Discover
Dad Stories: a multi-generational podcast about childhood and growing-up
Dad Stories: a multi-generational podcast about childhood and growing-up
Author: Eden and Tom Knutilla
Subscribed: 4Played: 13Subscribe
Share
© 2026 Dad Stories: a multi-generational podcast about childhood and growing-up
Description
A boomer dad and his millenial child compare and contrast childhood experience stories in order to better understand what is really different between generations.
53 Episodes
Reverse
Send a text Welcome back to our continuation of Eden’s pilgrimage on The Camino! Our second episode will pick up from the first, starting in Southern France and heading into the Pyrenes and into Spain. Along the way we will see how Eden got the passport needed before the start of the trip that is used to identify one as a Pilgrim. We will also hear about some of the nitty gritty points of living on The Camino with the kind of interesting experiences that comes with living in close quart...
Send a text Well, we’re back! We have taken a significant break in our podcast this year and soon you will know why! We have already recorded several episodes that will fill in the blanks on our break. The main reason is that this year Eden was experiencing a significant change in life that has resulted in a move from the west coast to the east coast! Along the way, Eden took an extended trip to Europe which included an approximately very long walk on the Camino de Santiago which started in s...
Send a text This episode continues discussing the question, What Does It Mean to Be a Man? We start by trying to complete some of the discussions in Part 1 around the definitive definition of Masculinity. We discuss societal definitions caused by Movies, TV and Commercials. We then discuss the impact of Chivalry on masculinity. We introduce a satirical book that came out in the early 80s called Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche as a background to discuss the changes around society’s perception of mod...
Send a text This episode starts with the question, What Does It Mean to Be a Man? Since, it is a topic too big and nuanced to be addressed by a couple of story tellers, this episode focuses on personal experiences. What did ‘My Old Man’ teach me about being a man? How did society influence the definition of manhood? What does ‘No Homo’ mean anyway? How does the Feminism influence the definition of Masculinity. How did Dad’s experience of being in the first class with women at West Point influ...
Send a text This episode continues the discussion about events that led us to becoming an Adult or, more accurately, becoming more like an adult. From when we were in our twenties going into the thirties, we both experienced a lot of growth based on being exposed to ‘adult life’. In this episode, we discuss topics centered around family situations such as partners, marriage and babies. We take a look at some of our more enlightening experiences as well as some sad and somewhat tragic experien...
Send a text Eden turns thirty! Recently Eden celebrated their 30th birthday. In light of that momentous event, we thought we would discuss events that led us to becoming an Adult or, more accurately, becoming more like an adult. From the twenties into the thirties, we both experienced a lot of growth based on being exposed to ‘adult life’. This will be a two-part series. In this first episode, we discuss topics centered around work and society. Our second episode will focus on family situatio...
Send a text This is the fifth and last episode on our elementary school years. With this episode, we share memories about starting school academically behind, coping with overcrowded schools and the changes that caused, senseless vandalism and other shenanigans, working for lunch money, being on safety patrol , spelling bees and school assemblies as well as other topics. Lastly, we talk about become aware of some of the social upheavals that were happening. We do a short recap of how the cont...
Send a text This is the fourth episode on our elementary school years. With this episode, we share memories about our first memories of experiencing the natural world as well as realizing diversity in the classroom. We also discuss our special school pressures when it came to dealing with math especially math competitions and the pros and cons of counting with your fingers! We also talk about childhood role models. An unusual topic covered is our memories around childhood illnesses incl...
Send a text This is our third episode on our elementary school years. Unsurprising but just like our first episode, on First Grade, we covered several areas that were not part of the script! The review of our report card revealed to us that we were both under a more focused attention on books we were reading’. It was interesting giving how topical books and schools are in the US right now. Nevertheless and as you might expect, Eden was a far more accomplished reader than her ‘Old Man’. ...
Send a text This is our second episode on our elementary school years. To keep us honest, we invited Mom back to join us for this episode. Just like our first episode, on First Grade, we covered several areas that were not part of the script! The review of our report card would suggest that we both had school in the second grade figured out. Our report cards indicated very little about little Tommy and Eden. However, that conclusion soon is modified as we dive into our first tastes or c...
Send a text We have decided to go back further in time and explore stories from our elementary school years. We were a little worried that our memories couldn’t go back that far. After recording our first episode, on First Grade, we realized our worries were for naught. In this episode we explore our experiences from First Grade. As luck would have it, our moms had saved our report cards from our elementary school years. We start with a review of our report card highlights. That gets us going...
Send a text This episode takes us back to our original model of comparing and contrasting our childhood experiences. In this episode, we discuss a question that adults frequently ask children, “So, what are you going to be when your grow up?”. It turns out that we had a lot to talk about. While Fireman, Policeman and Nurse were the most common jobs for children in the 60s, it turns out that a lot has changed. For us, future job considerations i included Gas Station Attendant, Politician...
Send a text This episode takes some unexpected turns as we start out discussing our experiences travelling in the Pacific Northwest and end up spending most of our time talking about Eden’s experience working at Animal Shelters in Michigan and California. In this episode we discuss Eden’s time in the woods of the Olympic Peninsula and Tom’s experiences while on a sea kayaking trip in the San Juan Islands. This discussion quickly turns to the issues of traveling especially after not having tra...
Send a text After taking a few months off we are back with a new season! During part of our time off we spend some time travelling and being out in the woods. In this episode, we discuss some ideas that bubbled up while we were communing with nature including some stories about our experiences with bears and inconvenient places to sleep. We share experiences regarding running into bears while camping and bike riding. We also discuss how we tried to prevent bears from getting into our food. Si...
Send a text This episode is an old fashioned BS session. It has been awhile since we spent time discussing exploits from our past. For this session, we unintentionally focused on some of our lesser stories from our travels in Europe. We share such experiences as seeing John the Baptist’s Skeleton, driving tips and tricks while on a long drive, taking up-close pictures of the pope, and getting in an accident while driving an formula race care in Belgium. While none of these stories were ...
Send a text This previously promised episode compares concerts and dancing between Boomer Parents and their Millennial Children. If one were to think that this topic is ripe for discomfort between generations or that participants would be talking right past each other due to complete unfamiliarity with each generation’s music and dance preferences, they would be partially right. If one were to suspect that this might lead to angst and anger resulting in argument and emotion, they would be tot...
Send a text This episode covers stories about the oldest members of our family that we personally knew, Eden’s Great Grandparents. This episode brings to light some of the most interesting personal stories of our family tree. As appropriate, mom joins us for this episode to represent her side of the family. It turns out that both mom and dad’s ancestral folks that grew up in the early 1900s had experiences that rivaled anything us youngsters could ever contrive. We learn about our glamo...
Send a text With all of the excitement that happened in Washington D.C. this year, it reminded us of our time living in Washington D.C. To us, the most important thing was that is where we started our family. Of course, we were no D.C. movers and shakers, we were just working stiffs trying to raise a family. However, upon reflection, we were able to take advantage of quite a few opportunities to float amongst the ‘powerful and famous’. We just qualified as ‘fly’s on the wall’. In this episode...
Send a text Spring is right around the corner. For some of us that means bicycling is back. This episode was made in hopes of conjuring up your own memories of learning to ride a bike and the independence that cycling brought you. Do you remember your first bike? This episode discusses the difference between people that remember their first bike and those that don’t. We also discuss our personal evolutions with the bicycle. As we discussed our cycling experience we were surprised as we ...
Send a text If you ever reflected on your childhood and wondered why your parents did certain things, this may be the episode for you. If you are a parent of adult age children and you wondered how certain misadventures impacted your kids, this may be the episode for you. Mom and Bobby make what has become a regular visit to participate in the discussion. For this episode, we have taken the gloves off to discuss several sensitive topics that occurred in our family’s past. Topics like ‘why did...



