Welcome to todays show where I trace my journey from demographic despair to determined hope, moving from plans to leave New England to a decision to plant roots, build community, and strengthen a vibrant Catholic life at home. A living parish, backyard hospitality, and a clear vision for land and legacy reset the map.

• falling birth rates and the blackpilled mindset
• scouting the South and the pull to leave
• finding a young, welcoming parish
• choosing to stay and lead locally
• vision for land, sheep, and craft
• reviving industry and skills through community
• hosting summer Sundays to weave ties
• Contra Spem Spero as a rule of life

If you are in the path of this new Nor’easter coming in through, brace yourself. There should be some more snow on their way.

Welcome back to the show and apologies for missing yesterday's, as I've said, I have a home full of many young children and they can at times consume he morning making it impossible to record, so I don't fight it, and just welcome it.

But today, I decided it importantly to get into why I call the show, "The Dissident Dad Show" and why it has nothing to do with doomerish, actually. Instead it's about why disciplined dissidence beats doom, how to question institutions without losing hope, and what it looks like to guard a home in a noisy age. The goal as a dad is simple and hard; raise free minds, keep a clean house, and stay accountable to truth.

• quick family and homestead updates in deep snow
• defining dissident as disciplined, not doomer
• naming modern “untouchables” across school, media, politics, money
• separating signal from noise in news and culture
• rejecting nihilism in favor of responsibility
• auditing personal beliefs with the same rigor as institutions
• building family standards, skills, and boundaries
• hope rooted in agency, faith, and daily action

Welcome back to todays show as we continue to dig out from another storm and use the chicken run, frozen waterers, and kid-made snow mazes to explore subsidiarity—the simple principle that a household should handle what it can, with higher levels helping, not replacing. We trace how modern systems pull authority away from families and how small acts of production restore competence and joy.

• defining subsidiarity as local responsibility first
• homestead as a doing household, not a hub
• chickens and snow as real-world husbandry
• critique of school structures moving gravity from family
• risk, agency, and kids learning by doing
• family authority, formation, and faith
• building a family economy that produces
• raising entrepreneurial kids through real work
• practical steps to pull life back home

Do one thing today to pull it back. One thing. Something small, something real. Order some roses to plant in your house this coming spring on your property that make you tend to the land

Welcome back to a new week! A big New England storm drops more than twenty inches and hands our family a perfect snow day. We share why screens don’t belong on days like this, how the chickens handled the blizzard, and a broader rethink of what real learning looks like.

• storm totals and first impressions
• managing a chicken run in deep snow
• the joy and community spark of snow days
• why mandatory online classes miss the mark
• natural learning through play, work and weather
• a critique of coercive schooling norms
• encouragement to choose sleds over screens
• recognition of southern ice damage and empathy

Enjoy the snow day, parents, everyone out there. Enjoy the snow for those down in the south that are dealing with uh the travesty that is the the the thunder ice, we'll be praying for you.

Welcome to today's episode, where I challenge the default faith in retirement accounts and explore how deferring money and effort can weaken families and towns. I offer a grounded path that balances basic savings with tangible assets, local enterprise, and skills that compound close to home.

• the retirement trap mindset and its costs
• penalties, access limits and deferred life
• investing in land, tools and small shops
• leasing idle pasture and starting livestock
• pros of 401(k)s, Roths and employer matches
• erosion of family care and local commerce
• housing tilt toward older investors over first-time buyers
• subsidiarity and keeping capital local
• practical steps to balance paper and real assets

If you are in winter storm Fern’s path, stay safe, check your generator, make sure you get the eggs, bread, and milk, and settle in, it's looking to be a doozy!

Welcome back and apologies for show hiatus over the past few days, my studio was unavailable during the early morning hours when I usually record. Today I reflect on the quiet power of grandmothers, how missing maternal guidance shaped our first year as parents, and why elder presence still matters. I also weigh in on the perversion of motherhood through surrogacy and the ethics of surrogacy versus adoption and close with a winter homestead update and the duty it demands.

• elder motherhood as practical family wisdom
• early parenting without a maternal guide
• modern pressures that thin extended family support
• surrogacy contrasted with adoption and attachment
• homestead resilience, chickens, storms, and duty

closing words of advice: “Get some chickens.”

Today, I recite my weekly Substack essay, released every Friday morning. On it I argue that the strongest form of patriotism starts at home and expands to neighbors and town, not national shouting matches. I map practical “bands of influence” and share concrete steps to build places where our kids want to live, work, and return.

• choosing a home and daily family rhythms that shape character
• building real ties with neighbors through service and presence
• investing in parish, school, library, and local business health
• why social media outrage rarely creates local change
• subsidiarity as a blueprint for effective civic action
• practical actions: meetings, cleanups, apprenticeships, small shops
• measuring a town by those who return to raise families

Start today. Attend that town meeting, accept that role on the zoning committee, bring your kids to the next food drive at your church. Start the downtown bakery you've always dreamt of. Be the patriot your hometown deserves.

Welcome to today's episode where we share how we raise our kids with freedom and guardrails, letting early mistakes teach while holding firm on a few clear norms. We explain why we reject compulsory schooling, how we defused screen taboos, and how dinner and bedtime became calm again.

• freedom with guardrails as core principle
• mistakes as the path to knowledge
• critique of compulsory schooling and interest-led learning
• clear household norms on respect and mess
• removing streaming to end autoplay loops
• curated DVDs to reduce screen compulsion
• dinner as invitation not enforcement
• bedtime modeled by our own wind-down
• trust as the foundation for safety and honesty

Welcome to today's show. It's a little shorter than others as it's my first true attempt to work through the idea of nihilism. I'm not expert on it by any means, but I think it's incredibly important to discuss. I start by tracing how nihilism shows up in daily life and why small acts of beauty at home push back. From warm lighting to welcoming architecture, seasonal gardens, and faith in service, I shares practical steps to raise hopeful kids and build meaning.

• defining nihilism and why it spreads
• beauty as a practical antidote at home
• replacing harsh LEDs with warm incandescents
• how architecture shapes mood and meaning
• landscaping for a progressive bloom season
• cultivating optimism through daily design choices
• faith, service, and living for others
• simple first steps to make beauty a habit

Welcome to today's show, where I share why I chose a home-centered life after a missed med school bid, how homeschooling, faith, and a scrappy homestead shape our days, and why we’re betting on local craft and community to build a legacy. The plan is simple: deepen roots, thicken place, and invite others to help.

• moving from Army service to homemaker dad and writer
• bringing kids home from daycare and starting homeschool
• living on one income plus pension by cutting costs
• launching small ventures, including a New England shawl sweater
• linking faith, eternity, and generational legacy
• prioritizing community environment over individual accolades
• wrestling with where to plant permanent roots
• Summer Sundays as a Sabbath practice of hospitality
• an open invitation to collaborate on local resilience

“Send me a message on Substack or X if you want to help build this into something bigger—let’s thicken our towns together”