Keeping Dad Alive

Archives, Sibs, and Toss

Richard and Eunice left behind a 100 boxes’ worth of personal papers and family records. Margaret and her sister Kerry must dispose of it all. Visit the website for more show notes and photos.

Requiem for Impossible Matter

Richard imagines life after death on an undiscovered planet in a far-flung galaxy where he can recreate his life with his beloved wife Eunice. Margaret has a message for listeners.

Episode 6 – Mr. Richard

Richard is in hospice and needs caregivers 24-hours-a-day. He marvels at all the attention. For his caregivers, it’s a vocation in the deepest sense of the word. Richard makes a case for more public support for caregiving.

Episode 5 – Bold Move to a New World

Richard is about to embark on his final journey. He recounts an earlier voyage by train, boat, and plane with his young family to their new home in the Philippines. On a stopover in Japan, Richard attends a conference about his new vocation: the urban-industrial mission of the church.

Episode 4 – Hellish Jobs

Episode 3 – Henny and Ernest

Episode 2 – Good Will

Episode 1 – Cosmic Theologian

Trailer – Season 2 – On Vocation

Richard talked a lot about vocation when his kids were young. The word stuck with Margaret. When she asked her dad about it, his answer took them on an unexpected journey. They decided to devote the entire podcast season to vocation.

Episode 13 – Rhythm of the seasons

Richard’s been clocking his progress through the coronavirus pandemic by the seasons, hoping he would make it to this point. Now that he’s made it to Spring, it’s time to end Season 1 of this podcast and pause for reflection. Music credit: “Horrible” from the album Mela 2 by the Mela Ensemble. Used under the Creative Commons license Attribution-ShareAlike.

Episode 12 – Hitchhiking with Ben

Richard’s grandson Ben tries to interview him about cars, but the conversation soon goes off track. Richard ("Dede") shares tales of hitchhiking across the country in the 1940s and riding a jeepney in the Philippines, while Ben struggles to get the answers he was hoping for. Richard (and Margaret) are initially confused by Ben’s line of questioning. But as the interview continues, Ben hones his listening and interviewing skills. He even learns about a black man named Joe Louis. Ben quickly gets ...

Episode 11 – The money episode

Money, money, money—Margaret and her sisters unpack the family dynamic around money, starting with the Hotel Eden luxury suite incident in Rome, 1968. Money’s an emotional trigger for Richard and it rubbed off on his kids. His angst about money was established early—in his working class roots, the fragility of his family during the Depression, and his own struggles to earn enough money to pay for college. Richard’s idea about what it means to “live within one’s means” is challenged when he marri...

Episode 10 – Live! from Coleus Earth Station

Richard and his daughter Johanna co-host a radio show, broadcasting through plant signals. Adopting the monikers Diving for Pearls and Island Boy, Johanna and Richard discover the silver lining of our quarantine isolation and dependence on electronic communication. In this podcast episode, Johanna—a visual, public, and performance artist—engages Richard in her fantasy about earth stations, in which the plants in our gardens or on our windowsills are little satellite dishes, sending signals acros...

Episode 9 – Bird insurrection

Richard and his daughter Margaret investigate the bird insurrection, while humans attack the U.S. Capitol and President Trump is impeached for the second time. Birds provide joy, humor, and solace in rough times, and it seems that they share the capacity for feelings with the human species. And boy, are there a lot of feelings swooping and fluttering around right now! Margaret is struggling with a loss of faith in her fellow humans. She pulls an old recording from 2012 in which Richard describes...

Episode 8 – PT to the rescue!

Richard's physical therapist Jennifer has saved his life...more than once! Jennifer keeps an eye on Richard and, with training, persistence, and ingenuity, helps him keep it together. Links: On chronic conditions, self-management, and challenges in caring for people with chronic conditions: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/health_policy/adult_chronic_conditions.htm https://www.cdc.gov/learnmorefeelbetter/programs/general.htm https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5876976/ https://www.rwjf.org/en/l...

Episode 7 – A fruity guy

Fruit brings Richard joy, especially papaya. But the fruit cup at Richard’s senior living residence leaves something to be desired. Richard must work on his son Scott—with deft negotiation and meticulous timing—to keep him in fruit. The music in this podcast is Slow Strutt and Vernouillet by Blue Dot Sessions and Binasuan by Juan Silas Jr. and his Rondalla. Links: Blue Dot Sessions: https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/null

Episode 6 – In one lifetime

Richard reflects on the connection between his life’s work and that of his daughter Erika, who is leading the Biden/Harris transition team for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Music Credits: The Crisper; Borough; Taoudella; An Unknown Visitor by Blue Dot Sessions: https://app.sessions.blue/browse/track/null Links: Richard Poethig’s writings: http://www.richardpoethig.com/index.html Inclusive Recovery Insights newsletter, by Erika Poethig: https://www.urban.org/policy-centers...

Episode 5 – Lockdown blues

When Richard stops answering the phone and getting out of bed for Zoom meetings, daughter Kerry finds a new way to reach our dad. Music credits: The music in this piece is “Black Clouds Gone Bad” by Sore & Steal and “Take to the Skies” by Forget the Whale. Used under the Creative Commons license Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Sore__Steal/Many_Moons_A-Go-Go/Black_clouds_gone_bad https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Forget_the_Whale/Take_to_the_Skies Li...

Episode 4 – Counting votes in Philadelphia

Richard revels in living in Philadelphia - the historical heart of U.S. democracy and home of his son Scott - while waiting anxiously for the votes to be counted in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election. Links: Joe Biden's Penn graduation address, 2013: https://almanac.upenn.edu/archive/volumes/v59/n33/comm-biden.html

Episode 3 – Keep on rollin’

Richard and his grandson Sam sing old favorites together and daughter Erika explores her father’s influence on Sam.

Episode 2 – On pulsars, wavelengths, and beating hearts

Richard and his daughter Johanna explore the physical, emotional, and spiritual planes of human existence while exercising on Zoom. Richard brings a poem to read aloud. The poem, titled “Star with a Secret,” is by American anthropologist and natural science writer Loren Eiseley. Music credits: The music in this episode is the piece “Invention No. 1” by the composer and performer Chris Brown. Used with permission. Links: Chris Brown, composer and performer: https://cbmuse.com Loren Eiseley: https...

Episode 1 – Interference

Recording the podcast presents hilarious challenges for Margaret and Richard. Music Credits: The music is “Horrible” from the album Mela 2 by the Mela Ensemble. https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Mela/Mela_two Links to Richard's websites: http://www.onthesidewalksofnewyork.com/index.html http://richardpoethig.com/index.html

Introducing the Keeping Dad Alive podcast

Six months into the coronavirus pandemic, Margaret's 95-year-old dad Richard was cheerfully riding it out in his senior living residence. But things change. This podcast captures the voice of a father and his five children, as they cherish their time together on earth.