In this back-to-school parenting episode of World’s Greatest Dad, Ali and Neil share real-life stories about fatherhood, kids, and family life. Neil dives into the first day of French immersion kindergarten in New York City, his daughter starting second grade, and planning a creative board game birthday party, while Ali talks about raising an 8th grader in Austin, navigating middle school parenting, volleyball camps, and the milestone of giving his son his very first iPhone. Together, they discuss kids and technology, how parental controls really work, and what it means to let children explore texting and digital friendships. They also swap family travel stories from Paris and Mallorca to Japan and beyond, offering tips for traveling with kids, plus a surprising review of the Dave & Buster’s season pass. Along the way, the dads riff on pop culture from Breaking Bad and The Hunting Wives to K-Pop Demon Hunters and even the bizarre 1970s puppet show The Letter People. It’s a funny, relatable parenting podcast episode full of nostalgia, practical advice, and reminders to savor the little milestones whether it’s skee-ball, lasagna dinners, or late-night show binges.

What happens when you trade algorithms for orioles? Michael Lombardo joins us to talk about his leap from Google and YouTube into fatherhood, community building, and birdwatching. Along the way, we dig into tech disillusionment, the addictive pull of screens, and why birds might be the antidote all dads and parents all over need to understand a chaotic world. With binoculars, poems, and plenty of dad jokes, he’s turned birding into more than a hobby—it’s become a community lifeline for the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn where he hosts weekly birding group events on Saturday mornings. In this can't miss episode, Michael helps us understand how nature, neighborhood, and new parenthood all intersect.

Chef Jet Tila (Food Network, Iron Chef America, Cutthroat Kitchen) joins us for an unfiltered conversation about food, family, and fatherhood. Jet opens up about growing up in LA as the first U.S.-born child of Thai-Chinese immigrants, how his father’s choices forced him to restart life at 17, and why he ultimately walked away from a high-paying Vegas chef job to be present for his wife and kids. Jet shares how therapy, parenting with “firm but loving boundaries,” and resisting the pressure of smartphones for his 12-year-old have shaped his fatherhood journey. We also get Jet's hot take on authenticity in food, creating a family culture from scratch, and why he believes the best recipe he’s ever written is the one at home.

Ali and Neil sit down with Augustine Sedgewick, historian, dad, and author of Fatherhood: A History of Love and Power, to talk about the myths, stories, and struggles that shape what it means to be a dad. From ancient patriarchs to gentle parenting, Taylor Swift to the Founding Fathers, the dads cover it all this week and learn why the best fatherly advice might be: just listen.

Ali wears a red hat WITHOUT ANY WORDS ON IT. Neil gets roasted online by displeased TikTokkers. And together they unpack what it’s like to parent in the era of virality, cancellation, and preteens who correct your vocabulary. Plus: Gen X parenting guilt, and how to lose at chess without losing your kid’s respect. Don't miss our listener mailbag with questions on: grilling, DIY fails, kid anxiety, and family fart etiquette. Oh...and we talk about the Coldplay Affair because how could we not?

The World's Greatest Dads unpack the subjects other dad podcasts refuse to tackle: from composting blood clots to dying our gray hair to why carnitas may be the answer to everything. And the guys try to figure out if they’ve done anything right as dads. Spoiler: probably? PLUS: is it wrong to leave a toddler strapped to a bike outside a coffee shop? Neil and Ali consult the “Dad Ethicist” (aka themselves) in an episode full of truly questionable fatherly advice.

In this episode, Neil and Ali navigate the big stuff: kids, boredom, creativity, and letting go of perfection. Hear why bad singing isn’t the worst thing, how vintage sneakers might teach finance, and what How to Train Your Dragon says about fatherhood. We also cover: screen time battles, sarcastic six-year-olds, and what Pixar’s Elio taught us about shedding emotional armor. Plus, Neil does an Elmo voice. You’ve been warned.

Ali returns from Asia with stories of travel and family bonding. From Korean barbecue tours and craft beer in Kyoto to yogurt shaming and leftover strategy, Ali and Neil cover it all. This week: the weird intimacy of long-haul family travel, the honest truth about eating etiquette in a marriage, and a high schooler flipping Pokemon cards like Wall Street futures. Plus the dads explore what your area code reveals about your social class. Expect Entourage references, cell phone nostalgia, and surprisingly deep thoughts on fatherhood, anime, and French pastry chefs in Seoul. and that universal dad instinct to finish everyone’s leftovers. This episode is for anyone who's ever eaten crab too loudly...or used their finger as a bread knife on a date.