Free Will Burning Podcast - Steve R. Patterson

Hey everybody! As you know, we cover a lot of ground here—from our NWOBHM roots and Gen X "never give up" attitude to the chaotic health journeys that led to both my brother and me receiving liver transplants. Whether it's me living as an expat in Colombia or Troy on the banks of the Mississippi, we keep it real.

This week is easily the one I’ve been most excited about since we started this channel last October (over 1k subs, TYVM!). This story embodies it all: metal, resilience, and a historical discovery that completely changes the timeline of extreme music.

We’re diving into the "Ultra Metal" scene of 1980s Medellín—a sound born in a war zone that predated the legends of Scandinavia. We have guests who aren't just historians; they were there then and are still touring today.

Hold on folks. Part one drops tomorrow. It’s raw, it’s loud, and we’re all learning this together for the first time. (Tip to Hedberg). 🤘

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 1

Free Will Burning Podcast - Steve R. Patterson

Everyone, I just uploaded a video of the new home my wife and I signed another one-year lease on. We’re waiting to see if our immigration into the United States is going to be approved; as you know, Colombia is on the list of banned nations now, so our application for my wife—which was 15 months in—stopped last January. We are currently in limbo. I posted a video so you can take a look at the place; we move in in a couple of weeks.

In other news, we only live about two miles from that place, and I just ran out to the store—the same store in the same small town that doesn’t even have stoplights and really just one intersection. When I came out of the store, four members of the Colombian military had set up a little stop at that intersection. That’s fairly typical, though I’d never seen it right in town.

I was the only car to approach. Now, you have to picture what I mean by "Colombian military." These guys look like they just came out of a jungle warfare school, complete with full camouflage, long guns, helmets, and two motorcycles for the four of them. All of them looked about 20 years old.

As always, they were extremely polite. They just looked and waved me through, no problem. I wasn’t expecting anything remotely like a problem, and I wasn’t nervous; I was actually kind of excited to get to see them up close. It’s a weird relationship, with the police and military being loved by the people so much in this area because they provide security—and the bad guys definitely are out there.

4 weeks ago | [YT] | 1

Free Will Burning Podcast - Steve R. Patterson

Hey everyone. If you have any comments, questions, or insights on anything I say, or discuss with my brother Troy in the various versions of the podcast, please feel free to reach out.

Ask away, share your thoughts—whatever.

I am trying to present this as just real conversation, which it literally is between my brother and me, after not being in contact much for about 20 years before we both oddly received liver transplants.

That is why we seem all over the map. We are remembering in real time, commenting on real time, and genuinely doing this because we want to. That’s it.

Me personally, I want us to archive as humans what it is to be a human American that lived this life. Not a movie about the '80s, or some jaded or overly glossy slop—just how it was, how it is now, and what happened.

So please, comment. Sometimes we don’t really have anything to talk about and do it anyway, so let us know what is on your mind.

Steve

1 month ago | [YT] | 1

Free Will Burning Podcast - Steve R. Patterson

We just wrapped recording and it's rendering now.


This one's different.


Steve and Troy — two brothers, two completely different frameworks — sat down today to talk about where religion actually fits in the world right now. Not from a pulpit. Not from a party. From the ground.


We covered Hegseth telling troops they're fighting for Jesus. Vance calling UFOs demons. Trump posting "Praise be to Allah" on Easter Sunday. The Pope telling everyone to knock it off. The Strait of Hormuz. What history actually looks like when God-talk precedes conquest. And what it means to a Cold War vet with two sons at draft age watching all of it happen in real time.


No sides. No agenda. Just two guys calling it as they see it.


Episode drops ASAP. Subscribe so you don't miss it.
— Steve & Troy


GenX Transplant Bros | Free Will Burning Podcast

1 month ago | [YT] | 2

Free Will Burning Podcast - Steve R. Patterson

Hey everybody, just a quick heads-up—the next few weeks might be a little rocky. I’m getting ready to be spun up at a new location here in Colombia. It’s still going to be near where I am now, but it’ll give me a much better setup for the podcast.

In the meantime, stay safe, stay cool, stay calm—and don’t OD on the stressful world news: most of it is AI slop.

We’ll keep posting as we can, and once I’m settled in, I’ll give you all a full tour. This is easily going to be one of the best places I’ve lived since being here in Colombia, so I’m looking forward to showing it to you. That should be toward the end of the month.

Between now and then, we’ll just take it as it comes. Appreciate all of you—keep the feedback coming. We really do pay attention to it.

The move will be complete by May 1.

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 2

Free Will Burning Podcast - Steve R. Patterson

Hey everyone. Troy and I are going to be on this evening with a reaction to the No Kings Protests, the Iran War, and the increasing news of US citizens opting to leave the US.

Why? A question for each topic.

This not our typical episode, it is very reactionary and unscripted.

We hope you will comment!

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Free Will Burning Podcast - Steve R. Patterson

Is it worth it surviving a diagnosis leading to terminal prognosis? Is being "born again" worth it? My brother and I, both liver transplant survivors, will discuss this in Friday's edition of the show.

We have mixed reviews, we hope you will chime in.

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Free Will Burning Podcast - Steve R. Patterson

Tomorrow at 10 AM.



We’re dropping a new episode where we take a direct look at something most guys don’t hear straight:

**What women actually think about Gen X men right now.**



Not filtered. Not cleaned up.


We break it down by generation:

* Boomer women
* Gen X women
* Millennial women



What they respect.
What they don’t.
And where things start to fall apart—especially when it comes to dating.



No defending. No attacking. Just looking at it clearly.

If you’re a Gen X man, this one’s go

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Free Will Burning Podcast - Steve R. Patterson

Did Gen X accidentally break the world?

Everyone talks about the "Forgotten Generation," but they forget that we are the literal architects of the digital age. Long before Facebook or Twitter, I was on the front lines of the tech revolution.

In our latest episode, I reveal how a project I launched in 1997—UGASports.com—actually helped "open the box" for the social media culture and citizen journalism we see today.

In this video, Troy and I tackle:

The Authority Gap: Why the people who built the internet now feel like museum pieces.

Realism vs. Cynicism: Why our pattern recognition is often mistaken for a bad attitude.

The Workaholic Trap: Is it "burnout culture," or just the survival mindset we learned as latchkey kids?

Iron Maiden News: A massive update for the Earth Dogs.

Watch the full deep dive here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rJYV...

Question for the community: Do you think we’d be better off if we had stayed in the analog world, or was the digital shift inevitable? Let’s hear it in the comments. 👇

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Free Will Burning Podcast - Steve R. Patterson

Hey everyone, thanks for the intense feedback on the last video. I realized some of you are lecturing a 'straw man' instead of the guy behind the camera, so I’m setting the record straight Monday morning.

To the 'tough love' crowd: I haven't had a boss since 1988, I've been a remote-working entrepreneur since 1997, and I’ve never voted in a US election. I didn’t 'quit' on America; I survived three terminal conditions and chose to spend my bonus time as a US expat in Colombia (though I did not think I would be unable to return to the US).

When I talk about a 'broken map,' I'm not whining—I’m speaking as someone who saw the fire early and decided to forge my own path. I’m 100% accountable for every choice I’ve made. If you want to talk about real resilience and the reality of the Gen X experience (trauma, transplants, and all), let’s have that conversation. If you just want to play tough guy on a keyboard, find a different porch.

Adapt or wither. I chose to adapt 40 years ago. Let’s get into it.

1 month ago | [YT] | 0