FTNC Recommendations

Here’s a working document of resources that have helped or educated me at some time:

Paddling

Check out my trip reports for different rivers in Minnesota:

“For canoeists, Minnesota is nirvana. There’s the incomparable Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, of course. But there’s much more. The Little Fork is just one of 32 waterways totaling 4,400 miles that the Department of Natural Resources has designated as ‘water trails.’ ” -Star Tribune

Workout Resources

Podcasts (generally)

  • Hardcore History–start with The Wrath of the Khans series. Blueprint for Armageddon is second. I got chills at the end when Dan Carlin explains how the war ended.
  • Pray as You Go–a product of the Jesuit Media Initiatives, these 12-minute podcasts contain the day’s scripture readings, a hymn of some sort, and a short, guided reflection on the readings that poses questions on how to be a better Catholic (applies to all Christians, though).
  • Encouraging Christian Fathers–this now-defunct podcast helps Christian fathers to appreciate, embrace, and live up to our burdens as fathers.
  • Bigger Pockets–this real estate investing podcast connects would-be real estate investors (like me) with those who have done it before. These interviews have helped me be at peace with my wife and my upcoming decisions regarding real estate investing.
  • Institute of Catholic Culture–From the Institute’s web site, “the Institute hosts educational seminars specifically designed to build bridges of understanding, teaching authentic Catholic history, philosophy and theology as a way of healing the wounds in the Body of Christ and reaching out to those who seek knowledge of the Truth.” This podcast provides the audio for those meetings.
  • The Father Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast–a Duluth, Minnesota priest with a worldwide influences shares short episodes with titles like “The Culture of Netflix and Chill” and “Why We Don’t Drink Coffee at Mass.”
  • Joe Rogan Experience–I skip most of Rogan’s episodes, but when he has a guest I like this is often my favorite podcast in a given month. Some of the recent guests I’ve really enjoyed include Sturgill Simpson (link to his most recent episode only), Chris Stapleton, Dan Carlin (link to his most recent appearance only), Sebastian Junger (and his second episode), and Dorian Yates.

Podcasts (specific episodes)

  • The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast: 10/27/17 episode Tolkien’s Leaf (for when you feel like you aren’t moving the ball forward fast enough in life)
  • The Joe Rogan Experience: 11/16/17 episode #1041 Dan Carlin (for when you need some motivating to get out of a “soul-killing job”). I’d start around 1:07 into the episode.

Books

Check out my yearly reading lists (2016, 2017) and all-time recommendations (working copy) below.

Non-fiction

Biographies

Fiction