The Survival Podcast

Today I want to discuss the concept of critical thinking and how we are often led by those in power.  How many “issues” are presented to divide us yet they really shouldn’t.  Most if actually examined critically would result in people either realizing the issue doesn’t matter and nothing should be done, or in general agreeing on the solution. Those in charge can’t have this, a people divided are easily led, in fact a divided people given their consent to being controlled, having liberty taken and are in general okay with the oppression of their fellow man. Way back in...

In this episode from 2012 we discussed what I call “the great lie of dichotomy” and while 14 years have passed you will soon see that very little has changed at least in regard to this concept. Once in a while I just need to take the time to chat with you guys about what is going on and perhaps clean up some things from past episodes as well. Today is such a day.  Likely as in most instances when I speak my mind I will tick some of you off, hence I ask you to listen to the second … Continue reading →

In this episode from 2011 we examined liberty to truly understand what we are working for with self sufficient lifestyles.  Liberty seems like a simple concept at first, are you free or not?  But what really defines freedom, what really is the difference between liberty and captivity and are their shades of gray that deceive us? Join me today as we discuss these thirteen facts about liberty… Liberty can not exist in a pure democracy Liberty can not be defined except by the one experiencing it Government can not create liberty only defend it Liberty is about equal opportunity not … Continue readin

In this episode from 2010 look at developing eight conventional and unconventional skills for the survival gardener.  Ways that you can maximize production, protect your crops, extend your seasons and maximize space. I am also going to do a follow up on my comments about the Arizona immigration bill yesterday, giving you what Paul Harvey would call “the rest of the story”. Join me today as we discuss… Succession planting Trellising Guerrilla gardening Companion planting Container gardening Sheet mulching and rough mulching Water harvesting Wildlife identification ` The original show was titled Episode-425- Eight Essential Survival Gardening Skills and was … Continue reading →

Today on The Survival Podcast the expert council covers a wide range of real world topics.  Today we start with a question is taxation just fractional modern slavery.  We move on to the real reason Iran asked for tolls to be paid in bitcoin.  Then Dr. Joe Alton tells us all about “bone contusions” and how to deal with them.  Then we dig into other subjects like rucking for fitness, creative tax dedications, the future of the US economy, what silver tells us about inflation and more. Make sure if you submit content for an expert council show you do … Continue r

Zack Smith returns to TSPC today to talk about updates to his stock cropper system and give up some information on a new product release called the “ClusterCluck Drive”.  The ClusterCluck Drive is a solar-powered electric drive unit that bolts onto your existing portable coop or pen and moves it for you, manually with a Bluetooth key fob or on a fully autonomous straight-line schedule through our web-based app. No extension cords. No dragging. No sweat. Zack is a 5th generation farmer from northern Iowa who worked for 15 years in Big Ag and walked away to create a better … Continue reading

My hope today is to help you understand money from as many new perspectives as possible.  If you think about it nothing in general has a greater effect on the lives of most Americans than money.  Money is why we work, how we provide our housing and food, how we are taxed and how our class structure is defined.  We can deny this if we choose to but a family with a gross income of 100,000 dollars a year lives a much more comfortable life than one with a gross income of say 25,000  a year. Yet if you ask … Continue reading →

Welcome to another week and this time we lead off on a Monday by taking a look at some of the both big and lesser known news stories that have happened over the weekend.  We will lead off with Trump new seemingly crazy plan to block the Strait of Hormuz after demand Iran open it.  Is this an unhinged Orangeman thing or is there actually a strategy behind it? Next we dig into an article about China making massive strides in AI and why current US policy is helpless in slowing it down by preventing the export of hardware.  So … Conti...

Today on The Survival Podcast the expert council covers a wide range of real world topics.  Today we start with a question, how similar is the Iran conflict to Afghanistan or Vietnam?  Then should you sell your home yourself or get a realtor?  Thoughts on harvesting tree fodder and storing it as “tree hay”.  Then we talk about inspecting and modifying older guns such as military surplus arms. Make sure if you submit content for an expert council show you do the following…. Email it to me at jack @ thesurvivalpodcast.com Put TSPC Expert in the subject line Ask you … Continue rea

Today we are joined by Stephen Brass, a fourth generation farmer from northern Illinois who walked away from the conventional grain model to build a regenerative beef operation. Growing up in the Corn Belt meant a steady diet of synthetic fertilizers and heavy tillage. These inputs maintained a status quo while the topsoil literally washed away. For Stephen, the turning point was realizing that the land was not being improved, only managed through chemical dependence. He eventually traded the plow for perennial pastures, transitioning his family acreage into a biological powerhouse fueled by grazing rather than grain. The shift required … Co...

The typical story about disease and vegetables is something like this from the all natural crowd…. Just use compost and good organic fertility, build good soil and it won’t be a problem. Yea, um, about that, look good soil, good fertility and abundant soil life and minerals go a long way to healthy plants, but they don’t eliminate all diseases.  They also take time to develop in your garden soil.  Some years my beans develop a fungus referred to as rust.  Why?  It is typical when it is wetter then normal.  In those years the same beds are growing jal...

Everyone is looking for the ‘Killer App’ for AI. They want the one plugin or the one prompt that changes everything.  They’re looking in the wrong place. AI is a mirror, it is a leverage tool, it’s a management flight simulator and a leadership training program all in one. If you can’t lead a machine that has no ego and works for free, you aren’t ready to lead anything else.  The real Killer App of AI?  It’s Personal Sovereignty.  It is a way for every human to have personal agency or more accurately own an agency of experts...

Today on The Survival Podcast the expert council covers a wide range of real world topics, from what is actually happening on the global stage to the practical decisions you can make at home to stay more resilient and self reliant. We dig into shifts in military posture that most people are ignoring, along with smarter ways to build systems on your property that actually produce instead of just keeping you busy. We also get into protecting your personal data in an increasingly exposed digital world, improving land with better grazing practices, using composting systems that turn waste into value, … Co...

Today Expert Council member Kerry Brown joins us to discuss what it really means to build systems that actually support your life instead of quietly draining it. Kerry is a fourth generation land steward out of Tennessee who is not playing hobby farm. He is restoring family land, applying permaculture principles, and building something that works in the real world, not just on paper or social media. What we dig into today is where most people get this wrong. They confuse activity with progress. They stack chores, animals, projects, and expectations until the whole thing collapses under its own weight. … Co...

Today we have our first Tuesday Coffee Chat with John Willis of SOE Tactical Gear and Nicole Sauce of Living Free in Tennessee. These discussions are always a wildcard and can go anywhere. We usually hit on some current events of course. We also tend to talk about things like entrepreneurship, homesteading and a ton more. In general we try to inspire you a bit, make you laugh a few times, entertain you and teach you a thing or two along the way. Resources for today’s show… Find Me on Nostr Article Explaining the GrowNostr Initiative Join the Members Brig...

This show is of course The Survival Podcast.  So often when people first find it they are expecting only topics like storing and growing food, building bug out bags, guns and perhaps planing for the end of the world.  The reality is we have talked about plenty of things like that, but. great deal more as well. We discuss diet and health.  We discuss entrepreneurship and lifestyle design.  We discuss news and world events from a critical thinking angle.  And we discuss economics, technology impacts and investing. Why? They are all survival topics that match the show credo, “Helping You … Continue

Today on The Survival Podcast the expert council answers your questions on the Iran war, hunting dogs, back up power, technology, gun optics, tax strategy, prep security and more. Make sure if you submit content for an expert council show you do the following…. Email it to me at jack @ thesurvivalpodcast.com Put TSPC Expert in the subject line Ask you question and state the expert you have the question for in one coherent sentence Hit the return key a few times and then give all the details you think are necessary ` Following that procedure makes it about 100X … Continue read...

Expert Council Member Mike Milito joins me today to discuss the concept of the truck gun, where it came from, and how it fits into modern American life. We dig into the historical roots of keeping a firearm in a vehicle, from ranch rifles and old hunting guns to the practical setups people relied on decades ago, and how those ideas have evolved. From there, we get into why someone today might consider a truck or trunk gun at all. Mike breaks down realistic use cases, not fantasy scenarios, and explains how mobility, response time, and environment all factor into … Co...

Most people are familiar with “The Serenity Prayer”.  This prayer was actually written by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971).  The long version is seldom spoken of and it is much more what you would expect from a truly religious prayer.  You can learn more about that if it interests you here. The version most know, the one on necklaces, coffee cups and used in many 12 step programs is very simple and yet very profound, even for those like myself or are non religious people, is simply states… God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot … Continue reading →

Mostly what we hear about AI right now is really only about one or two major impacts.  The first is the classic it is going to take all our jobs type fear mongering.  This is pretty common with just about any and all emergence of a truly disruptive technology.  The second is essentially “AI is going to cure cancer”.  Of course it goes into all aspects of medicine but cancer grabs the most attention. How big will those two impacts be?  Likely larger than the people who wave them off can imagine.  Yet at the same time likely a lot … Continue rea

Today on The Survival Podcast the expert council answers your questions on foreign policy, guns, escalation of force, herbal medicine, diet and fitness, technology, knives, AI and more. Make sure if you submit content for an expert council show you do the following…. Email it to me at jack @ thesurvivalpodcast.com Put TSPC Expert in the subject line Ask you question and state the expert you have the question for in one coherent sentence Hit the return key a few times and then give all the details you think are necessary ` Following that procedure makes it about 100X more … Continue read...

Join Expert Council Member Ryan Steva and I today as we discuss the concept of water for every homestead. Today we cover things like, how to think about capturing, distributing and storing water in the land scape as well as in tanks and other systems.  A wholistic approach to thinking about and implementing tactics that make a homestead more water resilient/independent and it plays on the title from PA Yeoman’s famous book. Ryan Steva is focused on building regenerative, resilient homesteads the right way, not the romanticized version people talk about online. His journey started the hard way. A h...

Note that title of today’s show is “in THE golden age of” not “in A golden age of”.  That was a conscious choice I made because I do feel today is the greatest age of propaganda humans have ever lived in.  Not because those in power are any worse than at other times, simply because the tools they have available to them are superior to even a couple decades ago. Today we are going to take a look at the last 150 years of the development of tools which enable propaganda.  We will talk about how those who use propaganda … Continue readin

I had pleasant surprise this weekend in regard to the Iran war.  Instead of taking my analysis and interpreting it as pro or anti war they simply asked, “will anything we do in Iran improve the life of the average American”.  No tribal BS, no calling me either a warmonger for Israel or a idiotic lib-tarded hippy, just an honest and important question. I loved this question because it cuts right into the only reason we do shows like today’s.  Shows where we talk about at least some of the same things they talk about on AM radio talk shows.  …...

Today on The Survival Podcast the expert council answers your questions on military service, EDC knives, knee and elbow injuries, good values on guns, solar power inverters, economics, investing and more. Make sure if you submit content for an expert council show you do the following…. Email it to me at jack @ thesurvivalpodcast.com Put TSPC Expert in the subject line Ask you question and state the expert you have the question for in one coherent sentence Hit the return key a few times and then give all the details you think are necessary ` Following that procedure makes it … Continue read...

Everyone wants land. Land land and more land. I need 80 jillion acres, cattle and pigs. Do you though? An intensively managed small holding is more than most people really need. Today we will discuss how you can meet a ton of your needs for food, fiber and medicine on even a .25-.75 acre lot. We will also learn a lot about strategy and context and how those lead to proper implementation of tactics and techniques. Join Me Today to Discuss… First we must develop context Strategy begets tactics and techniques Interviewing yourself like you are your own client Do … Continue read...

Do a quick search on YouTube and you will find plenty of videos on this subject.  Some pretty useful but most are full of hype as they attempt to cram as many varieties of things into them as possible.  You will also find a great deal of “debunking” videos saying the entire practice is pointless and doesn’t work.  That just because a celery core grows some roots doesn’t mean you can get celery from it. In this case both sides sort of have a point.  Something really are not worth the effort even if minimal production can be acquired.  S...

I want to lead off today and explain that I am talking about individual leadership vs. corporate or political leadership.  In fact it is the herd that follows such so called leadership.  Additionally Monday shows are often about current events and while today’s is not, it does apply to them. Consider that right now there are honestly two herds in existence.  One herd is blindly pro-war in spite of that particular demographic having called for less conflict for at least a decade.  They fall in behind one level of political, media and corporate leadership and toe the party line.  The … C...

Today on The Survival Podcast the expert council answers your questions on war in Iran, joint pain, bull pups, foraging, business, cooking, dogs, homesteading and more. Make sure if you submit content for an expert council show you do the following…. Email it to me at jack @ thesurvivalpodcast.com Put TSPC Expert in the subject line Ask you question and state the expert you have the question for in one coherent sentence Hit the return key a few times and then give all the details you think are necessary ` Following that procedure makes it about 100X more likely your … Continue read...

Nick Ferguson is a Permaculture Designer, Ecosystem Engineer, and international consultant with over a decade of professional experience designing resilient properties coast to coast in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Certified under Geoff Lawton at the Permaculture Research Institute Australia, Nick transforms land into self sufficient systems using function stacking, regenerative agriculture, and holistic design. Nick is also a long time friend of mine and a go to expert for TSP listeners looking for help with plants, fodder systems, and homestead ecosystem design. Over the years he has worked with landowners around the world helping them design landscapes that … Co...

Today we have our first Tuesday Coffee Chat with John Willis of SOE Tactical Gear and Nicole Sauce of Living Free in Tennessee. And boy has a lot happened since the last Coffee Chat. Of course the biggest news is the US attacks on Iran so we will definitely spend some time on that. I also want to discuss the concept of “civilization collapse” with them today. Let’s take a look at the characteristics of civilizations that collapsed in the past and see how many apply to us today. Of course we will likely talk about some lifestyle design and …...

I am going to cover the Iran war a bit today but save the deeper dive until tomorrow when I have John Willis and Nicole Sauce on with me.   Still it will be my lead story and I will cover it for about 20 minutes.  We will then move on to a segment on the probably of collapse of civilizations and how many characteristics the US is currently showing. We will also briefly touch on “protesting as a profession”, the fact that Larry Fink just called for a global digital currency at the WEF and more. Join Me Today to … Continue reading →

Today on The Survival Podcast the expert council answers your questions on pistol caliber carbine optics, hiking with dogs, mushroom foraging, ice dams, propane tanks, creative tax deductions, black solider flies and more. Make sure if you submit content for an expert council show you do the following…. Email it to me at jack @ thesurvivalpodcast.com Put TSPC Expert in the subject line Ask you question and state the expert you have the question for in one coherent sentence Hit the return key a few times and then give all the details you think are necessary ` Following that procedure … Continue read...

Andy McCann is a seasoned health and fitness advocate, entrepreneur, and educator with over 18 years of experience helping people improve their lives through practical, sustainable habits. A Georgia Tech graduate with a degree in Electrical Engineering, Andy shifted from a successful career in tech sales to focus on fitness and wellness, becoming the owner of CrossFit Garage in Woodstock, Georgia. He also co-created Garage Fitness Online, a platform that supports garage and home gym athletes with expert programming and a supportive community. Andy’s philosophy centers on his Five Pillars of Health and Longevity—Eat, Sleep, Move, Think, and Connect—offeri...

Today I cover 10 edible plants you can grow in your garden.  All of them are highly pest resistant, nutrient dense, great to eat and I will bet you haven’t even heard of at least half of them.  And for another bonus all but one are perennial. Gardening season is just ahead of use and everyone will be planting the usual suspects.  Tomatoes, peppers, egg plants, squash, beans and many other well knowns will soon be all over America’s gardens and tables but these 10 all deserve consideration.  Many of these are actually wild plants, others basically wild with just … Continue r

Today we look at mayhem around the world.  A huge US build up near Iran but will it go kenetic?  The Cartel is going ape in Mexico but will it simply be a short term temper tantrum?  The joy of socialism continues in NYC.  The Dutch just passed an “unrealized gains” tax which might have global consequences.  Did we have another assassination attempt or simply suicide by stupid?  We will also dig into some more positive and typical news things today. Join Me Today to Discuss… NYC is expecting epic snow, so they are hiring citizens to shovel, but multiple … Continue readi

Today on The Survival Podcast the expert council answers your questions on politics, cooking, food preservation, fodder systems, water systems, passkeys, dog training, biochar and more. Make sure if you submit content for an expert council show you do the following…. Email it to me at jack @ thesurvivalpodcast.com Put TSPC Expert in the subject line Ask you question and state the expert you have the question for in one coherent sentence Hit the return key a few times and then give all the details you think are necessary ` Following that procedure makes it about 100X more likely your … Continue read...

Today Abraham Pittman joins us to discuss how to apply engineering (particularly field service engineering) to homesteading and prepping, so examples include: Triaging problems, ie, make sure your chickens have reliable water systems before building a roll away nesting box. Developing systems and procedures, ie, maintenance regimes, and things similar to the documentation package you talk about. Calculating risk/cost benefit analysis, ie, is it best to just let a lawn mower run until it dies, compared to letting a generator run until it dies ` Abraham Pitman is a field service engineer, homesteader, and practical prepper based in North Queensland, … Co...

School is marketed as key to success in life. Yet if we look at what defines real success and an exceptional life, much of what we are trained to do in school is an impediment to our goals.  On top of schooling be it K-12 or university we are also trained by the media, the government and “society”.   Much of this training is far more about conformity and keeping us easily controlled. Today we discuss 20 things were are trained to believe that must be unlearned if you want full control over your life and future. Join Me Today to … Continue reading →

Today we pause to look up and around and see what is going on in the abnormal world that most people consider normal.  We will look at government, the media and well meaning folks who think they are helping but are not.  Today we will take a look at practical solar farms, cartoon humor that is dark and accurate, Canada’s latest censorship, the socialist mayor trend, how voter ID would actually work vs. the democrat FUD and more. Today we discuss… A short cartoon that is incredibly dark due to how accurate it is – link Cities with socialist mayors … Continue r