Shows / The Daily Dad
The Daily Dad
The audio companion to DailyDad.com’s daily email meditations on fatherhood, read by Ryan Holiday. Each daily reading will help you find the wisdom, inner strength, and good humor you need in order to be a great dad. Learn from historical figures and contemporary fathers how to do your most important job. Find more at dailydad.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
- The Daily Dad
Don’t Be Mad At Good People
“You’re a patient person. You don’t get road rage. You don’t snap at your employees. You accept apologies when offered. You treat strangers well. Because these…
- The Daily Dad
Just Be a Fan. Just Be a Fan.
“Maybe your kid is into weird stuff. Maybe their heavy metal band sucks--or their talents as a white MC are almost offensive. Maybe you can’t stand the shows…
- The Daily Dad
The Struggle With Struggle
“We all know that what we went through in life is what made us who we are. The breakups, the failures, the losses and the mistakes. Some of us grew up poor…
- The Daily Dad
Everything Is Figureoutable, Pt. II
“When Charles Lindbergh was thinking about attempting the first transatlantic flight, he ran into an issue. It wasn’t that he had very little money. It wasn’t…
- The Daily Dad
Daily Dad On Bringing the Right Energy Into Your Home
On today's long episode of the Daily Dad Podcast, Ryan and Nils talk about how to create and maintain the right environment in your home—one where your kids…
- The Daily Dad
You Have To Sell Them On This
“As you’ve gotten older, it’s been harder to deny: People can be awful. Institutions let you down. The world will break your heart. There is such thing as…
- The Daily Dad
Don’t Overdo It!
“You love them. It feels good to get them things. It feels good to spoil them even. Especially if you’re someone who works a lot, who feels guilty about…
- The Daily Dad
Apply Your Opinions At Home
“Like any reasonable adult, you’ve got opinions about the world. How the country should be run. What courage looks like in a politician. What a great coach…
- The Daily Dad
They Don’t Need a Lecture. They Need This.
“Your kids screwed up. They failed a test. They forgot their homework. They hit their brother. They scratched your car and lied about it. They got caught…
- The Daily Dad
Work With Them To Find Their Lane
“You want your kids to be successful. You want them to be ambitious. You want them to fulfill the potential you see in them. Every parent does. You have this…
- The Daily Dad
Daily Dad On Raising Kids During the Pandemic
On the first longform episode of the Daily Dad podcast, author Ryan Holiday and editor Nils Parker discuss the unique challenges they've faced as parents…
- The Daily Dad
Look for The Excuse
“When he was a young teenager, Lewis Puller Jr. got himself an afternoon paper route. It was one of those things that his parents insisted on so he could learn…
- The Daily Dad
Embrace This Mindset
“You clean and the house is dirty. You do the dishes and then five minutes later, the sink is full again. Literally before you’ve even finished helping them…
- The Daily Dad
Give Them Space
“If you’re not careful, their whole lives get filled up. Soccer practice. School. Cello lessons. Chores are home. After all, you don’t want them in front of…
- The Daily Dad
Delay, Delay, Delay
“You’re angry. That’s understandable. Your boss has been awful. The contractor still hasn’t finished fixing the bathroom. You just spilled coffee on your…
- The Daily Dad
Are You The Good Guys?
“We picked up our political beliefs somewhere. From books we read, from how we grew up, from what we’ve seen in the world. We got started in our industry for…
- The Daily Dad
Show Them Age is No Barrier
“When Bessie Carter, President Jimmy Carter’s mother, was 68 years old, she saw an ad on television for the Peace Corps that said ‘Age is no barrier.’ So she…
- The Daily Dad
It’s Never Too Late
“We talked recently about Springsteen’s choice for parents: Will you be an ancestor or a ghost? Haunt them or help them? The story he tells about how he came…
- The Daily Dad
You Have To Make Time For This
“You’re stressed. You’re busy. You have so much on your plate. Time to read? Other than kids books? Get out of here. Except maybe the latter is the solution to…
- The Daily Dad
The Present Is Pleasurable Enough
“After a long and arduous hunt, Theodore Roosevelt finally got the bull caribou he had been tracking. ‘It was one of those moments,’ he later wrote, ‘that…
- The Daily Dad
You Have To Keep Track
“This whole thing can go by so fast. Because you have so much going on. Because you feel like you’re barely keeping your head above water. It’s understandable…
- The Daily Dad
We Can Be That Gift
“Marcus Aurelius’s father died when he was young. But then this young boy who was cursed by tragedy received a great gift--a gift that the children who have…
- The Daily Dad
Make Sure They Know That They Are Plenty
“Lyndon Johnson grew up poor. Like, log cabin, almost 19th century poor. He was not, like his future running mate, John F. Kennedy, unaware of the economic…
- The Daily Dad
Don’t Be All About Business
“Is there anything sadder than a person whose work is their life? They neglect their family, they put in crazy hours, they have no interests, no hobbies…
- The Daily Dad
Teach Them to Handle Things
“You don’t need your kid to be a rocket scientist to be special. You don’t need to teach them 15 languages or the cello. It’s not a degree from Harvard or a…
- The Daily Dad
You Can’t Let Them Do This
“They say it all the time. When will this be over? Are we there yet? Why is this taking so long? Do we have to? It’s whiney. It’s annoying. You ask them to…
- The Daily Dad
Which Will It Be?
“In his Broadway show, Bruce Springsteen—whose songs have often focused on the painful legacy of our parents—explained the choice that all of us have as…
- The Daily Dad
This Is How to Ask Them
“When Martin Luther King Jr. took over Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, AL, he insisted on a small social shift after his sermons that was…
- The Daily Dad
This Is What Putting Them First Looks Like
“For his whole career, Archie Manning had been a company man for the New Orleans Saints. He was great but the team was terrible. For years, they had lost. For…
- The Daily Dad
They Are Going to Ask You
“At some point in the future your kids and your grandkids are going to ask you. They’re going to say: Dad, when there were 200,000 cases and 2,000 deaths a day…
- The Daily Dad
The Lives of the Greats Remind Us
“Why do we tell our kids stories? Why do we tell them about history? Teach them about Martin Luther King, George Washington, Cincinnatus, Florence Nightingale…
- The Daily Dad
It’s Always Been Like This
"There he walked, along the trail, carrying his young child pressed up against his side. Sometimes the kid would get a burst of energy and call to be put down…
- The Daily Dad
Think of Everything They Missed
"You read an old book and it’s pretty common: Dads didn’t used to be present for the birth of their children. Sometimes they weren’t even in town—they’d heard…
- The Daily Dad
This Is Something to Invest In
"You work hard for your family. You know how you sweated for each dollar, which can make it hard to spend. Especially if you have an eye toward investing—every…
- The Daily Dad
Practice What You Preach
"If you haven’t read Emily Oster’s work, then your wife probably has. She’s a wonderful, brilliant economist (who also has a brilliant newsletter) whose work…
- The Daily Dad
Protect Them From This, Too
"Two thousand years ago, Plutarch, quoting a philosopher named Xenocrates, was talking about how concerned parents back then made sure their children wore ear…
- The Daily Dad
This Is a Family Motto
"It was one of those nights. The boys would not go to sleep. They had that contagious energy that so often keeps brothers awake. The first time their father…
- The Daily Dad
What You Teach Them Can Never Be Taken Away
"A lot can go wrong. You and your spouse could split up. You could get cancer and die before your kids grow up. They could join a cult. They could move far…
- The Daily Dad
Better To Be Best At This, Than Anything Else
Cato the Elder was a great man. He was successful at agriculture. He was successful as a writer. He was a powerful politician. He towered over Roman life not…
- The Daily Dad
What Matters More Than Results
Tracee Ellis Ross has a famous, successful mother: the singer Diana Ross. You might think that someone that successful would care a lot about success. Indeed…
- The Daily Dad
Are You Inspiring Them With This?
"There’s a lot of darkness in the world. A pandemic. Corrupt and failed politicians. Institutions groaning under the weight of modern problems. Maybe your…
- The Daily Dad
You’re Your Parents Now
"It hits you randomly. You’re in the middle of packing your kids up for a drive to the beach. You’re laying on the couch because your back hurts. You’re…
- The Daily Dad
What Are You Going to Focus On?
"You can look at all the negative in the world. You can focus on the dark clouds above. Or you can look for the silver lining, the bright spots. We have that…
- The Daily Dad
It’s Good to Have Difficult People in Your Life
"Maybe your parents have issues.Maybe you have trouble getting along with your siblings. Maybe your spouse and you are very different. Maybe you have all these…
- The Daily Dad
Now Is the Time. Right Now.
"Your kids are always listening, that’s true. They’ll always look to see what you’re doing and learn from you. Nell Painter learning from her mother’s career…
- The Daily Dad
This Is Where to Put Your Effort
"You’re making good money. You’re saving. You’re investing. You’ve bought those personal finance books that tell you how to manage your finances. You’ve worked…
- The Daily Dad
You've Been Graced
"Charles de Gaulle had a hard life. He was a POW in WWI. He had to flee France in order to save it in WWII. He endured protests and assassination attempts. He…
- The Daily Dad
Tell Them Before It’s Too Late
"An accident, a mistake—no matter the intention, no matter how sweet the child or living the parent—can irrevocably change a life. A kid playing with a gun. A…
- The Daily Dad
It’s the Hardest Thing
"Chesty Puller saw some stuff. He fought in the Banana Wars. He fought in guerilla wars. He took islands in the Pacific during WWII. He fought in Korea. So you…
- The Daily Dad
This Is How to Act
"It’s confusing to be a parent these days. Confusing to be a father, too. Because roles are in a state of flux. Expectations are always increasing. And of…
- The Daily Dad
You Have To Unlock This
Clearly, Dean Acheson’s parents did a good job. They raised him to be diligent enough to get into the best schools. They provided for him. They made him…
- The Daily Dad
You Don’t Stop Teaching Your Kids
"Nell Painter was an accomplished adult. She was more than out from under her parents thumb—she was in her seventies. She was a world-class historian. Yet even…
- The Daily Dad
Yet Don’t Be Too Tough
"As we’ve talked about, you have to toughen your kids up. No one is well-served by parents who are soft, who let them be soft.But at the same time, many a…
- The Daily Dad
Make Them Feel Like They’re “Enough”
"Obviously you want them to be successful. You want them to be excellent—at whatever they do in this life. But it is essential, as you try to motivate and…
- The Daily Dad
Not Just to Read, but to Read Critically
"An illiterate world is not a good one, but a world where people unthinkingly believe and accept everything they read is not that much better. So it’s great…
- The Daily Dad
They’re Listening. They Really Are.
"Like so many dads, Harbaugh kept repeating this ridiculous line because, who knows why, that’s just what dads do. Not once in the five hundred times he said…
- The Daily Dad
You Have to Come Up With Challenges
"Of course, you want tough kids. You want boys who are active and resilient. You want girls who are active and resilient. You want them to be healthy, you want…
- The Daily Dad
Don’t Ever, Ever Do This
"Cato the Elder, we’re told by Plutarch, “used to say that a man who beats his wife or a child is laying sacrilegious hands on the most sacred thing in the…
- The Daily Dad
Who Are You Doing This For?
"It’s almost incomprehensible.The parents were rich. They were powerful. Their kids had access to the best tutors in the world. The best schools. They were…
- The Daily Dad
Only A Parent Understands
"The Spartan Agesilaus was the toughest of the tough. Like all Spartans, he had been trained in the agoge to be courageous and self-disciplined and beyond fear…