Keeping Dad Alive

Keeping Dad Alive

By Margaret PoethigSociety & CultureRelationshipsPersonal Journals
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Keeping Dad Alive episodes

  • Episode 12 – Hitchhiking with Ben
    Richard’s grandson Ben tries to interview him about cars, but the conversation soon goes off track. Richard  ("Dede") shares tales of hitchhiking across the country in the 1940s and riding a jeepney in the Philippines, while Ben struggles to get the answers he was hoping for.
    Richard (and Margaret) are initially confused by Ben’s line of questioning. But as the interview continues, Ben hones his listening and interviewing skills. He even learns about a black man named Joe Louis.
    Ben quickly gets the hang of this business and pulls the threads of the conversation with his grandfather together.
    Music credits:
    "Beignet Interlude" and "Gentle Son" by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
    Traffic and car door sound effects from Zapsplat.com.
    Boxing stadium, Pinball auction, and jeepney sound effects by Soundsplat.
    13 min
  • Episode 11 – The money episode
    Money, money, money—Margaret and her sisters unpack the family dynamic around money, starting with the Hotel Eden luxury suite incident in Rome, 1968.
    Money’s an emotional trigger for Richard and it rubbed off on his kids. His angst about money was established early—in his working class roots, the fragility of his family during the Depression, and his own struggles to earn enough money to pay for college.
    Richard’s idea about what it means to “live within one’s means” is challenged when he marries into an upper middle-class family. Eunice and the kids adapt to Richard’s insistence on the importance of financial independence.
    In time, Eunice takes over as the primary source of household income and Richard can begin to relax, but not until he gets all five of his kids through college, without taking on any debt.
    Links:
    "Deposits and Withdrawals: the Story of a Bank Book" by Richard Poethig (http://www.onthesidewalksofnewyork.com/read.html)
    Music credits:
    “Di Me” licensed from AudioNetwork
    “Scratcher" and "Let Go Gecko” by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue)
    17 min
  • Episode 10 – Live! from Coleus Earth Station
    Richard and his daughter Johanna co-host a radio show, broadcasting through plant signals. Adopting the monikers Diving for Pearls and Island Boy, Johanna and Richard discover the silver lining of our quarantine isolation and dependence on electronic communication.
    In this podcast episode, Johanna—a visual, public, and performance artist—engages Richard in her fantasy about earth stations, in which the plants in our gardens or on our windowsills are little satellite dishes, sending signals across time and space. From Radio Free Whitney Street in Oakland, California, and Coleus Earth Station in the great city of Philadelphia, Diving for Pearls and Island Boy play some of their favorite tunes and offer reflections on planetary life.
    Links:
    Johanna Poethig: visual, public and performance artist: https://johannapoethig.com/
    The “Quasi Extraterratropoizine”: https://johanna-poethig-studio.square.site/
    Music credits:
    “Uranus” by Johanna Poethig with Chris Brown (cbmuse.com)
    "Lost Cities: The Landscape Speaks" (https://johannapoethig.com/performance-video/music-of-the-lost-cities/)
    “Hello World” by Kathryn Poethig, performed with Scott Poethig and Johanna Poethig
    “Phase 3” by Xylo-Ziko (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/)
    “Kolderen Polka” by Tres Tristes Tangos (https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tres_Tristes_Tangos)
    “Swinging” by Tim Garland, licensed from AudioNetwork
    16 min
  • Episode 9 – Bird insurrection
    Richard and his daughter Margaret investigate the bird insurrection, while humans attack the U.S. Capitol and President Trump is impeached for the second time.
    Birds provide joy, humor, and solace in rough times, and it seems that they share the capacity for feelings with the human species. And boy, are there a lot of feelings swooping and fluttering around right now!
    Margaret is struggling with a loss of faith in her fellow humans. She pulls an old recording from 2012 in which Richard describes his encounter with the American eagle, and Eunice, Margaret’s mother and Richard’s wife, joins him in singing his favorite hymn, “The Lone Wild Bird.”
    In loving memory of Eunice Blanchard Poethig, 1930-2018
    Links:
    What It’s Like to Be a Bird, by David Allen Sibley: https://www.sibleyguides.com/product/what-its-like-to-be-a-bird/
    Loren Eiseley: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loren_Eiseley
    Music Credits:
    An Unknown Visitor by Blue Dot Sessions: https://www.sessions.blue/
    “The Lone Wild Bird,” by Henry Richard McFadyen: https://hymnary.org/text/the_lone_wild_fowl_in_lofty_flight
    Photo Credit:
    Cardinal in Margaret’s birdbath by Richard Creps
    12 min
  • Episode 8 – PT to the rescue!
    Richard's physical therapist Jennifer has saved his life...more than once! Jennifer keeps an eye on Richard and, with training, persistence, and ingenuity, helps him keep it together.
    Links:
    On chronic conditions, self-management, and challenges in caring for people with chronic conditions:
    https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/health_policy/adult_chronic_conditions.htm
    https://www.cdc.gov/learnmorefeelbetter/programs/general.htm
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5876976/
    https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2010/01/chronic-care.html
    https://www.giaging.org/documents/mcc_framework.pdf
    On excess deaths during pandemic:
    https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6942e2.htm
    On adults living alone:
    https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/03/10/older-people-are-more-likely-to-live-alone-in-the-u-s-than-elsewhere-in-the-world/
    On problems with long term care facilities:
    https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/31/opinion/sunday/covid-nursing-homes.html?smid=em-share
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardgleckman/2018/02/05/what-we-dont-know-but-should-about-assisted-living-facilities/?sh=359b6ac4e043
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-nursinghomes-speci/special-report-pandemic-exposes-systemic-staffing-problems-at-u-s-nursing-homes-idUSKBN23H1L9
    https://www.gao.gov/assets/690/689302.pdf
    Music Credits:
    The Zeppelin, Delamine, and Crumbtown by Blue Dot Sessions
    Gravitation by Blastculture https://freemusicarchive.org/music/ToucanMusic/Best_Bytes_Volume_4/08_blastculture_gravitation
    13 min
  • Episode 7 – A fruity guy
    Fruit brings Richard joy, especially papaya. But the fruit cup at Richard’s senior living residence leaves something to be desired. Richard must work on his son Scott—with deft negotiation and meticulous timing—to keep him in fruit.
    The music in this podcast is Slow Strutt and Vernouillet by Blue Dot Sessions and Binasuan by Juan Silas Jr. and his Rondalla.
    Links:
    Blue Dot Sessions: https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/null
    11 min
  • Episode 6 – In one lifetime
    Richard reflects on the connection between his life’s work and that of his daughter Erika, who is leading the Biden/Harris transition team for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
    Music Credits: The Crisper; Borough; Taoudella; An Unknown Visitor by Blue Dot Sessions: https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/null
    Links:
    Richard Poethig’s writings: http://www.richardpoethig.com/index.html
    Inclusive Recovery Insights newsletter, by Erika Poethig:
    https://www.urban.org/policy-centers/research-action-lab/projects/inclusive-recovery-insights
    Rising Star by David Garrow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rising_Star_(book)
    11 min
  • Episode 5 – Lockdown blues
    When Richard stops answering the phone and getting out of bed for Zoom meetings, daughter Kerry finds a new way to reach our dad.
    Music credits: The music in this piece is “Black Clouds Gone Bad” by Sore & Steal and “Take to the Skies” by Forget the Whale. Used under the Creative Commons license Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike.
    https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Sore__Steal/Many_Moons_A-Go-Go/Black_clouds_gone_bad
    https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Forget_the_Whale/Take_to_the_Skies
    Links:
    https://www.grandpad.net/
    11 min
  • Episode 4 – Counting votes in Philadelphia
    Richard revels in living in Philadelphia - the historical heart of U.S. democracy and home of his son Scott - while waiting anxiously for the votes to be counted in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
    Links:
    Joe Biden's Penn graduation address, 2013: https://almanac.upenn.edu/archive/volumes/v59/n33/comm-biden.html
    11 min

About Keeping Dad Alive

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Conversations between a dad and his children capture the sheer joy of talking, singing, and laughing with Richard, a man of simple pleasures, expansive intelligence, historical perspective, and…