A podcast by Matt McCloskey and Michael Vaclav
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Matt and Michael open with a meditation on purpose. Why do they do this podcast? No agenda, no growth targets, no monetization strategy. Just two friends showing up every Wednesday for six years. Matt connects this to Goodhart's Law. When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure. Michael shares how the same principle applies to running Medici. You can get so lost in cost of goods…
Matt and Michael open with the paradox of getting your ass kicked and somehow feeling more alive because of it. Matt shares his realization that there is no "there" to arrive at. The car ride IS the destination. Flat tires, closed restaurants, broken grinders. That's not the interruption of life. That IS life. Then things get deep. They wrestle with Dawkins vs. Lennox on justice and whether the…
Matt and Michael mark eight years of the podcast with a question someone recently asked Michael. Does the devil exist? What follows is a winding conversation through evil, morality, materialism, and the logic of the cross. They explore why Western culture has lost touch with the concept of evil, how political contradictions reveal our moral confusion, and why the devil's greatest trick might be…
Matt and Michael open with a toast to Glenn Hansard, who passed away that morning at 56. Matt reflects on how musicians he's never met have shaped his life in real, relational ways. This sparks a conversation about what it means to have a relationship with someone you've never met. The conversation deepens into attention. What are you fixing your eyes on? They explore the bronze serpent in the…
Matt and Michael open with the Texas heat and the strange feeling of being between seasons. Not just summer tipping toward fall, but the inner seasons of thought and spirit where old ideas fade and new ones haven't arrived. What do you do when you don't know what to do? They explore anxiety and faith, the discipline of presence, and how focusing on relationships unlocked unexpected reconnections.…
Matt and Michael wrestle with a question that has been hanging over both of them. Why have they stopped paying attention to the news? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? They land on the idea of a Cartesian crisis. Nobody trusts anything anymore. Every headline is met with an actually from someone who thinks they have the real truth. They explore how skepticism can lead to nihilism or to wisdom,…
Matt and Michael explore language itself — how the same sentence can carry seven different meanings depending on which word you emphasize. From Christopher Walken's acting advice to watching a toddler learn to speak, they examine how we communicate far more than dictionary definitions. This spirals into the central claim of John's Gospel: Jesus Christ is the Word. What does it mean that the…
Matt and Michael dive into America's 250th birthday and ask why we're so reluctant to celebrate it. They explore how patriotism became politically coded, the strange guilt of prosperity, and why the founders' vision of property rights and freedom of speech created unprecedented human flourishing. The conversation spirals through the Dunning-Kruger effect, democracy as truth-discovery, and the…
Matt and Michael explore what it means to have the right posture when life isn't going your way. They start with the universal temptation to blame others or wallow in self-pity, then spiral into deeper territory: the scapegoat impulse, the maturing conscience, and what it actually means to "seek first the kingdom of heaven." Matt shares raw reflections on a year and a half of job searching,…
Matt and Michael dive into three recent news stories that have them asking the same question. What is this madness? They break down the California mayoral race, the Karmelo Anthony murder trial, and the Somali World Cup referee denied entry to the US. But the headlines are just the entry point. The real conversation is about something deeper. Why does it feel like half the country has stopped…
Matt and Michael start with breath work and singing, and wander into why good things become mechanical, why we turn truths into idols, and what it costs to actually participate in the world. Then the strange phenomenon of calling accomplished people dumb, and the DNC's refusal to learn from defeat. Cheers y'all 🍻 Chapters: [00:00] Breath Work and Singing [03:28] When Tools Become Idols [12:34]…
