Series
Letters to my grandchildren, starting with the family they come from.
The podcast began as a set of letters to grandchildren who do not exist yet. These episodes introduce the people who will be their grandparents, aunts, and uncles: Beth, Hannah, Matthew, Emma, Rebekah, and Andrew, plus Uncle Lee. Family stories, hard lessons, and a 60th-birthday ambush.
Start with
52:41Dr. Firestone launches the podcast as 'letters to my grandkids,' explaining the concept his son Matthew helped shape, then uses the pre-Socratic question of ultimate reality and the five primary elements to introduce his wife Beth and his five children, Hannah, Matthew, Emma, Rebekah, and Andrew.
Lecture-style series build on themselves. Numbered so you can follow the thread.
52:41Dr. Firestone launches the podcast as 'letters to my grandkids,' explaining the concept his son Matthew helped shape, then uses the pre-Socratic question of ultimate reality and the five primary elements to introduce his wife Beth and his five children, Hannah, Matthew, Emma, Rebekah, and Andrew.
51:28Dr. Firestone interviews his older brother Lee about running with gangs on the South Side of Chicago, their father's discipline, Lee's years in the Marines, and the lesson both brothers drew: if life isn't good where you are, get up and move.
41:08All five Firestone children hijack the podcast for their father's 60th birthday, trading stories about his favorite sayings, his suspicious mind, the routine of family time that made the mundane special, and the lessons (like shamelessly asking your community for help) they hope to pass on.
37:00On New Year's Eve 2025, Dr. Firestone enlists daughter Rebekah and son Matthew to set fitness goals for 2026, gets coached on creatine, hydration, and Strava, and makes his first-ever healthy shake on camera.
1:14:40Youngest child Andrew Firestone recalls getting locked out of a hotel room as a kid, the strict homeschool timetable, finding his people through soccer, and a laid-back approach to choosing college that differs sharply from his older siblings.
44:25Rebekah Firestone, the youngest daughter, discusses moving to the 'Chapel House' in first grade, trading figure skating for the self-directed progress of running, public school, and the family Amtrak dash when their train had already boarded.
45:41Middle child Emma Firestone talks about being an introvert in a household that regularly hosted other families and students, the 2010 move that split her childhood in half, choosing a college near family in warmer weather, and getting left behind on a family outing.
48:56Oldest son Matthew Firestone describes sibling rivalry as verbal combat, buying a foreclosed house in a rough market, discovering his vocation through the Army's 18X Special Forces pipeline and a deployment to Syria, and his unexpected turn to country swing dancing and teaching.
55:17Eldest child Hannah Firestone, recorded in Minnesota on New Year's Eve, recalls being homeschooled in a living room daycare, founding the babysitting business Suburban Sitters in high school, studying at Amherst, and having her father officiate her 2021 wedding.
4 episodesThree short lectures on what it means to live a whole human life.
7 episodesA Kant scholar on why he joined Turning Point, and what Charlie Kirk got right.
5 episodesKierkegaard on risk, Aristotle on courage, and what to do when life becomes unlivable.
