Forged: Timeless Ways of Living

Makers by Nature: Bruce Herman on Art, Beauty, and the Call to Create

Humanitas Institute — Mon, 04 May 2026 02:00:00 -0700

What is art for, and why does beauty awaken deep longings within us? In this conversation, Brian Williams joins artist, Bruce Herman, in his studio to explore the human calling to create, the role beauty plays in shaping the soul, and the discipline of learning to see. Herman argues that we are not merely consumers but makers by nature, and that art at its best is a form of hospitality that invites others into a meaningful encounter. Through stories of childhood wonder, reflections on modern art, and the language of longing, this episode offers a compelling vision of everyday creativity, from painting and poetry to spreadsheets and shared meals.

About the Guest
An American painter, author, and speaker, Herman lives (with his wife Meg, extended family, and assorted friendly beasts) in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Herman’s paintings, prints, and drawings have been exhibited nationally in more than 150 shows––in most major cities, including New York, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington––as well as internationally in Italy, England, Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, and Israel.

Guest Links
Bruce Herman Website | http://www.bruceherman.com/
Makers by Nature | https://www.ivpress.com/makers-by-nature

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Tilling Soil & Soul: Michael Lamb on the Craft of Character

Humanitas Institute — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 02:00:00 -0700

What forms a life of character? In this episode of Forged, Brian Williams talks with Michael Lamb about the moral formation that happens through work, friendship, habit, and hope. From Lamb’s childhood on a Tennessee tobacco farm to his work helping universities cultivate virtue, this conversation explores how people learn discipline, responsibility, humility, and shared purpose. It is a rich reflection on education, moral ecology, political hope, and the slow work of becoming the sort of person who can love the good and pursue it with others.

Along the way, Brian and Michael consider what today’s families and schools can learn from agrarian life, why friendship and accountability matter for both adults and students, and why poetry can train us to pay attention. They close with Seamus Heaney’s “Digging,” a fitting meditation on inheritance, vocation, and the probing work of the pen.

About the Guest

Michael Lamb is the F. M. Kirby Foundation Chair of Leadership and Character, Senior Executive Director of the Program for Leadership and Character, and Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Humanities at Wake Forest University. He earned a B.A. from Rhodes College, Ph.D. from Princeton University, and second B.A. from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. A recipient of teaching awards from Princeton, Oxford, and Wake Forest, he is the author of A Commonwealth of Hope: Augustine’s Political Thought and co-editor of The Arts of Leading, Cultivating Virtue in the University, and with Brian A. Williams, Everyday Ethics: Moral Theology and the Practices of Ordinary Life.

Guest Links

The Program for Leadership and Character | https://leadershipandcharacter.wfu.edu/
Michael Lamb’s Website | https://kmichaellamb.com/
Michael Lamb’s Book List | https://kmichaellamb.com/books/

Connect with the Humanitas Institute

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The Reading Man: Shilo Brooks on Making a Life with Books

Humanitas Institute — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 02:00:00 -0700

What do books do to a man? In this conversation, Shilo Brooks and Brian Williams discuss reading, ambition, teaching, and the making of a life. Brooks reflects on growing up in West Texas, discovering the great books almost by accident, and learning to read not merely for school or profession, but for wisdom, courage, and the ordering of desire. Together they consider why men stop reading, what is lost when they do, and why the best books are not simply objects of study or instruments of advancement, but companions in the long work of formation. They do more than convey information. They enlarge the soul, sharpen judgment, deepen wonder, and usher us into a richer and more serious way of being in the world.

Along the way, Brooks discusses the teachers who first put serious books in his hands and the books that shaped him, from Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise to Xenophon’s Education of Cyrus. The conversation ranges from landscape and longing to teaching and apprenticeship, and from the allure of ambition to the discipline of moderating it through wisdom. This is a conversation about books as guides for life, about the formation of men, and about the kind of education that moves from the classroom to the soul.

About the Guest

Shilo Brooks is President and CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center and Professor of Practice in the Department of Political Science at SMU. He was previously Executive Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, where he taught in the Department of Politics. Brooks is host of The Free Press’ Old School podcast and author of a forthcoming book on noble ambition from Penguin Random House. Born and raised in West Texas, Brooks received his Ph.D. in political science from Boston College and his B.A. in liberal arts from the Great Books Program at St. John’s College. He and his wife Siobhan have one daughter – Clementine.

Guest Links
The Bush Center on Instagram @thebushcenter
Old School Podcast on Instagram @OldSchoolPod

Connect with the Humanitas Institute

HumanitasInstitute.org
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Pursuing embodied wonder and material wisdom: Chris Hall on the Common Arts

Humanitas Institute — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 02:00:00 -0700

In this episode of Forged, Chris Hall reflects on the formative power of the “common arts”—the ordinary skills and embodied practices that introduce us to the givenness of the world and manifest our humanity. Drawing on stories from the classroom and the farm, Hall argues that formation and education flourish when intellectual study is joined to hands-on craft, inviting students into apprenticeship, real responsibility, and attentiveness to the natural world. He also addresses the cultural divide between academic learning and vocational skill, urging a recovery of an older vision in which the liberal arts, practical arts, and fine arts enrich one another for the sake of a fully embodied, fully aware human life of discipline, delight, craft, and calling.

Contemplate or Exploit: Andy Crouch on Technology, Formation, and the Innovation Bargain

Humanitas Institute — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 02:00:00 -0700

In this Forged conversation, Andy Crouch argues that “we either contemplate or we exploit”—a bracing claim that frames his vision for stewarding our humanity in an age of technological convenience. Drawing on a biblical account of the human person as heart, soul, mind, and strength, he contends that genuine flourishing is found through the relational, embodied labors of home, church, and school. Crouch names the “innovation bargain” as a crucial lens for reckoning with technology’s costs, and he calls listeners back to shared household rhythms and focal practices as ordinary disciplines for becoming more fully human.

Crafting a Poetic Life with Malcolm Guite

Humanitas Institute — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 14:42:07 -0800

Poet, priest, and professor Malcolm Guite invites us into a conversation that moves from the Arthurian legend of the wounded king and ruined land to our own modern struggle to see the world as meaningful and alive. He shares how a childhood encounter with the Grail stories taught him that one reckless act can wound a whole world, and how healing begins with recovering wonder. Guite makes a compelling case for poetry and story as wisdom-bearers that help restore our vision. He closes with his radiant poem “O Sapientia,” a final invitation to recognize hidden wisdom “disguised as everything.”

The Ranger, the Teacher, and the Farmer: Forging a Coherent Life with Doug Woolery

Humanitas Institute — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 13:40:19 -0800

In this episode of Forged, host Brian Williams speaks with Doug Woolery—Army Ranger, teacher, coach, and farmer—about a life shaped by service, learning, and faith. Doug reflects on his journey from the military to the classroom, the impact of male educators, the importance of parental involvement, and the quiet lessons of farming. Drawing on his experiences as a parent and grandparent, he shares insights on coherence, contentment, and living a well-rounded life.

The Opening Question

Humanitas Institute — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 13:31:59 -0800

In the inaugural episode of the Forged and Composed podcasts, our hosts come together for a conversation about what it means to “forge” and “compose” a life marked by beauty, order, and purpose. Their dialogue explores human flourishing, focal practices, and the formative power of beauty, art, and community. Drawing on personal experience, they reflect on hospitality, generosity, nature, and the role of exemplars in shaping lives marked by meaning and fulfillment. Join us at the beginning.