What Honoring Your Dad Actually Looks Like (It's Not a Plaque)
Nobody tells you that honoring your dad's legacy is one of the most complicated things you'll do after he's gone. There's no roadmap for standing in his garage, surrounded by forty years of "useful" junk, trying to figure out what to keep, what to toss, and what the hell any of it meant to him. There's no guide for the grief that ambushes you in a hardware store aisle because he used to love those places. Roger Nairn and Scott Cunningham — the hosts of Dead Dads — started this podcast because they couldn't find the conversation they were actually looking for after losing their own fathers.
The Real Work of Legacy
Honoring a father's legacy isn't one grand gesture. It's a hundred small, ongoing decisions:
- Sorting through his belongings and choosing what stays in the family
- Passing down the stories — even the uncomfortable ones — to people who never met him
- Acknowledging the lessons he taught you without ever saying a word (explored in "The Unspoken Inheritance: What Your Dad Taught You Without Saying a Word")
- Sitting with the fact that he was a flawed man whose legacy matters anyway (as unpacked in "My Dad Was a Flawed Man. That's Exactly Why His Legacy Matters.")
- Figuring out who you're becoming now that he's gone — and whether you're okay with it (see "You Are Becoming Your Dead Dad: Navigating the Inheritance of Habits and Flaws")
Why This Is Harder for Men
Most grief resources aren't built for men who've lost their dads. They're clinical, polished, and quietly suggest you should be further along by now. Dead Dads takes a different approach: peer-to-peer, honest, and occasionally darkly funny — because that's closer to how men actually process loss. Whether your dad died recently or years ago (grief that persists long after the funeral is real — "Why Your Dad's Death Still Hits Hard Years Later and What to Do With It" goes deep on this), this is a space where you don't have to perform your grief.
From practical episodes about estate logistics and password-protected iPads to raw conversations about seeking approval from a man who's no longer there ("Living Without His Approval: The Unexpected Freedom After Your Dad Dies"), Dead Dads covers the full, uncomfortable spectrum of what it means to carry your father forward.
What Dead Dads Covers (The Stuff People Usually Skip)
Hosted by Roger Nairn and Scott Cunningham — two men who've lived this — every episode goes somewhere most grief content won't.
The Practical Chaos Nobody Warns You About
Paperwork marathons, estate logistics, garages full of "useful" junk, password-protected devices. The show covers the unglamorous aftermath of loss that somehow no one prepares you for.
Grief That Hits in Strange Places
The hardware store. A sports game. A song on the radio. Episodes explore the unexpected grief triggers that catch you off guard years after the funeral.
Legacy, Honestly
Not the sanitized eulogy version — the real one. Conversations about flawed fathers, complicated relationships, and what it means to honor someone you're still figuring out. See also: "The Day I Realized My Dad Was Just a Man and What That Changes."
The Milestones He'll Miss
Graduations, marriages, kids he never met. Episodes tackle how to navigate massive life moments without being able to pick up the phone — covered in depth in "How to handle massive life milestones when you can't call your dad."
Carrying Him Forward
Practical ways to preserve memory — from building a memory box ("How to Build a Memory Box to Honor Your Dad After Loss") to honoring unfinished business ("Beyond the Bucket List: How to Honor Your Dad's Unfinished Business and Personal Legacy").
Real Guests, Real Stories
No PR pitches. No polished bios. Guests like John Abreu and Greg Kettner bring unfiltered, firsthand accounts of navigating life after losing a dad.
What Listeners Are Saying
Men who found Dead Dads are finding words for things they'd been carrying alone.
"Great podcast. Touches on things that we as guys either don't discuss or are afraid to discuss about the deaths of our dads. My father passed before Christmas 2025 and was buried a couple days after Christmas. And it's been…"
"What a great and much-needed topic to talk about. I lost my dad a few years back and have not talked about it much. It's the type of pain that I bottle up and keep to myself. I felt some pain relief…"
Listen on Every Major Platform
Dead Dads is available wherever you listen — no excuses, no barriers.
- Spotify
- Stream every episode at open.spotify.com/show/4WWlXBPzgj151SFYRUZeSB
- Apple Podcasts
- Subscribe and review at podcasts.apple.com
- YouTube
- Watch and subscribe at @deaddadspodcast
- iHeartRadio
- Listen at iheart.com/podcast/320265953/
- Amazon Music, PocketCasts, Castbox & More
- Available on all major podcast directories. Find your player at deaddadspodcast.com.
Common Questions
Straight answers to what people usually wonder before they hit play.
Is this show only for men?
The primary audience is men who've lost their fathers, but the conversations — grief triggers, legacy questions, complicated relationships — resonate with anyone navigating father loss. The show's tone is built around how men tend to process grief: direct, occasionally dark-humored, and light on forced positivity.
Do I need to have lost my dad recently to connect with this?
Not at all. Grief doesn't have an expiration date. Episodes like "Why Your Dad's Death Still Hits Hard Years Later and What to Do With It" speak directly to men who lost their dad years ago and are still working through it.
What if my relationship with my dad was complicated?
That's exactly who this show is for. Dead Dads doesn't require you to have had a storybook father. Posts like "My Dad Was a Flawed Man. That's Exactly Why His Legacy Matters" and "The Day I Realized My Dad Was Just a Man and What That Changes" go straight at the complicated stuff.
Can I share my own story or suggest a guest?
Yes — the show actively invites both. You can leave a voice message about your dad, submit a review, or suggest a real person with a real story at deaddadspodcast.com. No PR pitches, no polished bios — just genuine stories.
Where can I read more beyond the podcast?
The blog at deaddadspodcast.com/blog/ goes deeper on many of the same themes — including "What I Wish I'd Asked My Dad Before He Died (And How to Start)", "Father's Day Without Your Dad: Redefining a Holiday That Now Hurts", and "He Never Met Them. Here's How I Made Sure They Know Him Anyway."