Dudes Without Dads Podcast

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 be...

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 w...

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 conversati...

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 ro...

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 b...

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....

Most men aren't broken because they don't try hard enough — they're worn out trying to prove a worth that was never theirs to earn. In this conversation, Joshua Brown sits down with Eric Manly (founder of The Intentional Dad) to unpack the core lie that quietly wrecks men, marriages, and fatherhood: "My worth is something I have to prove." This isn't another how-to ep...

When Mark Koch"s father died at 26, he lost his moral compass. Without that anchor, everything spiraled into chaos. As a Hollywood producer, Mark achieved the dream — million-dollar deals, Lost in Space, a film that knocked Titanic out of first place. On the outside: success. On the inside: a double life fueled by cocaine, alcohol, and constant fear of exposure. This episode reveals what happ...

The affair happened. Now what? Five men sat down to answer that question — not with polished answers, but from the wreckage of real decisions that almost cost them everything. This is a roundtable conversation with men who caused betrayal, survived it, and came out the other side with something hard and honest to say about it. Antoine, Curtis, Gabriel, Mike, and Cody talked about what actually goe...

Most men in America are still fatherless on the inside.  And most won’t do the one thing that could change it. This is a raw, unfiltered conversation with Brian Doyle (Iron Sharpens Iron) about why men stay stuck—and why showing up to a men’s conference might be the turning point. If you’ve ever wondered:  Do I really need a men’s conference?  Is this just another church event?  Why would I give u...

What does it look like to trust God completely when everyone around you says stay put? Nick had 17 years with the United States Postal Service, a postmaster position in Gatlinburg Tennessee, full retirement benefits, and a large family counting on every dollar. He also had a calling he could not ignore. When the COVID vaccine mandate threatened his job, Nick faced the decision that would define hi...

What does a man do when he has been in charge of his own life and made a complete mess of it? For "Goose," a 20-year Air Force navigator, the answer involved infidelity, depression, and becoming a man he didn't recognize. On January 1st, 2015, he surrendered everything to God — and that moment started a process that eventually led him to build one of the most powerful men's mov...

What does a boy do with what he discovers when no father is there to explain it? In this raw and honest roundtable, Joshua Brown sits down with five men — Caleb, Gabriel, Antoine, Cody, and Jason — to answer a question most men have never said out loud: where were you the first time you were exposed to pornography, and who did you go to afterward? From the projects to the woods of Tennessee, from...

Brandon Petty grew up in a home most men would never recover from. Born to a teenage mother who was married six times by the age of 25, Brandon cycled through apartments, motel rooms, and relatives' couches throughout his childhood. He was raised primarily by women while the men in his life rotated in and out — most of them carrying their own unhealed wounds of addiction and abuse. Between th...

Dustin Lundy grew up faster than any kid should have to. His father — a former stockbroker born in 1934 — was financially brilliant and emotionally absent. His mother had affairs, abandoned the family for drugs, and left behind a household that 13-year-old Dustin quietly began running on his own. By the time his dad was dying of stage four colon cancer, Dustin was the one cleaning, caregiving, and...

What does it actually mean to be a godly father — especially if you never had one? In this episode, host Joshua sits down with Kris Langham , co-founder of the Through the Word Bible app , to explore what Scripture teaches about godly fatherhood, father wounds, and how God specializes in breaking generational cycles. Kris challenges listeners to find a truly "perfect dad" in the Bible (s...

Most men don’t struggle with discipline. They struggle with prayer. In this episode of Dudes Without Dads , Joshua sits down with pastor and church planter Ralph Moore to talk about why prayer feels forced, awkward, or unnecessary for many men — and what it’s quietly costing us in our marriages, leadership, identity, and fatherhood. If you grew up without a father, you probably learned how to surv...

What happens when a boy grows up believing he has no value? In this episode of Dudes Without Dads, Cliff Branham shares his journey from childhood abuse, anger, and addiction to forgiveness, healing, and becoming the father he never had. Cliff grew up with an abusive and absent father. That pain shaped his identity, led to rebellion, and fueled years of destructive behavior. But through surrender,...

Alcoholism doesn’t start with you—but it can end with you . In this episode of Dudes Without Dads , Fred Sebring shares his raw story of growing up without a father, being surrounded by normalized drinking, and realizing later in life that alcohol had quietly become his coping mechanism. What followed was a breaking point—and a decision to end generational alcoholism for the sake of his wife, his...

In this episode of Dudes Without Dads , Joshua interviews Brian (Iron Sharpens Iron) about father wounds, discipleship, and becoming a godly father by first getting connected to the Perfect Father—God . You’ll learn why you can’t disciple your kids into a walk with Jesus if you’re not walking with Him yourself—and how affirmation, brotherhood, and intentional leadership change a home. What You’ll...

The most insidious lies are the ones about your identity. Are you a man who knows God exists but feels completely intimidated by the Bible? Maybe you have one on your nightstand, but it’s essentially a "good luck charm" or a paperweight. You want to be the dad you never had, but you don't know how to access the "manual." In this Roundtable episode of Dudes Without Dads , w...

What does fatherlessness do to a man’s heart, identity, and future? In this deeply moving episode of Dudes Without Dads , Randy Floyd shares his story of growing up without a father, navigating trauma, identity confusion, addiction, and emotional pain—until a life-changing encounter with Jesus at 16 redefined everything. This conversation explores the long-term effects of father absence , the orph...

What happens when success, money, and achievement still leave you empty? In this powerful episode of Dudes Without Dads , Mike Wiggin shares his raw journey through father wounds, addiction, anger, and performance-based identity—and how grace completely transformed his life, faith, and fatherhood. Mike opens up about growing up with a performance-driven father, spiraling into drugs and rebellion,...

Father wounds don’t just live in your mind—they live in your body. In this powerful conversation, Joshua Brown sits down with Justin Early, author of The Body Teaches the Soul , to unpack how absent, distracted, or destructive fathers shape men’s mental health, habits, addictions, and even physical responses like anxiety, anger, and shutdown. Justin explains why information alone doesn’t heal men—...

This episode explores God’s original design for family , why modern Western culture broke it, and how men without father figures can rebuild strong, multi-generational legacies. Jeremy Pryor shares biblical first principles, practical rhythms like weekly family meals, and a compelling vision for family discipleship. What You’ll Learn: Why the modern Western idea of family is historically broken Th...