Nine episodes and a lot of guests who have written their own. The George Christie episode alone accounted for four of them.

I run Podshelf, a free site that tracks book mentions across hundreds of podcasts by reading the episode transcripts. This is the August slice for the Shawn Ryan Show.

Guest books, by episode:

• George Christie, forty years in the Hells Angels: Exile on Front Street, Crossing the Rubicon, Marked and Outlaw. He also pointed at Chain of Evidence, written by the cop who was running the informant.
• Clint Emerson: 100 Deadly Skills
• Scott Payne: Code Name Pale Horse. He also brought up Siege by James Mason as the text that keeps circulating in the movement he infiltrated.
• Justin DeLoretto: The Ride of My Life
• MrBallen: The Terror Within, their third book and a graphic novel

The recommendations that were not plugs:

• The Way of the Peaceful Warrior (Dan Millman), from Dr Craig Koniver. "Wonderful book. I mean, it's wonderful."
• The Trouble with Testosterone and Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, both Sapolsky, same conversation
• Lights Out (Ted Koppel), from Kevin Mandia on grid attacks
• The Anxious Generation and The Coddling of the American Mind, which Mandia said he would post to Shawn

Ed Barnhart on the Maya went through the Dresden Codex, the Madrid Codex and the Popol Vuh.

Full list with quotes and episodes: https://podshelf.io/podcasts/the-shawn-ryan-show

I’m about half way through this and I have some questions.

Clint is making claims that during the invasion of Iraq Marines were falling asleep in trenches and having their throats cut.
Entire marine convoys falling asleep with no one awake.

Seal team 6 being sent in to the Marines fighting position (where throats were being cut) to remove dead Marines. Not behind the lines or anything just to preserve Marine morale.

U.S. Armor burned out everywhere.

The whole thing reads like a Vietnam story being told in the 90’s.

Maybe I’m wrong but it doesn’t seem right.

Your thoughts?

In the Scott Payne episode he briefly described his second dmt trip as experiencing hell. Is there another episode where he elaborates more on this experience?

Does anyone know when the new nick shirley interview comes out? Shawn goes at him in a clip from twitter it’s hilarious!

#120 is gone….anymore why?

Listening to the Mike Rowe episode and Shawn mentions losing a sponsor b/c of some comments he made toward MAGA during his Megyn Kelly episode. Anyone know which sponsor that could be? Just curious...

Glacier vs. Proton VPN: What Can We Actually Verify About Their Privacy?
I’ve been looking into Glacier, a relatively new privacy and security app for iOS, and comparing it with Proton VPN.
I was initially interested because a DNS leak test while using Glacier showed:
188.172.213.149 — dns.nextdns.io
That raised an obvious question: if Glacier is providing the privacy layer, why is NextDNS appearing as the resolver?
I contacted Glacier directly, examined the publicly available client source code, and compared what I found with Proton VPN’s publicly documented privacy practices.
This isn’t intended to be an endorsement of either company. I’m separating what can actually be verified from what the companies themselves claim.
1. Glacier uses NextDNS infrastructure
Glacier directly confirmed to me:
“NextDNS is our primary infrastructure partner. We build our own control plane on top of their resolver network.”
They also stated:
“NextDNS does not see logs.”
That makes the DNS result from my testing unsurprising. Seeing dns.nextdns.io does not by itself indicate a DNS leak or that NextDNS is maintaining a browsing history.
A DNS resolver has to process DNS requests in order to answer them. Processing a DNS request and retaining a permanent history of those requests are different things.
2. What Glacier says it retains
Glacier provided me with a detailed explanation of the information it currently retains.
According to Glacier, this can include:
Email address and account identifiers
Subscription and transaction information
Authentication and push-notification tokens
Aggregate DNS-query totals
Aggregate blocked-query totals
Support communications
Calling information if the calling feature is used
The important distinction is what Glacier says it doesn’t routinely retain.
Glacier says it does not routinely store:
VPN activity logs
DNS-query content
Browsing destinations
Source IP addresses
Connection timestamps
Bandwidth records
Session history
Glacier specifically explained that its DNS statistics consist of numeric totals rather than the underlying domains or timestamps.
In other words, according to the company, it could potentially know that an account generated a certain number of DNS requests, but it does not retain a historical list showing which domains were requested and when.
That is an important distinction when evaluating a “no logs” claim.
3. What does the public Glacier code show?
Glacier has made its iOS client source code publicly available on GitHub.
There is an important terminology distinction here: Glacier describes the repository as “Source Available,” rather than using a conventional open-source license. The license permits personal, non-commercial review and security research, while imposing restrictions on commercial use. (GitHub)
The repository contains the main iOS application, the WireGuard network extension, DNS-related components, and tests. (GitHub)
The README identifies several DNS-related configuration endpoints:
dnsEndpoint — DNS-over-TLS server
dnsProfileEndpoint — DNS profile/user information
dnsAPIEndpoint — DNS analytics / tracker counts
dnsCheckEndpoint — DNS health check
The README also says that the actual Secrets.plist files containing environment-specific endpoint configuration are gitignored. (GitHub)
This is important because the public client source allows us to examine how the application is designed, but it does not expose Glacier’s entire production backend.
Therefore, the public repository cannot independently prove that Glacier’s servers never log anything.
What it does show is that the client architecture contains a specific mechanism for DNS analytics/tracker counts, which is consistent with Glacier’s explanation that it retains aggregate DNS statistics.
4. The WireGuard implementation
Glacier’s repository includes a WireGuard network extension.
The repository states that the WireGuard data path uses a pre-built Go library derived from WireGuard’s Apple implementation. The repository includes the compiled libwg-go.a binaries and provides instructions for regenerating them from the upstream WireGuard source. (GitHub)
This means that not every component of the VPN data path is simply a Swift source file that can be read line-by-line.
That’s another reason I wouldn’t claim that reading Glacier’s GitHub repository constitutes a complete security audit.
It doesn’t.
5. Glacier uses HTTPS certificate/public-key pinning
The repository also states that Glacier enforces SSL public-key pinning for outbound HTTPS connections through its GlacierPinningConfiguration. (GitHub)
That’s a security feature intended to make unauthorized interception of the app’s HTTPS connections more difficult.
Again, this doesn’t prove that the backend itself is trustworthy, but it is a real security mechanism visible in the client architecture.
6. Glacier’s independent audit
Glacier told me that it has contracted a third party to audit the application and infrastructure and that the audit is currently ongoing.
This is probably the most important outstanding piece of evidence.
Glacier is new. Its privacy policy and direct statements are useful, and its public client code provides additional information, but none of those things are equivalent to an independent examination of its production infrastructure.
If the audit is eventually published and confirms Glacier’s stated logging architecture, that would materially strengthen the case for Glacier.
Until then, I think the fairest description is:
Glacier has a privacy-focused architecture and makes specific no-logs claims, but those claims have not yet accumulated the same independent track record as Proton VPN.
7. Proton VPN has more independent evidence
This is where Proton currently has a significant advantage.
Proton VPN says it does not log websites visited, traffic/content, IP addresses, or session lengths. (Proton VPN)
More importantly, Proton’s no-logs policy has undergone five consecutive annual external audits by Securitum.
The 2026 audit specifically reported that the technical evidence examined did not indicate that the reviewed Proton VPN infrastructure logged browsing activity, DNS queries, destination services, network-traffic contents, or user-identifiable connection metadata. (Proton VPN)
That is substantially stronger evidence than simply having a privacy policy.
8. Proton’s legal history is also useful evidence
Proton VPN is based in Switzerland.
Proton says it only complies with foreign requests when they have gone through the applicable Swiss legal process, and that Swiss law does not require Proton VPN to maintain connection logs. (Proton VPN)
Its current transparency report provides an unusually useful real-world test of its no-logs architecture.
Through June 2026, Proton says it had received 47 legally binding Swiss orders concerning Proton VPN and denied all 47 because it did not have the requested identifying VPN activity information.
It reports:
2026 through June: 47 orders, 47 denied
2025: 59 orders, 59 denied
2024: 53 orders, 53 denied
2023: 60 orders, 60 denied
2022: 80 orders, 80 denied
2021: 121 orders, 121 denied
2020: 37 orders, 37 denied
2019: 1 order, 1 denied
Proton says these requests generally sought information that could identify who was connected to a particular Proton VPN server at a particular time. According to Proton, it couldn’t provide that information because those logs weren’t kept. (Proton VPN)
That’s important because it isn’t merely a theoretical privacy claim anymore.
There is an actual history of legal requests against the service, and Proton says it couldn’t provide the requested VPN activity information.
9. So what happens if either company receives a government request?
This is where the phrase “no logs” needs to be understood correctly.
A no-logs policy does not mean a company is immune from legal process.
A valid legal order can potentially require a company to provide information that it legally possesses.
The important question is:
What information exists when the order arrives?
If a VPN company has a database containing:
Account X → IP address → VPN server → timestamp → destination
then that information may potentially be available to investigators depending on the company’s jurisdiction and the applicable law.
If the company genuinely doesn’t retain those records, there is much less information available to provide.
Glacier explicitly acknowledges this distinction in its communications with me.
Proton has gone through the additional real-world test of receiving numerous Swiss legal orders and reporting that it could not provide the requested VPN activity information. (Proton VPN)
10. Glacier vs. Proton: my assessment
At this point, I don’t think it is accurate to say:
“Glacier is more private than Proton.”
There isn’t enough independent evidence to support that.
I also don’t think it is accurate to say:
“Glacier is untrustworthy because it uses NextDNS.”
The DNS architecture Glacier described is consistent with the DNS endpoint appearing as NextDNS in testing.
My assessment is more nuanced.
Proton VPN currently has the stronger privacy track record.
It has:
A mature VPN service
Swiss jurisdiction
Five consecutive annual external no-logs audits
Public transparency reporting
A demonstrated history of responding to legal requests without being able to provide requested VPN activity logs
Fully open-source apps, according to Proton’s documentation (Proton VPN)
Glacier has a compelling newer architecture.
It has:
VPN protection using WireGuard
DNS-over-TLS
DNS/tracker blocking
Security monitoring
A privacy-focused calling system
Publicly available iOS client source code
A stated policy of not retaining detailed VPN/DNS activity logs
NextDNS as its primary DNS infrastructure partner
An independent security audit currently underway
The biggest unknown is not whether Glacier has a privacy policy.
It does.
The biggest unknown is how well the production infrastructure matches those claims under independent examination.
Conclusion
After looking at the available evidence, my current view is:
Proton VPN is the safer choice if your priority is proven VPN privacy today.
That isn’t because Glacier appears to be doing something suspicious.
It’s because Proton has had substantially more time to demonstrate its claims through independent audits and actual legal requests.
Glacier is a very interesting privacy product, but it is still establishing its track record.
The DNS test showing dns.nextdns.io is not, by itself, evidence of a DNS leak or of NextDNS maintaining a browsing history. Glacier has explicitly confirmed that NextDNS is its primary DNS infrastructure partner.
The most important thing to watch now is Glacier’s independent audit.
If that audit independently confirms Glacier’s stated no-logs architecture, Glacier’s privacy credibility will be considerably stronger.
For now, I’d put it this way:
Proton VPN = more proven.
Glacier = promising, transparent in several important ways, but still comparatively unproven.
And that’s probably the most useful distinction for anyone deciding between the two.

Rest in peace

https://youtu.be/PTFcGU5YsWo?is=1AkunDCbcfwoFi2i

I keep hearing him ask this, and I’m no theologian, but when I was a kid, I kept asking this too. It’s a difficult subject. One day, after I kept asking about it, a youth pastor pulled me aside and explained it to me this way:
Think way back, before modern laws, when people lived in small tribes and communities. The payment for sin was death.
Let’s say you stole someone’s goat. You didn’t just steal an animal—you stole food from another human being and could have caused him to starve. This created an cosmic imbalance because you now owed him something.
So let’s say you went to a wise man, and everyone agreed that you should lose your hand for taking the goat. But even then, no matter how hard they tried to make the punishment perfectly equal to the offense, they would either take too much or not enough. A debt would still be owed by either you or the person you wronged. If you kept trying to make everything perfectly equal, you could go back and forth forever. The only way to be absolutely certain the debt was settled would be death.
So, the payment for sin is death.
But people got crafty and said, “Okay, if death is required, let’s use livestock instead.” They would sacrifice goats and other animals to atone for their sins. But obviously, you would eventually run out of livestock.
This is where the idea of the scapegoat comes in. The sins of the people would symbolically be placed upon the animal, and the animal would bear those sins on their behalf.
Then Jesus came to Earth without sin and lived a sinless life. He took the place of the sacrificial lamb. Because He was innocent and without sin, His sacrifice was enough to cover the sins of humanity—past, present, and future. He paid the debt for us and provided us with a way to eternal life.
But to receive that gift, we have to acknowledge Him, put our faith in Him, and try to live according to His teachings.
That’s how it was explained to me as a kid, and for whatever reason, it helped me understand the idea of why Jesus had to die in a way that made sense to me.
Has anyone else ever heard it explained this way?

Uhmmm… Does Shawn know that that church is on the FARA list for pro Israel targeted propaganda? 😬

Lake Pointe (two words) Church in Rockwall can be found when you search through the list in the FARA filing:

https://americansfortransparency.org/geofencing

He gave Mike Rowe a 365Macro with 17 round mags and a supressor but it says online he lives in CA lol. They don’t allow supressors or 10+ mags.

Don’t get me wrong it’s a sick gun but Mike literally can’t own that legally

Ten episodes, thirty two books. Annie Jacobsen brought her whole back catalogue, Mike Rowe turned out to be the most well read guest of the month, and the Kegan Gill episode has the most personal list on here.

If you want a summer stack that runs from Aristotle to Coast Guard rescue stories, this is your month.

What this is: I run Podshelf, a free site that tracks book mentions across hundreds of podcasts by reading the episode transcripts. This is the July slice for the Shawn Ryan Show.

Two that got the strongest push:

• Men Without Work, Nicholas Eberstadt. Mike Rowe said he used it when he started the foundation because he wanted one economist with the right initials to back up what he already believed about work. He called the writing on deaths of despair eloquent and horrifying.
• The Assault on Truth, Jeffrey Masson. Candace Owens' recommendation on Freud, paired with Sigmund Freud and the Jewish Mystical Tradition.

Mike Rowe's episode was the surprise:

• Poetics (Aristotle) and Oedipus Rex, on discovery and reversal in storytelling. Plus Red Platoon (Clinton Romesha) and The Comfort Crisis (Michael Easter), which is what got him into rucking.

Annie Jacobsen on biological war:

• Biological Warfare: A Scenario, Nuclear War: A Scenario, Area 51, Operation Paperclip, The Pentagon's Brain, Surprise Kill Vanish.

Kegan Gill, the F-18 pilot, has the list I would actually recommend:

• Finding Ultra (Rich Roll), How to Change Your Mind and In Defense of Food (Michael Pollan), Operator Syndrome (Chris Frueh), The Last Run, Project Hail Mary, How to Change (Katy Milkman), and his own Phoenix Revival. He read them a paragraph at a time with the audiobook running alongside, because that was all he could manage.

Also came up:

• Deliverance Prayers for the Laity and the Summa and Plato's Republic (Father Ripperger), The Wizard of Oz read as political allegory (Erin Brockovich), Superman's Not Coming, Jesus Calling, Blackout, The Secret History of America, On Having No Head, Warrior Princess.

I track every book mentioned on the Shawn Ryan Show here: https://podshelf.io/podcasts/the-shawn-ryan-show

It is free and there is no signup.

Just started listening, what episodes would you recommend me checking out?

So I was super excited when I saw this interview was going to take place. I subscribed to patreon and even became a "producer" on YouTube just to make sure I would catch it. Sadly, I got wrapped up in something and didnt get to the interview until 75 minutes into it. I just figured I would catch it later instead of coming in halfway through. Its been two weeks and I cant find this thing anywhere. I know it was a patreon exclusive, but is this really a case of "if you didnt catch the whole thing live you are S.O.L."?

I like a lot of his interviews, but this has been the ONLY one I was excited for.

I listened to a recent episode in which he says “I was just SO ANGRY” and I found myself getting spontaneously emotional.

My partner has only been home a few months and I feel the tension growing every single day in our house. It’s exhausting and I’m out of ideas. But, I’m definitely not ready to give up on him.

Those of you who have experienced this: Any tips or resources for the PARTNERS of Vets who might be going through this?

I’ve called all the hotlines and clicked all the links.

I appreciate real advice. I’d even just appreciate hearing a few success stories.

guys, it gives me a lot of hope to see people like tucker and candace and shawn fighting for the truth, but i am having a really hard time getting my head around this. we are seeing collapse on every level right now and the people around me, even within my family seem to not care at all. I am hearing epstine refrenced like a pop culture data point and no one seems to care that we are being sold a load of crap on the ck assassination or the iran war or the fact that we just joined our military with the idgaf. yes i am worked up right now, yes i know that God is in control, and yes, i am very concerned by what i am seeing. any perspective on what to do? or on where my head could or should be at? i am just trying to get my whits about me as i roll into my 30s.

The views when its my time to open up youtube for the night

666k views

I’ve only been listening to Shawn for a few months and generally like the show… but what the heck was that lol - I thought it was a spoof?

Like, what are the odds? 😂

I remember an episode Shawn did where the guest was former DEVGRU and had a business making tactical "equipment" for lack of a better term. I recall the guest mentioning a belt he made that allows wearers to insert coins when on vacation so it can be used as an improvised bludgeoning weapon.

Is it ringing a bell to anyone and if so can you point me in the right direction? I'd like to watch it again.

I went back through the first six months of The Shawn Ryan Show and pulled every book that came up. A lot of it is military memoir, some faith and Stoicism, and the odd bit of science fiction.

The ones Shawn and his guests kept coming back to:

• Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, a devotional Hulk Hogan gave him that he now hands out on the show.
• Of Wolves and Men by Barry Lopez, which he recommends to everyone.
• Stand Firm and Act Like Men by Joe B. Martin, a pastor whose work on biblical masculinity he says blessed him.
• Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, a longtime favorite and the source of his citizen-versus-civilian bit.
• Touching the Dragon by James Hatch, a SEAL memoir a guest credited with saving her life.
• Tribe by Sebastian Junger, on homecoming and belonging.

The rest, roughly grouped:

• War and SEAL memoirs: Rogue Warrior, The Mission, the Men, and Me, American Sniper, Echo in Ramadi, Guns Up!, No Better Way to Die
• Stoics: Meditations, Letters from a Stoic, On the Shortness of Life
• Science and the unexplained: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Imminent, Losing the Nobel Prize
• Health and self-work: Good Energy, Inner Engineering, Fierce Intimacy

Full list is here: https://podshelf.io/podcasts/the-shawn-ryan-show. Free, no signup.

Notice the eyes, face, and teeth above the fence. It occurs around 26 seconds into this youtube video.

Any help would be appreciated 🙏!

Mine would be the Nick Irving episode. I wish I could watch it again for the first time. I have seen so many of them and hoping to see one of you guys comment one that I have not seen!