The Martyr Made Podcast (private feed for redspade@gmail.com)

Human Forever, pt. 3

Hi everybody. Here’s another installment of my ongoing long-term project exploring ideas from James Poulos’s great 2021 book, Human Forever: The Digital Politics of Spiritual War.I decided to put this episode out for everyone, because I really want everyone to hear what James has to say. He has a unique and valuable perspective on implications of digital technology, and how we can win the war to remain human as those technologies take over our world.If you are not already a Substack paid subscriber, please consider signing up. It’s just $5 per month or $50 per year, and it’s how I put food on the table and kibble in the kitty bowl. Behind the paywall, you’ll find more discussions like this one, and last week’s discussion with former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett, as well as episodes with just me discussing questions and issues that don’t quite make it into the history show.James Poulos is the editor of American Mind at the Claremont Institute, as well as the Founder and Editorial Director of RETURN at New Founding.Please check out his book. It is only available on the blockchain, a decision we discuss in the episode, but if crypto is a barrier for you, it’s time to climb over it. It was certainly a barrier for me, but one way or another, whether we like it or not, it’s a technology with which we’re all going to need a basic familiarity in the trials ahead.The book is available on the blockchain at Canonic. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit subscribe.martyrmade.com/subscribe

Interview w/Luke Burgis on Rene Girard

I had a very interesting conversation with Luke Burgis, whose book Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life had a very good effect on me recently. We talk about Rene Girard, Nietzsche and Dostoevsky, scapegoating, and how technology accelerates mimetic conflict. I hope you enjoy this discussion.ANNOUNCEMENT: With this episode in the rearview, I am now going to be focusing 100% on putting the finishing touches on the first episode of the next Martyr Made history episode. Should be about 1.5-2 weeks more work, but it’s going to be a banger. So if something comes to mind, I might record an episode for Substack, but otherwise I’ll be buried in my cave working on that.Luke Burgis is Entrepreneur-in-Residence and Director of Programs at the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. After a brief career in investment banking and private equity, he started his first company at age 23 and was named a “Top 25 Entrepreneur Under 25” by Business Week for growing it into one of the most innovative food access businesses in the country.Luke is also the founder of two more startup companies that he led as C.E.O. to high growth and sustainability. Fit Fuel, the e-commerce company that he founded, has been recognized as having an outstanding company culture. He formed a close partnership with Zappos.com.Luke is co-author of the book Unrepeatable: Cultivating the Unique Calling of Every Person. He is also a recognized expert in René Girard's mimetic theory and author of the book Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life (St. Martin's Press, 2021). He has a B.S. from the Stern School of Business at New York University and an S.T.B. in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit subscribe.martyrmade.com/subscribe

Easter Message

Hi everybody. I had another episode ready for Easter, but at the last minute the person I did it with decided he did a bad job and asked me not to publish. He’s wrong, he did a great job, but I get it, I know the feeling. So I decided to just jot down a few thoughts and here they are. Happy Easter. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit subscribe.martyrmade.com/subscribe

Last Stand of the Nation State w/John Robb

Well, this was one of the scarier discussions I’ve had in recent memory, and you do not want to miss it. In this episode John Robb and I discuss the ongoing total war between Vladimir Putin’s Russia, and the open-source networked insurgency that has emerged to do battle with him.John Robb is a former Air Force special operations pilot, an astronautical engineer, a tech founder who helped invent RSS, as well as a defense & global affairs analyst & consultant. His book Brave New War was well ahead of its time when he released it in the mid-2000s, and has guided much of my thinking about fourth- and fifth-generation warfare and the networked insurgencies that now seem to dominate physical and ideological battlefields. John is the creator of the Global Guerillas Report, in which he provides deep analysis of the strong underlying trends and forces that are driving the events we see on the news. Over the years, his framework has helped me to avoid being blindsided by emergent events, and I’m very excited to have him on the show.Follow him on Twitter @johnrobb. You do not want to miss this episode. Enjoy. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit subscribe.martyrmade.com/subscribe

Thoughts on Ukraine (Remastered)

Hey everybody. Many of you have asked for my thoughts on the crisis in Ukraine, so here they are. I re-recorded the episode because the audio on the first one was trash.Here are some links I mention in the show:The Snipers Massacre On MaidanHow the West Sowed the Seeds of War in Ukraine, by Pedro GonzalezMy Twitter thread on the Rand Corporation’s strategy white paperScott Horton’s recent speech on the Ukraine crisisThanks for listening. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit subscribe.martyrmade.com/subscribe