Episoder
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"Violence is not a god to be worshipped but a fundamental reality of the universe, a constant that one must recognize and respect if one is to achieve true enlightenment."
People who don't understand the primacy of violence in human interactions are, collectively, some of the most dangerous people alive -- because their delusion causes them to make foolish choices that put others in danger.
I explored the reality of violence in my most widely-read essay, "Violence is Golden."
https://www.jack-donovan.com/sowilo/2...
This year, I wanted to present those ideas in a new way, so I wrote this fable about a tiger seeking true enlightenment.
You can find the full text of the fable on my web site.
https://www.jack-donovan.com/sowilo/2...
If you enjoyed this fable, please like and share and let me know in the comments.
There are also Third Eye of the Tiger rash guards and t-shirts at the Brutal Company Store
https://starttheworld.com/collections...
Stay Solar. ऋत
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Caskey is hip-hop artist whose recent album "This Isn't Even My Final Form" topped the iTunes hip-hop charts. Caskey has been a successful artist for 10 years, but recently made some positive life changes. Today, he aims to be a productive and inspiring influence on his fans, on other artists, and on the broader hip-hop community.
Caskey and I connected recently through social media, and I managed to book an interview with him and then go meet him and see one of his shows (he's currently on tour). We talked about fitness, art, poetry, spirituality, and staying focus.
Caskey's energy is infectious, and in a world where everyone seems to want to become a motivational speaker -- right now, the man just can't help it. By the time I was done talking to him, I wanted to go out and take over the world.
To paraphrase "Thus Spake Zarathustra," Caskey went to the mountain with ashes, and now he's coming down into the valley and he’s bringing fire.
Caskeyhttps://bakingwithcaskey.com
https://www.instagram.com/caskey/
Books MentionedFire in the Dark by Jack Donovan
Thus Spake Zarathustra by Nietzsche
Odin and the Mead of Poetry -- told well originally in the Prose Edda, but told recently and well in Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology
Follow Jack Donovan onTwitter
https://twitter.com/ph2t3r
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/starttheworld/
Rumble
https://rumble.com/c/starttheworld
Support my work on Patreonhttps://www.patreon.com/starttheworld
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Mangler du episoder?
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Ian Smith is the co-owner of Atilis Gym in New Jersey, which has openly and publicly defied the state's draconian lockdown orders. He and his business partner have been arrested, had their business license pulled, and have been fined over a million dollars. (They’re still being fined over $15,000 a day). He made a decision to take a public stand — because someone had to do it. He’s doing what millions of men are afraid to do, and I think he deserves to be recognized and applauded for it.
We had a really animated conversation about bullies and freedom and masculinity.
Follow Ian on Instagram @iansmithfitness and consider contributing to his legal defense fund.
https://atilisfundraiser.com/
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John Sonmez is the man behind @Bulldog Mindset -- a large and growing community of men working to better themselves physically, socially, and financially. John started out as a nerdy software guy, then worked to become a millionaire, retire at 33, and transform himself mentally and physically. Now he spends a lot of his time coaching other men. I met John recently when he spoke at the @21 Studios convention in Orlando, and he's the real deal. We talked for an hour about philosophy and some of the problems men face today, but one part of the conversation that stood out was his story about "becoming a finisher." A lot of guys have great ideas, but end up leaving a trail of unfinished projects behind them.
Mentioned : Seneca's letters to Lucilius
https://bulldogmindset.com
@Bulldog Mindset
Instagram @ bulldogmindset
Sign up for my mailing list for exclusive essays, news, special offers, and more.
https://bit.ly/2Y69xdt
Support this podcast, the growing mailing list, and get early access to new content and offers via Patreon.
https://www.patreon.com/starttheworld
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Trainer and speaker Alexander Cortes had a wild 2020. He was on vacation in Egypt as the lockdowns started. He ended up flying to Thailand and decided to live there for the rest of the year, where he trained Muay Thai under Sagat. We also talk about Ancient Greek training, training outdoors, and much more.
To purchase AJAC's research into Ancient Athletics, follow this link:
https://gumroad.com/l/UKOld
Sign up for my mailing list for exclusive essays, news, special offers, and more.
https://bit.ly/2Y69xdt
Support this podcast, the growing mailing list, and get early access to new content and offers via Patreon.
https://www.patreon.com/starttheworld
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Warming up to start recording the audiobook for Fire in the Dark by reading this grim but perhaps uncomfortably relevant poem by Lord Byron.
Darkness
by Lord Byron
I had a dream, which was not all a dream.
The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars
Did wander darkling in the eternal space,
Rayless, and pathless, and the icy earth
Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;
Morn came and went—and came, and brought no day,
And men forgot their passions in the dread
Of this their desolation; and all hearts
Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light:
And they did live by watchfires—and the thrones,
The palaces of crowned kings—the huts,
The habitations of all things which dwell,
Were burnt for beacons; cities were consum'd,
And men were gather'd round their blazing homes
To look once more into each other's face;
Happy were those who dwelt within the eye
Of the volcanos, and their mountain-torch:
A fearful hope was all the world contain'd;
Forests were set on fire—but hour by hour
They fell and faded—and the crackling trunks
Extinguish'd with a crash—and all was black.
The brows of men by the despairing light
Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits
The flashes fell upon them; some lay down
And hid their eyes and wept; and some did rest
Their chins upon their clenched hands, and smil'd;
And others hurried to and fro, and fed
Their funeral piles with fuel, and look'd up
With mad disquietude on the dull sky,
The pall of a past world; and then again
With curses cast them down upon the dust,
And gnash'd their teeth and howl'd: the wild birds shriek'd
And, terrified, did flutter on the ground,
And flap their useless wings; the wildest brutes
Came tame and tremulous; and vipers crawl'd
And twin'd themselves among the multitude,
Hissing, but stingless—they were slain for food.
And War, which for a moment was no more,
Did glut himself again: a meal was bought
With blood, and each sate sullenly apart
Gorging himself in gloom: no love was left;
All earth was but one thought—and that was death
Immediate and inglorious; and the pang
Of famine fed upon all entrails—men
Died, and their bones were tombless as their flesh;
The meagre by the meagre were devour'd,
Even dogs assail'd their masters, all save one,
And he was faithful to a corse, and kept
The birds and beasts and famish'd men at bay,
Till hunger clung them, or the dropping dead
Lur'd their lank jaws; himself sought out no food,
But with a piteous and perpetual moan,
And a quick desolate cry, licking the hand
Which answer'd not with a caress—he died.
The crowd was famish'd by degrees; but two
Of an enormous city did survive,
And they were enemies: they met beside
The dying embers of an altar-place
Where had been heap'd a mass of holy things
For an unholy usage; they rak'd up,
And shivering scrap'd with their cold skeleton hands
The feeble ashes, and their feeble breath
Blew for a little life, and made a flame
Which was a mockery; then they lifted up
Their eyes as it grew lighter, and beheld
Each other's aspects—saw, and shriek'd, and died—
Even of their mutual hideousness they died,
Unknowing who he was upon whose...
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I met Elliot Hulse last year at the 21 Convention and was psyched to have him on the show to talk about why he wants to make men strong again. We discussed the importance of strong father figures, myth, and the concept of chaos vs. order in life and in society -- especially relevant now that chaos seems to be running wild in cities across the nation. We also got to talk about current events, and I highly recommend his video "The American Mind Virus" to get an introduction to where his head is at these days.
The American Mind Virus
https://youtu.be/6oUYP6uj3EQ
https://elliotthulse.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/elliottsaidwhat
Instagram: @elliotthulse
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Andy Lewis the self-made man behind Norse Fitness and his own gym -- the Norse Compound. We talked about entrepreneurship, the fantasy and reality of the lifestyle brand game, and most importantly about the concept of adapting to an ever changing landscape. Adapt...or fail. It's a law of nature and business, and Andy shares some great examples of the way he's turned challenges into opportunities or managed to stay in the game. He also recommended a few of his favorite books on business (see notes below).
https://norsefitness.co
https://www.instagram.com/andyredbeard/
https://www.instagram.com/norse_fitness/
https://www.instagram.com/norsecompound/
Mentioned:
https://frankkern.com
Ian Andrew Stanley
Confessions of a Persuasion Hitman: The Unusual Rules I Learned From Selling Over $100,000,000 of Products and Services
https://amzn.to/31dH8TR
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Anthony Dream Johnson is the founder of @21 Studios and host of the 21 Convention — a men’s event that I’ve spoken at several times over the last few years. I invited him on the show to talk about his personal motivations, his philosophy of life and business, some of the challenges that come with advocating masculinity, and what’s in store for the next 21 Convention this fall in Orlando.
I won’t be speaking this year but I plan to be there. To find out more about this year’s event, follow this link:
https://bit.ly/398U0OK
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Dr. Mathias Nordvig is an Old Norse scholar and author and you can follow his work on YouTube @Mathias Nordvig . I invited him on Start The World to talk about masculinity, heroism and leadership in the Old Norse lore, and he shared a few of his favorite examples from the Hávamál, but we ended upo having a long and wide-ranging discussion about the character of Odin, the nature of Thor, the questionable place of the Vanir in the lore, and how there is no racism or race preservation implied or suggested in the lore, or in heathenry itself.
Web site: https://nordicmythologychannel.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mathiasnordvig/
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Now is the time for men to build local networks. Recently, I reached out to Killian, a powerlifter in my small town, to grab lunch and talk about doing a podcast. It turned out to be a great and inspiring conversation. Killian grew up around drugs, and spent years struggling with addiction. Eventually, as he puts it, he just "got tired of being tired," kicked meth and traveled India with his father. After his first child was born, he started getting serious about powerlifting, and eventually began competing. I found his story really compelling, and am glad I took the time to meet him. He's an example of a man who came from a rough background and turned his life around. There are decent men chasing excellence, with interesting stories, wherever you are. Find them.
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Richard Grannon has been on the show before, but I invited him back to talk about growing older without a wife or children as a single man. Some men are on a family track, and that’s great, but there is inevitably going to be an increasingly large percentage of men who — for whatever reason, aren’t going to end up getting married or having children. Having kids creates some structure and responsibility in youth and (theoretically) a sense of meaning and a support system as a man ages. Without that piece of the puzzle, what does finding meaning and fulfillment in life look like as we get older. How do we avoid the common pitfalls that lead to self-destruction?
We talked about it a bit, but soon veered off into discussing current events and various conspiracy theories.
Richard Grannon is a Master NLP Practitioner and life coach. You can find out more about his work on YouTube @RICHARD GRANNON and at https://spartanlifecoach.com.
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Michael Kurcina is "the dude" behind Spotterup.com, a comprehensive gear review and training site with a philosophical angle. He recently released a book of aphorisms and short essays about being a man and a warrior, titled "We Fight Monsters," so I invited him on the show to talk more about it. I found myself agreeing with many of the things he wrote in We Fight Monsters, and the title perfectly and simply encapsulates the eternal role of the mythic hero.
You can buy the book on Amazon here https://amzn.to/2B8w8Oc
and find out more about Spotterup at https://spotterup.com.
Kurcina's Instagram is https://www.instagram.com/spotterupdude/
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People who demand the absolute "end" of things that have been around for all of recorded human history are not serious adults, and shouldn't be taken seriously.
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A short essay on the riots.
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The next few episodes of Start The World will be audio essays, commenting on the events of the last few months.
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Paul Carter is a pro trainer who writes regularly for T-Nation, and he's always giving great advice on his Instagram @liftrunbang. Paul has coached me on diet in the past, and I think he's one of the most legit, no-nonsense authorities on lifting and body composition out there. We opened with some talk on recent changes in the fitness industry and some questions on training (specifically band training). Then we expanded to talk about life, relationships, living in your truth, and more. We always have a fun conversation, and this one went on for almost 2 hours.
He just released a new book on carb cycling, and I'm probably going to try it out because the dude knows what he is talking about. Buy the book here:
XLR8 - Carb Cycling for Fat Loss
http://www.lift-run-bang.com/p/super-soldier-protocol.html
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For the podcast this week, I did a live Q & A on YouTube, so I'm re-releasing two of my most popular essays on training so they are easier for you to access.
Check out my YouTube channel for the video Q & As.
https://youtu.be/b98YJevNf_A
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For the podcast this week, I did a live Q & A on YouTube, so I'm re-releasing two of my most popular essays on training so they are easier for you to access.
Check out my YouTube channel for the video Q & As.
https://youtu.be/b98YJevNf_A
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Nick is a professional writer, meditation teacher and practitioner with decades of experience and a familiarity with many styles of meditation. We talked about some of his opinions on the practice of meditations and how it can change you. Nick sometimes refers to the practice of mediation as "building an arena" for confrontations with yourself. He led me through a short breath meditation that anyone can do (36:00). We also discussed my meditation practice and the idea of adding a mythic frame to meditation. At (49:00) we explored the concept of the void. Toward the end of the podcast (53:00), Nick asked me to elaborate on some of the ideas I am developing for my next book.
You can sign up for Nick's mailing list at nickmattos.com
If you enjoy my work, please consider supporting this podcast and other projects on Patreon.
https://www.patreon.com/starttheworld
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