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Three months ago Dwarkesh, who has been posting incredible blogs and episodes about RL, posted a framing question for his video essay on RLVR which upset a lot of Computer Use folks:We are no strangers to learning in public and are no strangers to the stress of getting things wrong when you have a big platform. However, we were at Anthropic for the Computer Use launch, there for Claude Cowork with the first big podcast on it, organized the first Computer Use track at AIE presenting the state of the art, and were close to the OpenAI-Sky Software acquisition that now powers the complete domination of computer use that Codex enjoys today. This is why we're excited to bring you today's first guest, Ari Weinstein, cofounder of Sky and now leading all the amazing CUA progress that casuals might miss:Ari explains why Computer Use is now “180 degrees different” from where it was months ago, how agents are learning to debug and recover from failures, why combining screenshots with accessibility data, the DOM, Playwright, and generated code changes the speed equation, and why the next frontier is making agents literally superhuman at using software.OpenAI clones JevIn the second half, Nikunj Handa from OpenAI's API team breaks down the new developer stack: async tool calling, mid-turn steering, WebSockets, UltraFast inference, the Decisions API, prompt caching, pre-warming, compaction, and the Agents API. Given that we were the first Jev podcast, we particularly focus on the unusually fast sprint on the Decisions API:And why it is just a Luna wrapper for now but the team is motivated and egoless enough to clone what they consider to be good patterns.We discuss:* Why OpenAI thinks Computer Use has changed dramatically in just the last few months* Dots and what changes when every agent gets its own Linux computer* Why Computer Use can now complete some tasks faster than the average human* The path from human-level to “literally superhuman” computer use* Why modern agents are much better at debugging and recovering from failure* How screenshots, accessibility trees, the DOM, Playwright, and generated JavaScript work together* App Shots and why they give models much richer context than ordinary screenshots* Why Computer Use can close the loop between writing software and testing it* Trust, permissions, and safety when agents can make payments and operate websites* Async function calling and why models no longer need to stop reasoning while tools run* Mid-turn steering, WebSockets, and the architecture behind more responsive agents* UltraFast inference and how OpenAI is pushing frontier models toward much lower latency* The rapid internal story behind the Decisions API* Why Decisions API is more than structured outputs at low latency* GPT Live, fast tool calling, and real-time computer control* How OpenAI is already using Decisions API for support classification and internal workflows* Longer prompt caching, cache pre-warming, and cache-aware applications* Server-side compaction vs manual compaction for long-running agent threads* What should live inside an Agents API versus a developer's own harness* OpenAI as an “AI cloud” and the search for higher-level primitives beyond raw model APIsAri Weinstein* Product & Engineering, Computer Use at OpenAI* X: https://x.com/AriX* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weinsteinari/Nikunj Handa* Product, API at OpenAI* X: https://x.com/nikunjhanda* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikunjhanda/Timestamps00:00:00 OpenAI DevDay: Dots, GPT-6.1, Agents API, and Decisions API00:02:52 Dots and Personal Cloud Computers00:04:59 Why Computer Use Is “180 Degrees Different”00:06:04 From Sky to Self-Debugging Computer Use Agents00:09:24 How Computer Use Sees and Operates Software00:12:09 From Faster Than Humans to Superhuman Computer Use00:16:03 Agents API: Trust, Permissions, and Safety00:17:31 Computer Use for Coding, Testing, and QA00:19:14 GPT-6 APIs, Async Tool Calling, and UltraFast Inference00:23:21 The Rapid Story Behind Decisions API00:25:32 What Decisions API Is and How It Works00:30:24 What OpenAI Is Building With the New APIs00:32:23 Prompt Caching, Pre-Warming, and API Performance00:35:20 Context Compaction for Long-Running Agents00:37:13 Memory, Higher-Level APIs, and the AI CloudTranscriptIntroduction: OpenAI DevDay and the New Agent StackVibhu [00:00:00]: Okay. We're very excited to be here. Today is OpenAI DevDay. Special podcastSwyx [00:00:08]: We're the first podcast after your livestream.Vibhu [00:00:10]: First podcast. We have Ari here, who leads the product and engineering team for Computer Use agents. Before we kick in and dive deep on Computer Use, you wanna give a quick recap? What was announced? What's the quick slew of announcements you guys had today?Ari Weinstein [00:00:24]: Yeah. yeah, it was a super exciting day. we just got out of the keynote. It was really sick. there were a bunch of Computer Use announcements that I think are worth thinking about. We have, Dots, which is the new, sort of personal assistant product, and, that has some really exciting Computer Use features. There's GPT-6.1 Sol, which is this amazing new model, that I think is particularly great for Computer Use ‘cause of, sort of the cost and speed, advantages. I think, I think we shared that it's, a fifth of the cost of Astra and a seventh of the cost if you're looking at Computer Use specifically, which is really amazing. sorry, there were so many things. I'm trying to sort through it.Swyx [00:01:02]: And the API.Ari Weinstein [00:01:03]: Agents API, which now has Computer Use in it, which is really cool, ‘cause now developers can build on the same Computer Use, that is part of Codex, and ChatGPT. and then there were some demos of our existing Computer Use features, like app shots, where you can take the context of something you're doing on your computer and bring it into Codex and ChatGPT really fast. And then, like, native Computer Use on your Mac, where Roman had it taking screenshots of his app, automatically, and he could do other things on his computer while Computer Use was using his applications. so yeah, really exciting keynote.Swyx [00:01:35]: And not to mention the Decisions API.Ari Weinstein [00:01:37]: Decisions API.Swyx [00:01:38]: Off the bat, are they all the same model? Like, this is. Or the same dataset distilled to different models?Swyx [00:01:44]: Like, basically, like, is Computer Use using Decisions API, or are they, like, kinda separate?Ari Weinstein [00:01:49]: So what's really cool about the Decisions API is it, you know, it has all these new capabilities. It does inference in parallel. it doesn't have reasoning. It's a smaller model, than the ones we use for Computer Use. and so those capabilities make it really fast.Dots and Delegating Work to a Cloud ComputerSwyx [00:02:07]: Yeah.Ari Weinstein [00:02:07]: They also make it a little bit less good at doing, like, long horizon, sort of sophisticated tasks. And so I think I would say it's still an open area of research for how we, like, bring those approaches together. But, yeah, I'm really excited to see what people build with the Decisions API.Vibhu [00:02:24]: One of the interesting things is Dots now have attached personal computers.Ari Weinstein [00:02:28]: Yeah.Vibhu [00:02:28]: So it seems like they're very much more persistent. You've been using them for a while. How should people push the bounds? Like, what should people aim for? What should they try? Personally, right now I use it for a lot of customer service. LikeAri Weinstein [00:02:41]: CoolVibhu [00:02:41]: “Oh, this was wrong. I don't wanna sign in. I don't wanna authenticate.” Find whatever and just get it fixed.Ari Weinstein [00:02:45]: Yeah.Vibhu [00:02:46]: How should we push further? What should people try?Ari Weinstein [00:02:50]: Dots Are a really cool product because each Dot has access to its own Linux virtual computer in the cloud, which is different from our other products. you know, traditionally, we've have access to a browser in the cloud, or it has access to your own computer, but now you get your own entire Linux computer in the cloud. And so it can run full desktop applications, and it can also use a web browser. And so, yeah, you know, I think the powerful thing about Computer Use and the reason why I think it's so, exciting is because it makes it so that the agent can do anything you as a, as a person can do, because all the software in the world was designed for humans, and now agents can use that same software, and you can delegate to the agent. So, yeah, like, anything that you would do on a computer, you can ask a Dot to do. Yeah, I think what particularly is useful is gonna really depend on who the end user is and what- what's valuable in their life. but yeah, I would just start by thinking about, like, one of the things that you spend time on and how could you delegate those to an agent.Swyx [00:03:47]: Yeah, a lot of flight booking and shopping and honestly even, like, playing a game or whatever, right?Ari Weinstein [00:03:52]: Totally.Swyx [00:03:52]: Yeah.Ari Weinstein [00:03:53]: Yeah, I don't know. For me, something I did recently, I've been working on. I've, subscribed to a meal prep service ‘cause I was trying to, like, eat healthy, you know? And I really like this meal prep service I found because it lets me customize the meals I order to, like, a high degree of granularity. So I can say, like, “I want this many grams of chicken and this many grams of rice.” but it was so complicated. It took me two hours to do an order, and I found that I could ask Computer Use to do it for me, and it did it in 15 minutes. so I actually saved two hours. it both did it eight times faster than I could, and it saved me two hours on GPT-6.1 Sol.Swyx [00:04:32]: Yeah.Ari Weinstein [00:04:32]: So those are the kinds of tasks that I feel like, are really powerful.Swyx [00:04:36]: As a creator, I can tell you automatically, immediately, my number one use case is automating YouTube.Ari Weinstein [00:04:40]: Nice.Swyx [00:04:40]: Because, YouTube doesn't expose a lot of things via API.Ari Weinstein [00:04:43]: Yeah.Swyx [00:04:43]: And you have to just put it in a VM and just, like, run it, for, like, let's say, let's say their AB testing feature or making community posts. None of this is available by API ‘cause they hate developers.Swyx [00:04:53]: Anyway, so,Ari Weinstein [00:04:55]: I've heard that from our developer experience team too. They use it with YouTube a lot. Yeah. It's really awesome.Swyx [00:04:59]: So I wanna draw for, you know. let's say, I wanna get a little bit spicy. One of our, the leading AI podcasts, our friends, is famous for saying that Computer Use hasn't advanced in the last two years.How Computer Use Has Changed in the Last YearAri Weinstein [00:05:12]: Yeah.Swyx [00:05:13]: Which is a very interesting statement, and I think you're one of the best people in the world to talk about this, like, how have things have progressed, right?Ari Weinstein [00:05:20]: Yeah. You know, they said that a few months ago, I think, and I hope they have a different perspective now because Computer Use is, like, 180 degrees different than it was.Swyx [00:05:26]: He's a, he's a tough guy to impress.Ari Weinstein [00:05:27]: Yeah, okay. well, we're working on it.Swyx [00:05:30]: But, you know, you worked on. You've, like, basically spent your whole career working on, like, some kind of computer automation, right?Ari Weinstein [00:05:34]: Yeah.Swyx [00:05:34]: Like shortcutsAri Weinstein [00:05:35]: YeahSwyx [00:05:35]: At Apple, and then Sky, and then, and then joining OpenAI. Can you draw, like, what your through line is for, like, what is driving you and what- you, what wasn't possible back then maybeAri Weinstein [00:05:47]: Yeah.Swyx [00:05:48]: And, like, what your sort of milestones were.Vibhu [00:05:49]: I guess to add on to that as a follow-up question, what's the major change from using Codex Computer Use from, like, last weekAri Weinstein [00:05:57]: YeahVibhu [00:05:57]: Through to today? Is it model? Is it dots? Is it harness? So all the history plus what really just changed in today's announcements?Ari Weinstein [00:06:04]: Yeah. On the through line, I guess I've always been excited about automation and helping people automate tasks because then you can, like, save time in your life and focus on things that are more important to you than, like, operating a computer very intricately. And so, yeah, that was why we worked on some of those products. I was at Apple before. we made a company called Sky. we ended up joining OpenAI, which is really exciting. and I think something that wasSwyx [00:06:27]: And almost like you have to hack around Apple until Apple was like, “Fine, like, we'll just hire you and you can just work on the inside,” right? Like.Ari Weinstein [00:06:35]: It was, it was a cool place to get to work. what was really interesting looking back at Sky is we were, we were working on Computer Use there as well, and the models were so much less capable. And now the models, just in the last one year, have become extraordinarily capable at Computer Use. I think the biggest delta that I see is before they could, like, reliably start tasks, but then they would run into problems, and now they're really good at debugging. They're really good at trying again, introspecting what is and isn't working. and I think we've also brought the Computer Use the Computer Use field itself has moved forward. I think we're using more techniques. now Computer Use, often writes code. So if you actually look at it in Codex and you expand the tool calls manually, you can see that it's not just doing one action at a time. It's actually writing JavaScript code that it executes, that the computer executes to perform sometimes many actions at once, which is a great, you know, speed up and great capability. We use more accessibility, sort of multimodal interfaces. So, the model may use screenshots, it may use accessibility, it may use Playwright. it can use a lot of different mechanisms, based on the task at hand. and then, yeah, the model acceleration has been, has been just amazing. So, yeah, what's different today? I think we're making computers better all the time, so I think just, like, one day's difference, is probably a little bit less consequential than, like, even the past month or the past two months. but, yeah, I think the Computer Use in Dot is really exciting as well as, the new model that we came out with.Measuring Computer Use and Improving the HarnessVibhu [00:08:03]: On the keynote, Tejal was mentioning 7x improvements in Computer Use speed, a lot better on a few benchmarks. How do you guys think about measuring it? Computer Use is one of those things where, as you say, you know, it's improvements over time.Ari Weinstein [00:08:20]: Yeah.Vibhu [00:08:20]: Is it harness? Is it model? Is it post-training?Ari Weinstein [00:08:22]: Right.Vibhu [00:08:22]: How do you guys look at it internally about measuring how good it is, and what were the changes with the new model?Ari Weinstein [00:08:29]: We actually have a bunch of different ways of measuring it, some of which are on different permutations and configurations of the harness. It's a bit of a complicated story because, you know, our production products have, you know, some more safety checks, and, you know, those are configured differently based on the needs of the, of the task at hand. So there's a lot of ways to measure it, but I think regardless of how we measure it, we find pretty consistent gains. and those gains are, sometimes in the harness and sometimes in the model. and yeah, I was really excited by this result that GPT-6.1 is even more cost-effective for Computer Use than its baseline cost improvement as compared to Astra. It's, like, really cool to see.Swyx [00:09:10]: Yeah. I mean, one of the visuals I really liked from the livestream was that, you're sort of improving the Pareto frontier of, your, curve, and there was a lot of talking about how you're improving it together with the harness.Ari Weinstein [00:09:24]: Yeah.Swyx [00:09:24]: Can you give some examples of aha moments that you had, whether it's on, like, model driving the harness driving the model, whatever?Ari Weinstein [00:09:32]: I don't mean to repeat myself, but I think, like, introducing more modalities has been really powerful.Swyx [00:09:36]: Okay.Ari Weinstein [00:09:36]: One more specific example of that is, in the past, I think we saw a lot of Computer Use, products had to spend a lot of time, like, scrolling, you know? So it would, like, take a screenshot. It would try to do something. It would be like, “Oh, I gotta, like, scroll down to the next page of results,” and then it would take a screenshot, and then it would try to do something. It would scroll down again. And so I think, with accessibility and other. and, direct access to the DOM and other things like that, now the language model can actually see, like, an entire page or an entire application. It can write code that can do multiple steps at once. And so I think those have been probably the biggest single aha moments. There's, like, a lot of tiny ones that are less exciting in comparison, but actually we do find also that a lot of speed improvements are driven by, like, a lot of little paper cuts that we gotta go in and introspect.App Shots, Accessibility, and Better Computer ContextSwyx [00:10:21]: Yeah. A lot of really hard engineering.Ari Weinstein [00:10:23]: Yeah.Swyx [00:10:23]: I mean, app shots in general, right? Like, I think people don't quite get the difference if. because there's, like, a nice visual in Codex when itAri Weinstein [00:10:30]: YeahSwyx [00:10:30]: When you take an app shot, but they don't maybe they get the difference that, you are able to actually drive each button and you have the, you have each text, in a very optimal representation.Ari Weinstein [00:10:40]: Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. It's kind of fun actually. If you wanna be, like, really nerdy about it, you can go into Codex, take an app shot by hitting the two command keys. So you grab the content from whatever app you're working with, bring it into the, Codex or ChatGPT chat. And then the. if you click on the attachment and you click on this, like, little tiny button in the top right, you can see the raw text and you see the raw accessibility representation. And yeah, we've put a lot of work into, puttingSwyx [00:11:04]: Just dumping everything out. Yeah.Ari Weinstein [00:11:05]: Dumping it out, but also making it token-efficient, doing it efficiently. There's, like, a bit of an art to it. And, you know, it turns out that the same technology that was invented for humans, you know, who maybe have accessibility needs, who wanna use a screen reader technology, that technology is really helpful for them to be able to use computers. It's also really helpful for LLMs to be able to use computers. So that's been, like, really fun to get to work on.Vibhu [00:11:27]: For context, I feel like a lot of people don't understand app shots. They don't even know it's a feature.Ari Weinstein [00:11:30]: Yeah.Vibhu [00:11:31]: It's when you double hit command, it pulls in what looks like a screenshotAri Weinstein [00:11:34]: RightVibhu [00:11:34]: And you're like, “Oh, why have I opened up just a screenshot and thrown it in?” No, it's actually pulling all the metadata, all the code, everything.Ari Weinstein [00:11:40]: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So it's like, you know, if you take a screenshot of a webpage that has a link- The screenshot doesn't include where the link goes. It doesn't include, you know, maybe you take a screenshot of your calendar, the ca- event ti- titles are truncated, you know? But when you take an app shot, it gives, like, the language model, like, full context about everything and, that lets it, just sort of, like, do much more.Swyx [00:12:02]: Yeah. For those who wanna see more, Jason Liu, I invited him to do a full workshop on this, at AI Engineer.Ari Weinstein [00:12:07]: Amazing.Swyx [00:12:08]: Did a great job.Vibhu [00:12:09]: I have a broader vision questionToward Superhuman Computer UseAri Weinstein [00:12:11]: YeahVibhu [00:12:11]: On Computer Use agents. So your example of take a screenshot, scroll page, take a screenshot is where we were.Ari Weinstein [00:12:17]: Right.Vibhu [00:12:17]: Today, they can automate a lot. what are the bottlenecks? Is it models? Is it harnesses? What. Where do you see it going in, like, two years? Do you see it just running for hours? How do we get there? Any predictions on where Computer Use goes?Ari Weinstein [00:12:32]: Yeah. I mean, I think what's really crazy that I think, You know, the team's accomplished over the past couple of months is that now Computer Use is, like, faster at accomplishing tasks than, like, the average human probably in most cases. and I think that the next frontier is to have Computer Use be, like, literally superhuman in its performance where it actually is as fast or faster at using software than, like, expert Computer Users like us. and I think that'll be really consequential and exciting when that happens because I think we'll be able to all of a sudden build products, that, provide just much more real-time experiences. And I think it'll also. lowering the barrier to entry of, or the activation energy, I suppose, of using Computer Use I think will make us start to default to doing certain things in agents that we've become accustomed to doing manually. And I think that's exciting also ‘cause it'll save us a ton of time. and I think there's a, you know, there are a lot of different little paper cuts and bottlenecks that are sort of standing in the way of that. I think that there's, yeah, there's things on the model side, there's things on the inference side, there's things on the harness side, there's things in the, in the representation. You know, we find that as Computer Use gets faster, we're increasingly bottlenecked by just, like, the speed of doing an operation. Like, for example, you know, a non-trivial amount of time in our benchmarks of Computer Use tasks is actually, like, let's say you're automating a task on doordash.com. Like, a lot of the time is actually waiting for doordash.com itself to load, you know?Swyx [00:14:04]: Yeah, then you just write a wait and then you execute the wait.Ari Weinstein [00:14:07]: Yeah, totally. And you wanna get. Yeah, actually, it's actually really important that you get that de- like, you want as little delay as possible between when it finally finishes loading and when you go andSwyx [00:14:16]: YeahAri Weinstein [00:14:16]: Trigger the LLM to do the next action, which is actually- itself a statistical science.Swyx [00:14:20]: Like an event-driven way maybe to do that.Ari Weinstein [00:14:22]: When possible, you want it to be event-driven.Swyx [00:14:24]: JavaScript has some load events.Ari Weinstein [00:14:25]: And JavaScript has load events for. or the web browser has load events for web navigation, but there's other types of events that actually really can't be event-driven. So there's a lot of complexityVibhu [00:14:34]: The one that comes to mind is, like, chatting with customer service.Ari Weinstein [00:14:37]: Yeah.Vibhu [00:14:37]: Replies could take 30 seconds, could take three minutes.Ari Weinstein [00:14:39]: Oh, right.Swyx [00:14:41]: I have dealt with so many bots with Codex. it's great, but I also wonder if the other side knows that they're talking to a bot ‘cause I'm, like, answering in complete sentences. Like, I'm capitalized correctly.Ari Weinstein [00:14:50]: That's hilarious.Swyx [00:14:51]: Like, I'm giving full num- full reference numbers and everything. Like, it's too. it's clearly too good. I don't care. Like Like, I'm just, like, trying to get my support case.Vibhu [00:14:58]: I've prompted it to, like, you know, “Don't pretend you're a bot. Be very annoyed human.”Vibhu [00:15:02]: Short one-liners, likeSwyx [00:15:04]: YeahVibhu [00:15:04]: Push it, do all this. I also tell it, “While you're waiting for responses, like, use subagents to research better ways to figure out what we need.”Ari Weinstein [00:15:12]: Nice.Vibhu [00:15:12]: It's just, like, human little intervention.Ari Weinstein [00:15:14]: That's awesome. I also feel like half the time it's a bot on the other end, so now youVibhu [00:15:17]: YeahAri Weinstein [00:15:17]: Got the bots talking to each other.Swyx [00:15:18]: Yeah. I will also say, you know, like, you know, one milestone of Computer Use that we are, we're at now is, you know, three, four years ago, we were scared of hooking up LLMs to the, to the web and toAri Weinstein [00:15:31]: YeahSwyx [00:15:31]: To our, to our devices. And now I'm having it configure DNS for me.Ari Weinstein [00:15:35]: Wow.Swyx [00:15:36]: I'm having it pay my bills, and, like, really, like, tens of thousands of dollars of, like, stuff I'm just sending it over and yoloing with Computer Use and, like, you know, what's the, what's the worst thing that can happen?Swyx [00:15:48]: So that- that's all, that's all really good.Building Safely With Computer Use in the Agents APIAri Weinstein [00:15:50]: Yeah.Swyx [00:15:50]: I think now that you've. you know, obviously, you also have to dogfood your own products and all these things. Now that you've sort of released this in API, what are some pitfalls or tips that you wanna tell developers, because they're about to, I guess, encounter all this, firsthand?Ari Weinstein [00:16:03]: First of all, I'm just really excited that we brought Computer Use into the Agents API. I think this is, really great because obviously a lot of developers are building applications that wanna be able to work with third-party websites and services. And so Computer Use has this universality to it. It can work with anything. So now all of a sudden, developers can build using the same Computer Use implementation that we're building on. I think there's great work to be done if you wanna build your own Computer Use harness, but it's hard. And also, we train our models on our Computer Use harness, so there is, an advantage to using the one that's in distribution for the model. There actually might be a speed and cost and accuracy advantage. So I think it's really great for people to get to build on top of that. And, yeah, you know, I think kind of to the point that you were making, like, I think we're all sort of still in the process and maybe, like, some of us are ahead of many people in the world of, like, getting comfortable with this technology and trusting it. And so I think it's incumbent on us to, sort of build that trust over time by making sure we're building things that are reliable, by building, the right kinds of safety checks, by asking for the user's consent before doing something consequential like making a payment, by, asking, you know, maybe depending on the application, making sure you're only letting it access the websites or applications that it actually needs for the task. So that's, I think, something important to think about. but yeah, I'd really encourage people to try the new Agents API, build all kinds of cool stuff on it. We'd love to hear your feed- feedback if, you know, depending on how it goes.Vibhu [00:17:31]: Have you seen any changes in the way it affects dev workflows? So one of the things with dots is, you know, you're seeing it in Slack.Ari Weinstein [00:17:38]: Yeah.Vibhu [00:17:38]: You're seeing people use voice and build. the example Roman showed of change this app and send me screenshots along the way and all this.Computer Use for Testing and Closing the Software LoopAri Weinstein [00:17:46]: Yeah.Vibhu [00:17:46]: Is anything that you're seeing there in adoption about how people are using Computer Use for coding workflows? Any tips people should take from that?Ari Weinstein [00:17:55]: One of my favorite use cases for Computer Use actually, and one that we see a lot in the wild, is Computer Use letting the agent- actually test the software that the agent has built, which is far more consequential than it sounds. Because traditionally, you know, you'd build something in Codex and then the-- and the Codex builds it for you, and then you have to test it, and you are now like QA for the agent, right? So with Computer Use, you can complete the develop-- the software development life cycle, where, the agent can build software, it can test it. So I have a lot of fun, you know, building stuff, having the agent test it. By the time it comes to me, it's already working. I have, extra fun because sometimes I'm, like, developing Computer Use itself, and so now I have a Computer Use agent that's using my Computer Use agent that's using something else. so yeah, I really, I really think this is a super powerful class of use case.Swyx [00:18:44]: I have a visual play test skill that I've developed that, really catches a lot of design issues,Ari Weinstein [00:18:49]: NiceSwyx [00:18:50]: That, you know, normally when you just look at code, you wouldn't really pick it up. it's also really good for cloning apps, though. If you're using a shitty SaaS and you wanna kill the SaaS You just clone it screen by screen by screen. and Obviously, Computer Use can completely drive everything, take screenshots, note it down, and then clone everything with Codex.Ari Weinstein [00:19:06]: That's really cool.Swyx [00:19:06]: But yeah, thanks for all your progress. I think, that isAri Weinstein [00:19:08]: AbsolutelySwyx [00:19:09]: Our time.Nikunj Handa: What's New in the OpenAI APIAri Weinstein [00:19:10]: Yeah.Swyx [00:19:10]: This is not the last that we're gonna talk.Ari Weinstein [00:19:12]: Yeah, cool. This has been really fun. Thank you guys for having me.Swyx [00:19:14]: All right.Vibhu [00:19:14]: All right. Okay, we're a strict cutoff. We're just gonna dive right in.Nikunj Handa [00:19:17]: Let's do it, yeah.Vibhu [00:19:19]: Okay, so, Nikunj, we're very excited to have you. You shipped a lot on the API side, like we justNikunj Handa [00:19:25]: YeahVibhu [00:19:25]: Talked about with Ari. You can now build with Computer Use agents. Anything you wanna highlight, the API side of changes, and introduce yourself a little and what you do?Nikunj Handa [00:19:34]: Yeah, for sure. My name is Nikunj. I lead product for the API team. Been here for roughly three years. been working on launching models. I feel like that's just been, like, a thing, constant thing throughout my time, here at OpenAI. And, with every new model, we try to, like, basically work super closely with the post-training team, the research team, to figure out what's new in it. and then we, like, expose those capabilities in the API. so that's, like, the basic way of putting it. and if you just look at, everything that's new with GPT-6, the cool new capabilities that we launched were, firstly, async function calling. so what you see with, like a lot of the things that you're seeing in, like, Codex and Dots and everything is that tool calls take so long that you don't have to, like, pause the model's execution while, the tool is running. So you could just, like, kick off a tool call, keep running, keep reasoning, and then check back in. so we launched async tool calling. We launched, like, mid-turn steering, so now you can, like, inject messages while the model is reasoning, in the middle. so as your tool call finishes, you can put in that instructions.Async Tool Calls, Mid-Turn Steering, and WebSocketsSwyx [00:20:43]: And that's also partially a model alignment capability, right?Nikunj Handa [00:20:46]: Yeah.Swyx [00:20:46]: Like, they have to train in the ability to train.Nikunj Handa [00:20:48]: Exactly, yeah. AndVibhu [00:20:49]: I feel like we've had it in the app. You could always, as it's reasoning, you could steer.Nikunj Handa [00:20:54]: Yes.Vibhu [00:20:54]: It wasn't the best. It's gotten much better.Nikunj Handa [00:20:57]: Yeah.Vibhu [00:20:57]: Excited to see how it does this in versionNikunj Handa [00:20:58]: Yeah, and I like our mainVibhu [00:20:59]: And nowNikunj Handa [00:21:00]: Goal in, our main goal in the API is to, like, put things in the API once it's trained into the harness. And so we kinda wait for that moment until it's good enough. And a lot of that is, like, actually being powered by WebSockets, which we launched, a few, I wanna say months ago. And so WebSockets just opens this, like, whole bidirectional, like, communication thing with the model. This is not, the GPT Life thing. I'm just talking about GPT-6. and you can do all these, like, async tool calling, async reasoning, injecting messages. It's a really fun API to work on. I think, like, really enjoying.Swyx [00:21:33]: Yeah. This is why we are the engineering podcast, because we get to talk about WebSockets.UltraFast and the Inference StackNikunj Handa [00:21:36]: Yeah.Swyx [00:21:37]: This also pairs very well with UltraFast, right?Nikunj Handa [00:21:39]: Oh, yeah.Swyx [00:21:39]: Like, that is now, like, I think for the first time ever available in the API.Nikunj Handa [00:21:43]: Yes.Swyx [00:21:43]: Which is, which is basically the theoretical fastest speed you can ever get, Frontier of Intelligence.Nikunj Handa [00:21:49]: Yeah. It's been so exciting to work on that project. I think, before I go into the API, the most fun part of, UltraFast has been just watching the inference team cook with Astra. Like, they're just, like, constantly having these, like, Codex agents running, trying to, like, squeeze out more performance. And, I would say, like, at least for a couple of months, a lot of it was focused on efficiency and driving the cost down, which is how we, like, were able to cut the Luna price by, like, 80%. It was, like, a lot of that was driven by, like, all the inference improvements they landed. And then now they've, like, shifted gears towards, like, how can we make this run as fast as possible? And so UltraFast has just been, like, amazing to see on a mo- on a model like Astra. Like, to go that fast has been really cool. And yeah, WebSockets is like. actually it was like the first time we launched WebSockets, it was for GPT, 5.3 Codex Spark, which was. Can't believe we named a model that, but, you know, that's what we launched it for. And obviously, it helps so much because, like, you gotta have the tool calls. you had, like, really reduced the overhead, of going back and forth with tools. And so, WebSockets is awesome for that.Swyx [00:22:57]: Yeah. it's always cute to see, like, I have my reset usage limit, and then I have my Spark usage limit that I never use.Nikunj Handa [00:23:03]: Yeah.Swyx [00:23:04]: Like, it's there if I want it.Nikunj Handa [00:23:05]: I think it's gone finally.Swyx [00:23:06]: It's gone. It's gone, yeah.Nikunj Handa [00:23:07]: I know it's gone, so.Swyx [00:23:08]: Yeah. you're slowly killing off all the, you know, theNikunj Handa [00:23:11]: The old ones, yeah.Swyx [00:23:11]: Oldies.Vibhu [00:23:11]: This is a great week. I mean, it was the first time we had Frontier Intelligence at extreme speeds.Nikunj Handa [00:23:17]: Yeah.Vibhu [00:23:18]: People really liked it.Nikunj Handa [00:23:19]: Yeah.Vibhu [00:23:19]: SoSwyx [00:23:20]: YeahVibhu [00:23:20]: First time it comes back.Swyx [00:23:21]: Yeah. for, 5.3 Spark is explicitly attributed to Cerebras. You guys are not confirming or denying that, UltraFast is related to Ce- Cerebras, but people are. I'll just say that people do care and, are wondering about it. And you have your own silicon as well. elephant in the room, decision models.Decisions API: OpenAI's Fast Decision ModelNikunj Handa [00:23:38]: Oh, yeah.Swyx [00:23:38]: Decisions API. We were the first podcast to do a big Jev, deep dive with, Diogo, and I also, you know, featured him at AI Engineer. How quickly did you see Jev and go likeNikunj Handa [00:23:49]: Oh my gosh. Yeah.Nikunj Handa [00:23:50]: Yeah. Firstly, like, huge props to Diogo and, like, the Jev team for, like, really inspiring theSwyx [00:23:55]: YesNikunj Handa [00:23:55]: Like, whole segment in the market. Like, obviously Jev comes out, everyone's, like, losing their minds over it. Our users are, like, hitting us up. But also, like, our internal teams are like, “We need, like, a much faster classification system.” We can. I don't wanna, like, get ahead of some of the dots features that are gonna comeSwyx [00:24:16]: WhooNikunj Handa [00:24:16]: But you're gonna see, like, some cool, like, really snappy, fast things built on top of the decisions API. but, you know, like, yeah. Props to Jev for, like, inspiring this whole thing. obviously a bunch of people at OpenAI get nerd sniped by that, and they're like, “How can we, like, make this work? We're not gonna, like-”Swyx [00:24:33]: Okay.Nikunj Handa [00:24:33]: “. train a new model.” ButSwyx [00:24:34]: Like, four weeks ago, this was not on the dev radar, right?Nikunj Handa [00:24:37]: No, not at all. No.Swyx [00:24:37]: Okay.Nikunj Handa [00:24:37]: This is likeSwyx [00:24:38]: WowNikunj Handa [00:24:38]: Jev-inspired and, likeSwyx [00:24:40]: I think you are officially the first one to your lab to, like, clone and, adopt this.Nikunj Handa [00:24:44]: Yeah. Yeah. I feel like, OpenAI has such a strong, like, hacker culture and, like, people are just, like, they get excited about things. And so, guy from inference, this one awesome guy from, the infra team are like, “ this is amazing. We're gonna, like, hack on it.” They build a prototype, it, like, works, and now we- we are just, like, hill climbing on latency and trying to make this as fast as possible, and we wanna, like, launch it in the coming days. so as soon as we hit our, like, latency target, we'll try to get this out.Vibhu [00:25:13]: It's interesting. At the same time of hacker culture, you also, as Sam said, like 99%, one of the most reliable APIs withNikunj Handa [00:25:20]: Mm-hmmVibhu [00:25:20]: I think probably the most usage, which is your team directly. how should people see decisions API? I feel like a lot of people saw Jev, heard the buzz, haven't built with it. You're making it very mainstream.What Decision Models Are Good ForNikunj Handa [00:25:32]: Mm-hmm.Vibhu [00:25:33]: What should people see it as? How should they use it?Nikunj Handa [00:25:36]: Yeah. I think the main use cases we've seen is, like, really fast classification. all the Computer Use demos have been amazing and really cool. I think there will be limitations, of course, in terms of, you know, having Astra, like, write, like, a JavaScript-like script to control your computer, versus having Luna pick, like, one action at a time. I think, it's not gonna be at the same intelligence level, but, like, maybe there's some Computer Use tasks that this is good enough for. So excited to see that come through. the other cool prototype I've seen internally is people hooking it up with GPT Live. So GPT Live is like, you know, our bidirectional, like, real-time,Swyx [00:26:14]: VoicingNikunj Handa [00:26:14]: A- API. And, it's built on this, like, model of front-end models and back-end models. So GPT Live is this, likeSwyx [00:26:20]: Think or talkerNikunj Handa [00:26:21]: Super fast. Yeah, think or, talker thing. So GPT Live is the talker, super fast, really good at delegation, and you have something like Astra sitting at the ba- at the back. But tool calling has always felt, like, really slow in GPT Live. and so people have been, like, putting together these, like, tool calling demos of GPT Live controlling a computer, and it just feels like so much more snappy and natural. So I'm, like, kinda excited to see, like, what people do with Live and with Luna on decisions API. so that'll be pretty exciting. Yeah.Swyx [00:26:55]: So I wanna iron this out for people, especially from the product side, because a lot of people have been putting out Jev clones. There's been about 100 in the last two weeks.What Makes a Decision Model DifferentNikunj Handa [00:27:01]: Oh, really? That's amazing.Vibhu [00:27:03]: The first couple days.Swyx [00:27:04]: But like, it. Like, they can clone a Jev API, which is honestly structured outputsNikunj Handa [00:27:09]: YeahSwyx [00:27:09]: Which OpenAI was first to.Nikunj Handa [00:27:10]: Yeah.Swyx [00:27:11]: Right? So, like, I think let's iron out for people what is a decision model, as far asNikunj Handa [00:27:16]: YeahSwyx [00:27:17]: As far as, like, what is important? It is not just latency. It's not just structured output, right? Because I could just have Luna as it'- The decision model is priced the same as Luna, right?Nikunj Handa [00:27:26]: Mm-hmm.Swyx [00:27:27]: Have turned off reasoning and then have structured output. Do I have a Jev? you know, no, right? And that's theNikunj Handa [00:27:33]: YeahSwyx [00:27:33]: That's the realVibhu [00:27:34]: There's a confidence there.Swyx [00:27:35]: Yeah.Nikunj Handa [00:27:36]: Yeah, totally. I think, the way that. So we haven't trained, like, a new model for this.Swyx [00:27:40]: Yeah.Nikunj Handa [00:27:40]: We're, like, building this purely on top of the same Luna weights that we have.Swyx [00:27:44]: Oh.Nikunj Handa [00:27:44]: So yeah. This is, like, really just Luna. And, on top of that, what you're doing is you're constraining. So, like, structured output's a big part of it. you're really optimizing the inference stack to, like, get very fast on TTFD. And because you can have multiple questions, what you do is, like, you basically run those in parallel,Swyx [00:28:05]: As a batch.Nikunj Handa [00:28:06]: Yeah. You run those in the-- as a batch. you-- All sorts of, like, inference techniques people are working on to try to make it as fast as possible. But I'd say, like, at least our implementation of it at the start and this first version is, like, zero-shotting this on top of Luna, to see how it goes. And obviously, you wanna, like, put it out there. Like, this is OpenAI's, like, classic iterative deployment thing. Put it out there, see what people think, and then, like, we'll make more model improvements, as needed. so yeah. That's, the decisions API.Swyx [00:28:38]: Yeah. And, obviously as a benefit, you have vision. They don't have vision, right?Nikunj Handa [00:28:42]: That's true.Swyx [00:28:42]: Obviously, Jev's comes withNikunj Handa [00:28:43]: Yeah. Like, we get it for free with Luna. Yeah.Swyx [00:28:45]: Yeah. I do think that, like, you know, some of the innovations, it sounds like, it's still to come if it's still the same Luna weights, which is, like, the confidence stuff, like, the in calibration is something that we've talked about on the podcast with, benchmarking calibration. ‘Cause basically, the whole point is that RLHF kind of collapses you towards what you want to hear.Calibration, Architecture, and the Open Research QuestionsNikunj Handa [00:29:03]: Yeah.Swyx [00:29:03]: But, like, not actually, like, what the amount of confidence is.Nikunj Handa [00:29:06]: Yeah. Yeah, totally. I'm eager to see how it pans out. Maybe there's, like, gonna be. These are gonna be, like, the key areas where we may have to, like, hill climbSwyx [00:29:15]: YeahNikunj Handa [00:29:15]: With the, with the future model release. But, yeah.Swyx [00:29:18]: And then architecture-wise, the other thing that's in the debate, obviously, you-- Nobody knows because Jev doesn't talk about it, but the two speculations are, one, maybe diffusion model instead of autoregressive.Nikunj Handa [00:29:28]: Mm-hmm.Swyx [00:29:29]: But you are able to achieve the parallel, generation in your way. And then the other one is some mech interp type thingNikunj Handa [00:29:37]: Mm-hmmSwyx [00:29:37]: That you're, like, analyzing the activations and then just outputtingNikunj Handa [00:29:40]: That would be coolSwyx [00:29:41]: The weights.Nikunj Handa [00:29:42]: Yeah.Swyx [00:29:42]: Which, like, you guys have all done the research on this. People have speculated.Vibhu [00:29:45]: There have been demos onSwyx [00:29:46]: YeahVibhu [00:29:46]: Both of these as well. I think Gemini shared a Gemini diffusion, Gemma diffusion on a Jev-style output.Nikunj Handa [00:29:53]: Oh, sick.Vibhu [00:29:53]: And, interp people have also, you know, pulled out interp from a middle layer, but this is all speculation.Swyx [00:29:59]: It's just like, what are you trying to aim for, right? Because you can achieve the API. Everyone can achieve the API. It's actually pretty trivial. But, like, then there's the speed, then there's the accuracy, then there's the other calibration features.Nikunj Handa [00:30:11]: Mm-hmm.Swyx [00:30:11]: I don't know what else.Nikunj Handa [00:30:13]: Yeah. Yeah. No, totally. It's so cool that this, like, whole space has been kicked off now and people are gonna do so much cool stuff and everyone's gonna learn from each other. And, yeah, I'm excited about it.What Developers Should Build NextVibhu [00:30:24]: I feel like being on the platform team, a lot of your job is to empower builders.Nikunj Handa [00:30:27]: Mm-hmm.Vibhu [00:30:28]: What do you think people should build with decisions API and also Computer Use agents? Any stuff that you've- been building with internally that you think really opens up after the new change?Nikunj Handa [00:30:39]: Yeah. okay, let's think. decisions API, use cases internally have been pretty obvious. Like, the user ops team was, like, jumping on it. We were like, “We gotta classify all of our support tickets.” what else came up? obviously, there were, like, the really cool GPT Live demos. I'm sure, like, the Codex app team might, like, pick this up and try to do something cool with it. So, you know, like, this whole thing started, like, a week ago, so it's, like, very early andSwyx [00:31:06]: Oh, one week.Nikunj Handa [00:31:07]: We're excited. Yeah. Yeah, pretty much.Vibhu [00:31:08]: There was a big push in, evals, LLM as a judge having really low latency there.Nikunj Handa [00:31:13]: Right. Yeah. That'll be interesting to see. and then, with the Agents API, we have-- we're basically, like, having a bunch of first-party products, like, at OpenAI built fully on top of it. we've had the Codex security stuff that just went out that's fully built on top of, the Agents API. We have, sort of the-- we- we are having, like, a meetings type of thing launching today.Agents API and OpenAI's First-Party ProductsSwyx [00:31:40]: Mm-hmm.Nikunj Handa [00:31:40]: I think there was, like, a demo. do you remember, like, the plugin extensions when Sam was showing it? There was, like, a demo for, like, you're in a calendar, you can sort of, like, have your meeting notesSwyx [00:31:51]: Like, drop into a singleNikunj Handa [00:31:52]: Flow into like your spaceSwyx [00:31:52]: Like, Google Docs type thing.Nikunj Handa [00:31:53]: Yeah.Swyx [00:31:54]: Right?Nikunj Handa [00:31:54]: And so the-- all of that stuff is, like, fully built on top of, the Agents API. and yeah, I'm, like, just excited to see. Like, we're just getting this out, and let's see what people build on top of it.Vibhu [00:32:04]: I think you showed it off very well. The whole edit spaces, pages, collaborate, add in your dot. Like, that's a lot, soNikunj Handa [00:32:12]: YeahVibhu [00:32:12]: There's a lot of inspiration people can go to.Nikunj Handa [00:32:14]: Yeah. All possible with Astra, you know. Like, thing- things just move so fast now. LikeSwyx [00:32:19]: YeahNikunj Handa [00:32:19]: People go from idea to execution so quickly, it's amazing.Swyx [00:32:23]: Is there something that you want, people to focus on to give you feedback? Like, what-- like, you know, maybe you're just putting this out there and you want-- and there's, like, a fork in the road and you want developers to help you decide.Responses API Performance and Long-Lived CachingNikunj Handa [00:32:35]: So I think Agents API and decisions API, they are like, these are our newest products. Would love, like, any and all feedback on that to figure out where to take them. I think, over here, we're, like, very open on Responses API, which is sort of like our workhorse over here. like, really focused on performance right now, and the performance comes in, like, two main ways. first is just, like, latency. We've been, like, rewriting the whole Responses API stack to, like, make it as fast as possible from a TTFT perspective, DVD perspective. So there's like-- that, like, continues to be, like, a main area of focus for us. The second thing we've been trying to do is, like, really go deep on caching, particularly with these, like, personal agents that are, you know, like, basically, like, a single thread that just goes on and on forever. We've been, trying to, like, really up our game on caching. We provide now guarantees of, like, cache hits within, like, 30 minutes. We're actually, like, we-- for one of our users, we just launched, like, a much longer cache window. So we have, like, a 12-hour caching guarantee, that we offer so that you have, like, guaranteed cache hits forSwyx [00:33:40]: Is that a public API?Nikunj Handa [00:33:42]: Not yet. That's in preview.Nikunj Handa [00:33:43]: We're gonna, like, try to get that out to everyone as soon as possible. But, like, just pay a little bit more for the cache write, and we, like, guarantee, like, cache reads for, like, a much longer period. So even if, like, your instinct thread, for example, like, you just, like, do something on it and then come back to it, like, three to four hours later, you- you're still getting the caching performance out of it. And launchedVibhu [00:34:04]: And you cut the cost there quite a bit too, right, with the new model?Nikunj Handa [00:34:07]: Oh, yeah. That's right.Vibhu [00:34:08]: Like, 25% cheaper, soNikunj Handa [00:34:08]: Yeah, with, like, driving down cache reads, yeah.Cache Pre-Warming and Cost-Efficient Agent ThreadsVibhu [00:34:10]: For builders, they should implementNikunj Handa [00:34:13]: YeahVibhu [00:34:13]: Because it's significantly cheaper.Nikunj Handa [00:34:14]: Yeah. Yeah. Just, like, building your apps with, like, to be very cache aware and sort of, like, use our prompt diagnostics or cache diagnostics tool to figure out, like, where things are dropping off. And, so the caching part is, like, really important. yeah, I also wanted to talk about pre-warming. We have that in the API now. So, like, if you know that, “Hey, I'm gonna get a cache,” like-- sorry, “I'm gonna get this prompt. I just wanna, like, pre-warm the cache, pay, like, the cache write fee right now, and then, like, have it sort of ready to go for the next 30 minutes for whenever.”Swyx [00:34:49]: And it can spawn many instances of that thread.Nikunj Handa [00:34:51]: Exactly, yeah.Swyx [00:34:52]: Yeah.Nikunj Handa [00:34:52]: You can just keep going and haveSwyx [00:34:54]: Yeah, just keep messing with the prompt thereNikunj Handa [00:34:55]: Tons and tons of that. and so, yeah, like, I'm very excited about getting feedback on, like, the low-level performance things that we can keep making Responses API the most performant and reliable way to, like, build on top of an LLM. And then you basically have our, like, new products where I'm just looking for, like, any and all feedback.Swyx [00:35:15]: Yeah, just use it, right?Nikunj Handa [00:35:16]: So yeah, just useSwyx [00:35:16]: Tell us what toNikunj Handa [00:35:17]: Yeah. Define our roadmap for us, please. So yeah.Swyx [00:35:20]: I think for me, the caching thing, great, right? Like, obviously very needed. But at the end of the day, you're still bumping up against a million-token contextCompaction and Managing Million-Token ContextsNikunj Handa [00:35:28]: Mm-hmmSwyx [00:35:28]: And that's probably not gonna change for the foreseeable future.Nikunj Handa [00:35:31]: Mm-hmm.Swyx [00:35:31]: Like, you still need good compression.Nikunj Handa [00:35:33]: Yeah.Swyx [00:35:33]: What is the best practice there?Nikunj Handa [00:35:34]: Yeah. Yeah, totally. so firstly, OpenAI has its own, like, proprietary compression, compSwyx [00:35:40]: Which is inNikunj Handa [00:35:41]: Compaction.Vibhu [00:35:42]: Compaction.Swyx [00:35:42]: It's in the agents.Vibhu [00:35:43]: It's in the API.Nikunj Handa [00:35:43]: Yes.Vibhu [00:35:43]: Agents API.Nikunj Handa [00:35:44]: Yeah.Swyx [00:35:44]: You decide for us, right?Nikunj Handa [00:35:45]: Yeah, exactly. So in the Agents API, it comes built into the harness. and if you're in Responses API, there's, like, two ways of doing it. One is what we call server-side compaction, which is you basically tell Responses API that if you ever hit this threshold of tokens, just auto-compact it and, like, go back, or sorry, like, reduce the context, being used. And the second way is, like, /compact, which is, like, if you want full control. So you can, like, /compact at any timeSwyx [00:36:15]: I hear youNikunj Handa [00:36:15]: Have your own logic on when to, likeSwyx [00:36:17]: It's not AGI.Nikunj Handa [00:36:18]: It.Swyx [00:36:18]: It's not AGI.Nikunj Handa [00:36:19]: Yeah. Yeah.Swyx [00:36:20]: Yeah. But it, I meanNikunj Handa [00:36:20]: YeahSwyx [00:36:20]: It is the manual override.Nikunj Handa [00:36:21]: Yeah, it is the manual way. And like, I don't know, but a lot of the big coding agents like to do it manually. I mean, like, if you look at the Codex implementation of it in the Code- open source Codex harness, you can see that they use /compact and do it. and, there's also, like, new, by the way, new compaction techniques that we are working on. Some of them you will be able to see in the Codex harness. Like, it's already implemented in the Codex harness. And so, they're like some file-based, systems that we are, like, experimenting with. So yeah, lots of cool stuff going on around in compaction as well.Swyx [00:36:57]: Cool. we are running out of time.Nikunj Handa [00:36:59]: Okay.Swyx [00:36:59]: I think you've talked about, a lot about performance and talked a lot about, the new APIs that you're launching. Can you give us any other hints as to things that you're interested in as far as the future of the platform is concerned?Higher-Level Platform Primitives and the AI CloudNikunj Handa [00:37:13]: We're obviously like very low level. Like, I used to work at Stripe before this, and, at Stripe a lot of the game was like building these higher level primitives and products on top of like the core payments primitives. and, I'm always like curious about what the best way of doing that is in AI. And I think we've had a couple of attempts at that. We like had launched assistance API like way back in the day, and like wasn't really the right fit. We were sort of like going off with this like Agents API, and, it gives you the codex harness, but like where's like the, what's the right amount of flexibility to give in that? That's like an open question. Like how should we like have memory walls and like all of these like higher level like API objects to take away, also like to abstract away more, like storage concepts. Like this is like a whole, like, there's a whole space that I'm like very curious about figuring out how we design. I think a lot of things in AI are just have a low-level API primitive and see an example harness and go and have your coding agent implement that. But how much of that do we build into the API is like a constant question that I'm thinking about.Swyx [00:38:24]: Yeah.Nikunj Handa [00:38:24]: So I don't know if folks have thoughts on that. If anyone has ideas, it would be super interesting to hear.Swyx [00:38:30]: Yeah. The analogy I always bring back to, and we'll end there, is, you're building an AI cloud, right?Nikunj Handa [00:38:35]: Mm-hmm.Swyx [00:38:35]: Like, which is, something that, Sam said a year agoNikunj Handa [00:38:38]: Mm-hmmSwyx [00:38:38]: Where, and you're, it's almost like you're kind of doing the AWS invention and you have to do, okay, this is EC2Nikunj Handa [00:38:45]: YeahSwyx [00:38:45]: And this is S3, and this is like. But you're doing the AI-native versions of each of these.Vibhu [00:38:48]: There are a lot of analogies, so you're pre-warming caches for stuff that you know will beNikunj Handa [00:38:53]: Yeah.Vibhu [00:38:53]: And it's nice that it's all exposed to buildersClosingNikunj Handa [00:38:56]: Mm-hmmVibhu [00:38:56]: ‘cause it just opens up ways that you can build new things.Nikunj Handa [00:38:59]: Yeah, absolutely.Swyx [00:39:00]: Okay.Vibhu [00:39:00]: Awesome. WellSwyx [00:39:01]: That's everything.Nikunj Handa [00:39:01]: Thank you, guys.Vibhu [00:39:02]: Thank you.Nikunj Handa [00:39:02]: Yeah. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.latent.space/subscribe
Jack McElaney, Chief Revenue Officer at Microassist, has published the weekly newsletter Accessibility in the News for 10 years. He started in 2016 by emailing articles to colleagues he met at conferences. Then people began asking to subscribe.Jack spends about 22 hours a week on it, on top of his day job. It carries no advertising and no sponsors, and it is free, because many people in the disability community can't spare the cost.Neil Milliken, Debra Ruh and Antonio Vieira Santos ask Jack how he finds his stories and which news sources have disappeared or grown. Jack explains Title I, Title II and Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act for listeners outside the United States. He covers why the Department of Justice delay on Title II matters to disabled people who have waited years for access, and why lawsuits under Title III get less coverage than they used to.The conversation also covers discrimination against disabled people in artificial intelligence hiring tools, accessible voting, and what Japan can teach other countries about an ageing population. Jack argues that people aged 62 to 80 will be hurt most when digital services aren't accessible.Subscribe to the newsletter at microassist.com/digital-access/newsSend us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh
In this week's episode I sat down with Bryanna Copeland. Bryanna is a disability advocate, social worker, and single mom who shares her experiences navigating motherhood and everyday life as a bilateral above knee amputee and wheelchair user. She uses her voice and platform to challenge assumptions about disability and advocate for greater accessibility and inclusion. We discuss how we learn about disability, social media as a tool for advocacy, finding your village and community and much, much more.This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.Join Always Looking Up on Substack: https://jilliancurwin645746.substack.comJoin The Patreon: https://patreon.com/AlwaysLookingUpFollow Bryanna: Instagram: @bryannacopes TikTok: @bryannacopesFollow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: alwayslookingup227@gmail.comRead With Me:GoodreadsThe StoryGraphSupport the organizers, detainees and their families at Delaney Hall (all links from @feminist):Donate To Family Support Funds: linktr.ee/SupportOurFamiliesDonate to the Commissary Fund: givebutter.com/commissaryfundCall your representative: https://5calls.orgLearn More: indivisible.org/campaigns/dismantling-detentionSupport Minneapolis:Stand With Minnesota: https://www.standwithminnesota.comMN NOICE: https://mnnoice.comCommunity Aid Network MN: https://www.canmn.orgSupport Those Impacted By The Cutting Of SNAP Benefits:Feeding America: https://www.feedingamerica.orgWorld Central Kitchen: https://wck.orgNo Kid Hungry: https://www.nokidhungry.orgList Of NYC Food Pantries: https://www.nyc.gov/site/dycd/services/food_pantries.pageSupport Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.orgInland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros
In this episode of Everything You Know About Disability Is Wrong, we sit down with comedian, writer, producer, and actor, Steve Way.Steve Way currently stars as Alden on Hulu's Furious and previously appeared on Ramy and Ramy Youssef: More Feelings. He has written for TIME and has been profiled by Forbes, Variety, Esquire, and Vulture. He also writes about disability and health care policy, bringing his trademark humor and directness to conversations about disability rights, accessibility, Medicaid, and health justice.Steve joins the show to talk about his role as Alden, his experiences navigating an inaccessible world, and what it means to be a disabled person in the public eye. He also shares why he refuses the pressure to be the “perfect” representative for disabled people and why telling your own story can be a powerful way to make space for a much bigger conversation.We also discuss accessibility, public transportation, Medicaid, health care, and health justice. Steve explains why making complicated policy issues understandable to everyday people is an important part of accessibility, and why plain-language communication can help more people understand how disability policy affects all of us.And, of course, there's plenty of Steve's signature humor along the way.
Accessibility software does not always move quickly, but several recent updates are changing how accessible documents are created, remediated, and tested. In this episode of Chax Chat, Chad and Dax break down the advances that are actually worth knowing about. They cover accessible PDF forms exported from Word, improved table headers and scope in InDesign, MathML support, PowerPoint reading-order and heading tools, Canva's accessible PDF workflow, new PAC checker tabs, browser-based auto-tagging, and the growing family of IQ tools. They also flag the places where automatic features, standards, and assistive technology still do not line up. Every other week, we unravel accessibility to help you create documents that are more inclusive, compliant, and practical for real users.
This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined by recent USC PhD graduate Wendy Zhou to discuss her dissertation, which focuses on dynamic accessibility. We talk about how static maps without a time based dimension don't tell the whole story on access and the idea of a people based accessibility. +++ Get the show ad free on Patreon! Find out about our newsletter and archive on YouTube! Follow us on Bluesky, Threads, Instagram, YouTube, Flickr, Substack ... @theoverheadwire Follow us on Mastadon theoverheadwire@sfba.social Support the show on Patreon http://patreon.com/theoverheadwire Buy books on our Bookshop.org Affiliate site! And get our Cars are Cholesterol shirt at Tee-Public! And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com
After 35 years in financial services, Tim Klitch could have retired.Instead, he became Chief Fun Officer of a pickleball ranch.On YES, BRAND, Hersh Rephun sits down with the founder of Austin Pickle Ranch to talk about second acts, community, and what happens when everything you learned about succeeding in one career doesn't necessarily prepare you for the next.Tim knew relationships. He knew finance. He knew how businesses worked.What he didn't know was how to build a modern consumer brand.Banking had taught him traditional advertising and customer acquisition. Austin Pickle Ranch taught him about social media, influencers, experience and the strange alchemy that happens when a good product and a good brand start reinforcing each other. In 2025, Tim says Austin Pickle Ranch spent roughly $15,000 on advertising while attracting an average of 60 new customers a day.But the Ranch isn't really selling court time.Tim grew up around his father's tennis club and remembered something that many modern sports facilities had lost: people didn't just show up, play and leave.They hung around.So Austin Pickle Ranch was intentionally designed around community. Even its first location, an inhospitable parking-garage rooftop, was transformed with turf, shade, furniture and commissioned art to feel less like a garage and more like a ranch in Central Texas.And before that first location even opened, Tim and his team had already created a brand book and decided what they wanted the place to stand for:Accessibility. Friendliness. Informality. Fun.Those weren't words for a wall. They became a filter for decisions: Is this consistent with the brand we created?Hersh and Tim talk about building community by design, why experience is made up of dozens of tiny decisions, what has to remain true as a business expands, and the unexpected humility of becoming a beginner again after an enormously successful first career.Because Tim went from running a bank with an operations department to being the guy whose phone rings at 2:30 in the morning when the fire alarm goes off.And he wouldn't trade it.He could charge more. Build something more exclusive. Perhaps even make more money.But then it wouldn't be the thing he wanted to build.Sometimes the strongest brand isn't the one engineered to extract the greatest possible value.It's the one the founder actually wants to live inside.https://austinpickleranch.com/--Hersh's new book, SELLING THE TRUTH: A ‘Semoir' with Insights for Life & Business is a semi memoir drawing on his adventures as an Authority Advisor and Standup Comedian. It is part business book, part happiness formula for life, and an amuseful read, whether you're building a business or burnishing your self-image.You can kickstart your own messaging evolution with a one-on-one 5-Minute Fix.Take the 60-second Get Off Your Assets Quiz, and find other resources here: https://www.hershrephun.com/selling-the-truth/
Meta Connect 2026 brought Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses with no cameras, Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3, a hearing enhancement feature and the Muse AI agent. Steven Scott and Shaun Preece go through each announcement and ask what it means for blind and low vision users.Steven and Shaun start with privacy. They look at how Mark Zuckerberg answered Joanna Stern's questions about camera glasses, then ask whether audio-only glasses make sense for blind people now that camera access opens up apps like Be My Eyes.Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 gets slimmer frames, a longer battery and an action button. The Meta Ray-Ban Display, which has a screen reader and comes with the Neural Band, finally goes on sale outside the US, and Steven has already ordered a pair to review.The biggest accessibility story is hearing enhancement. It's software that turns supported glasses into an FDA-cleared over-the-counter hearing aid, but it costs extra. Shaun questions why an accessibility feature sits behind a paywall when direct hearing aid support still hasn't arrived. Steven looks into why the six-microphone glasses get the feature first.The episode ends with Muse, Meta's personal AI agent, the Muse Charm keychain device, and the 100-gram Meta VR Glasses, which could be interesting for low vision magnification.Chapters0:00 – Welcome and first thoughts on Meta Connect 20261:46 – Privacy and the Joanna Stern interview4:42 – Ray-Ban Meta Audio: glasses with no cameras12:39 – Ray-Ban Meta Gen 316:18 – Meta Ray-Ban Display goes international21:15 – Meta Adventurer, new styles and availability24:38 – Hearing enhancement and the six-microphone question36:14 – Muse, Meta's personal AI agent43:33 – Muse Charm45:22 – Meta VR GlassesRelevant LinksMeta Connect 2026 announcements: https://www.meta.com/blog/meta-connect-2026-everything-we-announced/Ray-Ban Meta Audio: https://www.meta.com/ai-glasses/ray-ban-meta-audio/Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 3): https://www.meta.com/ai-glasses/ray-ban-meta/Meta Ray-Ban Display: https://www.meta.com/ai-glasses/meta-ray-ban-display/Muse: https://ai.meta.com/muse/Muse Charm: https://www.meta.com/muse-charm/Meta VR Glasses: https://www.meta.com/vr-glasses/ ----Follow on:YouTube: https://www.doubletaponair.com/youtubeX (formerly Twitter): https://www.doubletaponair.com/xInstagram: https://www.doubletaponair.com/instagramTikTok: https://www.doubletaponair.com/tiktokThreads: https://www.doubletaponair.com/threadsFacebook: https://www.doubletaponair.com/facebookLinkedIn: https://www.doubletaponair.com/linkedinSubscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://www.doubletaponair.com/appleSpotify: https://www.doubletaponair.com/spotifyRSS: https://www.doubletaponair.com/podcastiHeadRadio: https://www.doubletaponair.com/iheartAbout Double TapHosted by the insightful duo, Steven Scott and Shaun Preece, Double Tap is a treasure trove of information for anyone who's blind or partially sighted and has a passion for tech. Steven and Shaun not only demystify tech, but they also regularly feature interviews and welcome guests from the community, fostering an interactive and engaging environment. Tune in every day of the week, and you'll discover how technology can seamlessly integrate into your life, enhancing daily tasks and experiences, even if your sight is limited."Double Tap" is a registered trademark of Double Tap Productions Inc. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
How do you go beyond enduring pain and turn it instead into a transformative artistic experience? Casey and Elicia are the powerhouse behind Sensory Dimensions, a creative collaborative that recontextualizes experiences of chronic pain and disability through music, movement, projection, and tactile art. Their work asks what happens when pain is pushed beyond the silent tragedy of the clinical setting and given new ways to be seen, heard, and felt. Both Casey and Elicia came to the project through deeply personal experiences with chronic pain. Elicia has trained as a violinist for more than 20 years. At 17, ankylosing spondylitis forced her to reconsider her artistic future. Years of pain, unsuccessful physical therapy, and medical dismissal eventually led to a diagnosis that brought both relief and fear. Casey's path through dance was repeatedly disrupted by severe muscle spasms, undiagnosed injuries, and other overlapping symptoms that did not fit neatly into a single diagnosis. Eventually, they were diagnosed with fibromyalgia and hypermobility. Trying to remain in the world of performance while navigating disability pushed them both to explore other avenues to art, including choreography, production, and accessibility work. In this episode, Jesse speaks with Casey and Elicia about how their connection to someone with a similar experience changed their approach to their work and bodies. Since collaborating on their masters' thesis, they have built immersive, inclusive performances, and interactive programs like Paint Your Pain. On stage, they turn pain into sensations that everyone can experience, regardless of disability or predilection. Accessibility is embedded from the beginning: for instance, if an audience member cannot see an element, they may be able to hear or touch it instead. Through performances like “My Body's Wake,” Elicia and Casey embrace the unpredictability of disability. They incorporate improvisation that enables them to create a resonant performance every time, even as what their bodies are capable of shifts day to day. For both artists, that shift has changed their definition of chronic pain. Something once private, inconvenient, or shameful has become visible, tangible, and even beautiful. Rather than being the end of the creative process, pain becomes part of the material itself and a catalyst for entirely new ways to create. Learn more about Sensory Dimensions and their mission to recontextualize chronic pain and disability through art: https://sensorydimensions.godaddysites.com/ Follow Sensory Dimensions on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sensorydimensions/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSdRrvyA9G0 Watch the episode on YouTube or Spotify, listen here on our website or on your favorite podcast platform. PODCAST LINKSWEBSITE: https://majorpainpodcast.comEMAIL: majorpainpodcast@gmail.comSUBSCRIBE: https://majorpainpodcast.com/subscribeSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/5NDoD07WJmICdfdRKq0TyNAPPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/major-pain/id1562947550?mt=2&ls=1 SOCIAL MEDIAINSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/majorpainpodcastTIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@majorpainpodcastYOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@MajorPainPodcastFACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/majorpainpodcast AFFILIATE LINKSRARE PATIENT VOICE: https://rarepatientvoice.com/MajorPainPodcastAMAZON SHOP: https://www.amazon.com/shop/majorpainpodcastNEURAHEALTH: https://www.neurahealth.co/majorpain
Karen Morales rolled up to a five-star hotel in Hawaii, ready to be pampered, and they handed her a room with stairs. She's a wheelchair user, an accessibility advocate, the Head of Accessibility at Fora, and the founder of Joyward Travel. She had sent the emails. She had confirmed the room. It still happened. And that moment is exactly why this conversation matters for every travel advisor, not just the ones who think they specialize in accessible travel. In this episode of The Art of Selling Travel Podcast, Karen and I dig into why accessible travel is one of the most underserved and most lucrative parts of the market. One in four people globally lives with some kind of condition. Multi-generational trips are the biggest bookings out there right now, and almost every one of them has at least one accommodation baked in. Yet only about 30 percent of accessible rooms are even bookable online, and hoteliers will raise their hands when asked if they've hosted a guest with special needs but go silent when asked if it's in their marketing. The rooms exist. The money exists. The conversation is what's missing. Karen shares what she's learned from travelling to nearly 50 countries, six of those years in a wheelchair. You'll hear about the hotel in Okinawa that sent her a photo of the bathroom and the shower chair before she arrived, the Sicilian beach club owner who bought a beach wheelchair and assigned two lifeguards to get her in the water, and the morning in Japan when her chair died on day one of a two-week trip and a DMC with boots on the ground saved the entire vacation. That last one is the reminder every advisor needs. There are moments in travel that no amount of research and no AI is ever going to fix. A human with a relationship in market will. We also get practical. Karen walks through the questions that actually work, like asking whether a client can comfortably climb into a Sprinter van instead of asking if they need an accessible room, or reframing a flat shower with a railing as risk reduction instead of a disability accommodation. I share the story of a family who kept insisting on room service for years until I finally asked why, learned their son was autistic, and completely changed how I planned for them. The lesson in both cases is the same. Ask better questions, ask them with hospitality, and stop leaving things at the surface. If you're a travel advisor who wants to serve an aging client base, land more multi-generational bookings, and be the person your clients trust when things go sideways, this one is for you. Find Karen at ForaTravel.com on the accessibility page, or through her own brand, Joyward Travel. Additional Links: Our Building An Audience Workshop: Marketing Workshop Download the Essential Lessons PDF: Essential Lessons PDF Join the priority list for our upcoming groups workshop: Groups Workshop Join the priority list for upcoming sales workshops: Workshop Priority List Join the Facebook Group: Facebook Group Connect with Glenda on Facebook or Instagram
At seven years old, Jenna Udenberg was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis. Within a year, she was using a wheelchair and beginning a lifelong education in what happens when a person encounters a world that was not designed with them in mind. In this episode of Conversations with a Chiropractor, Dr. Stephanie Wautier talks with Jenna about disability, accessibility, assumptions, identity, and the difference between being accommodated and truly being included. Jenna shares pieces of her journey from growing up on Minnesota's North Shore to becoming a music educator, a 2020 Bush Fellow, an author, and the founder of Above & Beyond With U. Along the way, she challenges the language we use around disability, the assumptions people make about wheelchair users, and the idea that accessibility should stop at the minimum required by law. At the heart of the conversation is a simple philosophy Jenna continues to follow: Do the next right thing. Listener Offer This episode of Conversations with a Chiropractor is supported by Lemongrove Oil. Use code DRSTEPHANIE at checkout for 10% off your order. https://www.lemongroveoil.com/ Featured Wellness Resource: Exodus Strong Explore Exodus Strong, a faith-centered wellness company offering red and near-infrared light therapy products including full-body mats, masks, wands, belts and other at-home devices, along with molecular hydrogen and botanical supplements, frequency-based wellness products, and complete Light Code wellness systems. If you're interested in exploring what Exodus Strong has to offer, please use Dr. Stephanie's link below. Purchases made through this affiliate link help support Conversations with a Chiropractor and allow us to keep bringing you new conversations each week. https://exodusstrong.com?a_aid=drstephanie Learn More About Jenna Udenberg Jenna is an author, disability advocate, accessibility educator, and founder of Above & Beyond With U, an organization working to increase awareness, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging for people experiencing disability. Above & Beyond With U: https://www.aboveandbeyondwithu.org/ Within My Spokes Jenna's memoir, Within My Spokes: A Tapestry of Pain, Growth & Freedom, explores the pain, relationships, perseverance, identity shifts, and experiences that have shaped her life. The book is available in paperback, hardcover, and audiobook, narrated by Jenna herself. Links to purchase are available through the Above & Beyond With U website. Conversations with a Chiropractor YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@ConversationswithaChiro Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wautierwellness Email: drstephaniewautier@yahoo.com Want to be a guest on Conversations with a Chiropractor? Send Stephanie Wautier a message on PodMatch: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/drstephanie Produced by Brand|Sound Podcasts Laser Secrets is produced by Brand|Sound Podcasts. Learn more about podcast production, development, editing, and support at: https://voiceover.work/brandsound Start your podcast journey: brandsoundpodcasts@gmail.com Chapters 00:34 Meet Jenna Udenberg 01:25 Diagnosed With Juvenile Arthritis at Seven 06:02 Growing Up With a Wheelchair 08:26 School, Friendship, and Learning to Navigate Difference 12:26 "Disability Is Not a Bad Word" 16:05 Assumptions, Ableism, and Being Seen 18:24 Curiosity Without Intrusion 22:29 Within My Spokes 23:29 Stories, Advocacy, and the Next Right Thing 25:30 Becoming a Bush Fellow 31:04 Music, the Trumpet, and Finding an Equal Playing Field 35:24 When the Space Creates the Disability 40:34 Discrimination, Resentment, and Moving Forward 45:33 The Pandemic and an Unexpected Career Ending 49:53 How Assumptions Become Stories 50:51 Disability as Part of the Human Experience 52:57 Closing Thoughts
Accessibility shapes how we move through the world, but how often do we actually notice it?Hi, I'm Hillary LeBlanc, your host for season 9 of the Canadian Women's Foundation podcast, Alright, Now What? Today I'm speaking with Taylor Lindsay Noel, an accessibility advocate, entrepreneur, speaker, and content creator.Taylor Lindsay-Noel is a Toronto-based entrepreneur, motivational speaker, disability advocate, and content creator. A former Canadian national gymnast, Taylor sustained a life-changing spinal cord injury in 2008 that left her paralyzed from the neck down. Since then, she has built a career centred on entrepreneurship, advocacy, storytelling, and creating greater awareness around disability and accessibility.We talk about the everyday barriers people with disability continue to face, why lived experience matters when creating accessible spaces, and Taylor's return to competitive sport through para-boccia, with the Paralympics now in her sights.
Designers know accessibility matters, but knowing that and knowing what to actually do about it are two very different things. In this episode, accessibility experts Colleen Gratzer and Chad Chelius share how they found their way into accessibility and discuss how it has changed the way they approach design. They explain why accessibility doesn't have to limit creativity or be a separate step at the end of the design process. Instead, accessible design can be a natural extension of your craft that leads to more efficient and more creative ways of working. Key Takeaways: Start with color contrast. Learning the contrast requirements for normal text, large text, and meaningful icons is a great first step for increasing accessibility without requiring you to learn the entire field at once. Map your styles to tags. When you create headings and other structured text, map your paragraph styles to the appropriate tags so the structure of your document is available to people using assistive technology. Build accessibility into your workflow. Many accessibility practices, like working with paragraph styles, are best practices. They're a simpler and more efficient way to design. Don't let accessibility limit your creativity. There's no such thing as a fundamentally inaccessible color or style. Look at how colors work together and find creative ways to create clarity and contrast. Offer conformance, not compliance. Designers should be careful about promising that a document or website is legally compliant. Instead, focus on the accessibility standards and level of conformance you're actually responsible for achieving. Expand your perception of accessibility. Accessibility benefits people using assistive technology, but also people who wear glasses, people who are color blind, and people experiencing design in non-ideal conditions, like the menu at a dimly lit restaurant. Resources The Design + Accessibility Summit, October 20-23, 2026 Free Webinar: Accessibility Essentials with Chad Chelius, September 29, 2026 at 10:00 am PT CreativePro Youtube Accessibility Tutorials Playlist Colleen Gratzer's Accessibility Training and Design Domination Podcast at Creative Boost Chad Chelius's Accessibility Training at Chax Training and Consulting Event Savings: Save $100 on any CreativePro event in 2026 with the discount code PODCAST Membership Discount: Get $15 off one year of CreativePro membership with the discount code PODCAST
AirPods 5 open-ear noise cancellation put to the test by blind users, plus Google's new Googlebook Android laptops, the pricing, and the accessibility answers Google still has not given.Steven Scott bought the AirPods 5 expecting to be unimpressed and came away sold. The headline is the noise cancellation: Apple claims a 50 percent improvement over AirPods 4, and in a room with a laptop and NVDA speaking, the background noise all but vanished. Steven and Shaun Preece work through the open-ear fit that sits in the ear rather than sealing it, the comfort over long listening sessions, and why the transparency mode is convincing enough that he forgot an earbud was missing. If you buy a set, spend the extra on the wireless charging case version for the volume controls on the stem.The trade-off against the AirPods Pro 3 comes down to battery life, around five hours rather than eight, which matters when a call lands at the wrong moment. For books, podcasts and music in the Apple ecosystem, the value case is strong at the lower end of the price scale.Then the laptop story. Google has launched Googlebook, a new category running Googlebook OS, built on Android with ChromeOS foundations and sold on Gemini. Five machines from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo start at 899 US dollars, all with 16GB RAM, OLED touch displays and metal bodies, split between Intel Core Ultra and Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. Pre-orders are open, with US availability from October 4 and other markets a day later.The accessibility picture is blank. Google has not said what the screen reader experience will be, whether TalkBack behaves like ChromeVox, or what happens to Braille display support. For any school considering swapping Chromebooks for these, that is not a small gap. Steven has written to Google, has had no reply, and an interview with Asus is lined up for next week. Send in your questions.Chapters0:00 – Apple, Siri and a purchase Steven had to make2:01 – AirPods 5: which version to buy4:38 – Open-ear fit, comfort and noise cancellation tested10:28 – AirPods 5 vs AirPods Pro 3: battery, price and value17:20 – Googlebook: Google's Android laptops arrive19:54 – Five models, five prices, one spec sheet28:26 – Who is a Googlebook actually for?30:44 – The accessibility unknowns: TalkBack, ChromeVox and Braille33:17 – Web apps, the WhatsApp problem and Chromebooks as daily drivers47:10 – Listener mail: open weights, buttered buns and duelling assistantsRelevant LinksAirPods 5: https://www.apple.com/airpods-5/Googlebook announcement: https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/devices/googlebook/pre-order-googlebook/NV Access (NVDA): https://www.nvaccess.org/about-nv-access/Tampermonkey: https://www.tampermonkey.netZero Project Technology Forum: https://zeroproject.org/initiatives/the-zero-project-technology-forumAMI Research Panel: https://www.ami.ca/panel ----Follow on:YouTube: https://www.doubletaponair.com/youtubeX (formerly Twitter): https://www.doubletaponair.com/xInstagram: https://www.doubletaponair.com/instagramTikTok: https://www.doubletaponair.com/tiktokThreads: https://www.doubletaponair.com/threadsFacebook: https://www.doubletaponair.com/facebookLinkedIn: https://www.doubletaponair.com/linkedinSubscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://www.doubletaponair.com/appleSpotify: https://www.doubletaponair.com/spotifyRSS: https://www.doubletaponair.com/podcastiHeadRadio: https://www.doubletaponair.com/iheartAbout Double TapHosted by the insightful duo, Steven Scott and Shaun Preece, Double Tap is a treasure trove of information for anyone who's blind or partially sighted and has a passion for tech. Steven and Shaun not only demystify tech, but they also regularly feature interviews and welcome guests from the community, fostering an interactive and engaging environment. Tune in every day of the week, and you'll discover how technology can seamlessly integrate into your life, enhancing daily tasks and experiences, even if your sight is limited."Double Tap" is a registered trademark of Double Tap Productions Inc. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this episode, Trish Kelly, Managing Director of Untapped Accessibility, shares her... The post Why Lived Experience Creates Better Accessibility Solutions with Trish Kelly first appeared on Startup Canada.
Why is this event a big deal for Ontario politicians? Advice for campaigns ahead of the municipal electionGUESTS: Tim Hudak - husband of Deb Hutton Amanda Galbraith - co-founder and partner at reputation management company Oyster GroupBlue Knox - Former Communications Director to ex-mayor John Tory, now a Campaign StrategistDavid Lepofksy - Disability rights advocate. He is a retired lawyer who chairs the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance
A mainstream dating app can feel like speed-running small talk, judgment, and awkward “disclosures.” Holly Fowler built Wable because she saw a different need: a safer, calmer place where neurodivergent people can look for friends, dates, and even jobs without having to explain themselves from square one. After watching Love on the Spectrum during Australia's lockdowns, she connected the dots between connection, community, and the quiet isolation many autistic and ADHD adults live with every day.We get into how Wable designs for real-world neurodiversity instead of a one-size-fits-all label. Holly shares why the product was shaped with a wide focus group including autistic users, people with ADHD, OCD and dyslexia, plus parents, carers, occupational therapists and other specialists. She explains the platform's safety-first choices like a more stringent sign-up process, required verification, and blocking links and media, along with sensory-friendly options such as adjustable theme colour schemes. We also talk about practical in-app support, including guidance on messaging pace, conversation basics, boundaries, and staying safe when meeting someone new.Connection is only half the story, so we dig into employment barriers and why Wable is adding inclusive job opportunities, workplace resources, and venue discovery that accounts for access needs like low lighting, lower sound, and wheelchair accessibility. Holly also opens up about fundraising as a founder and what has changed as investor awareness of neurodivergence grows. If you care about neurodivergent inclusion, autism-friendly community platforms, ADHD-friendly design, accessible employment, or safer online spaces, this conversation delivers grounded ideas you can use. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more listeners can find Access.Send us Fan MailSupport the showFollow axschat on social media.Bluesky:Antonio https://bsky.app/profile/akwyz.comDebra https://bsky.app/profile/debraruh.bsky.socialNeil https://bsky.app/profile/neilmilliken.bsky.socialaxschat https://bsky.app/profile/axschat.bsky.socialLinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/antoniovieirasantos/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/axschat/https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilmilliken/Vimeohttps://vimeo.com/akwyzhttps://twitter.com/axschathttps://twitter.com/AkwyZhttps://twitter.com/neilmillikenhttps://twitter.com/debraruh
Welcome to another episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series podcast! In this episode, Howard sits down with Katie Tranel, Director of Digital Strategy and Public Relations for the Janesville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Fresh off their involvement with the Outdoor Writers Association of America's annual conference in Madison, Katie shares why Janesville, Wisconsin, is the ultimate four-season destination—whether you're planning a family vacation, couples getaway, or seeking your next outdoor adventure. Discover the hidden gems of Janesville, from its expansive trail systems and beautiful botanical gardens to its thriving local food scene and vibrant art community. We'll also explore how Janesville's new Woodmen Sports and Convention Center is attracting exciting events and why this “small but mighty” city should be on your travel radar. Grab your coffee and get ready to explore everything Janesville has to offer!DISCUSSION1. Introduction and Episode ContextAcknowledgment of Travel Wisconsin and Destination Madison for hosting the conference 00:12.Introduction of guest Katie Tranel and her role 00:49.2. Experience at the OWAA Conference in MadisonKatie shares her first impressions attending the OWAA conference 03:34.Highlights of networking and meeting creators, including podcasters 03:57.Value of local opportunities—living close to conference venue 04:25.3. Geographic and Transportation Overview of JanesvilleJanesville's central location in the Midwest 05:33.Accessibility to major cities (Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago) 05:38.Modes of transportation serving Janesville (bus lines, proximity to airports) 06:34.4. Katie Role at the Janesville Area CVBOverview of a small but effective team 08:13.Duties in digital strategy and public relations: social media, newsletters, blogs, media relations 08:25.Content creator/influencer program 08:51.5. Use of Multimedia and Community OutreachRegular video/podcast updates about local events 09:07.Collaborations with local production companies 09:21.Discussion about expanding into podcast platforms 10:24.6. Event and Convention Attraction StrategyImpact of the new Woodmen Sports and Convention Center 11:09.Description of facilities (ice rink, convention center, multi-use arena) 11:33.Expansion into sporting events: martial arts, boxing, hockey, pickleball 12:16.Types of events: youth sports, local and regional competitions 13:54.7. Outdoor Recreation and Visitor Experiences in JanesvilleRotary Botanical Gardens as a key attraction 15:22.Extensive trail systems and paved paths 15:59.Connection to the Ice Age Trail and its unique features (e.g., Devil's Staircase) 16:26.89. Pre-Tour Experiences with OWAA Conference AttendeesBiking and hiking on trails 17:23.Unique landscape and geological features of the area 17:35.Sunset boat tour on Lake Koshkonong 18:09.90. Water Recreation and Partnered DestinationsOverview of local rivers and lakes (Rock River, Yahara River, Clear Lake, Lake Koshkonong) 19:13.Activities such as kayaking, canoeing, fishing, and boating 19:13.10 Janesville as a Four-Season DestinationBirding in spring, pumpkin patches and harvests in fall 20:28.Cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling in winter 20:35.11. Website Tour and Resources for VisitorsHighlights of the Janesville visitor website 21:26.Visitor's guide availability (digital and print) 23:41.Showcasing key assets: farmer's market, public art, local food, and places to stay 21:58.Maps, murals, public art trail 25:32.Recreation categories: biking, birding, golf, parks, disc golf, itineraries 28:01.Local eateries, coffee shops, shops, and specific recommendations 30:13.Accessibility features and family-friendly attractions 35:08.12. Community Highlights and AccessibilityRotary Botanical Gardens' holiday light show 25:01.Palmer Park's accessible playground 35:08.13. Reflection on the Role and ImpactKatiel's “aha” moments from community engagement and feedback 36:39.The value of promoting unexpected aspects of Janesville 38:01.Difficulty fitting all local attractions into even a two-day itinerary 39:12.14. Key Contact Points and Closing RemarksSocial media and website as primary information outlets 39:50.Encouragement to visit or contact the visitor office 40:03.LEARN MORETo learn more about the Janesville area, visit their website at https://www.janesvillecvb.com/ and on these social sites:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JanesvilleCVBInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/explorejanesvillewi/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBmFvyHXUiw6uy0BkfK0cdAX: https://twitter.com/JanesvilleCVB1OWAA 2026 Conference HostsTravel Wisconsin: https://www.travelwisconsin.com/Destination Madison: https://www.visitmadison.com/NEXT STEPSVisit us at https://outdooradventureseries.com to like, comment, and share our episodes.KEYWORDSKatie Tranel, Janesville Area CVB, Travel Wisconsin, Destination Madison, OWAA, Outdoor Adventure Series, Podcast Interview#KatieTranel #JanesvilleAreaCVB #TravelWisconsin #DestinationMadison #OWAA2026 #OutdoorAdventureSeries #PodcastInterviewMy Favorite Podcast Tools: Production by DescriptHosting BuzzsproutShow Notes by CastmagicWebsite powered by PodpageBe a Podcast Guest by PodMatchBanner Customization by Nano Banana & Canva
Stewart Alsop sits down with Antoine Marcel, CEO and cofounder of Flourish, to explore the future of home robotics and what he calls "solarpunk" automation. Antoine discusses why Flourish is building wheeled robots with arms instead of following the humanoid hype, arguing that the expensive legs and teleoperation approach isn't practical for real consumers today. The conversation ranges from the philosophy of robots that disappear when you're home (rather than becoming constant companions) to the bureaucratic nightmares of modern life that robotics might actually solve. Antoine explains how their $3,500 robots can be trained in thirty minutes using just your phone to handle personalized household tasks, and why saving people two hours a day—not just ten minutes—is the threshold for consumer adoption. They also dig into whether Paris will become a solarpunk or cyberpunk city, why Apple represents solarpunk design principles, and how the first 50 Flourish units are about to ship worldwide at flourish-robots.com. Key Insights1. The core innovation behind Flourish is building mobile-based robots with arms but no legs, moving on wheels rather than attempting humanoid locomotion. This design choice stems from practical considerations since even humanoid robots cannot reliably handle stairs, and legs represent approximately twenty thousand dollars of the cost in humanoid platforms. By eliminating legs, the company can focus on delivering functional value to consumers today rather than developing research products. The founder emphasizes that accessibility and usefulness are paramount, rejecting the demonstration-focused approach that dominates the robotics industry where companies raise billions on teleoperated demos that never ship to actual consumers. 2. The founder's background in automation across logistics, software, and sales led him to recognize that the most painful tasks in life occur outside the computer. After automating digital work processes, he realized that returning home after a long workday to clean, cook, and tidy remained exhausting and unaddressed by existing technology. This insight, combined with advances in physical AI over the past three years, drove him to develop the first robot prototype that runs in his own home, constantly testing and iterating based on real-world use cases like navigating doorways and picking up scattered items from floors. 3. The company is building toward a solarpunk vision rather than cyberpunk future, where robots disappear from conscious awareness and operate silently in the background. The founder envisions robots emerging from closets when people leave home, performing cleaning and tidying tasks, then retreating before residents return. This approach contrasts sharply with the prevalent humanoid robot vision featuring teleoperated machines with cameras potentially monitored by remote operators. The goal is reducing technology's presence in daily life to create more time for family, creativity, and meaningful activities rather than introducing intrusive robotic presences into living spaces. 4. Consumer robotics faces fundamental challenges that explain why almost no companies successfully sell to end users despite massive investment in the sector. Industrial robotics offers clearer paths to revenue, while consumer products require extensive market education, safety certifications, and must genuinely change lives rather than provide marginal improvements. The founder argues that saving people ten or thirty minutes daily is insufficient and forgettable, but saving two hours daily creates transformative value that sustains product adoption. This high bar for meaningful impact explains why the consumer robotics market remains largely unaddressed despite technological capabilities. 5. The business model centers on teaching robots specific tasks through a thirty-minute training process using a smartphone, then fine-tuning AI models for those particular workflows. Rather than pursuing general physical AI that can handle any task, Flourish enables users to create custom automations for their specific needs, like retrieving items from the refrigerator or collecting clothes for the washer. This approach acknowledges that general physical AI is not yet ready while still delivering practical value through task-specific learning. The company plans to launch fifty units at thirty-five hundred dollars, shipping worldwide, with rapid sellout expected due to existing demand. 6. The robot extends vertically to reach from floor level to table height, enabling tasks like cleaning surfaces and accessing shelves while maintaining a compact mobile base that can navigate through doorways. Current limitations include lack of waterproofing, preventing dishwashing tasks, and challenges with delicate object manipulation requiring advanced tactile sensing. The founder uses first-generation prototypes in his own home, scheduling the robot to pick up scattered items like socks and trash throughout the day. This real-world testing revealed critical design issues like initial prototypes being too large to pass through standard doorways, problems only discoverable through actual home deployment rather than warehouse testing. 7. The rise of AI-powered robotics fundamentally transforms hardware development by enabling software engineers without traditional robotics expertise to launch robotics companies after just weeks of learning. This democratization stems from downloadable models from well-funded research companies like Physical Intelligence, whose work the founder incorporates into Flourish robots. This represents a shift from the industrial age's capital-intensive factory model to an information age paradigm where substantial capability can be rapidly deployed through software. However, this transformation raises questions about competition intensity, market education for skeptical consumers, and whether the benefits will broadly distribute or concentrate among those with will and intelligence to build while others remain excluded and fearful. Timestamps00:00 Stewart welcomes Antoine Marcel, CEO of Flourish, who explains they're building accessible home robots with wheeled bases and arms rather than expensive humanoid forms for practical domestic use. 05:00 Antoine discusses testing prototypes in his home for picking up clothes and trash, explaining how real-world testing revealed issues like doors being too narrow for early designs. 10:00 The conversation shifts to how AI hype enables useful research, with Antoine noting he uses physical intelligence models in his robots that wouldn't exist without funding bubbles. 15:00 Antoine emphasizes robots must save users two hours daily to matter, explaining why consumer robotics is harder than industrial applications due to certification requirements and market education needs. 20:00 Discussion of solarpunk philosophy versus cyberpunk futures, with Antoine envisioning robots that hide away when not needed, emerging only to clean and organize while families enjoy life. 25:00 They explore how different cities might adopt solarpunk or cyberpunk approaches, comparing bureaucracy as inherently cyberpunk while discussing Argentina's potential as a solarpunk capital. 30:00 Antoine positions Flourish like early Apple, making complex robotics simple and accessible, rejecting teleoperated solutions in favor of onboard AI that learns from users. 35:00 The business model discussion centers on unit economics, with Antoine arguing domestic robots should monetize time saved rather than attention captured like social media platforms. 40:00 Antoine advocates against robot screens and rental models, favoring voice control and ownership so robots learn individual routines and preferences through personalization. 45:00 They discuss robots disappearing from view when unneeded, contrasting home automation with dark factory models, before exploring robot aesthetics and art possibilities. 50:00 Antoine announces Flourish's launch of fifty units at $3,500 that users can train in thirty minutes using phones, teaching specific tasks the AI then fine-tunes for daily execution.
Dr. Esther Walker, PhD, shares the science behind why cycling boosts brain health and mental performance. She breaks down the short‑term neurochemical spikes and the long‑term structural changes that riding can trigger, while addressing common myths about “bike as therapy.” You'll gain practical guidance on how to harness cycling for focus, mood, and overall cognitive resilience.Key Takeaways - A 20‑minute ride can increase pre‑frontal cortex activity, improve attention, and release dopamine and serotonin.- Consistent, moderate cycling builds hippocampal volume and reduces dementia risk more effectively than occasional high‑intensity sessions.- Cycling is a powerful tool, not a cure‑all; combine it with therapy, medication, or community support for best results.- Accessibility matters: welcoming environments, skill‑building, and adaptable equipment (e‑bikes, trikes) expand participation across ages.- Track your rides: start with 10‑20 minutes weekly and gradually add “pennies” to your mental‑health piggy bank.Esther Walker, PhD is the Executive Director of Outride, a nonprofit advancing brain health through cycling. With a PhD in cognitive science, she bridges academic research and real‑world bike programs for youth, adults, and older populations.Links & Resources - Outride website: https://www.outridebike.org- Outride Instagram: @outride- Recent JAMA study on commuting cycling & hippocampal volume: https://outridebike.org/research-resourcesIf you found these insights valuable, hit subscribe so you never miss a science‑backed episode, leave a 5‑star review to help fellow entrepreneurs discover the show, and join the conversation on Instagram @outride. Let's ride smarter together!Courses and Coaching: https://livefeisty.com/courses/Sign up to Receive The Feisty Women's Performance Newsletter:Feisty Women's Performance Newsletter: https://livefeisty.com/newsletters/feisty-womens-performance/Follow us on Instagram:@feisty_womens_performanceSupport our Partners:Momentous: Head to https://www.livemomentous.com/ and use promo code PERFORMANCE for up to 35% off your first orderWahoo: Learn more about Wahoo Fitness Products at: https://wahoofitness.pxf.io/0GAByRTifosi Optics: Use code FEISTY2026 for 20% off at https://tifosioptics.com/Hettas: Use code STAYFEISTY for 20% off at https://hettas.com/ Orca: Use the code FEISTY15 for 15% off at https://orca.avln.me/c/HzUkzIfxsmYo
For people with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), everyday spaces can become inaccessible — from healthcare and workplaces to public buildings and transportation.In this episode, Aaron Goodman speaks with María López Matallana, President of CONFESQ in Spain, about why people with MCS cannot keep waiting for recognition, protection, and meaningful accessibility.Topics:The everyday reality of living with MCS in SpainBarriers in healthcare and public spacesExposure to fragrances and chemicalsDisability rights and accessibilityWhy action is needed now
Reflections on participation in the community, as self-reported by young people with cerebral palsyJacinta Quartermaine, T A Rose, Megan Auld, Leanne JohnstonAbstractBackground and objective: This study focused on the community-based participation experiences of young people with cerebral palsy (CP), investigating the factors that make participation easier or harder.Methods: Accessible methods were utilized to explore the perspectives of 15 young people with CP aged 15 to 26 years with diverse motor and communication abilities (Gross Motor Function Classification System I = 4, II = 6, III = 1, IV = 3, V = 1, Viking Speech Scale I = 7, II = 4, III = 3, IV = 1). Participants provided regular written reflections, photographs, or videos about their community-based participation. Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.Results: Self-reported reflections were grouped inductively into 421 codes, then 22 subthemes and 6 themes: (i) My CP characteristics can make participation in the community more difficult; (ii) My own thoughts, emotions, confidence, and sense of achievement influence the things I do in the community; (iii) Accessibility of the environment and availability of equipment influences my participation in the community; (iv) The range of supports I have available influences my participation in the community; (v) Whether the community activity has been adjusted to include and involve me influences my participation; and (vi) The attitudes, actions, and level of acceptance from others in the community influences my participation.Discussion: Key factors influencing community-based participation for young people included CP characteristics, thoughts, emotions, confidence, environment, equipment, supports, accommodations, attitudes, actions, and acceptance.Keywords: Cerebral palsy; community; participation; qualitative thematic analysis; young people.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42143034/
I've been having a think about the sort of content I want to create at the moment and 'positive' and 'up lifting' was what was requested when I asked my followers on instagram. The news from the design industry and the world in general has been very negative recently. While I was researching what I could talk about I came across this really interesting effect called 'The Curb Cut Effect'. It's all about how solving a problem for a smaller group of people who have a specific accessibility need actually helps everyone. In this episode I chat through the effect and how it got it's name and also give other examples, and ideas of how you could use this improve your own brand and it's accessibility. Key Takeaways 1. Designing for the edges lifts the middle. Every time someone has built for a group that was being left out, the whole world has quietly benefited. Your business is no different; the change you make for one person rarely stops with them. 2. Small, imperfect steps still count. You won't get accessibility right first time, and you don't have to. Alt text, better colour contrast, left-aligned copy; these are afternoon jobs, not year-long projects. Start where you are. 3. If it's hard work to read, it's hard work to buy. A brain that has to strain will give up, and it won't even know why. Make it easy to read, easy to follow, easy to purchase - and you stop losing people you never knew you'd lost. 4. Do it because it's right, and let it pay you back anyway. Accessibility is the rare decision where doing the decent thing and doing the smart thing point in exactly the same direction. You don't have to choose. Episode Highlights 00:00: Where this episode came from: an Instagram story asking what people wanted, and the repeated request for something positive in a design industry that's feeling bleak 01:13: The kerb cut effect explained: 1970s activists with sledgehammers and cement, building ramps at night so wheelchair users could cross the road independently 02:47: Closed captions, voice assistants and automatic doors: how a fix designed for one group quietly ends up serving everybody 04:21: Why accessibility gets shelved by small business owners, and the commercial and legal case for stopping putting it off 05:34: The centred text problem: why the brain can't find the next line, gives up without realising it, and what that means for your emails and website 08:13: The question to take away: what have you been holding off fixing because you assumed it would only help a handful of people? I would love to hear what you think of this episode, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @lizmmosley or @buildingyourbrandpodcast and I hope you enjoy the episode! This episode was written, recorded and produced by me If you like to watch your podcasts you can watch all of my solo episodes including this one on YouTube. If you enjoyed this episode please leave a 5* rating and review!
On Thursday 17 September 2026 at the RNIB's Grimaldi Building in London, CPI and the RNIB brought publishers, authors, accessibility specialists, technology providers and industry partners together for the ‘Accessible Publishing Conference – Writing a New Chapter of Inclusion', giving people the opportunity to have have meaningful conversations, share valuable insights and spark new ideas ensuring that visually impaired people and everyone no matter how they read will have equal access to books and the joy they bring too.RNIB Connect Radio's Toby Davey was there and caught up with Elizabeth Killingly Accessibility Manager at Bloomsbury publishing who took part in the Inclusion Creates Commercial Opportunity panel discussion. To find out more about making books and reading accessible to blind and partially sighted people do visit the following pages of the RNIB website - https://www.rnib.org.uk/living-with-sight-loss/independent-living/leisure/reading-and-books/ Image shows the RNIB Connect Radio logo. On a white background ‘RNIB' written in bold black capital letters and underline with a bold pink line. Underneath the line: ‘Connect Radio' is written in black in a smaller font.
As businesses move quickly to adopt AI and strengthen digital accessibility, the path forward is becoming more important than ever. In this episode, guest host Peter Gavrilos is joined by Christina Adams from Siteimprove, Christopher Lee from IAAP, and Nick Goodrum from Americaneagle.com. They explore ADA compliance, accessibility governance, AI adoption, and how organizations can create more inclusive digital experiences with the right human oversight. Learn what organizations should prioritize today to build a more accessible digital future. This podcast is brought to you by Americaneagle.com Studios. Follow this podcast wherever you listen to them!
A national study has detailed the experience of autistic Australians in accessing services in areas like healthcare, public transport, retail, education, employment and recreation. The research found barriers were encountered frequently and across a number of everyday services in different sectors, contributing to a cumulative toll of negative experiences. Advocates say the solutions exist, but improved awareness and support is needed to implement changes that put the lived experience of autistic Australians at the centre.
From street parking to attending concerts, seems like everything requires an app nowadays. And not everyone has a smartphone, a data plan, or the patience for a glitchy download. Listeners share the moments an app got in the way of something that used to be simple. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
VisionOS 27 brings nearly the full feature set to M2 owners, Apple previews eye-tracked wheelchair control and new accessibility tools, and a developer opens up iPhone mirroring.VISIONOS 27 — WHAT'S NEWNearly Everything to M2 — Two Features Held for M5https://www.macobserver.com/news/visionos-27-m2-vision-pro-two-features-reserved-for-m5/New Icelandic Environment, Curved Windowshttps://www.macobserver.com/news/visionos-27-new-environment-curved-windows-vision-pro/ACCESSIBILITY & INCLUSIONEye-Tracked Wheelchair Control: Tolt and LUCIhttps://www.macobserver.com/news/vision-pro-wheelchair-control-eye-tracking-tolt-luci/Three visionOS-Only Accessibility Features in 2026https://www.macobserver.com/news/vision-pro-accessibility-features-vehicle-motion-cues-face-gestures-dwell-control/APP ECOSYSTEM1M Apps — Only 3,000 Built for visionOShttps://www.macobserver.com/news/vision-pro-app-ecosystem-1-million-apps-3000-native/The App Store Is Still a Jokehttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1wemi9w/vision_pro_app_store_still_a_joke/Best SharePlay Appshttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1wdknow/best_shareplay_apps/iPHONE MIRRORINGProof of Concept: Mirroring With Controlshttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1wesmic/proof_of_concept_iphone_mirroring_with_controls/iPhone Mirror Control Source Releasedhttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1weyyks/visionos_iphone_mirror_control_sharing_source/NEW APPS & EXPERIENCESApollo 11's Moon Landing as a Spatial Experiencehttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1we7nnp/we_just_released_apollo_11s_moon_landing_as_a/Spatial Music Visualizer for visionOShttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1wex0sm/spatial_music_visualizer_for_visionos/Locus 1.1.3: Animated Skybox, Ambient Soundhttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1wehej7/locus_113_with_animated_skybox_and_ambient_sound/Propriotype: Hand-Driven Desktop Launcheshttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1we97gh/propriotype_hand_desktop_interface_now_on_the_app/VR Tour of a Stadium Before Apple Immersivehttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1wemx3i/vr_tour_of_stadium_area_before_apple_immersive/COMMUNITY SHOWCASEThe Perfect Setuphttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1we9gpp/the_perfect_setup/Try to Resist Falling Asleephttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1we6tp6/try_to_resist_falling_asleep/Owners Want to Be One of the Fewhttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1wf2kjq/apple_vision_pro_owners_want_to_be_one_of_the/Tester Wanted: Real Cinema Experiencehttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1wf57ly/tester_wanted_for_a_real_cinema_experience_for/Decoration Spotted in Apple Keynotehttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1wcvva0/decoration_in_applekeynote/Roundtable VRhttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1wen614/roundtable_vr/INDUSTRY & BROADER CONTEXTiPhone Duo Is No Apple Vision Prohttps://9to5mac.com/2026/09/10/iphone-duo-is-no-apple-vision-pro/iPhone Fold Will Go the Way of Vision Prohttps://forums.macrumors.com/threads/iphone-fold-will-go-the-way-of-vision-pro-4-market-at-most.2488799/PATENT WATCHPatently Apple: New Patent Filinghttps://x.com/PatentlyApple/status/2097335352847643114HARDWARE & ACCESSORIESWeCreate Vision Pro 45W (r/Laserengraving)https://www.reddit.com/r/Laserengraving/comments/1wae78q/wecreat_vision_pro_45w_distortedwonky_engraving/AppleCare+ One Family Covers All Eligible Deviceshttps://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1wbwyqh/apple_care_one_family_covers_all_the_eligible/CONNECT WITH VISION PROFILESYouTube: @VisionProfiles (live Mondays 9 PM EST)ThePodTalk.net | Email: ThePodTalkNetwork@gmail.com
In this episode, Michael Hansen gives us an overview of the new VoiceOver and braille features in iOS 27.Topics covered include:Image DescriptionsNew Options for Text Exploration and NavigationNew Verbosity Options for VoiceOver Hints.Import and Export Pronunciation DictionariesEnhancements to Live RecognitionNew Cursor Visibility OptionsBraille ImprovementsLegacy Siri Voices Come to VoiceOverTranscriptDisclaimer: This transcript was generated using Google Gemini, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool. It was lightly edited and formatted, and it may not accurately capture the speakers' names, voices, or content.Michael Hansen: Hello Friends, it's Michael Hansen here with an overview of the new VoiceOver features and changes in iOS 27. Now, in my personal estimation, iOS 27 is a pretty big update for VoiceOver users. For people with Apple Intelligence capable devices, VoiceOver now has image descriptions and live recognition scene descriptions, the ability to ask questions about your environment, and all kinds of things related to that, powered by Apple Intelligence. It's really cool. And for all users, Apple has also made refinements to text navigation, braille screen input, and a few other things as well. In this podcast, I'm going to talk you through the main highlights of iOS 27 with VoiceOver. Also do a couple of demos along the way, too.Image Description. At long, long last, Apple has finally brought image description natively to VoiceOver in iOS 27. Now, this is a feature that does require an Apple Intelligence capable device. And how it works is that when you place VoiceOver focus on a picture, for example a photo in the Photos app or an attachment that someone sends you, a picture in Messages or a post on Facebook, you turn the VoiceOver rotor to the image recognition rotor if it's not already there. And then you can swipe through the options depending on what you're wanting to do. Available options include being able to get an intelligent image description, which is kind of your basic everyday one stop shop description. You can ask a single question about the image using the ask about image option. You can explore the image and kind of get a, kind of a separate screen that has the text of the image description and a chat box where you can type or dictate and have a follow-up conversation about the picture. You can recognize your screen, and this will describe everything that is seen on your screen. You can ask about the screen, you can get, you can explore the screen. And if you're in the Photos app, you can also save the intelligent image descriptions for when you go through your photos in the future. You can get started with VoiceOver's image description functionality right out-of-the-box by turning the VoiceOver rotor to image recognition. You can customize which options appear in the VoiceOver image recognition rotor by navigating to Settings, Accessibility, VoiceOver, Rotor, Image Recognition Rotor. You can also assign any of the image recognition functions to either a touch gesture or a keyboard command by navigating to Settings, Accessibility, VoiceOver, Commands. Now there are a lot of really cool things that you can do with image and screen descriptions. I'm going to show you just one…
Best of Cabrillo National Monument Accessibility You loved it the first time, so here is the updated Best Of Version. This photo is with my friend Nancy Kramer on her recent visit to the park. In this episode, the FAQ: How do I best enjoy the park? Today's Destination is Cabrillo National Monument Accessibility. Before you forget, please leave a review!!!!! Today's Misstep: Don't forget to stretch, as I did. Travel Advice: Swimming? Watch your valuables. FAQ: My friends ask me how I enjoy Cabrillo Park. I love this question. First, you have to plan for it, so bring your National Park Pass and try to visit on a Tuesday or Wednesday, the slow days. Park at the top and see the Lighthouse. It's iconic. Then visit the overlook for views of San Diego and watch the boats come in and out of the channel. The visitor center is worth seeing, even if you don't buy anything. Then hike the bayside trail if you can; if not, follow the accessibility guidance below. Today's destination: Best of Cabrillo National Monument Accessibility Last episode was about the trails and the tide pools, plus what you can do there. This is a follow-up for those who have limited access but want to enjoy the park, You can, because it's built for everyone. Cabrillo National Monument is highly accessible for people with disabilities, with a range of features and services to ensure an enjoyable, inclusive experience. Here are some key aspects of its accessibility: Accessible Pathways and Facilities The monument has paved walkways, restrooms, water fountains, and seating areas that are accessible to visitors with mobility concerns. Parking and Transportation Designated accessible parking areas include spots near the Lighthouse, which you can request at the gate. Assistive Equipment Wheelchairs are available for use to help visitors navigate the park. If you ask for a pass, you can drive to the Lighthouse at the entrance to the visitor center, so you won't have to walk. Visual and Auditory Accessibility For visitors with vision loss, the park offers tactile models, audio-described films, tactile maps, and audio wayside signs. Braille users can utilize tactile maps and guides with a talking pen. Deaf/Hearing Loss Accommodations Services include ASL interpreters, signing rangers, open-captioned films, assistive listening devices, and one-way portable microphones. Cognitive Concerns The park provides quiet areas, sensory-friendly options, and clear signage to make the visit more pleasant and stress-free for visitors with cognitive concerns. Service Animals The park welcomes service animals, with specific accommodations and facilities to ensure a safe environment for both the visitor and their companion. Unfortunately, regular pets are not welcome here. Access Pass The National Park Access Pass, which is free for U.S. citizens or permanent residents with a disability, grants free entry into the park and can be obtained at the fee station. Overall Accessibility The park has been rated highly for its accessibility, with paved paths, accessible trails, and well-marked signage. It is designed to be fully accessible, allowing everyone to enjoy the natural, historical, and cultural aspects of the monument. Today's Misstep: I forgot to stretch. I ended up with a very sore back on a big hike day. If I had stretched like I usually do, I would not have had this issue. Do the stretch first. Today's Travel Advice: If you are going swimming, leave your valuables at the hotel. Its not wise to bring your valuables to the beach and then go swimming. It's common sense, but so many people forget this or don't prepare. Just say no to leaving your stuff on the beach. Connect with Dr. Travelbest 5 Steps to Solo Travel website Dr. Mary Travelbest X Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Page Dr. Mary Travelbest Facebook Group Dr. Mary Travelbest Instagram Dr. Mary Travelbest Podcast Dr. Travelbest on TikTok Dr.Travelbest onYouTube In the news
Audio description was built for blind and partially sighted viewers. RNIB brought broadcasters to London to ask whether sighted audiences want it too, and what that would change for the rest of us. Steven Scott reports back from the Audio Is King event, before the show turns to Clipman, an Audacity 4 warning, and the Anthropic resignation that put AI extinction talk on every front page.RNIB surveyed more than 1,200 sighted people and found roughly 42 percent already knew what audio description is. Steven and Shaun compare that with audiobooks, which stayed a small shelf of expensive CD boxsets until Audible made them mainstream and quality improved for everyone. The same could happen with description, listened to on a commute or at the gym, if discovery improves. Shaun argues the real barrier is presentation: burying it in a languages menu keeps it hidden, and the name itself may need rethinking. Described video, the term used in Canada, came up as a clearer alternative.Behind the slow progress sits a familiar problem. Accessibility teams inside broadcasters are small, and every department arrives at the priorities meeting asking where the value is. Steven makes the case that description could be an offering rather than a cost, pointing to companion podcasts, to what television could learn from audio-first storytelling, and to AMI's integrated described video, where the script carries the picture instead of a separate voice. He also pays tribute to Sonali Rai at RNIB and to audio describer Marie Campbell, whose voice Steven recognised live on stage.Two warnings follow. Audacity 4 rebuilds the interface in Qt and, in testing, screen reader access is badly broken, so stay on the version you have. New iOS and macOS releases land next week, and the advice is to wait a month and read the AppleVis bug report first. On a brighter note, Clipman from Andre Louis now runs on Linux and offers a self-hosted server, so encrypted clipboard sync works across Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone without a cloud account.The episode closes on Jacob Coxon, who resigned from Anthropic this week saying neither Anthropic nor OpenAI is acting responsibly and that both are racing toward self-improving superintelligence. Colleagues publicly agreed the risk is real. Steven and Shaun weigh how seriously to take percentage odds on human extinction, why biological weapons and infrastructure hacking changed the shape of the fear, and why the story has been met with near silence inside the blind tech community.Chapters0:00 – Please don't kill us all0:19 – RNIB's Audio Is King event and audio description for sighted audiences24:32 – Clipman gains Linux support and a self-hosted server29:08 – Do not install Audacity 433:14 – New iOS and macOS updates: wait a month35:52 – Jacob Coxon resigns from AnthropicRelevant LinksRNIB: https://www.rnib.org.ukClipman by Andre Louis: https://github.com/OnjLouis/ClipmanAMI: https://www.ami.caTwenty Thousand Hertz: https://www.20k.orgAudacity: https://www.audacityteam.orgAppleVis: https://www.applevis.comAnthropic: https://www.anthropic.com ----Follow on:YouTube: https://www.doubletaponair.com/youtubeX (formerly Twitter): https://www.doubletaponair.com/xInstagram: https://www.doubletaponair.com/instagramTikTok: https://www.doubletaponair.com/tiktokThreads: https://www.doubletaponair.com/threadsFacebook: https://www.doubletaponair.com/facebookLinkedIn: https://www.doubletaponair.com/linkedinSubscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://www.doubletaponair.com/appleSpotify: https://www.doubletaponair.com/spotifyRSS: https://www.doubletaponair.com/podcastiHeadRadio: https://www.doubletaponair.com/iheartAbout Double TapHosted by the insightful duo, Steven Scott and Shaun Preece, Double Tap is a treasure trove of information for anyone who's blind or partially sighted and has a passion for tech. Steven and Shaun not only demystify tech, but they also regularly feature interviews and welcome guests from the community, fostering an interactive and engaging environment. Tune in every day of the week, and you'll discover how technology can seamlessly integrate into your life, enhancing daily tasks and experiences, even if your sight is limited."Double Tap" is a registered trademark of Double Tap Productions Inc. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
We sat down with the CEOs of Experience Fayetteville, Ryan Hauck, and Visit Bentonville, Kalene Griffith, to talk about their most recent partnership with Wheel the World to become more accessible, friendly cities. Wheel the World does not just focus on being ADA-compliant but also highlights what local hotels and restaurants are doing well in accommodating not just travelers with physical disabilities, but also sensory needs as well. A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn. You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.
It's an all new That Real Blind Tech Show as Allison, Brian, David, and Jenine are together to discuss the Apple Surprise and Shine Event. Mot of this show is Applecentric, however, we kick things off with Clauding. If you haven't gone and got the That Real Blind Tech show iOS App yet, what are you waiting for? You can grab it here. Additionally, if you are a movie fan, the That Real Movie Quiz is now up and in the App Store with over 22,500 questions, and of course fully accessible. You can purchase it for $3.99 because Blind Tech podcasters got to eat to. You can grab it here. We then discuss two more Quiz games Brian has in development That Real President's Quiz and That Real American History Quiz. Next Brian discusses what has slowed the development of the quiz and Poker games, as he is working on becoming a Country Rock God. The name of the song is I Can See Just Fine in 1999, and you can hear the song at the end of this episode. Brian then dives in to a bit of his workflow process with making the future international hit I Can See Just Fine in 1999, and of course the Accessibility barriers he encountered and how he got around them. Then Brian discusses his spiral in to writing, producing, and directing a music video for I Can See Just Fine in 1999, as someone whispered to him that sighted people want video to their music. Who knew? Allison then gives us updates on her work with the Virtual Machine and new accessible Terminal she has designed. We then get in to the Apple Surprise and Shine Event. We discuss how great it is that Apple seems to be the only tech company that audio describes their keynotes and events. Discuss the video intro, the release date for the new iOS September 14th, and Allison and Jeanine's experiences running the iOS Beta. Jeanine mentions that image description in the new OS could be a game changer. We discuss the new Siri and Siri app that will be in beta at first. Additionally there will be daily use caps and potentially costs coming down the road. Allison and Jenine claim they have noticed a much improved dictation experience on the beta. We briefly go scientific discussing the new effective thermal management coming to the new phones along with the Vapor Chamber, but will VoiceOver still tell you every second of a phone call when the phone is touching your face? We discuss the specs, prices, and availability of the new iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max. We discuss the camera, well because Apple did. Anyone else count how many times they said the word Aperture? iPhone Hand off, while limited to specific carriers, this feature sounds very cool. Next Apple discussed the new Air Pod 5's. So while we are Air Pod Pro people we still discuss them anyway. We are getting two new Apple Watches the Watch 12 and Ultra 4. We discuss the new health features coming to the watch, sleep scores, conversation recap features, daily body score and tracking health and recovery from injuries. And then finally we discuss the iPhone Duo, Apple's first foldable phone. We are not sure this is a device for totally blind people, and I you do not have Muppett Hands then you will definitely want to get your hands on the device probably before committing to it. And we are really annoyed that TouchId is secure enough to be on the Duo but not other Apple Devices. Talk about Speaking out of both sides of your mouth Apple. We Blind Feud a great question about the iPhone Duo, and here is proof people were actually asking it. And developers will first have to design their apps to specifically fit the unique Duo screen. And it's more of Watcha Streaming, Watcha Reading. To contact That Real Blind Tech Show, go download our new That Real Blind Tech show app, and please for the love of all that is holy, rate and review us here. you can email us at ThatRealBlindTechShow@gmail.com join our Facebook Group That Real Blind Tech Show, join us on the Twitter @BlindTechShow
Erin Hagar welcomes Heather Moore, Associate Director of Educational Support and Disability Services at UMB. In this conversation, they discuss the ways the new Title II requirements not only impact the students they were designed around but the many ways that they make life better for everyone.
Software Engineering Radio - The Podcast for Professional Software Developers
Owen McGirr, creator of SayIt!, Switchify, and an entrepreneur who builds inclusive technology, speaks with SE Radio host Gavin Henry about software accessibility. For this episode, Gavin emailed the questions to Owen, who prepared his answers and generated the audio programmatically using text-to-speech. Owen discusses what accessibility is, different ways a user might interact with software, how accessibility is currently handled between various operating systems, the technical challenges of creating SayIt! and Switchify, plus what developers can do to improve accessibility. This episode explores access methods, what good accessibility means, eye gaze, touch, voice, keyboards, scanning, switches, radaring, screen overlays, iOS accessibility, Android accessibility, which OSes have better support, AI testing, what vendors can do to improve, what developers can do to improve and what two things a developer can do immediately to test their software accessibility.
Anika sat down with Mike Barton to explore why digital accessibility is frequently overlooked by marketers and why treating it as a core growth lever can transform a brand. The conversation revealed a counterintuitive truth: digital accessibility is not just a compliance checkbox or a legal defense against lawsuits, but a powerful driver of customer retention, SEO performance, and overall user clarity. Mike's diverse journey—shaping executive messaging at Adobe, building a customer marketing function from scratch at Zenoti, and leading corporate communications and content marketing at AudioEye—offered a practical look at how treating enterprise buyers as humans first changes the way brands tell stories.In This EpisodeThe Northwestern IMC Roots: Merging data-driven decisions with creative marketing to treat the end user as a human.Building from Scratch at Zenoti: Why executive buy-in, measurable outcomes, and diverse team skills matter more than theoretical strategies.The Accessibility Aha Moment: Discovering how common digital content excludes the 1 in 4 Americans living with a disability.Compliance vs. Growth: Shifting enterprise conversations away from fear-driven legal defense toward marketing tech stack investments.Rising Tides and SEO: How clear image descriptions, precise code structures, and accessible design naturally boost search rankings and LLM visibility.The Loyalty Multiplier: Why consumers with disabilities and their tight-knit communities represent an exceptionally loyal customer base.Decoding Content Slop: Balancing the power of AI amplification with authentic human storytelling to avoid the sea of digital sameness. Timestamps00:03 Introduction: Digital accessibility as an overlooked growth lever 01:07 The Northwestern background: Marrying data-driven decisions with creative storytelling 04:43 Building customer marketing from scratch at Zenoti and the importance of measurable outcomes 10:28 Discovering digital accessibility: Breaking down misperceptions and the 1 in 4 statistic 14:29 The push-pull of compliance: Moving from reactive fear of lawsuits to proactive marketing investments 17:59 Travel industry case study: How making websites accessible increased traffic and SEO performance 23:03 Clarity for all: Why accessibility best practices simplify messaging for human users and LLM crawlers alike 25:29 Common marketer misconceptions: The false belief that people with disabilities do not use or spend on products 30:43 The content creator's dilemma: Using AI to amplify work without falling into "AI slop" 39:46 What AudioEye actually delivers: Combining scalable automation with expert human auditing 42:57 The future of content strategy: Simplifying messages in a digital world inundated with noise 45:58 Final thoughts: Embracing life's detours as the true path you are supposed to be on Key Insights & Takeaways Insight 1: Enterprise Buyers Are People First Whether marketing to consumers or enterprise buyers, the underlying audience consists of humans who go home and watch Netflix to unwind. Powerful marketing must combine logic and emotion to reframe how people think and build genuine brand loyalty. Insight 2: Accessibility Lifts All Marketing Boats Investing a small percentage of a marketing tech stack budget into accessibility does more than maintain compliance. It improves SEO performance, enhances LLM crawler comprehension, and clarifies copy for every user, making it a true rising tide for all digital channels. Insight 3: The Untapped Power of an Overlooked Audience Marketers frequently make the self-fulfilling assumption that people with disabilities do not engage with their products or possess spending power. In reality, addressing the needs of this community unlocks massive market potential and builds unmatched customer loyalty. Insight 4: Simplicity Is the Hardest Part of Writing As digital noise increases and AI generates vast amounts of generic content, the winning strategy belongs to writers who can simplify complex ideas. Succinct, clear messaging cuts through the clutter faster than over-engineered corporate jargon. Insight 5: Embrace the Career Detour Professional setbacks, whether a failed campaign, a missed strategy, or a layoff, are rarely true detours. Shifting perspective to view unexpected changes as the intended path helps professionals seize new opportunities sooner. Resources & Links MentionedAudioEye (audioeye.com)Max Ivy (The Blind Blogger)Sprout Social (survey research on social media demographics)"Assume That I Can" (global awareness campaign on Down syndrome) About Mike Barton Mike Barton is the Vice President of Corporate Communication and Content Marketing at AudioEye. With a career spanning executive messaging at Adobe, building customer marketing from scratch at Zenoti, and shaping content strategy at enterprise software giants, Mike specializes in human-centric storytelling and digital accessibility. He holds a degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Northwestern University. Connect with MikeWebsite: www.audioeye.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omnibarton/ YBA was named the top PR podcast in the US by FeedSpot! Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you follow your favorite podcasts alongside blogs and news in one place. Like the show? Leave us a rating or review: https://lovethepodcast.com/67940257010b317cdaa9d857 Send us a Message: https://podcastfeedback.com/67940257010b317cdaa9d857 Check out our Website: https://www.yourbrandamplified.com Speak to my Delphi Clone: https://www.delphi.ai/amplifywithanika Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
In this very special episode of the podcast, I talk with my wife, Lauren Schwabish, a speech-language pathologist who helps adults recover communication after stroke, traumatic brain injury, and other neurological conditions. We discuss person-centered care, translating medical jargon into plain language for patients and families, and the visual tools and assistive technology Lauren builds to help people with aphasia communicate — with real lessons for anyone designing data visualizations, dashboards, or reports for a broad audience.SHOW NOTESNeuro Speech Services | @NeuroSpeechServices on Instagram | National Aphasia Association | Aphasia Access | BYU Aphasia-Friendly Research Resource | Stroke Association (UK) Aphasia-Friendly GuideSubscribe to this podcast. Follow this show and everything dataviz on Instagram, LinkedIn, Substack, X, and YouTube. Check out the PolicyViz websiteto learn more about data and data visualization.Questions? Comments? Pitch ideas? Email me at: jon@policyviz.comHosted by Zencastr where you can record, transcribe, edit, and automatically publish your meetings, podcasts, and more.
In this original What the Dementia episode, we will discuss practical, actionable strategies to help caregivers manage and prevent toileting accidents in individuals living with dementia. We down the concept of functional incontinence, where cognitive, physical, or environmental obstacles prevent someone from reaching or using the toilet in time, and provides six practical tips to overcome these barriers. This episode will cover:— The difference between medical incontinence and functional incontinence in dementia.— Simple visual and lighting techniques to make the bathroom discoverable day and night.— Accessibility modifications and safety tools to prevent physical barriers.— Clothing considerations that simplify dressing and reduce delays.— Methods for creating a supportive, distraction-free environment inside the restroom.— Key non-verbal behavioral signs that signal a need to use the bathroom.— How to establish and adapt an effective toileting routine.— Guidance on hydration, common bladder irritants, and responding to accidents with empathy.MENTIONED IN EPISODE: Panda Pocket | https://letsbambu.com/panda-pocketCONNECT, GET RESOURCES, LEARN MORE, + SIMPLIFY YOUR CARE JOURNEY:LinkTree | https://www.letsbambu.com/b/linktreeMUSIC CREDIT: Listen To SpillageVillage - Tropical Landing Pop Songs At Looperman.com DISCLAIMER: The information contained in Bambu Care LLC's website, blog, emails, programs, services and/or products is for educational and informational purposes only. While we draw on our prior professional expertise and background in other areas, you acknowledge that we are supporting you in our role exclusively as a Dementia Care Consultant. By participating in Bambu Care, LLC's website, blog, emails, programs, services and/or products, you acknowledge that we are not a licensed psychologist, professional counselor, or medical doctor. We in no way, diagnose, treat, or cure any illnesses or diseases. Dementia Care Consulting is in no way to be construed or substituted as psychological counseling or any other type of therapy or medical advice. The information provided by Bambu Care, LLC also does not constitute legal or financial advice nor is intended to be. Dementia Care Consulting is not a substitute for the services of a CPA or attorney.
What happens when the bus can actually beat the car?In this episode of Transit Unplugged, Paul Comfort sits down with Melinda Metzger, Executive Director of Pace Suburban Bus, for a conversation recorded at Pace's ADA headquarters in downtown Chicago.Melinda has spent 42 years at Pace, beginning as a summer intern and eventually working her way through planning, operations, procurement, and executive leadership. She takes Paul inside an agency that now serves 274 communities across a six-county region with fixed-route buses, express service, Pulse rapid transit, vanpools, on-demand transportation, and one of the largest paratransit operations in the country.They explore some of Pace's most successful innovations, including traffic signal priority, real-time rider information, Van Go first- and last-mile service, and Bus on Shoulder—an approach that lets Pace buses move around congestion on Chicago-area expressways and has helped drive dramatic ridership growth on participating routes.Melinda also discusses Pace's role in providing regional ADA paratransit, why improving accessibility can make transit better for everyone, and how the agency is approaching the transition from the Regional Transportation Authority to the new Northern Illinois Transit Authority.Finally, Melinda reflects on four decades of change at Pace, the employees and customers who have shaped her career, and the legacy she hopes to leave as the agency expands its facilities and continues its transition toward zero-emission buses.In this episode:- Why frequency, speed, and reliability can bring riders back to transit- How Bus on Shoulder helped transform ridership on Pace routes- What it takes to provide thousands of paratransit trips every day across Chicago and its suburbs- How Pace uses technology to make service more predictable and easier to use- What the creation of the Northern Illinois Transit Authority could mean for regional fares and coordination- How vanpool, Van Go, and on-demand services are solving first- and last-mile challenges- Melinda's journey from summer intern to Executive Director- The investments in facilities, training, and electric buses shaping Pace's next chapter00:00 Welcome to Transit Unplugged00:00 Welcome to Transit Unplugged01:07 Inside Pace ADA HQ01:12 Inside Pace ADA HQ01:25 Paratransit Scale and Partners01:25 Paratransit at Scale02:03 Taxis and Rideshare Partners02:21 42 Years at Pace02:21 42 Years at Pace02:34 From Intern to Leader02:34 From Intern to Leader03:05 RTA Split and Pace Growth03:05 RTA Split and Pace Growth04:06 What Pace Operates Today04:06 What Pace Operates Today04:51 How Pace Fits Chicago Transit04:53 Regional ADA for Chicago05:14 RTA to NITA Transition05:14 RTA to NITA Transition06:07 Embracing Change Culture06:07 Embracing Change Culture07:18 Why the Name Pace07:18 Why the Name Pace07:33 Working with CTA and Metra07:33 Working with CTA and Metra08:58 Customer Focus and More Service08:58 Customer Focus and More Service09:37 Signal Priority and Real Time Tech09:37 Signal Priority and Pulse Tech10:42 Real Time Info for Riders10:56 Rider Tools and Better Signage11:58 Break and Show Promos11:58 Break and Show Promos12:38 Accessibility as a Civil Right12:38 Accessibility as a Civil Right13:40 Dial a Ride and On Demand Options13:40 Dial a Ride and On Demand15:52 Bus on Shoulder Success15:52 Bus on Shoulder and Innovation17:26 Vanpool and Van Go Programs19:05 Transit App Integration20:05 Legacy Facilities and Electrification20:05 Legacy and What's Next22:20 Facilities Training and EV Future24:11 Final Thanks and Sign OffCreditsHost and Producer: Paul ComfortExecutive Producer: Julie GatesProducer: Chris O'KeeffeProduction Assistant: Desmond GatesEditor: Patrick EmileAssociate Producer: Cyndi RaskinBrand Design: Tina OlagundoyeProduction Assistant: Desmond GatesCamera: Jaime CuadraSecond Camera: Sophie CuadraTransit Unplugged is brought to you by Modaxo, passionate about moving the world's people.For more information, visit: www.Transit Unplugged.comDisclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the guests, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Modaxo Inc., its affiliates or subsidiaries, or any entities they represent (“Modaxo”). This production belongs to Modaxo, and may contain information that may be subject to trademark, copyright, or other intellectual property rights and restrictions. This production provides general information, and should not be relied on as legal advice or opinion. Modaxo specifically disclaims all warranties, express or implied, and will not be liable for any losses, claims, or damages arising from the use of this presentation, from any material contained in it, or from any action or decision taken in response to it.
Welcome back to Season 13 of the PolicyViz Podcast! In this quick solo kickoff, I walk you through everything I have planned this season, from a full episode on accessibility in data communication to a brand-new weekly series where I talk through some of my favorite data visualizations from the last 15 years. I'll also tell you about my very first live podcast recording, happening in November in Boston as part of the IEEE VIS Conference and the new Cluster Practitioner Summit I'm co-organizing. Along the way I'll be expanding my YouTube content around Flourish, Excel, and PowerPoint, including how I'm using AI tools like Claude and Copilot in my own workflow. It's shaping up to be a busy, lucky Season 13, and I'm so glad you're along for the ride.Subscribe to this podcast. Follow this show and everything dataviz on Instagram, LinkedIn, Substack, X, and YouTube. Check out the PolicyViz websiteto learn more about data and data visualization.Questions? Comments? Pitch ideas? Email me at: jon@policyviz.comHosted by Zencastr where you can record, transcribe, edit, and automatically publish your meetings, podcasts, and more.
Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Lamar Fletcher. His work in affordable housing development, community revitalization, and financial empowerment. Rushion McDonald explored how Fletcher's upbringing in one of Atlanta's most underserved neighborhoods inspired him to launch a private equity firm focused on creating quality, affordable housing opportunities and pathways to homeownership. The discussion also aimed to educate listeners about affordable housing, financial literacy, private equity investing, and housing accessibility for working families, domestic violence survivors, and underserved communities. Key Takeaways 1. Your Background Doesn't Determine Your Future Lamar Fletcher grew up in Atlanta's Vine City and English Avenue communities, areas historically impacted by poverty, crime, and limited economic opportunities. Despite these challenges, he pursued higher education and built a career in finance. His story demonstrates that adversity can become motivation for success and community leadership. 2. Success Should Create Opportunities for Others Fletcher views his accomplishments as a way to give back to the communities that shaped him. He believes success is most meaningful when it creates opportunities for others to achieve stability and prosperity. 3. Affordable Housing Is About Accessibility A major theme of the conversation was redefining affordable housing. Fletcher explained that affordability should be based on what families can realistically sustain financially, ensuring housing costs do not consume an overwhelming share of household income. His goal is to create homeownership opportunities that allow families to thrive financially rather than struggle under excessive housing costs. 4. Homeownership Is a Pathway to Stability Fletcher believes every family deserves access to safe, quality housing regardless of income level. He sees homeownership as a critical step toward financial security, wealth building, and long-term community development. 5. Financial Literacy Is Essential Many affordable housing challenges stem from a lack of financial education. Fletcher's organization works with families on budgeting, credit repair, financial management, and mortgage readiness before they purchase homes. 6. Supporting Domestic Violence Survivors One of Fletcher's most impactful initiatives is a housing and financial empowerment program for women who are survivors of domestic violence. The program provides financial literacy education, credit-building support, and a structured pathway toward homeownership. 7. Affordable Housing Is an American Issue Fletcher emphasized that affordable housing affects people across all racial, ethnic, and income groups. Rising housing costs and limited inventory have created challenges for families nationwide. He rejects the notion that affordable housing is only a concern for low-income communities. 8. Safe Housing Matters as Much as Affordable Housing Drawing from his own experiences, Fletcher stressed that affordability should not require families to compromise their safety. His developments seek to provide affordable homes within safe and thriving communities. 9. Inclusion Creates Stronger Communities Rather than concentrating affordable housing in specific neighborhoods, Fletcher advocates for mixed-income communities where people from different backgrounds and income levels can live together and access opportunities. 10. Partnerships Drive Impact Fletcher believes collaboration between investors, nonprofits, community organizations, and housing advocates is essential for addressing the housing crisis and expanding access to homeownership. Notable Quotes On Overcoming Adversity "I look at myself as a diamond in the rough, one of the very few that made it off the block." On Purpose "I knew that it was something that was a calling and a purpose amongst me that I had to fulfill." On Affordable Housing "Every family should have a home." On Housing Equality "Housing should be an essential need that everybody has quality usage of throughout their lifetime." On Community Impact "I fight to make sure that marginalized individuals still have a shot at homeownership." On Housing Accessibility "We want affordability for everybody." On Inclusion "We believe that communities should be a result of all types of people, of all income levels." On Collaboration "We understand the power of collaboration and partnerships." On Homeownership "Everybody deserves a shot at the American Dream of homeownership." Overall Theme The interview centers on the belief that safe, affordable housing is both an economic opportunity and a social responsibility. Through his private equity firm and housing initiatives, Lamar Fletcher is working to expand access to homeownership, strengthen communities, and create pathways to financial stability for underserved families. His story reflects a commitment to transforming personal success into community impact and ensuring that the American Dream remains attainable for future generations. #STRAW #SHMS #BEST Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushion McDonald is America's premier entrepreneurship, business leadership, financial literacy, and wealth-building podcast featuring successful entrepreneurs, executives, founders, celebrities, and industry experts sharing actionable insights for professional and financial success. Business Podcast Entrepreneurship Small Business Business Growth Financial Literacy Wealth Building Black Entrepreneurs Minority Business Leadership Executive Leadership Business Funding Marketing Strategies Personal Development Startup Advice Sales Training CEO Interviews Founder Stories Professional Development Economic Empowerment Business Success Networking Brand Building Innovation How to start a business Small business funding Entrepreneur success stories Business leadership podcast Wealth building strategies Black entrepreneur podcast Minority business development Marketing for small businesses Business growth strategies Startup funding opportunities Executive leadership training Financial literacy education Success mindset podcast Support the show: https://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Lamar Fletcher. His work in affordable housing development, community revitalization, and financial empowerment. Rushion McDonald explored how Fletcher's upbringing in one of Atlanta's most underserved neighborhoods inspired him to launch a private equity firm focused on creating quality, affordable housing opportunities and pathways to homeownership. The discussion also aimed to educate listeners about affordable housing, financial literacy, private equity investing, and housing accessibility for working families, domestic violence survivors, and underserved communities. Key Takeaways 1. Your Background Doesn't Determine Your Future Lamar Fletcher grew up in Atlanta's Vine City and English Avenue communities, areas historically impacted by poverty, crime, and limited economic opportunities. Despite these challenges, he pursued higher education and built a career in finance. His story demonstrates that adversity can become motivation for success and community leadership. 2. Success Should Create Opportunities for Others Fletcher views his accomplishments as a way to give back to the communities that shaped him. He believes success is most meaningful when it creates opportunities for others to achieve stability and prosperity. 3. Affordable Housing Is About Accessibility A major theme of the conversation was redefining affordable housing. Fletcher explained that affordability should be based on what families can realistically sustain financially, ensuring housing costs do not consume an overwhelming share of household income. His goal is to create homeownership opportunities that allow families to thrive financially rather than struggle under excessive housing costs. 4. Homeownership Is a Pathway to Stability Fletcher believes every family deserves access to safe, quality housing regardless of income level. He sees homeownership as a critical step toward financial security, wealth building, and long-term community development. 5. Financial Literacy Is Essential Many affordable housing challenges stem from a lack of financial education. Fletcher's organization works with families on budgeting, credit repair, financial management, and mortgage readiness before they purchase homes. 6. Supporting Domestic Violence Survivors One of Fletcher's most impactful initiatives is a housing and financial empowerment program for women who are survivors of domestic violence. The program provides financial literacy education, credit-building support, and a structured pathway toward homeownership. 7. Affordable Housing Is an American Issue Fletcher emphasized that affordable housing affects people across all racial, ethnic, and income groups. Rising housing costs and limited inventory have created challenges for families nationwide. He rejects the notion that affordable housing is only a concern for low-income communities. 8. Safe Housing Matters as Much as Affordable Housing Drawing from his own experiences, Fletcher stressed that affordability should not require families to compromise their safety. His developments seek to provide affordable homes within safe and thriving communities. 9. Inclusion Creates Stronger Communities Rather than concentrating affordable housing in specific neighborhoods, Fletcher advocates for mixed-income communities where people from different backgrounds and income levels can live together and access opportunities. 10. Partnerships Drive Impact Fletcher believes collaboration between investors, nonprofits, community organizations, and housing advocates is essential for addressing the housing crisis and expanding access to homeownership. Notable Quotes On Overcoming Adversity "I look at myself as a diamond in the rough, one of the very few that made it off the block." On Purpose "I knew that it was something that was a calling and a purpose amongst me that I had to fulfill." On Affordable Housing "Every family should have a home." On Housing Equality "Housing should be an essential need that everybody has quality usage of throughout their lifetime." On Community Impact "I fight to make sure that marginalized individuals still have a shot at homeownership." On Housing Accessibility "We want affordability for everybody." On Inclusion "We believe that communities should be a result of all types of people, of all income levels." On Collaboration "We understand the power of collaboration and partnerships." On Homeownership "Everybody deserves a shot at the American Dream of homeownership." Overall Theme The interview centers on the belief that safe, affordable housing is both an economic opportunity and a social responsibility. Through his private equity firm and housing initiatives, Lamar Fletcher is working to expand access to homeownership, strengthen communities, and create pathways to financial stability for underserved families. His story reflects a commitment to transforming personal success into community impact and ensuring that the American Dream remains attainable for future generations. #STRAW #SHMS #BEST Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushion McDonald is America's premier entrepreneurship, business leadership, financial literacy, and wealth-building podcast featuring successful entrepreneurs, executives, founders, celebrities, and industry experts sharing actionable insights for professional and financial success. Business Podcast Entrepreneurship Small Business Business Growth Financial Literacy Wealth Building Black Entrepreneurs Minority Business Leadership Executive Leadership Business Funding Marketing Strategies Personal Development Startup Advice Sales Training CEO Interviews Founder Stories Professional Development Economic Empowerment Business Success Networking Brand Building Innovation How to start a business Small business funding Entrepreneur success stories Business leadership podcast Wealth building strategies Black entrepreneur podcast Minority business development Marketing for small businesses Business growth strategies Startup funding opportunities Executive leadership training Financial literacy education Success mindset podcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Lamar Fletcher. His work in affordable housing development, community revitalization, and financial empowerment. Rushion McDonald explored how Fletcher's upbringing in one of Atlanta's most underserved neighborhoods inspired him to launch a private equity firm focused on creating quality, affordable housing opportunities and pathways to homeownership. The discussion also aimed to educate listeners about affordable housing, financial literacy, private equity investing, and housing accessibility for working families, domestic violence survivors, and underserved communities. Key Takeaways 1. Your Background Doesn't Determine Your Future Lamar Fletcher grew up in Atlanta's Vine City and English Avenue communities, areas historically impacted by poverty, crime, and limited economic opportunities. Despite these challenges, he pursued higher education and built a career in finance. His story demonstrates that adversity can become motivation for success and community leadership. 2. Success Should Create Opportunities for Others Fletcher views his accomplishments as a way to give back to the communities that shaped him. He believes success is most meaningful when it creates opportunities for others to achieve stability and prosperity. 3. Affordable Housing Is About Accessibility A major theme of the conversation was redefining affordable housing. Fletcher explained that affordability should be based on what families can realistically sustain financially, ensuring housing costs do not consume an overwhelming share of household income. His goal is to create homeownership opportunities that allow families to thrive financially rather than struggle under excessive housing costs. 4. Homeownership Is a Pathway to Stability Fletcher believes every family deserves access to safe, quality housing regardless of income level. He sees homeownership as a critical step toward financial security, wealth building, and long-term community development. 5. Financial Literacy Is Essential Many affordable housing challenges stem from a lack of financial education. Fletcher's organization works with families on budgeting, credit repair, financial management, and mortgage readiness before they purchase homes. 6. Supporting Domestic Violence Survivors One of Fletcher's most impactful initiatives is a housing and financial empowerment program for women who are survivors of domestic violence. The program provides financial literacy education, credit-building support, and a structured pathway toward homeownership. 7. Affordable Housing Is an American Issue Fletcher emphasized that affordable housing affects people across all racial, ethnic, and income groups. Rising housing costs and limited inventory have created challenges for families nationwide. He rejects the notion that affordable housing is only a concern for low-income communities. 8. Safe Housing Matters as Much as Affordable Housing Drawing from his own experiences, Fletcher stressed that affordability should not require families to compromise their safety. His developments seek to provide affordable homes within safe and thriving communities. 9. Inclusion Creates Stronger Communities Rather than concentrating affordable housing in specific neighborhoods, Fletcher advocates for mixed-income communities where people from different backgrounds and income levels can live together and access opportunities. 10. Partnerships Drive Impact Fletcher believes collaboration between investors, nonprofits, community organizations, and housing advocates is essential for addressing the housing crisis and expanding access to homeownership. Notable Quotes On Overcoming Adversity "I look at myself as a diamond in the rough, one of the very few that made it off the block." On Purpose "I knew that it was something that was a calling and a purpose amongst me that I had to fulfill." On Affordable Housing "Every family should have a home." On Housing Equality "Housing should be an essential need that everybody has quality usage of throughout their lifetime." On Community Impact "I fight to make sure that marginalized individuals still have a shot at homeownership." On Housing Accessibility "We want affordability for everybody." On Inclusion "We believe that communities should be a result of all types of people, of all income levels." On Collaboration "We understand the power of collaboration and partnerships." On Homeownership "Everybody deserves a shot at the American Dream of homeownership." Overall Theme The interview centers on the belief that safe, affordable housing is both an economic opportunity and a social responsibility. Through his private equity firm and housing initiatives, Lamar Fletcher is working to expand access to homeownership, strengthen communities, and create pathways to financial stability for underserved families. His story reflects a commitment to transforming personal success into community impact and ensuring that the American Dream remains attainable for future generations. #STRAW #SHMS #BEST Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushion McDonald is America's premier entrepreneurship, business leadership, financial literacy, and wealth-building podcast featuring successful entrepreneurs, executives, founders, celebrities, and industry experts sharing actionable insights for professional and financial success. Business Podcast Entrepreneurship Small Business Business Growth Financial Literacy Wealth Building Black Entrepreneurs Minority Business Leadership Executive Leadership Business Funding Marketing Strategies Personal Development Startup Advice Sales Training CEO Interviews Founder Stories Professional Development Economic Empowerment Business Success Networking Brand Building Innovation How to start a business Small business funding Entrepreneur success stories Business leadership podcast Wealth building strategies Black entrepreneur podcast Minority business development Marketing for small businesses Business growth strategies Startup funding opportunities Executive leadership training Financial literacy education Success mindset podcast Steve Harvey Morning Show Online: http://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The new documentary "Brailled It" follows a group of blind and low-vision kids as they compete in the Braille Challenge against the country's top readers. The documentary has five directors, three of which are the blind and low-vision children themselves. One of those kids, Christopher Morgan, joins us alongside the film's two adult co-directors, David Grabias and Brendon Shulze. "Brailled It" opens at Quad Cinema tomorrow.Photo courtesy of Artifact Studios Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Pornography addiction isn't a willpower problem. It's a brain problem and, understanding the mechanics changes everything about how you fight it. Today, we go deep into the neuroscience: what edging actually does to your reward system, why desensitization and hypo-frontality reshape how your brain processes stress and pleasure, and why getting exactly what you want can leave you more depressed than before you started. We also unpack what "Rat Park" study reveals about addiction and isolation, and why the opposite of sobriety isn't willpower; it's connection. My guest, Sathiya Sam, and I go beyond the behavior to the coping mechanism underneath it, what porn is really substituting for, what predicts who struggles with it, and why quitting cold turkey rarely works without addressing the root. You'll learn the real skills required to overcome it, why a satisfied heart rarely wanders, and how to build an identity that doesn't need to prove itself through control or escape. If you've ever wondered what's actually happening in your brain when you engage — or how to build something stronger in its place — this episode gives you the science and the path forward. SHOW HIGHLIGHTS 00:00 - Introduction and AI's Impact on Pornography 03:20 - Emotional Connection and AI Sex Bots 05:39 - Dopamine, Variable Returns, and Edging 08:00 - Supernormal Stimuli and Accessibility 10:32 - Meeting Psychological Needs vs. Physical Drive 14:12 - The Rat Park Experiment & Connection vs. Addiction 18:16 - Meaninglessness as the Primary Driver of Vice 22:00 - Practical Skill Building Beyond Behavior Manipulation 24:52 - Connection, Control, and Validation 27:23 - Mainstream Pornography and Aggressive Content Trends 31:40 - Physical Transformation After Breaking Addiction 33:27 - Overcoming 48 Years of Addiction 38:23 - Identity Shifts and Rethinking 12-Step Frameworks 44:00 - Anchoring Identity Outside of Temporary Roles 47:00 - Who You Are and Who Told You 52:17 - Authentic Conviction vs. People Pleasing 56:30 - Public Apologies vs. Personal Alignment 01:00:02 - The Myth That Pornography Only Affects One Person 01:01:59 - The Four Neurological Effects of Pornography 01:03:33 - How Pornography Distorts Relational Intimacy 01:10:50 - Hypofrontality, Sensitization, and Stress Responses 01:18:45 - Replacing Addiction with Purpose 01:22:00 - Where to Find Sathiya Sam and The Last Relapse Battle Planners: Pick yours up today! Order Ryan's new book, The Masculinity Manifesto. For more information on the Iron Council brotherhood. Want maximum health, wealth, relationships, and abundance in your life? Sign up for our free course, 30 Days to Battle Ready
Attachment repair is a skill, not just insight. Swedish clinical psychologist and SecureBase Lab founder Martin Jonsson explores how attachment healing extends beyond individual therapy and into relationships and community. Martin shares how peer support, shared experiences, and practical secure-relating skills can create opportunities for attachment repair, while exploring the roles of spirituality, sexuality, and belonging in building deeper, more secure connections. “Community is about horizontal empathy, not hierarchy.” – Martin Jonsson Attachment Isn't Solo Work: Healing Through Community with Martin Jonsson (310) 02:21 Spirituality and its role in therapy 09:21 Community as a space for attachment repair 11:23 Difference between groups and communities 14:54 Horizontal empathy and attachment in community 19:56 The integration of attachment theory in recovery models 22:26 Peer support and corrective emotional experiences 25:52 Language of attachment and shared understanding 28:27 Accessibility and inclusivity in attachment work 30:44 Sexuality and attachment patterns 34:09 Impact of attachment on intimacy and boundaries 40:44 Working with unconscious shadow aspects in community 45:16 The role of mentalization and affect regulation 49:38 Resources and upcoming workshops About our Guest – Martin Jonsson Martin Jonsson is a licensed clinical psychologist, educator, and founder of Secure Base Lab, an attachment-informed therapeutic community integrating attachment science, experiential psychotherapy, and relational approaches to support psychological growth and relational wellbeing. For more than twenty years, Martin has worked at the intersection of psychotherapy, education, and transformational learning. Alongside his clinical practice, he has facilitated groups, trained professionals, and designed experiential learning programs across healthcare, education, social services, and personal growth. His academic training includes degrees in Clinical Psychology and Sexology, complemented by extensive postgraduate training in attachment-based therapies, including experiential dynamic therapies, as well as supervision training. His work is further informed by contemporary attachment research, affective neuroscience, interpersonal neurobiology, and experiential psychotherapy. Today, Martin combines clinical practice, teaching, writing, and facilitation with the ongoing development of Secure Base Lab. His work is dedicated to bridging rigorous psychological science with the timeless human need for belonging, helping people move beyond understanding themselves toward experiencing—and creating—the kinds of relationships in which lasting change becomes possible. Click Here to see Martin’s full bio. Resources for Attachment Isn't Solo Work: Healing Through Community with Martin Jonsson (310) The Secure Base Lab – Website, resources, workshops and more @TheSecureBaseLab – Official Instagram page Please support our sponsors – they keep our podcast free and accessible to all! SimplePractice is an all-in-one EHR that is HIPPA compliant, HITRUST certified and built specifically for therapists. If you are ready to simplify the business side of your practice, now is a great time to try SimplePractice. Start with a 7-day free trial, then get 50% off your first three months. Just go to SimplePractice.com to claim the offer. Beyond Attachment Styles – Deepening Security in Yourself and Fostering More Secure Relationships Course available NOW! LIVE Q&A SEPTEMBER 25TH! Everyone’s heard of attachment styles – but you likely don’t know how much the popular press gets wrong and what the science actually says about how to improve your relationships long term (including how we relate to ourselves). This course is for anyone wanting to more deeply understand attachment (styles vs patterns), unconscious defense activation patterns, implicit scripts… and most importantly, what to do once you do get activated! Online, Self-Paced, Asynchronous Learning with Quarterly Live Q&A’s! Earn 6 Continuing Education Credits – Available at Checkout. As a listener of this podcast, use code BAS15 for a limited-time discount. Or read Marriott & Kelley’s critically-acclaimed book, Secure Relating: Holding Your Own in an Insecure World (HarperCollins,2023) for the most in-depth experience of learning about Secure Relating. Therapists love it, but it’s accessible to everyone. If you aren’t interested in the background science, just start at Part 2 and we will be talking directly to you – it’s fun! You are invited! OK for those of you who refer others to the pod, use it professionally or consider yourself nerdy and just love this stuff, hello, you are our people! Join our exclusive community to get exclusive bonus content, early access to training opportunities, and an ad-free, private podcast feed. It’s this warm community that allows us to donate half of all corportate profits to mental health access for marginalized peoples. Sign up for our premium Neuronerd plan!! Click here!!
"Your reality matches your frequency — the more work you do on yourself, the more your reality shifts to match you." - Ken Lloyd Ken Lloyd is an acclaimed energy architect who specializes in transformative healing. With a background in cybersecurity entrepreneurship, Ken developed a unique journey from pioneering anti-spyware software for AOL to selling major cyber intelligence firms. Through a pivotal life event, Ken discovered his calling in energy healing, which includes addressing chronic pain, emotional trauma, and personal well-being through comprehensive energy work. Ken helps hundreds of thousands of clients achieve substantial personal growth and healing by utilizing powerful techniques such as light language transmission and energetic activations. Episode Summary: In this engaging episode of "All My Health, There is Hope," host Jana Short welcomes Ken Lloyd, an energy architect with a remarkable story of transformation from a technology entrepreneur to a healer. Recorded remotely, this episode explores Ken's fascinating journey, highlights his experiences with spiritual awakening, and delves deep into the realm of energy healing. Ken shares his profound insights on the connections between the human body, energy fields, and how they influence emotional and physical well-being. Ken reveals the intricacies of energy healing, including how it works remotely and its potential to transform lives in an instant. He discusses the importance of embracing ancient healing methods attuned to our modern-day challenges and offers a free energetic transmission for listeners to experience healing themselves. Throughout, Ken emphasizes the significance of a collective shift in consciousness, the role of divine frequencies in healing practices, and the powerful benefits of tuning into one's self to achieve holistic health and emotional stability. Key Takeaways: Energy Transformation: Ken Lloyd illustrates how energy healing can alleviate chronic pain, emotional trauma, and stress by clearing energy interference in the body and field. Remote Healing Efficacy: Healing energy can be transmitted and received remotely, reflecting our inherent interconnectedness and the power of spiritual intention. Unlocking Personal Abundance: By raising personal energy frequencies, individuals can remove blockages, inviting increased abundance, improved relationships, and holistic well-being. Light Language Explained: Known for speaking in tongues, light language delivers energy codes that facilitate deeper connections with the universe and promote healing across all facets of life. Accessibility and Openness: Listeners are encouraged to be open to receiving energy work, which can facilitate significant life changes without the need for physical proximity. Resources: https://kenlloydofficial.com kenlloyd.official kenlloyd.official Explore Ken Lloyd's free energetic transmissions designed to support energy field clearing, cutting energetic cords, grounding, EMF protection, and water purification and restructuring. Each transmission offers focused energetic support to help clear interference, restore balance, and bring greater harmony to your body, energy, and environment. https://kenlloydofficial.com/free-transmissions/ Get a free subscription to the Best Holistic Life Magazine, one of the fastest-growing independent magazines centered around holistic living: https://bestholisticlife.info/BestHolisticLifeMagazine. Get in touch with Jana and listen to more podcasts: https://www.janashort.com/ Show Music 'Hold On' by Amy Gerhartz: https://www.amygerhartz.com/music. Grab your FREE gift today: https://bestholisticlife.info/BestHolisticLifeMagazine Connect with Jana Short: https://www.janashort.com/contact/