Tony Cooper sits down with David Yep, a dad who spent 14 years on the path to becoming a Catholic priest before realizing fatherhood was his real calling. This episode of the parenting podcast digs into David's unexpected road to becoming a dad to Lucia, Sophia and Constantine, and the app he built, Godmother, to help fathers understand their kids and themselves. We talk presence, the pressure of raising a son versus daughters, and why dads need accountability as much as advice. If you're a new dad podcast listener looking for real tools instead of generic parenting tips, this one delivers.

Key takeaways:

• Why "whatever age they are" is the best answer to the best age for a kid
• David's path from seminary at 13 to grad school to fatherhood
• Why boys and girls can trigger different pressures in dads
• The taught framework: tolerance, acceptance, understanding, treasure
• Why kids deify or demonize their fathers instead of seeing them as human
• How the Godmother app builds a profile of your child's wiring
• Why love languages aren't one-size-fits-all, even within one family
• The power of being overheard praising your kid to someone else
• Why accountability, not willpower, is what keeps dads showing up

If you enjoyed The Dad Manual, leave us a rating on your podcast app! If you loved it, share this episode with a Dad! Send your questions to dadmanualpodcast@gmail.com. Connect with Tony Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thetonycooper/

Get 10% off Godmother using this link: https://godmother.aingelic.net/?ref=tony-64b32a

00:00 David's path from seminary to fatherhood
02:06 The age range David loves most right now
05:12 Why time feels like it flies without presence
06:17 The hardest part of the newborn stage
10:13 Leaving home for the seminary at 13
13:04 Deciding the priesthood would not work
17:02 Raising a son versus raising daughters
21:15 Deify or demonize: seeing dads as human
23:48 Admitting you do not know the answer
27:33 How the Godmother app actually works
30:58 Why the app is named Godmother
33:14 Love languages are not one size fits all
37:06 Learning to treasure your co-parent's approach
43:04 Real feedback from families using the app
49:16 David's advice for a brand new father

James Snyder has starred on Broadway and shared scenes with Jon Hamm, but the role that changed him most happens at home. On this episode of the dad podcast, Tony Cooper sits down with actor James Snyder, dad to Oliver and Willa, for a conversation that treats fatherhood the way an actor treats a part: something you step into, shape, and eventually have to figure out who you are underneath. James talks about growing up with a present, engaged father, the family dinners and driveway conversations that shaped him, and how he is now applying the acting principle of "who am I and what do I want" to his own parenting. This is a thoughtful, funny, honest conversation for any new father or new dad podcast listener looking for a different way to think about the job.

Key takeaways:
- Parenting is a role you play, not a permanent identity, and separating the two can heal strained adult parent-child relationships
- James's father modeled presence through small, consistent moments: family dinners, coaching his sports teams, driving to job sites together
- Self-regulation is the foundation of good fathering: "I'm the calm in the storm" is a mantra James actually uses before hard conversations
- A parent's job isn't to remove struggle from a kid's life, it's to build the resilience that lets them survive it
- James shares an honest story about losing his temper and cursing at his son, and what his son actually learned from it
- Broadway fatherhood comes with real costs: eight shows a week can mean seeing your kids only one full day a week
- As kids become teenagers, big family decisions (like a cross-country acting contract) become family decisions, not unilateral ones
- A simple reframe, acting "as if" the outcome you want is already true, can defuse conflict with a spouse
- James's single biggest piece of advice for a new father: just keep showing up, especially after the moments you regret

If you enjoyed The Dad Manual, leave us a rating on your podcast app! If you loved it, share this episode with a Dad! Send your questions to dadmanualpodcast@gmail.com. Connect with Tony Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thetonycooper/

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro, James and the role of fatherhood
00:52 Meet James Snyder, dad of two
02:17 Why parenting is a temporary role
03:34 Oliver and Willa's stories
10:17 How his childhood shaped his fatherhood journey
13:11 Watching his dad in the world
21:11 Who am I and what do I want, applied to dads
26:14 Letting kids struggle to build resilience
28:16 The F bomb story with his son
33:22 Broadway's real cost to family time
41:55 Being the thermostat, not the thermometer
45:19 Reframing fights with his wife
49:58 Treating teenagers like adults
56:01 His best advice for a brand new dad

Jem Fuller almost lost his son twice before he learned what real fatherhood forgiveness looks like.

Tony sits down with Jem Fuller, host of The Unknown Path podcast and author of The Art of Conscious Communication for Thoughtful Men, for a conversation that moves through blended families, medical scares, anger, and the parenting philosophy Jem built after growing up with a father who was loving but controlling.

Jem is stepdad to two kids who call him by his first name, and father to two grown sons who call him dad, and he walks through what it actually looks like to hold different roles in one household without resentment. This episode digs into real fatherhood journey material: healing childhood wounds, breaking generational patterns, and building the kind of emotional expression in sons that most men never got themselves.

Jem shares the story of his oldest son's premature birth and heart surgery and the terrifying night his second son arrived early by emergency cesarean. He gets honest about losing his temper with his own kids despite years of meditation practice, and the "three time rule" he inherited from his father that quietly wrecked his patience until he dropped it. This is one of those conversations any parenting podcast listener will want to sit with twice.

Key Takeaways:

• Stepparent roles require different boundaries than biological parenting, and that's okay
• Kids don't do what you tell them, they do what you model
• Forgiving yourself quickly after a parenting mistake matters more than never making one
• Quality time, even 15 focused minutes, may be a top love language for young kids
• A promise to never react in anger opens the door to real honesty from your kids
• Inherited "rules" about respect are often just made up, and you can rewrite them
• Physical touch and vibration (holding, humming, singing) soothe kids more than we realize
• Boys crying isn't the problem, the culture around it is

If you enjoyed The Dad Manual, leave us a rating on your podcast app! If you loved it, share this episode with a Dad! Send your questions to dadmanualpodcastmail@gmail.com. Connect with Tony Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thetonycooper/

00:00 Introducing Jem Fuller
01:08 Meet the whole blended family
02:05 Being a stepdad without overparenting
07:46 Where his parenting philosophy started
09:41 Growing up with a loving, controlling dad
10:23 Getting disciplined and what it taught him
13:31 Building open communication with his boys
14:18 The football crying story
16:09 A five year old explains why we cry
18:15 Forgive yourself quickly as a parent
26:16 Learning to witness instead of control
28:15 Quality time as a love language
30:21 The promise to never get angry
33:21 Men and the bottomless pit of rage
35:37 Jedi's heart surgery story
42:59 Noah's early arrival by cesarean
50:04 Advice for a brand new father
51:00 The three time rule he had to drop

Edward Crawford spent his life training to be a warrior, in the Peace Corps, in Afghanistan, and at Goldman Sachs, and it turns out that same drive almost cost him the family he was fighting for. In this conversation for the first time dad podcast, Edward opens up about deploying six days after his son was born, the videos he recorded for his kids in case he didn't come home, and the moment he realized his hyper vigilance was helping him survive but hurting his marriage. He and Tony talk about raising a daughter with autism, taking daughters on dates, and why "nothing's changed, but I have" became the truest sentence of his life. This is one of those episodes that speaks directly to any family podcast listener wondering how to actually come home, not just physically, but emotionally.

Key takeaways:

• Giving kids responsibility for animals teaches empathy and care from a young age
• Edward's son's autism reshaped how he defines success and connection
• Deploying to Afghanistan six days after his son's birth changed how he saw fatherhood
• Coming home from war is often harder than the deployment itself
• Hyper vigilance that once kept him alive worked against him at home
• A five day silent retreat helped Edward reconnect with his heart over his head
• His number one goal became simply "be a better husband to Mary Crawford"
• Kids writing "Best Dad Ever" on his truck redefined what success means to him

If you enjoyed The Dad Manual, leave us a rating on your podcast app! If you loved it, share this episode with a Dad! Send your questions to dadmanualpodcast@gmail.com. Connect with Tony Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thetonycooper/

00:00 Edward Crawford's introduction
00:53 Meet Tony and the dad manual mission
01:07 Edward introduces himself
02:12 Caroline, the singer at a conservatory
03:05 Edward's son and his autism journey
04:07 Meet Annabelle, the animal collector
05:18 Where all the animals came from
10:50 How autism reshaped Edward's mindset
14:57 Becoming a dad, the Haiti story
17:00 Mary's pregnancy reveal
19:16 Taking daughters on dates
19:45 Deploying six days after his son's birth
20:38 Recording videos in case he didn't return
23:10 Peace Corps years and hypervigilance roots
26:13 Coming home and reconnecting with Mary
31:23 Chasing achievement versus being present
33:00 Best dad ever, written in the mud
35:16 The jungle retreat and his new objective
38:39 Becoming a better husband to Mary Crawford
44:03 Advice for a brand new father

What if the goal of parenting isn't to make your kid grow up, but to help them stay a kid longer? Brandon Fong joins The Dad Manual to talk about raising his daughter Kaya with childlike curiosity, emotional honesty, and zero interest in bubble-wrapping her from the world. Tony and Brandon dig into masculine and feminine energy in parenting, why toddlers process feelings in about 90 seconds if you let them, the story behind a very memorable ER visit, and how AI might make being simply human the most valuable skill of all. It's a warm, funny, unexpectedly deep conversation about staying playful while raising a person.

If you enjoyed The Dad Manual, leave us a rating on your podcast app! If you loved it, share this episode with a Dad! Send your questions to dadmanualpodcast@gmail.com. Connect with Tony Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thetonycooper/

00:00 The slide, the ER, dad wisdom
00:39 Meet Brandon Fong
01:24 Reclaiming childhood as an adult
02:22 What sparked childlike curiosity
04:37 Naming things kills their magic
07:00 Learning Kaya's perspective
09:03 The "other mother" past life talk
11:01 What Kaya is like as a kid
12:56 Always wanting to be a dad
14:04 Masculine and feminine parenting energy
17:06 Dad's playful Coke-bag toys
20:36 How intentional Leah and Brandon were
23:00 The most surprising part of fatherhood
26:04 Letting kids get hurt to grow
33:52 Working through reactivity as a dad
36:36 The 90 second feeling rule
41:06 Raising a kid in the AI era
49:03 Kaya's core essence described
51:14 Advice for a brand new dad

Can a chatbot help you become a more present dad? Lior Weinstein returns to The Dad Manual to dig into where AI actually helps fatherhood, and where it quietly gets in the way. Tony and Lior talk through using AI as a bedtime story ghostwriter, the idea of "artificial intimacy," why harmony beats balance, and how Lior uses AI to process emotional moments with his kids without losing his own voice in the process. They also get into generational trauma, cultural identity, and small first steps any dad can take today. Key takeaways include using AI to enhance existing family moments rather than replace them, the importance of intention before you open the app, and why context (not cleverness) is what makes AI actually useful at home.

If you enjoyed The Dad Manual, leave us a rating on your podcast app! If you loved it, share this episode with a Dad! Send your questions to dadmanualpodcast@gmail.com. Connect with Tony Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thetonycooper/

00:00 Cold open: the tantrum book analogy
00:29 Welcoming back Lior Weinstein
01:12 Picking up the AI conversation
02:07 How ChatGPT became a bedtime tool
04:23 Making life better, not just tasks
05:14 The idea of artificial intimacy
07:30 Who owns AI generated output
08:30 Claude as a writing partner
10:47 Delivery makes a story personal
13:18 Shared experiences and bonding
14:53 Adding "magical" changes everything
17:19 Getting more done to be present
19:26 Living your purpose vs work
21:03 Kids don't experience it as passion
23:10 Harmony over balance explained
26:04 Breaking generational trauma with AI
29:02 AI as a gateway to asking for help
30:21 ChatGPT as a travel guide in Japan
33:58 Prompting Claude "as if it has ADHD"
36:16 Jewish identity and collective trauma
39:16 Passover, language, and shared meaning
44:25 Where a dad should start with AI

Tony Cooper sits down with Chris Lee, a coach, trainer, and speaker who has spent his career helping people break the beliefs that quietly run their lives, to talk about where generational trauma actually starts and how dads can be the ones who finally stop it. They dig into what happens the moment your kid pushes a button: why the reaction fires before you can think, and why the fix isn't suppressing it but learning to create a space between what happens and how you respond.

Chris breaks down his idea of "response-ability," the two fears every child is actually born with (falling and loud noises), and how every other fear in your life got handed to you by someone else's playbook. The conversation also covers why kids process emotion so honestly compared to adults, how the way a dad treats a mom shapes a child's emotional environment long before the child can remember it, and a practical tool for couples: building a family vision with non-negotiables that protect the home you're creating.

This is a conversation about interrupting the pattern early, doing the work before the damage gets passed down, and choosing who you want to be instead of defaulting to who you were taught to be. If you enjoyed The Dad Manual, please like and subscribe. If you loved it, share this episode with a Dad! Send your questions to dadmanualpodcast@gmail.com.

00:00 Cold open: hot heads, clarity
00:29 Meet Chris Lee, godfather
02:03 What being a godfather means
05:13 What is emotional intelligence?
07:26 Responsibility as response-ability
08:49 The Will Smith Oscars example
11:43 The power of a deep breath
16:28 Where trauma actually comes from
17:07 The two fears we're born with
21:31 Why we forget our own divinity
24:33 Pretending vs. choosing confidence
27:33 The subliminal resentment of a baby
30:14 Why kids process emotion honestly
34:18 Feeling inadequate as a new dad
36:14 How treating mom affects the child
38:06 Building a family vision
40:40 Becoming your parents unconsciously
45:15 Choosing kind over being right
46:56 Chris on earning his own worth
50:59 Advice for a brand new dad

A CEO and father of two opens up about why raising kids became his real education in emotional intelligence. Topher Stephenson had his children while in medical school and residency, and looks back on how becoming a dad reshaped how he sees himself and everyone around him.

Key takeaways:

• Emotional intelligence starts with realizing you're not the center of the universe
• Kids reveal how far your own emotional maturity has (or hasn't) come
• Empathy means letting someone else's experience be real without needing to agree with it
• Boarding school and letting go are their own kind of parenting lesson
• The skills that make you a better father also make you a better leader
• Topher also shares the one piece of advice he wishes someone had given him as a brand new dad

If you enjoyed The Dad Manual, leave us a rating on your podcast app! If you loved it, share this episode with a Dad!
Send your questions to dadmanualpodcast@gmail.com.
Connect with Tony Cooper: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thetonycooper/

00:00 Cold open
00:29 Meet Topher Stephenson
01:24 Larkin and Finn, his two kids
03:34 Having kids in med school
05:13 What fatherhood taught him
07:15 Reparenting yourself as a dad
09:21 Defining emotional intelligence
13:10 Growing up in a stoic household
16:02 The LifeSpring retreat story
20:44 Empathy and holding two views
23:43 Why fatherhood shifts your focus
26:04 Nature vs nurture in his kids
28:28 Boarding school as a family choice
33:23 The bittersweet of kids leaving home
36:16 From dad to CEO
39:57 Advice for a brand new father
43:01 Being a father, the best role