The Destiny GPS
Everyone you know is fighting a great battle. Stephen shares the story of one of the great battles of his own life: moving from Berlin to West Des Moines, Iowa, as a teenager in the 1970s. One thing got him [...]
Teaching Boys
To paraphrase the sociologist Camille Paglia, a woman simply is, but a man must become. Masculinity is risky and elusive. It must be called out by other men. In this episode, Stephen unpacks the “why” behind his belief in the [...]
Clothes Reveal the Man
Clothes don’t make the man, but they can reveal the man. Stephen shares a recent experience attending a reception for a former state governor. While the women were wisely and appropriately dressed, many of the men were dressed like five-year-olds [...]
Courage and Questions
We tend to live in a bubble that is free from critical input. This is dangerous. We ought to have constant, loving, constructive feedback in a culture of noble men. In this episode, Stephen teaches how to ask the tough [...]
Book Review: Jesus and John Wayne
Jesus and John Wayne is a book by Kristin Kobes Du Mez that Stephen disagrees with. But he wants you to read it. Tune into this podcast to find out what Professor Du Mez gets right about the modern Christian [...]
Doing a Daily Blast
There is stunning scientific and anecdotal evidence that men experience a dramatic change in their souls and bodies when regularly engaging in an activity that is hard, challenging, or a little bit dangerous. Most of you listening to this podcast [...]
The Importance of the “Other”
Growing up, boys need men other than their fathers to speak into their lives. As a teenager raised on military bases, Stephen was on the receiving end of this relationship often. Officers and other men on base would help guide [...]
The Bighearted Man
"Basically, we found that the persistence of a person's brain in holding on to a negative stimulus is what predicts more negative and less positive daily emotional experiences,” report psychologists at the University of Miami in a recent study. “That [...]
Five Truths for Young Men
Stephen was recently asked, “What are the five essential things a young man under 20 should know?” As we head into the summer, with the generations mixing and free time to spare, think about how you can work these five [...]
The Principled Use of Power
The average man can dominate the average woman. If men are not taught the principled use of power, they will become barbarians: murderers, rapists, and marauders. Gentleman, we must teach our sons how to wield power. We must teach them [...]