Brett & Kate McKay 35 posts 0 comments

Host: Brett McKayProducer: Kate McKay November 10, 2026In: Character, Podcast, Self-ImprovementEnvy is a universal human emotion, but it’s one we don’t like to admit we feel. When a friend gets a promotion, a neighbor buys a bigger…
Read More...

When Kate and I were newly married 20 years ago, we had a goal to pay off our debt, made up of tens of thousands of dollars in student and car loans. So we did what plenty of folks did at the time: we picked up a copy of Dave Ramsey’s…
Read More...

Super Thinking by Gabriel Weinberg and Lauren McCann. I like to collect rules of thumb: little heuristics that help me think better. One source that collects a lot of great ones is Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models by Gabriel…
Read More...

There was a time when the AoM store sold physical merchandise. Eventually, though, the ROI on doing so (shipping and fulfillment costs a lot these days!) wasn’t sufficient for us to continue, so a while back we discontinued our merch.But…
Read More...

TranscriptBrett McKay: Brett McKay here, and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast. When you think about living more fully and making better use of your time, you probably think of finding some new organizational…
Read More...

Mobility is use-it-or-lose-it, and most modern dudes don’t much use it. Your body lets you get away with that in your younger years. By midlife, it shows up as a creaky, stiff body and in tweaks and strains that take a lot longer to heal…
Read More...

As a boy, one of my favorite times in school was when we’d get a new Scholastic News book “catalog.” I would pore over the pages, picking out which books I wanted and filling out the order sheet. And as soon as I got them, I was lying…
Read More...

By: Brett & Kate McKay October 30, 2026In: Odds & EndsTidal Wave by Adam Makos. We’ve had Adam Makos on the podcast several times to talk about his amazing World War II books, and his newest is another great one. What I…
Read More...

October 27, 2026In: Books, Culture, PodcastYou can’t help but notice, in yourself and in others, how much less people are reading these days. When it comes to content consumption, we’re often replacing articles and books with videos…
Read More...

Unless for the express purpose of visiting a loved one’s grave, most people avoid spending time in cemeteries. They seem like gloomy, spooky, haunted places, the kind of place where, if you’ve learned anything from cinema, you’re most…
Read More...

Why your protein powder costs so much more now. Back in 2018, I wrote a guide to chugging whey as a cheap, low-hassle way to hit your protein goals. Whey protein is still a low-hassle way to hit your protein goals, but it ain’t cheap…
Read More...

Host: Brett McKayProducer: Kate McKay October 20, 2026In: Podcast, Social, Social SkillsIt’s always been intimidating to enter a room where you don’t know everyone, or anyone, and to initiate conversation with people at a wedding,…
Read More...

A while back I wrote an article about what I eat in a day, and in it I talked about how I meal prep lunches for the week.Here’s the gist: on Saturday or Sunday, I’ll either slow cook or grill a bunch of chicken breasts, or grill a big…
Read More...

We’re going to be okay, arent we Papa?  Yes. We are. And nothing bad is going to happen to us. That’s right. Because we’re carrying the fire. Yes. Because we’re carrying the fire.  Once a year I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The…
Read More...

Host: Brett McKayProducer: Kate McKay October 13, 2026In: Culture, Entertainment, PodcastIf you’ve been following the Art of Manliness for a while, you know that I typically interview the authors of books on this podcast. But, if…
Read More...

Back in 2013, we published a set of propaganda-style posters on cell phone etiquette. Some of the rules hold up, but a lot of them focused on talking over the phone, while everyone pretty much just texts these days. “Don’t choose a…
Read More...

Building a fire is one of the 100 skills every man should know. But every outdoor situation requires different types of campfire lays (set-ups in the firewood), so it’s imperative to know how to make more than one kind.Here we highlight…
Read More...

Riding the Rails Through Tulsa. I thought hobos riding the rails got left behind in the 1930s, but the tradition is still alive in 2026, and there’s a guy with a YouTube channel who gives you a peek at what it’s like, including the…
Read More...

Host: Brett McKayProducer: Kate McKay October 6, 2026In: Character, Podcast, Self-ImprovementWe live in a world of pervasive noise. Even when we’re alone and our surroundings are quiet, our devices bombard us with an endless stream…
Read More...

A reader recently wrote in with a question I’ve gotten some version of dozens of times over the years. He’s a year into fatherhood, his wife is about to go back to work, and he’s struggling to fit in exercise, friends, hobbies, and…
Read More...