In her new memoir, Surviving the White Gaze, author and cultural critic Rebecca Carroll describes with heroic honesty and compassion, an upbringing seated in an adoptive family whose whiteness prevents them from facing their failings, in a country unwilling to do the same. Listen as Rebecca talks to Elizabeth about navigating overt and covert racism, her difficulty connecting with both her birth and adoptive fathers, and marrying a man who would celebrate and support their son’s Blackness, always. Just a note: This episode includes discussion of sexual abuse and eating disorders.

Cultural critic, NYC institution and father of gossip and celebrity journalism, Michael Musto, joins us this week for our pop culture news show “Daddy Issues!” This episode has it all, from Hollywood predators, monstrous police, and a New York Times reporter who shan’t be named (but we named), to Cardi B, Fran Drescher ,and the anti-fascism, hotness, and ghost dads of Field of Dreams. Michael also tells us about his own late father, with whom he had a complicated but loving relationship, his return to the rebooted Village Voice and his time on the iconic ‘90s E! show “The Gossip Show.”

Paul Florez knows how to use his voice. At 37, he's a professional auctioneer and emcee, and the host of the Marvel comics-centered podcast "Power of X-Men." For years he's been working on a memoir about his relationship with his beloved father to explore the intergenerational trauma that may have inspired their shared eating disorder and body dysmorphia. Listen as Paul tells Erin the story of his father's own dramatic coming-of-age in Castro's Cuba and subsequent escape to Miami as a young teenager. Paul lays bare the tragic events that inspired his dad's drive to provide for others, even as he starves himself. And he discusses his own struggle to quell the inner voice that tells a person they're both too much and never enough. Note: If you are currently struggling, call the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 800-931-2237. You can also text NEDA at 741741, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

With the 93rd annual Academy Awards happening on April 25th, it’s a great time to talk about how the themes of dads and patriarchy play out in so many of this year’s Oscar-nominated films. There’s The Father, Minari, Time, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Judas and the Black Messiah, Another Round, Hillbilly Elegy, and Onward— all of which refer explicitly to the impact of fathers. This week, we’re dedicating Daddy Issues to the Oscars, and are thrilled to have Richard Lawson, Chief Critic at Vanity Fair, joining us to talk about dads tropes in this year’s Academy finalists as well as his predictions for who will win.

When she was 25, writer Laura Carney lost her beloved father, Mick, when he was killed instantly in a car accident caused by a distracted teenage driver .Thirteen years later, Laura's brother found a handwritten 60-item list among some old papers of Mick's entitled "Things I Would Like to Do in My Lifetime!" that Mick had written at age 29. Before his death, Mick had checked off 5 of them, and tried and failed at one, so Laura vowed to finish the remaining 54. Tasks include everything from "Correspond with the Pope" to "Sell Millions of Dollars Worth of Merchandise." As of this episode, she's already completed 39, and is giving herself another year for the remaining 15. Laura speaks with Erin about the exquisite pain of a daughter's loss while just on the cusp of her own adult accomplishments, the lasting impact of divorce on a child, and some of the more surprising lessons she's learned as Mick lives on through his daughter in the dreams they now share.

This week’s episode of Daddy Issues! features special guest star, comedy writer Carey O’Donnell. His TV credits include Billy Eichner’s Billy on the Street and Heathers, he's a former editor at Paper magazine, a contributor to New York Magazine and the co-host of Real Housewives podcast "Sexy Unique Podcast." He's also here to dissect the current events with us from a dad lens. Smash play to hear us pay homage to Orlando Bloom’s un-concerning lack of self-awareness, the wind as the most underrated force of nature, and the Russian dentist with soulful eyes who smokes in a Hollywood Starbucks parking lot. We also have words for Jay Leno, Kody Brown from Sister Wives and, as usual, the Royal Family.

A.J. Daulerio is a writer and creator of the weekly recovery newsletter, The Small Bow. He is the former editor in chief of Gawker.com and its sister sports site Deadspin during the mid-2000s, At Gawker, he famously published an excerpt of Hulk Hogan’s sex tape, which led to his losing a 9-figure lawsuit backed by maniacal billionaire Peter Theil, and the bankruptcy and sale of Gawker Media. A massive blow to the First Amendment. A.J. found himself personally on the hook for $115 million, his professional reputation in the toilet, his sobriety hanging by a thread, facing buried memories of child sexual abuse, and with a father unable or unwilling to protect his son or help him heal. On this episode, we'll hear the story behind the story, and how becoming a father himself has changed AJ's relationship with his own dad, and the ways in which he's trying to do things differently.

It’s been a week since Oprah’s interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry— whose dads each deserve their own wings in the Disappointing Fathers Hall of Fame—and there’s still much to discuss. This week’s episode of Daddy Issues is dedicated to examining the interview and its noble aftershocks and wider cultural implications. We discuss the rib-crushing patriarchal corset still tightly laced around members of the Royal Family, Meghan and Harry’s sensible request that their family not allow their murders, Thomas Markle’s iconic “Images of Britain” staged photoshoot, and Prince Charles’ Tampax fantasies. We will not be silent or silenced!

Entrepreneur Eric Solomon talks to Matt about the loving relationship he had with his father Bob, who was mysteriously murdered in 2016. A man of many wives, children, and business ventures, Bob was a great father to Eric, who discusses how his father’s shocking death caused him to upend his entire life and accept that he’ll probably never find out who did it.

It’s the latest installment of our current events show Tell Me About Your Father: Daddy Issues! Oh lord, this episode has much to digest: God, Texas, a very old woman eating gin-soaked raisins, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the horror of spring, chandeliers, FKA Twigs, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Note, this episode was recorded on 2/26, before a second former aide of Cuomo's came forward to say he'd sexually harassed her as well.