PODCAST · kids
A Time to Sharpen
by Axel Liimatta & Brandon Maxwell
A bi-weekly podcast that examines how working with teenagers can make us better versions of ourselves: better teachers, better counselors, better parents…better people. Join two of Whetstone Boys Ranch's co-founders, Axel Liimatta and Brandon Maxwell, as they discuss what twenty years of serving struggling teenagers and their families has taught them about how to address the most challenging of behaviors. You'll find answers without dogma, encouragement without false hope, and sharpening without shame.
Episodes
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Beyond Whetstone: The 1st Boy
On October 9, 2011, Whetstone Boys Ranch opened its doors to its very first resident: Austin . Today, exactly fifteen years later, we're opening a new chapter—and Austin is helping us turn the first page. We're launching Beyond the Whetstone, our new video podcast series featuring the stories of...
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Forged & Sharpened: The History of Whetstone, Part 3
Whetstone Boys Ranch opened October 9, 2011. But in some ways, our first boy showed up almost ten years earlier. This week on Forged & Sharpened, our oral history of Whetstone Boys Ranch, we welcome our first return guest, Troy Vetter. Troy grew up on Long Island near Timothy Hill Children’s…
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Forged & Sharpened: The History of Whetstone, Part 2
There are seasons when God’s providence looks less like a straight road and more like a crooked map. This second chapter of Whetstone’s history includes a near-death experience, disappointment, and detours that made very little sense at the time. Scripture says God works all things together for...
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Forged & Sharpened: The History of Whetstone, Part 1
Every story has a beginning, but some beginnings are harder to locate on a map. This week on A Time to Sharpen, we share the first installment of a multi-part oral history examining nearly 30 years of the Whetstone Boys Ranch story. At the center of this journey is a Bible verse: “As iron…
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Pivot
Every family has a story. For years, we’ve spent this podcast telling you about Whetstone Boys Ranch: what we do, why we do it, and what we’ve learned from walking alongside struggling young men and their families. But we’ve reached an exciting milestone. Enough time has passed that many of our...
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Guy Talk
Men talk different. Ask a guy, “How are you feeling?” and suddenly he needs to check the oil in the truck truck, sharpen his knife, or discuss brisket temperatures. But put him in a canoe, around a fire, or shoulder-to-shoulder doing something, and somehow the truth starts leaking out. Usually...
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Taking Out The Trash
I grew up in a household with six kids. Needless to say, things could get pretty messy, and so every once in a while my dad would rally the troops and proclaim that it was time for clean machine. Contrary to what you might think, these were joyous times. We would run around and pick stuff up as...
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FAQ'S Part 4
So this is the last installment of WBRFAQS. That's a lot of letters. We hope that these 4 episodes prove useful to anyone with questions about what we do, how we do it, and why. It would really help us if you could pass them along to someone you know, whether that's a family that needs help, a...
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FAQ's: Part 3
In this third installment of FAQ’s, we’re gonna dig into some of the practical details that matter a lot: what life at Whetstone actually feels like day to day, how structure and freedom work together, what growth usually looks like, and why change rarely happens all at once. Join us this week on…
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FAQ's: Part 2
FAQ’s: Part Two will address some of the questions that come out around the kitchen table at 11:30 at night: Is this place actually professional… or just a ranch with a nice logo? What kind of boys are there? And is my kid going to get better—or learn a few new tricks I don’t want him learning?…
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FAQ's: Part 1
If you’re considering a place like Whetstone for your son, you’re not just looking for a brochure, you’re looking for answers. Real ones. The kind you ask when you can’t sleep. The house is finally quiet, but your mind won’t be. So we’re starting a short, straightforward FAQ series - episodes...
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Mountains & Molehills
Description Forthcoming
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Next-Gen
Everyone likes new things. New phones. New systems. New news. That’s weird phrase, but you catch my drift. The problem is, new doesn’t always mean better. On the other hand, old doesn’t automatically mean wise either. And somewhere between those two instincts is a lot of tension—especially when…
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Hygiene for Boys
Self-care doesn’t announce itself at Whetstone with spa music and soft lighting. It shows up in the mundane: brushing teeth, washing clothes, tending a cut, making a bed that will be messed up again by nightfall. And yet, this is where a lot of the real therapeutic work lives. When a boy learns…
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Money
No one likes to talk about money. The very word is a little cringy. We prefer to talk about wealth, finances, the budget. These are more palatable. The same thing applies to the term fund-raising. People tend to tune out a little bit when it comes up in conversation. Most of us already have…
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Spiritual Life
It’s a little ironic that has taken us 65 episodes to get this topic. You could argue it should’ve been the first one we ever recorded, because spiritual life is our top priority — the reason we do anything at Whetstone. Then again, if you’ve listened to the previous 65 episodes, you know we’ve...
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Girls
Running a boys ranch means we spend a lot of time talking about manhood—but you can’t really understand boys without talking about girls. God made us different on purpose. Not to compete but to complement. Because becoming a man isn’t just about how you carry yourself—it’s about how you treat the...
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Light's Out
When most of the world goes to sleep, life at Whetstone keeps rolling. The lights may be out, but the work doesn’t stop. Boys still need care. Emergencies can happen. And someone has to keep diligent watch. Today, we’re pulling back the curtain on what happens after dark at Whetstone Boys Ranch —...
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Bumps & Bruises
Bumps, bruises, and bug bites—it’s all part of growing up in the Ozarks. Around here, ‘rub some dirt on it’ isn’t just advice, it’s practically a lifestyle. Of course, we’re also First Aid certified, so don’t worry—more serious injuries are treated with more than just duct tape. At Whetstone, we...
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Harvard-Bound
It’s not everyday that a former student of yours says that he’s been accepted to Harvard Law School - or every year...or every lifetime! But recently, Whetstone was honored by the news that one of its graduates has done just that. Join us this week on A Time to Sharpen for an in-depth discussion...
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Sleep Matters
Sleep is the secret weapon most of us are too tired to use. We hustle, grind, and caffeinate our way through exhaustion, ignoring the one thing our minds and bodies need most. In this episode of A Time to Sharpen, we explore why sleep isn’t a luxury—it’s a lifeline. From better mood and focus to...
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Neurodivergence
We all think differently. But some of us think more differently than others…if that makes sense. Maybe it doesn’t. I don’t know. Which is why we invited Jonathan Page to talk with us about the very important, complex,, and sometimes uncomfortable topic of neurodivergence in our society and at...
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Growing Pains
Some of us are old enough to remember when Kirk Cameron was a teenage heartthrob and the star of an 80’s family sitcom called “Growing Pains.” This show was also notable for its catchy theme song and for the fact that it starred his TV father, played by Alan Thicke…who is the real-life father of...
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Staying Married
It’s impossible to overestimate the importance of marriage. Sure, some marriages fail, some are toxic, and some are even deadly. Still, there is nothing that has the power to build a person, a church, a community, or a nation like healthy marriages. Thing is, they take work. Lots of hard work, on...
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Sick & Tired
Flu season is almost over, but if you hurry, there’s just enough to catch the seasonal bug if you want. You have until the end of May, in case you're interested. There’s really a lot to be said for being sick. It forces you to slow down. It teaches you how to be sympathetic towards others when...
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Childhood Bullying Pt. 2
In part two of this special podcast dealing with school bullying, Axel, Brandon and Thomas share thoughts about the bullying problem, along with some simple, proven effective ways to address childhood bullying and some ideas about what could work as well.
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Childhood Bullying: Pt. I
Whetstone's Thomas Brown joins Brandon and Axel for the first of a two-part series on the subject of childhood bullying. Once a victim of terrible bullying, Thomas emerged as a three-decades filmmaker, educator, national speaker and consultant on a subject he knows all-too-well. Despite a...
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LOL!
Rules without Relationship = Rebellion. We’ve said this before on the podcast, but it bears repeating. Whetstone Boys Ranch was founded upon this basic assumption. Rules are necessary, but without a human being to explain, interpret, apply, and at times modify those rules, they become a formula…
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Snowplows & Helicopters
Bad parenting is often compared to snowplows and helicopters. There is a very strong temptation to rescue our kids from their mistakes: swooping in to save the day, or plowing a path so smooth that they never have to struggle. Every parent is guilty of it to some extent. First because the...
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'tis the Season?
‘Tis the season to be over-working, over-spending, over-eating…and under-sleeping. I don’t know about you, but I feel like the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is probably the most stressful of the year…with the possible exception of the weeks leading up to April 15th. What does that say...
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No Pain, No Gain
Did you know that the second Friday in January is known as “Quitter’s Day?” Studies have shown that by this day each year, 80% of all New Year’s Resolutions have been abandoned. I think one reason for this is that we don’t plan for failure. We tend to be overly optimistic about how easy it will…
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A Holiday Lesson
Is there anything better than a good holiday tradition? Well, yeah, lots of things I guess. Two good holiday traditions…three good holiday traditions. Seriously though, join us this week on A Time to Sharpen as we discuss the 2003, Christmas classic, Elf, starring the great Will Ferrell. It’s a...
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Meet the Parents, Video
What’s it like to be the parent of a boy at Whetstone? There is really only one person who can answer that question. You guessed it. It’s the parent of a boy at Whetstone. This week on A Time to Sharpen we have two such parents: JD and Kelly Buss, the mother and father of Joey Buss, one of our...
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Meet the Parents
What’s it like to be the parent of a boy at Whetstone? There is really only one person who can answer that question. You guessed it. It’s the parent of a boy at Whetstone. This week on A Time to Sharpen we have two such parents: JD and Kelly Buss, the mother and father of Joey Buss, one of our...
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Tool Time
In The Tech Wise Family, author Andy Crouch describes the difference between devices which do our work for us, and tools which allow us to work for ourselves. One contracts, the other expands. One makes us lazy and apathetic, the other pushes us to grow. One forces us to conform; the other helps…
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Let's Go To The Movies!
Movies are a powerful tool. They have the ability to not just change people, but to change the world. The film industry proclaims and celebrates this power every year during Oscar season, up and down the red carpet. So I’ve always thought it strange when some of these same people minimize the...
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Safety First
“Safety first,” the old saying goes. And it’s true, it’s pretty dumb to ignore safety issues before deciding to do something potentially dangerous. But that doesn’t mean that a wise person will never attempt to do anything dangerous in life. In fact, there are times when not doing a “dangerous”...
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Volunteering
What person in their right mind travels 9 hours in a cramped vehicle, with no Buc-ees between there and here, to work for 3 long days in hot, humid, 100 degree weather, battling sawdust, sanders, chainsaws, ticks, and chiggers, expecting nothing in return but the joy of lending a helping hand?...
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Rebounding
In high school, Dennis Rodman was my favorite basketball player. Not because he dyed his hair pink, got married to himself while wearing a wedding dress, and became close personal friends with Kim Jong Un. Not that. Instead, it was because of his amazing hustle and unadulterated passion for the...
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Adulting
It’s sad to see your kids grow up…but it’s more sad if they don’t grow up. That’s the conclusion I’ve come to with my four children. It’s my job to prepare them for life without me. But what exactly does this entail? I don’t plan on going away anytime soon, but I don’t want them calling me up at...
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Success Rate
We often get asked about our “success rate,” as if the boys who come here are games on a schedule. People want to know our win/loss record. Is it above .500? Did we make the playoffs? If not, what coaches are we going to fire? What off-season moves are we going to make? And I get it. I can be…
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Youth Sports
Sports, sports, sports…and more sports. We can’t seem to get enough. We have 24 hour coverage of every athletic competition across the globe. Sports on television, the radio, the internet. Then there is the conversation before, during, and after each individual event. I haven’t done the math, but...
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Field Trips
Sir Isaac Newton observed that “an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion…unless acted upon by an outside force.” And while his laws of thermodynamics revolutionized physics, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that this is also true in our lives as parents…
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You Are What You Eat
You are what you eat. If you eat exclusively chicken nuggets, you’ll probably end up looking like a chicken nugget. Literally. Remember the documentary, Super Size Me? That dude ate only Mcdonald's food for 30 days, and he almost died. It was crazy. Of course, anyone could have told you that was...
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The Whetstone Way
What is the “Whetstone Way?” Well, to state the obvious, it’s the way we do things at Whetstone. It implies grit, determination, and a commitment to quality in all aspects of the program. To paraphrase the great Vince Lombardi, it’s about chasing perfection, knowing that we will never attain it,...
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Clothes Make the Man
Mark Twain once said, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society.” Join us this week on A Time To Sharpen, as we discuss the importance of our clothing choices. They say a lot, fairly or unfairly, about who we are. This is especially true with teenagers, whose…
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Art is not Optional
In the academic world, we sometimes refer to Art as an “elective,” intentionally or unintentionally implying that it is not necessary. At Whetstone, we believe that nothing is farther from the truth. From music and film, to painting and poetry, we try to incorporate Art on a weekly if not daily...
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Stuck
We’ve all been stuck in the mud. Even Brandon, with his vast array of man-skills, has found himself up his axles in mud a time or two…or maybe it's just the one time. My point is that it happens to the best of us. There is no shame in getting stuck. It happens to anyone who is out there trying to...
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30,000 Feet
Goals are good. I have nothing against goals. My dad gives all of his kids, grandkids, and in-laws $100 bucks every time the New Year rolls around for making a set of long term and short term goals. I used to teach my English students how to make SMART goals, and assign them as homework. You…
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Fathers & Sons
Fathers and sons. Mother and daughters. For some reason, these relationships seem fraught with conflict. Is this because we would never separate from our parents if the relationship was too good? Maybe. Is it because the devil knows if he can attack the family at this point, he will do damage to...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A bi-weekly podcast that examines how working with teenagers can make us better versions of ourselves: better teachers, better counselors, better parents…better people. Join two of Whetstone Boys Ranch's co-founders, Axel Liimatta and Brandon Maxwell, as they discuss what twenty years of serving struggling teenagers and their families has taught them about how to address the most challenging of behaviors. You'll find answers without dogma, encouragement without false hope, and sharpening without shame.
HOSTED BY
Axel Liimatta & Brandon Maxwell
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does A Time to Sharpen have?
A Time to Sharpen currently has 81 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is A Time to Sharpen about?
A bi-weekly podcast that examines how working with teenagers can make us better versions of ourselves: better teachers, better counselors, better parents…better people. Join two of Whetstone Boys Ranch's co-founders, Axel Liimatta and Brandon Maxwell, as they discuss what twenty years of serving...
How often does A Time to Sharpen release new episodes?
A Time to Sharpen has 81 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to A Time to Sharpen?
You can listen to A Time to Sharpen on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts A Time to Sharpen?
A Time to Sharpen is created and hosted by Axel Liimatta & Brandon Maxwell.
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