REDACTED Culture Cast

Talk Back to Me SHOT SHOW: Where those not at the show want to be, and those at the show want to go home. Not really, but it's funny. Laugh with me. This year at SHOT SHOW 2025, we noticed a different tone than the years prior. Instead of retrenchment and celebrating surviving another year, the industry displayed a refreshing sense of optimism and a willingness to venture into new things. Whi...

Talk Back to Me In his book, Leadership and Emotional Sabotage , Dr. Joe Rigney states that one of the first responsibilities of a leader is to determine what is and what is not the mission. In this world, a man is responsible for his family, whether he chooses to fulfill that role, or abdicate from it. The world is in crisis, sure, but how we describe said crisis will determine how we go about so...

Talk Back to Me The U.S. Army Ranger Battalion demands a constant pursuit of excellence and it comes at a cost to the individual. Few will know the cross pressure of desiring to go back to the aggressive lifestyle of a Ranger and the reality that one cannot keep up the level of performance indefinitely. Mike Meegan walks through the differences between living on "the line" and Ranger Sch...

Talk Back to Me The subject of Gun Control easily misses the mark on more than one occasion. Politically unpopular, economically damaging, and culturally disruptive, one should begin to wonder why it comes back into conversation time and time again. We might be quick to describe supporting gun control as merely virtue signaling, but if we really believed that, we would treat it like a dangerous id...

Talk Back to Me It's not the elephant in the room, the Las Angeles fires dominates the news cycle. Time Selbrede joins the show to talk about the reality of wild land firefighting and debunk myths about the current situation. As we sort fact from fiction a pattern emerges: that some people just want to see the world burn, and others would rather be entertained at someone else's misfortun...

Talk Back to Me What makes something a conspiracy theory? We already know we cannot trust every power that be, every narrative, every explanation. The further down the rabbit hole you go, the worse it gets and the more madness it imparts. On the one hand, calling something a conspiracy theory dismisses the legitimacy of an individual's beliefs. On the other hand, we've likely witnessed t...

Talk Back to Me Too often, public conversations about EDC resort to shaming in order to produce a reaction. Instead, we are going to look at scaleability as a continuum that we can control. When it comes to every day carry, we think about self defense, first aid, and disaster response. These are the backbone of the subject, but not alone the answer. In light of recent events, we take a look at a f...

Talk Back to Me Narrow is the gate to the Kingdom of Heaven, and many are the paths to hell. We've heard the phrase "rules for thee, but not for me," and in this episode we cover how the weak turn themselves into killers. When we exclude ourselves from moral culpability by using twisted definitions, we do not make ourselves into saints by playing tricks on terminology. One man'...

Talk Back to Me Despite public successes, the Gun Culture faced challenges in 2024. Scandal swept across much of our community as dark accusations addressed household names. Instead of digging in to the depths of these potential falls from grace, we look at the bigger picture and how it affects our own lives. The problem with heroes, is that they are mere mortals. When faced with criticism, we hav...

Talk Back to Me The United Healthcare CEO shooting has remained on the front page of both traditional and social media for weeks now, and with all the talk, something remains missing. While people argue back and forth over if the shooter knew what he was doing based on his firearm manipulation skills, the potential scale of the operation goes unnoticed. Do we really believe this what the actions o...

Talk Back to Me Few novels of the 1900's are more controversial than Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. That hasn't stopped the sophists from trying to make a statement about it. Rather the opposite. This spoiler free episode of the REDACTED Culture Cast delves into some things you might want to know, or look for when reading Rand's Magnum Opus. Ever heard of Rearden, who is John Galt? Why...

Talk Back to Me What does leadership look like in a decentralized future? Whether we're talking about different generations of warfare or how it appears to be shifting before our very eyes, the target is no longer just a government or its military, but the very people. In this episode, we trace through a series of books, arguments, and ideas to get a picture of what leadership looks like and...

Talk Back to Me The thing is, we like to see what we're good at represented in film. The problem with Hollywood, is that just that is so rare. Cory Haynes, aka Tacticooldork, has taken military experience, the high end of airsoft in Milsim, and filmmaking to just that level. Whether it was work on SCP: Overlord, Ten of Swords, or STALKER: Shadow of the Zone, he has brought the tactics, techni...

Talk Back to Me We desire Honor, but exist in a system of dignity. These two concepts overlap, yet the consequences of neglect turn dire. Men give their lives to one and are cast off to another, with no anchor to hold on to. Honor can be earned. Dignity can only be lost. This episode has been sponsored by Obsidian Arms, a manufacturer of tools, parts and firearms, as well as operating as an OEM sh...

Talk Back to Me What does Ontology have to do with training? While we might fall into the trap of thinking that Military Training is similar to what is available to civilians, only on a greater level. If that were the case, wouldn't we seen more capabilities opening up for the discerning citizen? We've come a long way, but where's the limit? Ontology is the philosophical study of be...

Talk Back to Me What good is it if you win the war, but loose the very things worth fighting for? Nathan Spearing has lived a life of adventure and military achievement, only to put the uniform away to lead his family. The transition from the intensity of Special Operations to the urgency of financially supporting a wife and five kids sets an example that we can all learn from. In this episode we...

Talk Back to Me Detachment from reality is most often described as a symptom of suffering. But what if we looked at it as the desired effect of some malicious action? What if, instead of the individual as a victim of their circumstances, they could be better described as a casualty of some form of warfare? Examples of our detachment are illustrated in our fantasies. From video games to holidays wh...

Talk Back to Me With tensions high and a sense of meaning low in the West, we're witnessing a revival of Faith in various sub cultures and communities. Gypsy Walters returns to talk about his first 'zine: "The Gospel of St. Rattlecan" sharing his testimony. In this episode we address the hazy way Spiritual Warfare is marketed, the difference between being doing and appearances,...

Talk Back to Me Have you ever heard someone say "you don't need to train for that" and think that something is wrong, but not sure what? The subject of what you should prepare for, whether its training or otherwise, comes with plenty of baggage. Decades (squared) of experience on self defense training, CQB training, and marksmanship available are available at this time, yet we still...

Talk Back to Me Have you ever heard men complain about Rites of Passage missing from our contemporary world? What if you learned they existed, just men weren't expected to go through them any more? Kohlton Anderson of Black Canyon Systems introduces us to the world of the rodeo, and how it shares with the gun culture in more ways than one. Follow Black Canyon Systems on Instagram at: @blackca...

Talk Back to Me No bureaucracy is immune from becoming polluted with false metrics and nebulous buzzwords. Just as it falls on the leadership to define what victory looks like, so they bear the responsibility of clearly defining the qualities they are in search of. Chris Sizelove, a Veteran of the U.S. Army Ranger Regiment, argues that it's time to redefine lethality as a metric of performanc...

Talk Back to Me Don't let the haters fool you, if we step back and look at the overall state of firearms ownership, we're seeing suppressors become so common and available that they are starting to specialize. Enter the JK Armament CCX Suppressor, or can if you prefer. So small and light that it can be used on a pistol without a booster, and still puts in the work when it comes to perfor...

Talk Back to Me A Common Thread Across Multiple Disparate Topics. What does the CIA have to do with the crisis in Appalachia? The history of the CIA includes many stories of individuals succeeding where a bureaucracy failed. From WWII through Korea and Vietnam, the boogeyman of secretive government organizations sure has plenty of publicly available failures. So, which is it? Secret Deep State Con...

Talk Back to Me The phrase "I got mine" manifests in various ways. It might be a team leader who quits at building his team after he's attained some achievement or completed some deployment. It might be a man abdicating from his community. It might be a concerned citizen who's only care extends to the end of his driveway while he complains about how the community is going to he...

Talk Back to Me What is property without privacy? The double-speak of politicians continues to ramp up as we approach another election. At the same time, California passes a new form of safe-storage law that, at best, invades on the privacy of its serfs. I'm sorry, did I say that correctly? There is something worse than Gun Control and we're seeing it arise in the west once again. That i...