“Sickening!” - Navy SEAL on Military Corruption, Charlie Kirk & Religion | Mike Ritland • 369
Julian Dorey · 30 Dec 2025 · 2h 42m
Guest: Mike Ritland · Host: Joey Def, Julian Dorey
A former Navy SEAL who now runs a K9 training business and hosts his own podcast sits down for a wide-ranging conversation covering foreign policy, domestic politics, philosophy, and the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's assassination. The guest reflects on his transition out of special operations after a medical discharge, arguing that purpose rather than constant hardship is what sustains people, and contrasts his own balanced approach with David Goggins' more extreme philosophy. Much of the discussion centers on institutional failure: the guest calls the Iraq war a strategic mistake, criticizes the financial incentives tying military brass to defense contractors, and proposes a jury-duty-style lottery system for selecting congressional representatives to remove money from politics. Both men trade views on Stoicism, particularly Marcus Aurelius, and how those ancient principles might explain human moral behavior independent of religious doctrine. They also discuss the psychological toll of emotionally charged issues like Israel-Palestine, arguing that strong emotion tends to crowd out logic on all sides. The conversation turns notably personal and somber when addressing the killing of Charlie Kirk, with the guest describing his shock at seeing celebratory reactions online and drawing a disturbing parallel to how enemy combatants are sometimes discussed, warning that treating political opponents as mortal enemies signals a dangerous societal shift. Digressions into film, parenting, wealth and entitlement, and the nuclear family round out the episode.
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What comes up
Timestamps link into the episode on YouTube.
- Reconnecting and podcasting life
- Common sense politics and Mamdani's NYC campaign
- Transitioning out of the SEALs into entrepreneurship
- David Goggins and balance versus obsession
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, and Stoic mindset
- Human nature, religion, and morality's origins
- Money, lobbying, and military-industrial conflicts of interest
- Lawfare, political prosecutions, and eroding norms
- Propaganda, social media, and distorted wars
- Christopher Nolan films and cultural tangents
- Nuclear family, parenting, and inherited wealth
- Charlie Kirk's assassination and societal dehumanization
Said on this episode
Quoted from the auto-generated transcript, which mishears names and technical terms. podcite.com reports what a show said; it does not endorse or fact-check it.
“Don't be the thermometer, be the thermostat in the room.”