This was a great introduction to what I hope will continue to be an intellectually rewarding series. Brad's passion for the subject matter really shines through and helps keep me engaged and Matt has a curious mind asking some interesting questions. America is in bad need of civics lessons.
He goes on at great length about some pretty obscure topics. Unfortunately I am not a huge fan of the dialogue format and the quality of his prose really doesnt come through. Nevertheless, there is much interesting in the book.
Yes! I read it many years ago and was mostly focused on his descriptions of the organization of an army and its tactics, which I believe he mostly took from the Spanish Tercio organization. It's one of the few manuals on actual pike and shot armies I've found. I remember, too, he seemed to base a lot of his drill on Vegetius, and he really hated mercenaries!😂
Looking forward to it! Completely of topic and only because I want to boast, I just received the coolest purchase I've ever made on EBay - The entire original Mission Impossible TV series, all 7 seasons still factory wrapped, and also the original DVDs for seasons 5 thru 8 of the old Hawaii Five-O series!... Book 'em Dano! Woohoo!!
The Mission Impossible theme song was the COOLEST TV theme song ever and forever!
Wow! I've already disconnected from the live segment... so much for "looking forward to it!". It's an unpleasant visual experience! Brad is lost in a way back of what looks like the Matrix, and Matt looks like an avatar, much like a better version of Maxx Headroom. It's amazing how unpleasant visuals can make one turn away from quality content.
True. I think maybe I'm just not a podcast person. ATW was the only podcast I watched for longer than a few minutes, and just listening for an hour sounds tiresome.
I think Matt is a fun guy to watch speak. He's sincere, he's quite expressive with his mannerisms, and he has a great smile. However, he's not the greatest speaker and Brad is a fast-talker - too fast for me - I have to frequently stop, rewind, etc. I had to rewind the last podcast twice just to hear which book they were doing. Some people thought it was Demons, so did I, until I rewound a few and realized it was Discourses On Livy.
I could do what you do and listen only if it was two people who had a more professional on-air composure. Listening to two guys verbally bump into one another while missing important pieces of it because of the mumbles would be exasperating.
Btw... I think Brad is cute enough... at least he was before he got sent to the back of the Matrix Room, lol!
I'm watching the recorded version, and what a difference! It was YouTube, not the podcast that made the visuals look bad. Shame on me for not trying it on Substack! I won't watch on YouTube anymore! My apologies!
I'm completely off topic, but for those of you with media collections, it's certainly wild that one can go on the dark web - or so I've heard! I've only heard these things! - and acquire a TV show season(s) much faster, much higher quality, much less storage requirement, and much easier to incorporate into one's library, then doing it the legal way like I just did. That is proof of an industry with it's head in the sand.
Btw... if you think you own media that you paid for to stream from Amazon, Spotify, etc, I got news for ya - you only paid for the right to view/listen at your will, and here's the important part, from the service that you purchased from. If that service falls on hard times and goes bankrupt, you're gonna need a lawyer, and in the meantime you're screwwed!
I'm regretfully letting my subscription lapse. I much prefer long-form writing to these live streams, and Racket seems increasingly about video. Best of luck in the future, Matt!
Good discussion, guys. I do have a copy of "The Prince," but I have not read it in quite a while, and I have never read "Discourses on Livy." BTW, "The Prince" was actually Comrade Stalin's favorite book.
This was a great introduction to what I hope will continue to be an intellectually rewarding series. Brad's passion for the subject matter really shines through and helps keep me engaged and Matt has a curious mind asking some interesting questions. America is in bad need of civics lessons.
Macchiavelli also wrote a treatise called "The Art of War." He was a staunch supporter of republicanism, not an autocrat. https://thephilosopher.net/machiavelli/wp-content/uploads/sites/132/2025/05/The-Art-of-War-Niccolo-Machiavelli.pdf
I love how much he hates that modern armies eat bread made indoors by bakers instead of cooked on pans from flour and lard lol
I don’t temember that, though I remember him talking a lot about how superior the men were in the past…😂
He goes on at great length about some pretty obscure topics. Unfortunately I am not a huge fan of the dialogue format and the quality of his prose really doesnt come through. Nevertheless, there is much interesting in the book.
Yes! I read it many years ago and was mostly focused on his descriptions of the organization of an army and its tactics, which I believe he mostly took from the Spanish Tercio organization. It's one of the few manuals on actual pike and shot armies I've found. I remember, too, he seemed to base a lot of his drill on Vegetius, and he really hated mercenaries!😂
Who is on the livestream? Is this a rotation? I haven’t listened since Matt replaced Walter……,,
The Archive link you provided didn't have everything but I think gutenberg has full text for free here.
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/10827/pg10827-images.html
Thanks for providing this.
Looking forward to it! Completely of topic and only because I want to boast, I just received the coolest purchase I've ever made on EBay - The entire original Mission Impossible TV series, all 7 seasons still factory wrapped, and also the original DVDs for seasons 5 thru 8 of the old Hawaii Five-O series!... Book 'em Dano! Woohoo!!
The Mission Impossible theme song was the COOLEST TV theme song ever and forever!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7alss3sDJdg
Wow! I've already disconnected from the live segment... so much for "looking forward to it!". It's an unpleasant visual experience! Brad is lost in a way back of what looks like the Matrix, and Matt looks like an avatar, much like a better version of Maxx Headroom. It's amazing how unpleasant visuals can make one turn away from quality content.
You could try listening to it without looking at the screen.
True. I think maybe I'm just not a podcast person. ATW was the only podcast I watched for longer than a few minutes, and just listening for an hour sounds tiresome.
That's the only way I can sit through a podcast is to just listen to it, just like a radio program. I can do things while listening.
I like Matt as a writer, and to a lesser degree as a podcaster, but I really don't need to look at him for two hours (he's not cute enough for me).
I think Matt is a fun guy to watch speak. He's sincere, he's quite expressive with his mannerisms, and he has a great smile. However, he's not the greatest speaker and Brad is a fast-talker - too fast for me - I have to frequently stop, rewind, etc. I had to rewind the last podcast twice just to hear which book they were doing. Some people thought it was Demons, so did I, until I rewound a few and realized it was Discourses On Livy.
I could do what you do and listen only if it was two people who had a more professional on-air composure. Listening to two guys verbally bump into one another while missing important pieces of it because of the mumbles would be exasperating.
Btw... I think Brad is cute enough... at least he was before he got sent to the back of the Matrix Room, lol!
I'm watching the recorded version, and what a difference! It was YouTube, not the podcast that made the visuals look bad. Shame on me for not trying it on Substack! I won't watch on YouTube anymore! My apologies!
I'm completely off topic, but for those of you with media collections, it's certainly wild that one can go on the dark web - or so I've heard! I've only heard these things! - and acquire a TV show season(s) much faster, much higher quality, much less storage requirement, and much easier to incorporate into one's library, then doing it the legal way like I just did. That is proof of an industry with it's head in the sand.
Btw... if you think you own media that you paid for to stream from Amazon, Spotify, etc, I got news for ya - you only paid for the right to view/listen at your will, and here's the important part, from the service that you purchased from. If that service falls on hard times and goes bankrupt, you're gonna need a lawyer, and in the meantime you're screwwed!
I thought they were going to do the book “Demons?”
I'm regretfully letting my subscription lapse. I much prefer long-form writing to these live streams, and Racket seems increasingly about video. Best of luck in the future, Matt!
Good discussion, guys. I do have a copy of "The Prince," but I have not read it in quite a while, and I have never read "Discourses on Livy." BTW, "The Prince" was actually Comrade Stalin's favorite book.
I enjoyed that. Nice to have an escape from this chaotic world.
In sum, though he offered no known opinions on cats; doubtful Machiavelli was a cat person.
Cats acquire influence without armies, laws, taxes, or institutions. They simply convince people that serving them was their own idea. 😉
Indeed!