Darby Saxbe (on Dad Brain)

Darby Saxbe (on Dad Brain)

From Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard by Armchair Umbrella

June 10, 2026 · 1h 48m · Episode 1060

About this episode

Darby Saxbe discusses the science of fatherhood and its impact on men's lives.

Darby Saxbe (Dad Brain: The New Science of Fatherhood and How It Shapes Men’s Lives) is a clinical psychologist, tenured professor, and researcher on family stress and the transition to parenthood. Darby joins Armchair Expert to discuss growing up in an academic household, her parents’ dramatic divorce, and watching her surgeon father suddenly learn how to become the primary parent. Darby and Dax talk about why fatherhood research has lagged behind motherhood research, what happens chemically and neurologically to new dads, and how hunter-gatherer societies, Barcelona playgrounds, and Swedish “latte papas” reveal very different models of raising children. Darby explains why “dad bod” is a real thing, how dads’ brains physically change when they engage in caregiving, and why kids may need more community, boredom, roughhousing, and freedom than modern parenting usually allows. Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://www.allstate.com/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

People in this episode

Host: Dax Shepard

Guest: Darby Saxbe

Topics covered

  • fatherhood
  • parenting
  • psychology
  • family stress
  • neuroscience
  • community

Keywords

  • fatherhood research
  • dad brain
  • caregiving
  • dad bod
  • parenting models
  • family dynamics

Sponsors

Allstate

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Dad Brain: The New Science of Fatherhood and How It Shapes Men’s Lives

Places: Barcelona, Sweden

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