{"id":181608,"date":"2024-03-25T09:25:59","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T14:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=181608"},"modified":"2026-09-07T10:19:55","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T15:19:55","slug":"podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #976: Lessons in Action, Agency, and Purpose From Buying a Ghost Town"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 19th century, Cerro Gordo, which sits above Death Valley, was the largest silver mine in America, a place where dreamers came to strike it rich. In the 21st century, Brent Underwood used his life savings to buy what had become an abandoned ghost town, and ended up finding a very different kind of wealth there.<\/p>\n

Brent has spent four years living in Cerro Gordo and has documented the details of the mines he’s explored, the artifacts he’s found, and how he’s restoring the town on his popular YouTube channel, Ghost Town Living. Now, in a book by the same name<\/a>, he takes a wider-view lens on his adventures there and shares the big lessons he’s learned from his experiences and from the original residents of Cerro Gordo. We get into some of those lessons on today’s show. We first talk about how and why Brent bought a ghost town as a way of escaping a typical 9-5 life and finding a deeper longer-term purpose. We then discuss what restoring Cerro Gordo has taught him about the necessity of getting started and taking real action, how learning the context of what you do can add greater meaning to it, the importance of understanding the long-term consequences of short-term thinking, the satisfactions that come with being a high-agency person, and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the 19th century, Cerro Gordo, which sits above Death Valley, was the largest silver mine in America, a place where dreamers came to strike it rich. In the 21st century, Brent Underwood used his life savings to buy what had become an abandoned ghost town, and ended up finding a very different kind of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":194738,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[502,42387,156],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-181608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character","category-manhood","category-podcast"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/976-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/976-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/976-372x230.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/976-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/976-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"\nPodcast #976: Lessons in Action, Agency, and Purpose From Buying a Ghost Town | The Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcast #976: Lessons in Action, Agency, and Purpose From Buying a Ghost Town | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the 19th century, Cerro Gordo, which sits above Death Valley, was the largest silver mine in America, a place where dreamers came to strike it rich. In the 21st century, Brent Underwood used his life savings to buy what had become an abandoned ghost town, and ended up finding a very different kind of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-25T14:25:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-07T15:19:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/976.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brett & Kate McKay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brett & Kate McKay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/manhood\\\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/manhood\\\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brett & Kate McKay\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"headline\":\"Podcast #976: Lessons in Action, Agency, and Purpose From Buying a Ghost Town\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-25T14:25:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-07T15:19:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/manhood\\\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":238,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/manhood\\\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/976.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Character\",\"Manhood\",\"Podcast\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2024\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/manhood\\\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/manhood\\\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\\\/\",\"name\":\"Podcast #976: Lessons in Action, Agency, and Purpose From Buying a Ghost Town | The Art of Manliness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/manhood\\\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/manhood\\\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/976.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-25T14:25:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-07T15:19:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/manhood\\\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/manhood\\\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/manhood\\\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/976.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/03\\\/976.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/character\\\/manhood\\\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Podcast #976: Lessons in Action, Agency, and Purpose From Buying a Ghost Town\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of Manliness\",\"description\":\"Men's Interest and Lifestyle\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3\",\"name\":\"Brett & Kate McKay\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Podcast #976: Lessons in Action, Agency, and Purpose From Buying a Ghost Town | The Art of Manliness","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Podcast #976: Lessons in Action, Agency, and Purpose From Buying a Ghost Town | The Art of Manliness","og_description":"In the 19th century, Cerro Gordo, which sits above Death Valley, was the largest silver mine in America, a place where dreamers came to strike it rich. In the 21st century, Brent Underwood used his life savings to buy what had become an abandoned ghost town, and ended up finding a very different kind of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/","og_site_name":"The Art of Manliness","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness","article_published_time":"2024-03-25T14:25:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-07T15:19:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/976.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Brett & Kate McKay","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@artofmanliness","twitter_site":"@artofmanliness","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brett & Kate McKay","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/"},"author":{"name":"Brett & Kate McKay","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3"},"headline":"Podcast #976: Lessons in Action, Agency, and Purpose From Buying a Ghost Town","datePublished":"2024-03-25T14:25:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-07T15:19:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/"},"wordCount":238,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/976.png","articleSection":["Character","Manhood","Podcast"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2024","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/","url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/","name":"Podcast #976: Lessons in Action, Agency, and Purpose From Buying a Ghost Town | The Art of Manliness","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/976.png","datePublished":"2024-03-25T14:25:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-07T15:19:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/976.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/976.png","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/character\/manhood\/podast-976-lessons-in-action-agency-and-purpose-from-buying-a-ghost-town\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Podcast #976: Lessons in Action, Agency, and Purpose From Buying a Ghost Town"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/","name":"The Art of Manliness","description":"Men's Interest and Lifestyle","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4ed6cc1b40b6de48739267a953ef2b3","name":"Brett & Kate McKay","url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}