Insights & Support for the Most Important Job You'll Ever Have
Your kid is watching. Your kid is learning. And one day, they'll tell you a truth that changes everything. This is the podcast for what happens next.
The Mission
A son grabs his father's finger in the hospital and a twenty-year-old becomes a man overnight. An eight-year-old says from the back seat, "Dad, sometimes we're scared of you" — and a grown man hears his own childhood speaking. A foster child says "I hate you" for a year and a half, and a father learns that love isn't a feeling you receive — it's a container you build.
Conscious Fathers exists because these moments are happening everywhere, and most men face them alone. Through our podcast and community, we share the stories of men who chose to stop hiding, stop performing, and start doing the real work of fatherhood — in men's circles, on camping trips with their sons, in therapy, and in the hardest conversations of their lives.
We're not here because we've figured it out. We're here because we stopped pretending we had.
The masks we learned to wear. The shame we carried alone. The anger that came out sideways. Every man on this show has a moment where the pattern cracked — and they chose not to pass it on.
Children don't let you hide. They show you who you really are and teach you what unconditional love actually requires.
Men's circles. Camping trips with our children. Bonfires and initiation rituals. The healing doesn't happen in isolation — it happens when men stop performing strength alone and start showing up for each other.
"I surrounded myself with men who loved the shame out of me." Boysen Hodgson — Episode 02
The Podcast
Fathers, seekers, and the men doing the work sit down to talk about what no one prepared them for — hosted by Adriel Hampton with co-host Jeff Swift.
Episode 01 — Dylan Hoffman
Dylan became a father at 20, navigated two divorces, and found his way through spiritual awakening, Burning Man, and men's circles. We talk about initiation rituals for boys, the YMCA Adventure Guides, and how his four children taught him who he really is.
Episode 02 — Boysen Hodgson
The Mankind Project's Boysen Hodgson on years of hiding behind masks, the men's work that cracked him open, adopting two siblings who changed everything, and why identity is a discourse — not a destination.
The Voices
Host
Journalist, digital strategist, and UC Berkeley rhetoric graduate. Father of three sons — ages 21, 18, and 7. Adriel lives in Carlsbad, California, where he's navigating the long road from the father his kids feared to the father they deserve. His journey through men's work, therapy, and the Mankind Project's New Warrior Training is the origin story behind Conscious Fathers.
Co-Host
Author, digital media specialist, and father of three. Jeff holds a PhD in Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media from NC State, which means he's professionally trained to ask the questions most of us avoid. On the show, he brings philosophical depth and a gift for drawing out the ideas beneath the stories — like whether consciousness is our default state or something we have to fight to recover.
Conscious Fathers is supported by media producer Charles Lenchner — co-founder of People for Bernie Sanders, digital organizing pioneer, and longtime movement builder. Charles brings decades of experience amplifying the voices that matter most.
Go Deeper
Books, organizations, and voices that have shaped our conversations and our guests' journeys.
Organization
A global brotherhood of men committed to emotional intelligence and personal accountability. Home of the New Warrior Training Adventure — a weekend that changed the lives of multiple guests on this show.
Organization
A media platform and community exploring what it means to be a good man in the 21st century — ethics, fatherhood, relationships, and the evolving conversation around masculinity.
Author & Speaker
Clinical psychologist and author of The Conscious Parent and The Awakened Family. Her work on moving from ego-driven to consciousness-based parenting is foundational to our mission.
Book
A powerful call for men to embrace emotional wholeness. Recommended by Boysen Hodgson in Episode 02 as essential reading for any man seeking to understand what patriarchy costs him.
Book
The landmark exploration of male initiation through myth and fairy tale. Referenced across both episodes as a touchstone for understanding what boys need to become men.
Book
A guide to the four mature masculine archetypes. Recommended by Dylan Hoffman in Episode 01 as a core text in his men's work with the Forge.
Stay Connected
New episodes, live conversations, and a growing circle of men who've decided that the hiding stops here. Whether you're a single dad at 20, a foster parent answering the call, or a guy who just realized his kids can see right through him — you belong here. Know someone with a story to share? Nominate yourself or someone else as a podcast guest.
You don't have to do this alone. We'll be in touch.