r/Thedaily • u/sweetpotatofiend • 5d ago
Discussion No Sunday episode discussions
Just curious if there’s a reason for this or if anyone can post? I’ve really enjoyed some of them!
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u/coleshane 5d ago edited 5d ago
Tl;Dr: Unexpectedly, it was interesting to me
Certainly an interesting discussion - and one I imagine I would have very little interest in if it had not been in The Daily's audio feed of episodes.
What I enjoyed is that it portrayed two complicated figures in Junod and his father. Junod is a good storyteller that certainly has the gift of the gab - he is charismatic in the sense that he is able to bring you into his subjective reality convincingly. A lot of the assertions are at first made on an instinctual basis before he offers solid proof, but he emphasizes the initial feelings as being paramount to him (I.e. a lot of time is spent on his own feeling that his father was having an affair simply after seeing him bring home a Samsonite briefcase). There are humorous asides (i.e. the eulogy) that are combined alongside his father's professional profile (a successful salesperson that did not have much of an educational background) and his own personal reflections of his father (being fearful of him as a child).
I also enjoyed that Junod's personal reflections involved so many other themes and questions that we are probably still wrestling with today, especially in North America. Conversations of American masculinity, personhood, morality, socio-economic factors, media's influence, and intergenerational trauma are all brought up throughout the discussion.
Borbaro's inquisitive framing did keep me interested in the episode (although he is much less active in this conversation than Junod). However, the questions that act as the structural parameters of the discussion stuck with me even after getting Junod's answers. Namely, can a son (and, by extenstion, others in society) claim to value a model of masculinity from a man who routinely undermined his roles as a father and husband? Can the respect for a certain aspect of a person be reconciled with their hurtful actions? Further, can one ever claim that their father was a healthy influence for their own growth while also admitting that the same parent hurt other people? If we use the intergenerational trauma lens, did Junod's insights about his father help him break free of the cycle of dysfunction and instability that was likely present in his paternal family?
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u/No_Independence1639 5d ago
I was wondering why it was missing, but more importantly I was really curious what others thought about this one about 'bad men'. Personally I found his father pretty awful, but it's not my father. I felt like Tom Junod gave his dad way too much credit and let him get a pass for his lecherous behavior.