A Man’s Life

Thumbnail image for Are You a Sheep or Sheepdog? Part I

Are You a Sheep or Sheepdog? Part I

by Brett & Kate McKay

Last December, 58-year-old Ki Suk Han was pushed onto the subway tracks in New York City. Even though 60-90 seconds passed before an oncoming train hit the man, a group of up to eighteen bystanders simply stood on the platform and looked on as the train approached and ran him over. One, a freelance photographer [...]

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Thumbnail image for Manvotional: The Coming Man of the World

Manvotional: The Coming Man of the World

by Brett & Kate McKay

The Coming Man of the World By: Ella Wheeler Wilcox c. 1891 Oh, not for the great departed Who formed our country’s laws, And not for the bravest-hearted Who died in freedom’s cause; And not for some living hero, To whom all bend the knee, My muse shall raise her song of praise, But for [...]

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Thumbnail image for How to Be a Gentleman Behind the Wheel

How to Be a Gentleman Behind the Wheel

by Brett & Kate McKay

Brought to you by P&G. Need to buff up your style? Get the products men depend on. How to be a gentleman when you’re behind the wheel.

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Thumbnail image for Gentleman on the Street Asks: What Is Manliness?

Gentleman on the Street Asks: What Is Manliness?

by Brett

For our new weekly videos, twice a month I’ll be hosting them, and twice a month our fearless filmmaker, Jordan Crowder, will be in front of the camera. One of the features Jordan will be doing is “Gentleman on the Street,” where he’ll be hitting the streets of Los Angles with a camera, microphone, and a [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Boy Scouts of America: Then and Now — A Comparison of the 1911 and Modern Handbooks and Merit Badges

The Boy Scouts of America: Then and Now — A Comparison of the 1911 and Modern Handbooks and Merit Badges

by Brett & Kate McKay

“‘Scout’ used to mean the one on watch for the rest. We have widened the word a little. We have made it fit the town as well as the wilderness and suited it to peace time instead of war. We have made the scout an expert in Life-craft as well as Wood-craft, for he is [...]

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Thumbnail image for 3 Ways You Should Never Start an Online Comment

3 Ways You Should Never Start an Online Comment

by Brett & Kate McKay

When you run a website for a living, you get a front-row seat to the nature of online rhetoric. Each day dozens of comments are submitted to the blog and their quality varies widely. Some are highly intelligent and articulate – enjoyable to read even when they disagree with the content of an article. On [...]

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Thumbnail image for Every Man’s Call to Defiant Gratefulness (+ Book Giveaway)

Every Man’s Call to Defiant Gratefulness (+ Book Giveaway)

by Marcus Brotherton

1. By early morning, Nick the waiter was still sloshed. He staggered into the upscale restaurant where we both worked as 22-year-olds. His eyes were glassy and bloodshot, and all the rest of that shift he worked with a gruff and annoyed attitude. During break time, the other waiters and I ate our meal in [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — Conclusion

The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — Conclusion

by Brett & Kate McKay

This article concludes a series that studied the life of Jack London, and especially his display of the Ancient Greek concept of thumos. We hope you enjoyed our ten-part series on the life and thumos of Jack London. I know we enjoyed researching and writing it. I’ve never found another man’s story so fascinating and [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #10: Ashes

The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #10: Ashes

by Brett & Kate McKay

This article is part of a series that studies the life of Jack London, and especially his display of the Ancient Greek concept of thumos. Jack London might have lived a long and happy life – living comfortably off the fruits of his literary achievements, devoting himself to making his ranch a success, writing new [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #9: The Long Sickness

The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #9: The Long Sickness

by Brett & Kate McKay

Jack London followed up the resounding success of The Call of the Wild with two more popular novels: The Sea-Wolf and White Fang. He continued to publish numerous short stories, articles, essays, and poems in magazines across the country as well. Now thirty years old, he was the highest paid writer in the country and [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #8: Success at Last

The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #8: Success at Last

by Brett & Kate McKay

This article is part of a series that studies the life of Jack London, and especially his display of the Ancient Greek concept of thumos. “There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #7: Into the Klondike

The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #7: Into the Klondike

by Brett & Kate McKay

This article is part of a series that studies the life of Jack London, and especially his display of the Ancient Greek concept of thumos. When the ship Excelsior docked in San Francisco in 1897, it carried word that would grant Jack London salvation from his mindless toil in a steam laundry: gold had been [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #6: Back to School

The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #6: Back to School

by Brett & Kate McKay

This article is part of a series that studies the life of Jack London, and especially his display of the Ancient Greek concept of thumos. The students of Oakland High School did not know what to make of their new peer. He was older than them, nineteen, and wholly unlike anyone else who walked the [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #5: On the Road

The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #5: On the Road

by Brett & Kate McKay

This article is part of a series that studies the life of Jack London, and especially his display of the Ancient Greek concept of thumos. As Jack London worked more than ten hours a day, seven days a week keeping thread wrapped around bobbins in a jute mill, his deep sea voyage, and with it [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #4: Pacific Voyage

The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #4: Pacific Voyage

by Brett & Kate McKay

This article is part of a series that studies the life of Jack London, and especially his display of the Ancient Greek concept of thumos. On January 12, 1893, his seventeenth birthday, Jack London signed onto the Sophie Sutherland, a splendid three-topmast schooner bound for seal hunting in the Bering Sea, and ultimately Japan. Jack [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #3: Oyster Pirate

The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #3: Oyster Pirate

by Brett & Kate McKay

This article is part of a series that studies the life of Jack London, and especially his display of the Ancient Greek concept of thumos. As fifteen-year-old Jack London toiled away in a steamy, rank pickle factory for ten cents an hour, he hatched a plan that would allow him to make much more money, [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #2: Boyhood

The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #2: Boyhood

by Brett & Kate McKay

This article is part of a series that studies the life of Jack London, and especially his display of the Ancient Greek concept of thumos.  John Griffith London was born in San Francisco in 1876 the illegitimate son of Flora Wellman — a free-loving spiritualist who conducted séances in her home. He never knew his [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #1: Introduction

The Life of Jack London as a Case Study in the Power and Perils of Thumos — #1: Introduction

by Brett & Kate McKay

“Jack London was the type of man to have commanded other men. [He has] eyes to inflame youth, inspire men, madden women.” -Frank Pease “He just jumped into life with both feet in that courageous way of his, and he got romance and mystery and beauty out of it where other men could see only [...]

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Thumbnail image for Manvotional: Leadership and Responsibility

Manvotional: Leadership and Responsibility

by Brett & Kate McKay

This is a different kind of Manvotional…a short audio interview rather than a piece of text. But I heard it today on NPR’s “To the Best of Our Knowledge” and found it so powerful I knew I had to share it here. In the clip, Steve Paulson interviews Donovan Campbell, currently an author and business [...]

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