The Vance Crowe Podcast

This week Vance sat down with Monsignor Shamleffer for a wide-ranging conversation about faith, technology, human dignity, and the challenges facing society in an age of rapid change.They reflect on artificial intelligence, the role of work in human flourishing, and why technological progress must remain focused on serving people rather than replacing them. The conversation explores Catholic and Protestant approaches to faith, the importance of symbolism and tradition, the meaning of suffering and the vocation of the priesthood.Along the way, Monsignor Shamleffer shares insights from decades spent in pastoral ministry and what it means to remain grounded in faith while navigating profound cultural and technological shifts.Monsignor John B. Shamleffer is a prominent Roman Catholic priest and canon lawyer in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. He has served as the long-time pastor at Ste. Genevieve du Bois parish in Warson Woods, MO, and previously led St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in south St. Louishttps://articulate.ventures/lbchttps://www.legacyinterviews.com/#VanceCrowe #Catholicism #ArtificialIntelligence #FaithAndTechnology #PopeLeoXIV 

Vance finally lands the guest he's been chasing for two years — Chris LAS, host of This Week in Bitcoin, the only podcast Vance listens to every single week. They open on an unexpected topic: Chris's fully automated chicken coop, complete with motion sensors, ammonia monitors, automated doors, egg trapdoors, and local cameras running on Frigate DVR — no cloud, no subscriptions, no Google watching your backyard. From there the conversation widens into surveillance, Flock cameras showing up in neighborhoods without public votes, and why the data being collected today may be the most dangerous in 2035 when AI is powerful enough to mine it retroactively.The heart of the episode is Bitcoin — Chris's origin story through the 2008 financial crisis, losing what would now be generational wealth in the Mt. Gox hack, and why he stayed convicted anyway. He breaks down why Bitcoin is a money protocol the same way HTTP is a web protocol, explains the Lightning Network in plain language, and makes the case that the generational divide between boomers and millennials is really an asset-ownership divide: inflation has been great if you owned a house, catastrophic if you didn't. He also walks through his value-for-value podcast model — no advertisers, audience as the customer, splits paid automatically over Lightning — and why transparency about how much each episode earns keeps him honest and keeps the show free from capture.The episode closes on the Clarity Act, Jamie Dimon's very loud objections to Coinbase, AI IPO mania as the biggest financial gamble of the decade, and what question to actually ask a Bitcoiner instead of "what's the price going to be?"Articulate.Ventures/IBCLegacyInterviews.com

In this episode, Vance Crowe sits down with author Devon Erickson to explore why he calls himself a compulsive explainer and how he sees the role of an intellectual: not to end debates, but to start them with powerful metaphors and fresh lenses. They dive deep into empathy as a writer’s core skill—simultaneously inhabiting a character’s inner world and anticipating the reader’s experience—and how that practice shapes Devon’s science-fiction novel, Theft of Fire. From first-person perspective and memory palaces to the mechanics of metaphor in thought, they wander into bigger terrain: how online discourse reveals public preoccupations, why villains must believe they’re right, and what it takes to write convincingly across gender and worldview.Their conversation also ranges into contested civic ground: the difference between empathy and sympathy, the dynamics of thug mentality and civilized restraint, the risks of escalating political tribalism, and the notion of “soft off-ramps” in American politics. They talk about immigration enforcement as theater versus necessity, institutional capture, and the appeal of centralized control to academics. Then they zoom back to the personal: metabolic health and processed food, the economic pressures on families, inflation as time theft, Bitcoin as an intergenerational lifeboat, and why some boomers feel out of touch with younger realities. They close with Devon’s passion project—the cinematic, full-cast audiobook of Theft of Fire—and the promise of classic sci-fi spirit with modern tech rigor.Legacy Interviews - A service that records individuals and couples telling their life stories so that future generations can know their family history. https://www.legacyinterviews.com/experienceRiver.com - Invest in Bitcoin with Confidence https://river.com/signup?r=OAB5SKTPto support the show and buy Bitcoin use the link to our show sponsor River.com https://river.com/invite?r=OAB5SKTP(00:00:04) Opening: Sharing insights vs. repeating talking points(00:03:11) Host intro: Meeting Devon Erickson and The Theft of Fire(00:06:12) Metaphor as the engine of thought and memory(00:14:44) Empathy as a writer’s core skill—villains, readers, and realism(00:19:59) Modeling minds: conversational load, perspective taking, and audiences(00:26:06) Writing across gender and identity—finding Miranda’s voice(00:29:08) Speculative craft: writing what does not exist(00:30:04) Online discourse: empathy without sympathy and confronting hostility(00:36:55) Self‑defense mindset: lines, intent, and preparedness(00:41:49) Civility, uncivil actors, and the ‘soft off‑ramp’ in politics(00:49:31) Purpose of a military and cultural standards debate(00:51:58) Media narratives, ICE, and dealing with the uncivilized(01:02:00) Marxism, envy, and institutions—power vs. merit(01:11:55) Inflation’s danger and policy priorities ahead(01:14:16) Immigration, budget crises, and administration choices(01:14:32) Foreign influence and defining America’s interests(01:18:14) Money tech: inflation, Bitcoin, and future‑proofing exchange(01:21:15) Order vs. chaos: El Salvador, gangs, and state response(01:37:07) Feminism, industrialized food, and metabolic syndrome(01:46:33) What causes the obesity wave? Processed food vs. lifestyle(01:51:22) Inflation, two‑income households, and policy timelines(01:57:25) Cats, granaries, and guarding civilization’s value(01:57:35) Generations: anti‑boomer sentiment and being out of touch(02:02:18) Time as money: assets, risk, and financial education(02:12:06) Economics in sci‑fi: Marcus, Miranda, and post‑government markets(02:18:00) Building a cinematic audiobook: casting, direction, perfectionism(02:25:01) Closing: Why Theft of Fire and where to find it

In this solo-hosted Ag Tribes Report by Vance Crowe, Vance covers four major headlines shaping agriculture and adjacent markets after the scheduled guest drops out during harvest. The report dives into the unusual coalition of farmers and food companies backing state-level animal welfare laws like California’s Prop 12, unpacks the DOJ’s massive seizure tied to a Southeast Asian “pig butchering” crypto scam and what it could signal for government Bitcoin accumulations, assesses Nestlé’s 16,000-job global restructuring and what it may mean for supply chains and food inflation, and reacts to prosecutors seeking a prison term and restitution in the $4 million crop insurance fraud case involving Steve McBee—plus why crackdowns on fraud matter for producers who rely on transfer programs.In the Bitcoin land price segment, Vance explains recent volatility, why 24/7 liquidity makes Bitcoin the shock absorber for weekend macro news, and why dips remain opportunities compared with gold’s run-up. Vance also shares a reflection from an impromptu conversation with a Vietnamese Uber driver on managing “energy ripples” in relationships, and explores what genuine respect looks like in the Worthy Adversary segment—including how naming respect can transform high-stakes conversations. As always, listeners are invited to send in stories for future shows and feel free to disagree.

In this week’s Ag Tribes Report, fourth-generation Missouri cattleman and board member Glenn Cope joins the discussion to analyze a turbulent moment for agriculture. The conversation explores President Trump’s plan to redirect tariff revenues to soybean growers, the unintended consequences of a U.S. bailout enabling Argentina’s cheap soybean exports to China, and how these actions increase price and input pressures on farmers. It also addresses the looming threat of New World Screwworm nearing the U.S. border, its potential impact on animal health and markets, mitigation tools like ivermectin and Zoetis’ Decomax CA, and the importance of border policy and fly control. With a government shutdown stalling USDA services during harvest, the discussion highlights how delayed loans, payments, and data disrupt cash flow and accelerate consolidation. Glenn offers insights on the Bitcoin Land Price Report from the Ozarks, the Peter Thiel paradox on land values, and his “worthy adversary” perspective on RFK Jr.’s stance on agricultural tools like Roundup, emphasizing the necessity of no-till and modern inputs for efficiency and environmental outcomes.The report includes the honoring of the memory of Ryan Whitehouse of the Illinois Farm Bureau and encouraging the recording of family stories—through Legacy Interviews or simple, intentional conversations—to preserve memories that shape understanding of the past and strengthen connections.Legacy Interviews - A service that records individuals and couples telling their life stories so that future generations can know their family history. https://www.legacyinterviews.com/experienceRiver.com - Invest in Bitcoin with Confidence https://river.com/signup?r=OAB5SKTP