Working Man

Working Man

By Harmel Academy of the TradesReligion & SpiritualityChristianity
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Working Man episodes

  • 302 Work as Poetry?
    It is isn’t always easy for people to understand how a Catholic trade school works, especially when you consider that the school combines skilled trades training with intellectual and spiritual formation. And frankly, it is not always easy to explain.
    So today, we’re going to attempt to show you instead of tell you, if only in a small way. In today’s episode, we’d like to give you a little glimpse of what it sounds like to study the humanities in the context of the skilled trades. We’re going to do that by publishing part of a lecture from one of our humanities classes, God and Man at Work. In this lecture, you’ll hear a talk that helps make a turn from the first part of this class (where students study the Theology of the Body) to the second part, where they begin laying a foundation for a Theology of Work.
    This lecture is about J.R.R. Tolkien’s poem, Mythopoeia. If you’re like our students, you’ll wonder how a poem on mythmaking can help lay the groundwork for a spiritual understanding of work. But argued in this talk, our work is actually part of a very fundamental way of existing in the world, a way of existing that might be best understand by approaching it from the side—in this case, through considering what a poet does.
    This is just a little glimpse of how Harmel works, a sample of the discussions we have here, and we hope you enjoy it.
    If you know anyone who might be interested in our work—students, donors, partners, priests—would you please send them our way? You can find us on the socials, or at HarmelAcademy.org
    45 min
  • 301 Adam Mills
    Working Man is back for Season Three, and today’s guest is a special one. Adam Mills is an award winning brewer in Cincinnati, Ohio. In fact, in the time between the launch of this episode and the recording of this interview, Adam’s brewery, Cartridge Brewing, was awarded a Bronze Medal, a Silver Medal, and Gold Medal in the US Open Beer Championship, which, much like Ron Burgundy, is kind of a big deal. 
    Today, we discuss the relationship between brewing beer and the spiritual life, the importance of simplicity and attention in both, and why chickpeas aren’t a common ingredient in craft beer.
    42 min
  • 206 Petr Kovarik

    Today on Working Man we are joined by a mender of soles. Petr Kovarik is a bootmaker and owner of Liberty Footwear in Grand Rapids, MI. Today he talks about how he sees his work as the opportunity to serve those around him, and how trusting in God in everything you do is at the core of your work. If you are looking for a good pair of boots head over to libertyfootwear.com and check out Petr's work.

    39 min
  • 205 St. Joseph and Fatherhood with Fr. Donald Libby

    If you listen to this podcast, you likely know already that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has declared this to be the Year of St. Joseph. Our guest today, Fr. Donald Libby, is the pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in the Diocese of Gaylord, Michigan, and he will give us an introduction to the Holy Father’s Apostolic Letter Patris Corde, and help us understand how St Joseph shows us what fatherhood is all about.

    32 min
  • 203 Dan Grabinski | Laborem Exercens

    Today we’re talking with CNC Machinist Dan Grabinski. Dan and Dave talk about the state of modern manufacturing, the challenges of finding good people to fill good positions, the cultural side of learning a trade, and the attitude it takes to enter into a tradition of craftsmanship.

    At the end of the episode, we’ll also share a short passage from John Paul II’s encyclical Laborem Exercens. That’s an encyclical we talk about a lot on this show, and sometime in the future, we’ll do a deep dive into what are sometimes called "the social encyclicals." But for those of you who have not had time to curl up and read these texts, we’d like to start sharing parts of them here for you to reflect on them as you get Working Man jammed into your ear-holes.

    36 min
  • 202 Work and the Keys to the Social Question

    Today, a talk given by Harmel Academy’s President and Co-Founder, Brian Black. Brian gave this talk this fall in Traverse City, Michigan to a charitable organization named Martinus. In it, Brian does a deep dive into the meaning of work, and if you’re interested in taking a look at the philosophical DNA of Harmel, if you want to spend some time examining movement and gears of the cloak that is this Academy, this is the talk for you. 


    48 min
  • 201 Andy Newland on ESOPs and Catholic Social Teaching
    Our guest on today’s episode is Andy Newland. Andy is the president and CEO of Hercules Industries in Denver Colorado. Until very recently, Hercules was a family business that manufactures HVAC products, but when the family looked ahead to how it wanted the company to continue, they decided to turn it into an ESOP. In this episode, you’ll learn what that means, how companies create culture across generations, and one company’s insight into how the principles of Catholic Social Teaching can move from theory on a page to practice on the shop floor. Andy’s insights are excellent, and you’re really going to enjoy them.
    42 min
  • S01 E14 Andreas Widmer
    Andreas Widmer is the Director of the Arthur & Carlyse Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship  at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America. 
    He is also a former tech executive, but  many of you may familiar with him from his book The Pope and the CEO where he details the lessons he learned in his former life as a bodyguard to St. John Paul II. You read that right. Think about having “Saint Bodyguard”  listed on your resume.
    This was just such a great conversation, and I walked away with it with about a dozen things I wanted to integrate into my work and  prayer and life and thinking, and I think you’d going to like it a lot.
    41 min
  • S01 E13 Phil Sotok

    Our guest today on Working Man is Phil Sotok. Phil is an entrepreneur and  businessman with over twenty years experience in the automotive industry. Phil is also the founder of DPMC North America, a firm that helps companies reorient their cultures around unifying purposes. On today’s episode, Phil and I discuss two core virtues for building a healthy, life-giving community in a business, how virtuous leadership is different than competent management, and why it’s important to make sure that what you say you value is reflected in what you actually do at work. 

    Phil is a thoughtful guy who cares deeply about helping people remember that business is essentially a human enterprise, and you’re going to like what he has to say.


    45 min

About Working Man

From the publisher's feed

Working Man is the official podcast of Harmel Academy of the Trades, a Catholic, residential trade school in Grand Rapids, MI.