
The Speech Guys
80 episodes — Page 1 of 2
"Concerning Hobbits" Bilbo Baggins | Speeches By Small Towners
"Concerning Hobbits" Bilbo Baggins | Speeches By Small Towners
S7 Ep 78"It All Turns on Affection" Wendell Berry | Speeches By Small Towners
The gang's all here. Get cozy. Warm that affectionate heart of yours and learn how to be a Sticker... or Boomer... or a Sticker-Boomer... and look on at Port William with us.The speech was presented April 23rd, 2012 for the Jefferson Lecture as part of the National Endowment for the Humanities.https://events.tvworldwide.com/Events/NEH-2012-Jefferson-Lecture/VideoId/-1/UseHtml5/TrueLandon's blog post describing his meeting with Mr. Berry:https://ambrook.com/offrange/perspective/wendell-berry-kentucky-clearing-brush

S7 Ep 77"Labor's Millennium" Jonathon Baldwin Turner | Speeches By Small Towners
I-L-L... I-N-I! The Speech Guys explore the University of Illinois origin story in the words of one of its founders, Jonathon Baldwin Turner. JBT envisioned a class of farmer shaped by experience and informed by agricultural science. Dave Biver, U of I graduate, Freeburg area native, and farmer ("The Straw Boss"!) fits the bill. He introduces the episode.
S7 Ep 76"Dixon, Place on the Rock River" President Ronald Reagan | Speeches By Small Towners
The Speech Guys find a reason to hang with Ronnie Reagan again--and it's a good reason as they're embarking on the first speech series of the 7th season. Speeches By Small Towners. Reagan gave this speech in Dixon, Illinois on February 6th, 1984.

S6 Ep 12"The Word Became Flesh" Pope Benedict XVI | Speeches After the Straussian Moment
The whole podcastin' gang is here to close out season six. The task at hand? Weave together Christmas (excuse me, Advent!) and the Straussian Moment (do we even know what that is yet after four episodes?). Ross lines it up with a speech by Pope Benedict from 2010 and Mike, Landon, and Matt take their turns at the tee.Read the speech here: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/messages/urbi/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20101225_urbi.htmlEpisode thumbnail comes from https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2023-01/benedict-xvi-s-last-words-lord-i-love-you.html.

S6 Ep 12"They Need Us To Be Present" President Barack Obama | Speeches After the Straussian Moment
75% of the Speech Guys report for podcasting duty. Ross is out hunting. Matt, Landon, and Mike go hunting for great ideas about President Obama's 2010 Father's Day speech. Come on and climb inside and see if they found any. As usual, the Speech Guys are best served with a cold drink.Episode thumbnail comes from Time.com.The full transcript of President Obama's Father's Day speech can be found here:https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-a-fathers-day-eventThe study concerning parents' values toward their children:https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/01/24/parenting-in-america-today/

S6 Ep 11"Blood Will Be Shed" Bane Dorrance | Speeches After the Straussian Moment
Landon, Ross, Mike, and Matt wander through the cultural wake that is Bane's speech outside the Gotham City Stock Exchange in the 2012 Dark Knight Rises. 1993. Institutions. Scapegoats. Predictive programming. How evil manifests. Really... 1993!Plus... Is Bane's speech more likely to come from President Trump's mouth or Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? The Speech Guys tabulate a score and it's closer than you might think!Thumbnail is used from The Guardian.Bane's speech audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzK97Aaj_U8Vice's speech audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E-v5yDBR64

S6 Ep 10"The Straussian Moment" Peter Thiel | Speeches After the Straussian Moment
The Straussian what? Huh? Put on your listening ears and thinking cap as the Speech Guys go way back and all over... the Middle Ages, the Enlightenment, the American Revolution, 9/11, and everything that came after. Imagine this episode as like a field of wildflowers... sure, there's some weeds and stuff that just don't matter, but it makes those few thoughts that bloom here just a bit more worth the hang. Landon is the trail guide and Mike, Ross, and Matt ride along.Read "The Straussian Moment" in its entirety: https://gwern.net/doc/politics/2007-thiel.pdfThumbnail comes from https://reason.com/2020/08/02/wait-wasnt-peter-thiel-a-libertarian/.

S6 Ep 9Last Words of the First Nations, Black Hawk | Speeches from the Old West
The Speech Guys go back to the beginning with words by the first westerners--in this case, Black Hawk, after the Sauk and Meskawi lost possession of land in northern Illinois and Wisconsin in 1832.Fact check: Mike comments on the distinction between the Sioux and Lakota. The "Sioux" refers to a larger aggregation of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota.Fact check: The anti-sematic social media posts of the Palestinian graduate student is discussed here in the Wall Street Journal.Thumbnail image is a depiction of Black Hawk by George Catlin in 1832 and used from Wikipedia.

S6 Ep 8"Fill Your Hands, You Son of a..." & Other Western Quips, Rooster Cogburn | Speeches from the Old West
It's the whole Speech Guys gang on call to discuss "Fill Your Hands, You Son of a B****" (Rooster Cogburn, True Grit), "I'm Your Huckleberry" (Doc Holliday, Tombstone), and a couple more questionable applications of the cowboy ethos as John Wayne portrayed in The Cowboys ("Old School Speech Therapy") and Hondo ("You Can't What?").Biking for Babies Finish Celebration, Saturday, July 19th (Saint Louis):https://www.bikingforbabies.com/col-mo/Biking for Babies Finish Celebration, Saturday, July 19th (Philadelphia):https://www.bikingforbabies.com/col-pa/

S6 Ep 7"If You Do Not Succeed..." John Paul the Great | A Biking for Babies Special
Biking for Babies Executive Director, Nikki Biese, joins Kevin, Mike, and Jimmy to discuss John Paul the Great's 1993 World Youth Day address in Denver.Thumbnail comes from https://www.wordonfire.org/articles/contributors/john-paul-ii-knowing-suffering-from-inside/.

S6 Ep 7"My Thirty-First Year..." Captain Meriwether Lewis | Speeches from the Old West
Mid life comes a little later now since Meriwether Lewis' day. The whole Speech Guys crew chat about Lewis' August 18th, 1805 journal entry from the Corps of Discovery expedition when he turned 31. Securing horses from the Shoshones and getting a few dozen guys across two-thirds of the country couldn't shake his gloomy thoughts.Fact check: Mike incorrectly states that the cost of the expedition was $2,500. This was the amount President Jefferson requested to Congress. An 1806 War Department report states the cost as closer to $38,722.25. (https://lewis-clark.org/the-trail/eastern-beginnings/estimate-of-expenses/#:~:text=Actual%20Costs,pay%20for%20personnel%20($11%2C000).)Episode thumbnail comes from https://montanakids.com/history_and_prehistory/lewis_and_clark/lewis.htm.Post credits audio comes from Ken Burns' Lewis & Clark: The Journey of the Corps of Discovery documentary.

S6 Ep 7"If You Want Equal Justice..." John Paul the Great | A Biking for Babies Special
Kevin sits in for Sarah Wiese to get prepped for his MC role at the 2025 finishing event at Saint Joseph's parish in Manchester, Missouri on Saturday, July 19th. Jimmy and Mike sit alongside as they revisit a few old memory gems from Kev's first ride in 2011 and discuss John Paul the Great's 1987 speech that bid farewell to his American spiritual family.Biking for Babies Alumni, register here for BARRR! https://www.bikingforbabies.com/2025-alumni-offerings/Here's John Paul's text from that speech: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1987/september/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19870919_congedo-stati-uniti.html.Thumbnail image comes from https://catholicinsight.com/2019/10/22/pope-saint-john-paul-the-great/.Audio clip from Biking for Babies 2011 comes from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X20usGav_58."America, Defend Life" song-voiceover is from the 2012 Biking for Babies ride:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV8Vsrt2sAk

S6 Ep 5"And We're About To Do This" | A Biking for Babies Special
(Most of) the Speech Guys take a break this episode. They lend their platform to Biking for Babies--a mission-oriented bicycled ride that Mike Schaefer and Jimmy Becker started with John Paul Deddens as students at the University of Illinois in 2009.Sarah Wiese, Biking for Babies' Director of Operations & Marketing, and support crew extraordinaire and Alabama-native interviews them on their memories of the early years, what inspired them to take on the project, and what's affected them along the way.Learn more at https://www.bikingforbabies.com/.Sign up for the Alumni Retreat & Reunion-Ride here: https://bikingforbabies-forms.formstack.com/forms/2025_alumni_ride

S6 Ep 4Pope Leo XIV(!) & "The Fastest Nun in the West" Sister Blandina Segale | Speeches from the Old West
Sister Blandina Segale (1850 - 1941) was a missionary Sister of Charity who built the first school district in Colorado, served such legends of the West as Billy the Kid (really!), Native Americans, and the Hispanic population of the Southwest.The Speech Guys read and discuss one of many letters she wrote to her sister, Sister Justina (yep... a real life sister Sister act!), describing the adventures her vocation took her own. This and others are available in the book, "At the End of the Santa Fe Trail".Thumbnail source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254030/wild-west-nun-sister-blandina-is-focus-of-planned-tv-series-trinidad

S6 Ep 3"The Fulfillment of This Scripture Is Today" Jesus of Nazareth | Speeches at the Start of Something
It's Landon and Mike discussing Jesus' entry onto the Christianity scene when he reads the prophet Isaiah, as described in Luke 4, and portrayed by Jonathon Roumie in season 3, episode 3 of The Chosen.Audio from this clip comes from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyHp0TovnUQ&t=560sThumbnail comes from here: https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/the-chosen-angel-studios-ruling-dallas-jenkins-neal-harmon-1236020555/

S6 Ep 3"Using Machinery under Capitalism" Karl Marx
The Speech Guys went camping one week earlier. I guess that's why Mike is a little tired.Thumbnail image comes from https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2017/article/history-of-child-labor-in-the-united-states-part-1.htm.

S6 Ep 2"Running... An Absurd Pastime" Bill Bowerman | Speeches at the Start of Something
In the 1970s, Steve Prefontaine lit a fire under the bellies of runners that has never gone out through his American distance track records--largely formed by the coaching and spiritual ethos of University of Oregon cross country and track coach and Nike co-founder, Bill Bowerman. The Speech Guys consider Bill's insights through two speeches, as portrayed in the 1998 film, "Without Limits".A link explaining Alberto Salazar's ban from coaching: www.espn.com/olympics/trackandf…-arbitration-sport.

S6 Ep 1"Make Your Bed" Admiral Wendel McRaven | Speeches at the Start of Something
John Zegar introduces the podcast episode. Matt, Mike, Landon, and Ross discuss the 2014 speech from the University of Texas-Austin commencement ceremony presented by Admiral McRaven. Thumbnail image comes from laviolettefoundation.org/news/2022/11…ovember-30th.

S5 Ep 11"Timshel" Samuel Hamilton & Adam Trask | Speeches By Dads
It's the final episode of the fourth season of the SGs and they discuss the dialogues performed by John Steinbeck's characters from the 1952 novel, "East of Eden", along with the Genesis story of Cain and Abel that informs them.Primary content comes from chapters 22 and 24 of the book.

S5 Ep 10"Lucy" Father Mike Schmitz | Speeches By Dads
EThis episode is rated PG-13 for a "graphic" clip from the film Calvary (2014) which contains one bleeped out instance of f**k, gun violence, and reference to clerical sexual abuse. The clip is approximately four minutes and begins at approximately the 50 minute mark.Landon, Ross, Matt, and Mike discuss Father Mike's 2019 SEEK Conference talk entitled "Share" and how his recognition of his own indifference challenges us to rise above our own.The thumbnail comes from bulldogcatholic.org/about-contact-u…r-mike-schmitz/.The speech audio comes from youtu.be/9CF7GpW8rNQ?si=u6czK3DWt0J3Wyee.

S5 Ep 9"Act Like You've Been There Before" Doug Johnson | Speeches By Dads
Doug Johnson introduces the cast and recalls, with Ross, the (micro)speech he gave to his son before his first football game in the twilight of the 20th century in Springfield, Illinois. Ross and Doug might not remember if he scored, but they remember the speech. And now, you will too.Thumbnail image comes from www.pinterest.com/pin/father-son-p…604192944860833/.

S5 Ep 8"Terrifying Virtue" Maximillian Robespierre | Speeches That Got Someone Killed
Landon, Mike, Ross, and Matt close out the "Speeches That Got Someone Killed" quad. Some political candidates might be a threat to America's democracy, but this episode isn't--unless you think a Speech Guys oligarchy could make American great again.Full text of speeches discussed can be accessed here:alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution…ary-terror-1794/AND here:alphahistory.com/frenchrevolution…tue-terror-1794/Our country's national debt was discussed. Review current value here: fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-fina…ational-debt/The episode thumbnail comes from here: www.historyskills.com/classroom/year…ution-reading/

S5 Ep 7"We're More Popular Than Jesus Now" John Lennon | Speeches That Got Someone Killed
Mike, Landon, Ross, and Matt consider how John Lennon's interview in March 1966 with London's Evening Standard influenced Mark David Chapman and the legacy of Christianity, the Beatles, and musical counterculture that persists today.The speech can be read here:www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/1966/03/…sus-now/A blog by Mr. Robert Rosen was discussed and can be accessed here concerning the significance of "Chapter 27" in The Catcher in the Rye:robertrosen.blogspot.com/2006/01/root…chapter.htmlThumbnail comes from here:www.businessinsider.com/john-lennon-f…-he-was-24-10Lennon's song, "God" comes from here:www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCNkPpq1giU

S5 Ep 6"Disbelief, Sadness, & Unyielding Anger" President George W. Bush | Speeches That Got Someone Killed
Fact Check:Landon references a comment made by Former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, that "eight trillion dollars was lost track of", and speculates that the attack on the Pentagon was to obviate the federal government of responsibility toward that amount. See this addressed here: www.reuters.com/fact-check/rumsfe…e-911-2023-09-14/Mike referenced a podcast hosted by Catholic apologist, Jimmy Akin, that comments on popular 9/11 conspiracies. Listen to that podcast here:sqpn.com/2021/09/the-9-11-att…eptember-11-attacks/Thumbnail image used from www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/arti…nse-to-911-attacks/.Speech audio comes from www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA8-KEnfWbQ

S5 Ep 5"Sermon on the Mount" Jesus of Nazareth | Speeches That Got Someone Killed
How does the Sermon on the Mount help the Speech Guys pursue a worthy spiritual frontier? Listen in as Ross, Matt, and Mike cheer for the arrival of Faye Frye and consider what might set Jesus of Nazareth a story worth believing in.

S5 Ep 4"There Is Only One Man... Charles Kane." Citizen Kane | Speeches From Oscar-Nominated Films
Does art inspire life or life inspire art? Landon, Ross, Matt, and Mike team up for Orson Welles' 1941 campaign "to rid the politics of this State of the evil domination of Boss Jim Gettys".The thumbnail image comes from theasc.com/articles/realism-for-citizen-kane.

S5 Ep 3"For Forty-One Million, You Built a Playoff Team" John Henry | Speeches From Oscar-Nominated Films
Listener discretion: "a**" is used several times throughout the episodeIs paying for runs really what America's baseball heart beats for? The Speech Guys and special guest, Theus Brown (BAJ and BROWN Podcast), discuss the contemporary consequences of the "moneyball" model via the dramatized speech by Boston Red Sox owner, John Henry, in the 2011 Oscar-nominated film, Moneyball.

S5 Ep 2"The Park Bench" Dr. Sean Maguire | Speeches From Oscar-Nominated Films
"You think I know the first thing about being an orphan because I read Oliver Twist?"... Dr. Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) begins to tear down the intellectual and academic walls that Sean (Matt Damon) built up around himself in this famous speech from the 1997 Oscar-nominated film, "Good Will Hunting". Ross, Landon, and Mike contemplate their own walls they've had to and need to break down to have real knowledge from life experiences.

S5 Ep 1"It Is... Impossible to be a Woman" Gloria Gomez | Speeches From Oscar-Nominated Films
EThis episode is rated PG-13 for language and discussion of sexuality.Anne Marie rejoins as guest host to discuss the good, true, and maybe not so universally accurate observations of women and men in Gloria's speech to lift Barbie out of the existential doldrums.Thumbnail image comes from people.com/read-the-powerful-b…to-50-times-7565806

S4 Ep 15"He Died a Richer Man Than You'll Ever Be" George Bailey | A Speech Guys Christmas Special
Merry Christmas from the Speech Guys! Talk, think, and laugh about your favorite holiday fare... fruitcakes, George and Mary Bailey, and the real life Hallmark tradition that took place each season at Johnson's Market.Read the November 2019 article on Ross's family grocery business from the New York Times here:www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/us/rur…-farm-market.htmlEpisode note: the nature of Santa Claus' existence is discussed.

S4 Ep 14Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech 1986, Elie Wiesel | Speeches From the 1980s
In 1986, author and Holocaust-survivor, Elie Wiesel, was awarded for his humanitarian work on behalf of the Jewish community and other historically-oppressed groups. The Speech Guys discuss the legacy of those words, particularly in light of heightened tensions between Israel, Hamas, and Palestinians.Special thanks to a listener who pointed out that the principal reason for Mr. Wiesel's receiving the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize was on account of his work in liberating Jews in the Soviet. You can learn about one Soviet Jew's experience here:lithub.com/on-the-liberation-s…-soviet-refuseniks/The thumbnail image of Mr. Wiesel is used from www.hmd.org.uk/resource/elie-wiesel-hmd-2017/.The speech audio comes from youtu.be/tu-63eViNPo?si=YC8X0vA8b53enMxc.

S4 Ep 13"I'm Afraid, Alright?!" Rocky & Adrian Balboa
Apollo Creed helped Balboa get his body ready for the Heavyweight title against Clubber Lang. But his wife and partner, Adrian (Talia Shire), had to retrain his heart. "I'm afraid alright! For the first time in my life, I'm afraid."Bonus content: Matt's Brooklyn-styled Rocky impression

S4 Ep 12"Like Tears in the Rain" Roy Batty | Speeches From the 1980s
Who said AI was a new conversation we should be having? Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) and Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) were paving the way for the rest of us all of the way back in 1982.Mike's the speech-picker. Matt and Landon tag along for a trip to the future in... 2019. Or would that be the past?Thumbnail image comes from www.exrey.tv/blade-runner-1982/.

S4 Ep 11"The Challenger Disaster" President Ronald Reagan | Speeches From the 1980s
The Speech Guys try to imagine a world just before the dawn of their births as they step back into the 1980s with President Reagan's speech following the space shuttle Challenger explosion on January 28th, 1986 over Cape Canaveral.

S4 Ep 10"The Apology of Socrates" Socrates (Plato) | Speeches By Prisoners
Mike, Landon, Matt, and Ross finish out the Speeches By Prisoners series with Socrates' speech before his Athenian jury considering whether or not he ought to be executed for crimes of "corrupting the youth" and not properly worshiping the traditional gods of Athens.

S4 Ep 9"Stillwater & Still Friends" | Mike & Landon's Friendship Origin Story
bonusThe Speech Guys share a common collegiate origin along Illinois' Interstate 74. Here, Landon and Mike recall their coming together merely months before Mike's University of Illinois graduation in spring 2015. The moral of this episode? You never know what treasures are in store until your car is packed and ready to pull away from one of life's stages. So be a good friend all of the way through and don't exit through the garage.

S4 Ep 8"A World Split Apart" Alexander Solzhenitsyn | Speeches By Prisoners
In 1978, Russian exile, Alexander Solzhenitsyn gave the commencement address to Harvard graduates. Unlike most commencement speeches, it painted Western culture in macabre, depressing descriptions of its decline in courage, legalism, direction of freedom and the press, socialism, loss of will, thinking with only respect to what's 'fashionable', short-sightedness, pervasive secular humanism, and its doomed similarities to the communist government under which he'd been exiled.So, don your cap and gown and let's listen and think about what he had to say to those Harvard graduates four decades ago.The speech rendition can be accessed here:youtu.be/QC_3xnVOBjkThe thumbnail image comes from here:www.solzhenitsyncenter.org/timeline

S4 Ep 7"I Am Prepared To Die" Nelson Mandela | Speeches By Prisoners
It's the second episode of the Speeches By Prisoners series and the Speech Guys contemplate the stoicism and devotion to ordinary life Mandela seemed to demonstrate as a South African political prisoner from 1964 to 1990.Listen to the full speech Mandela gave before his 1964 trial here:www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQvlxnWELHMThe SG spend a lot of time comparing and contrasting Mandela's decisions to Blessed Franz Jaagerstatter (1907 - 1943). His life was recently depicted in Terrence Malick's film, A Hidden Life. Watch that trailer here:www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJXmdY4lVR0Thumbnail image is accessed from here:www.npg.org.uk/collections/searc…41/Nelson-Mandela

S4 Ep 6A Companion Chat To "Becoming Jesus" | Mike & Chris
Mike and Chris keep sippin' their whiskies after the other Speech Guys leave for an extended chat of related topics from the "Becoming Jesus" episode of the Speeches By Prisoners speech series.The interview referenced in the episode of Denzel Washington can be accessed with the URL below:www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHvtjJY6IsQ"Imagine if America came in a box. You take it off the shelf and you read the back. I want what's in it to match what's on the back."--Chris"You don't want that child to be more afraid of the dad than the consequences of that mistake."--MikeThe thumbnail image for this episode was accessed on this website:www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie…vie-1195477/

S4 Ep 5"Becoming Jesus" Jake Shuttlesworth | Speeches By Prisoners
The Speech Guys lace up their high tops and unpack the first aid kit to talk about wounds... father wounds, that is. Jake Shuttlesworth's speech to his son, Jesus Shuttlesworth, played by Ray Allen in the 1998 Spike Lee film, "He Got Game", serves as their conversational muse.Chris guest hosts.

S4 Ep 4"God is Dead" (The Parable of the Madman) Frederick Nietzsche | Speeches By Losers
Episode Rating:13+ for instances of language ("bulls***", "a**hole") at approximately 2 and 58 minutes, respectivelyWipe that melancholy off your face and think wistful thoughts one last time as Mike, Landon, Matt, and Ross tread one more time through Speeches By Losers... this time, Frederick Nietzsche's "Madman Speech" from his 1880 publication, "The Gay Science" or often retranslated as "Joyful Wisdom".Landon hosts and the other three just try to keep up!Thumbnail photo can be accessed here: www.facebook.com/216302041725688/…NvQltTc6dtI&_rdrText from the speech and a portion of "The Gay Science" here:web.stanford.edu/~jsabol/existent…cience-hurry.pdf

S4 Ep 3"When Breath Becomes Air" Dr. Lucy Kalinithi | Speeches About Loss
Episode Rating:13+ for a few instances of mild language and a few brief references to sex within the context of marriageWelcome to episode #37 of the Speech Guys! (Yes, we keep our episode number secret because... just because.)Matt's the speech picker and Dr. Lucy Kalinithi is the speech-giver in her June 2017 TED talk on navigating the experience of losing her husband, father to their child, Cady, and fellow medical professional, Paul, to lung cancer.Mike contrasts Kalinithi's perspective on suffering as a mode for living with more traditional paths of avoiding pain or treating a cancer prognosis as strictly one of competition.Matt discusses how practicing setting aside our egos could get us better at dying.Landon shares his thoughts on the quality versus quantity of life question.Each of the SGs get vulnerable and answer, "What would you do if you just got off work and learned you were going to die at midnight?", for the Final Bell question.Listen to the full speech here:youtu.be/U5-yBjKKicAThumbnail photo comes from paulkalinithi.com.Fact check: The article URL posted below clarifies Paul's religious position.www.foxnews.com/opinion/paul-kala…ave-up-on-atheismFact check: The gentleman who purportedly never slept is named, "Albert Herpin".

S4 Ep 2"Tomorrow the Sun Will Rise" Chuck Noland | Speeches By Losers
E(This episode is rated 16+, best-suited for audiences 16 years and older, as it discusses sex in the context of an ending romantic relationship. This content begins around the 45 minute mark.The Speech Guys pondered General Lee's model for being a good loser in war. But what about being a loser in love? Chuck Noland is the speech-giver from the 2000 film, Castaway, directed by Robert Zemeckis. Mike, Matt, Landon, and Ross are the speech-thinkers in the second installment of the "Speeches By Losers" series. Some nuggets to look out for in this episode..."Is the end of permanent vows the end of cool love stories?"--MattWhy Castaway is first and foremost a love story, not a survival story...--Landon"Providence is a more liberating notion than destiny. Destiny is enslavement--being bound to something inescapable. Providence is agency and grace together."--MikeWhy Noland's survival ordeal is a model for perfecting the call to do ordinary work perfectly and being receptive to grace...--Mike"It's too easy to leave a trail of wounded people behind in our pursuit of a partner."--Matt, quoting an online article (The URL is posted below from "Desiring God".)The four articles discussed in this podcast (in order) can be accessed with the following URLs:www.menshealth.com/sex-women/a3738…l-broken-heart/www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-pr…p-10-tips-menwww.desiringgod.org/articles/its-not-you-its-godwww.artofmanliness.com/people/relati…p-like-a-man/The post-credits audio comes from National Public Radio's StoryCorps project and is Mr. Walter Dixon's account of losing a romantic relationship only after surviving an incredible ordeal. Access it through this URL:www.npr.org/2019/07/27/74510483…moved-on-without-hi

S4 Ep 1"Our Only Hope & Refuge" Confederate General-In-Chief Robert E. Lee | Speeches By Losers
Episode Rating: PG for discussion of slavery in the United StatesThe Speech Guys learn how to hold their heads high by kicking off season 3 with the "Speeches By Losers" series--headlined by Confederate General-in-Chief's letter written to his wife, Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee, shortly after the Confederacy's loss to the United States at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863.Read the letter here:leefamilyarchive.org/family-papers/…e-1863-july-12References:The opening and closing song is by Adam Agin, entitled "The Road".The thumbnail image of Lee was used from WondriumDaily.com.

S3 Ep 19"Christ as the Final Scapegoat" Rene Girard | Speeches By Prophets
Join Landon, Matt, Mike, and Ross for the final episode of season 3 as they listen to and discuss excerpts from an interview with Rene Girard conducted by Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institute in December 2009.See the full interview at the URL below:www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNkSBy5wWDk

S3 Ep 18"The Abolition of Man" Clive Staples Lewis | Speeches By Prophets
Matt puts the Speech Guys to work, tackling CS Lewis' arguably prophetic "Abolition of Man"--a collection of speeches presented at King's College in Newcastle, England in February 1943."Chicago... the city of Saturday."--Sean Dust"If your child goes to the Grand Canyon and says, 'meh', there's something wrong with them."--Mike"The Tau... the doctrine that some things are really true. To question it is to ask for proof that something that can't exist."--Matt"You can have your choice of five major religions... Christianity, Judaism, Confuciansim, Islam, and Buddhism... Modern religions have been born of excess and luxury--not scarcity. They aren't a foundation upon which the world was built."--Mike"The actual people of non-faith aren't atheists. They're the nones."--Mike"You can't take one part of the Tau or else you lose the whole thing."--Ross"If you've spent your educational efforts at teaching children how to debunk things... they're going to be very good... at debunking things."--Matt

S3 Ep 17"The Moral Equivalent of War" President Jimmy Carter | Speeches By Prophets
A note on listener discretion... at approximately 36 minutes, Mike lets the expletive "sh*t" slip.America's longest-living POTUS takes the mound for the Speech Guys' second time at bat in the Speeches By Prophets series. Mike's Dad, Rich Schaefer, makes his second visit to the Speech Guys' digital studios by commenting on the role that JC and Mike's Mom had on influencing the evolution of his own environmental sensibilities."I gotta say. You are three very intelligent fellows."--Rich Schaefer"People don't like hearing from your Mom or Dad to make sacrifices let alone a guy who lives 1,000 or 3,000 miles away."--Mike"What if a Republican had been in office during the 1970s' Energy Crisis? Would political attitudes on environmental policy be flipped between parties?"--Mike"Every society is going to have vegetables that it doesn't want to eat."--Matt"You'll find a fact that suits you--that allows you to live more comfortably along your baseline lifestyle."--MattThe article that Mike's Dad wrote for Mother Earth News can be accessed here:www.motherearthnews.com/sustainable-l…zm0z22fmzram/Listen to President Carter's full speech here:www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpEAefTT-d0An audio clip from Rocky IV (1985) is used fromwww.youtube.com/watch?v=jxj1NOxcRUM

S3 Ep 16"I Have a Dream" Dr. Martin Luther King | Speeches By Prophets
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 racism."--Matt"Why is the political discussion whether or not something's a problem and not a question of the manner in which to go about solving it?"--Mike"The elephant in the room is that, no matter how great of a point we might make, at the end of the day, we're three white guys and we don't know what it's like to live 50, 60, 70 years as a minority."--Mike"I think the reason that the conversation on race gets messy now is because our culture can't use God as the center in that conversation anymore."--MattThe intro for this episode is a performance of excerpts of "I Have A Dream" by children from Watkins Elementary School students. The video of that performance can be accessed here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8_1NYYKixM