The Vital Masculinity Podcast

In this episode, Stephen interviews retired Air Force Colonel Tom Ruby on some hard fought wisdom he has acquired throughout his life and career.

Rubes' Maxims/Show Highlights:

1. Goodness Breeds Goodness - Why is it important to act for the good of others (and yourself)?
2. Seek Balance in Life - How do we overcome the temporary nature of so many areas of our life and focus on a longer-termed, balanced lifestyle?
3. Truth Doesn’t Change Based on the Rank of the Recipient - Why must we always tell the truth, even if it has undesirable consequences?
4. Focus on the Mission - Why carrying out our goals requires us to keep the mission in mind and dutifully tackle all the minutiae.
5. If You Have to Eat a Frog, Staring at it Won’t Make It Go Down Easier - Why must we confront difficult issues head on?
6. Iron Sharpens Iron - The importance of challenging ourselves as leaders and men for personal and professional growth.
7. Bloom Where You’re Planted - Why do we need to put energy into the present instead of focusing completely on the future.
8. They Can’t Say No If You Don’t Ask - One of the only ways to get what you want is to ask those that can give it to you.
9. You Can Never Go Back - A sad truth about life that we all must master as we mature.

About Tom:

Tom is a retired Air Force Colonel with 26 years of active duty experience and the CEO of Bluegrass Critical Thinking Solutions. He is widely published and speaks globally on topics including critical thinking, leadership, strategy, and morality in warfare.

Connect with Tom:
Twitter: (@bgcts)
Website

In this episode, Stephen sits down with Stained Glass Zealot, one of the foremost members of the Twitter Aesthetics-Sphere to discuss the importance of beauty and the positive benefits men get from surrounding themselves with beautiful things.

Show Highlights:
– Why beauty matters?
– A good heuristic for appreciating beautiful things.
– The problem with progress and linear history.
– Why you should read The Decline and Fall of Western Art.
– The oppressive nature of ugliness in art and architecture.
– Why we need to start focusing on long-term and eternal things.
– The beauty of fractal patterns.
– The relationship between beauty and our thoughts and the state of our soul.
– Why you need to curate your timeline.
– How contemplating beauty can change you.
– How can we reclaim beauty in the public sphere?
– Learning to be humble through the appreciation of the art of our ancestors.
– If you want to RETVRN to tradition, you need to surround yourself with the knowledge of the past.
– How our ancestors aesthetics had values and morals embedded in them.
– Why does a religious worldview lead to more beautiful aesthetics?

Patron-Exclusive Content:

We live in a world full of ugliness – there’s no doubt about that. As beauty continues to recede from our life, many young men have been asking about how we can begin to reintroduce it and surround ourselves with it.

On our patron-only question, Stained Glass Zealot answers a question from patron Sean R. on how we can do just this and explains the concept of Lindy, which can be a useful tool for reducing the modernist ugliness that crowds so many areas of our life.

References:
Madonne Assise by William Adoplhe Bougereau

Connect with Stained Glass Zealot:
Twitter: (@glass_zealot)
Instagram
Substack

In this episode, Stephen and Brian interview Dr. Andrew Montanaro, a professor of Sacred Scripture at Christendom College in Front Royal, VA on the subject of Biblical Masculinity, growing in wisdom, and what the Book of Sirach can tell us about living manfully.

Show Highlights:

• Why we need to give everything to God.
• How boys and men get left behind, and how Scripture can call them to greatness.
• Examples of great men in the Bible.
• What does spiritual readiness look like?
• Why men should study the Wisdom Literature.
• How do Biblical lessons apply to 21st century men?
• What the Book of Sirach/Wisdom of Sirach can teach us about wisdom, masculinity, and family life.
• What can we learn from Ben Sira's mission?
• How proper education includes both teaching and demonstrating information/wisdom.
• Father-Son language in the Book of Sirach.
• How gaining wisdom requires discipline.
• Why you should make your family like a school.
• Was Ben Sira's project successful?
• Why we need to think long term in our goals.

Exclusive Patron Content:

On our patron-only question, Andrew discusses how we can use the wisdom from the Book of Sirach (as well as the other wisdom literature and the Bible as a whole) to live more meaningfully masculine lives in the modern world.

Sign up for our Socrates Tier at $5/month for access to this and more!

About Andrew:

Dr. Andrew Montanaro is an Assistant Professor of Sacred Scripture at Christendom College. His research interests include biblical theology, the transmission and use of Scripture in pedagogy, masculinity, wisdom literature, and ancient languages.

Keep in Touch with Andrew:

Website

In this episode, the gents sit down to expand upon their initial discussion of the theological virtue faith by discussion the more exclusively religious nature of belief.

Show Highlights:

• A recap of our previous episode on aspects of faith.
• Why is faith different than philosophy?
• St. Thomas Aquinas' three distinctions of faith.
• How does faith inspire action?
• The differences between unbelief and nonbelief.
• Can someone be made or coerced to believe?
• Why doesn't God coerce us to believe?
• The relationship between faith and love.
• Love as communion and the partaking of someone else's nature - in this case, the divine.
• The transformative nature of this virtue.

In this episode, Stephen dissects some of the issues plaguing churches (of all denominations) in the Western world and offers a few solutions to the exodus of men from the sphere of faith, religion, and spirituality.

Show Highlights:

• The numbers behind the male exodus from church
• One church that is doing slightly better
• Why there was a great "feminization" of churches after World War 2.
• How the "people in the pews" have influence on churches.
• A father's involvement in church and its impact on his kid's faith.
• The importance of man as priest of his household.
• Children are great discerners of parental hypocrisy.
• Why we need more men's ministries and what that means.
• Combining faith with activity.
• Go out and build new organizations and ministries.
• Building bonds with Christian men outside of church.
• Why you need Christian heroes.

Resources:

Muscular Christianity

Reflections on St. Louis

Masculinity & Femininity: Exterior Masculine Roles

In this episode, Brian and Stephen offer a high-level overview of what faith and belief are, through the lens of Josef Pieper's Faith, Hope, Love.

Show Highlights:

• Overall misconceptions of faith.
• The tie-in between faith and conviction.
• The difference and relationship between believing and knowing.
• The transition of belief from the "supernatural" to the "material" world in the 19th century.
• Why belief can't be half-hearted.
• What is "mental unrest" that Pieper notes comes with faith?
• Why can't you rationalize your way to true faith?
• How faith ties in to reality and why you cannot divorce the two of them.
• Why you can still know things.
• What is belief/faith?
• Four prerequisites of faith.
• Why we need freedom to rightly believe.

In this episode, Stephen interviews Michael Thomas of Sharon, a homesteader, on the importance of homesteading, tradition, place, and much more.

• Why Michael decided to go live on an 18th century farm.
• The importance of a sense of place.
• Why tradition and culture are tied in to place.
• What we can learn from those that came before us.
• On man's reaction to modernity and what we can do about it.
• The role of God and faith in tradition. 
• The balance Michael carries between modernity and tradition.
• Why we need to "purify" ourselves first before jumping fully into homesteading.
• The importance of humility and learning from our mistakes.
• Why incremental steps are better than a big, sudden move.
• The need for others and learning from the past.
• The importance of the Benedict Option.
• How you can connect with Michael and learn more about his projects in upstate NY.

1. Learn to breathe properly.
2. Stand up straight.
3. Don't be a degenerate.
4. Understand the value of money.
5. Go to church.
6. Begin to identify your core values.
7. Develop strong friendships now.
8. Learn to appreciate silence and solitude.
9. Begin looking for a wife and/or get married.
10. Lift heavy things.

• Porn Myths
• Why Porn is Harmful
• Taking Action
• Breaking Free
• What is Dating?
• Dating Well
• Dating Tips, Mindsets, and Approaches
• Marriage and Chastity
• Marriage and Masculinity

In this episode, the gents examine what C.S. Lewis considered the fourth love, Agape or divine "God love."

Show Highlights:

In this episode, the gents tackle a more controversial question - can men and women be friends? Should they be? The answer is more complicated than you may think.

Show Highlights:

• A recap of the three Aristotelian forms of friendship.
• Can men and women be friends?
• Why is there typically the temptation to eros in these friendships?
• What does male/female friendship look like before marriage?
• The rise of nice guy syndrome.
• Should you be friends with a member of the opposite sex when you're in a relationship?
• The importance of boundaries - the "Mike Pence" rule.
• Why men and women should have their own spaces to be with "their own."

View the full show notes here.

Related Podcast Episodes:

The Problem with Nice Guys

Resources:

The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis

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