Podcast
The Art of Manliness
Hosted by The Art of Manliness · EN
The Art of Manliness Podcast aims to deepen and improve every area of a man's life, from fitness and philosophy, to relationships and productivity. Engaging and edifying interviews with some of the world's most interesting doers and thinkers drop the fluff and filler to glean guests' very best, potentially life-changing, insights.
152episodes
Episodes
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How to Use Leverage Points to Get Unstuck in Work and Life
Jan 21, 202500:50:32Tap to summarizeWhen people get stuck in their job or personal life, the common response is to either work harder or shrug and accept that "that's just the way things are."My guest today has a much better solution to getting moving and making progress again.Dan Heath is a bestselling author whose latest book is Reset: How to Change What's Not Working. Today on the show, Dan shares how to escape from ineffective systems and the inertia of continuing to do things the way they've always been done by pressing on leverage points — places where a little bit of effort yields disproportionate returns. Dan explains why you need "to go and see the work," why meaningful change requires "restacking resources," how short, focused "bursts" of effort often accomplish more than prolonged campaigns, how sometimes being inefficient can actually make us more effective, and more. Along the way, Dan shares plenty of stories and examples that illustrate how to implement these principles into your work, relationships, and family.Resources Related to the PodcastDan's previous appearance on the AoM podcast: Episode #591 — Solve Problems Before They Become ProblemsAoM Article: You Need a Reset DayAoM Podcast #896: The Art and Science of Getting UnstuckYouTube video: Spotify Engineering CultureConnect With Dan HeathDan's website
Transcribe →Philosophical Tools for Living the Good Life
Dec 25, 2024Tap to summarizeNote: This is a rebroadcast.Most everyone wants to live a good, meaningful life, though we don’t always know what that means and how to do it. Plenty of modern self-improvement programs claim to point people in the right direction, but many of the best answers were already offered more than two thousand years ago.My guests have gleaned the cream of this orienting, ancient-yet-evergreen advice from history’s philosophers and shared it in their new book, The Good Life Method: Reasoning Through the Big Questions of Happiness, Faith, and Meaning. Their names are Meghan Sullivan and Paul Blaschko, and they’re professors of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. Today on the show Meghan and Paul introduce us to the world of virtue ethics — an approach to philosophy that examines the nature of the good life, the values and habits that lead to excellence, and how to find and fulfill your purpose as a human being. We discuss how to seek truth with other people by asking them three levels of what they call “strong questions” and engaging in civil and fruitful dialogue. We then delve into why your intentions matter and why you should use “morally thick” language. We also examine the role that work and love has to play in pursuing the good life, and how the latter is very much about attention. We end our conversation with how a life of eudaimonia — full human flourishing — requires balancing action with contemplation.Resources Related to the Podcast AoM article and podcast on phronesis or practical wisdom Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre AoM Article: Why Are Modern Debates on Morality So Shrill? Sunday Firesides: Virtue Isn’t Virtue Til It’s Tested Iris Murdoch AoM Article: Why Men Should Read More Fiction The Road by Cormac McCarthy AoM podcast on The Road AoM article on contemplative self-examination, including instructions on how to do the examen of St. Ignatius Connect With Meghan and Paul Meghan’s Faculty Page Paul’s Faculty Page See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →Rich Mind vs. Poor Mind — A Psychologist’s Guide to Building Wealth
Nov 25, 2024Tap to summarizeMany people think becoming wealthy is all about having the right job, inheritance, or just lucky breaks. And those things can certainly give you a leg up. But according to my guest, the biggest key to building wealth is your mindset, as research shows that even high earners can stay broke forever if they’re trapped in poor thinking patterns, while others can build lasting wealth on modest incomes by developing the right mental approach.Dr. Brad Klontz is a financial psychologist, wealth manager, and professor, and the co-author of Start Thinking Rich: 21 Harsh Truths to Take You from Broke to Financial Freedom. Today on the show, Brad explains the critical difference between being broke and being poor, how learned helplessness keeps people financially stuck, and practical ways to develop an agentic, wealth-building mindset. We also tackle thorny issues like the role of homeownership in building wealth and how to handle relationships that might be holding back your financial future.Resources Related to the PodcastBrad‘s previous appearance on the AoM podcast: Episode #529 — The Money Scripts That Are Holding Back Your Financial FutureAoM Podcast #321: How to Think About MoneyAoM Podcast #536: How to Achieve a “Rich Life” With Your FinancesAoM Article: Taking Control of Your LifeAoM Article: Avoiding Learned HelplessnessAoM Article: A Young Man’s Guide to Understanding Retirement Accounts — IRAsCompound Interest Calculator Connect With BradKlontzStart Thinking Rich website Brad‘s website
Transcribe →The Problems With the Cult of Leadership
Oct 14, 2024Tap to summarizeAre leaders born or made? Judging by the 50 billion dollar leadership development industry, the answer is definitely the latter. From schools to workplaces, everyone is seen as a potential leader and expected to become one by undergoing leadership training.My guest questions the assumptions underlying this phenomenon, which he calls "the leadership industrial complex," and says that the cult of leadership, and its idea that everyone can and should become a leader, can create burnout and unhappiness.Elias Aboujaoude is a Stanford professor of psychiatry and the author of A Leader's Destiny: Why Psychology, Personality, and Character Make All the Difference. Today on the show, Elias describes the state of the leadership industrial complex, the mathematical impossibility it forwards that everyone can be a leader and no one is a follower, and the primary presumption it makes that leadership can be taught. Elias argues that, in fact, a lot of what makes for good leadership is innate and potentially unchangeable. We discuss the implications of this fact, and why it's actually okay not to want to be a leader.Resources Related to the PodcastAoM Podcast #838: Can Virtue Be Taught?AoM Article: Don’t Just Lead Well, Follow WellAoM Article: Are You a Strategist or an Operator? Connect With Elias AboujaoudeElias' websiteElias' Stanford profile page
Transcribe →Treat Your To-Do List Like a River, and Other Mindset Shifts for Making Better Use of Your Time
Oct 9, 2024Tap to summarizeWhen people think about living more fully and making better use of their time, they typically think of finding some new organizational system they can structure their lives with.Oliver Burkeman says that what you really need instead are perspective shifts — small, sustainable changes in how you view and approach your day-to-day life. He provides those mindset shifts in his new book, Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts. And we talk about some of them today on the show, including why you should view life's tasks and problems like a river instead of a bucket, stop feeling guilt over your "productivity debt," make peace with your decisions by embracing an unconventional reading of the poem "The Road Not Taken," aim to do your habits "dailyish," be more welcoming of interruptions, and practice "scruffy hospitality."Resources Related to the Podcast Oliver's previous appearance on the AoM podcast: Episode #748 — Time Management for Mortals AoM Article: Autofocus — The Productivity System That Treats Your To-Do List Like a River AoM Podcast #956: Feeling Depressed and Discombobulated? Social Acceleration May Be to Blame Sunday Firesides: To-Dos, the Rent We Pay For Living AoM Podcast #962: The Case for Minding Your Own Business AoM Podcast #821: Routines Are Overrated AoM Article: Routines Not Working For You? Try a Daily Checklist Sunday Firesides: Life Is for Living Resonance: A Sociology of Our Relationship to the World by Hartmut Rosa "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost The Road Not Taken: Finding America in the Poem Everyone Loves and Almost Everyone Gets Wrong by David Orr "The Road Less Traveled" — great, short podcast on the alternate interpretation of Frost's poem Connect With Oliver BurkemanOliver's websiteSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →The 5 Marks of a Man
Oct 7, 2024Tap to summarizeWe often think of the difference between a boy and a man as a matter of age. But Brian Tome says that there can be 15-year-old men and 45-year-old boys, and that the real difference maker in being grown up isn't a matter of the number of years you accumulate but the qualities, behaviors, and mindset you possess.Brian is a pastor and the author of The Five Marks of a Man. Today on the show, Brian unpacks what he thinks are the marks of mature manhood. We talk about the need to have a vision and how life-giving hobbies can create that vision. Brian argues that manhood requires staking out a minority position, being part of a pack, and creating more than you consume. And we discuss the ways men can still be protectors in the 21st century.Resources Related to the Podcast AoM Podcast #78: The Myth of Following Your Passion AoM Article: The Ultimate List of Hobbies for Men — 75+ Ideas For Your Free Time AoM series on the 3 P's of Manhood: Protect, Procreate, Provide AoM Podcast #926: The 5 Shifts of Manhood AoM Podcast #810: How to Turn a Boy Into a Man AoM Article: Why Are Female Friendships the Ideal? (‘Cause Dude Friendships Also Rock) AoM Article: Modern Maturity — Create More, Consume Less Brian's Man Camp Connect With Brian TomeBrian's websiteSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →The Life and Legacy of Louis L'Amour
Sep 23, 2024Tap to summarizeWith over 300 million books sold, Louis L'Amour is one of the bestselling authors of all time. All 120 of his books remain in print. But the greatest story L'Amour ever penned was his own. He spent the early part of his life traveling in a circus, working as a lumberjack and miner, circling the world as a seaman, winning over 50 fights as a professional boxer, and serving in WWII.Today on the show, I talk about both the personal and professional aspects of Louis' life with his son, Beau L'Amour. We discuss some of Louis' adventures and the autodidactic education he gave himself by way of a voracious reading habit. We then turn to how Louis got started as a writer and how he cut his teeth writing for pulp magazines before breaking through as a Western novelist and becoming a blockbuster success in his sixties.Resources Related to the Podcast Louis L'Amour works mentioned in the show: Education of a Wandering Man: A Memoir Hondo Yondering No Traveller Returns The Walking Drum Last of the Breed Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures, Volume 1 and Volume 2 "Holding Her Down" by Jack London AoM Article: How and Why to Become a Lifelong Learner AoM Article: The Libraries of Famous Men — Louis L’Amour Connect With Beau L'Amour The Louis L'Amour website Beau's website See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →Becoming a Tech Intentional Family
Sep 9, 2024Tap to summarizeIn a family, a lot of the dynamics around devices and screens are reactive in nature. Kids bug for their own smartphones, parents worry they'll be left out without one, and without weighing the pros and cons, give in to their kids' requests. Parents let children have a ton of screen time because it lets the parents do what they want; then, they reach a moment where they feel disturbed about how much time their kids are on screens, berate their children for this habit, which they've facilitated, and vow that things are going to abruptly turn around.Rather than basing your policies about kids and screens on mood, fear, and impulse, it would be better to do so based on reason and reflection. Emily Cherkin has some ideas on how to get there. Emily is a former teacher, a screentime consultant who helps parents and educators balance the role of devices in kids' lives, and the author of The Screentime Solution: A Judgment-Free Guide to Becoming a Tech-Intentional Family. Today on the show, Emily unpacks the state of screentime amongst kids today, how the "displacement hypothesis" explains how its impact extends beyond a decline in mental health, and why parents give their kids smartphones even when they're not sure it's good for them. We then turn to how families can become more tech intentional, and how that starts with parents taking a look at their own behavior. We discuss why putting parental controls on devices isn't the ultimate solution, why a better one is based on your relationship with your kids, why you need to live your digital life out loud, and some considerations to think through before getting your kid their first smartphone.Resources Related to the Podcast AoM Podcast #300: How to Raise Free Range Kids With Lenore Skenazy AoM Article: What’s the Right Age to Get a Kid Their First Smartphone? 3 Tech Thinkers Weigh In AoM Article: The Best Internet Filter for Kids The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt The Light Phone Connect With Emily CherkinEmily's websiteSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →When He's Married to Mom
Aug 26, 2024Tap to summarizeYour relationship with your mother is likely the first and most foundational connection in your life. At its best, this bond can be a source of comfort, strength, and love that lasts a lifetime and changes in healthy, appropriate, and adaptive ways as you mature into adulthood.But sometimes, the attachment between a mother and her son can become unhealthy, resulting in a phenomenon called mother-son enmeshment, in which a man can become a kind of surrogate husband to his mom.Here to unpack this complex issue is Dr. Kenneth Adams. Ken is a clinical psychologist who has spent much of his career working with what he calls "mother-enmeshed men" and is the author of When He's Married to Mom. Today on the show, Ken unpacks the characteristics of mother-enmeshed men and how to know if you are one, and he explains what can happen in childhood that would cause a mother to enmesh with her son. We discuss the problems enmeshment can create in men's relationships and other areas of life and how it can lead to things like compulsive porn use. And we unpack what it means for a man to become independent and emancipate from his mother, how it's different from cutting her off, and what it looks like to have a healthy relationship with your mom.Connect with Ken AdamsOvercoming Enmeshment website
Transcribe →Books, Routines, and Habits: The Founders' Guide to Self-Improvement
Jul 1, 2024Tap to summarizeA lot of self-improvement advice and content feels empty. And there's a reason for that. It often offers routines and habits to practice, but doesn't offer a strong, overarching reason to practice them.That's why the self-improvement advice of the Founding Fathers is particularly compelling. Though they were imperfect men, they had a clear why for trying to become better than they were. For the Founders, life was about the pursuit of happiness, and they equated happiness with excellence and virtue — a state that wasn't about feeling good, but being good. The Founders pursued happiness not only for the personal benefit in satisfaction and tranquility it conferred, but for the way the attainment of virtue would benefit society as a whole; they believed that political self-government required personal self-government.Today on the show, Jeffrey Rosen, a professor of law, the president of the National Constitution Center, and the author of The Pursuit of Happiness, shares the book the Founders read that particularly influenced their idea of happiness as virtue and self-mastery. We talk about the schedules and routines the Founders kept, the self-examination practices they did to improve their character, and how they worked on their flaws, believing that, while moral perfection was ultimately an impossible goal to obtain, it was still something worth striving for.Resources Related to the Podcast AoM's series on Benjamin Franklin's 13 Virtues Ben Franklin Virtues Journal available in the AoM Store AoM Article: Young Benjamin Franklin’s Plan of Conduct AoM Article: Thomas Jefferson’s 10 Rules for Life AoM Article: The Libraries of Famous Men — Thomas Jefferson’s Recommended Reading AoM Article: The Best John Adams Quotes AoM Article: George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation AoM Podcast #366: Teach Yourself Like George Washington AoM Article: The Spiritual Disciplines — Study and Self-Examination Tusculan Disputations by Marcus Tullius Cicero The Golden Verses of Pythagoras Connect With Jeffrey Rosen The National Constitution Center website We the People podcast Jeffrey's faculty page Jeffrey on X See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Transcribe →