In the early 1400s, late in the Hundred Years' War between France and England, an illiterate French teenage girl is visited by visions of Michael the Archangel and two young female martyrs and is told to support the French not-yet-anointed king Charles VII and help drive the English out of France.  

What follows is an extraordinary tale of miracles, military victories, misfortune, a politically-motivated show-trial, and a gruesome execution, followed by posthumous exoneration and eventual sainthood for the young woman we know as Joan of Arc.  

The documents surrounding her trials are still in existence and it is said that there are few people from the middle ages whose existence are more well-chronicled.  Joan has become a symbol of rock-steady faith changing the direction of history through devotion and courage.

"If I am not [in God's grace], may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest creature in the world if I knew I were not in His grace."

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As always, you can reach the Buf at [email protected]

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As you know, this is an independent podcast so your hosts also carry all the expenses of running this podcast. As such, some of you have asked how you can help out. Well, here's the answer: support us on Buy Me a Coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/bufnagle

On this page, you can do a really nice thing like send us a couple dollars to help cover the cost of recording and hosting and microphones and research and all that. Any little bit really helps! Thank you in advance!!!

Zach and Rafe explore communities and the questions around them.  What drives their creation?  What holds them together?  Are on-line communities an oxymoron?  Is in-person necessary for community?

The Bufnaglers discover that Love drives community.  Your community should will the Good of its members, encourage them to grow, and strengthen their virtue.  Along the way, they discuss St Paul and the Corinthians, Shakespeare, and even Adam Sandler. 

And in the long run, communities help us Seek the Good, Be the Good, and Spread the Good.  They are a core component of the Adventure of Life.

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As always, you can reach the Buf at [email protected]

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As you know, this is an independent podcast so your hosts also carry all the expenses of running this podcast. As such, some of you have asked how you can help out. Well, here's the answer: support us on Buy Me a Coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/bufnagle

On this page, you can do a really nice thing like send us a couple dollars to help cover the cost of recording and hosting and microphones and research and all that. Any little bit really helps! Thank you in advance!!!

The Bufnagle Team tackles the question of Who Would You Invite to Dinner?  But they take time to clarify the rules and expand on why these people would make great guests.  From military leaders (yes, you can guess at least one of them!) to patriots to astronauts to sports heroes to politicians and authors and explorers, the guest list for the Bufnagle Feast would certainly have something for everyone.  Just like the guests on the show, all potential guests to the feast are Imago Dei and thus worth meeting on this week's show.

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As always, you can reach the Buf at [email protected]

*****

As you know, this is an independent podcast so your hosts also carry all the expenses of running this podcast. As such, some of you have asked how you can help out. Well, here's the answer: support us on Buy Me a Coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/bufnagle

On this page, you can do a really nice thing like send us a couple dollars to help cover the cost of recording and hosting and microphones and research and all that. Any little bit really helps! Thank you in advance!!!

The internet has changed everything and it seems as if we are now more connected than ever.  But these connections can be thin; you still have the most impact — good, bad, or otherwise — when you physically connect with the people you know.

The internet is multiplier, it makes your actions have a further reach.  But this goes for the good that you do and also the bad, so be careful with what you do.

Our positive impact on others can lead to what Henry James calls The Great Good Place: your best life, one where you fully thrive as the best version of yourself, a place that is revealed to us typically only in glimpses, the song that touches your heart, the conversation with an old friend, the perfect dinner with all your family, friends, and compatriots attending, the time when the fears and worries and sorrows drift away, where we are left awash in the Good, in those people and things that bring us Joy.  

We need to live the Good as humans in a real and physical way.  This allows us to fulfill our Nature: to seek God, who is Love, and to do so in the real physical community of others.

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As always, you can reach the Buf at [email protected]

*****

As you know, this is an independent podcast so your hosts also carry all the expenses of running this podcast. As such, some of you have asked how you can help out. Well, here's the answer: support us on Buy Me a Coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/bufnagle

On this page, you can do a really nice thing like send us a couple dollars to help cover the cost of recording and hosting and microphones and research and all that. Any little bit really helps! Thank you in advance!!!

Where have you lived?  Where have you visited?  What have your travels taught you?

The Bufnaglers (Rafe, Zach, AND Big Brain Smart Head Older Brother Harry) relate tales of moving about and living in different areas of the USA and traveling around the world.

From pizza to language to sports to aviation to pho to hot chicken, we learn that people all over are the same in their differences.  You can decide to find those differences off-putting and make your stays away from home miserable OR you can decide to find those differences interesting and educational and make your stays away from home enlightening and rewarding. 

The choice is yours.  The decisions you make about how you approach differences create ripples that have infinite impact.

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As always, you can reach the Buf at [email protected]

*****

As you know, this is an independent podcast so your hosts also carry all the expenses of running this podcast. As such, some of you have asked how you can help out. Well, here's the answer: support us on Buy Me a Coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/bufnagle

On this page, you can do a really nice thing like send us a couple dollars to help cover the cost of recording and hosting and microphones and research and all that. Any little bit really helps! Thank you in advance!!!

Zach and Rafe sit down with special guest and Big Brain Smart Head Angela Nash who shares her adventure stories woven into  fabric based hobbies. Angela expresses why she was drawn to certain adventures and paths, the importance of trying new things, and being ok with things not being perfect the first time.   Angela also explains how a sewing machine works, so that is pretty awesome, too!

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As always, you can reach the Buf at [email protected]

*****

As you know, this is an independent podcast so your hosts also carry all the expenses of running this podcast. As such, some of you have asked how you can help out. Well, here's the answer: support us on Buy Me a Coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/bufnagle

On this page, you can do a really nice thing like send us a couple dollars to help cover the cost of recording and hosting and microphones and research and all that. Any little bit really helps! Thank you in advance!!!

Hobbies allow us to be creative and reveal components of who we are.  Through them, we reveal ourselves individually as unique and glorious reflections of Imago Dei and thus collectively enrich the depth and breadth of the human experience.

Zach and Rafe are joined again by Big Brain Smart Head (and America's Favorite Rocket Scientist!) Bob and together they share stories and journeys around Lego and model trains and art and all sorts of other creative pastimes.  

Throughout the conversation, the themes of taking risk, improving yourself, sharing of yourself, and risk-producing-reward recur regularly, and all these components of hobbies eventually result in Joy, both for you and for those around you.

So, give a listen, then go take some risk, learn a skill, and humble yourself --- because you never know when you will be the best part of somebody's day.

*****

As always, you can reach the Buf at [email protected]

*****

As you know, this is an independent podcast so your hosts also carry all the expenses of running this podcast. As such, some of you have asked how you can help out. Well, here's the answer: support us on Buy Me a Coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/bufnagle

On this page, you can do a really nice thing like send us a couple dollars to help cover the cost of recording and hosting and microphones and research and all that. Any little bit really helps! Thank you in advance!!!

Pyramids, monuments, statues, and temples!  Built between 2500 BC and 280 BC, the seven wonders of the ancient world display some of the finest achievements of the builders of antiquity.  Ancient civilizations built incredible pyramids, monuments, and statues, all ginormous in scale and extravagant in detail, in an age of simple hand tools and raw human power.  

Understanding these wonders of antiquity helps us to understand that we are heirs of a great civilization or at least barbarians living in the ruins of a glorious past.

And, as an added bonus, the Bufnaglers reveal some secrets of the number seven (7) that you just might not know!

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As always, you can reach the Buf at [email protected]

*****

As you know, this is an independent podcast so your hosts also carry all the expenses of running this podcast. As such, some of you have asked how you can help out. Well, here's the answer: support us on Buy Me a Coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/bufnagle

On this page, you can do a really nice thing like send us a couple dollars to help cover the cost of recording and hosting and microphones and research and all that. Any little bit really helps! Thank you in advance!!!

Between the glories that were the Roman and British Empires, the Mongols ruled the largest empire to date.  And Marco Polo, a 20-something kid from Italy was on hand, in the court of the great Kublai Khan, to record what things were really like.

The records that Marco Polo left behind reveal not an impoverished, back-water, uncivilized nation of blood-thirsty warriors but rather a very rich, very powerful, very sophisticated civilization, one full of economic and cultural bounty.

Mongol chic fashion made its way all the way to England and Marco Polo was instrumental in introducing Western ideas to the East and exposing Eastern grandeur to the West.

Polo's writing shaped Western thinking for generations, revealing the reality of East, proving the existence of the disputed Antipodes, and describing a manner of ruling that became the model for Christian Kingship in the West.

Read more about Marco Polo and other adventurers in "The Fourth Part of the World; An Astonishing Epic of Global Discovery, Imperial Ambition, and the Birth of America" by Toby Lester.

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As always, you can reach the Buf at [email protected]

*****

As you know, this is an independent podcast so your hosts also carry all the expenses of running this podcast. As such, some of you have asked how you can help out. Well, here's the answer: support us on Buy Me a Coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/bufnagle

On this page, you can do a really nice thing like send us a couple dollars to help cover the cost of recording and hosting and microphones and research and all that. Any little bit really helps! Thank you in advance!!!

Zach and Rafe discuss the 7th and last Zachism: Be kind.  

We are surrounded by a culture full of teasing and pranks, of ridicule and hazing, of yelling and condescension.  This leads to all sorts of problems for individuals and teams.

Instead, we need to be kind, show grace, and spread joy.

Tell people you love them and care about them.  Show them grace.  Balance toughness with a safe space to fail.  Make people feel bigger, better, and more comfortable.  Celebrate the light and gifts of others.

Pranks are stupid because they make people the butt of jokes.  Teasing is dangerous because it makes people feel small.  Yelling doesn't help because it creates fear; and learning and growing are hampered by fear.

Love speaks the language of Truth.  

"Compliment people behind their backs and say nice things to their faces."

*****

As always, you can reach the Buf at [email protected]

*****

As you know, this is an independent podcast so your hosts also carry all the expenses of running this podcast. As such, some of you have asked how you can help out. Well, here's the answer: support us on Buy Me a Coffee:

https://buymeacoffee.com/bufnagle

On this page, you can do a really nice thing like send us a couple dollars to help cover the cost of recording and hosting and microphones and research and all that. Any little bit really helps! Thank you in advance!!!