Seemingly Ordinary

How do you help people who isolate themselves? "Hikikomori" is a worldwide phenomena--where young men (usually ages 18 to 25) isolate themselves. They tend to talk to no one and not have jobs. In Japan, there are 1,200,000 people like this, and there are many in other nations, including the U.S. These people don't have goals and they don't have relationships. Can they be helped? It

Debt on a personal level can easily damage your life, remove your opportunities, give you a spirit of fear and always saying no, and hurt your imagination. LIfe was not meant to be this way. In this episode, I give thoughts on: the psychology of debt, how debt keeps us from being our best, and I offer a few solutions.

The national debt is designed to never be paid off--and it costs us our health, prosperity, and many other good things. And it makes it easier for nations to go to war. But there are two alternative systems that are worth discussing--a hard money system (like gold, silver, and/or Bitcoin), and something I never heard of until about last week: a Sovereign Monetary System. Join me fo

In 1963, Eric Berne wrote a book that still sells well today: "Games People Play." It is about ridiculous, repetitive patterns that people fall into, like "I've Got You Now, You Little S.O.B.," and "Kick Me." In this episode (third in a series), I discuss several more of these self- and other-destructive games, as well as two of Dr. Berne's other insightful concepts: "Rackets" and

"(I've Got a) Wooden Leg"..."(You've Got a) Blemish"..."Kick Me"...and "Look What You Made Me Do!" These are four more Games that People Play. In the 1960s, psychologist Eric Berne noticed that some people repeat the same silly arguments &/or patterns over & over again. He called these destructive patterns "games." But even though they prevent people from having fun, solvin

Spencer Steinert is a guide at Wonder, an Acton Academy which was featured on Jordan Peterson's podcast when Dr. Peterson interviewed Zach Lahn, the founder of Wonder. And now Spencer is opening his own Acton Academy, in Overland Park, Kansas, in August 2025. Acton Academies are hard to describe—but they are catching on like wildfire, with over 300 of them in the U.S. and other c

"Games People Play" is a book that explains the social and relationship games that people play. These are no-win situations that we should avoid. I cover three: "I've Got You Now, You Little $$#@!," "Ain't It Awful," and "Yes, But." I also discuss the author, Dr. Eric Berne's solutions. Even though this book is sixty years old, it still sells well because it's so flippin' good. I f

Apparently, law school makes people strong, smart, and gives them mesmerizing stories to tell. Reed just completed his third semester; it was agonizing and exhilarating, and (in my view) it made him into a better man in every respect. (This episode was recorded on Jan. 9, 2025.)

Law school is a stark adjustment for most people. How did Sam Dierberger fare? It lead him to question practically every aspect of his life, and also his beliefs. (This episode was recorded four days ago.)

Even though I've had a two-drink limit for myself for decades, I decided last March that maybe I'm done. Since then, life has gotten very interesting. Books & podcast resources included. (This episode was recorded Jan. 4, 2025. The artwork features athletes drinking water.)