Keeping Dad Alive

About Keeping Dad Alive

Conversations between a dad and his children capture the sheer joy of talking, singing, and laughing with Richard, a man of simple pleasures, expansive intelligence, historical perspective, and progressive politics. In Season 1, Richard is living under lockdown in his senior living residence during the coronavirus pandemic. It tells the story of Richard’s resilience and of the family’s efforts to ease the psychic impact of his isolation. In Season 2, Margaret asks Richard why he talked so much about vocation when she was growing up. Richard offers the wide arc of his theological understanding—from the need to care for working people to the cosmic Spirit that holds the universe together. They decided to devote an entire podcast season to vocation.

Publisher

Margaret Poethig

Category

society & culture · society & culture · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

20 Oct 2020

Latest episode

15 Dec 2022

Latest episodes

23 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   15 Dec 2022

   Archives, Sibs, and Toss

   Richard and Eunice left behind a 100 boxes’ worth of personal papers and family records. Margaret and her sister Kerry must dispose of it all. The sisters sequestered themselves for several weeks near the storage unit in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, as they sorted the papers. To get through it, they first dealt with the anger and frustration of being saddled with this burden, and then found ways to lighten the mood. In the end, “We deconstructed the family,” says Kerry. And they delivered their parent’s intellectual work to its final resting place. The music in this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions.

2. 

   23 Dec 2021

   Requiem for Impossible Matter

   Richard imagines life after death on an undiscovered planet in a far-flung galaxy where he can recreate his life with his beloved wife Eunice. Margaret has a message for listeners. Richard Poethig’s Obituary: https://legcy.co/3FqQCxY “Remembering Richard Poethig,” The Presbyterian Outlook, December 7, 2021, by Presbyterian Historical Society: https://pres-outlook.org/.../12/remembering-richard-poethig/ Recording of Richard Poethig’s Memorial Service at Lakeview Presbyterian Church in Chicago: https://fb.watch/a4N4Yl20UA/ The music in this episode is the piece “Urge” by the composer and performer Chris Brown. Used with permission. https://cbmuse.com/

3. 

   16 Nov 2021

   Episode 6 – Mr. Richard

   Richard is in hospice and needs caregivers 24-hours-a-day. He marvels at all the attention. For his caregivers, it’s a vocation in the deepest sense of the word. Richard makes a case for more public support for caregiving.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

22 ratings

Contact Keeping Dad Alive

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.