The Good Enough Dad with Maggie Dent

Trent Dalton is a two-time Walkley Award-winning journalist and internationally bestselling author whose work has touched hearts around the world. But behind the accolades lies a childhood marked by immense hardship—substance abuse, domestic violence, parental separation and poverty.But Trent turned pain into prose. His debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe—a semi-fictionalised take on his childhood—became a literary sensation and later Netflix’s most successful Australian-made series. His 2021 non-fiction work, Love Stories, was adapted for the stage and will tour in late 2025, around the same time his next novel, Gravity Let Me Go, is set for release.Trent doesn’t shy away from the gritty and uncomfortable, but what sets him apart is his unwavering belief in beauty, love and hope—something he often credits to his wife of 25 years, journalist Fiona Franzmann. They now live in Brisbane with their daughters, Beth and Sylvie. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was three weeks before Tim Curtis met his first-born child, emerging from the jungle to discover his wife had gone into labour early. Tim is a former member of the Special Air Service Regiment or SAS, and was Australia’s first principal advisor to the government of Sierra Leone during their civil war when his son was born. Tim has also served in Afghanistan and Iraq. When he had three children under six, Tim was lead planner of the Afghan parliamentary elections. Balancing family life with such intense environments, Tim has learnt some valuable lessons about fatherhood and resilience.Find Tim’s new book Building Resilient Kids here: https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781761772078/Find The Resilience Shield here: https://resilienceshield.com/Listen to Tim’s podcast the Unforgiven 60 here: https://unforgiving60.podbean.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Professional surfing legends Adrian “Ace” Buchan and Glenn “Micro” Hall join Maggie Dent to reflect on their journeys — not just through waves, but through fatherhood. Adrian, who spent 16 years on the World Surf League tour and twice defeated Kelly Slater, now serves as chair of Surfing Australia. Glenn, a former pro who has become one of the sport’s most respected coaches, shares his experience balancing career and family life.Together, they explore the parallels between surfing and parenting — resilience, presence, identity — and what the ocean continues to teach them as dads raising the next generation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Raising kids can be hard enough, but how do you manage it when you spend half of your time in remote parts of Australia? Brendan Hodges is a Fly in Fly Out Worker, and has been since before his three kids were born. Brendan shares what it’s like to live this unique lifestyle, and how he’s managed to get the balance right for his family. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cameron Daddo’s career has spanned everything from hosting Perfect Match, to acting and working with directors like David Lynch, to writing books, making music, advocating for mental health and presenting podcasts. He and wife Alison Brahe-Daddo have three adult kids. Cameron reflects on the lessons he’s learnt as his kids grew up, including one critical piece of advice  from his own dad during a moment of crisis.Listen to Cameron & Ali’s podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-heart-of-it/id1463023422 Check out My Men’s Team here: https://www.mymensteam.org/ Find Cameron’s book, Keep It Smooth, here: https://publishing.hardiegrant.com/en-au/books/keep-it-smooth-by-cameron-daddo/9780645869088 Follow Cameron on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camerondaddo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In his 40s, musician and member of beloved Aussie band The Waifs, Josh Cunningham thought perhaps the ship had sailed and he was not destined to be a father in this lifetime. However, a creative connection with fellow muso Felicity Urquhart soon became a soul connection, and Josh is now a “bonus dad” to Felicity’s two girls. In true country music style, there has been tragedy and hardship along the way, but the ending is all about harmony and family. And Josh seems to have taken to fatherhood (and dollhouse and cake making!) like a natural.Links:Maggie mentioned her chat with Mitch Tambo, when talking about becoming a stepdad. You can listen to that here: https://shows.acast.com/the-good-enough-dad-with-maggie-dent/episodes/66cd1db36ef26bb25d2daa10Maggie also mentioned the episode in which she chatted with fellow Aussie muso/WA son John Butler - you can catch that here: https://shows.acast.com/the-good-enough-dad-with-maggie-dent/episodes/66cd1db36ef26bb25d2daa1eTo see images of the amazing unicorn cake and dollhouse that Josh made for the girls, visit the episode page on Maggie’s website at: https://www.maggiedent.com/blog/s2-ep-2-the-good-enough-dad-with-josh-cunningham/Stay in touch with Josh & Felicity’s music and news via:Website: www.felicityandjosh.com Socials: ·         Josh Insta: https://www.instagram.com/joshcunninghamofficial·         Josh Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshcunninghamofficial o   Felicity & Josh Insta: https://www.instagram.com/felicityandjosh/o   Felicity & Josh FB: https://www.facebook.com/felicityandjosh The Waifs links:·         The Waifs Website: https://www.thewaifs.com/·         The Waifs Insta: https://www.instagram.com/thewaifsband/·         The Waifs FB: https://www.facebook.com/thewaifs Links to Josh’s Music:·         Felicity & Josh on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/29TsUV0ZWC6uui8HAmNF21?si=ztOmwpvXQRqNBnjPZGGEBQ·         The Waifs on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5uKeKhwXi2w5cXdtoSaqjz?si=8ZXUtslZTZ-MLFIVdLhuwQ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maggie Dent is back for Season 2 of her enormously popular podcast The Good Enough Dad. Using her famous common sense Maggie will be chatting to dads from all walks of life to show that our kids don’t need perfection, they just need dads who are “good enough.”Joining her this season are musician Guy Sebastian, podcaster and actor Cameron Daddo, a FIFO Worker, a war veteran, two professional surfers and many more dads.Follow us now to make sure you don’t miss out!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For many years, Chadden’s work life consisted of travelling the world doing wild and adventurous things. Think swimming with belugas, sleeping next to volcanic lakes and close encounters with polar bears. He absolutely loved his life as a wildlife director, but when his wife fell pregnant with their second child, he knew it was time to make a big decision. Chadden talks to Maggie about how he ended up back in Australia, and the important process he had to go through to become the dad he wanted to be. LINKS: Chadden on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/chaddenhunter/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jeremy Hutchings grew up on a farm and has carried the lessons he learnt there into his own parenting experience. As a business coach and CEO of the Farm Owners Academy Jeremy is often talking to his community about resilience. It’s a trait he believes many kids develop through living and helping on a working farm – but there are also other skills he’s picked up along the way. He chats to Maggie about why he values the farming community so highly, and how it’s impacted the way he’s raised his kids. LINKS: The Farm Owners academy on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/farmownersacademy/ and website https://www.farmownersacademy.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sam’s mum worked several jobs to make ends meet when he was a child, they moved a lot, and money was tight. But Sam’s mum always made him feel like he had a say in their future. Sam tells Maggie why this was so important to him, and why he’s imparting it to his daughter today. LINKS: Sam Drummond on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/samuelgdrummond/ and Sam’s book can be found at Affirm Press https://affirmpress.com.au/browse/book/Sam-Drummond-Broke-9781922848475/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Children’s book author Scott Stuart wrote a book for his son called My Shadow is Pink all about his son’s love of dresses. He wrote the book to start conversations and allow greater acceptance of all the ways our children can express themselves. But walking the walk wasn’t always easy. Scott talks to Maggie about his own hang ups about gender identity and how he overcame them. LINKS: Scott Stuart on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/scottcreates/ You’ll find all of Scott’s books on his website. https://scottstuart.co/books/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matt Formston is not the kind of man you say no to. From a young age he was told he couldn’t do things – like rugby or surfing – because he lost 95 % of his vision when he was five. But ever since that age being told “no” has never stopped him. He’s been a professional surfer and cyclist, and today is an executive coach. Matt talks to Maggie about how he’s raising his kids to be experts in behaviour, and why that’s setting the up for life. LINKS: Matt’s website: https://www.mattformston.com/ and Matt Formston on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mattformston/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.