Way of the Renaissance Man Starring Jim Woods

Welcome To The Way Of The Renaissance Man Whether you’re a Renaissance Man already, a Renaissance Man in training, or a woman who loves a Renaissance Man, we welcome you to the prospects of better living. We look forward to bringing you our distinctive content, including new articles, episodes and resources to help you become a fully focused, integrated and celebratory Renaissance Man. Be sure to explore the resources section and use all of the different categories of information and resources provided by our host, guests and regular contributors to help you get the most out of every day.

Wisdom from A Bulldog 03/22/2023

Of Christmas and Conscience 12/21/2022

JFK on Gratitude 11/23/2022

Paine-ful Wisdom 11/09/2022

Madison on Tyranny and Oppression 10/19/2022

On Harnessing Passion 10/05/2022

On Ignorance and Confidence 08/31/2022

On Knowing Yourself, and Your Enemy 07/20/2022

Will AI destroy Humankind Featuring Robert Deadman 07/06/2022

Will AI destroy Humankind Featuring Robert Deadman Up next on way of the Renaissance Man, Will AI destroy Humankind Featuring Robert Deadman —and other lighthearted subjects. Way of the Renaissance Man Starring Jim Woods Will AI destroy humankind—and other lighthearted subjects. That’s the serious, yet playfully intriguing discussion I had with my friend, computer scientist, investor and fellow Renaissance Man, Robert Deadman (and yes, that is his real last name). Robert is one of those rare individuals who possesses a breadth of knowledge that he can eloquently translate into casual conversation, even about such advanced and interesting topics as the rise of Artificial Intelligence, or AI, and the potential benefits and dangers of this technology. In this wide-ranging conversation, Robert and I discuss the current state of AI, and what the future holds for this ubiquitous technology. Topics here include such questions as… At what point will AI begin making its own decisions? How far away is this circumstance? What is the role of quantum computing in this question? Will AI actually have “free will”? When will the move from “Artificial Intelligence” become “Artificial Sentience”? Can we solve the so-called “Alignment” problem of AI, and how can we really understand this concept? I absolutely loved this conversation with the fascinating Robert Deadman, and at the risk of alienating my other guests, I must say that this was my favorite podcast yet—and I hope you think so as well. And now, my interview with Robert Deadman. This Way of the Renaissance Man Ethos Collection Weekender bag is the perfect companion for every occasion—take it with you when traveling, running daily errands, or going to the gym. The bag is spacious and will keep all your stuff neat and organized with its multiple pockets, including one with a zipper for your most valuable possessions. Adjust the padded shoulder strap when the bag’s helping you carry heavier things, and continue your daily run without a worry! Now, we want to hear from you! Would like to share your opinion or make a comment on the Way of the Renaissance Man podcast? If so, then please leave your comment or questions in the space provided below and share this article with your friends and family on and . Your comments or question could be chosen as our featured Ask the Renaissance Man Anything on a future episode. /episode/index/show/wayoftherenaissanceman/id/23648666

Wisdom of a Bull Rider 06/22/2022

Investor Kevin O'Leary Enters the Renaissance Man's Shark Tank 06/15/2022

Investor Kevin O'Leary Enters the Renaissance Man's Shark Tank Up next on way of the Renaissance Man, investor Kevin O’Leary enters the Renaissance Man shark tank…. Kevin O’Leary, also known by his nickname, “Mr. Wonderful,” is one of the stars of the CNBC show “Shark Tank,” a favorite TV program of this entrepreneurial Renaissance Man. In this episode, I turn the tables on Mr. Wonderful as he enters the Renaissance Man shark tank to talk about his new company, cryptocurrency trading platform WonderFi. The interview took place on the cusp of an interesting time for cryptocurrency, as the big June 2022 swoon in the price of Bitcoin has rattled investors, along with many companies in the industry. According to O’Leary, what Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies really need to flourish is, ironically, some industry regulation, and as he puts it, “that’s when the real money is going to come into it.” Along with WonderFi CEO Ben Samaroo, O’Leary explains that despite the hype of cryptocurrencies, the big money players such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds have yet to embrace the asset class. Once this happens, which will take a regulated, compliant and transparent platform such as that provided by WonderFi, the big gains in cryptocurrencies will really begin. I very much enjoyed my discussion with Mr. Wonderful and his partner Ben Samaroo, and it couldn’t come at a more interesting time for the cryptocurrency industry. And now, my interview with Kevin O’Leary and Ben Samaroo… This Way of the Renaissance Man Ethos Collection Weekender bag is the perfect companion for every occasion—take it with you when traveling, running daily errands, or going to the gym. The bag is spacious and will keep all your stuff neat and organized with its multiple pockets, including one with a zipper for your most valuable possessions. Adjust the padded shoulder strap when the bag’s helping you carry heavier things, and continue your daily run without a worry! Now, we want to hear from you! Would like to share your opinion or make a comment on the Way of the Renaissance Man podcast? If so, then please leave your comment or questions in the space provided below and share this article with your friends and family on and . Your comments or question could be chosen as our featured Ask the Renaissance Man Anything on a future episode. /episode/index/show/wayoftherenaissanceman/id/23438051

On How to Learn to Live 03/09/2022

Hugoesque Wisdom 02/23/2022

On Strength and Repair 02/09/2022

Educating America Conceptually Featuring Ed Thompson 01/12/2022

Educating America Conceptually Featuring Ed Thompson Up next on Way of the Renaissance Man, Educating America Conceptually Featuring Ed Thompson One of the best things about having the Way of the Renaissance Man podcast is I get to have great conversations with the some of the smartest people in the world. You often hear that education is the key to success. And while I agree with that statement in principle, it’s important to understand that it is the kind of education one gets that really matters. In the new episode of the Way of the Renaissance Man podcast, I speak with Ed Thompson, a man whose mission is to help reeducate America, conceptually. Ed is the founder of the Conceptual Education Project, a group spearheading an effort to reform the education system by guiding it away from the current “progressive” philosophy first created by John Dewey, and into a more “conceptual” philosophy. The basis of the organization’s program is to help train intellectuals who can articulate and advocate a rational approach to primary and secondary education, with a view to radically influencing how teachers colleges teach. If you are concerned with the current state of the anti-conceptual approach to education that pervades America’s K-12 system, and you want to find out how you can help make things more philosophical, and more conceptual, then this episode is a great place to start. Learn more here: For more great resources and inspiration visit for Way of the Renaissance Man Fans is open. Grab your stylish t-shirt, gear, stickers and Way of the Renaissance Man art, too! Just visit the website now! Now, we want to hear from you! Would like to share your opinion or make a comment on the Way of the Renaissance Man podcast? If so, then please leave your comment or questions in the space provided below and share this article with your friends and family on and . Your comments or question could be chosen as our featured Ask the Renaissance Man Anything on a future episode. For more great resources and inspiration visit /episode/index/show/wayoftherenaissanceman/id/21754787

Evelyn Waugh on Limitations 01/05/2022

FreedomFest, Battle Buddies and Exposing Frauds Featuring Rich Checkan 12/29/2021

FreedomFest, Battle Buddies and Exposing Frauds Featuring Rich Checkan Up next on Way of the Renaissance Man, FreedomFest, Battle Buddies and Exposing Frauds Featuring Rich Checkan One of the best things about having the Way of the Renaissance Man podcast is I get to have great conversations with the some of the smartest people in the world. And on the latest episode, I do just that, as I welcome my friend, fellow U.S. Army veteran, West Point graduate and the premier expert in the field of precious metals investing, Rich Checkan. Rich is the President and COO of Asset Strategies International (ASI), which is the only dealer of physical gold, silver, and other precious metals that I recommend. In this episode, we discuss the importance of being a critical thinker, and the importance of talking about ideas and exposing oneself to all opinions. It is through the process of filtering out the good from the bad ideas, and knowing when you can, and cannot, compromise, that you become a better decision maker. Other topics in this wide-ranging discussion include the January 6th insurrection, the importance of rational arguments, the virtue of rational persuasion, the role of passion in the world and the critical need to do something meaningful in life. Plus, no discussion with Rich Checkan would be complete without his expert view on gold and precious metals. I always enjoy my conversations with my “battle buddy” Rich Checkan, and I know you will too. For more great resources and inspiration visit for Way of the Renaissance Man Fans is open. Grab your stylish t-shirt, gear, stickers and Way of the Renaissance Man art, too! Just visit the website now! Now, we want to hear from you! Would like to share your opinion or make a comment on the Way of the Renaissance Man podcast? If so, then please leave your comment or questions in the space provided below and share this article with your friends and family on and . Your comments or question could be chosen as our featured Ask the Renaissance Man Anything on a future episode. For more great resources and inspiration visit /episode/index/show/wayoftherenaissanceman/id/21626108

Ward on Gratitude 12/08/2021

A Rainy Longfellow 12/01/2021

10 Punk Rock Rules for Success 11/17/2021

10 Punk Rock Rules for Success Welcome to today's Audio Essay from Way Of The Renaissance Man Starring Jim Woods As a Renaissance Man, Jim Woods recognizes and admires greatness in all areas of life. As a musical talent and frontman for his own band in the 90s, Jim acknowledges and gives his "hat-tip" to today's legendary audio essay feature. And now, here's Jim Woods. “I just wish to shine brighter, and if it burns my body to a crisp, I’m happy to go right now.” -Henry Rollins That bit of high-intensity wisdom comes from a man who I admire deeply; singer, songwriter, spoken-word artist, author, actor, radio and TV show host, publisher and true renaissance man, Henry Rollins. Henry made his mark on pop culture as the frontman for the quintessential punk rock band Black Flag, and then later via the Rollins Band, and he turned that experience into a multi-faceted and eminently interesting career fit for a true polymath. His career continues today, mostly through that combine the intensity of a punk rock concert with the intellectual stimulation of a . If you are a long-time reader of The Deep Woods, part of my financial publications, you probably know that I am a huge music fan and a huge fan of renaissance men (and women) who are able to do many different things in life and to do those things very well. In fact, this entire website and podcast appropriately called Way of the Renaissance Man, is dedicated to extracting wisdom and knowledge from these types of individuals so that we can apply that wisdom and knowledge to our own lives. A couple of years ago, another polymath I admire, entrepreneur, investor and business inspirer Evan Carmichael compiled a list that he called “Henry Rollins’s Top 10 Rules for Success.” You can watch the video on YouTube. I recommend doing so, as it will give you a sense of the intensity and focus Henry puts into just about every breath he takes. Here is a list of those top 10 rules (complete with sage advice straight from Henry himself), rules that I also try to live by, and rules that can help everyone — regardless of what stage they are in life — achieve just that little bit extra that makes life glorious. For more great resources and inspiration visit for Way of the Renaissance Man Fans is open. Grab your stylish t-shirt, gear, stickers and Way of the Renaissance Man art, too! Just visit the website now! Now, we want to hear from you! Would like to share your opinion or make a comment on the Way of the Renaissance Man podcast? If so, then please leave your comment or questions in the space provided below and share this article with your friends and family on and . Your comments or question could be chosen as our featured Ask the Renaissance Man Anything on a future episode. For more great resources and inspiration visit /episode/index/show/wayoftherenaissanceman/id/21197594

Drawing the Wright Inferences 11/10/2021

On Man’s Noble Nature 11/03/2021

Free to Choose Featuring Robert Chatfield 10/27/2021

Free to Choose Featuring Robert Chatfield Up next on Way of the Renaissance Man, Free to Choose Featuring Robert Chatfield. When I was a kid, I watched a documentary that influenced my young brain immensely, and it was called The original 1980, 10-part television series was by the great Nobel Prize-winning economist . In academic circles, Friedman was chiefly associated with the renaissance of the role of money in inflation and the consequent renewed understanding of the instrument of monetary policy. For his studies in these subjects, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1976. Yet it was the “Free To Choose” documentary, as well as his many subsequent public appearances via lectures and on TV, that helped bring into the mainstream the meaning of freedom, and why it is so vital to economic prosperity and social prosperity. The “happy warrior” approach that Friedman took, as well as his passion for ideas, are kept alive by the Free To Choose Network, a global media nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Friedman’s work, as well as other outstanding scholars such as Thomas Sowell. Directing that effort is President and CEO Robert Chatfield. At the recent FreedomFest Conference, Chatfield sat down with me to reminisce about Freidman, his wife and intellectual partner Rose, Friedman’s insatiable intellectual curiosity, the history of the “Free To Choose” documentary and how it came to fruition, and even how Milton Friedman, at age 90, learned how to do stomach crunches! I loved this interview with Robert Chatfield, and if you’ve ever wanted to learn more about the great Milton Friedman and the critical role he played in my life, and the life of society at large, then this episode is just for you. Here is a link to the Free To Choose Network: For more great resources and inspiration visit for Way of the Renaissance Man Fans is open. Grab your stylish t-shirt, gear, stickers and Way of the Renaissance Man art, too! Just visit the website now! Now, we want to hear from you! Would like to share your opinion or make a comment on the Way of the Renaissance Man podcast? If so, then please leave your comment or questions in the space provided below and share this article with your friends and family on and . Your comments or question could be chosen as our featured Ask the Renaissance Man Anything on a future episode. For more great resources and inspiration visit /episode/index/show/wayoftherenaissanceman/id/20959547

The Hands of an Artist 10/20/2021

Profound Proverbs 10/13/2021

Nermine Rubin's Thirst-Quenching Conversation 10/06/2021

The Cat and the Horror 09/11/2021

The Cat and the Horror Welcome to today's Audio Essay from Way Of The Renaissance Man Starring Jim Woods Today marks the 20th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center September 11, 2001. In this special audio presentation, Jim offers his poem and thoughts on this day. And now, here's Jim Woods. The Cat and the Horror By Jim Woods There was a cat sleeping on my porch She didn’t know what I had witnessed The lacerated skyline of metropolis A bleeding out of her twin sons Flying lancets piercing steel hulls Black smoke seasoning the azure sky As the falling man descends to the concrete Incendiary ideas born in Bronze To please a prophet on a white horse Hatred of the good for being the good Crumbles a once-proud icon Falling ash blankets District streets A macabre concoction of concrete, bone, blood Fury rises in the giant’s heart Rage and revenge burn white Country targeted, let there be fight Two decades later, let there be flight There is a cat sleeping on my porch While the world remembers Jim Woods September 11, 2021 ********** On Saturday, we mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001. And yet the passing of two decades hasn’t been enough to fade our scars. And for me, those scars will never be allowed to fade. Etched on my personal black box recorder are the memories I had circa 1999, when I checked in at the World Trade Center lobby to report to work for my first day at Morgan Stanley. The firm’s training program for new advisers/traders took place in those Twin Towers, and in the weeks that followed, I spent many an afternoon high atop the Manhattan skyline, learning the business inside the iconic monument erected to celebrate capitalism, Western achievement and the wealth of nations. Their boldness, their glaring simplicity, their twin-brother like stance and their defiance of the rest of the New York City skyline was all part of the reason the World Trade Center was targeted for destruction by forces whose primary directive is death to the infidel. On that day, when the blue skies were pierced by the stiletto insertion of commercial jets into the towers, I watched the events unravel from some 2,500 miles west. A condo nestled at the foot of the Hollywood Hills hardly seemed congruent to the billowing smoke oozing out of the structural siblings. The only connection in my mind was… my mind. A mind having been there just a couple of years earlier, wondering what it would be like to actually be there in that moment. Wondering if I would have been incinerated along with the roughly 2,600 other souls that were extinguished that day. Wondering if I would have acted heroically, the way so many did. Wondering if I would have succumbed to the cowardice that so often accompanies paralytic fear. I would like to think I could have been a hero. I need to think I would have been a hero. Fortunately, I didn’t have to find out. Instead, from afar, from the safety of Hollywood, I watched. All day, all night, I watched. Compelled by the horror; compelled by the enormity. Thinking to myself, “Will this be the world from here on?” Would the world be plunged into war? At that moment, I wanted war. I wanted vengeance. I wanted to pound those responsible, and the philosophy that animated these acts, into a pulp. I still want to. I want to stoke the burn of that day. I want to remember the collapse of icons. I want to keep calling out the life-hating, celebratory death cult of ideas that is radical Islam, and I want to rejoice in its defeat. The scars of history must never be allowed to heal, and no salve of time should be permitted to mask the day America would be altered forever. For more great resources and inspiration visit for Way of the Renaissance Man Fans is open. Grab your stylish t-shirt, gaiters, stickers and Way of the Renaissance Man art, too! Just visit the website now! Now, we want to hear from you! Would like to share your opinion or make a comment on the Way of the Renaissance Man podcast? If so, then please leave your comment or questions in the space provided below and share this article with your friends and family on and . Your comments or question could be chosen as our featured Ask the Renaissance Man Anything on a future episode. /episode/index/show/wayoftherenaissanceman/id/20443112

Rand on Choice 09/08/2021

Five Minutes with Dave Rubin 09/01/2021

Liberty’s Slow Decay 08/25/2021

Way of the Renaissance Man Starring Jim Woods

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