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
293 episodes
Ep. 290: An Update: Waiting, Babies, Cardinals, and Pizza
Rafe updates things from last week, in particular, how did the waiting go? Did God make Good from Bad? Did the baby arrive? And have you made any mathematical advances in that time?Spoiler: the waiting went well. ...
Ep. 289: Patience is the Difference Between Just Waiting and Waiting Well
We do lots of waiting; such is the nature of life in a world moving through space and time. Is waiting a virtue or is it waiting well?Let's look at all the waiting that we do and how to deal with it.#wait #wa...
Ep. 288: Taking Love to the Stars — BBSH and AFRS Bob Luzenski Debriefs Us on Artemis II
Getting back to our regular Tuesday schedule, America's Favorite Rocket Scientist™ and Big Brain Smart Head™ Bob Luzenski joins Rafe to discuss NASA's highly successful Artemis II mission to the far side of the moon and back to earth.Ten...
Ep. 287: From Despair to Hope — An Easter Sunday Message from the Buf
Happy Easter! The Buf is still playing with the schedule a bit by re-dropping a classic episode originally from 2022 where Rafe discusses how the passage of time, and its subsequent change in perspective, changes our understanding of the ...
Ep. 286: Truth, Power, and the Passion — A Good Friday Message from the Buf
As it is Good Friday, the Buf is messing up the schedule a bit by re-dropping a classic episode originally from 2023 where Rafe takes a short solo episode to discuss the Passion and how it is the oldest and most common story in history: power i...
Ep 285: Discussing Forgiveness, Lent, Hell, and How To Love God, with BBSH™ Fr. Elliot Zak
Rafe hosts Big Brain Smart Head™ Fr Elliot Zak, Associate Pastor and Pastoral Vicar at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Carmel, Indiana, and peppers him with questions on the difference between licitness and validity, on the sinful n...
Ep 284: Fighting Dragons, Rocky Balboa, and Virtue (A Bufnagle Classic Re-drop)
In this fan favorite from way back in 2023, Rafe discusses the 1976 Academy Award Winning Movie Rocky and how it shows that to fulfill your calling to become what you were made to become, you must discipline yourself to practice...
Ep 283: Happy St. Patrick's Day — All About St. Patrick, and Some Other (Irish) Things
The Buf celebrates St. Patrick's Day with a discussion of Ireland's most famous saint and a number of other things. Born in Scotland but then captured and sold into slavery in Ireland, St. Patrick came to love Ireland and the Irish...
Ep 282: Happy Pi(e) Day! — Pi, Pies, Math, and An Alternative Circle Constant
Pi Day is March 14, due to its 3.14 notation. This week on the Buf, we discuss all things pi-related, including interesting pie words, the history of the precision of estimates of pi, how to think about radians, and why thinking about a d...
Ep 281: We're Doing Sports Wrong — Competition, Latin Prefixes, and Grace
Rafe discusses the 1969 Ryder Cup and Jack Nicklaus' concession of Tony Jacklin's final putt. A discussion of the Ryder Cup competition and some Latin-based words starting with com- or col- or con- or cor- or just co- reveals that this ev...
Ep 280: Artemis II and Starliner Updates — Why Is This So Difficult?
America's Favorite Rocket Scientist™ and Big Brain Smart Head™ Bob Luzenski joins Rafe for the second time this month to update the Buf on some interesting activities with Artemis II and Starliner.While Episode 277 was on the Buf pad sti...
Ep 279: Mardi Gras, Mob Football, Pancakes, and Shriving (A Buf Lenten Classic Re-drop)
Springtime brings Lent and with it come all the wonderful and wacky ways people prep for 40 days of preparation. In this fan favorite from 2023, Harry and Rafe discuss Shrove Tuesday traditions and how they bring us to understanding the b...
Ep 278: Romans, Valentines, Eros, Agape, Aquinas, and St. Paul
Rafe looks forward to (St.) Valentine's Day and what it means from the Romans' Lupercalia, to multiple Saints (and a pope) Valentine, to shoeboxes with pink construction paper, to candy hearts, to philia, eros, and agape
Ep 277: NASA Remembrances and New Hopes — AFRS™ BBSH™ Bob Luzenski on the Impending Artemis II Launch
America's Favorite Rocket Scientist™ and Big Brain Smart Head™ Bob Luzenski joins Rafe to discuss NASA's official remembrances during this time of year and hopes and aspirations for the upcoming Artemis II launch. After some solemn...
Ep 276: Candlemas, Groundhogs, Springtime, and Finding Pearls
Rafe discusses the Feast of Candlemas, the use of animals in the prediction in the timing of Spring, and the underlying themes of the movie Groundhog Day.
Ep 275: The Science of Foam — BBSH™ Derek Hales Joins the Buf to Discuss Mattresses and Sleep
The Buf welcomes Big Brain Smart Head™ Derek Hales, founder of naplab.com, to discuss the nature of mattresses, what they are made of, how they are tested, what they should cost, how they impact your sleep, and much much more. How ...
Ep 274: Ellipses, Rotations, and the Equation of Time
Rafe discusses the impact of (1) the earth's elliptical orbit and (2) the tilt of the axis of the earth's axis of rotation on setting clocks. It turns out that even though the earth is spinning at the same rate, the length of a day varys ...
Ep 273: Stones of Flesh and Blood — The Buf Reviews "The Stones of the Abbey"
Rafe got a great Christmas gift: the book "The Stones of the Abbey", by Fernand Pouillon. He's reviewing it for you this week on the Buf.This historical fiction account tells the story of a master building an abbey in Provence in F...
Ep 272: Bleak Midwinter, Rabbit Holes, and Christmas Carols (A Buf Christmas Classic Re-drop)
Redropping one of our favorite episodes from December 2024, 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 ...
Ep 271: "You're touring a saw mill? COUNT ME IN!" — The Buf Tours Frank Miller Lumber
Rafe recounts a recent tour of the sawmill at Frank Miller Lumber in Union City, IN, one of the world's largest producers of quarter sawn white oak lumber. A high-tech sawmill with state-of-the-art, computer-controlled, laser-assis...
Ep 270: "A Piece of a Grander Story" — Bufnagle 2025 France Trip Report, Part 3
Rafe tells the tale of a the third (and final) part of a recent trip to France, with stops Orléans and Paris.Along the way, we'll hear about Joan of Arc, Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Sainte-Chapelle, and Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Mon...
Ep 269: "Death is a clean line." — Bufnagle 2025 France Trip Report, Part 2
Rafe tells the tale of a the second part of a recent trip to France, with stops at the Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette and the Basilica of Our Lady of Fourvière (and other places!).The sun shines brighter, the birds sing sweeter, the fo...
Ep 268: Avignon, a Luthier, and Cloistered Nuns — Bufnagle 2025 France Trip Report, Part 1
Rafe tells the tale of a the first part of a recent trip to France to visit the cloistered nuns at ABBAYE NOTRE-DAME DE L'ANNONCIATION, along the way discussing a brief stop in Avignon to see ...
Ep 267: Firewood and Other Manifestations of Earth's Greatest Natural Resource
Rafe and Harry discuss the general wonders, and the specifics of the combustion, of wood, one of the great (if not the greatest!) natural resources on planet earth.Again, more proof that this planet was made for us....
Ep 266: A Great Explore — Lewis and Clark and Louisiana (A Buf Classic Re-drop)
Re-dropping a classic episode from the early, early days of the Buf: Rafe and Zach discuss Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery and their exploration of Louisiana, a gigantic chuck of land purchased by President Thomas Jefferson for the f...