The Company of Dads Podcast

Interview with Bruce Feiler / Creator of The Council of Dads, thinker on family and friendsHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANBruce Feiler is best-selling author, sought-after speaker and contemporary thinker on fatherhood, family and work. He may be best known as the creator of The Council of Dads, an idea and a book he conceived when he was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his leg. He wanted to recruit other dads to be there for his daughters if he wasn’t, and the council was born. He’s also written The Secrets of Happy Families, which is filled with actionable advice that we can take to make our lives better. Listen to us talk about fathers, family and what he calls a crisis of friendship among men today.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Paula Ratliff / Tech Leader, Workplace Thinker, Kentucky ColonelHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANMen far outnumber women in tech, but Dads have the ability to even the playing field for working moms, says Paula Ratliff, president of Women Impact Tech, which helps women thrive in the tech space. She talks about the “He’s for She’s” that helped her in her own career and can help women today. What’s needed she said is more mentors for working mothers and also great appreciation and understanding for working parents – who have proven they can work effectively in a remote or hybrid workplace. While she’s been doing this work for 20 years, there is a sobering statistic that still persists: mothers get a five to 10%  pay cut for each child they have, while fathers get a 6% pay bump per child. Listen to her discuss why she’s optimistic that coming out of the pandemic the tech industry is at an inflection point that could bring real change for working parents.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Kenneth Braswell / National Expert on Responsible FatherhoodHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANWhat’s a big lesson for fathers? Having patience – and the understanding that none of us can do it all, says Kenneth Braswell a leader in the responsible fatherhood movement. Kenneth is the chief executive officer of Fathers Incorporated, a widely recognized nonprofit that supports fathers, researchers, and policymakers. His group focuses on providing services to thousands of organizations working to ensure that fathers can contribute to the healthy well-being of their children. He is also the author of the autobiography “When The Tear Won’t Fall” and four children’s books. Listen to him talk about what fathers can do but also what government agencies and workplaces need to do to help fathers succeed in their parenting roles.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Gary Barker / Leader in the Global Men’s Movement / O.G. Lead DadHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANGary Barker is a leading global voice in engaging men and boys in advancing gender equality and creating a positive view of masculinity. He is the CEO and founder of Equimundo, which has worked for 20 years in more than 40 countries - starting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He’s also the founder of MenCare, a global campaign working in 50 countries to promote men’s involvement as caregivers. Gary co-created and leads the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES), the largest-ever survey of men’s attitudes and behaviors related to violence, fatherhood, and gender equality, and is a co-author of the State of the World’s Fathers reports. Listen to him speak about how mens’ roles have changed in the decades he’s been working in the field. ---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Carrie Schwab Pomerantz / Expert in Family FinancesHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANCarrie Schwab Pomerantz is an absolute expert in family finance. She has served two White House administrations. She advised the Council on Financial Literacy under President George W. Bush, and was later appointed by President Barack Obama to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability. She knows first hand that investing fads never work. When she asked her dad, legendary mutual fund pioneer, Charles Schwab, what to invest in, he didn’t give her a hot stock tip: he told her to diversify her portfolio and to keep saving. All good money decisions start with a conversation. Listen to her talk about why passing on good values around money is the most important thing you can do.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Dana Suskind / Surgeon, Author, Child Development ExpertHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANDana Suskind is an acclaimed pediatric surgeon at the University of Chicago and the author of “Parent Nation: Unlocking Every Child’s Potential, Fulfilling Society’s Promise.” What’s a parent nation? It’s a group that values and supports the labor and love of raising the next generation, particularly in the early years. The health and well-being of those children is very much dependent on what parents can do. But is it all on Lead Dads – or Lead Moms to figure it out? Or does society have a role to play? When things aren’t going right have we failed? Listen to Dr. Suskind talk about a different way to view parenting and learn how to create real change in a post-pandemic world where work and family are intertwined.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Jay Lauf / Thinker on the Future of Work, Reformed Daily CommuterHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANJay Lauf is the co-founder and president of Charter, a news site going deep on the future of work. He’s had a great career in magazines and media. He was the chairman and publisher of Quartz, the publisher of The Atlantic and the publisher of Wired. But for 20 years, the constant was his daily commute: he was veteran of Metro North, the train that took him from Fairfield, Conn, to New York City. It was a two-plus hour commute just one way. It got so bad that he preferred flying far away to sitting on that train to go into the office. Covid changed all that. At home with his wife and two daughters, he found the joys of being a LeadDad, getting time back after years of commuting. It changed his view on work and parenting. He’s never going back to the daily commute. But more broadly, he’s using that experience to influence the conversation on what work will look like going forward. Listen to what we should do be productive and happy people and workers.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Jill Castle / Expert on Feeding Kids For Maximum Health and HappinessHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANParenting is some combination of exhausting and exhilarating. Making healthy meals can fall into the exhausting category. And it’s complicated: if Daddy is drinking a rum punch and attacking a basket of fried seafood, can he really tell his kids to skip the Shirley Temples and chicken fingers? Jill Castle, childhood nutrition expert and founder of The Nourished Child, has some answers. She worked at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital before starting her own practice. She’s also a mother of four – and here’s where theory met practice: it wasn’t always easy for her to get her own children to eat. They’re all adults now, so she figured it out. But listen to her journey as a professional and a parent – it’s instructive for all of us.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Jeffrey Forte / National Advocate for Families / Special Ed AttorneyHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANJeff Forte is special education attorney in Connecticut and advocate for parents and children. He runs one of the few law practices in the state dedicated entirely to helping families navigate the state’s special education laws to insure their children get an appropriate education. Sometimes this means negotiating with a school district to get more services for a child who may be struggling with reading or math; other times it means suing that district to pay for that child to be placed into a school that suits his or her educational and behavioral needs better. One thing that is essential, Jeff says, is for Dads and Moms to both be there in the educational negotiations. Without a united front, kids end often up with less than they require. Listen to his reasons for Dads participating more in their children’s education and becoming their advocate in school.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/

Interview with Stephanie Coontz / Expert on Contemporary Families and MarriageHOSTED BY PAUL SULLIVANHow have husbands and wives balanced working, parenting and being together throughout history? Stephanie Coontz, the director of research and public education at the Council on Contemporary Families, says it’s generally not how most of think about it today. If anything, the past 50 or 60 years are an historical aberration – since it used to be more egalitarian. So now, employers assume when women become mothers they will be less committed to the job and therefore they’re more reluctant to promote them, while men who become fathers will be more committed – so those who want to take parental leave get penalized as not being a good worker. Listen to her discuss how working moms and Lead Dads can reset those expectations and allow a better working environment to come out of the pandemic.---Get our free newsletter covering all things fatherhood delivered straight to your inbox: https://thecompanyofdads.com/thedad/