Matt and Michael explore entrepreneurial burnout, renewed creative vigor, and the question: Do you have one last home run left in you?

Cheers y'all 🍻

References & Resources

Books

* The Master and His Emissary — Iain McGilchrist (attention shapes reality)

* Lord of the Rings — J.R.R. Tolkien (characters emerging as surprises)

* A Wrinkle in Time — Madeleine L'Engel

Talks & Media

* Elizabeth Gilbert: Your Elusive Creative Genius — TED Talk (Tom Waits/Leonard Cohen story)

* Landman (Season 2) — Billy Bob Thornton's "one last home run" monologue

Anime

* Jujutsu Kaisen — Domain expansion as metaphor for personal influence

Biblical

* John 14:12 — "You will do greater things than these"

People Referenced

* Clint Eastwood — "Don't let the old man in"

* T.S. Eliot — "Old men should be explorers" (from East Coker)

* Tolkien — On discovering Strider while writing

Chapters:

[00:00] Intro: The Return of the Builder

Matt's renewed enthusiasm with AI collaboration

[00:55] Risk & the Unknown

"When you're building your own idea, the end isn't known at the beginning"

[03:20] Tolkien's Surprise

Characters emerging unplanned; Strider's introduction

[09:30] COVID's Toll

Michael lost 5 businesses; the cost of grinding

[16:15] Attention Shapes Reality

McGilchrist: Things become how you pay attention to them

[21:00] Ideas Choose Their Hosts

Elizabeth Gilbert's Tom Waits/Leonard Cohen story

[24:00] Don't Let the Old Man In

Clint Eastwood's aging advice

[28:30] The 50 LLCs

Matt's entrepreneurial history (hyperbole alert)

[36:05] Grave Sites as Time Machines

Matt visits childhood friend's grave after 20 years

[46:00] Still Here, Still Becoming

"I haven't perished yet... I am still becoming"

Find us here:

x.com/mattmccloskey

x.com/michaelvaclav

All Matt’s Links - https://solo.to/mattmccloskey

All Michael’s Links - https://solo.to/michaelvaclav

Sovereign Goods - https://sovereigngoods.shop

Cafe Medici - mediciroasting.com/?srsltid=AfmBOo…9eDe2OliQmjTc2A

Matt went from AI skeptic to true believer in one week. This episode documents his conversion experience with OpenClaw - the autonomous AI agent that lives on his Mac mini, has access to his code repositories, and is currently rewriting his entire therapy practice management software while he sleeps.

The conversation ranges from the practical ("What the hell is an AI agent?") to the philosophical ("Are we creating angels or demons?") to the theological ("What does it mean to be human when code writes itself?"). They both wonder if we're standing on the event horizon of something we don't yet understand.

Also: marriage, children, and why Gen X was the best generation (objectively).

Cheers y'all 🍻

References & Resources

Books & Authors

* Isaac Asimov - Foundation series

* William Gibson - Neuromancer

* C.S. Lewis - The Abolition of Man (transhumanism, the importance of telling truth)

* Peter Steinberger - Creator of OpenClaw

* OpenClaw - Open source autonomous AI agent (https://openclaw.ai)

Fact-checks:

Harvard brain mapping study (clarified - was mouse brain, not human)

Marriage as first institution (confirmed with nuance)

Gen X being the best generation (confirmed, objectively true)

Chapters

The OpenClaw Revolution

01:15 - Matt's new friend that might replace Michael

02:00 - What is OpenClaw? Explaining autonomous AI agents

03:00 - Running 24/7 on a Mac mini with API access to everything

04:30 - Matt's journey: from skeptic to "no one should write code ever again"

06:00 - Matt's credentials: Lockheed Martin, F-35 project, State of California

08:00 - The ShrinkNotes project: rewriting 20 years of software in days

11:00 - "I am the bottleneck now" — approving PRs faster than they can be written

Life with an AI Agent

18:00 - Parallel processing: 10 projects simultaneously

22:00 - Working through a conference while the agent builds features

25:00 - The "morning ideas" workflow: text the agent, get implementations

28:00 - "Who needs therapy when you have your agent?" — AI psychoanalysis

32:00 - The intimate knowledge problem: the more you give it, the more it knows

The Asimov Connection

55:00 - Foundation series and the "event horizon" vs "singularity" metaphor

58:00 - The ship that travels faster than light but no one knows how it works

1:00:00 - AI writes code so fast no human can read it

1:05:00 - Living in a world that works but no one understands

Theological Territory

1:07:00 - "What did we just create?" — supernatural implications

1:08:00 - Angels vs demons: simulation vs reality

1:09:00 - Human experience vs eternal AI existence

1:10:00 - The FaceTime mom app: "That's not your mom, that's a demon"

1:12:00 - The importance of death and loss as human experiences

Marriage, Children, and Human Experience

1:13:00 - Marriage as the first institution (predates governments)

1:15:00 - "Anyone who chooses not to have children is diminishing themselves"

1:19:00 - Gen Z and the delayed realization about marriage and family

1:20:00 - Gen X was the best generation (uncontroversial fact)

Neural Links and Augmentation

1:14:00 - Neuromancer and augmenting humans with computers

1:15:00 - "I don't know where the line is or if there is a line"

1:16:00 - We're already cyborgs (phone = external memory)

1:17:00 - The CS Lewis solution: tell the truth, choose words carefully

Closing

1:20:00 - The value of human experience becomes a higher commodity

1:21:00 - Medici Coffee shops as human connection spaces

1:22:00 - "I really enjoy talking with my agent because it's somewhat like talking with you"

1:23:00 - "Cheers y'all" — winking at Michael

Find us here:

x.com/mattmccloskey

x.com/michaelvaclav

All Matt’s Links - https://solo.to/mattmccloskey

All Michael’s Links - https://solo.to/michaelvaclav

Sovereign Goods - https://sovereigngoods.shop

Cafe Medici - mediciroasting.com/?srsltid=AfmBOo…9eDe2OliQmjTc2A

Michael opened tonight's episode with an observation about Minneapolis releasing arrested criminals to avoid ICE detention, and its striking parallel to the crowd demanding Barabbas's release over Jesus. We explore how human nature hasn't changed in 2,000 years: we still observe the same impulse to preserve power through lies, to choose the criminal over the innocent, to be upside down without knowing it.

We discuss the difference between freedom from and freedom for, why the pursuit of property might be more meaningful than the pursuit of happiness, and whether learning styles actually exist (spoiler: Matt and Michael disagree). We also touch on mass formation psychosis, the outsourcing of violence to the state, and preview next week's deep dive into AI, demons, and OpenClaw.

Cheers y'all 🍻

Chapters:

00:00 - Check, check... audio issues and getting started

02:08 - Minneapolis releasing criminals to thwart ICE - the Barabbas parallel

03:22 - "Why would people do that?" - human nature and preserving power through lies

05:40 - The world feels upside down, but no one upside down feels upside down

06:33 - Self-control: the only control Jesus asks us to have

08:08 - COVID and the loss of relationships, cultural inflammation

09:12 - Immigration debate: when sides don't share the same premises

13:00 - People don't want solutions, they want emotional release

17:35 - "You don't own anything you can't protect" - outsourcing violence to the state

20:10 - Pursuit of happiness vs. pursuit of property (John Locke reference)

25:00 - Learning styles debate (and Allison's position)

32:30 - AI, OpenClaw, and next week's topic preview

33:35 - "All things in their proper place" - what is our proper place with this technology?

References:

- “Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions" - G.K. Chesterton

- The Biggest Myth In Education - https://youtu.be/rhgwIhB58PA?si=u2jKXKm_Qa5FB_jT

- Peter Kreeft - "Argument from Desire" (essay on the insufficiency of hedonism) - https://peterkreeft.com/topics/desire.htm

- Matthias Desmet - The Psychology of Totalitarianism (mass formation psychosis theory) - https://a.co/d/05vGsclb

- Bandits (2001) - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0219965/

Find us here:

x.com/mattmccloskey

x.com/michaelvaclav

All Matt’s Links - https://solo.to/mattmccloskey

All Michael’s Links - https://solo.to/michaelvaclav

Sovereign Goods - https://sovereigngoods.shop

Cafe Medici - mediciroasting.com/?srsltid=AfmBOo…9eDe2OliQmjTc2A

Immediately before we hit record, Michael said to Matt, “Did I bum you out?” So that’s where we start tonight - with Matt’s uneasy suspicion that we don’t live in the world we think we live in. We discuss the Super Bowl half time show, Jeffrey Epstein, Kurt Cobain, Artificial Intelligence, the apparent Ring and Nest surveillance state, and social media brainwashing.

Cheers y’all 🍻

Find us here:

x.com/mattmccloskey

x.com/michaelvaclav

All Matt’s Links - https://solo.to/mattmccloskey

All Michael’s Links - https://solo.to/michaelvaclav

Sovereign Goods - https://sovereigngoods.shop

Cafe Medici - mediciroasting.com/?srsltid=AfmBOo…9eDe2OliQmjTc2A

Hobo Steve Jobs, value stacks, indexicality, AI, coronal mass ejections, inadmissible evidence, treat your neighbor as your brother

References:

No one gets away with anything - https://youtube.com/shorts/xbNtDcgipmE?si=1hQSVzkO0SsiuFA3

Indexicality - https://youtu.be/tvwPKBXEOKE?t=885

Carrington Event - https://grokipedia.com/page/Carrington_Event

@spaceweathernews on X - https://x.com/SunWeatherMan

Find us here:

x.com/mattmccloskey

x.com/michaelvaclav

All Matt’s Links - https://solo.to/mattmccloskey

All Michael’s Links - https://solo.to/michaelvaclav

Sovereign Goods - https://sovereigngoods.shop

Cafe Medici - mediciroasting.com/?srsltid=AfmBOo…9eDe2OliQmjTc2A

Tonight on SOI:

What unites us?

Are we more united than we think?

What’s the temperature of our culture?

Do we want to know the truth?

Minnesota

ICE

Headline Manipulation

Is there a right way to respond to things? (Pass the salt)

AI and relationships

Real thoughts are flawed thoughts

Do I have any original thoughts?

Descarte - I think therefore I am

How many times can you listen to a good song?




Find us here:

x.com/mattmccloskey

x.com/michaelvaclav

All Matt’s Links - https://solo.to/mattmccloskey

All Michael’s Links - https://solo.to/michaelvaclav

Sovereign Goods - https://sovereigngoods.shop

Cafe Medici - mediciroasting.com/?srsltid=AfmBOo…9eDe2OliQmjTc2A

After Don Lemon interrupts a church service in Minnesota, he calls the church goers entitled white supremacists who think this is a christian country.

We explore what makes a country christian, and what alternatives might be look like if we were to wish to be something different.

Also, Landman season 2! So good.

References:

Don lemon - https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/2013340689099301260?s=20

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self - https://a.co/d/5B1ckjO

Philip Reiff, The Triumph of the Therapeutic - https://a.co/d/bgdMUTc

Nietzsche on the death of God:

"Where has God gone?" he cried. "I shall tell you. We have killed him - you and I. We are his murderers. But how have we done this? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What did we do when we unchained the earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving now? Away from all suns? Are we not perpetually falling? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there any up or down left? Are we not straying as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is it not more and more night coming on all the time? Must not lanterns be lit in the morning? Do we not hear anything yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we not smell anything yet of God's decomposition? Gods too decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, murderers of all murderers, console ourselves? That which was the holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet possessed has bled to death under our knives. Who will wipe this blood off us? With what water could we purify ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we need to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we not ourselves become gods simply to be worthy of it? There has never been a greater deed; and whosoever shall be born after us - for the sake of this deed he shall be part of a higher history than all history hitherto."

Find us here:

x.com/mattmccloskey

x.com/michaelvaclav

All Matt’s Links - https://solo.to/mattmccloskey

All Michael’s Links - https://solo.to/michaelvaclav

Sovereign Goods - https://sovereigngoods.shop

Cafe Medici - mediciroasting.com/?srsltid=AfmBOo…9eDe2OliQmjTc2A

A toast to Scott Adams, a discussion about God, metaphor, honesty, heaven, and hell.

- RIP Scott Adams

- God and metaphor

- Is metaphor fooling you?

- Honesty is not about disclosure

- I’d like the truth, please be gentle.

- FAFO God

- God is a wild man, if you meet him let go for dear life

Scott Adams final message - https://x.com/ScottAdamsSays/status/2011116140626657458?s=20

You self-talk rewires your body - https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSCtKjhjhwL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Squeeze and orange, get orange juice - https://x.com/newstart_2024/status/2011197220406640816?s=20

We kick off 2026 with a discussion about reality, tribalism, and the vibe shifts post 2020.

Find us here:

x.com/mattmccloskey

x.com/michaelvaclav

All Matt’s Links - https://solo.to/mattmccloskey

All Michael’s Links - https://solo.to/michaelvaclav

Sovereign Goods - www.etsy.com/shop/SovereignThreadGoods

Cafe Medici - mediciroasting.com/?srsltid=AfmBOo…9eDe2OliQmjTc2A

We close out 2025 examining regret, success, and service—why failure is human, death is the cost of life, and how serving others reveals who we truly are.

The Abolition of Man - https://a.co/d/j7kjtIK

Steve Jobs on Failure - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkTf0LmDqKI

Find us here:

x.com/mattmccloskey

x.com/michaelvaclav

All Matt’s Links - https://solo.to/mattmccloskey

All Michael’s Links - https://solo.to/michaelvaclav

Sovereign Goods - www.etsy.com/shop/SovereignThreadGoods

Cafe Medici - mediciroasting.com/?srsltid=AfmBOo…9eDe2OliQmjTc2A