He’s helped create some of Australia’s most memorable comedic characters, battled tirelessly to elevate Football (the proper round ball kind!) to the upper echelons of Australian sport, and most importantly, he’s the father to 2 (now adult) sons.

But before looking at his own dadding, Santo takes us back to Melbourne in the 1960s and 70s, painting a vivid picture of the multi-generational approach to parenting that he experienced growing up in a migrant family, especially the huge role his grandfather played. Things were a touch looser back then!

With his own kids now young adults, Santo is able to explain to us how his approach to parenting has changed over the years. But he’s come to think there are a couple universal elements, and he borrowed them from some advice the late, great John Clarke gave on comedy writing. John said audiences like two, seemingly incompatible things… consistency and variation. Santo reckons kids are the same. You need the consistency to keep turning up, be rock solid and always there for them, but the ability to vary your approach based on what they are presenting, what they are going through and who your kid is. Pretty bloody smart if you ask us!!

Santo shares a bunch of gems like these, and of course some great stories and behind the scenes moments from The Late Show and The Castle (you’ll get some of Dennis Denuto’s origin story!)

Santo is super honest, humble and doesn’t waste time trying to convince us he has all the answers - as he says, parenting is an adventure and sometimes you just gotta go with it! But he is pretty steadfast about one thing… you really should force your kid to learn an instrument!

Huge thanks to Santo for making the time to chat, we absolutely loved it.

Huge thanks to you for listening - You can drop us a line anytime at howotherdadsdad.com - we love hearing from you guys.

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And a people mover sized thanks to our very good friends at HERTZ who are our exclusive sponsor for Season 3. Just like us, they are big fans of adventure and memory making and in a great deal for HODD listeners, if you need a rental car in Australia, head to hertz.com.au/hodd for 25% off the base rate. What a great deal! Ts&Cs and exclusions apply. See website for details.

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Sunday Morning | The Day of the Lord | Justin Thomas | October 19, 2025