What Makes Us Tick?

With special guests:

• John Flanagan and
• Hugh Mackay.

The author of an interesting new book, ‘What Makes Us Tick?’ is Hugh Mackay, who is widely regarded as Australia’s preeminent social researcher and he joins us today to discuss his latest book. Hugh Mackay has spent most of his working life exploring why we do the things we do, ranging from the television programs we watch or the politicians we vote for, to the decisions that shape our lives - who (or whether) to marry, where to live, whether to have children, what job to do.

Written as part reflection, part psychological analysis, ‘What Makes Us Tick?’ is a highly personal account of the things Mackay has learned from the experience of listening to people talk about their dreams, their fears, their faith, their hopes, their disappointments, their frustrations and their fantasies. It makes for a most interesting interview and is definitely a must listen.  

We open the show with a long overdue interview with well informed John Flanagan, who is the Deputy Registered Officer of the Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting). John speaks with passion about the proposed new Family Law amendments and claims that if passed by Parliament in its present form, the Family Law Legislation Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011 will significantly reduce contact by children with both parents after divorce/separation.  

John makes the point that at first glance, there appear to be many more submissions supporting the Bill (in a ratio of approximately 2:1), but has observed that when studied more closely, many of the submissions supporting the Bill would appear to have been actually written by the same author.

He suggests this is particularly the case with regard to the many submissions commencing with the words “I am writing to express my support”. If this should be correct, surely some questions need to be asked such as, 1. is there a process of verifying the authenticity of submissions?,  2. what that proccess might be?, and 3. how does the  AG propose to answer these claims of subversion of the political process?.

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White House Council on Boys to Men

With special guests:

• Tom Golden and
• Jack Kammer.

This week on Dads on the Air we talk to two members of the recently established “Proposal for a White House Council on Boys to Men”, Tom Golden and Jack Kammer from the USA. They are two leading members of a multi-partisan Commission of thirty-four nationally-known scholars and practitioners, who have submitted a proposal that President Obama create a White House Council on Boys to Men.  

The mere presidential announcement of a White House Council on Boys to Men makes visible an invisible crisis. A White House Conference on Boys to Men to present “best practices” within one year after the Council is created, will prove invaluable to the future well- being of our Men.

Designed to tackle a nationwide crisis of boys and men, the Commission identifies the following five main components:

• Education. Boys are behind girls in almost every subject, especially reading and writing. Yet boy-friendly programs (e.g., recess and vocational education) are being curtailed.      

• Jobs. Our sons are not being prepared for jobs where the jobs will be. Yet women rarely marry men in unemployment lines.    

• Fatherlessness. A third of boys are raised in father-absent homes; yet boys and girls with significant father involvement do better in more than 25 areas.    

•   Physical health. Life expectancy has gone from one to five years less for males than for females, yet federal offices of boys and men’s health are non-existent.  

• Emotional health. Boys’ suicide rate goes from equal to girls to five times girls’ between ages 13 and 20, as boys feel the pressures of the male role.  

Each of the five crisis components is potentially handled by a different department of the government; therefore coordination and prioritisation is best handled at the White House level.

With a Short-Term Investment of One million dollars, the Long-Term Savings will add up to Many billions of dollars. (For example, boys who are cared for become men who care for–men who pay taxes for schools rather than drain taxes for prisons.) The quality-of-Life Savings will be Priceless.

Tom Golden, LCSW is the author of two books about men’s unique paths to healing. The first is titled Swallowed by a Snake: The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing and the second is called A Man You Know is Grieving: 12 Ideas for Helping Him Heal From Loss. Tom has given workshops on this topic in the U.S.,  Australia, Canada and Europe. His work has been featured in the NY Times, the Washington Post, on CNN, CBS Evening News, ESPN, the NFL Channel and others. Tom serves on the Maryland Commission for Men’s Health and lives outside Washington DC.

Jack Kammer, MSW, MBA returned to school at the age of fifty-four to earn Masters degrees in Social Work and Business Administration. He did so to document, highlight and take action on male gender issues and the social problems that arise when those issues are ignored and mishandled. He specialises in the Race and Gender effect on marginalized African-American men and boys in urban settings. He is also the author of If Men Have All the Power How Come Women Make the Rules: and other radical thoughts for men who want more fairness from women and Good Will Toward Men: Women Talk Candidly About the Balance of Power Between the Sexes. He has a new book (2009) for boys and young men, titled Heroes of the Blue Sky Rebellion: How You and Other Young Men Can Claim All the Happiness in the World.

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New Feminism

With special guests:

• Dr. Elizabeth Celi and

• Barbara Kay.
  

Today is International Women’s Day, and in sharp contrast to the struggling International Men’s Day, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate their achievements. On this day a global web of rich and diverse local activities, connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women’s craft markets, theatre performances, fashion parades and more.         

Women now hold many positions of power in a huge variety of endeavours and rightly so, yet the catchcry of victimhood continues to dominate the debate and is promoted by the views of the vocal radical feminists, who relentlessly attack and ridicule men at every opportunity. Unfortunately these extreme and outdated relics of a past era, persist with blaming all men for the world’s ills and support their distorted view of reality with a steady flow of corrupt data and statistics.          

They speak about the gender wage gap and the great need for equal pay for women. However, in most countries it is illegal to engage in paying a woman less for doing the same job and working the same hours as the man. We therefore challenge them to produce just one woman who finds herself in that position.

The fact is that some industries and professions just happen to pay more than others, and it therefore has more to do with women working less hours and/or that many of them work in industries or professions that happen to pay less. Or are they perhaps suggesting that every industry and profession should have the same rate of pay?          

Thankfully, the next generation of NEW Feminists are the more enlightened women in our communities who have moved on, and can see through this facade of victimhood and consider it counter productive to persist in engaging in a destructive power struggle with men. They understand the need for true equality and readily support the needs of men, and in turn are supported by the men.         

We speak to two such women today, and begin the show with an informative interview with Dr Elizabeth Celi, Psychologist, Author and social commentator. Dr. Celi completed a First Class Honours degree in Psychology and Psychophysiology and successfully achieved her Doctoral qualification from The Department of Psychiatry at The University of Melbourne. In addition to her workshops, advocacy and clinical practices, in regional and inner city, Dr. Celi currently sits on the Board of the Australian Psychological Society.          

Through regular TV and radio appearances and interviews, lectures, workshops, seminars and publications, Dr. Celi helps to debunk the negative myths and stereotypes about Men – our fathers, husbands, uncles, grandfathers, sons and brothers. Elizabeth champions the need for more positive male role models through a renewed appreciation and mutual respect for the strengths and skills of men and masculinity, as they now apply, in the 21st Century.          

To get an International perspective we speak to well known Canadian journalist Barbara Kay, who is a Columnist for the National Post newspaper. Barbara has an Honour BA in English Language and Literature, University of Toronto, and an M.A. in English Literature, McGill University as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow.          

She is an outspoken supporter of the equal rights of Men and Fathers, to enjoy the same rights as those currently awarded to women through the feminist inspired policies of our Governments, and is appalled at the bigotry and gender divisive mentality which continues to dominate in some of our Government Departments and Agencies, such as the Family Courts and the Domestic Violence Industry. Barbara will be talking about her upcoming column on feminism which is being released later this week for the Centenary of IWD.   

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Celebrating Our Boys, Men And Fathers

With special guests:

• Jason Van Genderen and
• Stephen Toon.

First up we speak with Jason Van Genderen, Creative Director of Treehouse Creative, a communications and design studio – based in Gosford, Crows Nest and Melbourne — who talks about his film ‘The Unspoken’ written as a tribute to his father who is dying of lung cancer, which was awarded the runner-up prize at Tropfest 2011 .  

This year’s batch of brilliant short films, selected 16 finalists  from more than 700 entries. The main event was held last Sunday 20 February in The Domain, Sydney and public viewing sites were set up across the nation – Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide, Surfers Paradise and Perth – giving all Australians the chance to be a part of the anticipated 150,000 strong live audience.

Each year, Tropfest’s competition attracts aspiring filmmaker’s worldwide, eager to share their stories and craft with the public. 2011 had a distinct international flavour – entries flooded in from all corners of the globe and one of the Finalists came all the way from South Africa.  

Jason started out making comedies but is building a reputation for emotional short films. His film ‘My Town is Broken’ about urban decay in Gosford, won an award at the Sydney Film Festival in 2008 for films shot on a mobile phone. Another film “Mankind is No Island’ about homelessness won the first Tropfest New York in 2008. He also won 3 awards at the Geelong 24 hours Shoot Out Film Festival in 2007  

Our second guest is Stephen Toon, Director of Consultancy & Community Programs, AIMHS,  Australian Institute of Male Health and Studies – talking about ‘From Boyhood to Manhood’, Stephen has extensive experience in working with men and boys and in developing and delivering a range of male health, preventative mental health, suicide prevention, and personal development programs. These programs have been taken up by government, and NGOs, and have spanned health, education, and welfare sectors. 

Stephen has been responsible for the State-wide rollout of the highly successful Men in Communities Program (awarded the South Australian government, Dr Margaret Tobin Award for Excellence in Community Mental Health Education). He has played a pioneering role in the development of men’s health in South Australia and has been a commentator, educator, and male health consultant in much demand.  

Currently, Stephen is conducting research for the University of South Australia, concerned with establishing an evidence base and developing a best practice framework for conducting group work with men. He is also a PhD candidate in the University of South Australia’s Centre for Regional Engagement. 

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The New Manhood

With special guests:

• Steve Biddulph and

• David Hatfield.      

Our first guest this week is Steve Biddulph, ‘The New Manhood’, who is one of the world’s best known psychologists and a celebrated author of many books. We will discuss in detail the content of his latest book ‘The New Manhood’. His books, including Secret of Happy Children, Manhood, and Raising Boys, are in four million homes and 31 languages. They have influenced the way we look at childhood and especially the development of boys and men.

Steve was voted Australian Father of the Year in 2000 for his work encouraging the role of fathers. He lives in Tasmania with his wife Sharon, a large extended family, and assorted wombats.

Speaking about his first new book in 6 years, Steve says “The New Manhood contains everything I have learned about being male, from working as a therapist and educator with men, and living for almost sixty years, struggling, reflecting, and researching about how a man’s life either works, or does not.” The central message of the new book is the importance of purpose, and the idea that there is a single change that delineates a man from a boy. A man is someone who has gone beyond self, he enjoys life, but he lives for others.

The New Manhood is influenced by much powerful and new thinking – from elders like Richard Rohr, David Mowaljalai, David Schnarch, young men like Donald Miller. It features special sections on outstanding practitioners in education and therapy – preventing rape in South Africa, teaching manhood to boys in Melbourne, healing family violence in Northern NSW. Its message is for teenage boys, young men, family men, mid-life men and men growing old.The book is full of stories and is simple and easy to read. Steve counts this book as his best effort, perhaps of a lifetime, to affect the course of the times we live in.

Our second guest is Canadian David Hatfield, “Manology” who is an independent facilitator, experiential educator, trainer, and consultant. His professional interests revolve around issues of social justice, masculinity, and leadership. His passions lie in the meeting place of gender empathy and empowerment, rites of passage, conflict transformation, creativity, communication, and leadership training.

David’s engaging program design, facilitation, and keynote addresses are masterful and have been contracted nationally and internationally. As a specialist in male issues, David is a powerful guide in exploring notions of masculinity and a catalyst in illuminating and supporting new possibilities for both genders.

David is also the Canadian coordinator for International Men’s Day, and is proud to host the IMD event in Vancouver.  This is Vancouver’s first public celebration of International Men’s Day. The event will begin with an introduction to men’s day, a proclamation from the City of Vancouver, and several speakers and entertainers. Then everyone is welcome to mingle and meet the numerous participating organizations who will be sharing information and inviting participation in diverse ways. There will be games to play, food, fun, and creative opportunities to add your opinions and ideas into the mix!!

This event celebrates Men’s positive contributions, offers information about issues facing boys and men, and a chance to meet a diverse number of organizations in the community that are working to support the needs of boys, men and families.

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Concern For The Nations' Boys

With special guests:

• Maggie Hamilton

• Melinda Tankard Reist

• Julie Gale and

• Dr Arne Rubinstein.                                                                          

Following years of neglect, there finally appears to be a ripple of concern, for the wellbeing of the nations’ boys. Growing up in an era that sees their fathers portrayed as either bumbling idiots or violent abusers, it is difficult for boys to find a role model to be proud of, or a place where they are honored.  

Our program this week consists of the recorded presentations made by four outstanding speakers, at a recent function held at NSW Parliament House, who dealt with the concern held by many, that we need to improve the support for the next generation of young men.  

First up we hear Maggie Hamilton, ‘What Is Happening To Our Boys’ , who as a well known author and social commentator, speaks about her new book, and the many reasons why we should be concerned about the way we support our boys, as they deal with the social pressures, new technologies, drugs and alcohol, peer pressure and porn, which affect them.   

Next we hear Melinda Tankard Reist, ‘Collective Shout’, who is concerned about the level of exposure to pornography and other social interests, and how some marketing influences negatively impact on our childrens’ view of the world.  

This is followed by Julie Gale, ‘Kids Free To Be Kids’, who is also concerned with the health and wellbeing of our kids, and how children are portrayed in advertising - i.e. What they wear, how they’re posed.  

Finally we hear an informative presentation by Dr. Arne Rubinstein, ‘Rites Of Passage’, who is the Co-Founder and past CEO of the Pathways Foundation, a Not For Profit organization that runs the National Award Winning Pathways to Manhood program in schools and communities around Australia. This program for teenage boys and their fathers is a contemporary Rite of Passage that aims to inspire the boys to have a vision and reach their potential.   

Dads On The Air is proud to have been broadcasting Men and Father’s issues for the past 10 years, and will celebrate our 10th anniversary, and persistence in the face of many adversities, on next weeks show. This now makes us the world’s longest running radio program, dealing with father issues.  

We hope to have many of our past contributors on the program, and look forward to your company, as we celebrate the success of the past 10 years, and proudly move into the next decade.

While it is difficult to be a lone voice in the wilderness, our mission will not be accomplished until the wilderness of political and media ignorance, is conquered, and our children’s human right to enjoy the love, care and protection of both parents, is guaranteed, and enshrined in legislation. 

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tagged Boys / Rites of Passage, Boys' Education, Gender & Masculinities, Media Representation of Males, Mentoring, Raising Kids, Relationships, Young Men

Tuesday

Sep212010

Supporting Australian Dads

Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 10:30AM

With special guests:

• Akiva Quinn and

• Darren Atkinson.                                                                          

In an era when fathers are treated as a disposable commodity, there are those in our community who actually care enough about the plight of Australia’s dads, to help them cope with the difficulties of trying to be a dad during this difficult period.

This historically discriminating anti Men/Father era, is also shared by our Indigenous brothers. The only difference is that the dispossession and dis-empowerment of Indigenous men, started long before the wider community turned on its own men, fathers and boys. 

On today’s show we play two interesting interviews, recorded at the last National Men’s Health Convention in Newcastle with two such supporters of our Dads, who speak about the work they are doing in support of Australian Dads. 

 

The first interview is with Akiva Quinn, of Dadslink, a support group for dads in Victoria. He explains in detail the exciting programs made available by his organization, which go some way in helping Dads to better connect and bond with their children.

 

Our second interview is with Darren Atkinson of the support group, I’m an Aboriginal Dad. Darren is an Indigenous leader, with a passion to improve the parenting role of young Indigenous fathers. He explains how the child removal policies, and the prolonged dis-empowerment and persecution of Indigenous males, all but destroyed the fabric of his culture.

 

Many young Aboriginal men, have not benefited from a father figure during their childhood and lacked a good role model to prepare them for fatherhood. Interestingly, now that we have fine tuned this discriminating, government sponsored, child removal policy via our Family Courts, there is no doubt we will inherit the same aftermath as that now experienced by our Indigenous brothers. 

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tagged Fatherlessness, Indigenous Men & Fathers, Male-Friendly Services, Men's Groups, Men's Health, Mentoring, Raising Kids, Relationships

Tuesday

Sep142010

She-Wolves In Sheeps' Clothing

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 at 10:30AM

With special guests:

• Elizabeth Willmott Harrop and
• Steve Martin.

She may not be the first, nor will she be the last, to speak out in abhorrence at the level of accepted community bigotry. However on the subject of female child abusers, nobody does it better than Elizabeth Willmott Harrop, “She-Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing”. Elizabeth resides in New Zealand, is a freelance writer, and has a Masters Degree in Human Rights and Social Change.

If anyone should be in doubt about the true state of who is actually involved with the abuse of children in our communities, they should listen to this weeks’ excellent interview with Elizabeth. As a well informed social commentator from New Zealand, she has carefully researched the subject, and articulates her findings with a passion, reserved for those stung by a horrible truth.

Elizabeth details her research, which includes statistics from the USA , Australia and the UK, as well as that of her native New Zealand, and the global findings are frighteningly similar.

What is most distressing is the level of Government unwillingness to recognize the findings of a plethora of studies, which reveal that female child abusers not only exist, but in actual number, almost equals the number of male abusers.

Unbelievably, despite the wealth of credible information available, elected representatives in the western democracies, persist in turning a blind eye to the truth about this issue, resulting in the drafting of hopelessly ineffective child protection legislation, which continues to be founded on a distorted perception of reality.

 

We are also joined by Steve Martin, CEO of Stepfamilies Australia, Melbourne, who speaks in detail about the dads in stepfamilies and the services offered by his organization.    

It is estimated that one in five Australian families is a stepfamily, which is fast becoming a prominent part of Australian family life. Many of these families need information, education and support. While there are many resources for biological families available to the community, the unique differences associated with stepfamilies are not well addressed, with very few services available.

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tagged Celebrating Men, Child Abduction, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, False Allegations, Male-Friendly Services, Mentoring, Raising Kids, Relationships

Tuesday

Sep072010

What Men Want - In Bed

Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 10:30AM

With special guests:

• Bettina Arndt and
• Helen Rimington. 

At a time when it is considered funny and fashionable to engage in men and father bashing, it is certainly refreshing to see someone with the courage to enquire about the physical and emotional needs of men.

Well known social commentator, author and sex therapist Bettina Arndt,  “What Men Want - In Bed”, joins us to speak about her new book, and explains in detail, what her research into the needs of men has discovered.

 
Outspoken and pleasantly engaging, Bettina has left no stone unturned, in order to discover the inner thoughts of men, which are usually not discussed in public and which many men struggle with. This book is now widely available and a must read for all men.

 

We begin the show with an interesting interview with another woman who supports the well-being of men, Helen Rimington Director, Family Wellbeing,“Drummond Street Services”, who details the services provided by her organisation.

Helen speaks of a great new program offered to Dads, “Backyard Blitz”, which is an activity program specifically designed to help Dads and their kids.

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tagged Celebrating Men, Gender & Masculinities, Male-Friendly Services, Men's Health, Mentoring, Older Men & Fathers, Raising Kids, Relationships

Tuesday

Aug312010

Fatherless Day 2010

Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 10:30AM

With special guests:

• Barry Williams

• Stephen S Holden and
  

• Warwick Marsh.
                                                                              

Despite all the evidence available in the form of a multitude of credible research and statistics, which clearly shows the immense damage being done to the bonds of family kinship in our Australian communities, the unrelenting push for a fatherless society continues.

The fact that this mountain of evidence continues to be ignored, is a sad reflection on the way our parliamentary system of government has been hijacked, by the anti-male zealots within the political parties and the bureaucracy.

 

Hundreds of thousands of Dads will not see their children this Fathers Day 2010, yet this did not even rate one mention during the recent federal election.  It is no wonder the wider community has turned their back on the main parties, who have ignored the many concerns of their constituents for far too long.

 

Speaking about some of these concerns, Barry Williams, President of the Lone Fathers Association Australia, describes the current Family laws as being in breach of anti discrimination legislation. He plans to take 4 points of discrimination to the Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.

 

We also speak with separated father Stephen S Holden author of The Other Glass Ceiling, who details some of the anti-father legislation and how easily it can destroy a fathers’ relationship with his children.

We end the show with Warwick Marsh, of Dads4Kids, who speaks about the importance of dads in a child’s life, and the celebration of fatherhood this special weekend on Fathers Day.

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tagged Celebrating Men, Family Law, Fatherlessness, Men's Health, Non-Custodial Fathers, Political Activism, Relationships, Shared Parenting

Tuesday

Aug242010

The Plight Of Modern Man

Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 10:30AM

With special guest:

• Paul Mischefski.  
                                                                              
  

This week we feature an interesting pre-recorded interview with investigative journalist Paul Mischefski of Mens Wellbeing, who speaks on a range of issues facing modern man in the 21st Century. In particular, there is considerable discussion around the way Domestic Violence issues are dealt with in Australia and elsewhere.  

Paul throws much doubt on the way information is gathered and how studies are conducted, which is reflected in poor domestic violence policy formulation by our governments. The resulting damage to generations of innocent men and boys by such discriminating anti male Domestic Violence propaganda, is incalculable.         

The ‘Mens Wellbeing’ website provides much helpful and informative information, including the following:  

At their deepest level, most men yearn to participate in some small or large way in the creation of a better world, and in doing so serve their families, loved ones and community. How to fulfil this yearning in these complex times is a conundrum that leaves some part of just about every man struggling for clear direction within himself about what it means to be an authentic, healthy man in our society.

Being a man in the 21st Century is no easy task.  In just one generation, the expectations on men have changed dramatically. Our roles as fathers, lovers, workers, community members, brothers and friends have all changed from what was expected of our fathers, in some cases almost beyond recognition. This rapid rate of change has left many men without adequate role models and in a state of confusion about what it means to be a man in the modern era.

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tagged Celebrating Men, Domestic Violence, False Allegations, Family Law, Fatherlessness, Male-Friendly Services, Men's Groups, Men's Health, Mentoring, Relationships

Tuesday

Jul272010

Families And Elections

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 10:30AM

With special guests:

• Samantha Page and
  

• John Flanagan.
                                                                              

First up we speak with Samantha Page, who is the Executive Director of Family Relationship Services Australia (FRSA), which is the national peak body for family relationship and support services. Their purpose and mission, is to provide national leadership and representation for services that work to strengthen the well-being, safety and resilience of families, children and communities.  

FRSA member organizations deliver professional, quality assured family and relationship services across Australia through more than 400 outlets. Their membership includes faith-based and secular organizations, ranging in size and scope from small local community organizations to large state-wide and national service providers.  

Samantha faced some difficult questioning dealing with the delays in the system, the non-compliance of court orders, and the agenda driven anti shared parenting bias of some of the agencies.

Our second guest this week is John Flanagan, who is the Deputy Registered Officer of the Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting). John speaks candidly about the role of his party in the coming Federal Elections.   

While the NCPP does not expect to see any of their candidates in Parliament, the Party nevertheless plays an important role in raising community awareness to the perilous state of  the Family Justice System, and the debilitating cost to the fabric of our society.  

John acknowledges that the 2006 legislation, which provided us with the much heralded “Equal Shared Parenting Responsibility Bill”, has absolutely nothing to do with  “Equal Shared Parenting Time” for separated parents.  

Unfortunately, while Dads On The Air correctly pointed out at the time, that it was a cruel exercise in Political Spin, most of the wider community, the service providers, as well as many in the fatherhood movement, fell for this discredited political con job.

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tagged Family Law, Fatherlessness, Male-Friendly Services, Non-Custodial Fathers, Political Activism, Relationships, Separation / Divorce, Shared Parenting

Tuesday

Jun012010

What's Happening To Our Boys

Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 10:30AM

With special guest:

• Maggie Hamilton.
  

Like a breath of fresh air, it was delightful to have Maggie Hamilton, celebrated author, teacher and publisher, join us on the program this week, to speak about her latest book ‘What’s Happening To Our Boys’ .    

With this new book, Maggie takes a good look into the trails and tribulations facing our boys and young men in the early part of the 21st century. As always, this well researched book is a must buy for today’s parents, who often find themselves struggling with the competing influences challenging the parenting of their sons.  

Maggie leaves no stone unturned, as she delves deep into how boys and young men deal with the many issues they face in a modern technological society, while also stressing the importance of a dad or other good male role model in their lives.  

Unfortunately Ken Thompson was unable to contact us to provide a scheduled update of his bicycle trip around Europe, where he is searching for his abducted son Andrew. However we look forward to hear the latest news of his experiences next week.  

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tagged Boys / Rites of Passage, Boys' Education, Fatherlessness, Fathers and Sons, Gender & Masculinities, Raising Kids, Relationships, Shared Parenting, Young Men

Tuesday

Feb232010

A Help Line For Men

Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 10:30AM

With special guest

• Andrew King. 
  

The program this week mainly centers around some of what help is available for men, and accordingly we speak with Andrew King of MensLine Australia, who explains in detail the services provided by this excellent government funded support service for men.

MensLine Australia is the national telephone support, information and referral service for men with family and relationship concerns. The service is available from anywhere in Australia for the cost of a local call, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The service is staffed by paid professional counsellors, experienced in men’s issues.

The benefits of telephone counselling are particularly attractive to men, who often find it tough to ask for help and can find face-to-face discussions about difficult issues confronting and even shameful. MensLine Australia offers a private and ‘safe’ environment for guys to talk about their problems. Over the phone, callers are anonymous and can retain more control over what happens as they can terminate the call at any time.

When faced with a problem, men are often more focussed on outcomes and practical solutions than their emotions and internal world. MensLine Australia counsellors recognize this preference and offer a down-to-earth, practical approach to counselling, whilst also encouraging men to deal with important issues in an effective way.

Although the process of separation is traumatic for all concerned, it can be particularly difficult for men whose coping strategies are often limited. MensLine Australia’s counsellors have ready access to relevant information and referral to men’s services at any time and from anywhere in the country.

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tagged Celebrating Men, Fatherlessness, Male-Friendly Services, Men's Groups, Men's Health, Mentoring, Relationships, Suicide

Tuesday

Nov172009

International Mens Day Special

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 10:30AM

With special guests:

• Dr. Elizabeth Celi
• Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh
• Diane A. Sears
• Jason Thompson
• Frank Crump and
• Uma Challa  

We dedicate the whole of this weeks’ program to International Men’s Day, which is finally and deservedly starting to get more recognition and traction around the world. Warwick Marsh, from Dads4Kids who is the Global Coordinator for IMD, set the scene last week on Dads on the Air when he spoke about some of the events taking place in Australia and around the world to celebrate this important International event.  

Our guests this week are from 3 different continents, representing millions of good and decent men around the globe, who currently witness themselves being publicly and relentlessly maligned on a daily basis. While there are exceptions to every rule, these should never be used to misrepresent the whole group in the way we now see men being portrayed.  

We commence our International lineup of guests with Australia’s Dr Elizabeth Celi from Quality Living who is the keynote speaker at the  IMD function to be held at Australia’s Parliament House in the Nation’s Capital, Canberra, on the 19th November. Dr. Celi is a strong supporter of the rights of men to be treated as an equal in a modern society, instead of having to face the daily injustices that confront them in many sectors of our community.   

Next we speak with Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh from Trinidad in the West Indies, who is the founder of IMD and described the event in the following manner, “International Men’s Day is about addressing the challenges and problems that men face; improving gender relations between men and women; promoting gender equality; highlighting positive male role models – not just movie stars and athletes – but “everyday working class men who are living decent, honest lives”; and creating a safer and better world”.  

We then speak with Diane A. Sears, IMD Coordinator in the USA, who puts it this way, “We must work together as a team. International Mens Day provides us with a great opportunity. Strong fathers create and sustain efficiently functioning family units which positively shape the minds and souls of our children – our future – our bridge to the future. After all, isn’ t it really about our children?”  

The person responsible for Global Promotions, who is also the Historian and Coordinator for IMD is Australia’s Jason Thompson and our next guest, who would like to take this opportunity to ask individuals and organizations who are planning an event to contact him with the details at: soulgany@bigpond.com

The following guest is Frank Crump from the USA and UPI Education, who with  IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD® have entered into a partnership in observance of International Men’s Day 2009 on Thursday, 19 November 2009. UPI Education is asking students, faculty, and administrators to observe International Men’s Day 2009 through one moment of silence beginning at 11:19 A.M. (EST) and ending at 11:20 A.M. (EST) to commemorate and contemplate the sacrifices and contributions that Men have made throughout the world. UPI Education is also soliciting essays, articles, and poems from students and adults which identify the positive male role models that have influenced their lives. These essays, articles, and poems will be published on IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD®’s blog.  

We conclude our program interviewing  one of the hardest working and passionate promoters of equality and justice for all, Uma Challa from India. Uma Challa is the IMD Coordinator for India. She made the point that, “International women’s Day is celebrated the world over every year but we also need to have a celebration every year to recognize and honor men: our fathers, brothers, partners, sons, male friends and colleagues; for the numerous services they render and the innumerable sacrifices they make to ensure the health and well-being of the family and the society.”

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tagged Boys' Education, Celebrating Men, Family Law, Gender & Masculinities, International Perspectives, Media Representation of Males, Political Activism, Raising Kids, Relationships

Tuesday

Oct062009

Action On Men's Health

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 10:30AM

With special guests:

• Greg Andresen 
  

• Ray Kelly and

• Geoffrey Greene. 

We start the program by doing a live cross to the National Men’s Health Gathering 2009, being held in the city of Newcastle. Greg Andresen reports on the planned activities for the four day event. While a significant national event, which only takes place every alternate year, it sees Dads on the Air as the only member of the national news media to attend this important National Convention on Men’s Health issues, for the full week.

Greg Andresen and Peter van de Voorde, who are representing Dads on the air at the conference, will be recording a number of presentations and have planned a series of interviews with leading participants that will be aired in coming weeks on our program.

Our second interview is with Indigenous leader Ray Kelly, an academic based at Newcastle University, who gave the opening presentation at the 5th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Male Health Convention. This Convention was the forerunner to the National Men’s Health Conference and the National Family and Relationships Forum, and was devoted to Indigenous issues where men’s health issues are even more predominant than in the general community.

We also speak with Geoffrey Greene the President of the Shared Parenting Council of Australia, about the three separate inquiries into Family Law being conducted by the Rudd Government. He argued that despite the concerted push to wind back the Family Law reforms introduced by the Howard government, the Trade Union movement would be a force within the ALP to block these changes. The Union movement wants to avoid a return to the dark ages when fathers only saw their children intermittently, if at all, following separation.

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tagged Celebrating Men, False Allegations, Family Law, Indigenous Men & Fathers, Male-Friendly Services, Men's Health, Mentoring, Political Activism, Relationships

Tuesday

Sep222009

Iron John

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 10:30AM

With special guest:

• “Athol”.  

This weeks show deals with American author, Robert Bly’s insightful interpretation of the Grimms brothers fairy tale “Iron John”.  “Iron John” tells the story of a boy who is mentored by a wild man thru various trials and tribulations to emerge a hero and eventually marry the King’s daughter.  

Iron John is also the name of a men’s group based in Sydney that meets regularly and deals with issues arising in its member’s lives. We are privileged to interview one of the members of this group who identifies himself as Athol. 

In his book, ‘Iron John; a story about men’ Bly interprets the original tale, explaining its relevance to the development of the pre-industrial male psyche whilst lamenting the failures of modern society to correctly initiate boys into manhood and the subsequent disastrous impacts upon the lives of modern men and women.

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tagged Celebrating Men, Fatherlessness, Gender & Masculinities, International Perspectives, Men's Groups, Men's Health, Relationships

Tuesday

Sep082009

Facts Versus Myths

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 10:30AM

With special guest:

• Sue Price.  

Once again we continue with the ever present need to put the record straight and expose the truth behind the myths and disinformation generally being presented in the media, regarding the many factors surrounding the family justice system.

Our editorial position is that, unless policies and programs are formulated as a result of sound research which is grounded in verifiable facts about the nature, extend and causes of the problems, we will never achieve a just and equitable outcome and separating families will continue to suffer as a result.

This week our guest is Sue Price of the ‘Mens Rights Agency’. As always Sue points out the urgent need for better reporting and the necessity for correct analysis of the operation of the current system and in particular the success or otherwise of the mediation centers which were set up by the Howard government, as a first point of call for broken families.

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tagged Celebrating Men, Media Representation of Males, Political Activism, Political Correctness, Relationships, Shared Parenting

Tuesday

Aug252009

Marriage Matters

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 at 10:30AM

With special guests:

• Warwick Marsh  and

• Bill Kable.

First we speak with the founder of the Dads4Kids Fatherhood Foundation, which is now Australia’s largest pro-father, pro-marriage and pro-family charity, Warwick Marsh.

Warwick, together with his wife and daughter, recently attended the Smart Marriages Conference in Florida, USA. During his US tour in July, Warwick met with leaders in the American fatherhood and marriage movement and recorded many interviews for TV and radio. He speaks with us about his recent tour and his passion to promote marriage and the virtues of staying together for better or worse.

Next we introduce the newest member of the Dads on the Air team, Bill Kable. Bill is a Sydney lawyer who is also a professional mediator with a mission to encourage fathers to take an active role in the lives of their children, and to ensure they remain in the lives of their children should parental separation occur.  

Bill speaks candidly about some of his own experiences with the family justice system, and how it fails non custodial parents and their children, especially in the area of non-enforcement of contact orders.  

Also in the studio were two other new members of the Dads on the Air team, Bill’s wife Catherine, a University lecturer and Trevor Miller, a retired ABC TV editor. All of whom have had extensive experience with the family justice system and realize the urgent need to ensure the nation’s children obtain real equal shared parenting time with both of their  parents, following parental separation.  Welcome aboard. 

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tagged Family Law, Fatherlessness, International Perspectives, Raising Kids, Relationships, Shared Parenting, Work-Life Balance, Young Men

Tuesday

May262009

Heaven, Earth, Mankind and Happy Dads

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 10:30AM

With Special Guests:

• Professor Ian Plimer and
  
• Professor John Jenkins.

This week we opt for variety, beginning the show with one of Australia’s leading climate change sceptics Professor Ian Plimer, whose new book Heaven & Earth: Global Warming The Missing Science has topped the bestseller lists and is already into its fifth edition in Australia in a month. The author of seven books, Professor Plimer is somewhat taken aback to finally find himself the author of a bestseller. Not only are issues around global warming of intrinsic worth to fathers, the propaganda techniques used to convince the general population that only politicians can save us through higher taxes and greater government control is also of direct relevance.

We then move on to Professor John Jenkins, who has just completed a study on separated dads suggesting they should learn to relax, play and have more fun with their kids. For everybody’s sake.

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tagged Non-Custodial Fathers, Raising Kids, Relationships, Separation / Divorce

Page 1 ... 17 18 19 20 21

Supporting Australian Dads

With special guests:

• Akiva Quinn and

• Darren Atkinson.                                                                          

In an era when fathers are treated as a disposable commodity, there are those in our community who actually care enough about the plight of Australia’s dads, to help them cope with the difficulties of trying to be a dad during this difficult period.

This historically discriminating anti Men/Father era, is also shared by our Indigenous brothers. The only difference is that the dispossession and dis-empowerment of Indigenous men, started long before the wider community turned on its own men, fathers and boys. 

On today’s show we play two interesting interviews, recorded at the last National Men’s Health Convention in Newcastle with two such supporters of our Dads, who speak about the work they are doing in support of Australian Dads. 

 

The first interview is with Akiva Quinn, of Dadslink, a support group for dads in Victoria. He explains in detail the exciting programs made available by his organization, which go some way in helping Dads to better connect and bond with their children.

 

Our second interview is with Darren Atkinson of the support group, I’m an Aboriginal Dad. Darren is an Indigenous leader, with a passion to improve the parenting role of young Indigenous fathers. He explains how the child removal policies, and the prolonged dis-empowerment and persecution of Indigenous males, all but destroyed the fabric of his culture.

 

Many young Aboriginal men, have not benefited from a father figure during their childhood and lacked a good role model to prepare them for fatherhood. Interestingly, now that we have fine tuned this discriminating, government sponsored, child removal policy via our Family Courts, there is no doubt we will inherit the same aftermath as that now experienced by our Indigenous brothers. 

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She-Wolves In Sheeps' Clothing

With special guests:

• Elizabeth Willmott Harrop and
• Steve Martin.

She may not be the first, nor will she be the last, to speak out in abhorrence at the level of accepted community bigotry. However on the subject of female child abusers, nobody does it better than Elizabeth Willmott Harrop, “She-Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing”. Elizabeth resides in New Zealand, is a freelance writer, and has a Masters Degree in Human Rights and Social Change.

If anyone should be in doubt about the true state of who is actually involved with the abuse of children in our communities, they should listen to this weeks’ excellent interview with Elizabeth. As a well informed social commentator from New Zealand, she has carefully researched the subject, and articulates her findings with a passion, reserved for those stung by a horrible truth.

Elizabeth details her research, which includes statistics from the USA , Australia and the UK, as well as that of her native New Zealand, and the global findings are frighteningly similar.

What is most distressing is the level of Government unwillingness to recognize the findings of a plethora of studies, which reveal that female child abusers not only exist, but in actual number, almost equals the number of male abusers.

Unbelievably, despite the wealth of credible information available, elected representatives in the western democracies, persist in turning a blind eye to the truth about this issue, resulting in the drafting of hopelessly ineffective child protection legislation, which continues to be founded on a distorted perception of reality.

 

We are also joined by Steve Martin, CEO of Stepfamilies Australia, Melbourne, who speaks in detail about the dads in stepfamilies and the services offered by his organization.    

It is estimated that one in five Australian families is a stepfamily, which is fast becoming a prominent part of Australian family life. Many of these families need information, education and support. While there are many resources for biological families available to the community, the unique differences associated with stepfamilies are not well addressed, with very few services available.

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What Men Want - In Bed

With special guests:

• Bettina Arndt and
• Helen Rimington. 

At a time when it is considered funny and fashionable to engage in men and father bashing, it is certainly refreshing to see someone with the courage to enquire about the physical and emotional needs of men.

Well known social commentator, author and sex therapist Bettina Arndt,  “What Men Want - In Bed”, joins us to speak about her new book, and explains in detail, what her research into the needs of men has discovered.

 
Outspoken and pleasantly engaging, Bettina has left no stone unturned, in order to discover the inner thoughts of men, which are usually not discussed in public and which many men struggle with. This book is now widely available and a must read for all men.

 

We begin the show with an interesting interview with another woman who supports the well-being of men, Helen Rimington Director, Family Wellbeing,“Drummond Street Services”, who details the services provided by her organisation.

Helen speaks of a great new program offered to Dads, “Backyard Blitz”, which is an activity program specifically designed to help Dads and their kids.

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Fatherless Day 2010

With special guests:

• Barry Williams

• Stephen S Holden and
  

• Warwick Marsh.
                                                                              

Despite all the evidence available in the form of a multitude of credible research and statistics, which clearly shows the immense damage being done to the bonds of family kinship in our Australian communities, the unrelenting push for a fatherless society continues.

The fact that this mountain of evidence continues to be ignored, is a sad reflection on the way our parliamentary system of government has been hijacked, by the anti-male zealots within the political parties and the bureaucracy.

 

Hundreds of thousands of Dads will not see their children this Fathers Day 2010, yet this did not even rate one mention during the recent federal election.  It is no wonder the wider community has turned their back on the main parties, who have ignored the many concerns of their constituents for far too long.

 

Speaking about some of these concerns, Barry Williams, President of the Lone Fathers Association Australia, describes the current Family laws as being in breach of anti discrimination legislation. He plans to take 4 points of discrimination to the Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick.

 

We also speak with separated father Stephen S Holden author of The Other Glass Ceiling, who details some of the anti-father legislation and how easily it can destroy a fathers’ relationship with his children.

We end the show with Warwick Marsh, of Dads4Kids, who speaks about the importance of dads in a child’s life, and the celebration of fatherhood this special weekend on Fathers Day.

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The Plight Of Modern Man

With special guest:

• Paul Mischefski.  
                                                                              
  

This week we feature an interesting pre-recorded interview with investigative journalist Paul Mischefski of Mens Wellbeing, who speaks on a range of issues facing modern man in the 21st Century. In particular, there is considerable discussion around the way Domestic Violence issues are dealt with in Australia and elsewhere.  

Paul throws much doubt on the way information is gathered and how studies are conducted, which is reflected in poor domestic violence policy formulation by our governments. The resulting damage to generations of innocent men and boys by such discriminating anti male Domestic Violence propaganda, is incalculable.         

The ‘Mens Wellbeing’ website provides much helpful and informative information, including the following:  

At their deepest level, most men yearn to participate in some small or large way in the creation of a better world, and in doing so serve their families, loved ones and community. How to fulfil this yearning in these complex times is a conundrum that leaves some part of just about every man struggling for clear direction within himself about what it means to be an authentic, healthy man in our society.

Being a man in the 21st Century is no easy task.  In just one generation, the expectations on men have changed dramatically. Our roles as fathers, lovers, workers, community members, brothers and friends have all changed from what was expected of our fathers, in some cases almost beyond recognition. This rapid rate of change has left many men without adequate role models and in a state of confusion about what it means to be a man in the modern era.

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Families And Elections

With special guests:

• Samantha Page and
  

• John Flanagan.
                                                                              

First up we speak with Samantha Page, who is the Executive Director of Family Relationship Services Australia (FRSA), which is the national peak body for family relationship and support services. Their purpose and mission, is to provide national leadership and representation for services that work to strengthen the well-being, safety and resilience of families, children and communities.  

FRSA member organizations deliver professional, quality assured family and relationship services across Australia through more than 400 outlets. Their membership includes faith-based and secular organizations, ranging in size and scope from small local community organizations to large state-wide and national service providers.  

Samantha faced some difficult questioning dealing with the delays in the system, the non-compliance of court orders, and the agenda driven anti shared parenting bias of some of the agencies.

Our second guest this week is John Flanagan, who is the Deputy Registered Officer of the Non-Custodial Parents Party (Equal Parenting). John speaks candidly about the role of his party in the coming Federal Elections.   

While the NCPP does not expect to see any of their candidates in Parliament, the Party nevertheless plays an important role in raising community awareness to the perilous state of  the Family Justice System, and the debilitating cost to the fabric of our society.  

John acknowledges that the 2006 legislation, which provided us with the much heralded “Equal Shared Parenting Responsibility Bill”, has absolutely nothing to do with  “Equal Shared Parenting Time” for separated parents.  

Unfortunately, while Dads On The Air correctly pointed out at the time, that it was a cruel exercise in Political Spin, most of the wider community, the service providers, as well as many in the fatherhood movement, fell for this discredited political con job.

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What's Happening To Our Boys

With special guest:

• Maggie Hamilton.
  

Like a breath of fresh air, it was delightful to have Maggie Hamilton, celebrated author, teacher and publisher, join us on the program this week, to speak about her latest book ‘What’s Happening To Our Boys’ .    

With this new book, Maggie takes a good look into the trails and tribulations facing our boys and young men in the early part of the 21st century. As always, this well researched book is a must buy for today’s parents, who often find themselves struggling with the competing influences challenging the parenting of their sons.  

Maggie leaves no stone unturned, as she delves deep into how boys and young men deal with the many issues they face in a modern technological society, while also stressing the importance of a dad or other good male role model in their lives.  

Unfortunately Ken Thompson was unable to contact us to provide a scheduled update of his bicycle trip around Europe, where he is searching for his abducted son Andrew. However we look forward to hear the latest news of his experiences next week.  

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A Help Line For Men

With special guest

• Andrew King. 
  

The program this week mainly centers around some of what help is available for men, and accordingly we speak with Andrew King of MensLine Australia, who explains in detail the services provided by this excellent government funded support service for men.

MensLine Australia is the national telephone support, information and referral service for men with family and relationship concerns. The service is available from anywhere in Australia for the cost of a local call, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The service is staffed by paid professional counsellors, experienced in men’s issues.

The benefits of telephone counselling are particularly attractive to men, who often find it tough to ask for help and can find face-to-face discussions about difficult issues confronting and even shameful. MensLine Australia offers a private and ‘safe’ environment for guys to talk about their problems. Over the phone, callers are anonymous and can retain more control over what happens as they can terminate the call at any time.

When faced with a problem, men are often more focussed on outcomes and practical solutions than their emotions and internal world. MensLine Australia counsellors recognize this preference and offer a down-to-earth, practical approach to counselling, whilst also encouraging men to deal with important issues in an effective way.

Although the process of separation is traumatic for all concerned, it can be particularly difficult for men whose coping strategies are often limited. MensLine Australia’s counsellors have ready access to relevant information and referral to men’s services at any time and from anywhere in the country.

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International Mens Day Special

With special guests:

• Dr. Elizabeth Celi
• Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh
• Diane A. Sears
• Jason Thompson
• Frank Crump and
• Uma Challa  

We dedicate the whole of this weeks’ program to International Men’s Day, which is finally and deservedly starting to get more recognition and traction around the world. Warwick Marsh, from Dads4Kids who is the Global Coordinator for IMD, set the scene last week on Dads on the Air when he spoke about some of the events taking place in Australia and around the world to celebrate this important International event.  

Our guests this week are from 3 different continents, representing millions of good and decent men around the globe, who currently witness themselves being publicly and relentlessly maligned on a daily basis. While there are exceptions to every rule, these should never be used to misrepresent the whole group in the way we now see men being portrayed.  

We commence our International lineup of guests with Australia’s Dr Elizabeth Celi from Quality Living who is the keynote speaker at the  IMD function to be held at Australia’s Parliament House in the Nation’s Capital, Canberra, on the 19th November. Dr. Celi is a strong supporter of the rights of men to be treated as an equal in a modern society, instead of having to face the daily injustices that confront them in many sectors of our community.   

Next we speak with Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh from Trinidad in the West Indies, who is the founder of IMD and described the event in the following manner, “International Men’s Day is about addressing the challenges and problems that men face; improving gender relations between men and women; promoting gender equality; highlighting positive male role models – not just movie stars and athletes – but “everyday working class men who are living decent, honest lives”; and creating a safer and better world”.  

We then speak with Diane A. Sears, IMD Coordinator in the USA, who puts it this way, “We must work together as a team. International Mens Day provides us with a great opportunity. Strong fathers create and sustain efficiently functioning family units which positively shape the minds and souls of our children – our future – our bridge to the future. After all, isn’ t it really about our children?”  

The person responsible for Global Promotions, who is also the Historian and Coordinator for IMD is Australia’s Jason Thompson and our next guest, who would like to take this opportunity to ask individuals and organizations who are planning an event to contact him with the details at: soulgany@bigpond.com

The following guest is Frank Crump from the USA and UPI Education, who with  IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD® have entered into a partnership in observance of International Men’s Day 2009 on Thursday, 19 November 2009. UPI Education is asking students, faculty, and administrators to observe International Men’s Day 2009 through one moment of silence beginning at 11:19 A.M. (EST) and ending at 11:20 A.M. (EST) to commemorate and contemplate the sacrifices and contributions that Men have made throughout the world. UPI Education is also soliciting essays, articles, and poems from students and adults which identify the positive male role models that have influenced their lives. These essays, articles, and poems will be published on IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD®’s blog.  

We conclude our program interviewing  one of the hardest working and passionate promoters of equality and justice for all, Uma Challa from India. Uma Challa is the IMD Coordinator for India. She made the point that, “International women’s Day is celebrated the world over every year but we also need to have a celebration every year to recognize and honor men: our fathers, brothers, partners, sons, male friends and colleagues; for the numerous services they render and the innumerable sacrifices they make to ensure the health and well-being of the family and the society.”

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Action On Men's Health

With special guests:

• Greg Andresen 
  

• Ray Kelly and

• Geoffrey Greene. 

We start the program by doing a live cross to the National Men’s Health Gathering 2009, being held in the city of Newcastle. Greg Andresen reports on the planned activities for the four day event. While a significant national event, which only takes place every alternate year, it sees Dads on the Air as the only member of the national news media to attend this important National Convention on Men’s Health issues, for the full week.

Greg Andresen and Peter van de Voorde, who are representing Dads on the air at the conference, will be recording a number of presentations and have planned a series of interviews with leading participants that will be aired in coming weeks on our program.

Our second interview is with Indigenous leader Ray Kelly, an academic based at Newcastle University, who gave the opening presentation at the 5th National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Male Health Convention. This Convention was the forerunner to the National Men’s Health Conference and the National Family and Relationships Forum, and was devoted to Indigenous issues where men’s health issues are even more predominant than in the general community.

We also speak with Geoffrey Greene the President of the Shared Parenting Council of Australia, about the three separate inquiries into Family Law being conducted by the Rudd Government. He argued that despite the concerted push to wind back the Family Law reforms introduced by the Howard government, the Trade Union movement would be a force within the ALP to block these changes. The Union movement wants to avoid a return to the dark ages when fathers only saw their children intermittently, if at all, following separation.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Iron John

With special guest:

• “Athol”.  

This weeks show deals with American author, Robert Bly’s insightful interpretation of the Grimms brothers fairy tale “Iron John”.  “Iron John” tells the story of a boy who is mentored by a wild man thru various trials and tribulations to emerge a hero and eventually marry the King’s daughter.  

Iron John is also the name of a men’s group based in Sydney that meets regularly and deals with issues arising in its member’s lives. We are privileged to interview one of the members of this group who identifies himself as Athol. 

In his book, ‘Iron John; a story about men’ Bly interprets the original tale, explaining its relevance to the development of the pre-industrial male psyche whilst lamenting the failures of modern society to correctly initiate boys into manhood and the subsequent disastrous impacts upon the lives of modern men and women.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Facts Versus Myths

With special guest:

• Sue Price.  

Once again we continue with the ever present need to put the record straight and expose the truth behind the myths and disinformation generally being presented in the media, regarding the many factors surrounding the family justice system.

Our editorial position is that, unless policies and programs are formulated as a result of sound research which is grounded in verifiable facts about the nature, extend and causes of the problems, we will never achieve a just and equitable outcome and separating families will continue to suffer as a result.

This week our guest is Sue Price of the ‘Mens Rights Agency’. As always Sue points out the urgent need for better reporting and the necessity for correct analysis of the operation of the current system and in particular the success or otherwise of the mediation centers which were set up by the Howard government, as a first point of call for broken families.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Marriage Matters

With special guests:

• Warwick Marsh  and

• Bill Kable.

First we speak with the founder of the Dads4Kids Fatherhood Foundation, which is now Australia’s largest pro-father, pro-marriage and pro-family charity, Warwick Marsh.

Warwick, together with his wife and daughter, recently attended the Smart Marriages Conference in Florida, USA. During his US tour in July, Warwick met with leaders in the American fatherhood and marriage movement and recorded many interviews for TV and radio. He speaks with us about his recent tour and his passion to promote marriage and the virtues of staying together for better or worse.

Next we introduce the newest member of the Dads on the Air team, Bill Kable. Bill is a Sydney lawyer who is also a professional mediator with a mission to encourage fathers to take an active role in the lives of their children, and to ensure they remain in the lives of their children should parental separation occur.  

Bill speaks candidly about some of his own experiences with the family justice system, and how it fails non custodial parents and their children, especially in the area of non-enforcement of contact orders.  

Also in the studio were two other new members of the Dads on the Air team, Bill’s wife Catherine, a University lecturer and Trevor Miller, a retired ABC TV editor. All of whom have had extensive experience with the family justice system and realize the urgent need to ensure the nation’s children obtain real equal shared parenting time with both of their  parents, following parental separation.  Welcome aboard. 

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...

Heaven, Earth, Mankind and Happy Dads

With Special Guests:

• Professor Ian Plimer and
  
• Professor John Jenkins.

This week we opt for variety, beginning the show with one of Australia’s leading climate change sceptics Professor Ian Plimer, whose new book Heaven & Earth: Global Warming The Missing Science has topped the bestseller lists and is already into its fifth edition in Australia in a month. The author of seven books, Professor Plimer is somewhat taken aback to finally find himself the author of a bestseller. Not only are issues around global warming of intrinsic worth to fathers, the propaganda techniques used to convince the general population that only politicians can save us through higher taxes and greater government control is also of direct relevance.

We then move on to Professor John Jenkins, who has just completed a study on separated dads suggesting they should learn to relax, play and have more fun with their kids. For everybody’s sake.

Listen Now (MP3)

Click to read more ...