Episode #2： Man Stories With Dan Lauth
Episode Stats
Summary
Every other week, I bring on a different man who reads the blog and ask him some questions about what he thinks manliness is and what it means to be a man, and discuss some of the men that have had an influence on his idea of manliness. In this episode, we have Dan Louth, a 26-year-old man located in the Portland, Oregon area.
Transcript
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Hello, Brett here. Before we get to today's show, got a quick favor to ask of you. If you've been
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enjoying the Art of Manliness podcast, I'd really appreciate it if you take one minute to give us a
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review on iTunes or Stitcher. It helps us out a lot. And if you've done that already, thank you
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so much. Please consider sharing the show with a friend or family member who you think would get
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something out of it. Word of mouth is the primary way the Art of Manliness grows and spreads. So
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please share. Text a friend, send an email, do whatever, however you communicate. Tell them to
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check out a particular episode if you think they'd get something out of it. Thank you for
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your support and now on to the show. Brett McKay here and welcome to episode number two of the
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Art of Manliness podcast. Now today I want to start something new, a new series that I'm calling Man
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Stories. And what Man Stories is going to be is every other week I'm going to bring on a different
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gentleman, just a man who reads the blog, and sit down with him and ask him some questions on
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about what he thinks manliness is and what it means to be a man. And, you know, discuss some of the men
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that have had an influence on, you know, his idea of manliness. Because one thing I've discovered as
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I've interacted with readers on the blog is that we all have a different idea of what manliness is.
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And it makes sense. You know, we all come from different backgrounds, we have different experiences,
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we've had different men in our lives that have influenced, you know, what we think manliness is.
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So I thought it'd be cool to catalog, you know, all these ideas of what manliness is in a podcast.
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So that's what we're going to do with Man Stories. So with that said, let's get started with the
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first Art of Manliness man story. To kick off the Man Stories, we have with us Dan Louth. Dan,
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welcome to the show. Yeah, good to be here. Thank you.
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Dan, thank you for being willing to be the guinea pig for this, this experiment I'm doing,
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putting yourself out there. Before we start asking the questions, Dan, can you tell us a little bit
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about yourself, introduce yourself? Yeah, yeah, sure thing. Yeah, again, my name's Dan. I am a 26-year-old
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man located in the Portland, Oregon area. I work for a local PR firm in the area and just kind of
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enjoy the typical things, going out in the town, hanging out with friends and all that good stuff.
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Well, excellent. So Dan, let's get right to the questions here. What does manliness mean to you,
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Dan? To me personally, my idea of manliness is really kind of the idea of the renaissance man. I
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find that, you know, often there's kind of the stereotypical, you know, you're the handyman,
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you're the good mechanic, you're, you know, the guy who knows a lot about fitness or sports and those
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kind of things. But I find, especially in today's society, it's very, very segmented and it's very
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rare that you can find somebody who, you know, can one minute be fixed in your car and then the next
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day you can sit down, listen to a little jazz, you know, have a conversation about literature and,
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you know, at the same time have a knowledge of fine wines, single malt scotch and all that good stuff.
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So I think just the versatility of kind of incorporating all those skills is kind of one
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of the goals I certainly strive for because I just think being sharp and kind of all those
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combined areas is just really helps you round yourself off, not only as a man, but also just
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And Dan, how did your father influence your idea of manliness?
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Well, growing up, it was probably what stands out the most for me was his work ethic. He's always been
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just kind of a hardworking blue collar kind of guy, the kind of guy who, you know, leaves the house
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at seven in the morning and, you know, doesn't get back till seven in the evening. So just just kind
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of his, you know, termination, you know, working, providing for me and the family, you know, putting
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us through the kids through school and all that stuff just kind of really taught me the importance
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of just, you know, hard work, providing for your family and just, you know, doing things one day at a
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time and being there to support, you know, always there to support me when he could.
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Mm-hmm. And were there any other men growing up who have had an influence on your idea of
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Oh, there were a few. I've always enjoyed in terms of just kind of classical influences. I'm a big fan
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of Teddy Roosevelt. I've read a couple of his biographies right now. I just turned into a great
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one called Theodore Rex. That's really good. But just his kind of ideas of, you know, bringing youth and
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energy to the office at the time he was elected and just kind of grabbed the bull by the horn,
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so to speak, and just really got stuff down. Just that kind of take charge, authoritative kind
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of attitude was always going to really strike me. And he's definitely one of my favorite historical
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Yeah. Was it you said there were some other men, too, besides Teddy Roosevelt?
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Yeah. Teddy Roosevelt is certainly one. You know, others, there's always, you know, the
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star athletes or things like that. I do always, I've always had a special place in my heart
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for Alex Trebek. Big fan of Jeopardy, especially back in the days when he was rocking the staff.
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Yeah. I can't believe he took off his mustache. It's like, it's like his power was in that
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thing. Exactly. It's just not the same anymore. No, no. And going back to your dad, Dan, you
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mentioned he was kind of a blue collar guy. Is there some type, is there some skill that your
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Yes. I mean, it's not a skill in the traditional sense, but yeah, my dad, he's a fairly small
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guy. He's probably like 5'8", 5'9". And, you know, all grown up throughout childhood
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and still to this day, you know, I always go out and play basketball kind of in the backyard
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or wherever. And the guy has a sky hook like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that he is absolutely lethal
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anywhere, you know, within the three-point line. And I've tried, but he can, he is deadly
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with that shot. And that's something I've just can never, never master or defend. So it's
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Do you think you'll ever obtain the hook shot of your father?
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I've been trying, but it's, he's just got some kind of funky little spin action. That's
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just, there's no way to replicate it. So I've, I've been trying for years now, but, but still
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All right. So Dan, you're, you're a pretty young guy. We're actually about the same age.
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I'm 26, about to turn 27. Was there a moment when you felt like you became a man or do you
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Well, there was, there was kind of certainly the, the stage of life kind of, you know,
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after the college when you're no longer suckling the parental teeth and you're definitely out
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on your own and so to speak, you know, there's no, I mean, there still is a lifeline to a
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certain sense, but you're definitely taking care of yourself, responsible for yourself,
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all that good kind of thing. There's also kind of a few standout moments in my life. I was
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backpacking a few years ago and I was actually able to snare and catch a rabbit and, you know,
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kill it, gut it, cook it, eat it. And it just felt like a very, you know, caveman sort of
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primordial manly feeling at that moment. But other than that, there's always a, always the
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first time you're able to rock a decent beard is always a significant moment, I think, in
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any guy's life. Have you been able to do that? Uh, just, yeah, just over the past, uh, maybe five
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years or so I can get something decent when I try. So it's, uh, it's a good feeling. Very good. Very
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good. Well, well, Dan, thank you for speaking with us today. It's been a pleasure. Yeah. Yeah. Thank
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you for having me on. That wraps up this edition of the Art of Manliness podcast. For more manly tips
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and advice, make sure to check back at theartofmanliness.com and until next week, stay manly.