The Art of Manliness

So, what is character? We always talk about wanting to develop good character, but what exactly does that mean? And once you figure out what it is, how do you go about developing it? Those are the questions my guest today, Chad Hennings, tries to answer in his book, Forces of Character. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-no...

You know the old song and dance. You set a goal for yourself- lose weight, pay off your debt, ask that woman out-- but something holds you back from taking action. Or if you do take action, you flame out in a week. So you do more research on your goal, hoping that you'll find the one piece of information that will guarantee success. But you fail again. What if instead of more thinking, achieving y...

If you're like most people in America, you probably took PE during your school-age years. It was probably required, and also an easy "A." You spent 45 minutes playing some sport, and it was a blow off class. During the 1960s, though, La Sierra High in California developed an intense physical fitness program under the direction of Coach Stan LeProtti. He was inspired by the physical training of the...

In Charlie Mike, Time magazine columnist Joe Klein tells the dramatic stories of how two veteran organizations dedicated to service began and how these groups gave many struggling vets the sense of purpose and camaraderie that they ached for since returning home. Today on the podcast, I talk to Joe about Team Rubicon— a veteran organization that does natural disaster response around the world– and...

Throughout human history there have been pockets of genius around the world. You had Athens with Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. During the Enlightenment, Edinburgh, Scotland produced a lot of great thinkers who influenced the modern world. And today, Silicon Valley seems to have a concentration of extremely smart and talented people. Why do these pockets of genius seem of occur? What was it about...

There's probably listeners out there who homeschool their kids using a curriculum that you've developed or bought online. But there's another type of homeschooling that doesn't use a curriculum, and it's called unschooling. It's a fascinating concept in which you have your kids at home, but put them in situations where they need to use problem solving skills and math and other subjects to complete...

I talk to relationship expert Duana Welch about what science says about when relationships go wrong. We tackle infidelity, porn use, how to break-up, and even how the death of a significant other effects men. Duana and I get into the nitty gritty in this show. You don't want to miss this one. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy...

Several years ago we published an article about famous "mastermind groups" from history. One of them was a group of British scholars called The Inklings. From this group came two of the 20th century's most famous English writers: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. After I first learned about the Inklings, I wanted to dig deeper into this male-only writer's club to find out more about each individual a...

I'm a barbell guy. That's what I do for my strength training. But I know a lot of listeners love bodyweight exercises. You can do it anywhere, it saves you money, and it's incredibly functional. So there are a lot of benefits, but I've never really been able to find a good bodyweight program. But I came across a book called Homemade Muscle by Anthony Arvanitakis which builds periodization into bod...

In the past 20 years, there's been all kinds of research about declining community life in America. Participation in PTAs, civic clubs, even bowling leagues is on the decline, and Americans don't really know who their neighbors are anymore. My guest today argues that what we're seeing is a transformation in how people organize themselves socially. Why people are doing this, and how it affects our...

Are you an entrepreneur or a manager, and you feel like every day at work you're just putting out fires? Or in your personal life, you go home and it's just crisis after crisis that needs fixing. And so you try to manage this trouble-shooting by getting more efficient at putting out those fires. What if the real answer though is not greater efficiency, but instead a way of looking at your life as...

Since I started the site in 2008, I've read a lot of books about men's style. And one of the most fun, engaging, and witty books on the topic I've come across is called Men's Style: A Thinking Man's Guide to Dress. It's by a columnist and novelist named Russell Smith. Today on the show we discuss the philosophy of style, the history of it, why the great men of history were concerned about how they...

In the past forty years we've seen dramatic changes in the way people date and marry. From the hook-up culture on college campuses to young adults putting off marriage longer and longer, a lot of explanations have been offered that focus on changing values in our country. But my guest today on the podcast argues that perhaps changing demographics has more to do with changing mating patterns in the...

You've probably seen on TV or online the Highland Games: guys in kilts throwing giant logs, tossing hammers over their heads, etc. It's a fascinating strength competition, and one I've long wanted to learn more about and get in touch with my Scottish roots. Today on the show I'm talking with a Highland Games competitor named Matt Vincent. We talk what goes into training, how to get started with ev...

All of us are going to die someday. And we're all going to have loved ones who will die from disease or old age. In fact, some of you listening right now may be dying yourself or watching a loved one die. But the thing is most modern Westerners aren't prepared for the actual event of dying because we've done such a great job cordoning it off from the rest of life. If you're a young person, you've...

One of my favorite writers online is Steve Kamb, who operates a fitness website called Nerd Fitness. What I love about Steve is that he's made fitness accessible and fun to people who otherwise wouldn't be interested in physical fitness or strength training. He takes inspiration from video games, pop culture, comic books, etc. and creates workouts and life lessons. He just wrote a book called Leve...

We've probably all seen some sort of scam or fraud in the news (Bernie Madoff), or even in our email inbox (that Nigerian prince). We tend to think we're way too smart to fall for those cons and tell ourselves "That could never happen to me." Well our guest today wrote a book that says that might not be the case. Her name is Maria Konnikova and her book is called The Confidence Game: Why We Fall F...

Have you ever spent an entire day at work feeling really busy, checking emails, reading your news feed -- and at the end of the day you realize, "Man, I really wasn't all that productive." You felt busy but your brain was fuzzy and didn't end up doing all that much. If that sounds familiar, today's show is for you. My guest, Cal Newport, has a new book out called Deep Work: Rules for Focused Succe...

Sports is a multi-billion dollar industry. Hundreds of millions of people consumer this entertainment either live or on TV, and athletes are paid millions for what they do. But all this started with the super exciting sport of competitive walking. You read that right. My guest today is Matthew Algeo, and he's written a book called Pedestrianism: When Watching People Walk Was America's Favorite Spe...

One of my favorite books I read last year is called Self & Soul: A Defense of Ideals by a professor named Mark Edmundson. He makes the argument that in the West, our commitment to ideals (the Soul) is fading, and we're becoming a culture of the Self -- desiring comfort, safety, and materialism over the ancient ideals of courage, compassion, and contemplation. In today's podcast we discuss anci...

One of the biggest sources of contention in marriages is money. The reason for that is because people come into marriage with very different ideas about how money should be managed, saved, spent, etc. My guests today, Derek and Carrie Olsen, are a couple who had a big financial catastrophe at the beginning of their relationship. On today's show, we talk about their book One Bed, One Bank Account....

I talk to media and image consultant Frances Cole Jones about how to put your best foot forward in your personal life and business. Lots of great actionable steps to help you make a great first impression. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

If you've read Band of Brothers or watched the miniseries, you're familiar with the name Dick Winters. He was part of that famous airborne division which was so crucial in so many pieces of WWII. We've written a lot about the Band of Brothers here on AoM, and each one had something unique that set them apart from the others. What set Dick Winters apart was his leadership abilities. Our guest on to...

We've probably all heard of Emily Post, who wrote an etiquette book back in the 1920s that became world-famous. Her work of encouraging good manners and etiquette continues today with her family at the Emily Post Institute. Today on the show I have Emily Post's great-great-grandson Daniel Post Senning to discuss etiquette for men, as well as digital etiquette in this world of smartphones, emails,...

A while back I got an email from an AoM reader named Jareem Gunter. He does a lot of mentoring for at-risk youth in Oakland, CA. He's released a book called The Man Book, which I contributed to, and is full of skills for young men to succeed in the world. On this podcast, we talk about that book, as well as the topic of mentoring, and why it's so important not only for young men, but older men too...