Bufnagle: the Podcast

A conversation that starts about numbers goes off the rails and morphs into an important discussion on expanding your horizons to improve your skills, life, and well being.  Zach and Rafe start with a simple enough concept: counting, the Natural Numbers, and 1-to-1 correspondence using rocks and tallies and fingers.  But somewhere between 1, 2, 3, and infinity the talk veers to dinosaurs and Godzi...

Join Zach and Rafe for a discussion of everything related to (and some things NOT related to) color.  Starting at the electromagnetic spectrum, the conversation meanders through marine biology, to Ray Charles and Ray Bradbury, to the metric system, to Wayne Gretzky, to candles, to Roy G Biv (and the desire to rename it for Ray Charles!), to the Doppler effect and getting chased by the police, to t...

In part 2 of the Benedict Arnold story, after Rafe butchers the intro and drives the show off the rails, we pick up with Benedict Arnold taking command of West Point and making plans to put it, and himself, into British hands.  Quick thinking, fast horses, Alexander Hamilton, and plenty of derring-do stop the turn-over of West Point but are too late to prevent the escape of Arnold.  It's a za...

During America's Revolutionary War, General Washington built a spy ring that helped produce the outcome we have come to know.  Clandestine intelligence gathering, sneaky correspondence, and heroic feats of daring were daily occurrences for the Culper Spy Ring. Zach and Rafe discuss elements of the ring and their accomplishments, as they are told in Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger's 2013 bo...

Join the Buf as Zach and Rafe discuss pudding!  Of course, the discussion rambles around and wanders into creme brulee, tall poles, frequent flyer miles, free stuff from bottle caps, Don Quixote, math theorems, Pythagoras, the irrationality of the square root of 2, Gauss, and prime numbers. We know that all road lead to Rome, and that all roads in Rome lead to Greece, but when you start at pudding...

The 2011 film Midnight in Paris presents Gil, a young screenwriter smitten with the Paris of the roaring 1920s.  A magical time warp sends him back to the world he longs for where he meets a woman of the 1920s who longs for the glories of La Belle Époque, the European golden age at the end of the 19th century.  Gil learns that we all long for times long ago that allure us with hopes of a glorious...

Zach and Rafe take time to reflect on 2021 and what they learned and accomplished. Both reflect on changes and lessons learned that they are taking with them into the new year. As could be expected, the ideas of community and gratitude are high on their lists! ***** As always, you can reach the Buf at bufnagle@bufnagle.com ***** As you know, this is an independent podcast so your hosts also carry...

Rafe and Zach gather questions from throughout the year and answer them as they get ready for 2022.  What follows is, well, pretty much what you would expect.   Topics range from food to travel to show prep and all things in between.  It's an interesting and entertaining romp through all things Bufnagley. ***** As always, you can reach the Buf at bufnagle@bufnagle.com ***** As you know, this...

The Bufnagle Christmas party, featuring FOUR Big Brain Smart Head guests: * America's Favorite Rocket Scientist, Bob Luzenski, * America's Favorite Craft Queen, Angela Nash, * America's Favorite Naval Aviator, Brock "Cinder" Friedman, and * America's Favorite Planner and Teacher and Communicator, Ginny Horan! The four guests steal the show from Zach and Rafe, telling...

Zach and Rafe recount O'Henry's Gift of the Magi and discuss the joys of gift-giving.  Della and Jim sacrifice all they have for the good of the other, as other , and in doing so provide the classic ironic twist for which O'Henry is so well known.  Their gifts show us Wisdom working through them, in that Love for another is more valuable than any object you may own. As we prepare fo...

Big Brain Smart Head Dr. Mark Deis joins The Buf to tell his story of the Good in his life and share life lessons great people have shared with him.   A chance interaction in high school at a swimming pool while trying to catch a hooligan led Mark eventually to a career in working with children with developmental disabilities, teaching us all that serendipity unlocks doors and that we need to be w...

Another classic Bufnagle episode: Zach and Rafe set off on a discussion of a grand and glorious engineering project but manage to derail the conversation into all sorts of tangents along the way.   The US Interstate Highway system is approximately one-tenth of one percent of the nation's roads but it carries 25 percent of the vehicle miles driven.  A grand federal plan, the Interstate system...

Zach and Rafe welcome Big Brain Smart Head, former Navy sailor, and Master and Commander Craig Depies to the show to discuss the wonders of sailing. Craig leads the Buf into the world of sailboats and discusses catamarans and trimarans, waterskiing and parachuting, and racing in the oldest continuously-held regatta in the world.  Along the way the team develops an ideas for a Bufnagle Fantasy Week...

In the early 1400s, late in the Hundred Years' War between France and England, an illiterate French teenage girl is visited by visions of Michael the Archangel and two young female martyrs and is told to support the French not-yet-anointed king Charles VII and help drive the English out of France.   What follows is an extraordinary tale of miracles, military victories, misfortune, a political...

Zach and Rafe explore communities and the questions around them.  What drives their creation?  What holds them together?  Are on-line communities an oxymoron?  Is in-person necessary for community? The Bufnaglers discover that Love drives community.  Your community should will the Good of its members, encourage them to grow, and strengthen their virtue.  Along the way, they discuss St Paul and the...

The Bufnagle Team tackles the question of Who Would You Invite to Dinner?  But they take time to clarify the rules and expand on why these people would make great guests.  From military leaders (yes, you can guess at least one of them!) to patriots to astronauts to sports heroes to politicians and authors and explorers, the guest list for the Bufnagle Feast would certainly have something for every...

The internet has changed everything and it seems as if we are now more connected than ever.  But these connections can be thin; you still have the most impact — good, bad, or otherwise — when you physically connect with the people you know. The internet is multiplier, it makes your actions have a further reach.  But this goes for the good that you do and also the bad, so be careful with what you d...

Where have you lived?  Where have you visited?  What have your travels taught you? The Bufnaglers (Rafe, Zach, AND Big Brain Smart Head Older Brother Harry) relate tales of moving about and living in different areas of the USA and traveling around the world. From pizza to language to sports to aviation to pho to hot chicken, we learn that people all over are the same in their differences.  You can...

Zach and Rafe sit down with special guest and Big Brain Smart Head Angela Nash who shares her adventure stories woven into  fabric based hobbies. Angela expresses why she was drawn to certain adventures and paths, the importance of trying new things, and being ok with things not being perfect the first time.   Angela also explains how a sewing machine works, so that is pretty awesome, too! ***** A...

Hobbies allow us to be creative and reveal components of who we are.  Through them, we reveal ourselves individually as unique and glorious reflections of Imago Dei and thus collectively enrich the depth and breadth of the human experience. Zach and Rafe are joined again by Big Brain Smart Head (and America's Favorite Rocket Scientist!) Bob and together they share stories and journeys around...

Pyramids, monuments, statues, and temples!  Built between 2500 BC and 280 BC, the seven wonders of the ancient world display some of the finest achievements of the builders of antiquity.  Ancient civilizations built incredible pyramids, monuments, and statues, all ginormous in scale and extravagant in detail, in an age of simple hand tools and raw human power.   Understanding these wonders of anti...

Between the glories that were the Roman and British Empires, the Mongols ruled the largest empire to date.  And Marco Polo, a 20-something kid from Italy was on hand, in the court of the great Kublai Khan, to record what things were really like. The records that Marco Polo left behind reveal not an impoverished, back-water, uncivilized nation of blood-thirsty warriors but rather a very rich, very...

Zach and Rafe discuss the 7th and last Zachism: Be kind.   We are surrounded by a culture full of teasing and pranks, of ridicule and hazing, of yelling and condescension.  This leads to all sorts of problems for individuals and teams. Instead, we need to be kind, show grace, and spread joy. Tell people you love them and care about them.  Show them grace.  Balance toughness with a safe space to fa...

Zach and Rafe discuss a year of podcasting and all the things they learned.  The Bufnaglers point out that sometimes you just have to get started and adjust on the fly.  Hats are tipped the faithful listeners and to all the awesome guests who have graced the show. Stories make us rich.  Remember that your story matters and your story deserves to be told.  We want to hear your story.  If you'v...

Harry fills in for Rafe as he reminisces with Zach about their experiences playing sports growing up. The pair discuss how youth sports provide children the opportunity to learn about adversity and hardships in a controlled, safe space. The importance in applying those experiences later in life and what they can teach us about life in general. Zach and Harry remind us that sports can help us grow...