck demon. It's undefeated. It has Tom fighting his own bones.
DOD302: Viced Rhino Transed All the Kids
Tom is out (spine goblin is at work today), so the dads are joined by YouTuber and dad-of-five Viced Rhino, who has a really good Tom impression. His family also stole the entire alphabet apparently.
For patrons only: Thomas makes it to Chuck E. Cheese for the very first time. Arlo has thoughts.
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DOD301: Lydia's Got Her Groove Back (Tom Does Not)
Tom is still in the hospital, so the dads are keeping it (relatively) mild this week. Joining Thomas and Eli is the one, the only Lydia Smith, honorary dad and apparent inverse of Tom's luck, who is very much thriving right now. Lydia is getting her groove back, and strangers keep noticing. Also, a listener asks: is it okay to sit on your phone while your kid plays at the playground? (Eli has feelings)
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For extended episodes, bonus content, and m...
DOD300: She'll Do It If You Want To
Note: This episode was part of the double record while Tom was home from the hospital. As mentioned previously, he is currently back in the hospital and we wish him speedy healing and a swift return home! He probably has more HVAC issues to deal with!!!
Tom apparently hasn't earned his rest; poor dude had HVAC issues the second he returned home from the hospital. Luck Demon strikes again. Then the dads dig into a listener email about a marriage where the sex was great for 15 years until one question changed everything. Finally, Eli's got us covered...
DOD299: Tommy's Got Back (Problems)
Note: Since this episode recording, Tom has been readmitted to the hospital. He's been keeping folks updated in the Facebook group so join up there if you haven't yet! Looking forward to his good healing and getting him back again soon.
Well folks, Tom is back (mostly) and he's got stories about his time in the hospital. Plus, for only patrons, hear how Donovan and Finnegan have stepped up in handling things in Tom's absence, and what in particular from this host of duties got captured on the Ring Cam footage.
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DOD298: The Enwrights Answer Everything (Including the Separate Houses Thing)
Note: this one was recorded the same day as the previous release, so mentions of Tom in the hospital are related to that time period!
Heath and Anne join Thomas and Eli for a very special Ask the Enwrights Anything! It all starts with a lovely rendition of "Rip Into It" and it only goes up from there honestly. Then, just for our incredible patrons, Kai joins stepdad Heath, Thomas, and Eli to...mainly torture Heath. Fun was had!
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DOD297: The Dead Speak! Somehow, Tom Returned
Tom is in the hospital, and it's not just his usual laziness. We don't think, anyway. Thomas and Eli play three voice memos Tom recorded from his hospital bed, including one that may just be drugs.
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DOD296: Give Your Baby a Whole Bottle of Cocaine
Eli reports back on Max's first night on Baby Adderall, and it went exactly as well as you'd expect. The dads then tackle a listener who is losing an argument with his partner about Michael Jackson, which turns into a conversation about Leaving Neverland and why the special pleading never quite makes sense. Then: a Nobel laureate's research on falling birth rates, the manosphere, and whether masculinity actually needs saving.
Stick around for the patron-exclusive story from Max's annual checkup, which opens with a sentence no pediatrician has ever heard before.
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DOD295: Fight Me, Children
Eli comes back from a dad-friends vacation with a story about roughhousing, including a rare joyful moment for Max. Later, a Reddit dad gets benched from family time because his relationship with the kids is TOO good.
Stick around for a patron-exclusive story about Eli's beach vacation and a basket of bread that wasn't meant for him.
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For extended episodes, bonus content, and most importantly, for an AD FREE SHOW, make sure to pledge on Patreon!
DOD294: Hi Bored, We're Dad
The dads dive into a discussion about boredom, and what kind of responsibility you have as a parent to prevent or resolve it for your kids. And at the end, Tom gives a sneak peek for this episode's patron-exclusive story.
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For extended episodes, bonus content, and most importantly, for an AD FREE SHOW, make sure to pledge on Patreon!
DOD293: "My Partner Threw Something At Me and Our Son..."
After talking about AI and Tom's cat adoption journey, the dads turn to a concerning listener email that is asking the wrong question.
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For extended episodes, bonus content, and most importantly, for an AD FREE SHOW, make sure to pledge on Patreon!
DOD292: Thomas Turns Old
Thomas turned 40 and is crumbling to dust before our very eyes. He chose poorly. The dads start planning his funeral and talking about what it means to be old.
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DOD291: Is Punching Each Other Therapy?
After a delightful Curry update in the pre-show, the dads dig into the central issue from a recent Vice article about...dudes just hitting each other instead of talking to a therapist? Then, in the patron segment, Eli shares a delightful story from his household and the kindness of strangers.
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DOD290: It Was An Accident!
The dads have some things to "yell" about...like how they get accused of yelling (wasn't yelling) by children who are most definitely yelling.
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For extended episodes, bonus content, and most importantly, for an AD FREE SHOW, make sure to pledge on Patreon!
DOD289: Eli's Got Nissan Money
Eli's car saga has some major updates that somehow continue to be insane. Then the dads dig into r/AskMenOver30's list of books that'll supposedly fix your thirties. In the patron-exclusive story, Thomas shares some stories from the California State Fair, including a very bizarre interaction.
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For extended episodes, bonus content, and most importantly, for an AD FREE SHOW, make sure to pledge on Patreon!
DOD288: Childfree By Choice, with Cecil Cicirello
Although we all miss Eli in this episode, we have an incredible treat of a guest host: Cecil Cicirello! Cecil shares how he and his wife determined that childfree by choice was a good fit for them, and the dads get into childhood memories, being childfree and maintaining friendships with people who have children, and so much more. Plus an especially long patron-only segment at the end!
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DOD287: Til Too Many Memes Do Us Part
A number of listener emails have been coming in, so the dads tackle a couple of these, including navigating family dynamics of people being invited and not invited to wedding celebrations. And though we have yet to receive an update about Eli's suspected-totaled cars, we DO get a Haeley Health Update!
Plus: a game that Thomas sucks at?! Tune in to the Patron bonus to hear how bad it was.
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DOD286: Eli and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Well Eli had an absolutely surreal 12 hours immediately before recording, so the dudes get into it. At least we all have each other.
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DOD285: How Many Dads Are We Buying for Anyway?!
It's a belated Father's Day round table! Plus, a listener question about a nephew who needs way more intervention than is being offered by their parents, and the dads chime in with what they would do if faced with a similar situation. For patrons only: Eli's kindest friend really stepped in it when taking a stab at a joke recently and Eli is beside himself with glee.
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DOD284: It Must Be Hot Divorcée Summer Or Something
The dads work through listener emails. How many exactly? A NEW UNBEATABLE DADS RECORD. You'll have to tune in to find out! But it all boils down to a simple question, really: how many listeners to Dear Old Dads should file for divorce? PLUS: patrons get an extra-long bonus segment at the end of this episode!
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DOD283: When No One At the Pool Party Knows How to Swim
Tom threw a birthday party for Eamon and the chaos that ensued is quite literally unbelievable. We're not sure if Tom has actually recovered from this yet. And later, in the patron-exclusive story, more unbelievable Curry household lore. What in the world is happening in Illinois...
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DOD282: A Talent Show with No Talent
A listener question about kids performing in talent shows is paired with incredible news from Thomas about one of the Smith kids facing their own fears.
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DOD281: When Your Couple Friends Divorce
Thomas's friends are divorcing, and hearing the details hits a little too close to home. The dads dig into what it really means when someone can't stop making their partner feel small, whether people can actually change, and what it says about you when a friend's failing marriage makes you quietly wonder about your own.
For Patrons: Eli is chaperoning a field day and we are all praying for him.
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DOD280: How Much Can We Control What We Find Attractive?
Thomas got served a weird Christian-y video about marriage and attraction.
In the bonus for patrons: Tom does what his kid wanted and then is punished and gaslit...
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DOD279: When Should You Tell Your Kid They're Neurodivergent?
The dads take a listener email about how and when to talk to your kid about a diagnosis like ADHD or autism. When do you share this information with your kid, and is it something you should anticipate sharing at multiple points at different developmental stages?
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DOD278: I'm Not Gonna Cause I Don't Wanna
It's another "Tom is sane despite all odds" episode! The dudes revisit a topic that Tom brought up in a previous episode about whether or not permission and support from parents are linked. If your parents let you do something (like join a school sports team), would that mean you could expect them to cheer you on at your games? What were the dads' experiences in their childhoods with this, and how do we want to show up for our kids with the things we've given them permission to do?
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DOD277: This Husband's In the Doghouse
The dads spend today's episode exploring a few different areas of concern from a listener email. But at it's core: how do you negotiate one partner's needs and the other partner's hurt?
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DOD276: The Annual Poopy Pants Review
It's that time of year: Mother's Day happened last weekend. On a scale of perfectly clean butt to the most poopy of poopy pants, how did the dads do this year? And, in the patron bonus, we get an update on the fire that shut down the entirety of Eli's town!
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DOD275: Does Banning Phones at School Work?
A recent NYT article discussed a study outlining the impact of cellphone bans in school. The dads chat about those results, and get into a number of tangents, such as age verification. Then, in the bonus exclusive to patrons, Thomas lays out one of the weirdest medical relationships (his doctor) he's ever been in.
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DOD274: You Better Ask Nicely
Eli provides some important news from his corner of the globe (and it hopefully continues to be funny and hasn't resulted in anything terrible for anybody) before the Dads discuss gut reactions to something their kid does that they would have never done themselves as a kid. How do we process that response, and can we eventually calm this response?
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DOD273: We Almost Did An Episode Before Remembering Eli Golfed
We started this episode with a plan in mind, and then we remembered that ELI BETHESDA BOSNICK went GOLFING (?!) recently and had to stop everything to get the full story. And torment Thomas.
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DOD272: "Am I the Asshole?" Asks World's Biggest Asshole
Spoiler alert: this guy from r/AITA is definitely an asshole, but there's SO much to talk about from his unhinged post. In the story reserved for patrons only, Tom shares the coolest update about one of the kids.
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DOD271: Hell in a Handbasket, I Say!
The dads continue evaluating those morality survey results and there are some WILD positions in this half! Plus the dads categorize the issues they find most immoral.
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DOD270: Poll on Moral Issues Explains Everything Wrong with America
After absolutely bonkers Dentist stories, the dads explore a recent Pew Research Center study that surveyed Americans on whether or not various behaviors were moral or not. How are things looking in America these days? Will the dads agree on the morality of these questions, or are we going to get a three bears situation?
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DOD269: RIP Mr. Kitty 2012-2026
WAIT. NOW TOM'S GONE?! Lydia sneaks on the show as Thomas shares an important Smith Family update (IT'S NOT A FOURTH KID). Eli, Thomas, and Lydia discuss how to support kids through loss, especially when grief (or not grief?) may look different for each of your children.
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DOD268: A Helluva Haeley Health Hupdate
Haeley recently had literal brain surgery, and Tom is here to share how it all went and what's next in their pursuit of her health. Many thanks to everyone that sent messages of support or kept the Currys in your thoughts as Haeley tackled this part of her story. It means a lot to the family and everyone at Dear Old Dads!
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