A Drink With a Friend

We’ve all heard of the seven deadly sins, but what good does it do to think about them in our modern, well-intentioned lives? Maybe more to the point — why does contemplating about them bring us hope? It’s because of their corresponding virtues. Seth and Tsh talk about what this looks like in their own lives.As a reference, here are the seven pairs of vices and virtues:Pride: A desire for excellence in excess of right reasonHumility: A rightly-ordered estimation of excellenceGluttony: A disordered desire for good thingsTemperance: A desire to keep good things in their rightful placeLust: A disordered desire for pleasureChastity: A rightly-ordered desire for pleasureEnvy: Sorrow for another’s goodLove: To will the good of the otherGreed: A desire for more than is neededGenerosity/charity: A desire for enough for allAnger: A desire for vengeance contrary to reasonMeekness: Power under controlSloth: Sorrow for spiritual good; the absence of careDiligence: Taking care to do what we value mostSeth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Bitter & Sweet, Tsh’s book for LentThe Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, by Lisa SeePutin Country: A Journey Into the Real Russia, Anne Garrel This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

When big global events happen — like Russia invading Ukraine — what can we possibly do in our small, ordinary lives to make any difference? Seth and Tsh chat about how they’ve been talking about the news with their kids, how they’ve been processing it for themselves, and what we might learn from the past to forge ahead soberly toward the future.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Bitter & Sweet, Tsh’s new bookThe Bitter & Sweet playlistThe Weight of Glory, by C.S. LewisWorld War II in Color on NetflixThe War by Ken Burns, on PBSOn the Shortness of Life, by Seneca This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Seth is off doing lawyer-y things this week, so Tsh talks to friend Joy Clarkson about, essentially, Wendell Berry’s beloved quip, “Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.” Why is it not only a good idea to pursue happiness — it’s necessary? And perhaps counter-cultural to our doomscroll-obsessed modern ways? Joy and Tsh talk about where real happiness is found, what it means to unironically enjoy what we love, and why doing so even makes us better neighbors.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Joy Clarkson and her new book, Aggressively HappyJoy on Twitter and InstagramThe Artist’s Way, by Julia CameronBitter & Sweet, Tsh’s new book for Lent This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

As friends do, in this episode Seth and Tsh come to table to talk about whatever. Like the nerds they are, they end up talking about Romantic poetry, the end of the world, and more. Pull up a chair and join in!Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Bitter & Sweet, Tsh’s book for LentStation Eleven, by Emily St. John MandelThe Road, by Cormac McCarthyPrinciples for Dealing With the Changing World Order, by Ray Dalio“To Sleep,” by John KeatsThe Art of Lent, by Sr. Wendy Beckett Exploring Alternatives on YouTube This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Seth is off social media for the first half of 2022, and Tsh is limiting most of her family’s resources to her 100-mile radius. How’s it going? What are we learning? We chat about these things, plus whether we think these practices might be a net-positive for you, too.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Bitter & Sweet, Tsh’s new bookStation Eleven, by Emily St. John MandelThe Family Garden Plan, by Melissa K. Norris This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Liz Gilbert once said that if she didn’t write, she’d become a farm dog and chew up the couch. Why do we partake in creative pursuits if we’re not going to profit financially from it? Lots of reasons, actually. Tsh and Seth chat with their friends Maile and Shawn Smucker about what they’ve been learning about why they have an insatiable need to create — and why every one of us needs to as well.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Seth’s latest thoughts on why he writesThe GapThe Nine-Month Novel, led by Maile & Shawn SmuckerVideo of a Novel, Shawn’s new SubstackJournal of a Novel, by John SteinbeckThe Gospel in Gerard Manley Hopkins, by Margaret EllsbergThe Moviegoer, by Walker PercyNobody Reads Poetry This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

We have SO MANY choices these days — on what to watch, what to listen to, what to read. We know well the feeling of opening a streaming service and indefinitely scrolling instead of clicking ‘play’ because of the inability to make a choice. So how do we choose? How do we all decide what deserves our attention and what we should just scroll past? After all, even with seemingly infinite choices, we still have a finite amount of time and focus. Seth & Tsh chat about how to decide what deserves a spot on our bookshelves, on our Family Movie Night agendas, and ultimately, in our personal and familial cultures.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Oatly 2021 Super Bowl commercialKeep or Toss? from Joel MillerSoul-Crushing, Family-Friendly Inspirational Trash from Joshua GibbsNew West KnifeworksGarden Maker, by Christie Purifoy This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

Disagreeing well is a lost art — it seems like our culture has withered down to treating one another as avatars not worthy of an opinion different than our own. But what if knowing how to disagree well not only mattered to our own personal development, but was also a tool in keeping our civilization from crumbling? Seth and Tsh talk about why disagreeing matters so much and how we can do it better.Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Tiny House Coffee Roasters in AustinElizabeth Lesser on taking the “other” to lunchThe Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles100 Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

As you remember from the last episode, Seth and Tsh are beginning two audacious six-month challenges. In this episode, Tsh shares hers — to get as much as she can and participate in day-to-day life first and foremost from her 100-mile radius. What does this actually mean? Is this something only “privileged” people can do? And like Seth’s challenge, if we all did this would our souls be more attuned to how we’re meant to live?Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Tsh’s 100-Mile Life experimentAnimal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara KingsolverHow Luxury Beliefs Hurt the Rest of Us, Too on HonestlyThe CCC on SubsidiarityJoseph Massey’s Substack This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe

To start the new year, Seth and Tsh are beginning two rather audacious six-month challenges — and you’re welcome to join in. First, they unpack Seth’s plan to swear off all social media for six months. How will he fare? Will this affect his work as a writer? And if he decides to stay off, will it affect his ability to publish books? The two friends unpack the connection between the publishing industry and social media, as well as the benefits of living a life without social media. Sacramentally speaking, would our souls be more attuned to how we’re meant to live? Or is there a benefit we’d miss?Seth: Newsletter | WebsiteTsh: Newsletter | WebsitePick up a round of drinks & help keep the show goingCome to Italy with us!Seth’s social media habit-kicking experimentThe Social Dilemma documentaryUnhook Chrome Extension — remove YouTube’s algorithm recommendationsWhat I Learned Taking a Year-Long Break From Social MediaDigital Minimalism, by Cal NewportPrinciples for Dealing With the Changing World Order, by Ray DalioA Nature Poem Every Night of the Year, edited by Jane McMorland Hunter This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecommon.place/subscribe