The Solo Dad Podcast

This episode of the Solo Dad Podcast is a deeply honest Solo Mom conversation with Alicia, whose story moves through love, marriage, parenting, mental illness, separation, suicide loss, and the reality of raising grieving children after trauma. Alicia shares what it was like to love a man whose laugh filled the room, while also slowly watching mental illness change the life they were building. She...

In this episode of the Solo Dad Podcast, Matt sits down with Suzie Schumaker for a deeply honest Solo Mom conversation about love, loss, faith, caregiving, and raising kids after the death of a spouse. Suzie shares the story of meeting her husband Eric as kids in their Orthodox church community, building a life together, grieving the loss of their first daughter, and later facing Eric’s cancer dia...

In this deeply moving conversation, Danny Leslie joins Matt to talk about love, loss, solo parenting, and the ways grief changes shape over time. Danny reflects on the long road of Raf’s cancer, the heartbreak of becoming the one who had to carry impossible news, and what it has looked like to raise their daughters while keeping her presence alive in everyday family rhythm. He shares how writing,...

In this episode of the Solo Dad Podcast, Dustin Morrow shares the story of how he and Mallie met, built a life together fast, welcomed their son Tristan, and then had everything change when back pain turned into a devastating cancer diagnosis. What followed was a two-year caregiving journey filled with hospital visits, hard conversations, hospice, and the helpless reality of loving someone through...

Jason opens up about losing his wife Heather unexpectedly, raising a daughter through grief, and the heavy guilt he carried in the years that followed. He shares what helped him heal, including therapy, hard-earned honesty, and learning to put down the things that were numbing the pain instead of helping him face it. The conversation also moves into something many widowed parents wrestle with but...

What happens when grief doesn’t just visit once—when it repeats? In this conversation, Michael Chapman and Matt talk through the kind of loss that changes your nervous system: sitting in a hospital room watching “a repeat of history,” the exhaustion that makes reality blur, and the moment a nurse gives permission to step away—because sometimes that’s when it happens.  They get into the parts peopl...

In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, Michael Chapman—an author and twice-widowed dad—shares what it’s like to love, lose, and keep showing up. From walking through terminal cancer to the shock of the silence after, Michael opens up about grief waves, “two dates on the calendar,” and the moment he realized moving forward isn’t forgetting—it’s surviving. Book Available here: https://www.amazon.c...

Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

“It’s different now and that’s OK,” says Abel Keogh, author, blogger, relationship coach and host of YouTube channel Widower Wednesday. Abel became a widower 21 years ago at the age of 26 when his wife took her own life while she was seven months pregnant. He started anonymously blogging during that first year as a widower, sharing his experiences and awkward dating stories. The blog soon took off...

“I’m worth whatever I think I’m worth,” says Ken, describing the mindset he adopted while beginning to date after losing his wife. Rather than thinking of their widower status as baggage, solo dads who are preparing to date again should remember that if their amazing wives once loved them, then another amazing person will, too. They also agree that knowing what they might have done differently in...

“I’m still on a kind of mixed-grief journey, I guess,” says John Smith, father of two, who lost his wife Kathy to colon cancer nearly two years ago. She was diagnosed just as the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 an official emergency. They were living with her parents at the time, and John discusses the challenges he faced with his in-laws in the immediate period following Kathy’s death...

“You’re never done with grief,” says Jim T., who has the rare distinction of being twice widowed. His first wife Melinda was killed in a car accident shortly after they moved to Knoxville Tennessee to found an Eastern Orthodox Church there. Melinda’s death brought the new congregation together, who were still relative strangers, as they rallied around Jim in support. He describes the beautiful rit...

Content warning: this episode talks about suicide and parental/spouse death. “It's not the loss that causes your pain. It's your thoughts and feelings about it,” says Jay Deutsch, who joins the podcast, serendipitously, on the birthday of his late wife, Larissa. Her battles with depression ultimately lead to her taking her own life, leaving Jay a widower with two young children. He discu...

“You’re not only experimenting with dating, you’re experimenting with your new self,” says Ken Brown as he joins The Solo Dad Podcast along with Ben Janoski to discuss what it means to return to the dating world as young widowers with children. Some of what’s discussed, such as ghosting, how soon to meet in person and getting catfished, will be familiar to anyone navigating the contemporary dating...

Mathew talks to his mother Jo Ann, who became a widow at the age of 37, after Mathew’s father died of a massive heart attack while on a business trip. Jo Ann soon moved Mathew, then 11, and his 6-year-old brother Jonathan from Southern California to Northern California to begin a whole new life. Throughout what was an overwhelming time, Jo Ann encountered many acts of kindness and connection that...

Solo But Not Alone - Mathew Bradley When he lost his wife, Marci, to cancer in 2018, Matt was left to navigate raising his one-year-old daughter, Blair, on his own. Matt reached out to other dads dealing with loss, and in 2021 he launched Solo Dad Podcast.  Check out the rest of the interview and all things great about being a father to daughter at  https://www.audible.com/pd/Girl-Dad-Nation-Podca...

Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

Ben is partaking in - https://drinkspindrift.com/ Matt is enjoying - https://oldforgedistillery.com/spirits/moonshine/oatmeal-cookie-moonshine/ Anger management ideas: https://www.fatherly.com/anger-management/ EMDR - https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/emdr-what-is-it#:~:text=Eye%20movement%20desensitization%20and%20reprocessing%20(EMDR)%20is%20a%20fairly%20new,%2C%20rape%2C%20or%20car%20accident...

Ready for more than just listening? Explore the CLIMB framework and support options at https://solodad.life/

In this deeply personal Widow Wednesday episode of the Solo Dad Podcast , Matt steps into the guest seat to share the story that led him into widowhood, solo parenting, and ultimately the creation of the Solo Dad Podcast community. Recorded during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, the episode offers a raw, unfiltered look at caregiving, anticipatory grief, and life after losing a spouse to colore...