The Big Dad Energy of “Some Good News”
Fatherhood on Friday: John Krasinski’s new YouTube channel celebrates kindness for a grateful, ardent audience.
Well, that didn’t take long. In just his fourth episode of Some Good News, the YouTube channel launched by actor/director John Krasinski, his message of “Let’s try to counterbalance our nonstop dread” reached beyond the planet when he interviewed Astronauts Andrew Morgan, Jessica Meir, and Chris Cassidy on the International Space Station.
When Episode 1 dropped out of the blue on March 29, with its series of feel-good stories about people being kind to one another, Krasinski established the show’s Big Dad Energy with a logo designed by his two young daughters (inspired by Bill Hader’s production company, perhaps) and an “I 💙 DAD” card propped over his right shoulder. Since then, he’s gathered the original cast of Hamilton on a Zoom call to perform for a 9-year-old megafan, took a bunch of Boston-area Covid-19 hospital workers to Fenway Park, and invited Billie Eilish to perform at a virtual prom he organized for all the high-school seniors who’ll miss out this spring.
During the interview, Eilish’s brother Finneas was able to tell Krasinski what we were all thinking: “No one that isn’t a dad would put so much love and care into something so nice for a bunch of 17-year-olds.”
We (and his 2+ million subscribers) are big fans of these episodes, so much so that we don’t want to tell him when the quarantine is over, so he’ll keep making them and essentially establish himself as the next Ellen DeGeneres. He may have fame, and success, and a ton of Hollywood connections, and enough financial security to do whatever he wants until he can work again. But beneath all that, he’s just a dad making engaging, collaborative content. It’s going to be fun to see him try to top himself each week.
ON THE PODCAST: Stress and the Uncompleted Feedback Loop
For Episode 27, therapist and 2020 Summit alum Jonathan Baxter, LMHC talks about how our brains aren’t built to process so many threats at once. He has lots of advice if you’re not sleeping well, if your dreams are weirder than usual, and how you can help your brain learn to cultivate a sense of agency.
Other important topics include why comedians meditate, the correlation between safety and smelling each other’s feet, and the health benefits of hate-watching The Rise of Skywalker.
IN THE NEWS
When he’s not reading stories to his daughter, Simmy Cohen hopes this reading of Goodnight Moon resonates with other Orthodox Jews now that COVIDー19 ended live Torah readings.
On This American Life: A dad’s young daughter asks him questions like “What is life? Why?” And they got even more amazing from there. Listen to the end.
“At 27, Wil Smith enrolled as a freshman at Bowdoin College with his infant daughter, Olivia, in tow. He kept her a secret until his arrival, out of fear that the college would not allow him to attend.” A breathtaking story, from start to finish.
During his daily coronavirus press conference, New York Gov. Cuomo advised dads to “like the boyfriend,” right before he asserted that he likes his daughter’s boyfriend.
Now that spouses are in closer, more confined quarters, New York Times Parenting is running some of their greatest hits about parenting and relationships.
Colorado’s “Dancing Dad” is using his huge, new platform to donate meals to first responders. “I think people need to get the vibe of taking care of each other, and also create a little positive mojo by getting off their butts and celebrating life.”
This TikTok of a “dadosaur” and his family has been viewed over 8 million times, and people have opinions about it.
“The fact that me and my daughters and my wife all live in one house together is a huge, huge blessing,” says Chance the Rapper. “I’ve just been taking that in with all the stuff that’s going on.”
Kudos to this dad for showing his daughter that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
PORCHLIGHT POSTS
“Seven friends on Facetime, six games a-playing, five hours of screeeeeeens!” — Adam Hall, The 12 Days of Homeschooling
“Whenever you feel like you can’t deal with one more thing, a toddler will be right there to say, ‘Oh, yes you can, buddy.’” — Jared Bilski, What A Rock Through A Car Window Taught Me About Parenting In A Pandemic
“That I could go on a pretend date with a real person was a gift. That I had three more people in the house that I could exclude from that date was an even stranger luxury, but no less of a beautiful one.” — Drew Magary, Quarantine Date Night!
“When my wife works, it’s a bit more frantic and scattershot with only one adult present. And there’s the additional burden of the worry that sits on my chest like an anvil.” — Andrew Knott, Navigating Joy, Worry When Your Spouse Is A Healthcare Worker
“Put simply, nothing quite takes the edge off a global crisis like a GIF of a water-skiing squirrel.” — James Stout, Coronavirus Memes Brought My Dad And Me Closer Together
‘GRAM OF THE WEEK
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Originally published at https://dad2.com on April 24, 2020.
