Logan is known by many for his work on Scenic Fights, a YouTube channel where he and his fellow co-hosts apply their martial arts expertise to separate what’s truly real from the pure Hollywood in movie fight scenes. Scenic Fights recently reached one million subscribers - a milestone achieved by fewer than 0.1% of YouTube channels - on the strength of videos like Logan's analysis of John Wick's knife skills which, at 2.7 million views, is Scenic Fights' most-watched video. But when I ask Logan about Scenic Fights, it serves as a mere segue to the biggest fight scene of his life when, shortly after becoming a dad a decade ago, Logan found himself surrounded by his wife's battle with brain cancer, his father's decline, and his cousin's failed suicide attempt. If a happy life consists of health, wealth, and relationships, these events decimated all three for Logan and literally brought him to his knees.

Fast forward to today, Logan is newly married to his wife, Sara, and his main focus in life is being a dad to his now 10 year-old son. His number one advice when it comes to fighting is do everything you can to avoid the fight. He gets off his scooter at intersections to look both ways. He's a self-described "funcle" to Sara's son, and his own son just joined a soccer league so that makes Logan a soccer dad.

This splitscreen of Logan's life - today's peace next to yesterday's grief - brings to mind one of the many sayings that Logan uses to guide his life and prepare his son for his own: "Here's the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid."

I met Andrew a couple months ago, when I was invited by a mutual friend to join their quarterly dad outing. I had a great time that night. It started with virtual reality gaming, where the six of us middle aged dads worked as a team to save the world from zombies; followed by all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, where we turned back the clock and ate like we were 25 again. But the best thing about the night was the friendship. I was meeting three of the 5 other guys for the first time, and they treated me like I had known them for decades. And so, I am trying to get as many of them on the show that I can, to have them help me tell the story of what it means to be a dad today, because I want to see if I can capture for you a bit of what I felt that night: a group of guys, all appreciative of their roles in life as dads, men, husbands, sons, boys, friends, and, above all, works-in-progress. Specific to Andrew, I learned over multiple helpings of meat that, in addition to being dads, he and I are both IT professionals by day and creative side hustlers by night. Perhaps by learning more about his journey, I can understand my own a little better as well.

Check out some of Andrew's work:

⁠Omnipotent Rex⁠ - his published comic book and the source for this episode's cover art

Commuter Cast - the sketch comedy referenced during the interview

There's a good chance that you already know Tony from his work on Around the Horn, the primetime ESPN sports debate show that aired its final episode in May and that Tony hosted for nearly 5,000 episodes, a track record longer than Oprah's that began in 2004 when Tony, then just 25 years old, was called up as a temporary fill-in host the day after Super Bowl XXXVIII, which is remembered more for its halftime wardrobe malfunction than its game winning field goal. Rewatching this episode, I'm amazed by how natural Tony is at facilitating the debate between four seasoned sports journalists, bringing out their voices while still holding them accountable. It's the first day on the job that he's been dreaming of for 20 years and that he'll hold for 20 more.

Fast forward to today, Tony is raising three young kids with his wife, Samiya, while also navigating a major midlife career transition. As he settles into a spot on my living room sofa, Tony reflects on the waters of the East River, visible from his home in Brooklyn, and the waters of the Hudson River visible from my home on the Upper West Side. These rivers, as my ten year old recently taught me, are both estuaries, bodies of water where the river's freshwater current meets the ocean's saltwater tide to create a surreal environment where the steady state is constant change - much like life itself. It's a poetic prelude to our conversation, which covers Tony's reflections on his career and the vision for what he's building; perspective and advice from his experiences with anxiety and grief; life-changing discovery of self-love; present moment where being intentional and celebrating the surreal go hand-in-hand; and what youth sports teaches our kids.

I'm grateful to be sharing this conversation with you. Special thanks to Andrew, Dim Sum Dad, for introducing me to Tony.