The Speech Guys

It's Martin Luther King Day early this year... or late. Regardless, Matt, Ross, and Mike step up to the plate and talk MLK's legacy, how the nature of race conversations seem to have changed between 1968 and 2022, and how they'd talk to their kids about race. "Complaining about (accusations) of white privilege is small change compared with what Black people have had to deal with in the context of...

The Speech Guys tip their hats (and masks) to the English Monarchy by drinking and thinking over Queen Elizabeth II's April 2020 speech, "We Will Meet Again". The Show: Recalling COVID lockdown experiences, initial reactions to the Queen's speech, and lessons to pass on from COVID The Quotable Quotes: "Will we have a short or long memory with COVID... when did animosity between Americans end regar...

Pull out your milk pens, TV Guide, and Windows XP update manual. The Speech Guys put their minds and hearts to the questions posed by the 1990s and early 2000s TV Dads. A speech given by Debra Barone, played by Patricia Heaton, in the TV series, "Everybody Loves Raymond" is the focal point for discussion. Mike's grandmother, Audrey Tinoco (Episode #12: "Holey Shoes, Mom-Made Clothes, and Spooky Ra...

This episode is rated PG-13 as it discusses the topic of sex, abortion, and contraception. While the Speech Guys are fans of, well, speeches... they aren't fans of making claims without doing their best to verify it from outside sources. The most prominent data referenced in this episode can be accessed via URLs at the bottom of this page. (Unfortunately, Soundcloud doesn't let us create links in...

The Speech Guys do their best to stay out of the mansplaining zone for Episode  #27  as they discuss a speech given by Dr. Carrie Gress at the Family Institute of Washington. The speech was based upon her book entitled, "Ultimate Makeover: The Transforming Power of Motherhood", A few Speech Guy nuggets to sip and think on this episode: "This is what my parents felt." --Matt "You're in this water w...

What happens when the host of the episode loses contact with America and the Speech Guys while in Europe? Nothing good. Ross, Matt, and Mike struggle to wrap their heads around Hal and the famous speech to his astronaut passenger, Dave, from Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film, "2001: A Space Odyssey". Hear remnants from a 25-minute tangent into Bill Barr and COVID, consider how one truly learns about the...

Mike and Ross podcast solo in this special episode before the fourth and final installment of "Sci Fi Speeches". They tell the origin story of half of the Speech Guys that came about on the campus of the University of Illinois, Bradley University, and Illinois' State Parks and Catholic churches. "I think we talked about dating, romance, and adventure... and I think we've been talking about those t...

Sip your favorite whiskey and think with the Speech Guys tonight as they unpack questions about scientific ethical questions that Ian Malcolm brings to the social foreground in the book and 1993 film, "Jurassic Park"... the post-credits scene, what is going to be Landon and Lauren's most special stop on their trip to Europe? "What is the proper relationship between Man and Nature?" --Matt "What is...

Sip your favorite whiskey and think with the Speech Guys tonight as they unpack questions about free will that Marty McFly and Doc Brown bring to the fore in the 1990 film, Back to the Future Part III... "Son, there are only two things in life that are free... your will... and your last name." "We wanted to show you movies that wouldn't morally corrupt you." "Let's just assume we start building ni...

The Speech Guys listen to and discuss excerpts from the speech presented by the fictional President in the 1998 film, Armageddon. This is the first episode in the "Sci-Fi Speeches" series. Questions and topics explored in this episode consider how the Speech Guys thought about the (potentially) apocalyptic turning of the millennium in the year 2000, how the film contrasts with contemporary apocaly...

The Speech Guys listen to and discuss excerpts from the 2005 Kenyon College commencement speech given by David Foster Wallace. This is the fourth and final episode in the "Speeches Before They Died" series. Questions and topics explored in this episode consider the tension between objectivist and subjectivist perspectives expressed in the speech, the role that boredom plays in cultivating self-awa...

The Speech Guys read and discuss excerpts from the final speech given by Father Zossima, in the Russian novel, "The Brothers Karmazov". It was written by Fyodor Dostoyesky in 1879. This is the third episode in the "Speeches Before They Died" series. Questions and topics explored in this episode consider how sincerity of prayer expresses itself inside and outside of oneself, the extent to which one...

This episode is rated PG-13 as it discusses the significance of sex and sexuality in society and culture. The Speech Guys read and discuss excerpts from the final interview Marilyn Monroe gave just a few weeks prior to her taking her life in August 1962. This is the second episode in the "Speeches Before They Died" series. Questions and topics explored in this episode consider how Marilyn Monroe e...

The Speech Guys listen to and discuss the North Carolina State University's Coach Jimmy V's speech he gave at the 1993 ESPY Awards, just two months before he died. This is the first episode in the "Speeches Before They Died" series. Questions and topics explored in this episode ask why "laughing, thinking, and crying" each day is so important, when the last time each of the Speech Guys cried was,...

The Speech Guys read and discuss the Seneca leader, Red Jacket's (1750 - 1830), speech he gave at a meeting between members of the Seneca tribe and missionaries from Boston who'd requested permission to evangelize his people. Questions and topics explored in this episode include the relationship between theology and virtue, the socio-economic dynamics that influenced the actualization of Manifest...

The Speech Guys read and discuss Graham's speech he gave at the Washington National Cathedral on September 14, 2001 following the terrorist attacks of September 11th. Questions and topics explored in this episode include how Graham attempts to explain or not explain why suffering exists and how that's important, whether or not Islamic extremists did ultimately tear apart the country, how Graham's...

The Speech Guys read and discuss Ms. Day's "speech" from her autobiography, 'The Long Loneliness'. Some questions that we explore are "Why is 'order' and 'structure' important to raising children?", "What was different about the way that she 'rebelled' against Church authority?", and "How did the Book of Job figure into her interpretation of hell and suffering?".

The Speech Guys read and discuss Saint John Paul the Great's speech that he delivered in Warsaw, Poland in June 1979. Some questions we discuss and topics that we comment on include how Communist Poland interpreted and manipulated his social influence, how he deftly navigated faithfulness to Christ and the Church and compliance with the atheist government, and special guest host, Father Rob Johnso...

Editor's notes from this interview: The Great Depression began in 1929. The emphasis placed on 1933 pertains to the beginning of President Roosevelt's term. The draft did in fact begin before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The first peacetime draft began on September 16th, 1940 and continued until 1947. (www.nationalww2museum.org/students-tea…aft-and-wwii; www.airforcemag.com/article/0408draft/) My...

The Speech Guys read and discuss President Roosevelt's first Fireside chat that he delivered on March 12, 1933.

The Speech Guys read and discuss a letter written by Ms. Lutiant Van Wert to her friend, Louise, describing the personal trials of enduring the suffering and bizarre experiences of the Spanish Flu.

The Speech Guys read and discuss President Jefferson's Presidential Inaugural Address delivered on March 4th, 1801.

The Speech Guys read and discuss President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address he delivered on November 19th, 1863.

The Speech Guys read and discuss Vice President Henry Wallace's speech he delivered on May 8th, 1942 at a meeting of the Free World Association.

The Speech Guys read and discuss General George Patton's speech he delivered to members of the US Army on June 6, 1944.