Global News Podcast - The Happy Pod: Meet the world's internet dad

Episode Date: January 25, 2025

Meet the man behind the YouTube channel 'Dad, How Do I?'. He teaches his millions of subscribers how to do everyday tasks. Also: the man in Uganda who is changing lives through chess; and the flower causing a stink.

This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Discover how to lead a better life in our age of confusion. Enjoy this BBC audiobook collection, written and presented by bestselling author Oliver Berkman, containing four useful guides to tackling some central ills of modernity. Busyness, anger, the insistence on positivity and the decline of nuance. Our lives today can feel like miniature versions of this relentless churn of activity. We find we're rushing around more crazily than ever.

Somewhere, when we weren't looking, it's like busyness became a way of life. Start listening to Oliver Berkman, Epidemics of Modern Life, available to purchase wherever you get your audio books. books. This is the HappyPod from the BBC World Service. I'm Valerie Sanderson and in this edition we meet the man described by his millions of fans as the internet dad the world needs.

I'm grateful for the platform that I've been given to be able to pour good back into the world. There's just so much negativity and I want to try to make being a dad a cool thing. Also... It's not good to give up. In most cases you can lose all the pieces but still stand a chance. That's the beauty of chess, that we never give up in life. It's not over until it's over. How chess lessons have changed thousands of lives in Uganda. Why Ukrainians are turning to humour. The demand for comedy looks totally natural to me now. It's a tool which can help us

process this stream of depressing information. The 90-year-old lawyer with no plans to retire and the very smelly plant attracting thousands of visitors in Australia. We start with a man who's amassed millions of online followers by offering tips on how to tackle everything from ironing a shirt or making coffee to changing a car battery and fixing a toilet. Rob Kenny's dad left when he was a teenager so after raising his own children he decided he wanted to help others who might need parental advice. Rob, who lives near Seattle in Washington State, started in 2020 during the pandemic posting a simple video of how to tie a neck tie. Within days he'd gone

viral with one viewer calling him the internet dad the world needs, while others said he'd adopted everyone who needs a dad and made them realise dads were supposed to be supportive. His YouTube channel, Dad How Do I, now has more than 5 million subscribers. Rob spoke to the happy pot. One of my big goals was to raise good adults, not good kids, but good adults, so that they could function in their own lives. And so I tried to include them along the way.

As they grew up, I tried to have them do stuff with me so they could learn. But then, you know, my kids were grown. My daughter, she'll be 33 this year, and my son will be 30. And so I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do because that was my main goal in life was to raise good adults because my dad unfortunately had failed at that. So I was trying to figure out what to do and thought of this channel and then I thought I was going to help 30 or 40 people just

try to download stuff from my brain to give some nuggets for people to be able to navigate life. Today I'm going to show you how to shave. So this is pretty basic but if you've never done it and you don't know how to get started here's here's how I how I shave. Hey kids so today I want to show you how to catch a football. Okay I had a lot of requests for how to change a flat tire. It's a fairly simple process but if if you've never done it before, it might be a little bit intimidating. I wasn't expecting it to be what it is. I'm grateful for it, though.

I'm grateful for the platform that I've been given to be able to pour good back into the world because I think there's just so much negativity and stuff on social media that I'm grateful that I can be a little bit, a little light for people to find a safe harbor where they can hang out with me and walk alongside and help people learn things. My original vision for this channel was to provide useful information for anyone and everyone from a dad that has raised two adults and we still talk. Well, my daughter was a big part of it.

She was the one encouraging me to do it. We still talk pretty much daily. She's been married for 12 years, but we still talk. We have a great relationship. I called my son and he said, Dad, if I was nine years old and you were doing this and chasing something, I'd probably have a problem with it. But he said you did well. So if it's something you want to do, go for it. Hey everybody. I just thought I'd make a video just to say thank you. I've been a

little bit of an emotional wreck today, a little overwhelmed by all the amazing stories that you've shared with me. And I, for those of you that haven't heard back from me, I just have such a heartfelt thank you. It breaks my heart a little bit that it's so needed. I, you know, one of the things that I hope I can do with my channel is to encourage dads to hang in there and, you know, and support each other because we need good dads, we need good moms. I want to try to make being a dad a cool thing in my nerdy way.

I loved being a dad. I still love being a dad. And I think if I can encourage people to realize what a great opportunity they have as dads, if I could move the needle at all in that area, I would be grateful. One of the big things I try to do on my channel is encourage anybody and everybody to do learn how to do everything. I think you know why limit yourself. Hey kids welcome to another edition of cooking with dad. We're gonna today I'm gonna show you how to bake chocolate chip cookies. Hey kids today I'm gonna show you how to make banana bread. Today I'm gonna show you how to boil an egg. Hey kids, today I'm going to show you how to make banana bread. Today I'm going to

show you how to boil an egg. Hey kids, so today I'm going to show you how to make coffee. Today I'm going to show you how to make chili. I hear the story a lot of, oh my dad didn't teach me how to change a tire because that's a man thing. What if a man's not around and what if you're a, you know, you get a flat tire? You kind of should at least know the steps to figure this out. And I think the same thing for a guy, I hear that too, I don't know how to cook, my mom always cooked. Well, you probably need to know how to cook

if you're a, you know, there might be a time where you need to eat. Hey kids, our human nature seems to always want more. We often long for what we don't have and we tend to take for granted what we do have and don't appreciate it until it's gone or it's taken from us. So while making plans for the future, remember to appreciate the present because it's a gift. I think I talked so much about forgiveness. I think that's important. I think also we

need to be able to forgive ourselves. Critics are a dime a dozen, they're everywhere, but sadly a lot of times we're our own worst critic and so we beat ourselves up and so I think we need to learn to be more kind to yourself. Rob Kenny. Now to a man who's helping transform lives in Uganda using chess. The game, which has been around for more than a thousand years, requires the ability to plan ahead, the flexibility to react to your opponent and a certain ruthlessness to win. Robert Katendi has used it to teach life skills to thousands of disadvantaged children, those with disabilities and even to prisoners. Alan Kisujo went to meet Robert in a restaurant in the Ugandan capital Kampala armed with a chessboard.

Our philosophy is life transformation and chess is life. It's a metaphor for life. So everything you do on a daily basis, planning, devising for possibilities and making decisions, it's all entirely chess. So I'm going to play chess with you? Always we need to depend on the why. Why are you anticipating? What do you want to achieve? OK, and sitting next to me is who? Coach Sal Julius. OK, now you better coach me because I'm up against a guy

who knows what he's doing and is making me feel like I don't know what I'm doing. Coach Julius, what's your story? I was a kid, I was like eight years, and he met me in a certain slum area called Neteite. The kids in the slum area, they are like kids without purpose. You just grow up, life takes you anywhere. He told us that, no, I want your life to be organized, like we organize the chessboard.

So from that time, I had to get out of that kind of setting to start a journey of organizing my life. I did grow up from the slums and it wasn't easy for me to break out. So having completed my university at Jambogo, I just realized that I needed to do something for those other children who are craving for an opportunity. My whole aim was to see if I can be contributing to their lives and also enable them to realise that they are the solutions they needed to figure out to see how they can break out of the visa cycle of the slum life.

Each child has a story to tell because some of them they could not even write their names, they are now doctors, engineers, others are in the process still studying. We've been able to impact over 4,000 lives and right now, currently we have in the program 2,514 kids. Last year, 2024, we were given the mandate by the Uganda Prisons Department and we have over 800 inmates learning chess. And I'm just looking at some of the testimonials. This is a letter that was sent to you that you've shared with me. The time I spend playing chess with my fellow inmates is the only time that I feel genuinely happy. Exactly. It has actually been more like an ice breaker for so many inmates. When I left them some chess boards, they said, thank you so much.

We get in our lockups at around 4pm and we are there stressed. But now we can be there sometimes we even fail to sleep playing chess and enjoying and having fun. Okay let's go back to our game. If you're there I'm going to open on this ring now. You should have first figured out if I'm there what kind of impact do I have on your side because you are now losing your queen. No, come on! This is the difficulty with chess. You just never see things coming. Chess has almost every concept you can find in life. Julius is now coaching people. How many people are you coaching? I coach in the

prison. I also coach the different airborne team. Some of them do not hear well, some of them don't talk well, some of them they are in their wheelchairs. And these kids have played in the international tournaments, actually they have been in the US three times. Robert, you impress me so much. What is the end game for you? What are you looking for? To continue to transform lives of so many people as I can. But also I'm looking at multiplying myself. Like if I see Jurius doing what I started, that means it's going to outlive me. By the way, about this chess game, me, I'm giving up. That's not good to give up. In most cases, you can lose all the pieces but still stand

a chance. That's the beauty of chess, that we never give up in life. It's not over until it's over. Wise words, Robert Katendi, and you can hear more on Africa Daily wherever you get your BBC podcasts. Tens of thousands of people in Australia have been rushing to see a rare and famously smelly flower. The Titan arum plant, housed in the Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney, blooms very briefly and only once every few years. It's known as the corpse flower for its putrid stench and as a large dark red skirt around a central spike that grows up to three metres tall.

As Stephanie Prentice reports, fans had been eagerly awaiting the big moment. It's an endangered plant that blooms for just one day. And thousands of fans around the world have been glued to a livestream of it, hoping to witness the big moment. Putricia, as she's affectionately known, has spawned jokes and even a unique language in the livestream's chat with thousands commenting WWTF, we watch the flower, WDNRP, we do not rush Putricia, and BBTB, blessed be the bloom. Brett Summerall is the chief scientist at Sydney's Botanic Gardens. It's really rewarding to see that when you have a fantastic story about a plant to tell, that people are really interested, they really care and they've really become attached to Patricia.

So it's a really beautiful thing. At one point on Thursday, as she slowly began to unfurl, more than 8,000 people were watching Putricia. And when the bloom was finally open, many rushed to see her in person. I've been watching Putricia for a week on the live stream non-stop, waiting for her to pop open. And I saw her today and I was like, I've got to get into the city. I was at home.

I was like, get on the train, I'm going to see her. It's definitely worth the wait. I think it's really good that so many people are interested in such a cool thing because it's quite niche but there's so many people here, the chat's popping off, it's really cool that so many people are into this. Thank you guys, we've got to have the next group in so I'm going to have to ask you at the Ultralab. So the big question, what does putricia smell like?

Think about the last time that you were in the gym with a lot of really sweaty dudes. So the big question, what does putricia smell like? Think about the last time you were in the gym with a lot of really sweaty dudes. Probably closer to like rotten egg. It smells a little bit like when there's a dead animal in the house but you don't know where it is or what it is. The flower is beautiful, the smell was like hot garbage but faint, it was great, I enjoyed it. I mean was it a night smell? No, but it was impressive. The plant, only found in the wild rainforests of Indonesia, has the world's largest flowering structure with several hundred in the base of its large red skirt. And although it may

smell awful to a human nose, Brett Somerall says other creatures find it attractive. It's a chemical production that happens within the plant and its purpose is to attract pollinators, which in this case are flies and carrion beetles, anything that's attracted to a rotting animal in the jungle. It's a smell that really penetrates through the jungle, so it's a fantastic adaptation to life in the jungle of Sumatra. While Sydney's Botanic Gardens does house several putricias, it hadn't seen a bloom for 15 years. Horticulturalist Daniella Pasquilani thinks it was well worth the wait. It's been amazing. The love that's gone out to putricia is just wonderful. Sometimes in

a world of negativity, that love that's come out of this flower, it's just been just amazing. Everyone's in high spirits." Staff now hope to pollinate the flower by hand and give the seeds to other gardens. But fans of Putricia will probably have to wait a long time to see her bloom again. Stephanie Prentice reporting. Coming up in this podcast... A popular interpretation is that foil is a deep state of joy that comes from being totally immersed in the moment.

A uniquely Welsh form of happiness. Discover how to lead a better life in our age of confusion. Enjoy this BBC audiobook collection written and presented by best-selling author Oliver Berkman, containing four useful guides to tackling some central ills of modernity – busyness, anger, the insistence on positivity and the decline of nuance. Our lives today can feel like miniature versions of this relentless churn of activity. We find we're rushing around more crazily than ever. Somewhere, when we weren't looking, it's like busyness became a way of life. Start listening to Oliver Berkman, Epidemics of Modern Life, available to purchase wherever you get your audiobooks.

Available to purchase wherever you get your audio books. It's often at times of stress or hardship that comedy comes into its own, sometimes simply as a way of cheering people up. But comedy can also be a way of addressing difficult or painful issues. So it's perhaps no surprise that stand-up comedy seems to be booming in Ukraine amid the war with Russia. In the midst of dark times, Vitaly Shevchenko has been finding out what's making Ukrainians laugh. On October 14, 2023, an unusual event took place at Ukraine's most prestigious venue, Palace Ukraine. Anton Tymoshenko became the first Ukrainian comedian to give a solo performance there.

Anton Tymoshenko! He recalls being told that the event was never going to happen, because the popularity of stand-up comedy had not reached that level in Ukraine? Well, it has now. Anton Tomoshenko says his jokes help people deal with the grim reality of war. Stand-up comedy is a budget version of psychotherapy. I like to relieve social tension with my jokes. When that happens, that's the best thing.

Popular performer Nastia Zuhvala says Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 gave stand-up comedy in Ukraine a boost, albeit for all the wrong reasons. The demand for comedy looks totally natural to me now, because comedy supports and unites. It can also make reality look less catastrophic. It's a tool which can help us process this stream of depressing information. To stay optimistic or even sane, we've got no other choice. So what is making Ukrainians laugh? Comedian Hanna Kochiura says the humor may be grim, but making fun of danger makes it

easier to cope with. It looks even darker from abroad, and it's clear why. Anyone who's in Ukraine knows that there are no safe places here. You never know if this air raid is going to be your last. Time for an example. A joke from Anton Tomaschenko's performance at Palace Ukraine. I never worried about nuclear attack. More realistically, I'll get killed by Iranian Shahed drones. The sad thing is, did you hear the noise they make? They sound very demotivating, like the cheapest kind of death.

There's also a very practical side to what stand-up comedians are doing for Ukraine now, helping its army. Many of them raise funds for it, perform for the military and some have joined the army. Mr Tomoshenko says he's collected and donated about $700,000 since the start of the full-scale invasion. Laughter heals but turns out it can also help collect money for attack drones. Vitaly Shevchenko. Now, do you love your job enough to want to keep doing it when you're in your 90s? Well, a man thought to be Britain's oldest practising criminal barrister or trial lawyer

recently celebrated his 90th birthday and says he has no intention of retiring anytime soon. Noel Filo has been in the job since 1975 and although his caseload has reduced in recent years, his colleagues say he still makes himself available every day. Mr Filo has four children and nine grandchildren, none of whom followed him into the legal profession, but his wife Liz is also a lawyer. He told Susie Lawson why he plans to keep on working. I'm absolutely certain that my father died of nothing other than retirement. He was an extremely busy man. He had fought in the First World War on the Western Front.

I don't know whether he ever slept, but he retired at 69 and relaxed and loved it but just deteriorated and died by when he was 71. So I have no great intention to retire. I love the job, I love the company. I have a lot of people who know me and I know them in the robing room. That's where we all get dressed up for work. I get on very well with most of the judges. And I just like what I do and I think I do it well enough for people to be happy that I do it. I mean, obviously, if I got to the stage where nobody required my services

because I was no longer any use, I wouldn't get any briefs. And at that stage I would be retired, but I still get briefs. I'm not desperate if I do work, and equally I'm not desperate if I don't, but I would miss the company. And I think that the old brain keeps going because you work it. It's lose it, use it or lose it I think, your brain as with any other part of the body. With all those years experience when you go into the court, do you still feel the pressure and the nerves? It depends what I'm doing. If I'm...

Mostly, when I prosecute now, I'm not doing the most serious of cases. But if I'm having to defend somebody on a really serious charge, of course there's nerves. What is it that keeps you going? You were saying earlier that it's about helping people for you, really. Well, yeah, that's very trite but I do think that doing what I do is of use. I don't think a good legal system can run without professionals to help the system along. And I think, or I hope I still help the system along. And I think, or I hope, I still help the system along. You've just turned 90.

How long do you think you're going to keep going for? Well, your life expectancy after 90 goes down a bit. But as long as people want me, as long as I'm fit, I'll keep going. And how long that will be I don't I really don't know. My senior clerk says that he thinks I'll still be going when all the rest of us have retired but I'm not sure about that. Noel Filo thriving in the workplace at 90. You may remember a few years ago there was a lot of talk about the Danish word hygge for which there is no equivalent in the English language. It sums up the cosy feeling that

comes from slippers, a fire and perhaps a hot drink. Now another unique happy word, the Welsh hoil, is being used to try to encourage people to experience the particular type of deep joy it invokes by visiting Wales. Alvone Evans from the School of Psychology at Bangor University explains. Pnawnda, good afternoon. I'm here to talk to you about hoil, a little Welsh word with a big meaning. Hoil can be interpreted in many different ways, which means that it doesn't have one direct translation in English. However, a popular interpretation is that Húil is a deep state of joy that comes from being totally immersed in the moment. Húil can be felt in a lot of different places, such as exploring a forest canopy with friends, stargazing under dark skies, immersing yourself in culture at the Eisteddfod, or switching

between a sauna and the surf on the beach. The interesting thing about Hwyl is it comes to life in both relaxing and energetic environments. On one hand, Hwyl can release dopamine and raise the heartbeat, creating this prolonged sense of euphoria. Whil can also slow things right down, with endorphins reducing stress, causing the entire body to relax. Essentially, whil is your own particular form of happiness. In the last episode, we heard from a woman who's attracted millions of views for her social media posts sharing simple advice from her grandmother like getting through tough times by just focusing on taking the

next step. Well Petra from Albuquerque in New Mexico got in touch about her 95 year old grandmother Rose who she calls Yaya. Petra describes Rose as an incredibly strong, creative and independent woman who is a never-ending well of love and wisdom. She sent us this voice note about a time she was living with her in Cleveland a few years ago. I had just moved, I didn't really have many friends so I was feeling lonely. So I went to a public art event to try to meet some people and be social and when I got back Yaya was so excited she asked how it was and if I met anyone and I was like oh you know I don't know I I just felt so shy and I have so much

social anxiety I didn't know what to say and really wallowing deep in the self-pity. And Yaya looked me right in the eyes and said, Petra, get over it. Of course, she said it with such love. And she then went into a story of how she used to be painfully shy. Somehow in her 40s she realized she was holding herself back and really living kind of a shadow of herself, never being able to be who she really wanted to be. And she finally, at the age of 40, found freedom, and she was just telling me how she didn't want that for me. And I was still so young.

And ultimately we have the power to assert ourselves and be bold and make connections. We don't have to wait for other people to do that. So it was kind of a shock to the system, but it was also incredibly refreshing to have someone be so honest. And since then I've been much more bold and assertive and it was just the perfect advice I needed in that time to help me get out of my loneliness.

And that's it from the HappyPod for now. If like Petra you've had some great advice from a grandparent that you'd like to share, just send us an email or a voice note to globalpodcast.bbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Nick Randall. The producers were Holly Gibbs and Rachel Bulkley. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Valerie Sanderson. Until next time, bye-bye. Yoga is more than just exercise. It's the spiritual practice that millions swear by. And in 2017, Miranda, a university tutor from London,

joins a yoga school that promises profound transformation. It felt a really safe and welcoming space. After the yoga classes, I felt amazing. But soon, that calm, welcoming atmosphere leads to something far darker, a journey that leads to allegations of grooming, trafficking and exploitation across international borders. I don't have my passport, I don't have my phone, I don't have my bank cards, I have nothing. The passport being taken, the being in a house and not feeling like they can leave.

World of Secrets is where untold stories are unveiled and hidden realities are exposed. In this new series, we're confronting the dark side of the wellness industry, where the hope of a spiritual breakthrough gives way to disturbing accusations. You just get sucked in so gradually, and it's done so skillfully that you don't realize.

And it's like this, the secret that's there. I wanted to believe that, you know, that whatever they were doing, even if it seemed gross to me, was for some spiritual reason that I couldn't even understand. Revealing the hidden secrets of a global yoga network. I feel that I have no other choice. The only thing I can do is to speak about this and to put my reputation and everything else on the line. I want truth and justice.

I want truth and justice and for other people to not be hurt, for things to be different in the future. To bring it into the light and almost alchemize some of that evil stuff that went on and take back the power. World of Secrets Season 6 6, The Bad Guru. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.