Shows / HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive
Welcome to HeightsCast, the podcast of The Heights School. With over 200 episodes, HeightsCast discusses the education of young men fully alive in the liberal arts tradition. The program engages teachers and thought-leaders in the educational/cultural space to support our community of listeners: parents, teachers, and school leaders seeking to educate the young men in their care. Instead of downloads, HeightsCast's most important metric for success is the unknown number of thoughtful…
Episodes
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveFoundations of Hope: Raising Optimistic Men Fully Alive
This week on HeightsCast, we feature a recording of the first Heights Lecture event of the new school year, featuring Alvaro de Vicente: What is optimism? Is…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveDr. Mehan on Preparing for Bad News: Raising Men Who Can Handle It
Bad news is all around us. It always has been. It always will be. As if personal and family challenges weren't enough, we have an attention economy that seems…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveWhen Is Your Son Ready for a Smart Phone? Mr. de Vicente on Self-Mastery, Technology, and Parental Discernment
In this week's episode, headmaster Alvaro de Vicente helps us develop a philosophy of technology. Building off previous conversations on The Forum with Cal…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveIs The Heights a Classical School?
Like a tree, whose roots are firmly planted in the ground and whose branches reach toward the sky above, education at The Heights is at once traditional and…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveAn Introduction to Natural History with Eric Heil: On the Study of Our World Fully Alive
In certain school systems, it is perhaps more common to find students dissecting samples and diagraming abstractions. The boys in the Lower School at The…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveWhat is literacy? Lionel Yaceczko on "How to Read a Book"
Ray Bradbury once remarked that, to destroy a culture, burning books is not necessary; all that is needed is to convince people to stop reading them. And, of…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveDr. Mehan on Children's Literature and Human Flourishing: Introducing the Handsome Little Cygnet
Dr. Matt Mehan introduces us to The Handsome Little Cygnet, a delightful book about a Cygnet growing up in the heart of the big apple. Our fluffy hero…
- HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive
Family Culture with Mr. Alvaro de Vicente
What Winston Churchill once said of buildings, we too can say of family culture. Namely, that we first shape it, and thereafter it shapes us. Indeed, this is…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveRethinking College: Why go? How? When?
If the recent pandemic has taught us anything, it is that the unexpected is to be expected. While certainly not always easy, we have also perhaps learned that…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveFreedom in Quarantine: Daniel Bernardus on Leonardo Polo
In his famous intellectual and spiritual autobiography, Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton remarks that the main problem for philosophers is how they can "contrive to…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveCal Newport on Digital Minimalism: Creating a Philosophy of Personal Technology Use, Part II
Missed Part I? Click here. Continuing last week's conversation, in this episode Dr. Newport delves into two things that have become ubiquitous in our lives…
- HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive
Cal Newport on Digital Minimalism: Creating a Philosophy of Personal Technology Use
For these next two episodes, we welcome back Dr. Cal Newport, professor of computer science at Georgetown University and New York Times bestselling author of…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveMentoring Sons to a Successful Summer
While summer is a time for rest and relaxation, it is also an opportunity for personal growth. Indeed, the increase in external freedom, which the summer…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveOn Friendship after Senior Year: Higher Stakes and Beautiful Opportunities
What is present in every Platonic dialogue, the subject of one of Cicero's famous letters, and the kind of relationship Christ wished to have with his twelve…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveForming iGen: Strategies and Considerations for "Parents Fully Aware" (Part 3)
Mr. de Vicente concludes this three part series on raising iGen. Given the forces and impact of our digital world and general culture, our headmaster presents…
- HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive
Forming iGen: The Impact on our Sons (Part 2)
Mr. de Vicente continues his discussion of iGen, turning from the protecting, distracting, unsettling forces that have affected our sons to the impact of those…
- HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive
Forming iGen: On the Forces that Shaped Them (Part 1)
Our headmaster begins a three episode series on iGen. In today's episode, Mr. de Vicente explores the influences and forces that have overprotected…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveFact or Opinion: On Preventing (or Unwinding) Moral Relativism
In this week's episode Mr. Michael Moynihan discusses an exercise that allows teachers to isolate the relativistic variable in the moral minds of their…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveOn Home as Social Hub: The Importance of Hosting our Sons and their Friends
Mr. Tom Royals, Assistant Headmaster of The Heights, offers his thoughts on the importance of hosting our sons and their friends at home. Rather than being a…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveOn Home Schooling the Future Heights Boy
Lower School Head, Colin Gleason, offers some high level thoughts and general considerations for homeschooling families during this, a year that has seen an…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveForming Wise, Courageous, Risk-Takers
Why all the tree climbing, virtue talk, and fancy old books? It's all part of our grand conspiracy to form wise, courageous, risk-takers. Hear our Headmaster…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveInferno or Paradiso? On Introducing Students to the Divine Comedy
Dr. Jason Baxter, Academic Dean at Wyoming Catholic College and author of The Beginners Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy offers his thoughts on how to introduce…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AlivePerforming Books Aloud: Don't Just Read Aloud... Perform!
Today we feature an interview with Tom Longano, author of two recently published books: The Blue Book of Stories and The Red Book of Stories. A Heights…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveThe Middle School Years
Heights Middle School Head, Mr. Andy Reed, discusses the middle school years. Drawing on his years of experience working with middle school boys and their…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveThe Costs of Closing: Accompanying our Sons through Covid
Our lives have been altered in ways few of us thought possible before March 2020. As a school, we wouldn't presume to broadcast our opinions on matters of…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveFriendship for the 21st Century Boy
Heights Headmaster, Alvaro de Vicente, shares his thoughts on friendship. We are told that friendship is one of the highest goods of human existence. Yet…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveForming Free Spirits in Close Quarters
Middle School Head, Andy Reed, offers helpful, practical, guidance for parents seeking to finish the academic year well under these historically challenging…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive"Will he be happy?": Fostering Gratitude in a Fast-Paced World
As parents, one of our primary duties is to help our children discover that gratitude is a path to lasting happiness. But where is the trailhead and how do we…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveStudent-Schedules During Corona: On Ordered Living While Learning from a Distance
Mr. de Vicente offers his advice to students during these Corona months. Establishing and executing an ordered plan of life is critical for students wishing to…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveThe Bedrock Principle of Fatherhood
Dads, how often do we try to strong arm our sons into success? Is this the best way? Even if your son achieves success, is it his win or is it yours? Join Andy…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveForming your Young Son's Conscience
This week on HeightsCast we feature a recording of our most recent Heights Lecture Series featuring Colin Gleason, who discusses the formation of conscience in…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveFr. Carter Griffin on Fostering Vocations in a Digital Age
Fr. Carter Griffin, Rector of the St. John Paul II Seminary in Washington, DC, shares his thoughts on vocation. Where are vocations coming from? What are the…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveBuilding a Relationship of Trust with Your Son
Our headmaster, Alvaro de Vicente, offers a lecture on how to build a solid relationship of trust with your son. This relationship matters because it is the…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveCharacter Formation in Elite Athletics: UVA Assistant Basketball Coach Brad Soderberg
Brad Soderberg, Assistant Coach for the UVA Men's Basketball Team, shares his thoughts on coaching and parenting character through athletics at a very high…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveThe Education of "Men Fully Alive": The Mission and Vision of The Heights
Hear our Headmaster, Alvaro de Vicente, explain the mission and vision of The Heights. For 50 years, we have partnered with parents to form "men fully alive"…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveSmart Phones: Why Wait When He's "The Only One."
Smart phones present unprecedented challenges to parents. Consequently, we are encouraged to "wait until 8th." Head of Heights Mentoring, Joe Cardenas, wonders…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveMaterial Order and the Middle School Boy
In this episode, Mr. Kyle Blackmer explores the virtue of order and how we, as parents partnering with teachers, can share it with our middle school boys. It…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveOn Manners: The "ABC's" of Virtue
Are manners stodgy vestiges of a bygone aristocratic age? At The Heights, we'd offer a resounding "no." Manners matter, and as parents and teachers, these…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveGuidance for Aspiring Teachers
Headmaster Alvaro de Vicente offers advice to individuals interested in stepping to the front of the classroom. What sort of temperament best suits a teacher?…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveEducating "Practically Wise Governors": On Prudence and the Liberal Arts
Dr. Matt Mehan explores the relationship between practical and speculative wisdom in the liberal arts education. He explains that "an education in the liberal…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveLeading our Sons Towards Integrity
Lower School Head, Colin Gleason, offers a Heights Lecture on integrity. He shares how honesty requires far more than merely telling the truth; our boys must…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveOn Hiring Teachers: Drafting a Faculty of Friends
In today's episode of HeightsCast, Heights Headmaster Alvaro de Vicente discusses hiring, the attributes of the teachers he hires, and where he finds them. A…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveU. of Dallas President, Dr. Thomas Hibbs
Newly installed University of Dallas President, Dr. Thomas Hibbs, discusses the challenges facing higher education in the liberal arts. How should parents…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveU. of Dallas President, Dr. Thomas Hibbs
Newly installed University of Dallas President, Dr. Thomas Hibbs, discusses the challenges facing higher education in the liberal arts. These challenges are…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AlivePatriotism and Piety: Honoring Founders and Fathers
In today's episode, Dr. Matt Mehan explores the virtue of patriotism. We forget that this is a virtue, especially in a digital age that unleashes and…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveGuidelines for Dating
In this episode, Mr. de Vicente: Discusses the three prerequisites for a healthy young-adult relationship: Good Intentions, Other-Centric Worldview…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive"The Talk": On the Role of Schools and Fathers
In this episode, Upper School Head, Michael Moynihan discusses how we as a School partner with fathers to help them share God's plan for marriage and human…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveEmotions Fully Alive: Forming Boys' Affectivity Part II
In Brief: Training in virtue requires attention not only to intellect and will, but to emotions as well. Complete virtue requires not only a knowledge of, and…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveThe Grindstone Skills: On Latin in Education, Part II
This week on HeightsCast, Dr. Lionel Yaceczko discusses the study of Latin as the best way to develop our students' "grindstone skills": the abilities to…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveThe Grindstone Skills: On Latin in Education, Part I
This week on HeightsCast, Dr. Lionel Yaceczko discusses the study of Latin as the best way to develop our students' "grindstone skills": the abilities to…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveRekindling the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Every year, bishops around the country visit their flocks to offer the sacrament of Confirmation to young people. In this episode, Mr. Jeff Thompson shares how…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveEmotions Fully Alive: Forming Boys' Affectivity
In this episode, Head of Mentoring, Joe Cardenas, explains the importance of training the emotions of our aspiring "men fully alive." Often we see education as…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveLying to Dumbledore: On Moral Consequentialism in Children's Literature
Contemporary children's literature often celebrates children lying or worse to accomplish "good" ends. As parents of avid readers, we must be aware. Joe…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveDecisive Parenting
This week on Heightscast, an interview with Head of Upper School, Michael Moynihan, on his new book, Decisive Parenting. For more information or to purchase…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AlivePraise and Affirmation without Flattery
Heights Teacher and Mentor, Alex Berthe, discusses the importance of proper praise in the moral development of boys. Our culture tends towards two extremes: we…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveForming Men of Faith
As a community of believing parents and teachers, passing the Faith on to our sons' is mission essential. Heights Headmaster, Alvaro de Vicente, discusses how…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveThe Strategic Enterprise of Upper School Study, a.k.a. "Homework"
Join two Freshman Core teachers, Gerard Babendreier and Joe Cardenas, for a discussion about how high schoolers should approach their study. To simply call…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully AliveMathematics: The Lost Liberal Art
David Maxham explores the role of Mathematics in a Liberal Arts education. Contrary to popular perception, the Liberal Arts include a robust commitment not…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive"Who am I?": The Question of Persona, Part 2
For Part 1, click here. As boys grow into men they grapple with important questions: "who am I?"; "why am I here?"; "what is my purpose?" Mr. de Vicente takes…
HeightsCast: Forming Men Fully Alive"Who am I?": The Question of Persona
As boys grow into men they grapple with important questions: "who am I?"; "why am I here?"; "what is my purpose?" Mr. de Vicente takes on the question of…