What We Were

About What We Were

We examine stories and issues from around the globe to reveal important nuance, expand empathy, and break the binary.

Publisher

Dan

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

7 Nov 2023

Latest episode

22 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

39 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Sept 2026

   #39 - Douglas Gillette on 'King, Warrior, Magician, Lover'

   In this episode, I speak with Douglas Gillette, co-author of King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine. Published in 1990, the book reads today as an early warning sign of what has since become an existential crisis of masculinity in the West. What's often called "the patriarchy" is, properly understood, an expression of "boy psychology." The word patriarchy, though, has been hijacked and weaponized to suppress even genuine, generative masculine energy—ironically helping to produce the destructive shadow versions of these same archetypes that we associate with immature men. Douglas Gillette is a mythologist, author, and former pastor whose work explores mythology, spirituality, and depth psychology. Along with the late Robert Moore, he coauthored King, Warrior, Magician, Lover, a study of four archetypes and what they reveal about men's growth and maturity. Gillette has also taught, counseled, and led workshops, and is the author of Soul Making: The Realization of the Mystical Life. Find him on his website: douglasgillettecreations.com (https://douglasgillettecreations.com/)

2. 

   3 Aug 2026

   #38 - James Howard Kunstler on The Geography of Nowhere

   In this episode, I speak with James Howard Kunstler, author of The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise And Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape, about the decline of America’s built environment and the profound effects it has had on our communities, culture, and quality of life. We discuss how automobile dependence, suburban sprawl, strip malls, zoning laws, and large-scale development transformed the American landscape—often replacing coherent towns and neighborhoods with places that feel fragmented, impersonal, and difficult to inhabit. Kunstler explains why traditional towns and cities tend to produce a stronger sense of beauty, belonging, the sacred, civic life, and why modern development so often fails to do the same. Our conversation also explores the relationship between architecture and human flourishing, the disappearance of meaningful public space, the economic forces that perpetuate bad development, and what it might take to begin building places that are once again worthy of our affection. Find James Howard Kunstler on his Substack at https://www.kunstler.com/ (https://www.kunstler.com/)

3. 

   17 Apr 2026

   #37 - Jacob Siegel on The Information State

   Jacob Siegel is a writer and editor at Tablet and author of The Information State: Politics in the Age of Total Control (https://www.amazon.com/Information-State-Politics-Total-Control/dp/B0F9LRMVJK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=2ABC1WCVVXTR9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.dkCPz1CyBExXRJxGLmm305BeHOwGJzGsQA_rwgY3CeQTRGk8SDI-w3_53fzcJgGNtHMoYeKhC2kLNr66i7Cu1FL4McqSA7eMwMu-hrz7cO1IhftWOACxUcn4Qs6YeTDJYEp6OveNxIZm4aUGYk-UTdK0AfgW328i9v8VO6vYhiFWESFvepl_gSYJ7hCZEIrzqpzq8RLFf63TF1UldxHF_ZrV0LXTJN6FwM29qLxw9as.kMyJO6TWG-zoT71sBCxcPumo8nEKmHctMR05QAXv5og&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+information+state&qid=1776379930&sprefix=the+information+stat%2Caps%2C250&sr=8-2). A U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, he is also a co-host of the Manifesto! (https://open.spotify.com/show/2Gne9jhSghDf7yUaI1fQwf) podcast. We discuss his book and what it means for the present and future of the West in the midst of a transformation from the form of representative government we have always known into a whole of society technopoly driven by state-orchestrated surveillance, censorship, and the algorithmic tuning of public opinion.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Spotify

4.7 / 5

15 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 33 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

36

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

77

Contact What We Were

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.