The Inner Circle cover art

The Inner Circle

The Inner Circle

By: Mike Brown/Kevin Dahlstrom
Listen for free

About this listen

 Kevin Dahlstrom and Mike Brown are devoted to exploring one question: what makes a truly great life? The Inner Circle is a behind-the-scenes look into the conversations that they have off-camera. Join them for raw, unfiltered thoughts about money, work, identity, purpose, relationships, and spirituality. This show is a place to think out loud. Ideas do not need to be polished. Disagreement is welcome. The only requirement is honesty and a willingness to follow the truth—wherever it leads. The value comes from two people who trust each other enough to challenge assumptions, name blind spots, and stay in the conversation when it gets uncomfortable. Each episode focuses on a single topic and runs roughly fifteen minutes. The discussion is direct and unscripted, with the occasional guest joining when it adds perspective. Inner Circle opens a window into truth-seeking and invites you to listen in. If you want a place where real questions are taken seriously and thinking is allowed to evolve in real time, this will resonate.Copyright 2026 The Inner Circle Economics Leadership Management & Leadership Personal Development Personal Finance Personal Success
Episodes
  • I Found the Secret to a Great Life - Inner Circle Ep 12

    I Found the Secret to a Great Life - Inner Circle Ep 12
    Mar 27 2026
    You know that living in alignment requires honesty. You also know how easy it is to look away from the parts of your life that aren't working. So what does it actually take to close the gap? In this episode of The Inner Circle, Mike Brown and Kevin Dahlstrom dig into truth seeking as the foundation of a great life — and why so few people are willing to do it. What starts as a conversation about intellectual honesty quickly becomes something more personal: Mike's 16-year marriage that quietly wasn't working, Kevin's complicated reckoning with a father who was both remarkable and absent, and the liberating realization that two opposing things can both be true at once. They discuss: • Why intellectual dishonesty — especially in polarized politics — may actually be a sign of low intelligence • The difference between internal dissonance (lying to yourself) and external dissonance (lying to the world) • Why the fear of what you might have to do keeps you from seeing the truth clearly — and why you need to separate the two • How truth seeking transforms your relationships by forcing you to name the thing that's creating distance • Why building a great life is really just a process of systematically eliminating misalignment • The Greg LeMond principle: it never gets easier, you just get faster Mike shares how a 16-year marriage became the crucible that forced him into radical self-honesty. Kevin talks about arriving at the same conclusions through 20,000 hours in nature instead of therapy or books. If you have ever known something was wrong and looked away anyway, this episode will show you exactly what that's costing you. Connect with Kevin and Mike on X for more from The Inner Circle: Kevin Dahlstrom: https://x.com/Camp4 Mike Brown: https://x.com/mbrown_co
    Show More Show Less
    21 mins
  • How to Own Your Phone Without It Owning You - Inner Circle Ep 11

    How to Own Your Phone Without It Owning You - Inner Circle Ep 11
    Mar 20 2026
    You know your phone is draining you. You also know you can't put it down for good. So what does a sustainable relationship with it actually look like? In this episode of The Inner Circle, Mike comes back from a ten-day heli skiing trip, opens his phone, and realizes he cannot stomach what he has been willingly consuming every day. What follows is a conversation about war machines, concentric circles of impact, and the uncomfortable truth that most people have inverted the order of importance in their lives. They discuss: • Why Mike believes everyone should take at least one phone fast per year, and what becomes visible when you do • The realization Mike had in 2008 on an aircraft carrier that changed how he sees politics and war forever • How the market for negativity and misinformation is always larger than the market for positivity and truth, and why that matters • The concentric circles of service: why true change starts with yourself, then family, then community, then the world • Why writing before scrolling might be the boundary that keeps social media from destroying you • The specific ways people invert the order of importance by focusing on global problems while their own house burns down Mike shares the story of losing another friend this week, a veteran with all the tools and support who still could not make it. Kevin talks about his approach to Christianity and why he refuses to debate theology but will simply live accordingly. If you have ever opened your phone after a break and felt the contrast so sharply it made you want to throw the device away, this episode will help you understand what you have been tolerating. Connect with Kevin and Mike on X for more from The Inner Circle: Kevin Dahlstrom: https://x.com/Camp4 Mike Brown: https://x.com/mbrown_co
    Show More Show Less
    23 mins
  • How to Make Friends As An Adult - Inner Circle Ep. 10

    How to Make Friends As An Adult - Inner Circle Ep. 10
    Mar 14 2026
    In this episode of The Inner Circle, Mike and Kevin tackle a question most high performers quietly struggle with: how do you actually make friends as an adult? What starts as a conversation about meeting cool people quickly becomes something deeper, a discussion about loneliness, identity evolution, and the courage it takes to be deliberate about who you let into your life. They unpack: Why "you're the average of your five closest friends" is easy to say and brutally hard to execute The concept of equal energy exchange, and why it doesn't mean finding people just like you How to make explicit agreements with friends that eliminate guilt and obligation Why the length of friendship is a terrible measure of depth The art of letting friendships end gracefully without making it mean something about either person Why building an inner circle is more like a sales funnel than a lightning bolt Mike shares the exact "contracts" he makes with new friends upfront, and Kevin tells the story of a stranger on a Hawaiian hike who completely reframed how he thinks about connection. If you feel like your social circle happened to you rather than being chosen by you, this episode is a blueprint for changing that. Connect with Kevin & Mike on X for more from The Inner Circle: Kevin Dahlstrom: https://x.com/Camp4 Mike Brown: https://x.com/mbrown_co
    Show More Show Less
    21 mins
No reviews yet