Bufnagle: the Podcast
Join us for an entertaining and enlightening discussion of eclectic adventures in the pursuit of all things Good. Gain a better understanding of technology and science, history and philosophy, and leadership and success, all presented in a positive and affirming conversational framework. Big Brain SmartHead™ guests occasionally join the pair to bring actual expert knowledge to the conversation.
Episodes
230 episodes
Ep 227: "A Robot Can't Do That" — Nicholas Cage, Plato, Steampunk, and AI
Rafe discusses Nicholas Cage's lament over the coming of AI to film-making and along with it traces a history of Man's model for viewing Man as the hot technology of the times. Along the way we learn that Man is not a chariot, nor a wind-...
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Season 1
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Episode 227
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33:08
Ep 226: Cancel Buttons, Electronic Timers, and Wattage — Why This Ain't Your Grandfather's Toaster
Rafe finally gets an answer to why his toast takes so much longer to cook than it did when he was a kid, and it's not just an issue of nostalgia.
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Season 1
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Episode 226
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29:36
Ep 225: Times and Seasons — Free Yourself By Conceding to the Inherent Cycles of Nature
Harry and Rafe discuss the Nature of Time and how one conforms one's life to it. Do we live in harmony with seasons and cycles and rhythms of life or do we fight against them to control the world around us? Is what you are doing bri...
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Season 1
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Episode 225
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31:03
Ep 224: "Happiness is a drawer full of warm socks." — Shoveling Snow, Leisure, Work, and Efficiency
Harry and Rafe discuss shoveling snow as a lead-in to a discussion of work, leisure, and riding both sides of the road, as Chesterton would suggest, and doing both the working and playing very well.Along the way they discuss all manners...
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Season 1
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Episode 224
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41:07
Ep 223: Age and Wisdom — Reflecting on the Close of the Sixth Decade
Rafe discusses turning 60 (!) and a lifetime pursuit of Wisdom. Job's Poem on Wisdom provides some insight.
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Season 1
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Episode 223
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21:51
Ep 222: Books, Books, Books
Harry and Rafe discuss books from 2024 and ones they hope to consume in 2025.
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Season 1
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Episode 222
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41:04
Ep 221: Bufnagle Classic Re-drop: Luke's Christmas Story — "Be Not Afraid"
Redropping an episode from Advent 2022, Rafe goes solo to discuss the first two chapters of Luke's gospel, the backstory and the story of the Nativity.Along the way we cover the concept of quarter-year days and their bank holidays and t...
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Season 1
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Episode 221
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42:50
Ep 220: "A Thrill of Hope / A Weary World Rejoices" — Bleak Midwinter, Rabbit Holes, and Christmas Carols
Harry and Rafe start with the idea of a bleak midwinter, dart down some rabbit holes and tell some stories of old shenanigans, and end up on Christmas carols, in particular Sleigh Ride, O Holy Night, Cradle in Bethlehem
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Season 1
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Episode 220
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47:46
Ep 219: Bufnagle Classic Re-drop: Juan Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe Change the World
In an episode originally dropped in December 2023, Harry and Rafe discuss the appearance of the Virgin Mary to Juan Diego in 1531. A decade after the fall of the Aztec empire, Diego, a peasant convert in present-day Mexico, is visited fou...
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Season 1
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Episode 219
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34:48
Ep 218: Heroic Virtue, Rat Poison, and Wrestling with God — Big Brain Smart Head™ Fr. Elliot Zak Answers Hard-hitting Questions from the Buf
Rafe and Harry welcome back Fr. Zak to again answer the questions that you have always had but have been afraid to ask!
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Season 1
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Episode 218
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37:57
Ep 217: Vanilla, Garlic, St. Nicholas, and Irish Bars — A Conversation with Big Brain Smart Heads™ Sarah Schutte and Zach Donahue
Rafe welcomes BBSHs Sarah and Zach back on the show to discuss holiday traditions related to Thanksgiving, Christmas, Advent, and a whole bunch of other things.
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Season 1
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Episode 217
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44:17
Ep 216: It's Always All About Children
Rafe recounts a collection of recent interweb findings that spur him to think of the Joys that are children — in fact, they are really the only reason for doing anything. So, get going: get married and have some kids.
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Season 1
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Episode 216
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25:12
Ep 215: "An Episode That Triggers a New Way of Seeing" — A Conversation with Big Brain Smart Head™ Italian architect Ricardo Buratti
Rafe welcomes Big Brain Smart Head™ Italian architect Ricardo Buratti to discuss the nature of doing difficult things, being digestible to other people, being unforecastable, destiny, and putting yourself in positions to learn new ways of seein...
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Season 1
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Episode 215
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49:07
Ep 214: Benchy the Tugboat — A Discussion About 3D Printing
It turns out Harry got a 3d printer some time ago so Rafe decided to ask him to tell us all about it so you can probably guess how this is going to go...
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Season 1
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Episode 214
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32:30
Ep 213: Risk, Trust, Freedom, and Community — A Conversation with Noé Morin from La Table Ronde de l’Architecture
Rafe welcomes Big Brain Smart Head™ Noé Morin, Vice President of La Table Ronde de l’Architecture (TRA), the organization that oversaw the summer schools Rafe attended in July and August of 2024.Noé describes the history and go...
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Season 1
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Episode 213
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44:10
Ep 212: Catching Rockets; How Hard Could It Be?
Rafe is joined by Big Brain Smart Head™ Bob Luzenski, America's Favorite Rocket Scientist™, to discuss the recent engineering masterpiece by the engineers at SpaceX: catching a 71m long rocket that is falling to earth.Join us to find ou...
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Season 1
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Episode 212
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45:53
Ep 211: "Create Beautiful Good Things in Love" — Final Part (part 5) of Summer School 2024 Recap
Rafe describes the fifth and final part of his 8-week summer school: final project work, a parade for the Assumption, final presentations, craft week, a trip home, and some final take-aways:Try something new.Good people mak...
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Season 1
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Episode 211
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39:28
Ep 210: Starliner, Space Rescues, and Software
Rafe is joined by Big Brain Smart Head™ Bob Luzenski, America's Favorite Rocket Scientist™, to discuss issues surrounding Starliner and the complexities of space flight, engineering, and software. Recorded in mid-September, let's see how ...
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Season 1
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Episode 210
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47:37
Ep 209: Infinitely Precious Human Fabergé Eggs — Part 4 of Summer School 2024 Recap
With Harry still on hiatus, Rafe describes the fourth part of his 8-week summer school: the city of Bruges, nuns at the boarding school, philosophy and metaphysics, a shrubbery maze, enchantment and delight, the infinitude of the variety of the...
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Season 1
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Episode 209
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28:35
Ep 208: "Beauty. Magic. A fairy tale." — Part 3 of Summer School 2024 Recap
With Harry on hiatus, Rafe describes the third part of his 8-week summer school: an old castle, more crafts, wonderful desserts, pink sandstone, store fronts, parking lots, a Disney ending to 16 days in Barr, and a foreshadowing of more Joy com...
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Season 1
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Episode 208
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32:32
Ep 207: Blood, Shakespeare, and Johnny Mathis
Taking a break from the summer school recaps, Rafe goes solo and recounts a recent adventure he had while giving blood, tying in revenge and mercy from Shakespeare and one of the great love songs of all time, and getting a t-shirt and cookies f...
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Season 1
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Episode 207
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30:09
Ep 206: "I am at peace" — Part 2 of Summer School 2024 Recap
Rafe describes to Harry the second part of his 8-week summer school, in particular, a trip to the Strasburg cathedral and meeting craftsmen in Alsace. Discussion of church literacy, coffee shops and pubs, odd temperature scales, limestone...
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Season 1
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Episode 206
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42:19
Ep 205: "I fell in love with Barr" — Part 1 of Summer School 2024 Recap
Rafe describes to Harry the first part of his 8-week summer school, in particular, the first part of the course in Barr, Alsace, France. Discussion of vernacular architecture, storks, arches, Barr's "Golden Book", the metric system, and m...
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Season 1
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Episode 205
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42:04
Ep 204: Covid-24, Fiber Optics, and Summer School — A Rambling Conversation About Upcoming Topics
Harry and Rafe get back together to discuss how things have been for the last eight weeks. What follows is a typical Buf conversation about where the show will be headed for the next couple of weeks. Shenanigans abound, of course.&n...
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Season 1
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Episode 204
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19:54
Ep 203: "Be the Creed" — A Conversation with Catholic Manhood's Nick Sledge
Harry hosts Nick Sledge, founder of the Catholic Manhood social media site. Think of it as two young redneck fathers discussing Aristotle, Aquinas, architecture, and working to help get their families to heaven.Nick Sledge can be ...
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Season 1
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Episode 203
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40:15