Tell Me About Your Father

Erin Hosier, Elizabeth Thompson & Matthew Phillp
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Everyone on the gender spectrum has to deal with men and that's enough of a reason to study their impact on our lives. Join hosts Erin Hosier, Elizabeth Thompson and Matthew Phillp for this bi-weekly podcast discussing dads, father figures and the paternal mystique. Episodes include interviews with people who have compelling father stories, recaps of father-centered TV and movies, and our talk show ‘Daddy Issues,’ featuring a cavalcade of brilliant guests who help us parse pop culture news through a dadly lense. If it's about dads, we'll be talking about it. It’s your mom’s favorite podcast! tellmeaboutyourfather.substack.com

  1. MAY 8

    The Pitt & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

    A couple weeks after The Pitt’s second season ended, we’re still thinking about Kathryn VanArendonk’s essay “Robby Has Never Been Your Daddy.” Kathryn joins Erin and Elizabeth to discuss Noah Wyle’s vision of Robby, the show’s shifting ideas about masculinity and caregiving, and why people seem to have forgotten how to watch TV anymore. Especially this one, omg! Kathryn was also on set for the filming of the "wild pregnancy" emergency C-section scene in the Season 2 finale. (Three words: whipped cream cheese.) Plus, we get into the Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance of it all, Robby/Whittaker/Abbot dystopian pregnancy fan fiction, and the internet’s need for this man to check himself into 90-day inpatient for mean guys at work. Hit play. Get full access to Tell Me About Your Father at tellmeaboutyourfather.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 11m

  2. APR 27

    Benoit Denizet-Lewis on change and becoming his father.

    “ Am I just becoming my father and there’s really nothing I can do about that?” What does it actually feel like to change? Not the story you tell about it afterward. Not the version you post. The actual, messy, doubt-filled experience of becoming someone different — or realizing you already have. On this episode of Tell Me About Your Father, Matt Phillp is joined by New York Times Bestselling author, journalist, and professor Benoit Denizet-Lewis to talk about his new book You’ve Changed: The Promise and Price of Self Transformation. They talk about how transformation can sometimes happen slowly and it can hit you like a revelation about your sexuality on a street corner or at a Christian youth convention telling you to give you life to God. They also discuss kind of change you can’t fully take credit for because other people made it possible…like your parents whom you’ll inevitably resemble. Some of what we get into: Why do we often insist that real change has to come from within — when almost none of it actually does? What does doubt during a major life shift actually signal? And why can’t we talk about it publicly? What does it mean when the person you’ve become turns out to look a lot like your father? Benoit has spent his career writing about identity — sexuality, addiction, the stories we tell about who we are and who we’re becoming. This book is his most personal yet, which comes across quite clearly in this episode. Listen by clicking play above, or find this episode on Apple podcasts and wherever else you may attend to your podcast listening. Get full access to Tell Me About Your Father at tellmeaboutyourfather.substack.com/subscribe

    1 hr

  3. APR 10

    What Dad Read

    By the time Dan Pelzer died last year at the age of 92, he'd accomplished many admirable things. Over the decades, he'd worked as a Marine, a Peace Corp volunteer in Nepal, a seminary student, a passionate campaigner for Jesse Jackson's presidential run in the 80s, a security guard, and as a beloved social worker for incarcerated juvenile delinquents in Columbus, Ohio. Dan was a loving husband to his wife of 52 years, Mary Lou, a hands-on father to their kids Marci and John and his grandchildren, and an engaged member of the community, where he regularly volunteered to feed the hungry. A life well lived by all accounts. But there was something else notable about Dan's life: between the years pf 1962 and 2023, he kept a handwritten record of every book he read, stopping at the very end of that year, a list totaling 3,599 titles of every possible genre, from the pop science classic Rats, Lice and History (1935), to contemporary memoirs by Sinead O'Connor and Jennette McCurdy, and every novel by his beloved John Grisham since A Time to Kill.   On this episode, Dan's daughter Marci reminisces with Erin about reading Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow with her father, finding the full list after his death, the surprises therein, and what she's learned from strangers about her dad's life since sharing the list with the world. You can see a digital copy here at Dan's exclusive literary destination, the Columbus Metropolitan Library. And the original handwritten list via What-Dan-Read.com.  Get full access to Tell Me About Your Father at tellmeaboutyourfather.substack.com/subscribe

    41 min

  4. MAR 7

    Talking Oscars, Best Pictures, and Fathers with Richard Lawson

    It’s that time of year again. Every year, we put the 10 Best Picture nominees under the same deceptively simple microscope: How are fathers portrayed? Joining this conversation, as always, is: member of the New York Film Critics Circle, author of the Premier Party newsletter, host of the Critical Darlings podcast, culture writer Richard Lawson. Get full access to Tell Me About Your Father at tellmeaboutyourfather.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 1m

  5. FEB 23

    Natalka Burian and the Fear of Forty-Four

    At 15, Natalka Burian’s last words to her father were “I hate you.” That afternoon, he died at 44. Now a parent the same age he was, Natalka joins Erin and Elizabeth to talk about regrets, the fear of repeating a parent’s fate, and how to make peace with what you cannot know. Get full access to Tell Me About Your Father at tellmeaboutyourfather.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 7m

  6. 12/31/2025

    The 2025 Daddy Awards!

    2025 began with Elon Musk's 4-year-old son X telling Donald Trump to shut his mouth, and it ends with us - the father of all award shows. We're rounding up the men who surprised and delighted us this year, and the one who repelled, in pop culture, politics and beyond. Love you and thanks for listening! Get full access to Tell Me About Your Father at tellmeaboutyourfather.substack.com/subscribe

    27 min

  7. 12/19/2025

    A Season in Hell With Christian Nightmares

    Christian Nightmares, our favorite chronicler of evangelical Christianity’s tightening grip on American politics in 2025, returns to Tell Me About Your Father for a look back at a truly frightening year in Christian Nationalism that aims to ensure that America is truly one nation under God Trump. In this episode, the anonymous editor of Christian Nightmares, who goes by “Christian”, walks us through his top 5 purveyors of Christian Nationalism this year, which feature such luminaries as pastor Joel Webbon, who matter of factly believes women don’t belong in public life and shouldn’t vote, much less podcast, and Eric Orwoll, whose white power organization Return to the Land is hard at work building a “fortress for the white race” in Ravenden, Arkansas. We also talk with Christian about how the year has given rise to a glut of militarized Christian branding and survivalist drag, complete with camo, tactical gear, and merch for battles that don’t exist. (We know what this country needs: more gun-toting men and boys.) Then there’s the growing Christian Nationalist war on “empathy.” As another gruesome grifter, pastor Josh McPherson says: “Empathy is toxic. Empathy will align you with Hell.” We try to parse why Charlie Kirk also couldn’t “stand the word.” It’s a world view in which care for others is a trap set by childless uggos and fat Army generals. Compassion is always a weakness, and the people who believe it wholeheartedly are right in the center of power in the US. It’s not your mama’s Golden Rule(book). And, as Christian explained in the interview he did with us back in 2021, he knows this world well. Raised in an evangelical church that instilled constant fear of a punitive god in its members, his work has become a living record of the fundamentalism that shaped his childhood and has since crept its way into the White House under the cloak of Russell Vought’s Project 2025, curling up at Stephen Miller’s feet. Rob Reiner tried to warn us, but we’re not sure the country will listen until Vought takes away their porn. We are wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday break from your jobs, surrounded by the love of your chosen family, favs and friends. Yours, Erin, Elizabeth and Matt This podcast is 100% creator and reader-supported. To help us keep it up, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Tell Me About Your Father at tellmeaboutyourfather.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 6m

  8. 12/05/2025

    The Sad Ballad of Tim and Jeff Buckley

    Jeff Buckley spent his life trying to escape the shadow of his estranged father, folk musician Tim Buckley. Yet after both died young, Tim of an overdose in 1975, Jeff in a tragic river accident in 1997, their stories became inseparable. Rolling Stone editor David Browne, author of Dream Brother and Jeff Buckley: His Own Voice, joins Erin and Elizabeth to discuss the Buckley legacy and why Grace still haunts new listeners three decades later. Get full access to Tell Me About Your Father at tellmeaboutyourfather.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 12m
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4.9
out of 5
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About

Everyone on the gender spectrum has to deal with men and that's enough of a reason to study their impact on our lives. Join hosts Erin Hosier, Elizabeth Thompson and Matthew Phillp for this bi-weekly podcast discussing dads, father figures and the paternal mystique. Episodes include interviews with people who have compelling father stories, recaps of father-centered TV and movies, and our talk show ‘Daddy Issues,’ featuring a cavalcade of brilliant guests who help us parse pop culture news through a dadly lense. If it's about dads, we'll be talking about it. It’s your mom’s favorite podcast! tellmeaboutyourfather.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Erin Hosier, Elizabeth Thompson & Matthew Phillp
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    150
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Erin Hosier, Elizabeth Thompson, Matthew Phillp
  • Show Website
    Tell Me About Your Father

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