What started as a personal wish — to have done more for his mother when she was raising him alone — has quietly become one of the more genuine traditions in Theo Von's podcast community. Called Single Moms Night Out, the initiative brings single mothers to shows, covers babysitting, and sends them off with a little financial help. After a run of dates through Tulsa, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, and Austin, Theo called two of the women he'd met along the way to check in.
Meeting Leah in Tulsa
Leah was nominated by Brian, a friend of hers from her time living in Edmond, Oklahoma. She had no idea she'd been put forward until the day of the show — and she'd never been to a comedy show before. Neither had the friend she brought along.
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Theo on stage in Tulsa, the show Leah attended for the first time
Watch at 04:10 →
On the call, Leah came across as warm and grounded. Her son Houston — named after the city, with it as his middle name — was five months old at the time, just past the stage of what Theo described as "kind of loitering on earth." She said he loves tummy time, is fascinated by his own reflection, and, like most babies, prefers household objects like remotes and phones to any actual toy.
When asked what surprised her most about motherhood, Leah's answer was disarmingly honest: she didn't expect it to come as naturally as it did. The first week and a half was the hardest — adjusting to the sleep schedule — but after that, she said, it had simply been great. She and Houston co-sleep, something she acknowledged can draw judgment, but she seemed entirely at ease with her choices.
Before hanging up, Theo let her know the podcast would be sending a small gift to help with whatever she and Houston needed — diapers, food, anything practical. He framed it plainly: a way to do now what he wished he could have done for his own mother as a kid.
Catching Up With Julie — The First Ever Participant
Julie holds a specific place in the history of Single Moms Night Out: she was the very first person to ever take part, back in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Theo played a clip from that original outing before getting her on the line.
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Archival footage from the first Single Moms Night Out with Julie in Siloam Springs, Arkansas
Watch at 13:45 →
A lot had happened since then. Julie's summer had included a trip to Hot Springs to dig for crystals with her son — coming back, she said, with some solid specimens and equal amounts of dirt. She also shared photos of her father, who lives entirely off the grid near Pikes Peak in Colorado, about fifty minutes into the mountains past Woodland Park. No electricity, no plumbing — just solar panels, car batteries, hauled water, and a barter economy. He trades items he finds, like golf balls, for whatever he needs in town.
When Theo saw Julie backstage in Tulsa, his immediate reaction was that she was doing well — genuinely well. She brought him a book on sexual knowledge from the 1700s as a gift, which he promised to work into a future episode. The reconnection seemed easy and natural, the kind of thing that happens when two people discover, unexpectedly, that they're on the same wavelength.
"I feel like I have somebody out there if I need somebody," Theo told her, "and that somebody is you."
Julie's son has a full rest-of-summer ahead: goalkeeper training, a Lego camp, and a school year starting August 12th. She spoke about her parenting philosophy with the same directness Leah had — knowing what she didn't have growing up, and being intentional about giving her son something different.
Why the Program Exists
Theo has talked about his mother and his upbringing across many episodes of his podcast, but the Single Moms Night Out segment distills the emotional core of it into something concrete. Rather than simply talking about gratitude for single mothers, the show finds a way to act on it — one city, one show, one family at a time.
The logistics are imperfect. Not every nomination works out. Sometimes timing or travel makes it impossible to follow through with a specific person. But the effort is consistent: get a single mom into a room where she can relax for a few hours, cover whatever costs make that possible, and then actually follow up.
Both Leah and Julie seemed less like recipients of charity and more like people who'd been welcomed into something ongoing. That distinction appears to matter to everyone involved.
How to Nominate Someone
The next stop is San Francisco at the end of July. Nominations are open now. The show asks that you hold off on telling the person you're nominating — logistics sometimes prevent follow-through, and no one wants to get someone's hopes up unnecessarily.
Nominations can be submitted by calling the hotline at 985-664-9503.
