Quintus Curtius

What do young men really want? What impulses and motivations drive their thinking? I offer four fundamental necessities.

A reader is concerned that hanging around with a certain group of friends might get him into problems or trouble. He is unsure how to deal with the situation, and asks for some guidance on the best course of action. For some people, this is an easily-handled situation, but for others, it is not. We discuss.

After reading Charles Leerhsen's excellent biography of baseball player Ty Cobb, it's clear that each of us is responsible for making sure that misinformation and lies do not go unanswered. For decades, Ty Cobb was maligned as a venomous "racist," a murderer, a dirty player, and everything in between. It turns out that these stories were wholesale fabrications. But Cobb should have done more to stop the misinformation from achieving such currency. We discuss.

In this podcast, we discuss two films: "Joker" (2019), and "The Killing Fields" (1984), both of which you should see.

In this podcast we discuss two movies: "Never Look Away" (2018), a German coming-of-age drama directed by Florian von Donnersmarck, and "Ad Astra" (2019), the space drama starring Brad Pitt and directed by James Gray.

In this podcast we deal with two recent emails. One email asks about the military: what lessons did I learn, and how did it change me. Another email asks about what he should be studying in college, and what sort of career he should pursue. There are no easy answers to these questions, but just talking about them can be of real benefit.

Does it sometimes seem as if there are no leaders of substance any more? That, as we look around the world, or around our nation, every so-called "leader" is a mediocrity who does nothing of consequence? Did leaders of previous eras have better character and overall fortitude? We ask whether this sweeping generalization has some elements of truth, and make some related observations.

We deal with two different questions from two different readers. The first question is from a girl who has recently broken up with her boyfriend, and can't decide if she should "give it a second chance." There are complications. The second question is from a high school student who wants to know how he can combine a "great books" program with military school. We offer some thoughts.

This podcast is a great conversation I had with my friend Carlo Prater, who has been an MMA fighter for 17 years. He discusses the mental steps he goes through before, during, and after a bout, as well as other general thoughts on life and work. Don't miss it!

This is probably the most serious question I've ever received from a reader. A very heart-felt email from a man who is faced with an extremely difficult situation: he has been contacted by a dying father who abandoned and abused him as a child, and who now wants to have contact with him. He is unsure whether he should re-establish contact. We offer some suggestions on how to arrive at a decision.

A young man of 24 years has a lot of questions running through his head. He doesn't know what he should be focusing on right now, and is not sure he should focus on business growth, travel, or family issues. We offer some suggestions.

In this podcast we have a bit of fun suggesting who may be the fifteen greatest military commanders in history. It is, of course, a highly subjective exercise, and I need not be told how rash the exercise is. Nevertheless, we persist. On Fortress of the Mind (www.qcurtius.com), I will also post the entire list. My hope is that this will generate some animated discussion.

In this special interview, MMA star Carlo "The One" Prater discusses how he got into martial arts, what it's like to have a family, and many other subjects. Don't miss it!

In this podcast we discuss some impressions of my recent visit to Fortaleza. Then we do a few tweet readings from the G Manifesto.

In this podcast, we discuss a reader's email asking about the differences between courage and recklessness. What are the parameters? And how do we know when we go too far? We then close with more G Manifesto tweet readings.

In 1906 Jack London visited Hawaii as part of his epic journey across the Pacific. There he encountered surfers for the first time, and learned the sport. His observations and impressions were recorded in a chapter of his book "The Cruise of the Snark," and remain fascinating to this day. We read passages from this chapter, and discuss.

"Monstrous and inconceivable" was how Jack London described the conception and construction of his yacht "Snark," the ship on which he planned to sail around the world. This podcast describes his thoughts on building it, his problems and obstacles, and the true spirit of discovery. We then close with some tweet readings from the G Manifesto.

A reader has just been laid off from his accounting job and is distressed. He is not sure what to do next, and is faced with a few difficult options. We discuss some general thoughts, and what principles to keep in mind.

We discuss two fables from Aesop that illustrate the point that we ourselves must take action, and not expect deities to come to our aid. When all is said and done, we must see ourselves as the architects of our own destinies.

"In war the greatest hope lies in the justice of one's cause." This is a line from the historian Appian (IV.12.97), who lived from about 95 A.D. to 165 A.D. We discuss what this line means, and how we can apply it to our own lives.