Sons of Men de Kurtis Wiebe

In asking a monumental question about the next era of his family's life, an old terror returns from the past. Only in the slaying of a dragon could this new adventure continue. What do we do with fear? What do dragons represent on the journeys of our lives? How do we approach a life of stagnation with courage and resilience? A long overdue episode, with updates on a new city and a new era.

After completing the Mad Kings trilogy of the podcast, our host was left thinking about his life in Sweden, and all the events that led him there and back to Canada again. In the reflection, he uncovered a painful truth: He was longing for a sense of home. How do we weather the storms of life, and when are these storms more than temporary, but a true and quiet discomfort that permeates our lives?

When we go through trials and come out the other side, we are often left with questions about the past. The danger we all face is becoming stuck within it, rather than building a foundation of values to ensure that no matter what new trials we face, we do not lose our way. How do we overcome the resentments and regrets of the past and avoid succumbing to hopelessness? Today we talk about building a foundation of values and meaning to process our past and set foot on solid ground to move forward with purpose and clarity.

The modern game studio has become infected with a scourge of Mad Kings. Today our host shares the 6 Key Traits of a Mad King, or more specifically, weak and dangerous men who lead with a deadly mixture of entitlement and a refusal to take any accountability. The industry layoffs are not merely an epidemic of bad financial investment, but a plague of mad kings leading studios to ruin.

Waking up to dozens of messages, our host learns the sad truth about the cost of weak men in leadership to people he once worked beside. The staggering layoffs in the video games industry tells a specific story, of economic downturn, of streamlining development, but the truth is simpler, and not the fault of those who work, but those who fail to lead.

Our host is joined by a very close and special guest, a man who set the foundation for his life and stood by him in the darkest times. An episode where a father and son sit together and talk about life, legacy and how much they mean to each other.

Our host learns of the deep struggle and crisis of a man he once considered a close friend. A reflection on how to deal with the precarious balance between compassion and judgment. How can we hold both in equal measure, and how do we integrate nuance into our perspective to strive toward the impossible idea of perfection?

Moving into 2025, and now 6 months into life in Vancouver, a city both old and new, our host reflects on how much life has changed. Looking back to what the city meant to him ten years ago, and what expectations he had moving back led him to feeling displaced in a familiar world. How do we align ourselves to change and to better build a foundation on the values we hold now, and how does the old inform the new?

Host Kurtis Wiebe shares his perspective on the richness of life found in real art in a world that leans toward inauthenticity and capturing only the most perfect moments. Where art is only meaningful if it sells for profit, and is valued by the material number attached to it. How do we value art in the time of AI, and what is it that saves those with voice from the cynical and terrifying new age of effortless creation? Art is more meaningful than ever, and within it, there is beauty in truth.

Our first episode of the year, running into 2025! Our host reflects on his holiday season, in what was a surprising time of struggle when a period of rest and recovery was expected. How do we find peace when life feels out of our control? How do we resist the urge to live in the past when there is so much more ahead? A meditation on how remembering light cuts through the heaviest of darkness.

The past weekend, our host experienced an unexpected fear and was forced to face a terrifying new era in his life with a responsibility he was not ready to take on. A light hearted episode dedicated to the small joys in life and how we can cheat ourselves of them by living in our heads a little too often. Our final episode of 2024. See you all again in 2025. Merry Christmas to all!

A recent health scare puts our host into a reflective state about past fears and anxieties, the damage they did and how he is able, now, to better battle the negative mental state those emotions can inflict. A meditation on fear and doubt.

A chance meeting with a Swede living in Vancouver and a 16km bike tour with his daughter leads the host to reflect on the changes he made to better prioritize his time. This one is for fathers, and a gentle reminder that life is all too short.

Our host reconnects with an old friend from his early Vancouver days. This is a conversation with Brandon, one that dives into a casting out from his community, how he survived and what wisdom and strengths he has fostered in the struggle to understand.

An episode dedicated to addiction. Are you worried about your own habits, or someone close to you that could be at risk? Our host speaks plainly about the signs he saw in his own behavior and thinking while offering questions you can apply to your own life to help answer whether or not you may be at risk. From a recovered addict, with love, for those struggling, The Black Pit and the Bottle offers advice and encouragement for his fellow addicts, sober or not.

A reflection on friendship, the qualities we, as men, should look for and embody in our own lives. Our host reflects on the men who've helped him overcome specific struggles and obstacles in his own life, to better understand the traits that one should seek in the pursuit of a richer life with good men at our sides. (Re-Upload, Revised Episode without Audio Issues)

In the second conversation, our host is joined by James, a long time friend and a man with unique insight into struggle when his wife became ill and he was placed in a position of service in a way he had never expected. He relates the story of his own father, and how that inspired him through some of the toughest times. James brings unflinching vulnerability and honest perspective to the question of what does being a man mean in our modern world.

After a very difficult realization, live during last episode's recording, our host battles a desire for vengeance against those who harmed him. Grappling with a vengeful heart, he finds honest and wise counsel from the brothers and wise leaders around him to help process a grief that has lived in his heart for two years.

After the previous episode, the host is contacted by a listener and challenged on his perspective of work ethic and choosing to give less to those deemed unworthy. What begins as an analysis of perspective leads to an emotional revelation that the past still haunts him and he doesn't know how to forgive those who hurt him.

In our first of many, the Sons of Men podcast sits down to chat with a guest about life, art and getting older. Many thanks to Owen for his openness and willingness to be the test case for future guests in episodes to come. If you would be interested in speaking with our host about your life, insights and wisdom, please reach out at: sonsofmenpod@gmail.com

A very recent experience causes reflection about resentment and the nature of recognition and how it plays into our pride. What stories do we tell ourselves about why people act the way they do, and how does it lead to a poisoning of our hearts?

From a four year period, leaving behind the freelancers life to joining the corporate video game industry, our host reflects on what he saw as a catastrophic failure of leadership and an environment rife with weak men. Episode 3 is a reflection on why men love war stories, and how the greatest generation can inform our struggle today.

In this second episode, Kurtis speaks about the life he found in sobriety in a new country and how it was there, with the death of his career, that he found the first buildings blocks of meaning.

In its inaugural episode, host Kurtis Wiebe speaks about a tragedy in his professional world that brought him back to a tragedy in his own life, one that would take eight years to fully recover from. What are we here for? How do we overcome such cruel darkness? What, as men, are we to do and how do we find our way in this modern world?