Podcasts about Japan

The US and Japan coordinated on the biggest currency market intervention in 15 years, helping to stabilize a weakening yen. Karen Fishman, senior FX strategist in Goldman Sachs Research, and Praneet Shah, global head of FX options trading in Global Banking & Markets, discuss why the US joined the action, why the yen still appears undervalued, and whether another intervention might follow. Key takeaways:  The scale of Japan's intervention was historic, but the US role was symbolic.  Japan's operation, estimated to be worth up to $85 billion over July 30 and July 31, was its largest two-day intervention on record outside of October 2011. The US leg was much smaller, but pushed the yen further by signaling the US' willingness to help.  Washington's involvement was likely aimed at limiting volatility in US markets. The timing of US support coincided with some volatility in US interest rates, in addition to other factors.  Intervention may buy time, but it is a short-term measure. In the longer term, policy measures convincing Japanese investors to shift back towards Japanese assets could help reverse the yen's low valuation.  This episode was recorded on August 10, 2026. The opinions and views expressed herein are as of the date of publication, subject to change without notice, and may not necessarily reflect the institutional views of Goldman Sachs or its affiliates. The material provided is intended for informational purposes only, and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation from any Goldman Sachs entity to take any particular action, or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any securities or financial products. This material may contain forward-looking statements. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Neither Goldman Sachs nor any of its affiliates make any representations or warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of the statements or information contained herein and disclaim any liability whatsoever for reliance on such information for any purpose. Each name of a third-party organization mentioned is the property of the company to which it relates, is used here strictly for informational and identification purposes only and is not used to imply any ownership or license rights between any such company and Goldman Sachs. A transcript is provided for convenience and may differ from the original video or audio content. Goldman Sachs is not responsible for any errors in the transcript. This material should not be copied, distributed, published, or reproduced in whole or in part or disclosed by any recipient to any other person without the express written consent of Goldman Sachs. Disclosures applicable to research with respect to issuers, if any, mentioned herein are available through your Goldman Sachs representative or at ⁠http://www.gs.com/research/hedge.html⁠ Goldman Sachs does not endorse any candidate or any political party. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this edition of The World According to Irina Tsukerman, the bi-weekly geopolitical series on The KAJ Masterclass LIVE, host Khudania Ajay (KAJ) examines a rapidly shifting global order as new alliances form and old ones fracture with Irina Tsukerman, a US-based national security and human rights lawyer, renowned geopolitical analyst, and Editor-in-Chief of The Washington Outsider. Together, they explore the Iran-Oman agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the Saudi-Pakistan-Turkey Makkah Joint Defense Agreement reshaping Middle East security, the mega Rafale fighter jet deal between India and France, why the US and Europe are hesitating on Ukraine's Patriot missile requests, Japan's new defense white paper sparking Chinese outrage, and the strategic implications of Taiwan's Han Kuang war games.=========================================About KAJ Masterclass MediaKAJ Masterclass Media is home to a video-first, live-first, editoriallyindependent conversation ecosystem exploring leadership, business, AI, careers,health, creativity, and the evolving human experience through thoughtful,unscripted conversations grounded in lived experience, clarity, and real-worldinsight.This show is part of the KAJ Masterclass ecosystem, which includes The KAJMasterclass LIVE, The Author's Voice with KAJ, and a growing collection ofeditorially independent conversation platforms.Every conversation is designed to leave you with something meaningful to thinkabout, understand, or apply.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spent billions of U.S. dollars to buy and prop up the Japanese currency, the yen. Professor Richard Wolff and Brian Becker unpack the economic and geopolitical calculations of the Trump White House, and what it means for the US economy. Professor Richard Wolff is an author & co-founder of the organization Democracy at Work. You can find his work at rdwolff.com.Join the The Socialist Program community at http://www.patreon.com/thesocialistprogram to get exclusive content and help keep this show on the air.

NEW HIGHS!!! Shaking off the bad stuff. In the midst of earnings season – peak was last week. Let’s Look at the Fear and Greed Index. Unemployment numbers are out (Something for everyone)   PLUS we are now on Spotify and Amazon Music/Podcasts! Click HERE for Show Notes and Links DHUnplugged is now streaming live - with listener chat. Click on link on the right sidebar. Love the Show? Then how about a Donation? PayPal.Donation.Button({ env:'production', hosted_button_id:'JJJHP2GDEJC7J', image: { src:'https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif', alt:'Donate with PayPal button', title:'PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!', } }).render('#donate-button'); Follow John S. Dvorak on Twitter Follow Andrew Horowitz on Twitter Warm-Up - Let's Look at the Fear and Greed Index - Unemployment numbers are out (Something for everyone) - CPI Data out tomorrow then PPI Thursday Markets - NEW HIGHS!!! Shaking off the bad stuff - In the midst of earnings season - peak was last week - OIL - Rebounding on NO DEAL (what a surprise) NO Agenda / DHUnplugged Meet-Up  - Follow Up (8-8-2026) Starting off with Fear and Greed - Check this out: FEAR AND GREED INDICATOR CPI Thoughts - July CPI is expected to ease to 3.4% from a year earlier, with core inflation forecast near 2.5%. - The probability of a September Fed rate increase has moved back toward 48% as oil rebounded and several policymakers continued to emphasize inflation risks. - A soft reading would support bonds, technology and precious metals. A hot reading would revive stagflation concerns by combining weaker hiring with renewed price pressure. Tariffs Return Under New Authority - New tariffs of 10% to 12.5% cover imports from 60 trading partners. - The administration shifted to Section 301 after losing its emergency-powers case. - Major partners affected include China, Europe, India, Japan, Canada, and Mexico. - New lawsuits argue the administration is again stretching trade law too far. - 25 States are suing on this .... Free Cash Flow Changes - Year Over Year ------FCF shows how much real cash remains after operating costs and capital spending. Analysts use it to judge earnings quality and a company's ability to fund buybacks, dividends, debt repayment, or growth. - Apple: up about $7.5 billion, or 31%. - Microsoft: down about $6.0 billion, or 23%. - Meta: down about $7.8 billion, or 91%. - Amazon: deteriorated about $25.8 billion, from positive $18.2 billion to negative $7.6 billion. - Alphabet: down $11.2 billion, swinging from positive $5.3 billion to negative $5.9 billion. - Tesla: down $1.24 billion, swinging from positive $146 million to negative $1.09 billion. - Intel: adjusted free cash flow worsened by $7.37 billion, from negative $1.05 billion to negative $8.42 billion. - Nvidia: up $22.4 billion, or 86%, from $26.1 billion to $48.6 billion. Jobs Report - Labor Market Cracks - July payrolls fell 23,000 versus expectations for about 80,000 gains. - May and June were revised down by a combined 103,000 jobs. - Unemployment fell to 4.1%, but labor-force participation dropped to 61.4%. - Weak report pushed yields and the dollar lower. China Trade - Export Machine Keeps Running - July exports jumped 23.9% year over year; imports rose 27.5%. - China posted another huge $112.5 billion trade surplus. - Semiconductor and high-tech exports were major growth drivers. SoftBank - Intel Saves the Quarter - SoftBank posted about $2.2 billion in quarterly profit, well above expectations. - A large gain on its Intel investment was a major driver. - ByteDance also added investment gains. - SoftBank continues aggressively funding AI and OpenAI-related investments. (Masayoshi Son will never stop pumping)     Love the Show? Then how about a Donation? PayPal.Donation.Button({ env: 'production', hosted_button_id: 'JJJHP2GDEJC7J', image: { src: 'https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif', alt: 'Donate with PayPal button', title: 'PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!' } }).render('#donate-button-2'); THE CLOSEST TO THE PIN for SpaceX (SPCX) Winners will be getting great stuff like the new "OFFICIAL" DHUnplugged Shirt!   FED AND CRYPTO LIMERICKS   See this week's stock picks HERE Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter Follow Andrew Horowitz on Twitter

NHK WORLD RADIO JAPAN - English News at 18:00 (JST), August 12

NHK WORLD RADIO JAPAN - English News at 23:00 (JST), August 12

NHK WORLD RADIO JAPAN - English News at 03:00 (JST), August 13

NHK WORLD RADIO JAPAN - English News at 14:00 (JST), August 12

Bitcoin remains resilient, but the key question is whether the current move has enough real spot demand to continue, with futures activity once again leading the rally. The show also looks at NVIDIA's $500 billion AI financing push and what it means for the ongoing rotation of capital into AI, while CoreWeave's strong earnings add to the momentum. On the macro side, Trump is considering major tax and housing policies ahead of the midterms, while the yen intervention appears to be losing its impact and could force the U.S. and Japan into another response. We also cover the CFTC stepping in to protect Kalshi as its regulatory battle with New York escalates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John is back home from a very crappy anime con and ready to talk a WHOLE lot of wrestling! Their good pal Arametha is back to hear them complain about how much Otakon sucked (again), how much their latest flight to Japan cost, and- especially- how bad The Zoomers™ are at taking turns at arcade games, but eventually they get around to talking some wrestling too! First, it's three nights of the STARDOM 5 Star GP (Nights 9-11- 8/3, 8/8 & 8/9), a mixed bag of shows from Korakuen and Sapporo, as the picture starts to get a lot clearer on who's moving on (especially in the Red Blocks!). Then it's the NJPW G1 Climax (Nights 12-15- 8/6, 8/8, 8/9 & 8/11) as they talk a legitimate MOTYC *and* a couple Worst Match of the Year contenders! Wow! And no, one of them wasn't *that* match.The third and final ongoing tournament they check in on is the Tokyo Joshi Princess Cup, as they cover the quarterfinals from 8/8 at Ryogoku KFC Hall- featuring an amazing match between Suzume and Shoko Nakajima! They also speculate on who among the final four will ultimately take home the crown. Then it's over to NOAH for the first time in a while as John watched two (2) whole matches, but Arametha thankfully watched way more than that. One of the matches John did watch though was, swear to god, a ****1/2 Tetsuya Naito match. In 2026. Truly wild. They also discuss the revealed blocks for the 2026 N-1 Victory tournament.Up next it's Marvelous' 8/8 Korakuen Hall show featuring two matches that John happens to think are a bit overhyped, and also a very funny wrestler-joining-a-unit angle. And then finally the episode wraps up with a check in on Marigold (another one we haven't talked about much in forever) to see how things are going over there for their big 8/9 Ota Ward Gym show. Spoiler: Not particularly well! And then they talk about the Dream Star GP blocks, aka Why The Fuck Is Megaton In This.Follow Wrestling Omakase on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wrestleomakaseFollow John on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/justoneenby.bsky.socialAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

0-15:00 Sumo News. Financial bonus for rikishi, ticket price changes for Tokyo tournaments, health updates, and retirement news 15:00 - 31:00 This week, we're revisiting a captivating sumo rivalry. The competition between Ichyyamamoto and Wakatoka Kage is as intriguing as it gets. One wrestler is known for his serious dedication. The other is a devoted fan, creating a unique dynamic that sets them apart in the sumo world. BINGO! More about Sumo Kaboom and our BINGO game at http://www.sumokaboom.com We play Sumo BINGO every basho, and it's always free. We give away sumo merch to our winners with the help of our sponsors Big Sumo Fan and Cheeky Sumo. • http://Bigsumofan.com is an online sumo merch store based in US, and they ship to over 30 countries. http://www.bigsumofan.com • Cheeky Sumo is an online sumo-inspired apparel and merch company that aims to celebrate, educate, and support the sumo community with cheeky designs and training gear. Laugh at their fun graphics and proudly rep your sumo spirit - because sumo's got more than just power - it's got personality! http://www.cheekysumo.com • Support Sumo Kaboom with a one-time donation or become a monthly member at Ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/sumokaboom. Monthly members are entered into drawings for sumo merch. Twitter and TikTok @SumoKaboom Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sumokaboom/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SumoKaboom/ YouTube https://www.youtube.com/c/SumoKaboomPodcast • Check out our Sumo Kaboom tshirts and sweatshirts at Bonfire.com/sumokaboom • Ever wonder where we get our research? Check out the Show Notes section of our website.

Stupid News 8-12-2026 6am …Police in Japan asking citizens to take a break from getting blackout drunk …He blew 2 and ½ Times the Legal Limit …Before You Unwrap Your Mummy Listen to this

This week, Hillary Kerr sits down with Rudy Mance, the costume designer for FX's Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. Mance's résumé includes shows such as Pose and American Horror Story, but today, he's diving into how he accomplished the high-pressure task of replicating and reimagining CBK's iconic wardrobe. On this episode, they discuss it all, from re-creating her timeless wedding dress using an original fabric swatch to sourcing vintage pieces from Japan and Philadelphia to perfect a look.  Watch this episode on our new YouTube channel⁠⁠⁠⁠, and be sure to subscribe!

Dollar dominance is eroding. And recent moves by the U.S. and Japan to support the yen underscore this reality. On this week's Midweek Memo podcast, Mike Maharrey explains the recent intervention to support the yen and why it signals the dollar ain't what it used to be. He explains the mechanics of the intervention, what it tells us about the state of the bond market, why it looks bad for the greenback, and what it could mean for gold.  In this episode, Mike also talks about Rand Paul's field trip to Fort Knox and why his insistence that he knows the gold is all there is ridiculous.

S&P futures are pointing to a slightly higher open ahead of the CPI data later today. In Asia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan were all higher on tech stock gains, though other regions were all lower. European markets are higher this morning. Companies Mentioned: National CineMedia

What happens when self-declared prophets, alien messengers, and doomsday fanatics build secret empires in plain sight — and convince others to follow them to the end of the world?EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/cultsREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/utz5hrfdSOURCES and RESOURCES:New York Post - “Inside Manhattan's secret ‘cult'”. *** News.com.au - “Congregation for the Light: Inside New York's ‘cult next door'” *** Sinisterhood Podcast - Episode 16: “Congregation for the Light” *** The Commentator - “The Cult Around the Corner” *** Brooklyn Magazine - “Murray Hill Has A Secret Homophobic Aryan Doomsday Cult” *** https://yucommentator.org/2018/10/cult-stern-35th-the-light *** https://nypost.com/2014/11/02/the-secret-society-cult-that-operates-out-of-murray-hill/ ***https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381978851_Raelism_An_Unconventional_Religious_Pathway_to_Transhumanism*** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%ABlism *** https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/religion-and-philosophy/raelism *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clonaid *** https://www.bota.org/ ***https://www.botaineurope.org/ *** https://articles.skeptics.nz/2023/04/24/builders-of-the-adytum-the-tarot-cards-and-qabalah-in-naenae *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Builders_of_the_Adytum *** https://ilovehistory.utah.gov/1847-1904-lds-practice-of-polygamy/ *** https://www.watchman.org/profiles/pdf/fldsprofile.pdf ***https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalist_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-Day_Saints *** https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ching_Hai ***https://www.godsdirectcontact.org/spiritualpractice/Master_Ching_Hai.htm *** https://suprememastertv.com/en1/v/211271952624.html *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ching_Hai *** https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ching_Hai *** https://nypost.com/2018/01/11/the-cult-leader-behind-the-worlds-fast-growing-vegan-chain/ ***https://open.library.ubc.ca/cIRcle/collections/ubccommunityandpartnerspublicati/52387/items/1.0385823 *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Science *** https://eng.the-liberty.com/2016/6323/ *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness_Realization_Party *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryuho_Okawa *** https://www.cdamm.org/articles/cut-tsl *** https://summitlighthouse.org/aboutus/church-universal-and-triumphant/ *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_Universal_and_Triumphant ***https://articles1.icsahome.com/articles/denouement-of-the-prophets--cult-the-church-universal-and-triumphant-in-decline *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Clare_Prophet *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Tribes_communities *** https://people.com/adam-arthur-rosenthal-twelve-tribes-religious-sect-accused-murder-8753907 *** https://nypost.com/2018/06/05/religious-cult-probed-for-child-labor-after-factory-expose/ *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostles_of_Infinite_Love *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Gaston_Tremblay *** https://ktxs.com/news/big-country/ktxs-special-report-mystery-still-surrounds-house-of-yahweh-*** https://www.watchman.org/profiles/pdf/houseofyahwehprofile.pdf ***https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unfulfilled_Watch_Tower_Society_predictions *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Yahweh *** https://www.apologeticsindex.org/316-house-of-yahweh *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuwaubian_Nation *** https://people.com/crime/story-behind-united-nuwaubian-nation-moors-georgia-cult *** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwight_York *** https://www.adl.org/resources/news/leader-anti-government-sect-sentenced-135-years *** https://www.splcenter.org/resources/extremist-files/nuwaubian-nation-moors/ *** https://billygraham.org/answers/how-is-christianity-different-from-other-religions(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: March 28, 2025Weird Darkness host Darren Marlar pulls back the curtain on modern cults hiding in plain sight, from city apartments to desert compounds to Montana doomsday bunkers. This episode profiles more than a dozen secretive groups, including Manhattan's Congregation for the Light, the alien-worshipping Raëlian Movement and its Clonaid cloning claims, the polygamist FLDS led by imprisoned prophet Warren Jeffs, Supreme Master Ching Hai, Japan's Happy Science, Eckankar, Elizabeth Clare Prophet's Church Universal and Triumphant, the Twelve Tribes, the House of Yahweh, and the pyramid-building Nuwaubian Nation of Malachi Z. York. Along the way, Darren digs into why people get drawn in, the warning signs of a dangerous group, and what sets biblical Christianity apart from them all.

Scott Harold explains the U.S. and Japan are adopting a "walking quietly and carrying a big stick" approach to deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan. This strategy involves creating a "hellscape" of thousands of drones and missiles to make an amphibious assault impossibly risky for Beijing. While Japan's official documents avoid explicitly naming Taiwan to prevent escalation, its leadership views a conflict as a survival-endangering situation. China's attempts to annex portions of the Western Pacific as domestic waters pose a direct threat to the global economy. Persistent deterrence remains essential, as the Chinese military currently lacks high-end operational experience and faces leadership purges. (10)

TABLE OF CONTENTS JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, 8-10-2026.John Hardie reports North Korea is deploying a specialized unit equipped with KN-23 and KN-24 short-range ballistic missiles to assist Russia's war efforts. This shipment, potentially totaling 120 missiles, significantly bolsters Russia's magazine depth as it continues pounding Ukrainian cities. The relationship is mutually beneficial: Russia receives much-needed munitions and troops, while North Korea gains combat experience and technical assistance for its satellite and missile programs. Ukraine, facing a critical shortage of air defense interceptors, is seeking to use Starlink within Russian territory to hunt and strike these missile launchers before they can fire. (1)Ernesto Araújo and Alejandro Peña Esclusa report Venezuelan negotiators have established a timeline for a political transition, aiming to restore rights and select new electoral authorities by December. However, there are significant concerns regarding the lack of a firm election date and the ongoing militarization of the Bolivarian revolution. Simultaneously, diplomatic relations between Brazil and the U.S. have deteriorated, resulting in the U.S. revoking the credentials of Brazil's ambassador. In Colombia, new president Abelardo de la Espriella has launched a decisive military response against narco-terrorism, a move that regional leaders hope will dismantle the cross-border havens used by Venezuelan-linked criminal groups. (2)Malcolm Hoenlein discusses a new mutual defense pact between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan that has emerged to counter Iranian influence and the Muslim Brotherhood. Meanwhile, in Gaza, empirical data from UNICEF and the WHO challenges international narratives of famine, showing malnutrition rates are actually lower than in many neighboring countries. Theft of aid by Hamas remains a primary obstacle to relief efforts. In Iran, the regime faces severe domestic instability due to energy and water shortages, yet it continues to make extreme "non-negotiable" demands of the U.S., including $300 billion in reparations, while escalating public executions to silence internal dissent. (3)David Daoud explains Iran is currently leveraging negotiations with the U.S. to secure a ceasefire that protects Hezbollah from further Israeli military pressure while allowing the group to rebuild. Critics argue that U.S. security assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is a poor investment, as the LAF lacks the political will to disarm Hezbollah within its own borders. While a fragile ceasefire has shifted active war toward localized "policing operations" and skirmishes, Hezbollah explicitly rejects any linkage between an Israeli withdrawal and its own disarmament. The Trump administration is reportedly prioritizing "quiet" in Lebanon, which has forced Israeli forces into a more reactive posture. (4)Mariam Wahba reports the Sudanese civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), now entering its fourth year, has left over 400,000 dead. The conflict has evolved into a complex proxy war; the UAE supports the RSF to gain access to gold mines, while Egypt and Turkey lean toward the SAF. Iran has further complicated the battlefield by selling drones and hardware to both factions. Although neither side is seen as morally superior, civilians frequently celebrate when the SAF liberates territory from the RSF. Sudanese activists continue to call for a transition to civilian government despite the ongoing violence. (5)Bridget Toomey reports the Houthis have escalated their regional campaign by striking Saudi Arabia's Jazan refinery, demonstrating their ability to disrupt global energy markets despite recent defense pacts. Within Yemen, the Houthis are intensifying attacks on government-held ports like Mocha and oil-rich regions like Marib to expand their territorial control. These strikes often target civilian displacement camps, using ballistic missiles and drones to sow terror and gain leverage in future negotiations. While Saudi Arabia pursues diplomatic off-ramps through Omani mediation, the Houthis continue to use military pressure to force an agreement favorable to their long-term dominance. (6)Edmund Fitton-Brown describes the Houthis' methodical campaign, likely coordinated with Iran, to intimidate Saudi Arabia and prevent its entry into the Abraham Accords. Recent strikes on Mocha and Jazan highlight a resurgence of the 12-year-old Yemeni civil war, which remains a primary source of regional instability. While a new Sunni alliance between Pakistan and Turkey offers symbolic support to the Saudis, it lacks the practical military "teeth" to intervene on the ground. Meanwhile, the UAE is asserting itself as an agile regional powerhouse, investing in high-tech infrastructure and maintaining an uncompromising stance against the Muslim Brotherhood. (7)Janatyn Sayeh analyzes the appointment of Mohsen Rezaei, an original IRGC veteran, to the Supreme National Security Council, signaling a return to hardline, ideologically driven decision-making in Tehran. Rezaei, linked to past international terrorism, reinforces the regime's aggressive stance against the U.S. and Israel. Iran currently refuses to engage in talks until the U.S. meets extreme demands, including unfreezing all assets and paying billions in reparations. The regime utilizes a "good cop, bad cop" strategy between factions to maximize leverage, but remains unified in its goals of expanding its nuclear program and securing regional dominance through its "resistance axis." (8)Conrad Black reports Prime Minister Mark Carney is under pressure to revitalize Canada's economy 16 months after his election. Despite being a "treasure house" of resources, Canada suffers from lengthy project delays caused by redundant provincial regulations and indigenous land claims. Black notes that Canada's public sector workforce is disproportionately large, representing 12% of the population, and calls for corporate tax cuts to foster competitiveness. While Carney is exploring diversified trade, the U.S. remains Canada's indispensable partner, accounting for roughly 64% of its trade. Carney's political survival depends on achieving the kind of robust growth seen south of the border. (9)Scott Harold explains the U.S. and Japan are adopting a "walking quietly and carrying a big stick" approach to deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan. This strategy involves creating a "hellscape" of thousands of drones and missiles to make an amphibious assault impossibly risky for Beijing. While Japan's official documents avoid explicitly naming Taiwan to prevent escalation, its leadership views a conflict as a survival-endangering situation. China's attempts to annex portions of the Western Pacific as domestic waters pose a direct threat to the global economy. Persistent deterrence remains essential, as the Chinese military currently lacks high-end operational experience and faces leadership purges. (10)Bill Gertz reports a Pentagon official's attendance at a People's Liberation Army (PLA) celebration has sparked fears of a "defeatist" accommodation policy toward Beijing. Critics argue that seeking "respectful relations" with a Leninist regime is interpreted as subservience and weakness. This shift is reportedly influenced by concerns over Chinese control of rare earth minerals. China continues its global expansion and military bullying against neighbors like the Philippinesand Japan. Gertz warns that the U.S. education system is failing to inform the public about the threats of China's high-tech totalitarian system, which seeks to dominate through economic and military coercion. (11)

Everyone is waiting for the next housing crash. Chris thinks they may be watching the wrong thing. In Episode 348, he connects the lessons of 2008 to today's mortgage market, where major non-bank lenders are under pressure, Treasury yields keep climbing, and Japan's fight to defend the yen could be making America's mortgage problem worse. This isn't a call for another housing collapse—it's a warning that the financial system is showing cracks in places most people aren't watching.

Part 3 of BirdMike, our Alejandro G. Inarritu rewatch series is here, and this is the third of seven Oscar Nominated Films of his that we'll cover in this series. Babel stars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchette, Gael Garcia Bernal, Adriana Barraza, Elle Fanning, Rinko Kikuchi, Koji Yakusho, Mohamed Akhzam, Clifton Collins and Michael Pena, and it was nominated for 7 Academy Awards. NON-SPOILER REVIEW OF BABEL: Production Profile - 1:40 Non-Spoiler Composition Thoughts - 8:56 Performance Reviews - 14:54 Production Values - 19:39 Oscar Lens - 22:48 Spoiler Warning - 24:45 SPOILER FILLED REVIEW OF BABEL: Diving into the Inciting Incident & the story in Japan - 26:28 Sins of the Father - 32:49 The Main Themes - 36:28 That Ending - 41:34 Any more worsts - 46:50 Final Thoughts / Final Grades - 49:07 OUTRO: Stay tuned for upcoming episodes on Biutiful, Birdman, The Revenant, Bardo and Digger. We will also be returning shortly with a few episodes of Oscar Race Checkpoint and some fun new announcements. In the meantime, make sure you're following us on Tiktok and Letterboxd, where we've been the most active in recent weeks and enjoy our all our new video and written content. https://linktr.ee/mikemikeandoscar

In Part 2 of this conversation, Dr. Callewaert shares what he learned while visiting the Yanomami people of Brazil, including surprising observations about body odor and skin cancer. We also explore his work developing products to rebalance the armpit microbiome, the science of foot odor, and the potential benefits of walking barefoot in the grass. The big takeaway: Body odor is a problem that can often be addressed, but the stigma surrounding it can make conversations difficult. Massage therapists may be uniquely positioned to help destigmatize the topic and start those conversations.   Resources:   Website: www.drarmpit.com   Website:www.phiome.com   TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RIFyqLXdVw   Host Bio:         Ruth Werner is a former massage therapist, a writer, and an NCBTMB-approved continuing education provider. She wrote A Massage Therapist's Guide to Pathology, now in its seventh edition, which is used in massage schools worldwide. Werner is also a long-time Massage & Bodywork columnist, most notably of the Pathology Perspectives column. Werner is also ABMP's partner on Pocket Pathology, a web-based app and quick reference program that puts key information for nearly 200 common pathologies at your fingertips. Werner's books are available at www.booksofdiscovery.com. And more information about her is available at www.ruthwerner.com.    Sponsors: Anatomy Trains is a global leader in online anatomy education and also provides in-classroom certification programs for structural integration in the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, Japan, and China, as well as fresh-tissue cadaver dissection labs and weekend courses. The work of Anatomy Trains originated with founder Tom Myers, who mapped the human body into 13 myofascial meridians in his original book, currently in its fourth edition and translated into 12 languages. The principles of Anatomy Trains are used by osteopaths, physical therapists, bodyworkers, massage therapists, personal trainers, yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonics, and other body-minded manual therapists and movement professionals. Anatomy Trains inspires these practitioners to work with holistic anatomy in treating system-wide patterns to provide improved client outcomes in terms of structure and function.                     Website: anatomytrains.com            Email: info@anatomytrains.com           Facebook: facebook.com/AnatomyTrains                  Instagram: www.instagram.com/anatomytrainsofficial YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2g6TOEFrX4b-CigknssKHA  Precision Neuromuscular Therapy seminars (www.pnmt.org) have been teaching high-quality seminars for more than 20 years. Doug Nelson and the PNMT teaching staff help you to practice with the confidence and creativity that comes from deep understanding, rather than the adherence to one treatment approach or technique. Find our seminar schedule at pnmt.org/seminar-schedule with over 60 weekends of seminars across the country. Or meet us online in the PNMT Portal, our online gateway with access to over 500 videos, 37 NCBTMB CEs, our Discovery Series webinars, one-on-one mentoring, and much, much more! All for the low yearly cost of $167.50. Learn more at pnmt.thinkific.com/courses/pnmtportal!  Follow us on social media: @precisionnmt on Instagram or at Precision Neuromuscular Therapy Seminars on Facebook.   Upledger CranioSacral Therapy addresses deep restrictions, supports neurological and fascial systems, and enhances whole-body function—by working with the body's natural healing processes.    For over forty years, Upledger Institute International has led the field of CranioSacral Therapy—setting the global standard for education and clinical application. With trained therapists in more than 120 countries, CST continues to evolve through ongoing clinical experience and alignment with current scientific understanding.    CST integrates seamlessly into any manual therapy practice and supports common to complex and chronic conditions—orthopedic, neurological, pediatric, geriatric, and beyond.    Learn from our International Teaching Team—experienced clinicians who help you develop your skills, expand your clinical reasoning, and achieve greater clinical outcomes.    Begin your training for as little as one hundred dollars a month.    Find a class near you at upledger.com/courses or call 800-233-5880, extension 2—and begin your CranioSacral Therapy journey with the leaders who continue to shape the profession.  Website: upledger.com/courses   Email: upledger@upledger.com   Phone: 800-233-5880 Ext 2   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/upledger.institute   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upledger_institute_intl/   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSIFELbP6Jsp55cb9puZigQ      

Miist was five years old when her parents removed themselves from her life. Not through death — through choice. As she tells me in this episode, that distinction made the wound deeper, not shallower. She knew they could come back. They simply didn't.By 28, she had a terminal cancer diagnosis and doctors telling her she had a month, maybe three. And here's the part that stopped me: she still doesn't hold any bad feeling toward that diagnosis. It's the thing that finally brought her family back into the room with her.She picked up a ukulele during treatment. She didn't write her first song until she was 34. Today her music has charted on Billboard, she's the first native Chinese artist to reach the Pop AC chart, and she hosts a top-ranked mental health podcast.This conversation goes somewhere I didn't expect. We talk about loneliness after loss — the grief that arrives with no funeral, no casserole, no one checking in — and what it actually takes to come back from it.Miist wrote a song for a young man who passed alone in his apartment in Japan. He had food. He had shelter. He had nobody. She kept thinking about all the strangers he must have walked past on any given day, and how one moment of real eye contact might have been enough to hold him a little longer. That song, "Could You Lend Me a Smile," now exists in 16 languages.Out of it came the idea we spend much of this episode on: the 15-second action. Small enough that nobody can claim they don't have time. Smile at someone. Be silly. Be grateful. Say a kind word. Remind someone that you love them.We recorded this on my 65th birthday, which made one part land hard for me. Miist asked when the last time was that someone called you for no reason at all, just to say they love you. I told her about the most viral Substack post I've ever written — it was about calling my father on an ordinary day, for no occasion. It went everywhere because almost nobody does it.WHAT WE COVERWhy abandonment can cut deeper than death, and how the earliest wound becomes the root of everything built on top of itHow Miist pushed away her closest childhood friends, and the apology she eventually wrote as a songChoosing, in advance, to sit inside the grief of losing her dog rather than reaching for anything that would make it stopThe three days she asked her vet for, and what her whole family learned from themReconnecting with and forgiving the father she hadn't seen in over 20 yearsBeing discovered by producer Narada Michael Walden — and being asked to sing at the piano where Aretha Franklin recorded "Respect"The Kindness Kube and the five actions on itUsing music intentionally to move through anger, sadness, and back toward joyWhy losing an old habit that no longer serves you can feel like its own kind of lossWhy both of us say plainly: we are still healingABOUT MIISTMiist is a multilingual recording artist, songwriter, and podcast host who began her professional music career at 34 after being discovered by acclaimed producer Narada Michael Walden. She's a Teen Cancer America Ambassador and the founder of the World Smile Initiative, a nonprofit built around bringing moments of relief and light to people who are struggling. Her podcast, Make Me Smile with Miist, blends original music, personal storytelling, and research, and each episode closes with a 15-second action listeners can take that day. The book of the same name is now available.

Japan's currency crisis may be exposing a much bigger problem for the U.S. The largest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries—faces mounting pressure at the same time America is approaching $40 trillion in debt. So what happens if Japan needs cash and starts selling Treasuries?Questions on Protecting Your Wealth with Gold & Silver? Schedule a Strategy Call Here ➡️ https://calendly.com/itmtrading/podcastor Call 866-349-3310 

Host Jeff returns with a solo, podcast-style episode that blends biblical vision, geopolitical observation, and practical warnings. He opens by addressing the viral attention around August 12, 2026 — a day of a solar eclipse, planetary alignment, and a meteor shower — and explains his view on astronomy vs. astrology, how celestial signs might signal spiritual moves, and why we should remain watchful but sober in our expectations. The episode moves into the global financial picture: recent U.S.-Japan debt actions, central banks hoarding gold and silver, China's role in moving gold toward a physical-asset model, and the risk of a digital currency-led “ledger” that could erode privacy and freedom. Jeff offers big-picture context (not personal financial advice) on why these shifts may point toward a new financial system being prepared and what that might mean for personal sovereignty. Jeff also discusses his course, Decoding the Power of Three, including a personal vision connected to the biblical firmament and the three heavens — a symbolic picture of the veil being removed and God's kingdom coming down. He explains how that theology ties into current events and spiritual preparation. Turning to cultural symptoms of the age, Jeff reacts to a disturbing Perez Hilton incident and frames it as part of a broader uptick in demonic activity and mass activation. He describes the “harvest” as a separation of wheat and chaff, warns about spiritual deceptions, and underscores the need for faith, readiness, and discernment. Previewing a short new video series, Jeff outlines five brief episodes that explore the Noahide laws, Jewish mysticism, the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), Kabbalah, the Seven Mountain Mandate, Joel's Army, and related movements. He argues that some NAR leaders are using Kabbalah-based techniques that function like magic over audiences and that these currents will contribute to a global push against the remnant—covering themes such as martyrdom of the saints and how different religious systems may converge against believers. Episode logistics and extras: Jeff is solo on this episode (Tim Cohen may appear in a later show), he announces a short premiere schedule for the new series (planning a 4:00 PM ET debut for the first short episode), and he shares offers and resources mentioned in the show: the Decoding the Power of Three course with coupon code SUMMER50 (valid through August 31), affiliate pet products (Mush Puppies and InForce via RORPetClub247.com), and a weekly prayer meeting on Telegram Wednesday at 7:30 PM ET. Expect theological reflections, cultural critique, and practical prompts to strengthen faith and community preparedness. Want to Understand and Explain Everything Biblically? Click Here: Decoding the Power of Three: Understand and Explain Everything or go to www.rightonu.com and click learn more. Use coupon code Summer50 for $50. value savings until August 31st.. Thank you for Listening to Right on Radio. Prayerfully consider supporting Right on Radio. Click Here for all links, Right on Community ROC, Podcast web links, Freebies, Products (healing mushrooms, EMP Protection) Social media, courses and more...https://linktr.ee/RightonRadio Live Right in the Real World! We talk God and Politics, Faith Based Broadcast News, views, Opinions and Attitudes We are Your News Now. Keep the Faith

S&P futures are flat following a quiet day in Asia. South Korea, Australia, and Taiwan all finished with modest gains. Hong Kong started strong but edged lower throughout the session, and Mainland China benchmarks were mixed. Japan was closed for a holiday. European markets opened mixed this morning. Companies Mentioned: Riot Platforms, OpenAI, Intel, Amkor Technology

In Hour 4 of New Day with SSJ we are joined in studio by Jaime Bluma to talk some Baseball, and his recent time in Japan. SSJ, Jaime, Deebs, and Jake discuss the impressive play of Jac Caglianone, and talk about a possible extension. SSJ and the guys also discuss the bullpen, and newly added Craig Kimbrel, leading to a conversation about journeymen pitchers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas and Platypus Economics host and Meidas Chief Economist Justin Wolfers report on Donald Trump's Japanese currency swap scheme selling Euro's to purchase the Yen without notifying the European Central Bank and the implications of this move. Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum with Dr. Steve Hassan: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show The Ken Harbaugh Show: https://meidasnews.com/tag/the-ken-harbaugh-show Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“If we ever lose Saipan, repeated air attacks on Tokyo will follow. No matter what it takes, we have to hold there.”As Operation Cartwheel neutralizes Japanese forces on Rabaul, American and British leaders meet with “Forgotten Allies” in Cairo—namely China's nationalist leader Chiang Kai Shek and his diplomat wife Soong Mei-ling. The relentless pressure on Japan continues as heroes like “Merrill's Marauders" hack through Burma's jungles, securing vital supply lines and isolating the Japanese. Desperation leads to more bonsai attacks and even civilian suicides. More islands fall. The conflict reaches a boiling point at the "Marianas Turkey Shoot," and the brutal battle for Saipan, both of which aim to place Tokyo within bombing range and clear the path for Doug to return to the Philippines.____Connect with us on HTDSpodcast.com andgo deep into episode bibliographies and book recommendationsjoin discussions in our Facebook communityget news and discounts from The HTDS Gazette come see a live showget HTDS merchor become an HTDS premium member for episodes and other perks.HTDS is part of Audacy media network. Interested in advertising on the History That Doesn't Suck? Contact Audacyinc.com.

Madame Delphine LaLaurie was one of the most admired socialites in New Orleans, and the Royal Street mansion she left behind is still called the most haunted address in the French Quarter.==========HOUR ONE: 
Winnie had two trunks when she arrived at the train station – trunks that contained the severed body parts of her two best friends. She had murdered them, it seems, all in the name of love. (Winnie Ruth Judd: Trunk Murderess) *** Was British government weapons inspector Dr David Kelly murdered? (Many Dark Actors: Dr. David Kelly) *** Madame Delphine LaLaurie, made popular by Kathy Bates in American Horror Story: Coven, was a first class monster. A figure of high society, she was well known for her mistreatment of slaves. But no one knew just how sick she truly was. (The Monster of Royal Street)==========HOUR TWO: Reddit users share some of the strangest, creepiest, most terrifying phone calls they've ever received – many that left the recipient with no explanation as to what just happened. (Creepy Phone Calls) *** Elizabeth Bathory was beautiful – and wanted to stay that way. So determined was her desire for a youthful appearance that she would bathe in the blood of young girls, thinking of it as a macabre fountain of youth. But how much truth is there to this story? And are there ghosts today, haunting their residences thanks to the Blood Countess? 
(Ghosts of the Blood Countess)==========SUDDEN DEATH OVERTIME: A former schoolhouse has accrued a sinister reputation as one of the most haunted, weirdest places in Japan. (Haunted Schoolhouse In Japan) *** The gold rush brought many to North Carolina – men looking to get rich, and rich men looking to get richer. But the greed also brought cruelty to some mine owners… and that cruelty sometimes brought death… and hauntings. (The Skinflint Mine Entity) *** Was a certain female reporter murdered because she knew too much about the death of John F. Kennedy? (The Dorothy Killgallen Murder) *** Something bizarre and terrifying is living below the streets of London – and there are many theories as to what it might be. (Strange Things Below London)==========SOURCES AND REFERENCES FROM TONIGHT'S SHOW:“The Monster of Royal Street: Delphine LaLaurie”: https://tinyurl.com/ssf9lm3“Many Dark Actors: Dr. David Kelly”: https://tinyurl.com/uf4jv5m“Winnie Ruth Judd: Trunk Murderess” by Troy Taylor: http://ow.ly/kpFb30nhABS“Creepy Phone Calls” by Aaron Edwards for Graveyard Shift: https://tinyurl.com/spnqq2s“Ghosts of the Blood Countess” by Amy's Crypt for Paranormal Scholar: https://tinyurl.com/r4lh7rn“Strange Things Below London” by Nick Redfern for Mysterious Universe: https://tinyurl.com/ulutgp7“The Murder of Dorothy Kilgallen” by Jessika M. Thomas for Ranker: https://tinyurl.com/tjzpaz7“The Skinflint Mine Entity” from North Carolina Ghosts: https://tinyurl.com/w6ofq7g“Haunted Schoolhouse In Japan” by Brent Swancer for Mysterious Universe: https://tinyurl.com/w4n98c6==========(Over time links seen above may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for material I use whenever possible. If I have overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it immediately. Some links may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)=========="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46==========WeirdDarkness®, WeirdDarkness© 2025==========To become a Weird Darkness Radio Show affiliate, contact Radio America at affiliates@radioamerica.com, or call 800-807-4703 (press 2 or dial ext 250).

Serhii Plokhy, Part Two: The second part focuses on the 2022 full-scale invasion, defined by Putin's catastrophic miscalculation that his troops would be welcomed as liberators. Instead, Ukraine demonstrated remarkable resilience under President Zelenskyy and military leaders like General Oleksandr Syrskyi. Plokhy highlights the "outright criminality" of Russian tactics, specifically the reckless use of nuclear sites like Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia as military shields and tools of international blackmail. He notes that the defense of sites like the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupolbecame global symbols of Ukrainian resistance. The war has triggered profound global shifts, including Germany's "Zeitenwende" and Japan's move toward providing military support. Former "interlocutors" like Emmanuel Macronhave shifted from seeking accommodation to joining the US-led coalition, while diplomatic mediation has fallen to leaders like President Erdoğan of Turkey. Furthermore, Ukraine's effective defense has likely contributed to stability in East Asia by discouraging a Chinese military adventure in Taiwan. While Putin views the war through an imperial lens, NATO has rediscovered its purpose in defending the international order. Plokhy concludes that while Putin is destroying Russia's future, the war may eventually force the nation to rethink itself as a modern state rather than an empire. (2)

By the power of Fan Fest Anaheim another GG Pod crossover! Pete (premier two) joins the podcast this week. We'll be diving into the discovering (and rediscovering) the joy of classic games, retro streaming and probably a Japan story or two. Garrett and Kyle are on the edge of their Chrono Trigger playthrough starting tomorrow (at the time of recording). How does one even define retro? How did we all end up doing this in the first place? Join the wholesome ride as we meet Pete! Supportourbromance.com or your never be able to read Dead Rising.

Last time we spoke about the ending of the Second Battle of Changsha. In late September and early October 1941, Chinese commander Chen Cheng planned an operation to retake Yichang, a strategic Yangtze River city whose control was essential for protecting the approach to Chongqing. Japanese forces were pulling back from Changsha, weakened by supply problems and casualties, which created an opportunity for Chen to intensify his campaign. Yichang had been captured by Japan in 1940, a defeat that Chen carried as a personal and political burden. He therefore moved to encircle the Japanese 13th Division inside Yichang and drive it to collapse. Although the Chinese held a clear manpower advantage—fourteen divisions against the encircled Japanese—progress was slowed by stubborn fighting from prepared, entrenched positions. The battle inside the city produced desperate close-quarters combat and heavy casualties, showing how the fate of Yichang and the wider defense of Chongqing were tightly linked.    #214 War hits the Pacific Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War.   The guns fell silent on October 9, 1941, as the Ninth War Zone's forces restored their pre-battle positions, marking the end of the Second Battle of Changsha. The balance sheet was grim on both sides, but it was China that bore the heavier cost. The Ninth Military Front suffered 70,672 killed, wounded, or missing. The concurrent Yichang offensive added a further 21,368 casualties to the Sixth Military Front, a force that outnumbered its Japanese opponents ten to one yet still failed to retake the city. By the time the dust settled, the Chinese army had lost nearly 100,000 men across both theatres. The Chinese command was frank, at least in private, about what had gone wrong. The Japanese had moved with a speed that recalled Blitzkrieg, advancing 130 kilometres in eleven days and withdrawing at twelve kilometres a day, catching the defenders perpetually off-balance. The 26th, 37th, 10th, and 74th Corps had been picked apart piecemeal rather than fighting in concert, the original plan to destroy the Japanese south of the Miluo River coming to nothing. Elite formations had paid a disproportionate price: the 74th Corps suffered 14,521 casualties, the 37th Corps 14,015, and the 58th Division alone lost 6,192 of its 11,907 men, nearly its entire fighting strength.   Yet none of this was the story the public would hear. On October 10th, China's National Day, radio stations announced the "Second Great Victory in Northern Hunan", the annihilation of over 40,000 enemy troops. Newspapers rushed out special editions. Congratulatory telegrams flooded in from government ministries and civic organizations. Senior officials seized on the moment: Sun Ke, Premier of the Executive Yuan, declared that the victory "laid the foundation for the counter-offensive and the recapture of Hankou and Guangzhou," while General Bai Chongxi called it "the pivotal moment for us to turn defeat into victory." Chiang Kai-shek, reading through the pages of triumphant commentary produced overnight by his propagandists, was reportedly impressed by their industry, if not convinced by their content. He had not wanted to call it a victory at all, but the political calculus was unavoidable: after four years of war, an exhausted nation needed the psychological sustenance that only "victory" could provide.   The gap between public performance and private reality was nowhere more visible than in the arrival of a twenty-two-member international press delegation on October 13th. Journalists from Britain, the United States, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Hong Kong, and major Chinese newspapers were flown to Changsha and carefully guided through selected battlefields, where they inspected mountains of war trophies and heard testimony from soldiers and civilians. They left satisfied, presenting their war souvenirs—swords, binoculars, Japanese military flags—to their audiences back home as proof of Chinese heroism and Japanese defeat. Both China and Japan were claiming victory simultaneously. The only conclusion the foreign press could draw was that one side was lying, and it was not the side that had shown them the evidence.   Chiang Kai-shek's real verdict came at the Third Nanyue Military Conference, held from October 16 to 21. His anger was withering. He condemned his generals for their obsession with defending sprawling outer perimeter lines while leaving city centres barely fortified, a mentality so rigid, he said, that the Japanese could announce the exact time of their advance and withdrawal in advance and still execute it on schedule without interference. "Generals, what a disgrace this is!" On the failure to capture prisoners, only 263 prisoners were claimed across the entire front, of whom only 16 names were actually published, he was almost incredulous: "We can definitely defeat the enemy, capture many enemy prisoners, and seize countless enemy weapons! Even if we cannot capture ten thousand prisoners, we should at least capture a thousand! If not a thousand, then at least a hundred! But now, you don't even have ten!" The conference handed down punishments to match the rhetoric. Liao Lingqi, commander of the shattered 58th Division, was sentenced to death for desertion and shot on October 22nd. His men were so outraged that three regimental commanders resigned in protest; the division was pulled from the order of battle entirely and given three months to rebuild. Li Yutang, commander of the 10th Corps, was dismissed—though the Third Battle of Changsha would begin before his replacement could take post, and he would be reinstated to play a key role in the city's defence.   On the Japanese side, the 11th Army acknowledged 1,670 killed, 5,184 wounded, and 14 missing, far fewer than Chinese claims, though post-war regimental histories suggest the true figure was higher. Lieutenant General Anami, who had championed the operation, found himself stung by the charge that the battle had served mainly as material for Chinese propaganda. On November 23rd, he reportedly reacted with visible displeasure when someone in his headquarters said as much aloud.  Anami's annoyance was easy enough to understand, but the accusation carried a troubling degree of accuracy. The Second Battle of Changsha had yielded no decisive strategic gain and no substantial alteration in the military balance. What it did generate, rather effectively, was a story and by the autumn of 1941, stories were one of the few things China still had in plentiful supply. The most consequential struggles were taking place not along the Miluo River, but in foreign ministries and embassies, in Washington and Moscow, in the messages passing between Chongqing and London, and in the increasingly strained calculations of statesmen trying to determine, amid rapidly changing circumstances, whom to support and for how long.   For Chiang Kai-shek, the challenge was never merely military. It was structural, and had been so from the outset. He had always seen clearly, precisely because he understood China's weakness, that Japan could not be defeated by China alone. The country lacked the industrial base, the logistical reach, and after four years of relentless attrition more and more the manpower needed to force a decisive result on the battlefield. China's survival depended on making its war inseparable from the wars of other powers. Since 1937, Chiang's diplomacy had pursued that single objective: convincing enough great powers that their interests were aligned with China's, and holding that coalition together long enough for Japan to be subdued. That effort turned out to be vastly more difficult than it ought to have been.   The problem started with the international order in which the war emerged. Chiang had hoped to assemble a concert of allies willing to help defend China against Japanese aggression. He was blocked not just by the reluctance of neutral states to aid China, but by the speed with which alliances shifted in the opening years of the Second World War. He had never welcomed the prospect of a general European conflict, correctly fearing that it would push China even further to the margins of world attention. Even so, he recognized that once the lines had hardened between the imperial democracies and fascism, new alignments might become possible. From his perspective, the growing amity between Berlin and Moscow was therefore disastrous. He had been eager to draw the USSR into war against Japan. Instead, the Soviets were now effectively aligned with the Nazis, who were themselves allied with Tokyo.   The world created after Versailles had already enraged many Chinese. After all, the May Fourth demonstrations of 1919 had arisen directly from the settlement reached at the Paris Peace Conference. Yet that older order had at least possessed recognizable anchors, especially the dominance of the two great European empires and the United States. Now those empires were weakening, and no one could say with confidence what the new geopolitical order would be. For all Chiang knew, Germany might emerge as Europe's new dominant power. The early years of the European war produced a bewildering spectacle of diplomatic realignment.   The Nationalist government had previously enjoyed a short-lived flirtation with Nazi Germany. In fact, Hitler's regime continued supplying Chiang with munitions in the first months of China's war against Japan. The Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936 had theoretically joined Germany, Italy, and Japan into the Axis, but mutual distrust prevented them from forming anything like a fully coherent alliance. Chiang found it useful to imply to Western powers that he might be pushed into closer alignment with Germany, a particularly disturbing possibility for the USSR, which faced enemies in both Europe and Asia. But eventually the contradictions in German policy toward East Asia became too severe. In April 1938, Germany yielded to Japanese pressure and ended its support for China.   Britain offered little meaningful help. Neville Chamberlain became prime minister in May 1937 at the head of a Conservative-led National Government, and was quickly overwhelmed by the deteriorating European situation. If Czechoslovakia was for him a "far-off country of which we know nothing," China's fate was even more distant and obscure to many,  perhaps most  policymakers in London. The Nationalists had more success in cultivating the United States. At the Nine-Power Conference in Brussels in November 1937, the Chinese delegation failed to persuade Washington to impose sanctions on Japan and confront it directly. By the middle of 1938, however, American views were beginning to shift. As Japan pushed deeper into southern China, it became increasingly obvious that the occupied territory would be closed to foreign trade. In December 1938, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau arranged a private American loan of $25 million to China, to be repaid through shipments of tung oil, a varnish product whose real importance lay not in itself, but in what the arrangement signified: a quiet American expression of faith that Chongqing would survive. Chiang also held on to the hope of an even less likely partnership. He had become fiercely anti-Communist during the 1920s, yet in the early years of the anti-Japanese war his greatest hope still rested on Soviet entry into the conflict. Soviet advisers and pilots had aided China from 1937 to 1939, but the USSR never formally declared war on Japan. Still, as Japanese aggression in northern Asia intensified, it remained possible that the Soviets would eventually be drawn in.   Then, as so often happened whenever Chiang tried to impose some control over the course of the war, events beyond China's borders altered the struggle in fundamental ways. While Western attention remained fixed on Europe's darkening horizon, a battle with major consequences for East Asia unfolded on the frontiers of Outer Mongolia, Manchukuo, and the eastern Soviet Union. Throughout much of 1938 and early 1939, one faction within the Japanese Imperial Army sought to pressure the Soviets along their eastern frontier. The USSR appeared vulnerable; Stalin's paranoid purges had executed or exiled many of the Red Army's best officers. In May 1939, fighting broke out near Nomonhan between forces from Soviet-backed Mongolia and Japanese troops from Manchukuo. Within days, both sides had reinforced heavily, until nearly 60,000 Soviet troops faced about 40,000 soldiers from the Kwantung Army. Over the next four months, until mid-September, they fought a major battle ending in a decisive Japanese defeat and establishing the reputation of General Georgi Zhukov, who would later become one of Stalin's most celebrated wartime commanders. The much-derided Soviet Army had fought with formidable effectiveness, and the result was not only a ceasefire but also a nonaggression pact between the two sides, extinguishing, in one stroke, Chiang's hopes for a Chinese-Soviet military alliance. The final blow came after developments in northern Europe. In the Winter War of 1939–1940, the Soviet invasion of Finland led Britain and France to back a motion expelling the USSR from the League of Nations. China, then a member of the League Council, declined to use its veto to block the resolution. Stalin was enraged by Chiang's failure to prevent Soviet expulsion, and mutual suspicion thereafter poisoned relations between the two leaders for the rest of the war against Japan. China would now have to continue without further major Soviet backing.   By the spring of 1940, China's position had become deeply precarious. In March, senior Japanese negotiators sought an agreement with Chiang in Chongqing, while Wang Jingwei was trying to formalize his rival Nationalist government in Nanjing. This effort, known in Chinese as the Tong Operation, and in Japanese as Operation Kiri, led to talks in Hong Kong from March 7 to 10, 1940. Militarily, the Nationalists were in grave danger: the United States remained neutral, and Europe was in chaos. Indeed, that same spring, with France seemingly near collapse, the British government also sent out discreet feelers to explore the possibility of a negotiated peace with Germany. For China, Western assistance was nowhere in sight. The Japanese judged the moment favorable for pressing Chiang toward concessions. Faced with serious danger to his regime, Chiang allowed the door to negotiation to open just slightly.   As a consequence, the Japanese delayed full recognition of Wang Jingwei's new government. Through the summer and autumn of 1940, Tokyo remained uncertain about the defector. Prominent Japanese figures such as Count Arima Yoriyasu of the Privy Council said Wang's conduct demonstrated his untrustworthiness, and Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yōsuke continued to express interest in an agreement with Chongqing. Zhou Fohai captured the defectors' frustration, men who believed they had made the highest patriotic sacrifice when he wrote: "Chongqing sees us as collaborators, we see ourselves as heroes. We think only peace can save the country — that's why we think of ourselves as heroes. If we end up classed as heroes, then China and Japan will be at peace. If we end up classed as collaborators, then China and Japan will never be at peace."That formulation conveyed something genuine about the moral dizziness of the period. Most of the defectors were not men devoid of principles; they were men whose principles had carried them to a place that history would find exceptionally hard to pardon.   The "New Fourth Army Incident" brought to a close one of the most consequential years in modern Chinese political history. The battle of ideas unfolding in 1940 was already visible to informed contemporaries. Early in 1941, US Ambassador Nelson Johnson sent Washington a detailed assessment of the Chinese political situation in reply to another report passed along by Major Evans Carlson, an American officer who had made an extensive journey through the Chinese interior. The contrast between the two documents revealed a widening split in American views of China. Carlson, together with his travelling companion, the New Zealander Rewi Alley, had become increasingly sympathetic to the Communists after visiting their territories in 1938 and admiring their discipline. Carlson described the Nationalists as moving toward "fascism," and argued that American aid should be conditioned on Chiang's government being compelled to adopt more "democratic" institutions.   Johnson strongly disagreed. It was "only normal and natural," he wrote, that the Nationalists wanted to retain power, but during the war they had established the National Political Consultative Council, in which multiple parties, including the Communists, were represented. He also noted that the CCP could publish its own newspaper in Chongqing in a way that would have been impossible before the war. One might have expected the Nationalists to use the war as a justification "to extinguish . . . all political opposition," yet instead they had chosen to "muddle along." Johnson further thought that the influence of competing cliques inside the Nationalist Party had been overstated. Chiang Kai-shek, by contrast, had "grown in stature, as he has come to be recognized as the symbol of united resistance to Japanese encroachment"; ultimately, "it is he who makes the final decisions." Johnson did agree with Carlson that Chiang's regime was hesitant to encourage a broad-based popular movement animated by anything beyond anti-Japanese feeling, though he also pointed to Nationalist cooperative programs and county-level reforms. But he rejected the idea that American support should depend on sweeping political transformation. Chiang was committed to continuing the war against Japan, and Washington should back him in that effort. In a notably farsighted passage, Johnson wrote: "It is my view that since the fall of the Manchu dynasty and the collapse of the traditional Chinese concept of government the Chinese people have been feeling their way along toward a new evolving form of government. A definitive form of government has not yet been established and may not be established for decades; it may or may not be in the form of a democracy, but it will be a type of government that will be adapted to the needs of China and its people." The tension between these two American interpretations,  Carlson's idealized belief in the Communists and Johnson's pragmatic support for Chiang was more than a minor bureaucratic dispute. It foreshadowed a debate that would dominate American foreign policy for the next decade, and would still echo when the People's Republic was proclaimed in 1949.   The disastrous experience of 1940 seemed to cast doubt on whether any future for China existed outside the Japanese Empire. As 1941 wore on, another dreadful event shook the exhausted wartime capital. On June 5, Chongqing endured roughly five hours of bombing, driving the population into air-raid shelters. In one tunnel in the Shibati district, the conditions were even worse than usual. The large shelter was supposed to have lights and electric fans, but the generators had never been connected. Inside, the air was dark, hot, and suffocating. Around ten that evening, people began emerging from the tunnel when rumors spread that the Japanese were returning with poison-gas bombs. Air-raid wardens forced people back inside, even as others were still trying to come out. Bodies toppled over one another, and panic spread as people realized they could not breathe. Over the next few hours, hundreds died underground in the darkness. The exact number was never definitively established: the official figure was 461, though a contemporary police report placed it far higher, at 1,527. What rescuers remembered most vividly were the tortured expressions of the dead, people tangled together in each other's arms as they lost consciousness, clothing ripped to shreds by desperate hands clawing at one another, and bodies so drenched in sweat that they looked as though they had been soaked in water. One survivor, Tang Zhengchang, remembered a hand reaching out from a pile of corpses and pleading, "Sir, please help me . . ." The grip on Tang's shorts was so tight that it pulled them off; he escaped the tunnel naked from the waist down. Official descriptions of the disaster were softened. Even so, the tragedy deepened the city's gloom and in a place already saturated with grief, an added layer of darkness mattered a great deal.   Yet events elsewhere would soon offer the National Government a narrow margin of hope. Late in 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt won re-election as president of the United States. "I am not going to send your boys into any foreign wars," he had proclaimed during the campaign against Wendell Willkie. But Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull both understood that Nazi domination of Europe posed a grave challenge to American influence there. And with China's "Open Door" to trade effectively shut by Japanese occupation, it was becoming increasingly clear that strict neutrality might not remain viable. In a 1941 report on China's domestic and foreign situation, Ambassador Johnson noted that during Germany's sweeping victories across Europe in mid-1940, the Chinese had become anxious about whether the Allies would remain committed to their cause. Britain's refusal to surrender, however, together with continuing Soviet goodwill, lifted public morale in China. People now looked toward the United States and Britain for support and felt that "victory" was "virtually theirs."   Then, on June 22, 1941, the world awoke to news that roughly three million German soldiers were advancing into the Soviet Union. Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's invasion of the USSR, dramatically overturned the nonaggression that had governed relations between the two major European dictatorships for the previous two years. It transformed the war in Europe entirely. Less obviously, it also transformed the war in Asia. Thanks to intelligence leaks, Chiang Kai-shek had already realized that war between Germany and the USSR was likely. After the neutrality treaty between the USSR and Japan was signed on April 13, 1941, Chiang predicted that the United States would be drawn into the Asian war, and even that Japan might eventually reverse course and strike the Soviet Union. If that happened, China would become the critical Asian ally of both Washington and Moscow. Stalin had been caught off guard by the German assault — largely because he ignored increasingly urgent warnings from senior colleagues receiving intelligence from well-placed spies in Germany and the Comintern, eager to preserve its alliances, now pressed the Chinese Communists to cooperate more closely with the Nationalists. On June 23, 1941, the CCP Central Committee responded with a declaration that it would "persevere in the Anti-Japanese United Front, persevere in Nationalist-Communist cooperation," and would align itself with the British, the Americans, and others resisting the "fascist rulers" of the Axis.   In Chongqing and Yan'an, the German attack on the Soviet Union was interpreted as a hopeful sign that Japan's fortunes might be beginning to turn. In Nanjing, the reaction was different. On June 22, Zhou Fohai recorded in his diary that, although the outcome "cannot be predicted," members of the Nanjing regime "all believe Germany will win and will take Moscow within two months." Zhou speculated that Japan could not easily reconcile its neutrality treaty with the USSR and its membership in the Anti-Comintern Pact, which was supposed to unite the Axis against Soviet expansionism. Still, because Germany had struck first, Japan was under no formal obligation to help. Zhou also continued to view events through a lens he had never abandoned: that of Chinese nationalism. "If Chongqing joins the Allies and they win," he wrote, "then this is good for China." If they lost, it would be disastrous for Chiang Kai-shek; but because Wang Jingwei had established a government in Nanjing under Japanese sponsorship, China now had "a foot in both boats." It was a ruthless calculation, but not a wholly dishonorable one. Zhou was not merely advancing Japanese interests. He was hedging, wagering on multiple futures in the name of a China he believed would endure beyond whatever constellation of powers happened to dominate at the moment. Whether posterity would judge that conduct prudent or collaborative was a question he could neither settle nor live to see resolved to his satisfaction.   The summer of 1941 marked a major geopolitical turning point in the war. Until then, the conflicts in China and Europe had remained separate, if desperate, struggles on the Eurasian continent. Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union now forced Japan to decide whether it too would enter war against the USSR. Debate in Tokyo was brief. Although some officials, including Foreign Minister Matsuoka, favored striking north before moving south, both the Kwantung Army and the Navy advised against helping Germany at least until Germany had succeeded in drawing substantial Soviet forces away from Siberia and into Europe. Konoye, once again prime minister, agreed. With the northern option set aside, Japanese leaders turned toward another great power instead: the United States. Japan's failure to gain further decisive momentum in China had fueled demands for broader regional expansion, especially into Southeast Asia, with its abundant oil, rubber, and other strategic resources. From 1940 onward, measures such as the pressure to close the Burma Road made it increasingly obvious that Tokyo had adopted a more aggressive posture in Asia. Unable to subdue China, Japanese policymakers chose instead to escalate the conflict still further.   Japanese political life had become ever more dominated by the unresolved war in China. As early as 1938, military expenditures consumed about 70 percent of the national budget, and that same year a National Mobilization Bill granted the government "total war control" over the zaibatsu, Japan's major industrial conglomerates. By 1940, the New Order was making itself felt throughout everyday life, with campaigns against luxury and extravagant consumption taking on new prominence. In February 1940, a parliamentarian was expelled from the Diet simply for daring to criticize the "holy war" in China. In such an atmosphere, retreat from imperial ambitions became increasingly unthinkable. That figure, 70 percent of the national budget devoted to the military is worth dwelling on, because it reveals something essential about the trap in which Japanese strategists had placed themselves. The war in China had not been won, yet abandoning it would have meant admitting a failure so severe that it would have shaken the ideological and institutional foundations of military supremacy in Japanese politics. The only apparent ways out required pushing further in: more conquest, more extraction, more expansion. The logic was brutally clear, and profoundly destructive.   The Roosevelt administration watched these developments with growing alarm. Though still formally neutral, the United States was already using Lend-Lease to provide major assistance to Britain and the Soviet Union in their struggles against Germany. It now expanded aid to China as well. On February 10, Roosevelt's representative Lauchlin Currie visited Chongqing to inform Chiang Kai-shek that the United States would soon provide $45 million in military equipment. General John Magruder, head of the small AMMISCA mission,  the American Military Mission in China had been sent to Chongqing in September 1941, as part of quiet preparation for possible Chinese entry into an alliance against Japan. The China branch of the OSS, precursor to the CIA, was led by General William "Wild Bill" Donovan, whom Roosevelt had dispatched to China in early 1941.   The Americans repeatedly tried to discourage Japan from moving south into Southeast Asia, but relations only grew more confrontational. Japan occupied the southern part of French Indochina, and in response the United States imposed an oil embargo in July 1941. The consequences were immense. Japan imported around 80 percent of its oil from the United States. Without that supply, its navy, the essential instrument for southern expansion  had reserves for perhaps eighteen months. The real question facing Tokyo, then, was not whether it must act, but how soon. Unable any longer to resist mounting military pressure for war, Konoye resigned on October 16 and was replaced as premier by General Tōjō Hideki. Tokyo accelerated its preparations for conflict with the Western powers. Planned targets included Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaya, the Netherlands East Indies, and the Philippines. I should note, if you want to learn about all of this history in more detail, you can go check out the pacific war channel on youtube. I have a chronological series that is just now talking about events like the Japanese invasion of french indochina and the road to pearl harbor.   Throughout the autumn of 1941, increasingly desperate negotiations took place between Japan and the United States. Washington insisted that Japan withdraw from China; Tokyo was equally firm that it would do no such thing. From the Japanese point of view, the demand to leave China was not a serious negotiating position but a demand for national humiliation a call to repudiate four years of war, vast casualties, and the ideological basis of Japanese militarism in a single diplomatic act. In the end, the gulf between the two positions could not be bridged.   While civilian and military leaders in Tokyo argued over the pace at which they should move toward war, few among Japan's rulers doubted that war was coming. At the imperial conference of November 5, it was formally agreed that if no satisfactory diplomatic solution had been reached by December 1, war would follow soon after. Talks in Washington between Ambassador Nomura Kichisaburō, diplomat Kurusu Saburō, and Secretary of State Cordell Hull led nowhere. On November 26, Hull delivered a note repeating the American position that Japan must withdraw from both China and Indochina. On December 1, the imperial conference resolved to go to war; the following day, the date of attack was fixed as December 8, December 7 by American time. In one sense, this was the culmination toward which the entire previous decade had been moving. The war in China had started as a localized conflict, then expanded into a continental one, and was now about to become something larger still: a truly global war, stretching from the North Atlantic to the western Pacific. China's long, lonely resistance would suddenly gain new dimensions and new allies,  though not the ones Chiang had spent four years trying to cultivate, and not under circumstances he would have chosen.   In the early morning of December 7, 1941, the US Pacific Fleet lay anchored at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, its sailors and officers still largely asleep as dawn crept across the Pacific. The attack did not come without warning signs,  American and Japanese diplomats had been locked in increasingly desperate negotiations throughout the autumn, each side hardening its position until no room remained to maneuver. Washington had demanded that Japan withdraw from China, a condition Tokyo viewed not as a serious opening offer but as a demand for national humiliation: a call to repudiate four years of brutal war, hundreds of thousands of casualties, and the entire ideological foundation upon which Japanese militarism rested. No agreement was possible on those terms, and both sides privately knew it.   The strike force assembled in secret was formidable. Six aircraft carriers,  the Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, Hiryū, Shōkaku, and Zuikaku had sailed under strict radio silence across the North Pacific, launching their aircraft in two successive waves before the American base had any meaningful chance to respond. The first wave of approximately 183 planes swept in just before 8 a.m., targeting the rows of battleships moored along Battleship Row and the military airfields at Wheeler, Hickam, and Ford Island simultaneously, ensuring that American aircraft could not scramble in time to mount an effective defense. A second wave of roughly 170 planes followed less than an hour later, pressing the attack on damaged ships and harbor installations.   The destruction was staggering. The battleship Arizona suffered a catastrophic magazine explosion after a armor-piercing bomb penetrated her forward decks, killing nearly 1,177 of her crew in minutes, almost half of the total American dead from the entire attack. The Oklahoma capsized after being struck by multiple torpedoes. The West Virginia and California sank at their moorings. In total, seventeen vessels were damaged or destroyed, and the vast majority of military aircraft at the nearby airfields were caught on the ground and obliterated before they could take flight. Around 2,400 Americans were killed and another 1,100 wounded, making it the deadliest single attack on American soil or territory in the nation's history to that point.   Yet the attack was not a complete strategic success for Japan. The US Pacific Fleet's aircraft carriers, the vessels that would ultimately decide the naval war in the Pacific happened to be at sea that morning and escaped unharmed. The harbor's fuel storage and repair facilities were also left largely intact, allowing the fleet to reconstitute faster than Japanese planners had anticipated. What Japan achieved in tactical devastation, it partly squandered in strategic miscalculation. The attack ended American neutrality instantly and irrevocably. The following day, President Roosevelt addressed Congress, calling December 7 "a date which will live in infamy," and within hours the United States declared war on Japan. For China, after more than four years of fighting alone, the blow that devastated Pearl Harbor paradoxically carried a thread of desperate hope at last, the great power Chiang Kai-shek had spent years trying to draw into the conflict had arrived, not under circumstances he would have chosen, but arrived nonetheless. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. After years of fighting, China's situation darkened in 1941 with intense bombing of Chongqing and fears of poison-gas attacks. Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union in June shifted alliances and pressured Japan toward wider war. Japan escalated plans for Southeast Asia, suffered an oil embargo, and negotiations with the United States broke down over withdrawing from China and Indochina. Then the Pearl Harbor attack began the Pacific War.

Dr. Alan Cohen is Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Chair of Biological Complexity and Healthy Longevity, and Co-Director of the Science of Health Program in the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at Columbia University. In his research, Alan takes a theoretical biology approach to some of the biggest questions in science, including what aging is and what it means to be alive. Rather than viewing biology only as a collection of individual genes, molecules, and cells, he studies how these components interact as complex dynamic systems to maintain the internal balance that supports health. His work explores how the breakdown of these interconnected systems may underlie aging and disease, and how scientists can develop new ways to measure and understand these changes beyond traditional reductionist approaches. When he's not working, Alan enjoys practicing Aikido, a martial art he first learned while living in Japan. He also does contact improvisation dance, where partners use spontaneous points of physical contact to create movement together without knowing where the dance will lead. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and Asian Studies from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and he was awarded his PhD in Biology from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Afterwards, Alan completed postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Sherbrooke. He then served on the faculty at the University of Sherbrooke for about 12 years before accepting a position at Columbia University in 2022. Alan has received various awards and honors, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Aging New Investigator Prize of Excellence in Research on Aging and the CIHR New Investigator Salary Award. In this interview, he shares more about his life and science.

Bill and Scott break down the trade provisions of the Senate Farm Bill, the U.S.-Japan intervention in currency markets, and the Trump administration's latest enforcement actions targeting goods linked to forced labor.

What happens when Kentucky bourbon meets Japanese storytelling? In this episode of Bourbon Lens, Jake sits down bar-side with Kojin Tashiro of Mugen Spirit for a tasting and wide-ranging conversation about building a whiskey brand as a cultural bridge between Kentucky and Japan.Kojin breaks down his recent trip to Japan and how it tied directly into launching Oni, Mugen's first small batch blend — built from roughly 20 barrels, bottled around 117 proof, and wrapped in artwork by Japanese artist Yuko Shimizu rooted in folklore. He walks through the rest of the Mugen lineup, including Tengu, the wheated kuko release, and Nobunaga from the shogun series, and explains why Mugen treats Japanese culture as a lens rather than forcing every release into a "Japanese whiskey" mold.Jake and Kojin also dig into how Japanese whiskey culture evolved out of American whiskey's popularity in the 1980s, the generational shift in how young drinkers in Japan and the U.S. discover whiskey, and how Mugen balances premium positioning with genuine accessibility and community. It's a conversation about intentionality — in blending, in branding, and in building something that bridges two cultures without diluting either one.Key topics:Kojin's Japan trip and the launch path for OniWhy Mugen Spirit calls itself "a love letter from Kentucky to Japan"How Japanese whiskey culture grew out of American whiskey's 1980s popularityEducating Japanese consumers on the American whiskey story before talking tasting notesThe generational shift in whiskey culture and mentorship in Japan and the U.S.Oni's barrel makeup, proof, and the folklore-inspired label artworkThe rest of the Mugen lineup: Tengu, Cuckoo, and NobunagaNobunaga's East-meets-West profile and Chichibu cask finishingWhy "blended" shouldn't be a dirty word in whiskeyMugen's future: more intentional releases, deeper presence in Japan and the U.S., and direct-to-consumer dropsNotable quotes: "We're a love letter from Kentucky to Japan." "I'm gonna make this a weapon in a good way." "The right way to drink it is however you want to drink it."Chapters:00:00 – The Introduction to Mugen Spirit06:00 – Bridging American and Japanese Whiskey Culture11:00 – The Art of Blending and Creating Oni16:30 – Nobunaga: A Blend of East and West22:31 – The Future Aspirations of Mugen SpiritSubscribe

Turnbuckle Tavern is powered by G FUEL and Official Dick Lazer. Use code TAVERN for 20% off at GFUEL.com and DickLazers.com. Episode 202 of Wrestling Tonight begins by remembering Dory Funk Jr., who died at 85 years old. We look back at the former NWA World Heavyweight Champion's remarkable career, his influence across generations of professional wrestling, his importance in both the United States and Japan, and the legacy he leaves behind as one of the industry's most respected figures. In WWE, Kevin Owens has called his shot against CM Punk. After returning at SummerSlam and winning a Fatal Four-Way to become number one contender, Owens told Nick Aldis he wants his WWE Championship match on August 21 in Toronto. We discuss why the setting matters, where Punk vs. Owens could be heading, and Chelsea Green's uncertain status after suffering a broken orbital bone on SmackDown. The G1 Climax 36 enters its final block matches with Konosuke Takeshita leading A Block while Ryohei Oiwa, Boltin Oleg and Yota Tsuji remain within striking distance. B Block is even tighter, with Gabe Kidd, Callum Newman and Ren Narita tied at the top. We break down the qualification picture, the tournament's biggest risers and what to watch as NJPW approaches the August 16 final. AEW's Continental Challenge Cup is underway with Claudio Castagnoli, Eddie Kingston and Orange Cassidy advancing to the final eight. We look ahead to Jay White vs. David Finlay, Jon Moxley vs. Jack Perry and the rest of the opening round as the tournament begins its road toward the final at Wembley Stadium. Plus, Hechicero wins the 2026 CMLL International Grand Prix after eliminating PAC and submitting Claudio Castagnoli, further cementing an incredible year for the CMLL World Heavyweight Champion. Finally, we preview the week ahead across WWE, AEW, NXT, TNA, AAA and NWA, including Penta vs. Laredo Kid on Raw, Grayson Waller vs. Cruz Montana on NXT, two Continental Challenge Cup matches on Dynamite, three championship matches on SmackDown, and the latest developments on the road to AEW All In. The August 30 All In card continues to take shape with Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay for the AEW World Championship, Willow Nightingale vs. Mercedes Moné for the AEW Women's World Championship, Cage and Cope vs. The Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championship, Divine Dominion vs. The Brawling Birds for the AEW Women's World Tag Team Championship, the Men's Casino Gauntlet and the Continental Challenge Cup final. Be sure to support the show and join our Patreon for just $2.99 a month at Patreon.com/TheTurnbuckleTavern for exclusive content. Follow us on social media @TurnbuckleTavern for all the latest updates. Until the following week, when we wine and dine with you kings and queens, stay out of the alley and away from the pork and beans. Good luck and good speed.  

Caffeinators, you know we love to talk about education and all kinds of different educational models and ideas. For this episode, we were put in touch with Clair Sauer (HUGE thanks to Tasha McNerny for the rec!) and it kind of blew our minds. She is currently finishing up her SECOND Master's Degree in in Education, and she is in a program that teaches Doctors how to teach Doctors, and is the first veterinary technician to be accepted into that program. We cover everything from teaching abroad in Japan to being in a program with human doctors that are learning how to teach future human doctors. This discussion was FASCINATING. Don't miss it! Follow her on IG @vettechteacher Our Links: Check out our sponsor https://betterhelp.com/vettechcafe for 10% off your first month of therapy Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vettechcafe Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vettechcafepodcast Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vet-tech-cafe Like and Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMDTKdfOaqSW0Mv3Uoi33qg Our website: https://www.vettechcafe.com/ Vet Tech Cafe Merch: https://www.vettechcafe.com/merch If you would like to help us cover our podcast expenses, we'd appreciate any support you give through Patreon. We do this podcast and our YouTube channel content to support the veterinary technicians out there and do not expect anything in return! We thank you for all you do.

Stupid News 8-10-2026 6am …Japan online marketplace cracks down on Used Swimsuit Sales …Mercedes Benz now Branding Their Buyers …Trouble at the Rocky Horror Picture Show in Vermont

Mac, the creator of Halfway Anywhere and the annual PCT Thru-Hiker Survey, joins the show to talk about hiking Corsica's GR20, how the Pacific Crest Trail has changed, and whether modern thru-hiking has lost some of its mystery.We compare our experiences on the GR20, including huts, snow, intense heat, crowded trails, French hiking culture and the unexpected luxury of buying sandwiches in the mountains. Then we dig into the evolution of the PCT, from paper maps and hitchhiking to FarOut comments, scheduled rides, heavier gear and thru-hikes that now average around $10,000 to $11,000.Mac also shares how Halfway Anywhere became his full-time work, what more than a decade of PCT survey data reveals about backpacking gear, why experienced adventurers have to work harder to find the unknown, and what he is planning next in Japan.Before the interview, I recap running an 18:52 5K in Crocs and explain why the weird goals nobody else understands can sometimes be the most meaningful.Learn more from Mac at Halfway Anywhere: https://www.halfwayanywhere.com/Support our Sponsors: Sawyer: https://sawyerdirect.net/Janji (code: Freeoutside): https://snp.link/a0bfb726CS Coffee: CSinstant.coffeeGarage Grown Gear: https://snp.link/db1ba8abSubscribe to Substack: http://freeoutside.substack.comSupport this content on patreon: HTTP://patreon.com/freeoutsideBuy my book "Free Outside" on Amazon: https://amzn.to/39LpoSFEmail me to buy a signed copy of my book, "Free Outside" at jeff@freeoutside.comWatch the movie about setting the record on the Colorado Trail: https://tubitv.com/movies/100019916/free-outsideWebsite: www.Freeoutside.comInstagram: thefreeoutsidefacebook: www.facebook.com/freeoutside#Trailrunning #Runningnews #Outdoors #Outdooradventure

Episode 260 of the Transition Drill podcast explores military transition, leadership, and rebuilding purpose for veterans and first responders navigating life after a long career of service. You'll hear retired Navy Chief Warrant Officer 5 David Sledge on leaving behind 33 years of structure and identity, and what it takes to build purpose beyond the uniform.Growing up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Sledge initially joined the National Guard to help pay for college before switching to active-duty Navy service during the Gulf War, even though he couldn't swim. What began as a two-year commitment became a career spanning five ships, deployments, 9/11, the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami response, and assignments around the world. Along the way, he became a Gunner's Mate, Recruit Division Commander, instructor, Chief Petty Officer, and ultimately a Chief Warrant Officer 5, carrying forward lessons in mentorship and leadership first demonstrated by the sailors who invested in him.Sledge also explains what happened when that career stopped. After retiring in 2023, he discovered that slowing down created space for memories, questions of identity, and the struggle to replace the routine and purpose military service had provided. He turned toward consulting, continued education, mentoring, coaching basketball, public speaking, and writing.Today, Sledge is the author of Leadership Alchemy and Hurry Up and Wait, using decades of experience to teach leadership, patience, empathy, listening, and the value of genuinely connecting with people.CONNECT WITH THE PODCAST:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulpantani/WEBSITE: https://www.transitiondrillpodcast.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulpantani/SIGN-UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER:https://transitiondrillpodcast.com/home#aboutQUESTIONS OR COMMENTS:paul@transitiondrillpodcast.comSPONSORS:GRND Collective: Premium, veteran-owned sportswear built for those who show up, outwork the excuses, and give 100%. Score 15% off your order at thegrndcollective.com using promo code TRANSITION15 at checkoutBlue Line Roasting: Premium, law-enforcement-owned coffee roasted to fuel the shift. A portion of every order directly supports law enforcement families facing line-of-duty injury or loss. Save 10% at bluelineroasting.com with promo code Transition10Frontline Optics: Premium eyewear founded by a firefighter and built to withstand the job. Every single purchase helps support the First Responders Children's Foundation, serving families who've paid the ultimate price. Save 10% off your pair at frontlineoptics.com using promo code Transition10

This week on The Bourbon Showdown, Jesse Jones is joined by James Bowker, Global Advocacy Manager for The House of Suntory, for an unforgettable deep dive into the world of Japanese whisky.Whether you're new to Japanese spirits or already a devoted fan, this episode is a true masterclass. James walks us through the fascinating history of whisky in Japan, how it evolved into one of the world's most respected whisky traditions, and the philosophy behind The House of Suntory's iconic portfolio. From craftsmanship and culture to flavor and innovation, you'll gain a whole new appreciation for what makes Japanese whisky so special.Of course, we couldn't have a conversation like this without tasting some incredible pours. Together we sip through:

Transformers took its own tangent with the lore in Japan so we ask the question. How would Japan have owned and changed GIJOE if they took it down a similar tangent as Transformers. Thanks to the awesome folks at Quality Joes for my Mountain Howitzer! Quality Joes eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/qualityjoes GI Joburg is grateful to 3DJoes.com for all the good looking pics. The amatuerish ones are most likely taken by us! Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0W3wPhykE4Z6NDF5WgdGe w/join Got something to say to GI Joburg? We can be reached at arealsouthafricanhero@gmail.com We have an official Patreon page! Go to https://www.patreon.com/GIJOBURG?fan_landing=true Want some of the most unique GI Joe apparel out there? Check out our official GI JOBURG merch at: https://teespring.com/stores/gi-joburg-the-merch  

Dean Bernal returns for his fourth and final episode of Dolphin Month on My First Season. In this fascinating conversation, Dean shares stories about JoJo and Silver, observing JoJo's remarkable behaviour around sharks, the unforgettable day JoJo introduced him to a baby humpback whale, his work in Japan, and meeting the Dalai Lama. Dean has far too many incredible stories to fit into just four interviews, so this won't be the last you'll hear from him. He'll be back in the near future to share even more of his extraordinary experiences. Please enjoy!  **My First Season podcast has always been ad-free and free to listen to and is available to download on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Samsung Podcasts, Podbean App, Podchaser, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, TuneIn + Alexa, iHeartRadio, PlayerFM, Pandora and Listen Notes. And if you like what you hear, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts.   The Dean & JoJo Story: dean_entertainment.mp4    

What's up, everybody? It's Tom Bilyeu here:If you want my help...STARTING a business: join me here at ZERO TO FOUNDER: https://tombilyeu.com/zero-to-founder?utm_campaign=Podcast%20Offer&utm_source=podca[%E2%80%A6]d%20end%20of%20show&utm_content=podcast%20ad%20end%20of%20showSCALING a business: see if you qualify here.: https://tombilyeu.com/callGet my battle-tested strategies and insights delivered weekly to your inbox: sign up here.:https://tombilyeu.com/**********************************************************************If you're serious about leveling up your life, I urge you to check out my new podcast, Tom Bilyeu's Mindset Playbook —a goldmine of my most impactful episodes on mindset, business, and health. Trust me, your future self will thank you.**********************************************************************FOLLOW TOM:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tombilyeu/Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tombilyeu?lang=enTwitter: https://twitter.com/tombilyeuYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TomBilyeuQuince: Free shipping and 365-day returns at https://quince.com/impactpodWhatnot: Download the Whatnot app today and get free shipping on your first order.Monarch Money: Start your free trial and get 50% off your first year of total money clarity at https://monarchmoney.yt.link/QxOLEVx or code TB50 for 50% Off Monarch Core tier.ATT Business: Switch to AT&T Business at business.att.comKetone IQ: Visit https://ketone.com/IMPACT for 30% OFF your subscription orderNetsuite: For the first time ever you can try NetSuite Next for free. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, go to https://NetSuite.ai/Theory.Surfshark: Go to https://surfshark.com/TOMB or use code TOMB at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark! The team digs into Bernie Sanders going on CNN to embrace what's being called a "red wave"—the surging energy of the DSA within the Democratic Party—and his refusal to disavow Hasan Piker even when pressed on Piker's most controversial statements. What follows is a genuinely two-sided, and at times heated, debate. On one side: the argument that this is a pivotal cultural moment, that "politics is downstream of culture," and that figures like Mamdani and Hasan Piker represent a one-two punch pushing DSA ideas into the mainstream—ideas the host warns point toward an ideology with a catastrophic historical track record, making him feel morally obligated to sound the alarm even when he admits it's bad for business. On the other side: a sharp policy-focused rebuttal arguing the show spends too much time dissecting 30-second streamer clips and not enough on actual bills, appropriations, and the money-in-politics mechanisms that drive real outcomes—"more C-SPAN, less Twitch stream recaps." The conversation traces historical parallels (the Tea Party, Occupy Wall Street, Bolsheviks vs. Mensheviks), debates whether the DSA is unintentionally clearing a path for a charismatic strongman, and wrestles with how the left should handle provocative voices. It also gets personal and philosophical: the "parchment guarantee" idea that a constitution only matters if the culture enforces it, a reflection on youth as an energy that rightly shakes up an ossified society, and a candid riff on competing cultural metaphors—jihad-as-waging-war versus the Christian "spark of the divine in the individual"—and the tension between drawing a hard line and being careful with war rhetoric in a volatile moment. A substantive, disagreement-driven look at where American politics may be heading.Tom digs into Mayor Mamdani colliding with a basic truth of policy: create an incentive structure, and people will follow it—sometimes by abusing it. Joining Tom is Drew, who pushes back and adds important nuance throughout. The flashpoint is Mamdani's city-owned grocery stores: with goods priced well below market, Tom argues there's an obvious incentive to buy cheap and resell at market value, which is why Mamdani may need some form of ID to wall off who can shop—running headlong into the same "require ID" logic the left resists elsewhere. Drew makes the key distinction that a grocery ID (a driver's license) is not the citizenship-level verification the SAVE Act demands (a passport), and Tom agrees that a sensible ID standard is reasonable. From there, Tom lays out his broader, and more contested, thesis about incentive structures, voter-ID politics, and how DSA-aligned cities increasingly attach the phrase "regardless of immigration status" to taxpayer-funded programs—from grocery initiatives to childcare to housing and legal-support hotlines. He argues this is happening beyond New York, in cities like Minneapolis and Seattle, and challenges the claim that undocumented immigrants are net contributors to social systems, drawing a parallel to immigration debates in Nordic countries. Tom's bottom line: you can't simultaneously say government spends too much, oppose borders and ID requirements, and promise to care for everyone who comes—mathematically it doesn't work, and if you genuinely want to help people, you have to care for a finite number well rather than incentivizing unlimited inflow. He also breaks down why Mamdani's budget gap is likely to keep growing.Tom untangles one of the most consequential and least understood stories in global finance: the United States buying yen for the first time since 1998. Joining Tom is the team as he explains why this isn't a sign of strength but an emergency effort to stop a total collapse of the Japanese economy—one so dangerous because the yen carry trade has locked the US and Japan tightly together for decades. Tom speed-runs the history: Japan's 1989 real estate bubble, thirty years of ultra-low rates, and how cheap Japanese money flooded the world as liquidity that America benefited from enormously. He walks through the trap Japan is now in—raising rates to fight post-Covid inflation triggers a carry-trade unwind, but every intervention to slow it signals weakness and sends money fleeing. He breaks down the concept of risk-adjusted return, why Japan has nothing like the AI trade to justify its risk, the Bessent Camp David notepad photo he believes was a deliberate signal (and the roughly $1 trillion it briefly wiped from US markets), and why the New York Fed selling euros for yen further strains an already-tense relationship with Europe. Tom's blunt diagnosis: propping up the yen is Advil for a brain tumor; the only real cure is a painful decade of killing off zombie companies and getting Japan innovating and growing again. He then connects it to the bigger board—Argentina and Milei as a success story the US wants to use to pull South America back toward capitalism and away from China's debt-trap Belt and Road, and his view that America is becoming a regional rather than global hegemon. Throughout, Tom stresses intellectual honesty about how Covid-era authoritarian decisions helped break the system, and reminds viewers to treat official reassurances as propaganda.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

SUPPORT THE SHOW ON PATREON AND GET OUR NEXT EPISODE RIGHT NOW! https://www.patreon.com/lionsledbydonkeys/posts/early-episode-2-166213298 COME SEE US LIVE SEPTEMBER 26TH IN CORK, IRELAND! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-tickets-1993823733459 CAN'T MAKE IT? WE'RE STREAMING IT! https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-lions-led-by-donkeys-podcast-live-in-cork-26th-september-2026-tickets-1993900928351 BUY JOE'S BOOK! https://www.amazon.com/Highlands-Burn-Fo%E2%80%A6ok/dp/B0GSG5CNXX/ In 1592 a newly unified Japan, under the control of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, launched an invasion of the Joseon Kingdom with an army numbering in the hundreds of thousands. The war would eventually consist of two different invasions over the course of almost 6 years and suck in most of Asia, killing well over 1 million people in the process, all while Japan accomplished absolutely nothing. SOURCES: Hawley, Samuel (2014). The Imjin War: Japan's Sixteenth Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China (2nd ed.). Conquistador Press. Turnbull, Stephen (2012). The Samurai Invasion of Korea 1592–98. Osprey Publishing. Andrade, Tonio (2016). The Gunpowder Age: China, Military Innovation, and the Rise of the West in World History Brown, Delmer M. (May 1948). "The Impact of Firearms on Japanese Warfare, 1543–1598". The Far Eastern Quarterly Park, Yune-hee (1978). Admiral Yi Sun-shin and His Turtleboat Armada. Hanjin Publishing Company Rockstein, Edward D. (1993). Strategic And Operational Aspects of Japan's Invasions of Korea 1592–1598. Naval War College. Kang, Etsuko Hae-jin (1997). Diplomacy and ideology in Japanese–Korean relations: from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century. Palgrave Macmillan Lewis, James B. (2004). "The Book of Corrections: Reflections on the National Crisis during the Japanese Invasion of Korea, 1592–1598. By Sôngnyong Yu. Translated by Choi Byonghyon. Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies". The Journal of Asian Studies.

Brad and Will reconvene this week to talk about their recent adventures in the real world. Brad returns from the Vintage Computer Festival West once again with a recap of this year's highlights, including projects to resurrect everything from classic America Online to obscure software distribution kiosks from 1980s Japan, panels with some fun details about things like the creation of Ethernet and programming heroics on the Atari 2600, plus some Quake deathmatch against today's youth. And Will returns from Los Angeles to talk about object show meetups and the latest from Disneyland, such as high-tech face projection mapping, why the Lightning Lane isn't so Lightning anymore, the joy of trackless dark rides, and more. Notes and links for this episode: https://tinyurl.com/techpod-351-vcfw-disney Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

What happens when folklore becomes too terrible to be fiction? Can you listen past the performance and find the true forensic history?Welcome back to Stories Fables Ghostly Tales. In tonight's interactive special, the Tale Teller presents an impossible challenge: "Three Waters, Dark Tides: Two Myths, One Truth."We have gathered three haunting accounts of Japan's relationship with the dark, cold element of water. One is a factual, historical tragedy; the other two are timeless legends. Your mission is to determine which of these deep, dark tides actually swept across our reality. Do not let the mythology fool you. Lock in your guess internally. Story 1: The Riverman's Debt. We travel to the muddy riverbanks of the Edo period to meet the Kappa, the bizarre, polite river imp possessing a lethal obsession with the human shiridama. Story 2: The Bailing Phantoms. We step onto a 1930s fishing trawler in the open ocean to face the Funayūrei, ghost ships manned by the victims of maritime tragedy, draped in white funeral shrouds, demanding empty dippers to flood passing vessels. Story 3: The Saint of Shinjuku. We travel to the crumbling ruins of post-war Tokyo to confront the terrifying modern legend of the sanatorium run by "Sensei," also known as "The Saint," who was whispered to perform a chilling "mercy ritual" in the nursery known as "Cold Storage." Keep your tea hot, keep your porch lights burning against the rising fog, and remember... sometimes the Saint is just a monster with a good alibi. Until next time... pleasant dreams... if you can sleep at all.Did you guess the story...correctly? I am your Tale Teller...Have a wonderful night...

Peter Schiff breaks down July's negative jobs report, Japan's yen crisis, and the Fed's stealth QE bailout as gold and silver surge.This episode is sponsored by DripDrop. Stock up now at http://dripdrop.com and use promo code GOLD for 20% offThis episode is also sponsored by Upwork. Visit https://upwork.com right now and post your job for free to connect with top talent ready to help your business grow.Recording from his boat in Rhode Island, Peter Schiff covers a week that vindicated his forecasts. The July jobs report showed a loss of 23,000 jobs, with prior months revised down another 105,000 and labor force participation falling to 61.4%, a level unseen outside COVID lockdowns in 50 years. Full-time jobs have declined in six of the last seven months while wages lag inflation, confirming the stagflation Peter has long warned about. The bigger story is Japan: with the yen at a 40-year low and JGB yields at record highs, the US executed its first yen intervention since 1998, roughly ten times larger, using euros instead of dollars and blindsiding the ECB. The Fed also took Japan's Treasuries via repo and printed the dollars, a stealth form of quantitative easing that contradicts its inflation-fighting rhetoric. Markets got the message: gold jumped 7.8% to 4,341, silver surged 12.3% to 63.46 after holding above the old $50 ceiling, and GDX rocketed 22% in one week, all far outpacing Bitcoin's 3.7% gain. Peter argues the intervention is just the beginning, the Fed will not hike before the midterms, and a currency and sovereign debt crisis is approaching. He urges listeners to prepare with gold, silver, miners, and foreign stocks, and to understand the coming crisis is caused by government, not capitalism.Chapters:00:00 Fed Japan Bond Backstop01:11 Back At Sea Intro01:59 Week Ahead Jobs Japan03:23 Stocks Metals Surge06:23 Bitcoin Strategy Warning09:15 Bonds Dollar Fed Odds14:00 July Jobs Shock15:33 Revisions Participation Drop19:51 Wages Inflation Stagflation24:09 Trump Ballroom Rant26:49 Japan Crisis Tease29:24 Japan Yen Breakdown31:30 Debt Trap And Rates32:23 Treasury Selling Threat34:35 Fed And BOJ Coordination36:08 Swap Line QE Explained41:15 Euro Intervention Twist44:29 Inflation Signals And Metals47:51 Storm Warning Ahead49:18 Blame Government Not Markets52:07 Prepare And Spread The WordFollow @peterschiffX: https://twitter.com/peterschiffInstagram: https://instagram.com/peterschiffTikTok: https://tiktok.com/@peterschiffofficialFacebook: https://facebook.com/peterschiffFree Reports & Market Updates: https://www.europac.comBook Store: https://schiffradio.com/booksSign up for Peter's most valuable insights at https://schiffsovereign.comSchiff Gold News: https://www.schiffgold.com/newsOur Sponsors:* Check out Chilipad and use my code GOLD for $255 off: https://sleep.me* Check out Factor and use my code gold50off for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com* Check out Fast Growing Trees and use my code GOLD for a great deal: https://www.fast-growing-trees.com* Check out Quince and use my code quince.com/GOLD for a great deal: https://www.quince.com* Check out TruDiagnostic and use my code GOLD for a great deal: https://www.trudiagnostic.comPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Henry Sokolski discusses the stalled nuclear cooperative agreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, noting that the lack of enrichment restrictions has left the deal in limbo. He explains that a new condominium between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan is designed to counter Iran and Israel, making the Abraham Accords seem "delusional." Sokolski also reflects on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, noting that Japan's new leadership is considering a review of its non-nuclear principles. Furthermore, he reports on a Chinese study simulating the use of nuclear warheads to intercept asteroids, which he interprets as a potential cover for placing weapons in space. The conversation ends with a discussion on the need for increased drone regulations at critical facilities like Vandenberg Space Force Base following an incident involving an unregistered drone and a foreign national. (7)

Rooted deep within Japanese folklore is a terrifying legend known as the Inugami. Often described as a dog-like spirit capable of possession, manipulation, and even violence, the Inugami was believed to bring wealth and protection to its master, but at a devastating cost. While the legend originated in Japan, alleged encounters have since surfaced in the United States, blurring the line between folklore, superstition, and something more sinister. For a full list of sources, please visit: https://sosupernaturalpodcast.com/legend-inugami   Did you know you can listen to So Supernatural ad-free? Join the Crime Junkie Fan Club! Visit https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/fanclub/ to view the current membership options and policies. So Supernatural is an Audiochuck and Crime House production. Find us on social! Instagram: @sosupernaturalpod Twitter: @_sosupernatural Facebook: /sosupernaturalpod Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.