Friday w/ The Commander

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[00:00:27] The year's 270 AD.

[00:00:45] Emperor Claudius II, Claudius the Cruel, ruling Rome. Bloody campaigns all over their territory and beyond. Chewing up men, chewing up soldiers.

[00:01:02] Claudius is having trouble because his Roman men are in love. Their society has reached a point where people can be happy for a change.

[00:01:18] They had to have love and marriage and children. And of course, to any emperor, this is a problem. So he has to ban engagements and marriage. And he does just that. He outlaws the whole shebang.

[00:01:37] Banned all marriages and engagements in Rome so he could fill the ranks of his military. Then comes along this Saint Valentine, who spits on the decree of Claudius the Cruel and continues performing marriages in secret.

[00:02:00] And when his actions are discovered, Claudius, of course, orders him to be put to death. He's arrested, jailed, and before long, dragged. Before the prefect of Rome, who basically had him beaten to death with clubs. Then they cut off his head.

[00:02:27] And he was martyred, as many Christians were in those days in Rome. The sentence carried out on the 14th of February in the year 270. There's a hangers-on legend that goes along with this story. And it's while Saint Valentine was in jail, he became friends with the jailer's daughter.

[00:02:52] And he left her a note and signed it from your Valentine. Now, all I sought to find out this morning, PBN Family, was how he was martyred. I didn't know the story would be so cool. Pretty good. Not bad. Not a bad tale. Not a bad tale for the patron saint of love and beekeeping. Did you know that he was the patron saint of beekeeping as well?

[00:03:20] For all you homestead freaks out there. A whole new reason to start that hive. It's Valentine's Day. It's a day to buy your beehive. How about that? Or start your bee colony. Whatever. It's Friday. I don't have to be on camera today, and I'm thrilled. It is nice. It's nice. Just to do the podcast thing.

[00:03:49] There's no doubt that the video is a thing. And it's great. But podcasting and making podcasts on video. Because I don't consider podcasts a video piece of entertainment. I know it's gone that way now. But there's something to the magic of the audio only. You know what I mean? And to our crowd, I think in particular, it's important. Because then you can do the things that you want to do.

[00:04:18] The things that you need to do. Physically, without being anchored to a phone. Right? You just listen. Like, you do what you're doing, and you just listen. So I thought Friday... I think Friday's going forward. We're going to just do the sort of... Podcast network updates. Stream of consciousness. Business.

[00:04:47] Maybe if there's something in the news or requests from the listeners. Because this is not live either. You know, this is... Actually, this is take five. Explain that to me. It's take five. I don't even know how that works. I'm so out of practice on the podcast software that I kept forgetting to unmute my mic. I hop on camera. Lighting. Live. People watching. The whole thing. No problem.

[00:05:16] Doing the pre-recorded podcast. I fumbled five times. No lie. Incredible, really. So... One of the things I wanted to talk about tail end of yesterday's podcast was... Oh, did you guys hear Patriot Power Hour live last night? Phenomenal. But one of the things that I wanted to talk about last night live... Or... Yeah, yesterday's live was the coming Azure Highland event.

[00:05:45] Now, we haven't really hashed it out. We haven't really even met once about it. But I can still preface it, preview it, something along those lines by telling you that we are going to be focusing very heavily this year on foraging and food storage. Which the boys of the Patriot Power Hour have done... And you can look up Azure Highland.

[00:06:14] You can look up Dark Trail March. You can look up Gotham Get Out. To really start to understand what these guys do every single year. They're the hosts, Ben and Dan, of the Patriot Power Hour. Every year they do a challenge. A physical, mental, demanding, survival, preparedness-related challenge that is not easy. Trust me, they're not easy. I've seen them do two, and I've participated in one myself. And they're tough, man.

[00:06:44] You know, they test you in a variety of different ways. Last year we did Gotham Get Out, which was a winter exercise, which was pretty brutal. You know, it was... I think it was an eight-mile hike. An eight-mile sub-urban or urban survival bug-out kind of simulation.

[00:07:09] Pre-positioned caches were utilized to sustain yourself and your group and also to craft gear with. I didn't do a ton of crafting of things. We all didn't. I think we were a bit overburdened by the hike and the cold. We did use the collected items to build our shelter, which we sheltered in overnight. We used the collected items to start fire. We also had a buying phase of the challenge, which was really fun, where we took...

[00:07:39] I think it was a $20 bill. I think we had a $20 budget to build out our loadout from a thrift store. So, in other words, we rolled up in the thrift store and we could spend $20 on whatever. Whatever we wanted. You know, I mean, the basics of the loadout were layers. So, we went in there in like a t-shirt. I think I had an undershirt and a t-shirt. And pants and boots.

[00:08:06] And we went in there for the rest. For the rest, basically. You know, and I got a great coat, backpack, hat. I might have got a fleece, too. I think I had a fleece underlayer also. All for $20. And it was a great time. It was a terrible time, but a great time. You know what I mean? They do challenges like this all the time.

[00:08:32] And the one coming up this time, this go-round, is going to be foraging, fishing, hunting, and food storage related. Okay? It's a thing that... It's also a thing that you don't necessarily have to be with us to participate in. So, stay tuned. Stay tuned for that. This is the value of having so many people here at the Prepper Broadcasting Network with their own preparedness goals. You know what I mean? It's just a...

[00:09:01] It's a magic thing. You get to peek into everyone's world. And then you get to take away whatever you want from that world. So, you're a lucky, lucky person to have found us here at the Prepper Broadcasting Network. There's no doubt about it. But I could use... What did I put up over there? PBNFamily.com. I thought I just put something up that I wanted everyone to go check out. Hmm.

[00:09:32] PBNFamily.com. What was it? I can't remember. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was just a new piece of membership content. We do have some new member series up there. I'd love to have some new members over the weekend. Come join us. Come join us. Become member at the Prepper Broadcasting Network. You can join for a year for $60. You can join monthly for $5. $5. $5 a month.

[00:10:01] And you get, you know, tons of memberships. Now we have six membership series. Outside of all, like, the video and podcast content that we do, we have six different series that we drilled down on. Gear Review. Blacksmithing with Firewolf Forge. We have Prepper Fit and Health. Prepper Fit and Health is about to lift off, too. Because we're going to start doing live workouts before our live shows. For those of you who are up and about and ready to get dedicated, right?

[00:10:31] Kettlebell dominated. Easy stuff. Not a ton of different exercises, but maybe 15-minute, you know, something like that workouts to start the day. It's all about routine. I tell you that all the time. So your routine is everything. You're having success nine times out of ten, it's routine. You're failing. Nine times out of ten, it's routine, right? It's just what it is. We got Prepper Fit and Health. We get all kinds of stuff. A little massive bug-out series.

[00:10:59] We've got entrepreneurial series over there. Bushcraft series over there. There's a lot of stuff. And then we do, of course, PDFs and Excel spreadsheets for preparing. Great stuff. Come join. Come check us out. And, of course, you support our incredible network and give us the ability to do what we do and give us the ability to give the middle finger to social networks like YouTube

[00:11:24] should they, you know, decide to cancel us over saying the things that everyone knows to be true now, which is hilarious. Medical misinformation is what we get dinged for the most. And it's really funny because I don't know who's fighting that fight anymore. I just have no clue who is going to bat. Let's see where we're at. See, we're about to do something that could ruin everything.

[00:11:56] It could ruin everything over at YouTube. But this is why. This is the value of the podcast audience. This is the value of the membership. Because, like, you guys are essential. We can't depend on income from YouTube. It's just not something we can do because we are too freedom-loving. We want to say what we want to say. It's funny because we hardly say anything crazy.

[00:12:26] But we have to, like, prepare for this stuff because they've killed us in the past. So right now we have 213 podcasts ready to post over at YouTube. We have 700 more episodes to go. Good God. We've attached our RSS feed to YouTube, and we're going to see what happens when I click the switch. When I click the switch, we could be automatically banned for life over there at YouTube.

[00:12:55] Or when I click the switch, you could have access to every podcast that we do over there if you listen or watch at YouTube. Or if it's a little more convenient or whatever the situation is. So we'll see how that goes. I don't know. It's a risk. But what is life without risk? Pretty damn boring if you ask me. So what else? We've got some great stuff coming up. Friday night. I mean, I'm sorry. Well, we can talk Friday.

[00:13:24] We can talk Foil Friday. I stole that. Foil Friday. I like that. I was going to do PBN After Dark, but Foil Friday is kind of fun. Maybe we'll call it both. There's a Warhammer content creator over there in the UK called Valrak. And he does a Foil Friday. And I said, oh, man. Now, we do have a little bit of ownership on the foil.

[00:13:48] You know, nobody else in the world does a tinfoil hat contest, an annual tinfoil hat contest that I know of anyway. So we got a little bit of hold on Foil Friday too, I think. But PBN After Dark has also been exciting. It's been – it's a creation from the Phoenix. The Phoenix decided that we should try to do a late night show maybe on a Friday night. And I like it. I do. I like it a lot. I think it's a great idea.

[00:14:16] Friday, Saturday night, something along those lines. Late night, coast-to-coast AM, cryptozoology, you know, the hat man, the moth man, whatever. The UFOs, the real UFOs, not the Iranian drones. All that stuff. Get into it. Get into the fun. I just love coast-to-coast AM, man.

[00:14:41] It really, like, made my life so much easier when I was learning how to drive for three and four hours at a time. You know, that's something that, like, you have to do. When I met my wife, she's from Virginia, you know, and we started doing these trips. And then as we had kids, we did even more of these trips and all that kind of stuff. And it became this thing that you had to figure out how to do.

[00:15:05] Like, how do you get through 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. driving with a baby sleeping in the back or sometimes two kids? You know what I mean? And back and forth, man. I'm telling you. Getting back home with coast-to-coast AM just made those first two hours of joy. It was really nice. And I always loved that kind of stuff. And we tried to do it, but we haven't really pulled it off here.

[00:15:34] So I think that that's something to look forward to in 2025. Either Foyal Friday or PBN After Dark. Or both. I don't know. One and, you know, maybe they're one and the same. That'll be a live stream, video live stream, something along those lines. But Monday, we've got some cool guests coming up. We're booking guests. Having fun. Talking to people who are cool. Monday. Monday is probably, I don't know if it's going to be for everybody.

[00:16:04] It's going to be a very, it's going to be a very interesting take for the Prepper Broadcasting Network. We've got a woman out of L.A., Giovanna Silvestri. And she, first of all, being out of L.A. is an interesting enough take, right, for us. But she's going to come to expand on the sort of calm within chaos concept.

[00:16:29] And, you know, how her practice of yoga over the years has helped with it. You know what I mean? With the chaos. With what it is to grow up in a, or live in a place like that. You know what I mean? And, I mean, it's like the Thunderdome over there, right? So, I'm looking forward to it. I think that's going to be a great one.

[00:16:52] And, the following week, the 24th, we've got Frank, no, Richard Anderson coming on. Richard Anderson has written, I should give you his full sort of breakdown. Because he's got some credench. I hope you guys enjoyed the Direct Energy Weapons interview. That guy was legit.

[00:17:17] I mean, you should, I want you to appreciate, like, you don't just happen upon a person who is a robotics engineer and decides to start tracking direct energy weapons. You know what I'm saying? Like, he was a great find. We're definitely going to have him on again. He was awesome. Where's my man at? Here he is, Richard Anderson. Author. So, he wrote two books, The Evolution of Life, Big Bang to Space Colonies.

[00:17:48] Right? I haven't looked at that one yet. I did start reading Outbound Islands in the Void, which is fiction. The other one is nonfiction. This one is fiction. And it basically is a 2240, the year 2248. And it is sort of like an Elon Musk wet dream. You know what I mean? As far as I could tell. I'll join engineers, scientists, and adventurers as they push the boundaries of exploration from Earth to orbit, Mars, and beyond.

[00:18:18] And it's just about humanity as a spacefaring species. Do you know what I mean? And I can't wait to talk to this guy. I want to really hone in on surviving on Mars and get his take. You know, I really want to talk to him about you get to Mars, you set up, you know, you start the building blocks of life on Mars.

[00:18:47] And what does survival look like? You know, and get sort of the sci-fi take on it. Because sci-fi is a lot like conspiracy. I don't know if you've noticed. But science fiction is much like conspiracy in that it's fake until it's not fake anymore. Not everything, but a lot of stuff. A lot of great sci-fi movies I watched growing up. Terminator. Terminator. The Matrix.

[00:19:14] Everything's looking a little less like science fiction. So, we also have, I don't have her information in front of me. Let's do it. We'll take some time here and get you guys what's coming for real. If we're going to talk about what's coming. This is going to be a phenomenal interview. Where's my man Steve at? Where my man Steve at? There he is.

[00:19:40] So, Whitney Johnson, who is an author, a TikToker, if you want to go find her. Whitney Johnson. She wrote a book, new book, coming out in March called Go Forth and Forage. The vast majority of hosts have a copy of Go Forth and Forage coming their way. And what it is, is a phenomenal book on mushroom foraging.

[00:20:10] And it is really well done. I've already seen the whole thing. But it is really well done. The biggest thing is, you know, in mushroom foraging, the biggest thing is knowing what you're looking at. And not just knowing what you're looking at, like this is the shape and color. But the intricate details of gills, no gills, holes, consistency, you know, where it's growing, what kind of trees it's growing near.

[00:20:40] All those kinds of things sort of build your confidence up to know, okay, I'm looking at this kind of mushroom. It's a great book. And, you know, it's going to be an awesome 192 page, full color. It's going for $24.99 US, $32.99 Canada.

[00:21:02] How to find mushrooms, understanding mushroom anatomy, the best gear for mushroom foraging, using spore prints to help confirm proper identification. I don't even know what that means. I mean, I know what it means, but I have no idea how to do it. So that would be very cool. So words of wisdom, being a responsible and ethical forager, common mushroom myths, finding and using mushrooms in medicinal forms such as tinctures and teas. I mean, it's, you know, this is the book.

[00:21:26] I don't have the mushroom foraging book, but I have a feeling this is probably the mushroom foraging book. And I'm really looking forward. She's fun. You go check out her social media. Like, she's fun. Appalachian raised. I'm pretty. Appalachian ambassador. Appalachian forager. And it shows, you know what I mean? She's got that kind of shtick. It's just, you know, not necessarily a shtick. It's just who she is, but it's fun.

[00:21:57] And that's going to be in March. What day is that? I'll let you know as it gets closer. It's mid-March. We're building on it, man. We're building on it. There's a... As if we don't have enough for you to listen to, right? There's a lot of people out there in the world that you should hear from. I think that's about it for today, folks. I've been on these marathon 40-minute podcasts all week. I'm going to go cook some breakfast. I might hop on an Instagram Live a little later.

[00:22:27] It's a beautiful day. I hope you cherish the love that you have on this day if you are so lucky. You know what I mean? Even if things have been a little bumpy for you, a little rocky, whatever, a little off. Today's a day to sew it up. You know what I mean? It's not easy out there. I know. I know, but I don't know. I've been in love forever. But at the same time, I know. Because I know people. You know?

[00:22:56] If I do have any skill that is worth something or unique, I think it is the understanding of people. All right, folks. We're going to go out to the Prepper's Medical Handbook. Every valentine deserves a copy of the Prepper's Medical Handbook. So tell them you're sorry. You forgot to order it. But it's coming overnight shipped from Amazon. And it'll be wrapped in a satin, red satin bow. And there'll be like a chocolate first aid kit along with it.

[00:23:26] All right? Talk to you soon, folks. Are you prepared to be the family doctor in a disaster or emergency? This is the Intrepid Commander. And I'm holding the Prepper's Medical Handbook by William W. Forgey, M.D. In this great book, you'll learn how to prepare for medical care off the grid. You'll learn about assessment and stabilization.

[00:23:50] You'll even deal with things like bioterrorism response, radiation, and how to build the off-grid medical kit at home. Look, 2020 taught us a lot about the limitations of our medical infrastructure in America. Get the Prepper's Medical Handbook today at Amazon.com. Again, that's the Prepper's Medical Handbook by William W. Forgey.