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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.

Right around the time the Christmas Jammies videos became an annual thing, Penn Holderness left a news anchor job (when he never saw his family) to start a media company with his wife, Kim (and saw his family every moment of every day). When they started focusing on their own content, the Holderness Family became an Internet phenomenon with almost 600,000 YouTube subscribers. We talk about life as a preacher's kid in Durham, North Carolina, how he learned to love his livelihood by producing news items, and why airing their issues on their podcast is one of their favorite times of the week.

You think you know a guy, and then Michael Ian Black turns his sardonically comic persona on its head with his terrific new book, A Better Man, a (mostly) serious letter to his college-aged son, Elijah. Male role models were scarce after Black's dad died abruptly when he was 12, so Black essentially had to build his understanding of manhood from scratch. He kept his faith that experience would teach him what he needed to know when he needed to know it. Thankfully, now it's all written down. In our keynote conversation at Dad 2.0 Digital, Black touches on discovering comedy to process (and paper over) his grief, protecting your kids from your fame, and aspiring to be the Elaine Stritch of fatherhood.

After 57 episodes, Jeff and Doug wrap Season 2 with a state-of-the-business chat, about doors closed and subsequent windows opened. Press trips are returning, cold pitches are finding warmer ears, and we're focusing our efforts to make family life easier and reverse America's plummeting birth rate. Plus: Do people really want to watch our podcast? How do you pronounce Fodor's? And stay tuned for Season 3, which will debut with our opening keynote conversation at Dad 2.0 Digital with author and comedian Michael Ian Black!

Since Taylor Calmus defines a Dude Dad as "an invested father dedicated to raising kids in the most epic way possible," he says he's clearly not the only one. And he's quick to thank his parents (who sent him from rural South Dakota to LA for "a semester abroad") and his wife Heidi (who refused to let him quit) for facilitating and inspiring Dude Dad's success. Since speaking at Dad 2.020 in February, Taylor has moved to Colorado, co-created his third child, and shot eight episodes of his new TV show Super Dad, which will arrive with the debut of the new Magnolia (formerly DIY) Network. We talk about raising free-range kids, the beauty of Rube Goldberg contraptions, and why Heidi makes him apologize for stuff he does in her dreams.

What Fresh Hell podcast co-creators Margaret Ables and Amy Wilson will tell you: the best recipe for a successful online content marriage is when one is an Idea Cannon and the other knows her way around a spreadsheet. Together, they've converted their careers as writer/performers and complementary business savvy into millions of downloads and a full slate of advertisers. Join us as we discuss how they augment the podcast with video and live shows, how their business and content strategies have evolved over their four years together, and how all parents can work together to keep the pandemic from drumming moms out of the workforce.

When Brad Meltzer delivered the opening keynote at the 2016 Dad 2.0 Summit, his core message was about legacy, and our impact on everyone from our families to total strangers. And of the myriad genres his career has spanned — fiction, nonfiction, television, comic books, etc. — he considers his I Am series as his proudest legacy, to his and strangers' kids all over the world. The stories of Anne Frank and Benjamin Franklin (the 21st and 22nd volumes, respectively) arrive at a time that could not be more timely. We discuss the importance of depicting heroes as the fearful and flawed humans they are, and how Brad tries to use their failures to inspire kids to persevere.

The episode's title fits Cleveland Dads Group co-founder Darren W. Carter well, both as a foster parent of five ("As long as I am here, I'll have love to give") and aspiring pitmaster ("I'll shovel out to my pit barrel cooker before I shovel my driveway"), because parenting and barbecue are sweet sciences that benefit from the mistakes you're bound to make and learn from. Darren says his faith helps temper his fears for the Black boys he's raising in this current climate. Join us to discuss growing up in a predominantly white suburb, that time a cop pulled a gun on him, and whether he ever dated Halle Berry.

Today we celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada (and don't call it "Canadian Thanksgiving") with Torontonian Casey Palmer, who began blogging with purpose seven years ago when his first son was born. Now he's set his sights on thornier social issues and risked his PR-friendliness, in part because his sons are older, but mostly because he can't see any other reason to write other than to speak his truth. Join us for a discussion about how his perspectives changed after George Floyd was killed, how he's revamping his entire SEO strategy to rank better in the topics that mean the most to him, and why he never ventures west of Yonge Street anymore. 

The first Dad 2.0 Digital began with a Black book and concluded with a Kind heart, and dads from all over the world tuned in for three days of programming delivered directly to our desktops. Tune in for an extended discussion about the importance of meeting more than once a year, how digital events will factor into Dad 2.0's events from now on, and where do kids discover new music now, anyway? Plus: A chat with Dr. Mimi Ito, co-founder of Dad 2.0 Sponsor Connected Camps, about how this nonprofit creates interactive, online classes for kids to learn science and math from a community of friendly coders, builders, players and designers!

When John Kinnear started his Ask Your Dad blog, he established himself as one of the online dad community's premiere Answer Men. As Marketing Director at Clearlink and site manager at Reviews.org, he has come to Dad 2.0 Summit many times to teach us how to be the signal amid the noise and create the best user experience for our readers, customers, and followers. Influencer marketing has evolved enough to demand innovation, both in the content we create and the metrics we rely on. This episode is a must-listen for anyone who wants to stand out in a crowded marketplace, and anyone who thinks crowding your recipe blog with a blathery preamble helps your SEO. 

Tom Riles has made a career by turning bad situations into better situations. When his PA job was ending, Henry Winkler asked him to move to LA. He met his wife while they were busting fingers playing 16-inch softball. And on the day he learned his infant daughter would need heart surgery, he started the blog that became Life of Dad. Join us as we discuss his new book MOM VS. DAD, 16 years as Ellen DeGeneres's hype man, and when John Krasinski taught him how to be Conan O'Brien's script intern.

This week, Reality Changers creator Jorge Narvaez offers up a healthy dose of the reality he'd like to change, both as a stay-at-home dad and full-time content creator. The stress of confinement can sap your creativity, and Jorge discusses how the key to perseverance is to embrace an "abundance mindset." Ever since his musical ThreeNote at Dad 2.018, we've marveled at Jorge's optimism and his commitment to his family and the online dad community. Join us for a great talk about negotiating with brands, how "whoa" doesn't necessarily have to mean "woe is me," and what it's like to attend a virtual sweat lodge.