Dudes Without Dads Podcast

Joshua Brown

Dudes Without Dads is a podcast for men who grew up without a father—and are determined to become the dad they never had. Hosted by Joshua Brown, this movement is built on real stories, raw conversations, and the belief that your past doesn’t define your legacy. Each episode brings together powerful testimonies, expert insights, and practical wisdom to help you break cycles, heal from wounds, and lead with love. Whether you’re a young dad trying to figure it out, a grown man still wrestling with the silence of your childhood, or someone who feels disqualified—this show is for you. No shame. No sugarcoating. Just hope, healing, and a brotherhood of men becoming better fathers, husbands, and sons. 🔁 New episodes every week — including roundtable talks, guest interviews, and spiritual insights. 📍 Part of the As You Go Network — a movement to make disciples where we live, work, and play.

  1. 1d ago

    Why Don't They Love Me?" — James Ludeman on 36 Years Without a Father, Approval Addiction & Being Asked "Will You Be My Dad?" | Dudes Without Dad

    This week on Dudes Without Dads, Joshua welcomes James Ludeman — a 36-year-old husband and father of two from St. Petersburg, Florida, now living outside Nashville, Tennessee. James has never met his biological father. He was raised by his grandmother, grew up surrounded by addiction and abandonment, and later found faith in Christ on a missions trip at 15. James opens up about the "why don't they love me?" question that shaped his childhood, the approval addiction and pornography struggle that followed, and the rock-bottom moment at 21 that turned his life around. He shares how God met him in Jackson, Mississippi — and how, years later, a little girl asking "Will you be my dad?" changed everything. Today, James is a husband of nearly 10 years and the adoptive father of two. Joshua and James talk honestly about fatherlessness, faith, forgiveness, and what it takes for a man to break the cycle he was handed and become the father he never had. Connect with Dudes Without Dads: 🌐 dudeswithoutdadspodcast.com 📅 New episodes every Thursday 🙋‍♂️ Apply to be a guest at dudeswithoutdadspodcast.com "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." — Proverbs 27:17 fatherhood, father wound, sonship, men's ministry, christian men, healing, identity, intentional fatherhood, dudes without dads, joshua brown, eric manly, the intentional dad, generational curses, masculinity, christian podcast, faith and fatherhood, becoming a better dad, father absence

  2. Jul 16

    Is This Where I Come to Get a Dad?" — Ron Hauenstein on the Orphan Spirit, Broken Homes & the 24/7 Dad Cure | Dudes Without Dads

    August 2019. A warm Saturday night at a Spokane neighborhood fair. Ron Hauenstein is manning a booth alone when three 15-year-olds walk up. Before Ron can say a word, the girl asks him three questions in a row: "Is this where I come to get a dad?" "What do I have to do to get a dad?" "Will you be my dad?" Her father, she said, was "a druggie with seven kids who doesn't mean anything to him." That's the reality Ron has been staring down for a decade. This week on Dudes Without Dads, Joshua sits with Ron Hauenstein — founder and Executive Director of the Spokane Fatherhood Initiative (SpoFI) — for one of the most sobering and hopeful conversations we've had on the show. In 1960, only 5 out of every 100 American babies were born outside marriage. Today it's over 50%. Among first-time moms 25 and younger, it's roughly 80%. Ron didn't just watch it happen — he set out to do something about it. Since 2018, SpoFI has issued 700+ certificates of completion through their 24/7 Dad classes: 24 hours of instruction over 6 weeks, evidence-based, with the first four lessons pointed inward before a single "tool" is handed out. What Joshua and Ron unpack in this episode: 🕰️ How three shifts — no-fault divorce, the pill, and the workforce reshuffle — dismantled the covenant of home 🏠 Why kids today don't have a "home" anymore — just "my dad's apartment" and "my mom's house" 💔 The orphan spirit — what it is, how it forms, and 6 ways to know you're carrying it 😤 Why anger is really about security and shame is really about significance 📚 The 24/7 Dad curriculum — how men come in defeated and leave changed (without being told what to change) 🙏 James's story — separated from his four kids for 7 years, reunited after God got a hold of him 👨‍👧 The four-year-old who told her dad: "You don't get mad at us anymore. You don't yell at us like you used to." ✝️ Ron's personal turning point in Bible Study Fellowship — the identity shift from "a sinner saved by grace" to "a saint saved by grace who sins" 🇺🇸 A history moment you didn't know: Spokane is the birthplace of Father's Day (1910, Sonora Smart-Dodd) ⛓️ The stat every listener needs to hear: a child raised without a father is 20 times more likely to end up in prison Ron's closing word for every man listening: "There's a hole in you — and a hole in your children's hearts — that can only be filled by a father, or your Heavenly Father." Connect with Dudes Without Dads: 🌐 dudeswithoutdadspodcast.com 📅 New episodes every Thursday 🙋‍♂️ Apply to be a guest at dudeswithoutdadspodcast.com Learn more about Ron & take the class: 🔗 spofi.org — 24/7 Dad classes are on Zoom, six times a year, $20 refundable deposit 🔗 fatherhood.org — buy the 24/7 Dad curriculum and start it in your own town 🔗 fathers.com — Ken Canfield's Seven Secrets of Effective Fathers (free online course) If this episode marks you, do three things: leave a rating and review, share it with one brother who needs to hear it, and subscribe so you don't miss what's next. "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." — Proverbs 27:17 fatherhood, father wound, sonship, men's ministry, christian men, healing, identity, intentional fatherhood, dudes without dads, joshua brown, eric manly, the intentional dad, generational curses, masculinity, christian podcast, faith and fatherhood, becoming a better dad, father absence

  3. Jul 9

    He Grew Up in a Tent — Now He's Teaching Dads How to Stay | Scott Maudsley | Dudes Without Dads

    What does it take to become the dad you never had — when the dad you did have was present but never really there? Scott Maudsley grew up as the second of four boys in southwest Michigan. His dad was a man of faith. He was in the house. He loved his kids. But when the business failed, bankruptcy hit, and the family moved into a tent on a campground just trying to survive — the emotional distance between Scott and his father only grew. By the time Scott was 18, he had lived in 14 different homes. He attended three high schools in four years — including a move from a small white farming community in Michigan to Hialeah, Miami in the middle of his senior year. His mom left. His dad stayed. And Scott spent the next several decades learning — the hard way — what it means to be a present father to his own kids. Today Scott is a kingdom worker, author, and founder of two movements built around one conviction: every man needs a spiritual father, and every man needs to become one. In this conversation, Joshua Brown and Scott get into: What it felt like to grow up with a dad who was physically present but emotionally distant — and how that shaped Scott's identity as a manThe bankruptcy, the tent, the 14 homes, and what financial chaos does to a family's emotional foundationThe day his mom left — and what it was like to have a single dad for a year and a halfThe pivotal man God put in Scott's life in his thirties who forced him to go back and process all the trauma he had buriedThe single most important piece of fatherhood wisdom Scott ever received — and how it transformed the way he parented his own kids from birth to age 13Why age 13 is the last real window a dad has for full influence over his child — and what happens when you miss itHow Scott wrote A Dad's Bible Journey — a study of the actual fathers in scripture, not just principles, but real stories of real dads who failed and were redeemedThe story behind Dads on Tap — a nonprofit that partners with breweries to reach dads who would never walk into a churchWhat spiritual fathering actually looks like — and why every man needs one"There's no paycheck, no influence, no stage that I would trade for that intentionality from zero to 13." "Forgiveness is more for you than them. I had inner peace for the first time in my life. It's just Jesus — just Jesus." This episode is for the man who had a dad in the house but still grew up without one. For the dad who wants to do it differently but doesn't know how. And for every man who needs a spiritual father to show him the way. 🔗 Resources Mentioned: Spiritual Fathers (Man in the Mirror) → https://www.spiritualfathers.comDads on Tap → https://www.dadsoontap.comA Dad's Bible Journey → Available on AmazonScott Maudsley on Instagram → @ScottMaudsleyEmail Scott → scott@dadsontap.com🎙️ Subscribe to Dudes Without Dads → https://www.DudesWithoutDadsPodcast.com 📲 Join the Movement → https://www.dudeswithoutdads.com 🎙️ Apply to Be a Guest → https://www.DudesWithoutDadsPodcast.com New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe, share, and get this into the hands of the man who needs it most. 🎙️ fatherhood, father wound, sonship, men's ministry, christian men, healing, identity, intentional fatherhood, dudes without dads, joshua brown, eric manly, the intentional dad, generational curses, masculinity, christian podcast, faith and fatherhood, becoming a better dad, father absence

  4. Jun 21

    The Dad Who Was There But Never Present — A Father's Day Story of Reconciliation & Redemption

    This is a Father's Day special unlike anything the Dudes Without Dads podcast has ever released. Joshua Brown flips the script. In this live, unscripted episode, he's not the interviewer — he's the one in the chair. Alongside him is William, his half-brother. Same dad. Different moms. Two men who grew up without a father, found each other through God's providence, and are now walking out reconciliation together. Gary Moritz steps in to steward the conversation — drawing out the pain, the truth, and the redemption that both men have lived. In this episode you'll hear: Joshua's story of being reconciled to his Heavenly Father after a life-altering car crash — and then finding his earthly father and his half-brotherWilliam's story of being rejected by his dad at 12, blamed for his grandfather's death, and sent spiraling into drugs and the streets of North NashvilleThe difference between the dad who walks out and the dad who stays but checks out — and how both leave the same hole in a sonWhat a father actually hands a son: his name, his worth, his sense of belongingHow Men of Valor, a Nashville incarceration rehabilitation ministry, became a turning point in William's redemptionWhat it means to let your work become a witness of who you worshipWhy reconciliation with the Heavenly Father is the only thing that truly fills the hole an earthly father leaves behind"Once you get reconciled in a right relationship with your Heavenly Father, the byproduct is you want to go and help others be reconciled to their Heavenly Father as well." "Forgiveness is more for you than them. I had inner peace for the first time in my life. It's just Jesus — just Jesus." This episode is for every man who grew up without a father. For every man still carrying the weight of rejection. And for every man who needs to know — God was writing your story the whole time, even in the moments you couldn't see Him. 🎙️ Subscribe to Dudes Without Dads → https://www.DudesWithoutDadsPodcast.com 📲 Join the Movement → https://www.dudeswithoutdads.com 👥 Apply to Be a Guest → https://www.DudesWithoutDadsPodcast.com 👥 Men of Valor Nashville → https://www.menofvalornashville.com New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe, share, and get this into the hands of the man who needs it most this Father's Day. 🎙️ fatherhood, father wound, sonship, men's ministry, christian men, healing, identity, intentional fatherhood, dudes without dads, joshua brown, eric manly, the intentional dad, generational curses, masculinity, christian podcast, faith and fatherhood, becoming a better dad, father absence

  5. Jun 11

    He Gave Me His Keys — Four Days Later He Was Gone | Cory's Stor

    What do you do when your father gives you the keys to his brand new truck — and four days later takes his own life? Cory was 30 years old, had just celebrated his birthday five days earlier, and had an 8-month-old daughter at home when his father died by suicide on May 15, 2010. In this raw and unforgettable episode, Joshua Brown sits down with his friend Cory for one of the most honest conversations the Dudes Without Dads podcast has ever had. This isn't just a story about loss. It's a story about what happens to a son when his father was physically present his entire life — but never really there. And what it costs a man when that father disappears forever before the relationship could ever be repaired. In this episode, Cory opens up about: Growing up with a dad who was in the house but emotionally absentAlways feeling like a constant disappointment — even during baseball games his dad coachedThe moment he came home from a party to find out his dad had tried to take his lifeThe lie that followed him for 15 years: "I'm not enough"How that lie showed up in his marriage, his fatherhood, and his pastoral ministryWhat his counselor finally told him that started to bring real healingLearning how to be a son to a Heavenly Father who loves you for who you are — not what you doThe three roles every man needs: a spiritual father, brothers, and sons to pour intoThis episode is for every man who lost his dad before the relationship was ever whole. It's for every man still trying to prove he's enough to someone who's no longer there. And it's for every man brave enough to finally name the pain out loud. "Forgiveness is more for you than them. I had inner peace for the first time in my life. It's just Jesus — just Jesus." 🎙️ Subscribe to Dudes Without Dads → https://www.DudesWithoutDadsPodcast.com 📲 Join the Movement → https://www.dudeswithoutdads.com 👥 Apply to Be a Guest → https://www.DudesWithoutDadsPodcast.com New episodes every Thursday. If this episode added value to your life — subscribe, share it, and get it into the hands of the man who needs it most. fatherhood, father wound, sonship, men's ministry, christian men, healing, identity, intentional fatherhood, dudes without dads, joshua brown, eric manly, the intentional dad, generational curses, masculinity, christian podcast, faith and fatherhood, becoming a better dad, father absence

  6. May 21

    The Father Wound, The Blessing & What the Bible Says a Man Is | Robert Lewis

    What is a father wound? How do you heal it? And what does the Bible actually say a man is supposed to be? In this episode, Joshua Brown sits down with Robert Lewis — founder of Men's Fraternity, author of the bestselling Raising a Modern Day Knight, and co-founder of BetterMan — for one of the most important conversations in the Dudes Without Dads catalog. Robert has spent four decades in rooms full of men, opening the Bible and helping them figure out who they are. His work has reached over 5 million people across 80+ countries. And in this conversation, he brings all of it to five questions every man needs to answer. You'll hear: A clear definition of the father wound — and why most men don't know they're carrying oneHow the wound hides as overperformance, anger, addiction, and depressionThe three-part blessing from Matthew 3:17 that every son needs to hear from his fatherWhat it looks like to "go get the blessing" from your dad — even nowHow to break the generational cycle and become the dad your kids needThe Bible's four-pillar definition of manhood, straight from GenesisRobert closes with a line that will stay with you: "You can't become what you can't define." This episode is for the man who had a dad but grew up without one. It's for the dad who wants to do better but doesn't know how. And it's for every man who's ever wondered — what am I actually supposed to be? 🔗 Resources: BetterMan (free resources, videos, workbooks): https://www.betterman.comRaising a Modern Day Knight by Robert Lewis: https://www.amazon.comApply to be a guest: https://www.DudesWithoutDadsPodcast.comDudes Without Dads: https://www.dudeswithoutdads.comNew episodes every Thursday. Subscribe, share, and help us get this conversation to the men who need it most. fatherhood, father wound, sonship, men's ministry, christian men, healing, identity, intentional fatherhood, dudes without dads, joshua brown, eric manly, the intentional dad, generational curses, masculinity, christian podcast, faith and fatherhood, becoming a better dad, father absence

  7. May 14

    Broken Men, Healthy Marriages | Christian Marriage Advice for Men

    What happens when broken men try to build healthy marriages? In this powerful episode of Dudes Without Dads, Joshua Brown sits down with pastors, entrepreneurs, former gang members, ministry leaders, and restored husbands for an honest conversation about masculinity, marriage, emotional healing, fatherlessness, pride, insecurity, and spiritual leadership. These men openly discuss the destructive behaviors, emotional immaturity, anger, and identity struggles they carried into marriage — and how the gospel transformed the way they lead, love, and serve their families today. This episode speaks directly to men who are struggling with: anger in marriageemotional shutdowninsecurity and pridecommunication problemsfather woundsspiritual leadershipknowing how to love their wife wellFrom addiction and incarceration to restoration and redemption, this conversation reveals how Jesus rebuilds identity, covenant, leadership, and family from the inside out. This isn’t fake perfection. This is real discipleship. If you’re searching for Christian marriage advice for men, biblical masculinity, emotional healing, or guidance on becoming a godly husband, this episode is for you. “You can’t build a godly marriage with an unhealed identity.” fatherhood, father wound, sonship, men's ministry, christian men, healing, identity, intentional fatherhood, dudes without dads, joshua brown, eric manly, the intentional dad, generational curses, masculinity, christian podcast, faith and fatherhood, becoming a better dad, father absence

  8. May 7

    Out of Your Greatest Mess Comes Your Greatest Ministry" | Danny Spano

    Some of the strongest men you'll ever meet didn't grow up strong — they grew up surviving. Danny Spano grew up watching his Marine veteran father — a NASA engineer for Apollo 11 — come home from work in a rage. Locking himself in bedrooms in fear. Getting drop-kicked by the head of the hair. Watching his mother get beaten until he was big enough to step in and take the beatings himself. Visiting her in psychiatric wards after 16 electroshock treatments. Drinking and using drugs by age 11. That set the stage for 31 years of drug and alcohol addiction — and a wreckage trail that should have killed him. Then in 2005, his wife had a double-ruptured brain aneurysm. The surgeon — literally named Dr. Miracle — said he'd never seen anyone survive it. While she was in surgery, Danny was in the parking lot eating pills and smoking dope. The church wrapped around his family anyway. What happened next is one of the most powerful redemption stories you'll hear: a Saturday baptism, a Sunday morning surrender on a shop floor, a knock at the door, a real estate call, and a Vanderbilt bill that should have buried his family. And then — slowly, faithfully — saying yes. Today, Danny is a pastor at Long Hollow Church, a Celebrate Recovery leader, and a prison chaplain. He's trained over 2,200 pastors across Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Ireland, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. His goal? "To live longer for Jesus than I did for myself." In this episode you'll hear: The generational trauma that started with his Italian grandfather slashing his grandmother's faceWhy his father refused to drink — and was still terrifyingThe night he beat his father unconscious at 14How anger became his drug of choiceThe double brain aneurysm that woke him up"You don't have to change to come to Christ. You come to Christ to change."Why forgiveness is more for you than for themThe Rick Warren line that rewired his calling: "Out of your greatest mess will come your greatest ministry."His message to every dude without a dadEpisode Chapters: (00:00) The men who grew up surviving, not strong (02:00) Welcome to Dudes Without Dads — meet Danny (04:00) The Italian grandfather, the straight razor, the moment that shaped a family (07:00) Hearing him screaming before the car door opened (11:00) "Mama's intestines were falling out" — a 13-year-old's hospital run (13:00) Sister, weed at 11, and the start of 31 years (17:00) The night Danny beat his father unconscious (20:00) Anger as the drug that hurt nothing could touch (28:00) The double brain aneurysm and Dr. Miracle (34:00) "I came to Christ just as I was — pills, beer, and all" (40:00) The shop floor surrender (44:00) The 12 steps, the deeper inventory, and forgiving his father (50:00) Saying yes — prison, Haiti, ordination, pastorate (1:05:00) Forgiveness is for you (1:10:00) Verbal abuse, the wife who stayed, and breaking the cycle (1:20:00) "Hope has a name. It's Jesus." (1:30:00) Final word: out of your greatest mess comes your greatest ministry Resources & Links: Find a Celebrate Recovery near you: celebraterecovery.comApply to be a guest: https://dudeswithoutdadspodcast.comSubscribe so you never miss a Thursday dropAbout the Show: Dudes Without Dads is the podcast that trains men how to become the dads they never had. Hosted by Joshua Brown — the Pressure Washing Pastor — every Thursday we sit down with men who have walked through father wounds, addiction, identity struggles, and brokenness, and come out on the other side as the kind of fathers their kids actually need. If this episode hit you, do three things: subscribe, leave a review, and send it to a brother who needs to hear it. That's how generational curses fatherhood, father wound, sonship, men's ministry, christian men, healing, identity, intentional fatherhood, dudes without dads, joshua brown, eric manly, the intentional dad, generational curses, masculinity, christian podcast, faith and fatherhood, becoming a better dad, father absence

See All (37)

5
out of 5
21 Ratings

About

Dudes Without Dads is a podcast for men who grew up without a father—and are determined to become the dad they never had. Hosted by Joshua Brown, this movement is built on real stories, raw conversations, and the belief that your past doesn’t define your legacy. Each episode brings together powerful testimonies, expert insights, and practical wisdom to help you break cycles, heal from wounds, and lead with love. Whether you’re a young dad trying to figure it out, a grown man still wrestling with the silence of your childhood, or someone who feels disqualified—this show is for you. No shame. No sugarcoating. Just hope, healing, and a brotherhood of men becoming better fathers, husbands, and sons. 🔁 New episodes every week — including roundtable talks, guest interviews, and spiritual insights. 📍 Part of the As You Go Network — a movement to make disciples where we live, work, and play.

Information

  • Creator
    Joshua Brown
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    37
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Dudes Without Dads Podcast
  • Show Website
    Dudes Without Dads Podcast

You Might Also Like