Shores Of Ignorance

Matt and Michael open with the Texas heat and the strange feeling of being between seasons. Not just summer tipping toward fall, but the inner seasons of thought and spirit where old ideas fade and new ones haven't arrived. What do you do when you don't know what to do? They explore anxiety and faith, the discipline of presence, and how focusing on relationships unlocked unexpected reconnections. Then things get deeper. They wrestle with truth as conforming to reality, the fear of God as respect for overwhelming power, and why rights only work when they come from God rather than government. The conversation turns to communism and why it always ends in genocide, why markets and elections work because they let reality speak, and why everything good is good because of love. Michael calls it what it is. Two guys stumbling through ideas, pushing on things, trying to find the meat on the bone. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Summer Heat and Changing Seasons [01:42] The In-Between Space of Ideas [04:44] Faith and Anxiety Are Opposites [07:14] Focus on Relationships [10:55] Reconnecting with Old Friends [13:09] Solitude and Community [14:44] Spring Cleaning for the Soul [17:03] Parenting Through Changing Seasons [19:29] Teaching Aletta to Swim [21:29] Truth Is Conforming to Reality [24:16] The Fear of God [26:41] A World Without God [30:15] Materialism and Rights [36:40] Power Struggles and Postmodernism [38:51] Communism and Forced Contribution [44:42] Pearls Before Swine [49:05] Wisdom Is Humility [51:46] Be Willing to Be Wrong [55:18] Markets and Reality Fighting Back [57:17] Relationships Teach Conformity [60:04] AI Music and Missing Soul [63:55] Everything Good Is Love [71:24] Philosophical Seinfeld [73:13] Stumbling Toward Something Resources: • Streams in the Desert — https://www.amazon.com/Streams-Desert-366-Daily-Devotional/dp/0310353684 • The Old Man and the Sea — https://www.amazon.com/Old-Man-Sea-Ernest-Hemingway/dp/0684801221 • Book of Job — https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+38&version=ESV • Matthew 7 — https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+7&version=ESV • Declaration of Independence — https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript • Goodhart's Law — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law • Roma Craft Tobac — https://romacrafttobac.com • Dekulakization — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dekulakization Fact Checks: • ✅ Summer solstice timing — Verified • ✅ Marx opium quote — Verified • ✅ Kulak elimination and famine — Verified • ✅ Matthew 7 passages — Verified • ✅ Goodhart's Law — Verified • ✅ Declaration unalienable rights — Verified • ⚠️ 52 states — US has 50 states Find us here: Shores of Ignorance — https://shoresofignorance.com 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael wrestle with a question that has been hanging over both of them. Why have they stopped paying attention to the news? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? They land on the idea of a Cartesian crisis. Nobody trusts anything anymore. Every headline is met with an actually from someone who thinks they have the real truth. They explore how skepticism can lead to nihilism or to wisdom, and why character assassination has replaced actual argument. Then things get interesting. The conversation turns to what it means to truly love someone versus simply labeling them, why we have lost the definition of racism, and how dress codes and tattoos are really just signals we send to the world about who we want to be. They contrast David Bowie and Bob Dylan as two models of subversion, one grounded and one spinning off into the void. They talk about Jung, individuation, and why growing up means learning to reincorporate what you once rebelled against. And they end with a story about a fake recruiter that captures just how deep the trust crisis really goes. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Opening Banter [02:03] The Cartesian Crisis [04:57] The Actually People [09:57] Skepticism and Nihilism [14:32] What Is Racism Anymore [23:52] The Ark of the Covenant [27:41] Love vs Labeling [35:32] Dress Codes and Stereotypes [45:21] Show Up and Speak Up [47:16] Jung and Individuation [49:42] Bowie vs Dylan [54:33] Be Confident Not a Dick [60:04] Getting More Conservative [65:38] The Recruiter Scam [69:47] Joe Biden's Book [74:03] God Is Who He Says He Is [78:48] Outro Find us here: Shores of Ignorance — https://shoresofignorance.com 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael explore language itself — how the same sentence can carry seven different meanings depending on which word you emphasize. From Christopher Walken's acting advice to watching a toddler learn to speak, they examine how we communicate far more than dictionary definitions. This spirals into the central claim of John's Gospel: Jesus Christ is the Word. What does it mean that the creative power of the universe is linguistic? And why do we so often use language to hide rather than reveal? They move through imposter syndrome, scripted relationships, and the death of authentic communication in a transactional culture. The conversation lands on forgiveness and repentance as the antidote to false representation, and asks whether our deepest divide isn't political but spiritual. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [0:00] Opening music and banter [0:59] Explaining the podcast to strangers [1:59] The seven meanings of one sentence [4:24] Toddlers as autocomplete machines [7:44] When we say the same words but mean different things [10:26] What does it mean that Jesus is the Word? [15:20] Talk is cheap — or is it? [19:36] Hiding behind language [23:11] The exhaustion of being false [30:12] Goodhart's Law and scripted relationships [34:13] Demonic possession as extreme false representation [39:09] The antidote: asking, talking, relating [42:23] Adam and Eve: the first hiders [46:32] Judas vs. Peter: two responses to reality [51:08] The Financial Audit podcast: refusing reality [55:15] Language as discovery, not transaction [59:50] Forgiveness as choosing which reality to inhabit [66:13] The road to hell: unforgiveness and cynicism [68:42] Cancel culture and the death of forgiveness [72:38] Trust as the West's most valuable natural resource [80:51] The strangeness of lost relationships [86:31] Final thoughts Resources: • The Chosen (TV series) — https://thechosen.tv • The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0404032/ • American Psycho (2000) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144084/ • Home Alone (1990) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099785/ • Ted Lasso (TV series) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10986410/ • Erich Neumann, The Origins and History of Consciousness — https://www.amazon.com/Origins-History-Consciousness-Erich-Neumann/dp/0691163599 • Jordan Peterson — https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/ • Václav Havel — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A1clav_Havel • The Financial Audit (podcast) • Goodhart's Law — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law Fact Checks: • ✅ Christopher Walken acting advice — Referenced correctly • ✅ John 1 / "In the beginning was the Word" — Biblical reference accurate • ⚠️ Matthew 24:33 in The Chosen — Verse is real but applied creatively in the series • ⚠️ Dostoevsky psychiatrist story — Echoes Dostoevsky themes but exact source unclear • ✅ Erich Neumann / "ouroboric incest" — Correct reference • ✅ Václav Havel / "love will win out" — Accurate • ✅ Jordan Peterson on trust/eBay — Discussed in lectures/interviews • ✅ Goodhart's Law — Correctly attributed 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael dive into America's 250th birthday and ask why we're so reluctant to celebrate it. They explore how patriotism became politically coded, the strange guilt of prosperity, and why the founders' vision of property rights and freedom of speech created unprecedented human flourishing. The conversation spirals through the Dunning-Kruger effect, democracy as truth-discovery, and the Orwellian rewriting of history. They touch on the intolerance of tolerance, what it means to hold two truths at once, and Michael's grandfather's immigrant story of escaping the mines through sheer will. The episode lands on a hard truth. If you stop celebrating what's good, you shouldn't be surprised when you get less of it. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Semiquincentennial [02:22] Ashamed to celebrate [06:20] The guilt of prosperity [08:09] Property rights and risk [12:48] Slavery and the founders' dilemma [17:23] Two hands, two truths [20:27] Truth as alignment with reality [23:28] Dunning-Kruger and self-assessment [27:42] Democracy as surprise discovery [32:50] The intolerance of tolerance [36:10] Protecting daughters [41:22] State experiments and voting with feet [45:38] Public discourse as self-editor [48:55] Orwell and rewriting history [55:31] False selves and aspiration [62:54] Foresight across centuries [66:23] The Taylor Lorenz meme [68:26] Disincentivizing aspiration [71:33] The best constitution in the world Resources: • 1984 by George Orwell — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four • The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Trueman — https://www.crossway.org/books/the-rise-and-triumph-of-the-modern-self/ • Lincoln (2012) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/ • Real History with Matt Walsh — https://dailywire.com • Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death Fact Checks: • ✅ US free speech protections are among the strongest globally • ⚠️ Washington runaway slave ad claim needs primary source verification • ❌ SpaceX valuation corrected from $14T to ~$1T (actual ~$350-400B) • ✅ US Constitution is oldest active codified constitution 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael explore what it means to have the right posture when life isn't going your way. They start with the universal temptation to blame others or wallow in self-pity, then spiral into deeper territory: the scapegoat impulse, the maturing conscience, and what it actually means to "seek first the kingdom of heaven." Matt shares raw reflections on a year and a half of job searching, moments where he shied away from hard conversations, and what he learned by writing out 25 years of career history. Michael brings in Brother Lawrence, the toddler's astonishment at everything, and the difference between turning an icon into an idol. The conversation lands on a powerful truth: the kingdom of heaven isn't a deferred reward. It's here and now, found in recognizing the person in front of you, doing the dishes with gratitude, and loving without expecting anything back. Matt closes with a vulnerable story about raising his kids through a contentious divorce and the unexpected gift he never knew to ask for. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Matt's Back From the Dead [02:22] What's the Proper Posture When Nothing's Working? [05:37] Wallowing vs. Scapegoating [11:28] 25 Years of Career Regrets [17:32] If You Build It, They Will Come (They Won't) [22:23] Seek First the Kingdom of Heaven [27:54] The More You Think About Yourself, the More Miserable You Become [32:47] Discernment and the Maturing Conscience [44:12] Learning to See What People Are Pointing At [50:27] Brother Lawrence and the Astonishment of a Clean Dish [54:14] Hey Matt, Here's Your Smoothie [60:07] Turning Icons Into Idols [64:27] Raising Kids Without Keeping Score [74:13] The Kingdom Is Here and Now Resources: • Brother Lawrence — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Lawrence • The Practice of the Presence of God — https://www.amazon.com/Practice-Presence-God-Brother-Lawrence/dp/0883681053 • The Scapegoat (René Girard) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Girard • Rdio — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rdio • Field of Dreams — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097351/ 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael dive into three recent news stories that have them asking the same question. What is this madness? They break down the California mayoral race, the Karmelo Anthony murder trial, and the Somali World Cup referee denied entry to the US. But the headlines are just the entry point. The real conversation is about something deeper. Why does it feel like half the country has stopped operating in good faith? Why do people defend narratives at the cost of reality itself? And what happens to a culture when it unhooks itself from any higher ideal? Matt brings in John C. Lennox's argument that atheism, taken to its logical conclusion, unwinds rationality completely. If your brain is the product of a purposeless process, why would you trust it to do science or even to claim you are rational? The guys connect this to Nietzsche's warning about unhooking the earth from its sun, and to C.S. Lewis's insight from The Screwtape Letters about directing malice toward neighbors and benevolence toward strangers we will never meet. They also get personal. Michael talks about being in love with the idea of his wife and kids versus actually loving them. Matt quotes Teresa of Avila. God, I don't love you. I don't even want to love you, but I want to want to love you. The episode lands on a hard truth. Without a shared goal, there is no progress. And right now, we do not even agree that there should be a goal. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Banter and allergies [01:02] Three stories [09:14] The team sports problem [15:23] Beyond a reasonable doubt [18:26] John Lennox and rationality [28:40] The emerging reality [36:42] Dead people on Social Security [41:27] The log in your own eye [50:48] Removing God and totalitarianism [59:04] Objective truth and Lady Justice [64:22] C.S. Lewis and imaginary benevolence [69:26] Dispensing with reality [75:43] The luxury of worrying [80:13] Words and definitions [93:45] Jesus says look at me Resources: • John C. Lennox — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lennox • Hillsdale College — https://www.hillsdale.edu • Man on Wire — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1152836/ • The Screwtape Letters — https://www.amazon.com/Screwtape-Letters-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652934 • Lincoln — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/ • Am I a Racist? — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32305780/ Fact Checks: • ✅ Roland Fryer published research on police use of force • ⚠️ Somali referee story. Verify current details • ✅ US 250th anniversary is July 4, 2026 • ⚠️ Jung quote on neuroses. Widely attributed but exact source unclear • ⚠️ Blackstone ratio. Often misattributed to Jefferson 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael start with breath work and singing, and wander into why good things become mechanical, why we turn truths into idols, and what it costs to actually participate in the world. Then the strange phenomenon of calling accomplished people dumb, and the DNC's refusal to learn from defeat. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Breath Work and Singing [03:28] When Tools Become Idols [12:34] Dumb Idols and Broken Hearts [37:37] Why We Hate Successful People [62:14] The Cost of Participation [74:06] The DNC Won't Learn Resources: • James Nestor — Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art • C.S. Lewis — The Weight of Glory • Ayn Rand — Atlas Shrugged • Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn — The Gulag Archipelago • George Orwell — 1984 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael dive deep into the meaning of Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. Starting from last week's cliffhanger about whether Jesus had to die, they explore the story of Cain and Abel, the problem of human sin, and why God chose to meet humanity in its darkest place rather than simply forgive from a distance. The conversation weaves through Job, the cross as the ultimate expression of love, and why this story demands a response that other worldviews don't. They discuss Carl Jung's Answer to Job, CS Lewis's analogy of God outside of time, and why Christianity's claim of divine self-sacrifice is unique among world religions. Michael shares his experiential journey through multiple religions and why Jesus was the one that actually changed him. Matt reflects on seeing a Rothko painting at the Met and how biblical stories are interactive in a way art cannot be. The episode grapples with troubling questions: What kind of God commands slaughter? What does it mean that God justifies himself to Job? Why did God choose to die rather than simply forgive? And what does it mean that we are all Cain? Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Opening Banter [03:30] Why Jesus Had to Die [08:12] The Story of Cain and Abel [19:11] God Justifies Himself to Job [26:26] We Are All Cain [27:57] Saul vs. David [30:43] The Suffering of God [36:08] The Retreat to Naturalism [39:28] The Unchangeability of God [45:14] Identity Is Given, Not Self-Defined [51:08] The Resurrection Still Baffles [55:24] Over My Dead Body [61:13] Christianity vs. Every Other Religion [66:46] Peter and Judas [70:17] Agency and Free Will [77:18] God Dies for Humanity [78:54] CS Lewis: God Outside of Time [83:19] Tolkien Enters Mordor [84:49] All Men Are Created Equal [90:21] Totalitarianism and God [91:17] Closing Reflections Resources: • Answer to Job by Carl Jung — https://www.amazon.com/Answer-Job-C-G-Jung/dp/0691150471 • The Chosen (TV series) — https://thechosen.tv • Jordan Peterson biblical lectures — https://www.youtube.com/@JordanBPeterson • CS Lewis audio recordings — https://www.cslewis.com • The Spiritual Harm of Lying - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ascend-the-great-books-podcast/id1723116481?i=1000761292636 Fact Checks: • ✅ "Excruciating" derives from "crux" (cross) — Verified • ✅ More historical corroboration for Jesus's resurrection than almost any other ancient event — Broadly accurate among historians • ⚠️ Exodus 32 slaughter command — Needs context; Matt conflates with 1 Samuel 15 • ✅ No other major religion has God dying for humanity — Broadly accurate • ✅ Dostoevsky wrote best before epileptic seizures — Documented in his letters 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael wrestle with one of the oldest questions in philosophy. Why does accepting objective meaning make life harder, not easier? They start with nihilism and why almost nobody can actually live it out. Michael plays devil's advocate for the social contract view of morality. Matt pushes back hard. If your worldview is just preferences, what do you do when Thanos shows up? The conversation spirals through C.S. Lewis, 1984, Sam Harris's wireless dog fence, and why telling the truth is just easier than lying. They land on the cross as the place where God measures himself by himself and absorbs the gap we cannot close. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [0:00] Nihilism Is a Retreat [4:17] Turtles All the Way Down [13:15] Devil's Advocate [20:41] Thanos and the Avengers [25:11] We've Always Been at War [31:19] Truth Doesn't Need Defending [35:09] The Humility of Reality [46:51] God Measures Himself [59:04] Simba's Nihilism [67:31] The Abolition of Man [75:00] The One and the Many [85:44] Why Did Jesus Have to Die? Resources: • C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060652942 • C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060652926 • George Orwell, 1984 — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0451524934 • Carl Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self — https://www.amazon.com/dp/1433556337 • Socrates in the City (YouTube) — https://www.youtube.com/@SocratesintheCity • The Lion King (1994) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110357/ • Sam Harris — https://www.samharris.org • Jordan Peterson — https://www.jordanbpeterson.com • Wesley Huff on Joe Rogan — https://open.spotify.com/show/4rOoJ6Egrf8K2IrywzwOMk Fact Checks: • ✅ "Turtles all the way down" — Expression of infinite regress, exact origin uncertain • ✅ C.S. Lewis radio broadcast — Only known surviving audio recording exists • ✅ Orwell's 1984 — Oceania, Eurasia, Eastasia are the three superstates • ✅ Carl Trueman — Professor at Grove City College, author of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Michael plays devil's advocate and argues that human societies naturally refine their values over time. Monogamy works better. Less crime is good. These truths emerge through trial and error. Matt pushes back hard. Without truth and love as a fixed reference point, he argues, the word "better" loses all meaning. What looks like natural progress is actually borrowed capital from a civilization built on Judeo-Christian values. They explore Canada's assisted suicide program, the sterilization of young people through the transgender movement, and Nietzsche's warning that removing God does not just remove religion. It unmoors everything. This one goes deep. It is about what happens when a culture forgets where its values came from. And why substituting anything for God makes your world smaller. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Michael Talks to Himself [01:10] Finding Depth Without a Plan [03:10] Faith as Acting on Limited Information [04:35] Life Is a Creative Act [06:16] What Is the Goal of Life? [07:56] What Is God? [09:46] Wrestling With the God Question [20:01] Can Society Work Without God? [22:35] The Problem With "Better" [28:06] Why Is Less Crime Desirable? [37:05] What Does Prosperous Mean? [38:10] Canada's Assisted Suicide Crisis [44:43] Suicidal Societies [47:49] The Entropy Argument [55:12] Instinct vs Purpose [59:46] The Ultimate According To [62:06] Judeo-Christian Values as the Driver [71:30] God Is Dead [74:05] The Disillusionment Goes Deep [80:00] Substituting Anything for God Resources: • Nietzsche — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche • Dostoevsky — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyodor_Dostoevsky • Jordan Peterson — https://www.jordanbpeterson.com • Gad Saad — https://gadsaad.com • Gad Saad, Suicidal Empathy — https://www.amazon.com/Suicidal-Empathy-Globalist-Narcissism-Destroying/dp/168451599X • Eric Weinstein — https://ericweinstein.org • Brett Weinstein — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brett_Weinstein • John 3:16 — https://www.bible.com/bible/111/JHN.3.16 • Canada MAID — https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/medical-assistance-dying.html • Howard Hughes — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Hughes Fact Checks: • ✅ Canada MAID is the number one cause of death — Needs context. MAID accounted for roughly 4% of deaths in Canada in recent years, not the majority. Matt may be referencing projections or specific regions. • ⚠️ "If there is no God, everything is permissible" — Commonly attributed to Dostoevsky. The exact phrasing appears in The Brothers Karamazov, spoken by the character Ivan. • ✅ Jordan Peterson's "good mother fails" — Verified. Peterson has discussed this concept in multiple lectures, drawing on developmental psychology. • ⚠️ Eric Weinstein's "two nuclei problem" — Referenced accurately but is Weinstein's own theoretical framework, not widely accepted scientific terminology. • ✅ Brett Weinstein's "metaphorical truth" — Verified. Weinstein has discussed this concept in interviews and podcasts. 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael return from two very different deserts. Vegas and Big Bend. One all lights and noise, the other all silence and heat. Matt shares what it meant to scatter his father's ashes in West Texas. Michael talks about the solitude of crowds. And somewhere around the forty minute mark, the conversation turns into something else entirely. What is AI actually for? What gets lost when we outsource struggle? Why do we need to be broken to become whole? And what happens to a culture that forgets the purpose of things? They land on teleology, the study of purpose itself. A knife only makes sense if you know it's meant to cut. So what are we meant for? And what happens when we stop asking? Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Two Deserts [05:27] Scattering Ashes [10:32] Solitude in Crowds [18:38] The Memory of Being Born [22:31] To Love Is to Be Breakable [30:26] The Value of Experience [38:38] Billy Corgan vs. the Machines [50:31] AI Stole the Struggle [56:02] Tools, Not Gods [60:20] What Is the Purpose of Purpose? [69:35] Conspiracy and the Challenger [71:49] The Art of the Future [79:53] Teleology and the Disfigured Thing [86:29] Nuclear Fear and Internet Complacency [92:00] One Is a Special Number Resources: • A Movable Feast — https://www.amazon.com/Movable-Feast-Restored-Ernest-Hemingway/dp/143918271X • The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self — https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Triumph-Modern-Self-Expressive/dp/1433556332 • C.S. Lewis, "Love's As Warm As Tears" — https://www.cslewis.com/us/works/poems/ • Blade Runner 2049 — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1856101/ • Project Hail Mary — https://www.amazon.com/Project-Hail-Mary-Andy-Weir/dp/0593135202 • Adagio for Strings, Samuel Barber — https://open.spotify.com/track/... • The Glass Bead Game, Hermann Hesse — https://www.amazon.com/Glass-Bead-Game-Magister-Ludi/dp/0312278497 • Foundation, Isaac Asimov — https://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0553293354 • For All Mankind (Apple TV) — https://tv.apple.com/us/show/for-all-mankind/ • Billy Corgan interview on AI — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=... • Suno AI — https://suno.com • Eric Weinstein on Trigonometry — https://www.youtube.com/@TrigonometryOfficial • Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation — https://www.amazon.com/Anxious-Generation-Rewiring-Childhood-Epidemic/dp/0593653149 • Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335345/ • Miranda Lambert, "Tin Man" — https://open.spotify.com/track/... • Medici Roasting — https://mediciroasting.com • Sovereign Goods — https://sovereigngoods.shop Fact Checks: • ✅ Apollo computer code was written by hand on paper — Verified. Margaret Hamilton and team used paper printouts. • ⚠️ 90% of nursing home men have penile stents — Unverified claim from a bar conversation. Likely exaggerated. • ❌ Challenger had 4-5 astronauts — Incorrect. There were 7 crew members. • ❌ Challenger conspiracy theory — Incorrect. No credible evidence supports this claim. • ✅ Rat treading water study — Verified. Curt Richter's 1950s experiments at Johns Hopkins. • ⚠️ "14-20 people have left Earth's orbit" — Needs context. 24 Apollo astronauts left Earth orbit. 3 died in Apollo 1 ground fire. 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael explore the tension between artificial and authentic in the age of AI. Opening with mortality and fatherhood, they spiral through technology's disconnecting effects, the nature of reality, and what it means to live meaningfully. Key themes include AI's impact on art and relationships, the sexualization of culture, the failure of modern education, and predictions about cultural revival. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [0:00] Mortality and What Matters [3:36] The Solipsism of Screens [8:30] Bitcoin, the Fourth Turning, and Cultural Collapse [11:51] AI and the Death of Social Media [17:14] Lars and the Real Girl [23:23] Marriage, Vows, and the Real Thing [25:25] Vinyl, Intention, and Paying Attention [31:31] Chick-fil-A and the Modern World [42:23] Education After 2020 [46:49] Sexualization and the Hollow Idol [52:15] Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins, and AI [57:52] What Is a Song? [61:50] The Mechanics of Revelation [68:44] Flattery, Lies, and Dante's Inferno [80:31] Living in the Real World Resources: • Billy Corgan interview on AI — https://www.youtube.com • Lars and the Real Girl (2007) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0805564/ • Good Will Hunting (1997) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119217/ • The Matrix (1999) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/ • Dante's Inferno — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(Dante) • Foundation by Isaac Asimov — https://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0553293354 • Roland Fryer police violence study — https://www.nber.org/papers/w22399 • "Hijacking Bitcoin" book — https://www.amazon.com • Dead Internet Theory — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Internet_theory • CS Lewis on idols — https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/120717 Fact Checks: • ⚠️ Billy Corgan / Bill Burr half-brother claim — Appears to be a hoax or meme, not verified • ✅ Roland Fryer Harvard study — Confirmed, though Fryer faced controversy and left Harvard in 2019 • 📖 Dante's Inferno structure — Bottom level is for treachery, not flattery specifically. Flattery is in the 8th circle. Matt may be referencing a specific interpretation. 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael open on the shores — Mission Beach, specifically — and wander through the vastness of the ocean as metaphor for life's uncontrollable forces. They explore self-organized criticality: the single grain of sand that collapses the whole system, and why we resist the small fires that prevent total destruction. The conversation turns to authenticity. Can you try to be unique without becoming a trope? Matt shares the story of his college roommate asking, "But how does Matt McCloskey sing it?" — a question that still echoes 25 years later. They discuss theme and variation, the Karate Kid, and why creativity requires structure. They land on family as placeholder — the people who hold your essential self while allowing you to evolve. And finally: God doesn't fall in love with his people. He just is. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] The Shores & The Ocean [05:25] Self-Organized Criticality & Forest Fires [13:30] The Performance of You [20:00] Theme & Variation [29:55] 15 Years of Friendship [34:30] Family as Placeholder [41:00] Getting It Wrong [53:10] God Just Is [64:14] Road Trip to Marfa Resources: • G.K. Chesterton — https://www.chesterton.org • Jordan Peterson — https://www.jordanbpeterson.com • Iain McGilchrist — https://www.iainmcgilchrist.com • Lord of the Rings — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120737/ • Karate Kid — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087538/ • Alex Honnold (Free Solo) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7775622/ 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael dive deep into the uncomfortable reality that suffering is not just inevitable, but essential for growth. They explore the tension between wanting to avoid pain and the necessity of embracing it to truly live. From Carl Jung's observation that neuroses are alternatives to legitimate suffering, to the humbling realization that wisdom cannot be earned without cost, the conversation winds through marriage, parenting, business, and faith. They grapple with what it means to "correct toward" something, to have a destination even when you know you'll get lost along the way. Matt shares a personal story about apologizing to his teenage daughters for holding onto outdated rules. Michael reflects on 20 years of business mistakes that finally feel like wisdom. Together they ask: Can we trust people who aren't perfect? Can we be good if we're also bad? The episode culminates in a raw reflection on Easter and the resurrection. Not the sanitized version, but the brutal reality of what it means for God to enter human suffering completely. Christ is risen. Everything changes. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [0:00] Learning the Hard Way [4:14] The Tone Is Different Tonight [7:03] Neuroses and Legitimate Suffering [10:50] The Cost of Wisdom [14:16] Telling Stories That Don't Match Reality [17:20] What We Cannot See [20:17] Fear and Pain [24:33] The Paradox of Effort and Goodness [27:02] What Are You Avoiding? [31:06] Lord of the Rings and Business Vision [35:55] The Innocent Man Who Suffered [41:35] Seasons and Transitions [46:40] The Resurrection Changes Everything [57:11] Goodness and Measurement [66:50] Trust and Correcting Toward [72:37] Repentance and Safety [81:24] Do You Have Something to Correct Toward? Resources: • David Ramirez — https://www.last.fm/music/David+Ramirez/_/The+Hard+Way • Carl Jung — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Jung • The Chosen — https://thechosen.tv • Rdio Music Streaming — Postmortem: https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/17/9750890/rdio-shutdown-pandora • C.S. Lewis — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.S._Lewis • Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn • Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov — https://www.amazon.com/Brothers-Karamazov-Fyodor-Dostoevsky/dp/0374528373 • Charles Taylor, A Secular Age — https://www.amazon.com/Secular-Age-Charles-Taylor/dp/0674986912 • Proverbs 4:7 — https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+4:7 • Hebrews 12:11 — https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews+12:11 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael watched Artemis 2 launch into obscurity, then went deeper. They explore the mathematical impossibility of DNA arising by chance: 10^77 odds versus 10^56 atoms in the Milky Way. They discuss self-organized criticality and why systems collapse suddenly. They examine Asimov's Seldon Crisis: the inevitable binary choice point. They contrast Lucifer's "knowledge for myself" with Socratic and Christ-like humility. They unpack nihilism versus meaning through Lord of the Rings archetypes. They examine why David's census brought divine punishment. The seed must die to become a plant. The question is not whether you will die. It is whether you will die for something that matters. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [0:00] Artemis 2 and The Death of Awe [8:11] DNA: 10^77 Against Random Mutation [17:16] Nihilism, Narcissism and The Big Lebowski [29:32] Lucifer versus Socrates versus Tom Bombadil [46:14] Self-Organized Criticality Explained [48:41] The Seldon Crisis and Binary Outcomes [58:28] David's Census: Taking Knowledge For Yourself [66:11] The Seed Must Die Resources: • Foundation series (Isaac Asimov) — https://www.amazon.com/Foundation-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0553293354 • Self-Organized Criticality (Per Bak, 1987) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-organized_criticality • The Denial of Death (Ernest Becker) — https://www.amazon.com/Denial-Death-Ernest-Becker/dp/0684832402 • Steppenwolf (Hermann Hesse) — https://www.amazon.com/Steppenwolf-Novel-Hermann-Hesse/dp/0312278675 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael dive deep into the difference between digital and physical experiences—from reading books to navigating cities to having conversations. They explore research showing that reading on paper creates spatial maps in our brains, while digital reading disrupts our breathing and comprehension. The conversation expands to technology's broader impact: how GPS erodes our sense of direction, how phones disconnect us even while connecting us, and how the abstract nature of the internet fundamentally changes how we pay attention. They discuss the coming population crisis, the cultural impact of contraception, and why Gen Z might be the first generation to reject digital life in favor of the real world. Drawing on Pinocchio as a metaphor, they argue that becoming "real" requires embracing friction, contradiction, and embodied experience—not avoiding them. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Johnny Carson and the Death of TV [05:22] Digital vs. Physical Reading: The Research [11:10] Losing Spatial Maps: GPS and Memory [17:18] Why Passengers Are Safer Than Phone Calls [25:42] Air Traffic Controllers Return to Paper [36:36] The End of Special: Music and Photos [46:48] Order, Chaos, and the Cartesian Crisis [55:01] Optimistic Vision: The Return to Reality [68:56] Contraception, Population, and Technology [79:04] Pinocchio: The Journey to Becoming Real Resources: • Delgado et al. meta-analysis — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6384527/ • Milgram's Small World Experiment — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-world_experiment • CIA World Factbook fertility rates — https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/total-fertility-rate/country-comparison/ • C.S. Lewis — "The Weight of Glory" — https://www.themarginalian.org/2022/09/03/c-s-lewis-longing/ • Solzhenitsyn — "Every man is responsible" — https://www.solzhenitsyncenter.org/notable-quotations • *Midnight in Paris* — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1605783/ • *The Patriot* — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0187393/ • Person of Interest — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1839578/ 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 — https://mediciroasting.com

Matt and Michael open with a meditation on waiting—something they used to do constantly without realizing it. Remember standing outside school, wondering if your ride forgot you? Or running out of gas on the interstate with no cell phone? Those moments weren't just inconveniences; they were built-in spaces for our minds to wander, to sit with the unknown, to discover what we weren't looking for. The conversation spirals through the tension between "builder mode" and presence, the Dunning-Kruger effect of parenting, and why the most honest Oscar speech is simply "I want to thank God." They land on a paradox: the more skilled you become at anything, the less certain you feel. Along the way: Salvador Dalí's spoon trick, the MMA fighter's fiancée, why Chesterton says true believers in themselves end up in asylums, and whether we're wired for God—or just wired to need something bigger than ourselves. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Opening: Fleeting Memory [00:24] Banter & Oban Scotch [01:22] Barton Springs & Slowing Down [03:15] Kids These Days: Instant Communication [05:07] Running Out of Gas on I-10 [09:23] The Value of Sitting With the Unknown [11:01] Real Conversations vs. Prepared Thoughts [16:21] Dreams, Sleep, and Processing [18:13] The Shores of Ignorance [20:03] Delayed Gratification & Maturity [22:26] Sabbath as Imposed Rest [30:30] The Midlife Crisis as Waking Up [36:50] Control, Death, and the 38-Year-Old MMA Fighter [42:42] Success, Luck, and "I Want to Thank God" [60:14] Maturity, Faith, and Moving Into Uncertainty [78:31] Closing: Put It Down, Pick It Up, Pay Attention Resources: • G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy — https://www.amazon.com/Orthodoxy-G-K-Chesterton/dp/1493750421 • Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning — https://www.amazon.com/Mans-Search-Meaning-Viktor-Frankl/dp/080701429X • Roger Penrose — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Penrose • Thomas Sowell — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sowell • Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time — https://www.amazon.com/Wrinkle-Time-Madele-LEngle/dp/0312367546 • Tom Petty: Running Down a Dream (2007) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0886517/ • Annihilation (2018) — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2798920/ • Dunning-Kruger Effect — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect • Marshmallow Experiment — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment • Barton Springs — https://www.austintexas.gov/department/barton-springs-pool • Harry Chapin, "Cat's in the Cradle" — https://open.spotify.com/track/0CNJc8fP9R25aykybX5xkD • John 15 — https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2015&version=NIV • Monarch: Legacy of Monsters — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14513804/ Fact Checks: • ✅ Roger Penrose is a physicist/mathematician, not a neuroscientist • 📖 Salvador Dalí's "spoon technique" — Confirmed • ⚠️ Archimedes displacement story — Michael conflated details 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

We start with daylight savings gripes and end up debating whether men and women are fundamentally different. In between, we unpack George Mueller's quote that "faith is the end of anxiety“ and exploring how trust dissolves fear, even when facing death. Matt shares how losing his father taught him to trust God's sovereignty over mortality. Then things get spicy. We dive into evolutionary biology, why women have always been the selectors in mating, and whether modern attempts to equalize gender roles ignore biological reality, with consequences for fertility and family. Matt brings up the brain hemisphere research; Michael questions if we're living through a grand social experiment that's failing. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters [00:00] Intro: Daylight Savings and Biological Clocks [04:15] Risk & the Unknown [33:20] Tolkien's Surprise: Characters Emerging [45:00] George Mueller: Faith as the End of Anxiety [68:00] Biology, Gender, and Evolutionary Dynamics [89:30] Left Brain, Right Brain, and Complementarity [110:30] Modern Society, Dating, and Fertility [132:30] AI, Brain Cells, and Future Topics [150:45] Closing: Archetypes and The Lion King 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 ─── Resources Books • Streams in the Desert — L.B. Cowman (daily devotional) • The Great Divorce — C.S. Lewis (theological fantasy) • Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain — Betty Edwards People/Concepts • George Mueller — "Faith is the end of anxiety" • Victor Frankl — Mental health = presence of tension • Valentina Vasilyeva — Record: 69 children (Guinness verified) • Scott Adams — Cost-benefit of relationships for men Media • The Fifth Element — Absurdist media archetype • The Lion King — Archetypal storytelling mastery Science • Brain organoids playing Doom — Cortical Labs • Claude AI "converting" to Christianity — Anthropic ─── Fact Checks • Women vs. men reproduction rates — Partially Verified (varies by era/source) • Valentina Vasilyeva: 69 children — ✅ Verified (Guinness World Records) • 94% of women opposed suffrage — ⚠️ Disputed (specific figure unverified) • St. Bartholomew skinned alive — 📖 Church Tradition (Tertullian, limited historical verification) • Apostle John survived boiling oil — 📖 Church Tradition (not biblical, early church accounts) • Brain cells playing Doom — ✅ Verified (Cortical Labs' DishBrain, 2023 — though Pong more commonly cited than Doom)

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

Matt and Michael return to the shores with sandpiper cufflinks and a sense of unease. Matt unpacks a growing feeling that the world we inhabit isn't the one we think it is — from the bizarre Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime show to the revelation that our doorbell cameras fund a surveillance state we never agreed to. They wade through the Jeffrey Epstein files, Kurt Cobain conspiracy theories, and the "delicious" idea that Elon and Trump's public breakup was engineered. While Matt feels disoriented by the collapsing narratives, Michael finds excitement in the uncertainty — seeing it as a necessary exfoliation of dead institutional skin. The conversation lands on Neil Howe's "Fourth Turning" theory: we're living through a historical cycle of institutional dismantling, last seen during WWII, the Civil War, and the American Revolution. What comes next? Neither knows, but both agree the old world isn't coming back. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters [00:00] To the Shores (with Sandpiper Cufflinks) [04:30] The Bad Bunny Halftime Show: A Message to Whom? [12:00] Ring Cameras & the Surveillance State [18:00] Epstein Files and Collapsing Narratives [25:00] Kurt Cobain: Suicide or Murder? [32:00] AI and the Unknown World Ahead [38:00] Two Responses to Uncertainty: Fear vs. Excitement [45:00] The Fourth Turning: Institutional Cycles [52:00] Voter ID, Representation, and the Will of the People [58:00] Living Through the Dismantling 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 and Michael sit down on a Thursday night (breaking the Wednesday ritual) with Dalwhinnie scotch to talk about optimism in uncertain times, the nature of perception, and why we see what we look for—not what's there. They explore the "gorilla study" and how our values shape what we perceive, dive deep into Brett Weinstein's idea of noting your beliefs and what it would take to change them, and wrestle with the unsettling concept of "indexicality"—the disappearing link between reality and what we see on screens. From Michael's new cufflink shirt ritual to the Carrington Event of 1859, from AI-generated realities to the ethics of the Kingdom of God, this episode wanders through questions of truth, humility, and what it means to be alive in a world of manufactured realities. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Thursday Night Whiskey [04:30] The Gorilla Study: You See What You Look For [12:45] Values Precede Perception [18:20] Noting Your Beliefs (Brett Weinstein) [25:00] Indexicality: When Nothing Is Real [35:30] AI and the Death of the Real [45:00] The Carrington Event: 1859 [52:00] Gratitude as a Practice [58:00] All Are Welcome at the Table [65:00] Inadmissible Evidence & the Kingdom of God 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

The internet often makes us feel like non-player characters in the world. We explore this phenomenon and what correctives might look like. Things as simple as a compliment or an acknowledgment can transform an NPC into a main character, like the black and white changes to color in the Wizard of Oz. References: Michael at Bitcoin Park - https://youtu.be/JjVazsu0RCw?si=GNkX8ugE3wUfupBW 55 things at 55 - https://x.com/Camp4/status/1992958445885198805?s=46 Drinking out of hoses - https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsXhIgQsTUw/?hl=en 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

Alison Vaclav joins us to discuss:
 Language as a parasite Language is the barrier to all knowledge Naming things How do we learn to trust someone? Empathy management Trauma tourism First thoughts Breaking expectations Pain is mostly fear What is fear? How do you let go of fear? Death Where do ideas, questions, and answers come from? Find us here: Alison Vaclav - https://www.pagemageworkshops.com 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

It’s easy to see when something holy or sacred is violated, it’s harder to say what holiness and the sacred are. An AI representation of dead relatives leads to a conversation about specifying and naming that which is ultimately sacred and good. The AI video and tweet referenced in the conversation - https://x.com/BretWeinstein/status/1989413085753577593?s=20 Darkhorse episode about AI facsimiles - https://www.youtube.com/live/rwchVSW4B9g?si=PaZ3zMx1Px-rhnX_ 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 discuss Chase Hughes’ concept of frames and scripts, using personas in design, and beauty in art and the concept of Deathworks developed by Philip Rieff. Chase Hughes - https://www.instagram.com/chasehughesofficial/?hl=en Frames, scripts, and personas Intent is required for beauty to exist Philip glass, Tacit (Matt got it wrong, it’s John Cage and the piece is called 4’33”) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4′33″ Can art be malicious? Deathworks - art as mockery Seeing the ugly is is sometimes necessary Lord of the rings - “Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them?” 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

This week on SOI: The brokenness of the world Finding hope after you’ve lost it Asking your real questions Falling short of the law Remembering to play You are not Christ You are called to participate in the mystery of God 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 compare ourselves both to other people, and to the “inner possibilities” of the life we’re meant to live. In this episode we draw wisdom from Carl Jung and Theodore Roosevelt, and discuss social media, identity, AI, and Cain and Able. "The world is full of people suffering from the effects of their own unlived life. They become bitter, critical, or rigid, not because the world is cruel to them, but because they have betrayed their own inner possibilities. The artist who never makes art becomes cynical about those who do. The lover who never risks loving mocks romance. The thinker who never commits to a philosophy sneers at belief itself. And yet, all of them suffer, because deep down they know: the life they mock is the life they were meant to live.” — Carl Jung “I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil.” — Theodore Roosevelt, 1899 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

Identity is relational, to love is to will the good of the other, relationship requires submission, and the loss of humility and forgiveness in modern culture. 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

There is only one self-justifying thing, and without it, claims of good and bad, right and wrong, are simply the expressions of personal preference. 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

This week on SOI: How’s it going? Is there a true answer to that? Some people like to stay in suffering Political (Oppositional validation) Personal (fear of tradeoffs) Intellectual (Falling in love with it - Gollum, Notes from Underground) Death, grief, and the ways Michael and Matt process emotions. 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

This week on SOI: - Will we ever know the reality of what’s happened? - Reality isn’t a team sport - What does it mean to pursue truth? - What’s in between the fool and the prideful intellectual? - Recursive injury - Are humans purposefully diabolical? - How does one become a monster? - Forgiveness, and it’s rarity in our culture - If he really knew what he was doing he wouldn’t have done it 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

Remembering Charlie Kirk: The reverberations of his life and assassination in our culture. “When people stop talking, really bad stuff starts” - Charlie Kirk https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0vL5uZBLk7s Charlie Kirk - https://x.com/charliekirk11 The rise of the Modern Self - https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Triumph-Modern-Self-Individualism/dp/1433556332 Cliffe knechtle - https://x.com/askcliffe?s=11 Colin Wright’s graph - https://x.com/SwipeWright/status/1966288413939659079 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

- Isaac Asimov, Fiction, and the Future of AI - How is trust built? - How can we live in a world where we don’t know what’s true? - Can robots feel pain? - What is heartbreak? - You need the Divine to functional experience anything - Pretending to be good always deteriorates - Astrology as a replacement for spirituality - Paradox: He who will save his life will lose it 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

How can we protect ourselves from doing evil in the name of good? “Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov This week on SOI: - AI vs Reality - Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift - The culture of compliant - Is there a man behind the curtain? - JFK, 9/11, Covid, and conspiracy theories - Does evil exist? - Evil is always done in the name of Good - Buhdism vs Christianity - The Chinese Farmer parable - The Pieta - the good mother fails - the pieta by michelangelo - The People of the Lie - https://www.amazon.com/People-Lie-Hope-Healing-Human/dp/0684848597 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

This week on SOI: - Life from entropy - Love your neighbor as yourself - Drifting away from revelation - Perception of tools and objects - Your aim defines how you perceive your life - Marriage, dating, and a culture of disposable things - The Ouroboros - The feminine is what is, the masculine is what becomes - Have kids young - give your parents to your kids Referenced links: Richard Feynman (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifk6iuLQk28) Entropy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxL2HoqLbyA) Breath book (https://www.amazon.com/Breath-New-Science-Lost-Art/dp/0735213615) The Origins and History of Consciousness (https://www.amazon.com/Origins-History-Consciousness-Mythos-Princeton/dp/0691163596) 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

This week on SOI: - Life itself is an act of faith - If we ask for what we want, will God give it to us? - Opting into personal responsibility in the modern age - Could we make parenting decisions without privation? - Can you make art with out restraints? - Writing in genres - What will you sacrifice your life for? 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

Why is reality preferable to a dream? Vanilla Sky and The Matrix reflect our innate desire to be awake rather than asleep, despite the obvious appeal of the dream like state. This week on SOI: Europe and Trump Vanilla Sky The Matrix What is real and what is not real? Death and mourning, relationships don’t die The bastardization of Truth The Lord of the Rings Why sacrifice and faith as necessary to live in reality Colemak (Keyboard layout - https://colemak.com) Shavian (English alphabet - https://shavian.info)

This week on SOI: - Matt’s mom Jeanenne joins the Shores - Jeanenne’s journal that Mike read, and then named her “Poetgirl.” - We are each an I, not a we. Gollam is a we. - Poetgirl, poema - We are either a male soul or a female soul - We are each a poem written by God - What has caused the revolt against sexuality - What makes your life force increase, and what makes it decrease Find us here: Jeanenne McCloskey - https://www.rivendellcounseling.com / https://merefemininity.substack.com/p/poetgirl 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

This week on SOI: - AI can’t do what humans do because humans aren’t reasonable (Rick Rubin) - https://www.instagram.com/p/DK4isVTz93G/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== - AI turns data into a conversation. - Storytelling is our native language. - Hollow vs. Hallow - What does it mean to feel good or bad - T.S. Eliot, Hemingway, Fitzgerald - We are a collection of identities, responsibilities, and titles - Fatherhood as an act 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

This week on SOI: - Is this WWIII? - How does the death of God effect the news and reporting of what’s true? - Iran, Israel, Covid, etc - how do you know what’s true? Who can we trust to tell us the truth? - Without God, narrative allegiances become rigid - A functional story requires honesty - Being who we are is relational - How does tolerance become intolerant? 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

This week on SOI: - The voice of failure - Love vs. death - The unifying spirit - The LA riots - The spirit of Love helps you see clearly - The spirit of evil is self extinguishing - Can you negotiate with evil? 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

This week on SOI: - The trouble of belief - Is reality a fact or a story? - How can we tell what’s true in the age of AI - The paradox of the information age - Truth requires faith - AI religions - Transhumanism - How we use pronouns - Respect for what is external vs what is internal - Redefining words to control the world Bill Maher’s Monologue on Trump dinner - https://youtu.be/RxlopbcfXpQ?si=kCWxR2LtjC_a9GJF The Abolition of Man - https://www.amazon.com/Abolition-Man-C-S-Lewis/dp/0060652942 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

* Two movies one screen (Scott Adams) * Our perceptions are faulty * What do you sacrifice to? * The only way to move forward is to admit you’re wrong * You “grasp” ideas the same way you “grasp” objects with your hand * To be ultimately permissive turns to totalitarian exclusion * Work will set you free * Are you worshiping life or worshiping death? 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