A Conversation with Dad

In asking a monumental question about the next era of his family's life, an old terror returns from the past. Only in the slaying of a dragon could this new adventure continue. What do we do with fear? What do dragons represent on the journeys of our lives? How do we approach a life of stagnation with courage and resilience?   A long overdue episode, with updates on a new city and a new era.

After completing the Mad Kings trilogy of the podcast, our host was left thinking about his life in Sweden, and all the events that led him there and back to Canada again. In the reflection, he uncovered a painful truth: He was longing for a sense of home. How do we weather the storms of life, and when are these storms more than temporary, but a true and quiet discomfort that permeates our lives?

When we go through trials and come out the other side, we are often left with questions about the past. The danger we all face is becoming stuck within it, rather than building a foundation of values to ensure that no matter what new trials we face, we do not lose our way. How do we overcome the resentments and regrets of the past and avoid succumbing to hopelessness?  Today we talk about building a foundation of values and meaning to process our past and set foot on solid ground to move forward with purpose and clarity.

The modern game studio has become infected with a scourge of Mad Kings. Today our host shares the 6 Key Traits of a Mad King, or more specifically, weak and dangerous men who lead with a deadly mixture of entitlement and a refusal to take any accountability. The industry layoffs are not merely an epidemic of bad financial investment, but a plague of mad kings leading studios to ruin. 

Waking up to dozens of messages, our host learns the sad truth about the cost of weak men in leadership to people he once worked beside. The staggering layoffs in the video games industry tells a specific story, of economic downturn, of streamlining development, but the truth is simpler, and not the fault of those who work, but those who fail to lead.

Our host is joined by a very close and special guest, a man who set the foundation for his life and stood by him in the darkest times. An episode where a father and son sit together and talk about life, legacy and how much they mean to each other.

Our host learns of the deep struggle and crisis of a man he once considered a close friend. A reflection on how to deal with the precarious balance between compassion and judgment. How can we hold both in equal measure, and how do we integrate nuance into our perspective to strive toward the impossible idea of perfection?

Moving into 2025, and now 6 months into life in Vancouver, a city both old and new, our host reflects on how much life has changed. Looking back to what the city meant to him ten years ago, and what expectations he had moving back led him to feeling displaced in a familiar world.  How do we align ourselves to change and to better build a foundation on the values we hold now, and how does the old inform the new?

Host Kurtis Wiebe shares his perspective on the richness of life found in real art in a world that leans toward inauthenticity and capturing only the most perfect moments. Where art is only meaningful if it sells for profit, and is valued by the material number attached to it. How do we value art in the time of AI, and what is it that saves those with voice from the cynical and terrifying new age of effortless creation? Art is more meaningful than ever, and within it, there is beauty in truth.

Our first episode of the year, running into 2025! Our host reflects on his holiday season, in what was a surprising time of struggle when a period of rest and recovery was expected. How do we find peace when life feels out of our control? How do we resist the urge to live in the past when there is so much more ahead? A meditation on how remembering light cuts through the heaviest of darkness.