The Briefing

The Briefing

Dispatches on dad life, mental health, gear, music, relationships, and staying alive in your forties.

Gear Reviews

Pedalboard Essentials: The 10 Guitar Pedals Every Rock Dad Needs

The 10 best guitar pedals for rock, picked by a band of dads: tuner, Tube Screamer, RAT, wah, delay, and…

12 min read
Relationships

How to Be a Better Listener (Especially When You’re Exhausted)

Nobody sits down to be a bad listener. But being a better listener in your relationship is one of those…

8 min read
Relationships

Long-Distance Fatherhood: Staying Present When You Travel for Work

The Part Nobody Puts in the Job Description Every traveling dad knows the specific weight of rolling a suitcase out…

8 min read
Gear Reviews

The Best Bluetooth Speakers for Backyard Hangs and Garage Jams

We tested the best Bluetooth speakers for backyard hangs and garage jams, from the JBL Charge 6 to the Sony…

11 min read
Relationships

The Division of Labor Problem: Research on Household Equality

The Division of Household Labor Is Still a Problem, and the Data Proves It If you have ever stood in…

10 min read
Relationships

Fighting Fair: How to Argue With Your Partner Without Wrecking Everything

Nobody gets into a relationship planning to fight, but if you have been in one longer than six months, you…

10 min read
Gear Reviews

Home Studio on a Budget: Building a Recording Setup Under $500

The full $500 recording setup, every dollar accounted for: the interface, the mic, the headphones, the free DAW, and the…

12 min read
Relationships

Why Your Friendships Change After Kids and What to Do About It

Losing friends after kids is one of those things nobody really warns you about when you're standing in the hospital…

8 min read
Relationships

The Co-Parenting Playbook: Making It Work When You’re Not Together

If you've gone looking for co-parenting tips online, you already know the problem. Most of what's out there reads like…

12 min read
Dad Life

The Dad Bod Debate: What the Research Actually Says About Body Image in Fathers

The meme gave dads permission to exhale. Then it got complicated. What the research actually says about body image and…

10 min read