194. How to Build A More Virtuous Society with The Vital Masculinity Podcast

194. How to Build A More Virtuous Society with The Vital Masculinity Podcast

Author: Nick Jamell February 9, 2021 Duration: 1:13:26

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Stephen and Brian from The Vital Masculinty Podcast to discuss how we can build a more virtuous society. On their podcast, they focus on helping men become more virtuous, and I think that our society would benefit from more virtuous men. If we want to change the culture, I think we each have to play our part and grow in virtue. A society is simply the people in it. In order to change a society, we must each choose to choose virtue.

What Does a Virtuous Society Look Like?

You can't build something if you don't know what you want to build, but sometimes things are fuzzy. The picture may not be clear, but we have to take action anyways. With that said, I think we can agree that a society filled with Justice, Prudence, Courage, and Temperance is good. These cardinal virtues are the center of a virtuous life, and therefore, a virtuous society. A virtuous society will have strong families, tight-knit communities, respect for differences, and healthy politics. So, how do we go about creating that?

The Building Blocks of A Virtuous Society

A society is just a human beings in relationship with one another. The family is the building block of society because its the first relationship one has to other people. But, we can only control our own actions - so if we want to change the society we live in, we have to change our behaviors first. That's why I like the Vital Masculinity Podcast's emphasis on each man attaining virtue. So, if you want to see how you can do that, listen to this episode and check out their work as well.

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Finding Community as A Man

One thing I struggle with is finding like-minded men to fight alongside me. We want a band of brothers, but often don't know how to find that. Plus, it doesn't help that men aren't the best at building bonds and putting themselves out there. If both parties aren't reaching out, then no new bonds will form. So, the guys and I discussed this issue in light of their recent series on friendship and my observation of the breakdown of communities.


Nick Jamell hosts Conversation of Our Generation, a space where urgent contemporary questions meet enduring ideas from history and philosophy. Rather than reacting to the noise of daily headlines, this podcast deliberately steps back to examine the deeper currents shaping our society and culture. Each episode is a long-form dialogue that treats topics like politics, religion, and social change not as fodder for debate, but as puzzles to be understood with patience and intellectual humility. The aim is to move beneath entrenched partisanship and surface-level takes, searching instead for clearer perspectives and foundational truths. What you’ll hear are thoughtful explorations that connect modern dilemmas to the wisdom of ancient and modern thinkers, asking how we might navigate today’s complexities with a more grounded sense of principle. This isn’t about quick answers; it’s about cultivating a more meaningful and less reactive way of engaging with the world. For anyone feeling adrift in a polarized age, this podcast offers a sustained, earnest conversation that values depth over speed, and understanding over winning an argument. Tune in for a respite from the frantic news cycle and a chance to consider what it means to be part of this particular moment in time, armed with the best ideas from across the ages.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Conversation of Our Generation
Podcast Episodes
210. Political Action and the Call to "Do Something" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:50
Every time we have a tragedy or catastrophe happen, there are calls to "do something." Often, the "something" we're supposed to do isn't specified. In fact, politicians rarely get specific so we cannot hold them accounta…
209. Breaking the Rules of Philosophy [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 17:30
I once heard a teacher tell his students, "If you want to be able to break the rules, you have to know them first." Basically, the point is something similar to Chesterton's fence. Rather than breaking the rules when you…
208. Failures of Modernity and Rationality [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:05
In this episode, I talked to John Timaeus of Modernity Has Fallen about epistemology, rationality, and the failures of modernity. John writes about these issues on his blog. As a software developer and mathematician, Joh…
207. Was Lincoln a Good President? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:37
Many will argue that Abraham Lincoln was the best president we've had, or at least one of the best. What made Abraham Lincoln great in many people's eyes is the preservation of the union. But was Lincoln a good president…
206. What Is Distributism? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:13
What is distributism? I talked to a distributist about how to implement a distributist economic system and why it's best. I recently sat down with Michael Thomas of Sharon to discuss distributism, and how it's different…
204. Defending Property Rights From Government and Big Tech [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:10
In this episode, I talked to Brook Medina from the John Locke Foundation about defending property rights from government and big tech. But, we also discussed capitalism vs. distributism, John Locke, beauty, and much more…
203. Why Christianity Is True | Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:56
I recent finished Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton, and it was a truly delightful book. Although it might have helped reading it with a scotch and cigar. All joking aside, it was an interesting look at new arguments for Chri…
202. Are Online Courses The Key to Education? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:24
Instead of truly educating people, we've used our school system to push out mindless drones. That is not to say that the average person today doesn't know many things that some of the smartest 500 years ago didn't. Rathe…