#21 Eric Larsen: On The Ice With A Polar Explorer

11/14/18 • 32 min

For centuries, the ends of the Earth have captivated and courted the world’s bravest characters. The highest peaks of the Himalayas, the furthest depths of the oceans, and the poles, frozen pinpoints on opposite ends of the globe that still serve as two of the most ambitious destinations for a certain type of person you may have thought died out years ago: The explorers.

Eric Larsen is one of those people, a veteran explorer who has not only reached both the geographic north and south poles, but also summited Mount Everest. And in 2009 and 2010 he became the first person in the world to reach all three in the span of 365 days, an endeavor that cemented him as one of the most successful American explorers in recent years.

His latest mission is to establish a new speed record in reaching the South Pole, skiing and walking across 700 miles of Antarctica alone and unsupported, hauling roughly 160 pounds of gear on a sled behind him. But he’ll also be leaving his wife and two young children behind for weeks, which always raises some questions in his mind when he’s alone on the ice. On this episode of Paternal, Larsen discusses the conflict of being a leading-edge American explorer and an engaged father at the same time, and how he and his wife have worked on the unique elements of their relationship.

Learn more about Paternal and sign up for our newsletter at www.paternalpodcast.com. You can also email host Nick Firchau at [email protected] with any comments or suggestions for men he should profile on the show. Make sure you subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever you’re listening, then keep an eye on your feed for new episodes.

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#20 Joe Andruzzi: A Career After Cancer

Joe Andruzzi has always been surrounded by family. As one of four sons born to a New York City police officer and his wife in Staten Island, New York, Andruzzi learned early on about the value of giving back to his community and how family can help people through the toughest times of their lives.

And he never valued family more than in 2007, when he was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer that nearly took his life in a Boston hospital bed. Despite playing 10 seasons in the National Football League and wining three Super Bowl championships with the New England Patriots, Andruzzi had never faced a battle like Burkitt's lymphoma, and it changed his life irrevocably. After a year of exhausting recovery, he went on to found the Joe Andruzzi Foundation, which has helped more than 8,000 families and individuals affected by cancer.

On this episode of Paternal, Andruzzzi discusses his battle with cancer and the psychological toll it took on him, as well as his oldest brother’s narrow escape from tragedy as a New York City fire fighter on 9/11, and how his father’s role as one of New York’s finest shaped the family’s values.

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#22 Jason Hairston: A Hunt For Meaning

Jason Hairston was always up for a challenge. As an undrafted free agent seeking a spot in the National Football League, as an entrepreneur looking to build his business, and as an experienced hunter stretched to his limits somewhere above the tree line. And by the time he was 47 years old he had overcome his fair share to become a family man, successful CEO of outdoor apparel giant KUIU, and a guru to thousands of like-minded men all looking for their own personal, primal experience on the hunt.

But to the shock of many who knew and loved him, there was one challenge Hairston simply couldn’t overcome. Hairston took his own life in September after suffering from symptoms of CTE, the degenerative brain disease found in athletes, military veterans, and others with a history of repetitive brain trauma. He left behind a wife and two young children, and a worldwide community of hunters and outdoor enthusiasts in mourning.

In his final in-depth interview before his death and one of Paternal’s most intimate episodes to date, Hairston discusses all the experiences that shaped him as a father and a son. The devastating injury that ended his football career. The unexpected and very public takeover of his first hunting gear company. The moment he learned he would be a father. And his relationship with his own dad, who turned him on to hunting as a little boy, taught him how to play football, and then joined Hairston and his son on a three-generation hunting trip just weeks before Hairston’s passing.