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The Glasgow Necropolis is a Victorian cemetery in Glasgow, Scotland. It is on a low but very prominent hill to the east of Glasgow Cathedral (St Mungo's Cathedral). The cemetery is in an area bordered by the Townhead and Dennistoun districts to the north east of the modern city centre. Fifty thousand individuals have been buried here. Typical for the period, only a small percentage are named on monuments…and not every grave has a stone. Approximately 3,500 monuments exist here!!!https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EI4eJgqRpZg&ra=mhttps://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/glasgow/necropolis.shtmlhttps://www.myhighlands.de/en/glasgow-necropolis/https://thelittlehouseofhorrors.com/glasgow-necropolis/https://brocarde.com/glasgow-necropolis-ghosts-haunted-statues-and-the-legend-of-the-gorbals-vampire/https://vocal.media/horror/the-real-haunted-story-of-glasgow-hotel

So, here's how it went down this week…1.⁠ ⁠Our normal in-depth production schedule exchange took place over WhatsApp on Monday2.⁠ ⁠Recording commenced bang on 10:37am on Tuesday morning, conditions were normal with a gentle pace and favourable headwinds.3.⁠ ⁠Approximately 20 minutes a largely throwaway comment, somewhat metaphysical in nature, threw Ant off course.4.⁠ ⁠We took that concept on a hell of a ramble, with canine in tow, and plenty of mint-cake (courtesy of my birthplace).Ant suggested we went old-school for the spelling, he thinks the double-g seems to work better for some reason, I can't say I am convinced but if I am going to put my name to something then it might as well be accurate.Then again as none of you actually exist it probably doesn't matter that much.hTCD Merch StoreBecome Purple and support the showThe Invisible Man Volume 1: 1991-1997The Invisible Man Volume2: 1998-2014FacebookInstagramWebsite

Approximately 500,000 children are born blind each year. The overwhelming majority of those are from impoverished nations and places where sanitary conditions are not great. Yet for many many more cataracts, macular degeneration and other eye disease can rob us of sight. The more we know, the less we…

Gavin landed back in Australia just the day before recording, and he and Ken settle in for a full debrief on WDC 2026 in Athens. From the venues and the social activities to all four of Gavin's games and the top board, this one covers it all. Intro Ken sets up the episode – this one is going to be almost entirely about WDC 2026 Athens, because Gavin was there and has only just landed back in Australia (as at the time of recording) (15 secs) He notes the DBN coverage gave a strong account of the boards and Ed's player interviews, but plenty of the magic from Spyros Dovas and his organising team didn't make it to the stream (45 secs) Drinks are introduced: Ken is on one of his home-brew lagers with a kick, and Gavin is working through a leftover Sicilian Nero d'Avola that has turned a little sour – a fitting metaphor, he suggests, for how his first round went (1 min 45 secs) The tournament in aggregate Ken asks Gavin to give a broad overview – location, numbers, facilities, atmosphere (2 mins 45 secs) Around 106 players registered, though some didn't show due to last-minute issues. Approximately 5 Australian players couldn't attend because their original flights were routed through the Middle East (3 mins 30 secs) The geopolitical context: as of recording, the Middle East airspace situation was in week nine of its shutdown, forcing Australian travellers to reroute via Singapore, Hong Kong, or Malaysia. Some also baulked at the US transit option due to the documentation requirements (4 mins 30 secs) Despite the drop-outs, the turnout was excellent and genuinely representative – a heavy European component split between the UK and the rest of Europe, a strong French contingent, players from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, and Norway, a good number of Americans and a couple of Canadians (including Chris Brand), around 10 Australians, and a couple of Kiwis (Dominick Stephens and Craig Purcell). The local Greek contingent, given the Athens club had only been running for about 18 months, was especially impressive (3 mins 30 secs) Tournament format: three regular rounds followed by a fourth round of tiered top boards. Rather than a single top board, the format featured seven simultaneous top boards – the top 7 players went to the premier board, players 8–14 played the second tier, 15–21 the third, and so on down through the field. Crucially, players who volunteered to sit out for round four to help with numbers kept their ranking position (7 mins) Ken and Gavin discuss how the tiered format means the fourth round is never a dead rubber – every board is still competing for something meaningful (8 mins 15 secs) Discussion of the central clock arrangement: effectively federation-based rather than a literal single clock, with the two main venues coordinating their start times by communication (9 mins 30 secs) The venues The main venue was the upstairs function space of a beachside restaurant operation – excellent location right on the waterfront, but somewhat cramped for negotiations once all the boards were in (9 mins 45 secs) As a result, boards were redistributed to the secondary venue: the Anchor bar, about 150–200 metres down the road. Gavin played two games in each location and considered the Anchor the better play space – more open, well ventilated, and with a large covered outdoor area next to a (drained) pool (11 mins) The colour-coded sash system made it easy to identify players by country but created the amusing challenge of locating your specific Italy in a room full of Italys from different boards (13 mins) The third venue – an outdoor shaded area – was reserved for the premier top board. Unlike Milan's car park, this one had good shade and plenty of room for spectators around the giant shadow board (13 mins 30 secs) Pre-tournament social activities Gavin outlines the structure: you could do as much or as little as you liked. He landed well due to a useful 5.5-hour Singapore layover that helped reset his body clock, and flew over on the same flight as tournament director Jamal Blakkarly (16 mins) They were met at Athens airport by Spyros, his wife, and daughter, who drove them to breakfast at a beautiful harbour-side restaurant in one of the small inlet bays east of Piraeus (18 mins 15 secs) Pre-tournament island stay: Gavin spent two days on Serifos, the island Spyros recommended and which has personal significance to his family (his grandfather was christened there). Spyros provided a detailed Google Map of the best spots. With the tourist season barely starting, Gavin got excellent last-minute accommodation at a family-run hotel and had the beaches almost entirely to himself (18 mins 45 secs) The island was so off-season that locals were literally still painting their furniture and kerbs in preparation. Gavin did the recommended hikes and swims, and the hotel gifted him a dry-bag left behind by a previous guest (20 mins 30 secs) Back in Athens overnight, Gavin caught up with a multinational squad of players including Shane, Brandon, Max, Zoe, Justin Law, Bradley Grace, and Karthik. They had dinner at an Italian restaurant with the Acropolis lit up above them (22 mins 30 secs) Hydra day trip (Wednesday): players caught the fast ferry from Piraeus out to Hydra (about 1.5 hrs). The island has a refined Venetian-Greek port feel, with rustic paths and rock beaches beyond. The group visited the Museum of the 1821 Greek Revolution, full of local history and artefacts. Gavin wore one of his Diplomacy shirts and ended up being an ambassador for the hobby to an American grandmother and her debate-champion granddaughter from North Carolina – and pointed them towards David Hood and the local hobby there (24 mins 15 secs) The water temperature at the beach was about 4–5 degrees colder than Australia, which meant the Europeans loved it and Gavin did not go in (26 mins 30 secs) Acropolis and Athens tour (Thursday): guided tour of the Acropolis by what Spyros described as the best guides operating there, followed by a walk through the Plaka and past the Panathenaic Stadium (venue of the first modern Olympics in 1896), then a seafood lunch at a beautiful harbourside restaurant (30 mins) Temple of Poseidon (Thursday evening): the most popular activity – the bus was packed. About halfway there, Spyros took everyone on an unannounced detour to a beach bar where they had the place to themselves, a wonderful surprise. The Temple itself sits on a peninsula with 270-degree sea views. Spyros told the story of how the Aegean got its name from that location, and a huge group photo was taken (31 mins 15 secs) Tournament production values Gavin describes the production as setting new high-water marks for tournament organisation – high enough that the Chicago 2027 organising team would be wondering how to match it. Every player had a colour-coded sash matching their country, a branded WDC Athens notepad in their country colour, and a matching pen for every round (33 mins) The awards were 3D-printed Greek god statues for the podium finishers, complemented by a full suite of themed awards for the top players in each country and for notable gameplay (34 min) Special awards included: the Ajax Award for 8th place overall (the brilliant fighter who just missed out); the Archimedes Award for the most innovative play; the Leonidas Award for the player who fought on against insurmountable odds; and professionally screen-printed awards for best performance as each of the seven Great Powers (35 mins 45 secs) Gavin's games Round 1 – France – Board: Agkystri (View game) Gavin introduces his first game and the board composition: he played France, with Danae Stamataki (Austria-Hungary, local Greek player who topped the board on 10 supply centres and won best Austria), Sabrina Ahuja "Sabi" as England, Brian Ecton as Germany, Jean-Louis Delattre as Italy, Teo Ananiadis as Russia, and Frank Oosterom from the Netherlands as Turkey (37 mins 15 secs) The plan was a Western Triple working with England and Germany, with the goal of neutralising a strong-looking Italy early. It didn't come together as intended (37 mins 45 secs) The infamous mis-order: Gavin had two builds and intended fleet Brest plus a second build. Instead he built fleet Brest and placed the build directly in MAO, effectively waiving his second build. The DBN commentators interpreted this as a genius strategic waive; Ken's interpretation was somewhat more grounded. Gavin confirms Ken was correct (39 mins) The other players on the board didn't share DBN's generous reading of the situation. Germany immediately moved into Burgundy and kept flipping between fronts as his position allowed. Italy kept pressing France throughout. Gavin found himself squeezed down to a single unit in the English Channel (40 mins 30 secs) Final turn plan: England agreed to convoy an army across to Picardy to support Gavin back into Brest. Instead, Sabi walked into an open Paris. Gavin ended the game with zero supply centres and was eliminated (42 mins 15 secs) Gavin notes he made his disappointment known professionally, and that he subsequently had a drink with Sabi – but not that night (44 mins 15 secs) Round 2 – England – Board: Lemnos Not covered by DBN. Gavin played England; the board included Dominick Stephens (New Zealand) as Germany, Chris Brand (Canada) as Russia, Ruben Sanchez as Italy, Roberto Perego (Italy) as France, Robert Schuppe as Turkey, and Anastasia "Nastja" Styles as Austria-Hungary (46 mins) The plan was a Northern Alliance of England, Germany, and Russia. It unravelled immediately when Chris opened Moscow to Livonia and Dominick interpreted it as aggressive – resulting in a Germany-Russia war from the outset (46 mins 15 secs) Gavin adapted: knowing Germany was occupied in the east, he gave Russia some space and opened into Belgium, with Dominick and Chris both honouring his request to take Norway unopposed via fleet (46 mins 45 secs) Dominick and Gavin worked to grind down Roberto Perego's France, who ground out a hard-fought game staying alive on 2 centres. Ruben Sanchez's Italy played a deft game, flipping between alliances with Turkey and Austria (49 mins 15 secs) Dominick topped the board on 10; Ruben came in at 9; Gavin finished at 7. The game was meant to run to 1909 but drew earlier when the position stabilised. Gavin reflects he may have drawn too early, with both Dominick and Ruben suggesting he had room to push for another two centres (50 mins) Round 3 – Germany – Board: Symi (View game) Gavin played Germany. The board included Shane Armstrong (Australia) as France, Mikalis Kamaritis as Italy, Alex Maslow (USA) as Russia, Steven Hogue (USA) as Austria, Alex Lebedev (Russia) as England, and Jack Johns as Turkey (51 mins 15 secs) The strategic context: only Mikalis Kamaritis and Alex Lebedev were realistically in contention for the top board from this game. Shane and Gavin identified this early and committed to supporting the player they believed deserved to be there (52 mins 45 secs) Shane and Gavin opened with a Sealion against England, while Gavin also walked a careful line with Alex Lebedev, who initially felt more threatened by France than Germany. Austria was eliminated in 1903, and England in 1904 (53 mins 45 secs) A notable moment: Gavin slipped an army from the North Sea into an unoccupied London – a move he acknowledged was unnecessary, created friction with Alex Lebedev, and which he would not make again. He apologised on the day (56 mins 15 secs) Mikalis told Gavin and Shane to wait until 1905 – and delivered. He launched from his eastern position, took two dots off Russia and one off Turkey in a single year, then steamrolled from there. Alex Maslow was a strong and enjoyable player who nearly flipped the alliance but ultimately couldn't (56 mins 15 secs) The game agreed to a draw of 10-10-14 (Shane-Gavin-Mikalis), which the three felt would get Mikalis comfortably onto the top board. In the final adjudication Mikalis took one extra dot away from Shane, making the final scores 15-10-9 (58 mins 15 secs) Round 4 – Austria – Board: Myconos (View game) Gavin made it onto the fourth round, placed into the 6th top board. The board featured Shane Armstrong again as Turkey, Emmett Wainwright as England, Patrick Jacobson as France, Nathan Lester as Germany, Cameron Taylor as Italy, and Richard Bolton as Russia (59 mins 30 secs) The standout introduction: Nathan Lester, son of Dan Lester (who Gavin played against at Bangkok WDC). Same voice, same playing style, same persuasive meta-game arguments – but with a mullet and dressed like he's in an 80s rock video, and without the beard-stroking (1 hr 0 mins 45 secs) Gavin and Shane, having just played together in Round 3, ended up as Austria and Turkey respectively – not a natural alliance. Gavin didn't trust it but it held. Italy and France both kept fighting hard throughout (59 mins 45 secs) The game drew in 1906, with Shane and Emmett both finishing on 8, Gavin on 6 as Austria. Everyone then rushed across the road to watch the top board (1 hr 3 mins 45 secs) The top board Ken asks about Mikalis's diplomatic style. Gavin: exceptional situational awareness, communicates clearly and directly, asked and answered the "what do you want from this game?" question in a way that built immediate trust, and was good to his word on timing (1 hr 4 mins) Gavin arrived at the top board mid-1906 (his own game had just drawn). The top board was played outdoors under a well-shaded tree with plenty of room for negotiations, guarded by two or three people ensuring other players and passing members of the public couldn't crowd the board (1 hr 5 mins) The giant shadow board: a massive life-size replica board was set up nearby so all spectators could follow the game without approaching the real board. Andrew Goff read out the orders and the shadow board was updated after each adjudication – the same setup used at Milan WDC (1 hr 7 mins 45 secs) When Gavin arrived, he felt Bradley Grace had the game. The shift came late – Mikalis made a decisive move in the endgame that separated him from a closely matched France/Germany contest (1 hr 9 mins) Congratulations to Mikalis Kamaritis – well deserved, Gavin says. And to Bradley Grace: so close, but it will happen (1 hr 9 mins) The awards ceremony included Mikalis receiving both the championship belt and a traditional olive laurel wreath – a detail that was not captured in the DBN stream. Ken flags this as something future broadcasts should consider covering (1 hr 11 mins 15 secs) A Best Shane Cubis Award was also created – won by a Greek player who loudly lobbied Spyros for an award on the basis of how much he'd helped out. An AI-generated image of Shane Cubis in 1901 attire featured on the award, to the complete bafflement of the European and American contingents (1 hr 12 mins 50 secs) Game hobby and future WDCs The Chicago Windy City Weasels delivered a presentation promoting WDC 2027, enthusiastically received by the assembled players (1 hr 13 mins 15 secs) The 2028 bid: Melbourne was the only bid, and it was unanimously approved. Andrew Goff (Goffy) presented it. WDC 2028 Melbourne will be held at the MCG – the Melbourne Cricket Ground – with the conference rooms used for regular play, and the premier top board played on the MCG wicket itself. The countdown timer will run on the MCG scoreboard. Notionally scheduled for the last weekend of February 2028 – the weekend after the Formula One Grand Prix and the weekend before the first AFL round (1 hr 14 mins 30 secs) For international context: roughly equivalent to playing at Yankee Stadium, Madison Square Garden, the Camp Nou, or Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena. English players will recognise the MCG as where English cricket hopes traditionally come to die (1 hr 15 mins 15 secs) Also at the game hobby: a unanimous vote to amend and modernise the WDC charter, which dates from around 2000–2001 and doesn't reflect current online play, email communication, or the organisational structures of the Asia-Pacific and European hobbies. Four representatives (from NADF, the Asia-Pacific Diplomacy Association, and the European and UK hobbies) will draft amendments to be presented at WDC 2027 Chicago, with ratification at WDC 2028 Melbourne (1 hr 18 mins) Wrap up Gavin acknowledges the full organising effort: approximately 10 people working behind the scenes alongside Spyros and Jamal to make everything run. The Greek hobby and Athens Diplomacy Club can be enormously proud (1 hr 20 mins 30 secs) The Armistice Party: held between rounds three and four in the venue near the pool area. A DJ with a custom app allowed all attending players to nominate up to 10 songs each, with the crowd then voting in real time from four options for what came next. Gavin describes it as stunningly well thought through (1 hr 22 mins) Ken summarises: meticulously planned, wonderful venue, brilliant location, great games, fantastic people. Gavin: you got it in one. Thank you to Spyros, Jamal, and everyone they played with (1 hr 23 mins) Addendum – recorded one week later Ken and Gavin explain the addendum: a few things were either forgotten or lost in the original recording, so they've caught up a week later to cover them (1 hr 25 mins 45 secs) The Cane Toad The Cane Toad tournament will not run in 2026 – Gavin has made the decision to rest it for the year and bring it back bigger and better in 2027 (1 hr 26 mins 30 secs) Reasons: Gavin no longer lives in Brisbane where the tournament has historically been based, and several attempts to get a local game going have been completely unsuccessful. He feels it would be unfair to interstate players to travel to Queensland only to play mostly other interstate players rather than a meaningful proportion of locals (1 hr 27 mins 30 secs) He also flags cost-of-living pressures and fuel costs as factors, noting that the fuel excise which had been removed is about to be reinstated (1 hr 28 mins 45 secs) Ken and Gavin have a brief riff on whether cane toads actually hibernate, and whether the tournament might one day move to a different Queensland location (1 hr 28 mins 45 secs) Gavin shares a long-held dream of running the Cane Toad on the beach under a sun-safe setup. Council regulations require public liability insurance – but the Asia Pacific Diplomacy Association is in the process of organising exactly that for tournament directors, which may open the door in future (1 hr 29 mins 15 secs) Tournament news The Sydney Cup is on the weekend of 4–5 July. Gavin would love to go but has used up his diplomacy credits between Greece and starting a new job – it'll have to stay in the bank for now (1 hr 30 mins 45 secs) A New Zealand tournament is being discussed for the week before WDC 2028 Melbourne (late February 2028). Three New Zealand players who attended WDC 2026 in Athens have flagged interest in hosting something, on the logic that if you're travelling all the way from Europe or the US, a short hop across the Tasman to New Zealand is well worth building into the itinerary (1 hr 32 mins) Ken enthusiastically endorses the idea and encourages anyone planning for WDC 2028 Melbourne to factor in a week in New Zealand beforehand (1 hr 33 mins 30 secs) Challenge for next episode Over his birthday lunch, Gavin's son surprised him with an accurate recall of his WDC result. This leads Gavin to issue a challenge for the next episode: both Ken and Gavin will do some homework and come back with three or four online diplomacy resources that people may not know about, to raise awareness of what the community has put together over the years (1 hr 34 mins 45 secs) Around the grounds VDiplomacy gets an introduction for any listeners who aren't familiar: a sibling platform to WebDiplomacy, it hosts classic games but is particularly known for its range of variants (1 hr 36 mins 30 secs) The Dionysus Reimagined game recap – the ancient Greece variant Ken and Gavin set up in the lead-up to WDC Athens. Ken soloed, eliminating Gavin in the final year. Gavin notes that technically his last dot was taken so late that his result registers as a survive rather than an elimination (1 hr 38 mins 45 secs) Gavin played Athens and found himself defending on all fronts from early on: Sparta (who built only armies and had nowhere to go but north), the Macedonians pressing from the north, Byzantium late in the game, and Rhodes. Ken played Byzantium and credits his early token luck as a key advantage, picking up all his bid supply centres including one he expected to bounce – giving him fleet dominance in the Aegean from the start (1 hr 40 mins) The bid mechanics are recapped for any listeners unfamiliar with the variant: each player has 4 tokens to bid on non-core supply centres; outbid or bounce and you don't get the build. Ken's fortunate opening bids gave him a decisive early position (1 hr 40 mins 30 secs) A practical tip for vDiplomacy players: always open the large map after adjudication. The small map can omit orders that didn't go through, making moves look different from what was actually played. Ken noted several instances in the Dionysus game where support orders that failed simply weren't visible on the small map (1 hr 45 mins 45 secs) Ken congratulates himself on the win and notes the ratings gap between the two has now closed to around 100 points (1 hr 47 mins 30 secs) New game announced: Gavin has set up a Pirates game titled Ahoy Mateys on vDiplomacy. Gunboat, 2-day 2-hour phase length. Ken explains the extra 2 hours: it gradually shifts the adjudication time back toward Australian time zones in games where everyone readies up early (1 hr 48 mins) Pirates variant overview: a 13-player variant set in the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean, created by Gavin in collaboration with Ollie (the vDiplomacy site administrator). The 13 players are broken into three factions (1 hr 51 mins 45 secs): Europeans – Spain, England, France, and Holland, who nominally control supply centres across the map but must capture them to make them count Pirates – five pirates, four historical (Montbas, Brasiliano, de la Cueva, and Johnson) and one fictitious: El Guapo, borrowed from the movie The Three Amigos Privateers – one per European power, operating as private navies with letters patent. They can attack anyone except their sponsoring power (and vice versa). The Dunkirkers serve Spain, Henry Morgan serves England, François Le Jones serves France, and the Rocherson serves Holland Unit rules: all units are fleets, but there are two types – Clippers (move up to two spaces, standard attack strength) and Frigates (move one space, attack at 1.5x strength). A single clipper cannot defend against an attacking frigate, but a clipper supported by another clipper can. Five marked spots on the board allow transformation between unit types (1 hr 57 mins 45 secs) Special rules: a voodoo witch's hut in Cuba allows a fleet on the north coast to teleport to the south coast and vice versa. And a 14th non-playing character – a Hurricane – spins up each storm season in a random sea territory, moves randomly in the fall turn, and destroys anything in its path with an effectively unstoppable attack strength, also resetting any supply centre it passes through to neutral (1 hr 59 mins) Ken commits to reading the full rules before play begins, notes Pirates has a genuine following on vDiplomacy with games regularly in progress, and suspects he may get slaughtered (2 hr 1 min 15 secs) Gavin and Ken wrap up the show (2 hr 2 mins 15 secs) Venue: At home Drinks for the interview: Ken: One of his home brews – a lager with a bit of a kick Gavin: A Baliamo Nero d'Avola from Sicily – opened two weeks prior, which he noted had become a little sour and bitter compared to its fresh opening, much like his first round at the tournament Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help pay off the audio equipment… or get the guys more drunk, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.

Patrick K. O'Donnell describes how the assault on Hill 400 on December 7, 1944, was characterized by surviving Rangers as their "longest day," surpassing even D-Day in intensity. Before the attack, Len Lomell conducted a reconnaissance patrol, determining that the only viable path to the summit was a straight frontal assault across an open field the size of a football stadium. Tensions rose when a new officer ordered a scout into the field in broad daylight; the man was immediately shot, enraging the seasoned Rangers who viewed the order as a suicide mission. When the signal for the main assault was finally given, Dog and Fox companies sprang from a sunken road like a "coiled spring." Approximately 120 Rangers charged across the open field with fixed bayonets, screaming "rebel yells" and shouting "Hi-Ho Silver" to intimidate the defenders. They ran directly into the teeth of MG42 fire, bayonetting and shooting Germansas they stormed up the steep incline. The speed and ferocity of the charge overwhelmed the German defenders at the base and on the slopes. Upon reaching the summit, the Rangers captured a massive observation bunker and immediately began digging shallow foxholes to prepare for the inevitable counterattacks. Though they had taken the hill, they remained unaware of its true significance to the German High Command or the scale of the firestorm that was about to descend upon them. (6)1944

She wrote a children's book about grief. Went on television to promote it. Talked about helping her boys cope with their dad's "unexpected" death. Fourteen months of a constructed identity that fooled every friend who testified at trial. The whole time, she was the reason those children were grieving.The behavioral question isn't whether Kouri Richins was faking. It's whether she was faking at all. The psychology at work here doesn't perform lies the way most people understand deception. It migrates into them. Moves in. Furnishes the new reality. Lives there. In the room where she's a grieving mother writing a book to help her children, the grief functions as real. The room where she put fentanyl in a cocktail exists somewhere else in her mind. She's not visiting it. That compartmentalization is what made her convincing for fourteen months — and it's what makes this case a study in a specific type of psychology forensic professionals have documented but rarely see executed at this scale.The 911 call. The party the next day. Google searches for luxury prisons and insurance timelines. The television appearances. Friends who testified at trial that they never doubted her. Every one of them was operating inside the reality she'd constructed — because she was living there too.Before the cover-up came the crime itself. The Valentine's Day attempt that Eric survived — gasping for air, reaching for his son's EpiPen. Then seventeen days of sleeping in the same house, parenting the same children, and arriving at a second plan with five times the lethal dose. The psychological wiring that allows someone to fail at the unthinkable and respond with a refined plan instead of horror follows a specific escalation pattern. Approximately $4.5 million in debt. An affair that was a rehearsal for her next life. Insurance manipulation that got caught and didn't slow her down. Eric stopped being a person and became a math problem with a financial answer. That transition is identifiable in the evidence — and it's the foundation everything else was built on.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #FentanylPoisoning #Psychology #Compartmentalization #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #ParkCityUtah #SummitCounty #JusticeForEric

She wrote a children's book about grief. Went on TV to promote it. Talked about helping her boys cope with their dad's "unexpected" death. Hugged them on camera. Cried in interviews. Fourteen months of a woman the world believed was a grieving mother. Every friend who testified at trial said they never doubted her. The whole time, she was the reason those children had no father.The question isn't how she faked it. The question is whether she was faking at all. The psychology behind Kouri Richins doesn't perform lies — it migrates into them. Moves in. Furnishes the new reality. Lives there. In the room where she's a grieving mother writing a book, the grief is real to her. The room where she put fentanyl in a Moscow Mule exists somewhere else in her mind. She's not visiting it. That's not acting. That's compartmentalization so deep the person living inside it doesn't experience it as deception. And that's what made her convincing — to her friends, to television audiences, to everyone — for over a year.The 911 call. The party the next day. Google searches for luxury prisons and insurance timelines. The TV tour. All of it makes sense once you understand the wiring.Before the cover-up came the crime. Valentine's Day. Eric survived. He gasped for air. He reached for his son's EpiPen. He told friends his wife was trying to end his life. For the next seventeen days, Kouri slept in the same bed, parented the same kids, closed the same deals — and built a second plan with five times the dose. She didn't panic after the first attempt. She refined. Approximately $4.5 million in debt. An affair that was a rehearsal for the next chapter. Insurance policies Eric didn't know about. The moment her husband stopped being a person and became a math problem.Not a rehash. A breakdown of how a mind justifies every step — from Valentine's Day to the Moscow Mule to the children's book tour — without ever believing it crossed a line.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePodThis publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.#KouriRichins #EricRichins #FentanylPoisoning #Psychology #MoscowMule #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #ParkCityUtah #SummitCounty #JusticeForEric

The Boys end, Star Wars returns, and Nicolas Cage finally gets his Spider-Man moment. This week on the podcast, we review The Mandalorian and Grogu, break down the first two episodes of Spider-Noir and Citadel Season 2, and unpack the shocking finale of The Boys. Is Star Wars back? Can Nicolas Cage carry a Spider-Man series? And did The Boys stick the landing? Episode Index Intro: 0:07 Citadel Season 2 Episodes 1-2: 6:00 The Boys Season 5 Episode 8: 20:21 Spider-Noir Episodes 1-2: 31:42 Mando and Grogu Review: 42:32 Citadel – Season 2 (Amazon Prime) Episode 1: Baked Alaskas Air Date: May 6, 2026 Director: Joe Russo Writer: David Weil Summary: Mason Kane struggles with lingering identity issues while Nadia attempts to keep her daughter safe from emerging threats. Bernard recruits former CIA operative Hutch to investigate billionaire Paolo Braga as a new conspiracy begins to take shape. Episode 2: Baked Alaskas Air Date: May 6, 2026 Director: Joe Russo Writer: David Weil Summary: The hunt for Paolo Braga intensifies as Mason, Nadia, Bernard, and Hutch uncover a global operation with ties to Manticore. New allies and enemies emerge as the scope of the conspiracy grows. Rating Out of 10 Is Hutch the New Mason Kane? Brian: 7/10 Darryl: 6.2/10 The Boys – Series Finale (Amazon Prime) Episode 8: The Last Stand Air Date: June 2026 Director: Philip Sgriccia Writer: Eric Kripke Summary: With Homelander’s grip on America nearing complete control, Butcher and the remaining members of The Boys launch one final assault. Alliances fracture, secrets are revealed, and the stage is set for the end of the war between Supes and humanity. Ratings Out of 5 When Clark Loses His Powers He Woops Lex’s Ass, Homelander does he’s a Bitch Brian: 1/5 Darryl: 1/5 Rating Season 5 Out of 10 Thank God it’s Over Brian: 6.22/10 Darryl: 5.8/10 Rating Out of 10 The Boys On Amazon Prime A Catalog of Missed Opportunity Brian: 7.3/10 Darryl: 7/10 Spider-Noir (Amazon Prime) Episode 1: Step Into My Office Air Date: May 25, 2026 (MGM+) / May 27, 2026 (Prime Video) Director: Harry Bradbeer Writer: Oren Uziel Summary: Ben Reilly, a former vigilante turned private investigator, is drawn into a dangerous case involving organized crime, corruption, and a mysterious woman connected to a growing criminal conspiracy. Episode 2: Tread Lightly Air Date: May 25, 2026 (MGM+) / May 27, 2026 (Prime Video) Director: Harry Bradbeer Writer: Christopher Chen Summary: As Ben continues his investigation, he discovers connections between New York’s criminal underworld and influential figures in the city. The deeper he digs, the harder it becomes to escape his past as The Spider. Rating out of 10 If you’re Not Watching in Black & White, are you Even Watching Brian: 5.1/10 Darry: 7.5/10 The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026) Release Date: May 22, 2026 Director: Jon Favreau Writers: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Noah Kloor Cast: Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin / The Mandalorian Sigourney Weaver as Colonel Bishop Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hutt Jonny Coyne as Brendol Hux Steve Blum as Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios Grogu Summary: Din Djarin and Grogu are recruited by the New Republic to rescue Rotta the Hutt, drawing them into a conflict involving Imperial remnants, criminal syndicates, and threats lurking throughout the Outer Rim. Production Notes: Originally developed as The Mandalorian Season 4 before becoming a theatrical feature. First Star Wars theatrical release since 2019. Budget estimated at approximately $165 million. Heavy use of practical creature effects, puppetry, and animatronics. Nearly 50 minutes presented in expanded IMAX format. Box Office: $81.7 million opening weekend (domestic) Approximately $102 million Memorial Day 4-day weekend Approximately $165 million worldwide opening Reception: Critics were mixed-to-positive, praising the practical effects and action sequences while questioning whether the story warranted a theatrical release. Audiences responded more favorably, earning the film an A- CinemaScore. Rating Out of 10, Why You Gotta Bart Simpson Grogu Brian: 6.2/10 Darryl: 7.5/10 Contact Us The Infamous Podcast can be found wherever podcasts are found on the Interwebs, feel free to subscribe and follow along on social media. And don't be shy about helping out the show with a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts to help us move up in the ratings. @infamouspodcast facebook/infamouspodcast instagram/infamouspodcast stitcher Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Play iHeart Radio contact@infamouspodcast.com Our theme music is ‘Skate Beat’ provided by Michael Henry, with additional music provided by Michael Henry. Find more at MeetMichaelHenry.com. The Infamous Podcast is hosted by Brian Tudor and Darryl Jasper, is recorded in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show is produced and edited by Brian Tudor. Subscribe today!

eDreams ODIGEO's Deep Dive: Key TakeawayseDreams ODIGEO Artificial Intelligence Deep DiveIn this deep dive presentation on seat11a, David Elizaga explains how Artificial Intelligence has become a core component of eDreams ODIGEO's business model and long-term growth strategy.Artificial Intelligence as a Core Business ComponentManagement describes eDreams as an AI-first company for more than a decade, emphasizing that AI has been integrated into the business long before the recent surge of interest in generative AI technologies. Today, AI supports multiple areas of the company, including customer acquisition, software development, customer service, pricing, marketing, and product innovation.Prime Subscription Ecosystem and Proprietary Travel PlatformA central part of the strategy is the combination of the company's proprietary travel platform and its Prime subscription ecosystem. With approximately 8 million Prime subscribers, eDreams benefits from a large base of repeat customers, reducing dependence on highly competitive performance marketing channels and creating a relationship-based customer model that management views as a significant competitive advantage.Agentic AI and Customer AcquisitionThe company also sees emerging opportunities through Agentic AI. Management believes AI-powered travel assistants could become an additional customer acquisition channel while simultaneously enhancing customer experience and strengthening product capabilities. eDreams expects AI to support future growth by improving personalization, customer interactions, and operational efficiency.AI Productivity Gains in Software DevelopmentThe operational impact of AI is already visible across the organization. During FY26, AI-assisted development contributed to a 47% increase in productivity, while some engineering teams now generate code entirely through AI-assisted workflows that are subsequently reviewed by humans. Agentic development has enabled the company to deliver five times more business features than before.AI in Customer Service and Cost EfficiencyCustomer service has also benefited from AI adoption. Approximately 30% of support calls are now solved by AI, while customer satisfaction levels remain comparable to human-assisted interactions. In addition, AI-supported automation contributed to a 13% reduction in customer service costs during FY26.AI-Driven Pricing and Marketing CapabilitiesAcross marketing and pricing, AI is increasingly used to optimize commercial activities. The company reported a 24% increase in AI-driven pricing capabilities, while AI-generated marketing content expanded significantly, helping reduce external production costs by 75% while maintaining a stable headcount.Artificial Intelligence Supporting Long-Term GrowthOverall, the presentation demonstrates how eDreams ODIGEO is applying Artificial Intelligence across its business operations and how management sees AI supporting future innovation, productivity, customer engagement, and long-term growth.▶️ Other videos:Elevator Pitch: https://seat11a.com/investor-relations-elevator-pitch/Company Presentation: https://seat11a.com/investor-relations-company-presentation/Deep Dive Presentation: https://seat11a.com/investor-relations-deep-dive/Financial Results Presentation: https://seat11a.com/investor-relations-financial-results/ESG Presentation: https://seat11a.com/investor-relations-esg/T&CThis publication is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Using this website, you agree to our terms and conditions outlined on www.seat11a.com/legal and www.seat11a.com/imprint.

Approximately one-third (about 30%–34%) of the world's seaborne fertilizer trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz.With the Strait closed for so long now, there is growing concern there will be insufficient fertilizer for the Northern Hemisphere harvest this year (which contains 87% of the world's population)Is another Arab Spring -- this time, worldwide -- likely as a result?To find out, we talk with Bruce Sherrick, Professor at the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at Univ of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.WORRIED ABOUT THE MARKET? SCHEDULE YOUR FREE PORTFOLIO REVIEW with Thoughtful Money's endorsed financial advisors at https://www.thoughtfulmoney.com#fertilizer #foodcrisis #iranwar _____________________________________________ Thoughtful Money LLC is a Registered Investment Advisor Promoter.We produce educational content geared for the individual investor. It's important to note that this content is NOT investment advice, individual or otherwise, nor should be construed as such.We recommend that most investors, especially if inexperienced, should consider benefiting from the direction and guidance of a qualified financial advisor registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or state securities regulators who can develop & implement a personalized financial plan based on a customer's unique goals, needs & risk tolerance.All the details on Thoughtful Money's relationship with the financial advisors it endorses, many of whom regularly appear on this program, can be found in the following documents. We highly recommend you review these documents as they cover the terms that will apply should you choose to work with one of these firms at any time after watching this video.Thoughtful Money Disclosure Document: https://thoughtfulmoney.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Thoughtful-Money-Disclosure-Document-12.6.23.pdf?pid=227Thoughtful Money Agreement: https://thoughtfulmoney.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Thoughtful-Money-Agreement-Agreement.docx?pid=227IMPORTANT NOTE: There are risks associated with investing in securities.Investing in stocks, bonds, exchange traded funds, mutual funds, money market funds, and other types of securities involve risk of loss. Loss of principal is possible. Some high risk investments may use leverage, which will accentuate gains & losses. Foreign investing involves special risks, including a greater volatility and political, economic and currency risks and differences in accounting methods.A security's or a firm's past investment performance is not a guarantee or predictor of future investment performance.Thoughtful Money and the Thoughtful Money logo are trademarks of Thoughtful Money LLC.Copyright © 2026 Thoughtful Money LLC. All rights reserved.

What happens when food elimination starts making things worse?You remove the obvious triggers. You follow the labs and the genetics. The plan becomes more precise.Yet… the client becomes more reactive, the range of tolerated foods narrows, and overall resilience declines.This is not a lack of effort. It is a pattern.Food sensitivity reflects the state of the system, not just the food. When stress, blood sugar instability, microbiome disruption, or inflammation are present, even a well-designed approach can backfire.Layer genetics on top without context, and each variant becomes a reason for further restriction.At that point, the question is no longer what to remove. It is whether the system can tolerate anything at all.In this episode, Dr. Ritamarie explains why this occurs and how to shift from progressive elimination to restoring resilience.What's Inside This Episode?When food elimination increases reactivityWhy “safe foods” stop being toleratedAllergy vs intolerance vs sensitivity and why it mattersWhy food reactions reflect system stressHow genetics gets misapplied as restrictionThe hidden cost of over-restrictionThe role of cortisol in worsening sensitivityThe question to ask before removing another foodHow to rebuild resilience and expand the dietResources and Links:Download the full transcript here.Download our FREE Guide to Using Genetic Testing to Optimize Patient OutcomesAccess the Genetic Pathway Mapping Workshop Replay to learn a clinical framework for identifying genetic patterns and applying targeted epigenetic strategies. Approximately 2 hours of training.Join the Next-Level Health Practitioner Facebook group here for free resources and community supportVisit INEMethod.com for advanced health practitioner training and tools to elevate your clinical skills and grow your practice by getting life-changing results.Check out other podcast episodes here

More than $8 million, that's how much the Super Rugby franchise Moana Pasifika is in debt. The first liquidators report shows $4.3 million is owed to secured creditors. That includes a $2.7 million loan from Sport NZ, a crown entity. Approximately $3.9 million is owed to unsecured creditors. Players are among those owed money. Boss of the Rugby Players Association, Rob Nichol spoke to Lisa Owen.

This episode contains descriptions of murder, mob violence, historical racial violence, and the execution of a convicted killer. If you need to skip this content, advance past the 18:00 mark. Support resources are listed at the end of these notes.This EpisodeSeason 40: Fifty states, fifty forgotten crimes, America's 250th year. Episode 9 covers California and Alabama — two cases, two communities that looked at the legal system and reached for something uglier. October 10, 1890. A woman named Helen Riche is playing cards in her tavern near a California quicksilver mine when ten men in flour-sack hoods crash through the door. She does not run. She reaches up and rips the mask off the nearest man's face, and in that single act she solves the crime that is about to kill her. This is true crime history from the American frontier, and the legal system that followed would leave you cold.December 1888, Birmingham, Alabama. A railroad engineer named Richard Hawes boards a streetcar with his eight- year-old daughter May. He gets off with her at East Lake. He gets back on alone. The body of a young girl is found floating in the lake the next morning. On the same day, Hawes is across the state line getting married. When Birmingham finds out, two thousand people march on the jail.The VictimsHelen Matilda Riche ran the Campers' Retreat tavern on sixty-two acres near the Bradford quicksilver mine, three miles south of Middletown, California. We do not know where she was born or how she came to run a mining-camp saloon in hard hill country — the historical record is thin on her life before October 10, 1890. What it preserves is a woman who managed a clientele of mercury miners in one of the most physically dangerous industries of the era. She was shot five times during the raid. She fought back, reaching for her husband's .44 Winchester with five bullets already in her body. She died four days later. Her husband J.W. Riche died less than three months after her, his own bullet wound never having healed.May Hawes was eight years old when her father took her on a one-way train ride to East Lake on the evening of December 3, 1888. She had been doing the work of a parent since she could walk, looking after younger siblings in a household already coming apart. She was laid out for public identification at Lockwood & Miller's Funeral Parlor in Birmingham, unidentified for a full day. A local butcher recognized her. May, her mother Emma, and her six-year-old sister Irene — all three murdered by Richard Hawes — lay in an unmarked grave at Oak Hill Cemetery in Birmingham for more than 135 years. In April 2024, they finally received a headstone.The CrimesThe Lake County White Cap raid followed personal grudges that had been tightening for months. Blackburn, a mine foreman, had been thrown out of the Campers' Retreat after a brawl with the bartender Fred Bennett. Others in the group had boundary disputes, cattle quarrels, neighborhood debts to settle. They put flour sacks over their heads and called it a community morality action — the Whitecapping movement had spread from Indiana through the Southern states and into California by 1890. The plan was to flog Bennett and run him to the county line. Helen Riche unmasked Henry Arkarro the moment the men crashed through the door, and the plan collapsed into gunfire.Richard Hawes murdered three members of his own family to clear the way for a new marriage. Emma and Irene Hawes were found bound with curtain cord and weighted with railroad iron curve-braces in a Birmingham lake on December 8, 1888 — the same day a mob of approximately 2,000 people converged on the Jefferson County Jail demanding to hang him on the spot. Sheriff Joseph S. Smith fired into the crowd. Ten men were killed. Approximately thirty were wounded. The historical murder case that followed Hawes would take fourteen more months and a formal trial to reach the same conclusion the mob wanted.The Investigations and Legal OutcomesIn California, ten men were arrested within days. The mining community was small; Helen Riche had identified one attacker herself. The trial opened February 6, 1891, in Lakeport — *People of the State of California v. B.F. Staley et al.* Four men were convicted of second-degree murder: Blackburn sentenced to twenty-five years, Staley and Cradwick to twenty years each, Osgood to twelve years. All four were released from San Quentin within approximately three years. The Governor had commuted Blackburn's sentence to ten years following an extensive lobbying campaign. Three years, for a home invasion that killed two people.In Alabama, Richard Hawes was tried beginning April 22, 1889, before Judge Samuel Greene. The prosecution built the case around May's murder — the strongest evidence available, though entirely circumstantial: eyewitness testimony placing father and daughter on the streetcar together, and only the father returning. The jury deliberated fifty-five minutes. Death. After multiple appeals to the Alabama Supreme Court, all denied, Richard Hawes was hanged by Sheriff Smith on February 28, 1890 — the same man who had fired into a crowd to keep him alive for this moment. Hawes wore a geranium in his lapel. The gallows were built by a man who had served on his jury.Historical ContextBoth cases sit at a specific American intersection: communities losing faith in institutional justice and reaching for extralegal violence, with consequences that fell hardest on people who had nothing to do with the original grievance. The Whitecapping movement was already documented across Indiana, Tennessee, and Mississippi before it reached California. In Alabama, the Birmingham riot of 1888 killed ten bystanders, including Maurice Throckmorton, thirty-three, the city's postmaster, who was reportedly trying to calm the crowd when he was shot. The legal system delivered the outcome the mob demanded — it just took fourteen months and cost ten additional lives to get there.California's legislature responded to the broader wave of hooded vigilantism during this period with enhanced anti- vigilante and anti-mask statutes. For the Hawes case, Fannie Bryant — the family's cook and a key witness for the prosecution — was herself sentenced to death for allegedly aiding Hawes. She died in a prison riot before the sentence could be carried out. Her actual level of involvement remains contested. She was a Black woman in 1880s Alabama, easily targeted by a system that offered her no protection.Our Sponsors:* Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

This episode is a re-run. It was originally published in April 2023.Two electrical subs. Same project. Same scope.One made a killing. The other nearly went under.And here's the thing, right? The one that nearly collapsed actually did the better job on site. But their variations never got approved. Their EOTs weren't submitted properly. Their scope looked late on paper. And the head contractor hit them with liquidated damages.The other sub? Quietly contractually savvy. Got every variation paid. Protected their margin.Same site. Same scope. Nothing to do with the quality of the work.In this episode, we break down what separates the subs who scale from the ones who get quietly bled dry, one small variation at a time.If you've ever finished a job and wondered where the margin went, have a listen.Struggling with unfair contracts or slow payments in construction? With 6,000+ contracts reviewed and $20 billion in contracts managed, Quantum Contracts' proven framework is designed to help you negotiate fair contracts, secure faster payments, avoid disputes, and improve cash flow.Work With Us: HereGet The Subcontractor's Edge Book: HereTimestamps:(6:40) - Negotiate the right things in the right way(10:20) - Lawyers would get you out of the problem that you're in(14:52) - Scale brings complexity(21:49) - How we've done over 2600 contract reviews and negotiations(28:50) - Approximately 26% of all bankruptcies of all businesses are from the construction industry(31:54) - If you try to negotiate they'll just give the work to somebody elseDISCLAIMER: The content of this podcast does not constitute legal advice, is not intended to be a substitute for legal advice, and can not be relied upon as such. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any matters you or your business may have.

You've seen cases where everything appears to line up, yet nothing changes.The labs are acceptable.The genetics make sense.The plan is solid, and progress stalls.At that point, most practitioners begin adjusting. When a case stalls like this, the issue is rarely the intervention itself.It is the timing.Genetics suggests what may be needed.Labs show where the system is under strain.Symptoms reflect how the body is compensating.When these are not interpreted together, support is often introduced into a system that is not ready to respond.In this episode, Dr. Ritamarie breaks down metabolic readiness and how to determine when the body can actually use what you are introducing.If your cases look correct on paper but fail to move clinically, this is the shift.What's Inside This Episode?Why your “right” call can stall a caseThe risk of acting on data too quicklyWhen fixing one marker worsens the systemWhy insulin is the problem you're not prioritizingThe unintended consequences of pushing methylationWhat low ferritin is costing youHow genetics can point you in the wrong directionWhen more intervention creates more imbalanceThe difference between correction and overcorrectionThe question that tells you to wait, not actResources and Links:Download the full transcriptDownload our FREE Guide to Using Genetic Testing to Optimize Patient OutcomesAccess the Genetic Pathway Mapping Workshop Replay to learn a clinical framework for identifying genetic patterns and applying targeted epigenetic strategies. Approximately 2 hours of training.Join the Next-Level Health Practitioner Facebook group here for free resources and community supportVisit INEMethod.com for advanced health practitioner training and tools to elevate your clinical skills and grow your practice by getting life-changing results.Check out other podcast episodes here

Approximately two years into the second Trump administration, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is at a critical crossroads. In this semi-annual check-in, we sit down with members of the Marxist Unity Group (MUG)—Cliff Connolly, Gene Allen, and Amy Wilhelm—to discuss the evolving landscape of American socialist politics.In this deep dive, our panel explores the significant shift following the passing of Resolution Seven, which officially declared the DSA's intent to transition into an independent, mass-based political party. We tackle the "New York contradictions," the limits of holding executive office without legislative support, and the struggle to maintain a revolutionary program in a "multi-tendency" organization.In This Episode, We Discuss:The Blueprint for a Party: Why the DSA is moving away from being a "political advocacy non-profit" toward a formal party structure.Executive vs. Legislative Power: Analyzing the challenges faced by elected officials like Zohran Mamdani in New York and the dangers of "shortcuts" to power.The Utility of Protests: Why street movements like "No Kings" are vital for recruitment even if they don't immediately "move the needle" on foreign policy.Building a Worker State: The development of a revolutionary program aimed at ending capitalism in the United States.Member Protagonism: How doubling down on internal democracy and STV (Single Transferable Vote) is the key to retaining the DSA's 100k+ membership.Connect with the Marxist Unity Group:Website: marxistunity.comPublications: Check out Light and Air and the Bulletin for internal and external socialist theory.Read: Cliff Connolly's latest piece in Democratic Left regarding the Security Commission's de-escalation and safety trainings.Send us Fan Mail Musis by Bitterlake, Used with Permission, all rights to BitterlakeSupport the showCrew:Host: C. Derick VarnIntro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.Intro Video Design: Jason MylesArt Design: Corn and C. Derick VarnLinks and Social Media:twitter: @varnvlogblue sky: @varnvlog.bsky.socialYou can find the additional streams on YoutubeCurrent Patreon at the Sponsor Tier: Jordan Sheldon, Mark J. Matthews, Lindsay Kimbrough, RedWolf, DRV, Kenneth McKee, JY Chan, Matthew Monahan, Parzival, Adriel Mixon, Buddy Roark, Daniel Petrovic,Julian

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has today published key insights from Ireland's National Comprehensive Heating and Cooling Assessment (HCA), highlighting the current challenges and opportunities for Ireland to significantly reduce its reliance on imported fossil fuels for heating with significant delivery required to reduce heating emissions by almost 90% by 2050. Heating currently accounts for more than one-third of Ireland's total energy demand and almost one-quarter of national greenhouse gas emissions, making it one of Ireland's biggest climate and energy security challenges. Approximately 90% of Ireland's current heat demand is still met by fossil fuels, with around 80% dependent on imported energy sources. Ireland's biggest energy challenge The assessment also finds that a rapid transition to low-carbon heating technologies including electrification, district heating, renewable gases and waste heat recovery could significantly reduce heating emissions under a high-ambition scenario assessed within the report. Commenting on the Assessment, Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment, Darragh O'Brien T.D. said: "Providing a comprehensive overview of the potential for efficient heating and cooling in Ireland, this report also gives us a timely insight into how Ireland can reduce its import dependency on fossil fuels for heating. The report highlights how this can be achieved through energy efficiency measures, electrification, district heating and incentivising indigenous renewable fuels for heat such as biomethane. "We have made major strides in decarbonising many areas of our society and our economy, including in particular the electricity sector. While we are making progress in decarbonising our built environment, more is needed. This report sets out pathways to achieve this." While the overall economic case for rapid heat decarbonisation is strong, the report notes that affordability will be critical to delivering a just transition for households and businesses. It highlights the importance of targeted grants, electricity pricing reform, long-term investment supports and clear policy signals to ensure households and businesses can transition confidently to low-carbon heating alternatives. SEAI noted that important progress is already underway through energy efficiency upgrades, increased heat pump deployment and wider climate action measures, but that significantly greater scale and pace of delivery will now be required to decarbonise Ireland's heat sector. William Walsh, CEO of SEAI, said: "We've looked at how we heat our homes and businesses and identified a number of ways we can break the link with oil and gas for good, giving Irish homeowners and businesses more security and control over their energy costs in the long-term. "Currently in Ireland, we are 90% reliant on fossil fuels for our heating. That means we are at the mercy of international affairs to price one of the core costs to any household or business. "Through coordinating our efforts and accelerating in areas such as the electrification of heating systems in our homes, businesses and public sector – our hospitals and schools, rapidly scaling district heating in dense urban areas, and using renewable fuels in hard to electrify areas like high temperature industrial uses, we can make a big difference. Reducing the amount of heat, we use is also crucial, and this is where energy efficiency measures and retrofitting become so important. "We've made progress in many of these areas, but it's not enough. We need a clear, long-term heat strategy, which puts Ireland on a path to energy independence and recognises areas for investment. District heating for example, a central component of many energy systems in other countries, is a major strategic opportunity for Ireland. "It will require a big effort, and we must do it in a way that protects our most vulnerable, but this assessment helps provide insights to how it can be done." The anal...

In Plato and the Tyrant, James Romm explains that Plato, born approximately 428 BCE, was deeply influenced by the 30 Tyrants of Athens, a regime involving his cousin Critias that conducted a reign of terror. After the execution of his teacher, Socrates, Plato developed a philosophy centered on a world of eternal forms, which are perfect realities beyond sensory perception. Plato visited Syracuse in 385 BCE, drawn by Dion, the ruler's brother-in-law, who shared Plato'sdisdain for the city's riotous living. This first visit was a colossal failure, as Dionysius the Elder dismissed Plato with dishonor for advocating ethical behavior. (2/8)1800 PLATO

Approximately 10-15% of women may develop an autoimmune disease within the first year after childbirth. Conditions like thyroiditis, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis are commonly diagnosed postpartum! AND women who had an autoimmune disease prior to pregnancy experience a mild to moderate flare of symptoms 20-40% of the time. This is due to a variety of factors stemming from nutrient depletion, hormones all out of whack, lack of sleep, increase of stress on the body, and mental stress as well.    From what I've studied and the researchers in the field that I've listened to, nutrient depletion is the biggest factor we have the most control over. And the standard advice we've been given has been terrible for our health. Let's talk through this and let me give you plan to help you recover well.   Learn more about Marian: https://www.roadtolivingwhole.com/about/   Meal Plans:  https://www.roadtolivingwhole.com/meal-plans/ https://www.roadtolivingwhole.com/meal-plans-for-therapeutic-diets/  

The Government insists Clare's policing needs will be "fully attended to" during the upcoming the golf tournaments being hosted here. The Walker Cup 2026 will take place in Lahinch from the 5th to the 6th of September, with the Amgen Irish Open being held in Doonbeg a week later. Approximately 80,000 attended last year's Irish Open in Kildare while roughly 4,000 each day went to the 2025 edition of the Walker Cup in California. Responding to a parliamentary question from Bodyke Fine Gael TD Joe Cooney, Fianna Fáil Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Niall Collins, says policing in other parts of this county won't suffer during these events.

Approximately 20,000 ​seafarers have been stranded, many since late February, because they can't get through the Strait of Hormuz. WSJ's Drew Hinshaw spoke with sailors trapped in the strait and reports on their worsening conditions. And WSJ's Jared Malsin explains why it is so hard to get the cargo ships moving again. Jessica Mendoza hosts.  Further Listening: - How Iran's Regime Changed...for the Worse - The Energy Shock Is Here - How China Keeps Iran's Oil Industry Afloat Sign up for WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shane Waters and Gemma Hoskins sit down together for the first time in over a year for a wide-ranging conversation about the unsolved 1969 murder of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik in Baltimore, Maryland. Known to millions through the Netflix documentary The Keepers, Gemma has spent more than a decade investigating what happened to Sister Cathy, the young School Sister of Notre Dame who taught English and drama at Archbishop Keough High School. She was found dead two months after her disappearance. This episode is a Q&A, recorded live with questions submitted by listeners through the show's Facebook community.The Investigation: Timeline Questions and New DoubtsListeners asked about the timeline of the night Sister Cathy Cesnik disappeared on November 7, 1969. Father Gerard Koob, who was in a relationship with Sister Cathy, claims he called the police at 11:30 PM after arriving at her apartment. The police report says the call came at 1:30 AM, a two-hour gap that remains unexplained. Koob says he and Father Peter McKeon found Cathy's car around 3:30 AM during a walk, but the police report credits McKeon alone with the discovery.Gemma corrects a long-standing detail from The Keepers: the car was not found directly across the street from Cathy's apartment at Carriage House. It was actually found one court up the street, on Carriage Court, around a curve and out of direct line of sight from Lantern Court. She also confirms that the image of Sister Cathy's car shown in The Keepers was digitally placed into the scene by producer Jessica Hargrave as a visual aid. The steering wheel appears on the wrong side because the original police impound photo was flipped to match the camera angle.Shane and Gemma discuss the suspicious letter Father Koob claims Cathy wrote to him, a handwritten love letter dated 12:30 AM on the Monday before she disappeared. The letter was found in the morgue notes rather than the detective's case file. Shane points out this means it was likely turned over after Cathy's body was found in January 1970, not when she first went missing. A profiler formerly with Scotland Yard analyzed the letter's content and concluded it was not written by Sister Cathy. Koob did not pass his second polygraph examination.They also examine a separate letter Cathy wrote to her sister Marilyn, postmarked after the disappearance, which was admitted into evidence with the Baltimore County Police but has since gone missing. Shane raises the question of whether Father Koob could have written the letter to Marilyn as well, noting the parallels to the other letter and the movie ticket alibi.New Evidence: The Mary Statue at St. Clement'sGemma shares a story that has not been widely reported. Approximately two years ago, Eva Nelson, a publicly identified survivor of Father Joseph Maskell's abuse, told investigators she remembered watching Maskell bury something in the backyard of the St. Clement's rectory in Lansdowne. Police obtained permission from the current property owner and brought in ground-penetrating sonar equipment. Detective Josh Battaglia, the current investigator on Sister Cathy Cesnik's case, was present at the dig.After two visits and multiple excavations, they found a broken statue of the Virgin Mary buried beneath a large bush that had once been small when Eva was a child. Eva recognized the statue immediately. A nun at St. Clement's had given it to her for protection, telling her, "Mary will always protect you." Father Maskell found the statue, broke it in front of Eva, and forced her to watch him bury it. The discovery validates Eva's memory of events that took place decades ago.Historical ContextSister Catherine Ann Cesnik was a 26-year-old School Sister of Notre Dame who taught English and drama at Archbishop Keough High School in Baltimore. She disappeared on November 7, 1969 after leaving her apartment to run errands. Her body was found on January 3, 1970 in a wooded area in Lansdowne. Her murder has never been solved. Father Joseph Maskell, a Catholic priest and school counselor at Keough, was later accused of sexually abusing dozens of students throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Multiple survivors have said they believe Sister Cathy was killed because she was about to report the abuse. Maskell died in 2001 without facing criminal charges. The case was the subject of the 2017 Netflix documentary series The Keepers.Content WarningThis episode discusses clergy abuse and violence.Frequently Asked QuestionsWho is Gemma Hoskins?Gemma Hoskins is a retired Baltimore teacher and former student at Archbishop Keough High School. She has spent over a decade investigating the murder of her former teacher, Sister Cathy Cesnik. She was featured in the Netflix documentary The Keepers and authored a book about herself and the case. She was named Maryland Teacher of the Year in 1992.What happened to Sister Cathy Cesnik?Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik disappeared from her Baltimore apartment on November 7, 1969. She had gone out to run errands, including a stop at a local bakery. Her car was found near her apartment that night. Her body was found on January 3, 1970. Her murder remains unsolved.What was found buried at St. Clement's?Police used ground-penetrating sonar to search the backyard of a former rectory associated with Father Maskell in Lansdowne. They found a broken statue of the Virgin Mary that a survivor remembered Maskell burying in front of her decades earlier.Who is investigating Sister Cathy's case today?Detective Josh Battaglia of the Baltimore County Police Department currently handles the investigation into Sister Cathy Cesnik's murder. He took over from Corporal Robin Teal after her retirement.Crisis ResourcesIf you or someone you know has been affected by abuse:US: RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline, 1-800-656-4673US: Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline, 1-800-422-4453UK: NSPCC Helpline, 0808 800 5000UK: Rape Crisis England & Wales, 0808 500 2222Our Sponsors:* Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Table of Contents: Walmart Just Patented New Big Brother SURVEILLANCE – And People Are Angry About It Part 1: Something sinister is going on at Walmart Part 2: The demonic Walmart situation just went to another level Lubricant Industry Insider for a top 3 lubricant blender in the USA–Approximately 40% of global GTL Group 3 base oil production is offline as of 3 weeks ago due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East–This is a critical component of almost every modern motor oil, transmission fluid, PSF fluid, industrial lubricant, etc on the market Shell CEO sends blunt message on oil and the economy Mobil Oil Corporation and Royal Shell Oil Corporation have told COSTCO and WALMART they “have no more pre-packaged oil product to ship to them–Expect bare shelves in the automotive oil section when present inventory runs out.” Toyota Service Bulletin Warns of Looming Motor Oil Shortage Local Independent US Car Repair Shops Are Shutting Down EVERYWHERE – Here’s Why OWN AN OLDER CAR OR TRUCK? You Need to Watch THIS–The EPA is increasing the allowable ethanol gas percentage for cars and trucks in gasoline to 15%, which could affect your vintage vehicles. Stay tuned for crucial car maintenance tips regarding this new e15 gas US Auto Part Stores Are Closing EVERYWHERE — Here's Why THEY ARE KILLING OUR PETS — AND IT COULD BE SPREADING TO YOU! The USDA quietly approved Nobivac NXT — America's first self-amplifying mRNA vaccine for dogs and cats (rabies, feline leukemia, canine flu)–Vets across the country are injecting it…and most owners have NO IDEA–1000+ pages of USDA FOIA documents expose the horror: DEATHS CARDIAC ARREST NEUROLOGICAL DAMAGE STRANGE MASSES & TUMORS — often within HOURS of the shot! This self-replicating mRNA can shed through bodily secretions… meaning your pet could be turning YOU into an unwitting vaccine recipient! The farmed fish you eat are routinely sedated and mass vaccinated using over 50 different vaccines–HUNDREDS of MILLIONS of salmon, trout, and sea bass are injected with automated vaccination machines or immersed in vaccine baths every year & mRNA versions are coming soon! Tick Pandemic Has Begun in the USA! Following Bill Gates’ release of genetically modified mosquitoes, engineered ticks are now being introduced into the environment–These ticks are latching onto animals across all 50 states and affecting nearly every species around! GMO Bill Gates Ticks ‘We're In for a BAD Year': Scientists Warn of Explosion in Lyme Disease, Tick-borne Illnesses THEIR SATANIC PLAN REVEALED NANOTECH IN VACCINES PDF: Emergency Freedom Alerts 5-18-26 Click Here To Play The Part 2 Audio Source

Elaine Dewar was tough. Contrary. The reporter who wrote an article that brought upon her the wrath of billionaires. It was a piece on the Reichmann family resulting in a $102 million dollar libel case that nearly killed Toronto Life Magazine. She argued against the Bering Strait theory on migration of humans to the Americas. She ruffled feathers with her views on the origins of Covid. Questioned ties between the environmental movement and big business. Those are just a few of the debates she sparked through her tireless investigative works.Elaine Dewar was debated, denounced, debunked. Well, they tried to debunk her. She was sued and she was spied on. She hated, as she put it, "Lying liars who lied." Elaine Dewar, investigative reporter and author of multiple nonfiction books. Born in Saskatchewan in 1948, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer last August, and she died weeks later. She died writing. Elaine's publisher Dan Wells and daughter Anna Dewar Gully join us today to talk about her life and that final book, Oblivious, which chronicles the medical segregation of Indigenous people and their history as non-consensual subjects in medical experimentation.Editor's note: Approximately halfway through the podcast, publisher Dan Wells describes Otto Schaefer as a Nazi-trained doctor who conducted experiments on Indigenous people. While not entirely incorrect, this is something of an oversimplification of a nuanced history. Elaine Dewar gives that nuance in the book, and it's available to read in this Toronto Star excerpt.  Host: Jesse BrownCredits: Tristan Capacchione (Producer), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), max collins (Director of Audio), Jesse Brown (Editor and Publisher)Additional music by Audio NetworkFact checking by Julian AbrahamPhoto: Danielle DewarMore information:Oblivious: Residential Schools, Segregated Hospitals, and the use of Indigenous Peoples as Slaves of Race Science — BiblioasisWith weeks to live, Elaine Dewar finished her most personal book – probing settler Canadians' obliviousness — The Globe & MailBook excerpt: The complicated legacy of Otto Schaefer and Canada's Indigenous people — The Toronto StarCanada's media lawyers wage war on “libel chill” and the power of the purse — National Magazine, Canadian Bar Association#186 End Of The CanLit Hustle — CANADALAND#715 Mommy, Where Does COVID Come From? — CANADALANDSponsors: Fizz: Visit https://fizz.ca and activate a first plan using the referral code CAN25 to get 40$ off and 10GB of free data.Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial today at https://shopify.caArticle: Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim, visit https://article.com/canadaland and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.Taskrabbit: Get ahead of your to-do list with fifteen dollars off your first task at https://Taskrabbit.ca or on the Taskrabbit app using promo code canadaland.Can't get enough Canadaland? Follow @Canadaland_Podcasts on Instagram for clips, announcements, explainers and more.It's our biggest sale of the year! Save 80% on a Canadaland subscription and become a supporter for only $2/month. You'll get all of our podcasts ad-free, free access to our live events, and much, much more. What are you waiting for? Go to canadaland.com/joinStephen Marche will be interviewing Chrystia Freeland LIVE in Toronto in the first edition of The Nuance, a live event series in partnership with the MNJCC. Join us on Sunday, May 24th at 7pm at the Al Green theatre. Doors open at 6pm. Free for Canadaland supporters, or you can become a supporter at the door for only $2 this month. Seating is first come first served. Find out more at canadaland.com/live Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Interview with Paul Lock, Managing Director, Flagship Minerals Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/flagship-minerals-asxflg-gold-copper-potential-in-chile-7407Recording date: 13th May 2026Junior exploration company Flagship Minerals has announced a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its Isidora Gold project, located in Chile's premier Maricunga gold belt. The update effectively doubles the project's resource to 2.1 million ounces of gold (115.2 million tons at 0.56 g/t) without a single meter of new exploration drilling.The dramatic resource expansion was achieved entirely through economic remodeling. Flagship optimized the cutoff grade from 0.3 g/t to 0.16 g/t in the oxide zones to reflect modern, elevated gold prices. Managing Director Paul Lock noted that the original 2010 NI 43-101 resource was calculated in a $1,000/oz gold environment, whereas the updated figures use a conservative modern baseline. Approximately 80% of the pit-constrained resource is now classified in high-confidence measured and indicated categories.Flagship is targeting a mine life of over 10 years, with a production profile of 125,000 to 150,000 ounces per year. The development strategy heavily reduces upfront capital expenditure by deploying low-cost heap leach processing for oxide and mixed materials during the first 5 to 6 years, before transitioning to sulfide treatment.The project's economics are heavily benchmarked against Rio2's neighboring Fenix project. Flagship projects all-in sustaining costs (AISC) to sit comfortably below $1,500/oz, positioning Isidora in the bottom third of the global cost curve.Learn more: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/flagship-mineralsSign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

What if a single gene is quietly affecting your mood, energy, sleep, and focus — and most doctors never test for it? In this episode of the Longevity Series, Nurse Doza breaks down MTHFR gene support: what methylation is, why this gene matters, and how BLISS by MSW Nutrition delivers targeted sublingual support — sometimes with noticeable results the same day. BLISS by MSW Nutrition is a sublingual powder formulated with two active ingredients specifically designed to support the MTHFR gene and the methylation cycle. For people with MTHFR variants — who may struggle with mood regulation, low energy, brain fog, and disrupted sleep — BLISS bypasses the digestive process entirely, delivering its active compounds directly into the bloodstream under the tongue for fast, efficient absorption. Nurse Doza and co-founder Baldo both have confirmed MTHFR issues and take BLISS daily — this is a supplement built from personal need, not theory. One box contains 30 packets, making it a full 30-day protocol.

Episode 2800 - Vinnie Tortorich and Chris Shaffer discuss the effects of ultra-processed foods and ADHD, making school lunches better, and more. https://vinnietortorich.com/2026/05/ultra-processed-foods-ADHD-episode-2800 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS Pure Vitamin Club Pure Coffee Club NSNG® Foods VILLA CAPPELLI EAT HAPPY KITCHEN YOU CAN WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE - @FitnessConfidential Podcast Vinnie's workout videos are available to purchase! Choose from a 2-day, 4-day, or 6-day workout–or buy all three at a discount! TO PURCHASE VINNIE'S WORKOUT VIDEOS, CLICK THIS LINK: https://vinnietortorich.com/workout Ultra-Processed Foods and ADHD Airline travel can be complicated and frustrating. 2:30) The US Department of Health and Human Services plans to release an official definition of ultra-processed foods. (8:00) Vinnie shares what processed versus ultra-processed foods are. (9:00) Ultra-processed foods damage your focus even if you otherwise eat healthy. A recent study in Australia measured the effect of processed foods on ADHD. (12:30) For every 10% increase in ultra-processed foods, there was a measurable drop in people's ability to focus on cognitive tests. A 10% increase on average was equivalent to that sandwich-sized bag of potato chips! The FDA has stated that up to 70% of children's diets come from ultra-processed foods. (20:00) New York has rolled out a pilot program to reduce UPFs, and although it's early, the results are impressive. They discuss "Postum propaganda" from decades ago. (25:00) Some of the recommendations for schools, although they aim to move in a better direction, still need to include more real protein and healthy fats. (35:00) Your body can have a type of "muscle memory" and "fat memory," and yo-yo dieting demonstrates this effect. (38:45) Approximately every seven years, every cell in your body has turned over. (40:00) But it turns out your immune system has a "memory" as well, and even though you may have lost weight, your body may still see you at risk. Vinnie is not a fan of GLP-1s because your body can get to a healthier point without having to take drugs. It may not happen as quickly as with drugs, but the side effects are not worth it. (41:35) The "no duh" award this week goes to the study that confirms getting a variety of exercise is good for you! (43:16) They discuss pickleball. (47:00) The NSNG® VIP GROUP IS NOW CLOSED AGAIN AS OF SUNDAY, MARCH 15TH Anna's next cookbook, Eat Happy Cocktail Hour, is filled with cocktails, mocktails, and appetizers and is available for pre-order right now. If you pre-order, you'll get bonus goodies! You can preorder from a wide variety of booksellers at https://eathappycocktailhour.com/ Save your receipt from wherever you preorder, you'll need it for your bonuses! Physical Release Date is October 2026 A New Sponsor Jaspr Air Scrubbers has a discount code, VINNIE, that gets you $200 off for a limited time. Jaspr offers a lifetime warranty. Go to Jaspr.co for more information or to purchase. (1:05:00) You can book a consultation with Vinnie to get guidance on your goals. https://vinnietortorich.com/phone-consultation-2/ More News Serena has added some of her clothing suggestions and beauty product suggestions to Vinnie's Amazon Recommended Products link. Self Care, Beauty, and Grooming Products that Actually Work! https://www.amazon.com/shop/vinnietortorich/list/3GPVU29UHHPMY?ref_=aipsflist Don't forget to check out Serena Scott Thomas on Days of Our Lives on the Peacock channel. "Dirty Keto" is available on Amazon! You can purchase or rent it here.https://amzn.to/4d9agj1 Please make sure to watch, rate, and review it! Eat Happy Italian, Anna's second cookbook, is available! You can go to https://eathappyitalian.com You can order it from Vinnie's Book Club. https://amzn.to/3ucIXm Anna's recipes are in her cookbooks, on her website, and on Substack —they will spice up your day! https://annavocino.substack.com/ PURCHASE DIRTY KETO (2024) The documentary launched in August 2024! Order it TODAY! This is Vinnie's fourth documentary in just over five years. Visit my new Documentaries HQ to find my films everywhere: https://vinnietortorich.com/documentaries Then, please share my fact-based, health-focused documentary series with your friends and family. Additionally, the more views it receives, the better it ranks, so please watch it again with a new friend! REVIEWS: Please submit your REVIEW after you watch my films. Your positive REVIEW does matter! PURCHASE BEYOND IMPOSSIBLE (2022) Visit my new Documentaries HQ to find my films everywhere: https://vinnietortorich.com/documentaries FAT: A DOCUMENTARY 2 (2021) Visit my new Documentaries HQ to find my films everywhere: https://vinnietortorich.com/documentaries FAT: A DOCUMENTARY (2019) Visit my new Documentaries HQ to find my films everywhere: https://vinnietortorich.com/documentaries

(Rec: 28/10/20) The late 80s rave scene, the folly of BBC podcasting, and cultural snobbery. Approximately 0.006% Twits. Join the Iron Filings Society: https://www.patreon.com/topflighttimemachine and on Apple Podcast Subscriptions. Get a 7-day full access free trial and pay for 10 months up front for the price of 12 if you like a bargain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sailing Season on Lake Superior is busy. Approximately 4,500 ships travel through the Soo Locks. One boat, the Blue Heron, docked in Duluth, Minnesota, spends the summer season as a Research Vessel for the University of Minnesota's Large Lakes Observatory. Captain Rual Lee has been at the helm of the 87' vessel since 2014. In this episode of the Lake Superior Podcast, Walt Lindala and Frida Waara talk with him about what it takes to operate a floating science lab on the Greatest of the Great Lakes.Quotes: “We're still working on the boat, trying to make it a better tool for science.” “The lake is humbling. It really doesn't matter what boat you're on. It will put you in your place as it were.” “One of the great parts of my job is that the crew and I get to hang around with some really smart people doing some really clever research, looking at different parts of the lake.” “The science comes and goes according to the individual projects. So we're the platform. We're a useful tool to get the science done.” “Out in the middle of Lake Superior, you can see the results of a policy change that showed up in the mid-70s. And that's really a great thing I think.”Helpful links: Learn more about the R/V Blue Heron: https://scse.d.umn.edu/large-lakes-observatory/vessels/blue-heron Learn more about the Large Lakes Observatory: https://scse.d.umn.edu/large-lakes-observatory Learn more about Science on Deck events: https://scse.d.umn.edu/large-lakes-observatory/news-events/science-deck Track Great Lakes vessels with BoatNerd AIS: https://ais.boatnerd.com/ Learn more about “The Freshwater Everest” / Superior Shoal livestream: https://inspiredplanet.ca/live/Connect With Us: Lake Superior Podcast Page – https://nplsf.org/podcast Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/NationalParksOfLakeSuperiorFoundationSponsors: Cafe Imports – Minneapolis-based importers of specialty green coffees since 1993, focused on sustainability. Learn more: cafeimports.com National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation – Donate to protect Lake Superior's five national parks: nplsf.org/donate

Patrick Moorhead and Daniel Newman dig into the week's biggest moves in enterprise AI: Anthropic and OpenAI launching PE-backed enterprise JVs on the same day, Anthropic filling its compute gap with SpaceX's Colossus, Cerebris filing for a $3.5 billion IPO, NVIDIA going deep on co-packaged optics with Corning, and a full IBM Think and ServiceNow recap. Plus, for The Flip, hosts debate whether Anthropic, at $1.2 trillion, is the most important company in enterprise tech. The handpicked topics for this week are: 1. Anthropic and OpenAI Launch PE-Backed Enterprise JVs on the Same Day — Both companies announced private equity joint ventures, with OpenAI backed by Bain, Brookfield, and Advent, and Anthropic partnering with Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, Apollo, and General Atlantic. Daniel's read is that this is fundamentally a distribution play, using private equity portfolio companies as a deployment channel for AI at scale. Pat sees it as the clearest admission yet that enterprise AI cannot be self-implemented at scale without specialized consulting support, and flags that mid-tier systems integrators (SIs) could get cut out of the middle. (The Decode) 2. Anthropic Signs Massive Compute Deal with SpaceX Colossus — Anthropic urgently needed compute and SpaceX had 300 megawatts and 220,000 GPUs sitting at Colossus One in Memphis without enough business to fill them. Pat's take is blunt: this move is pragmatic. Anthropic needs it, xAI has it. Daniel adds that Dario himself said they planned for 10x growth and got 80x, and this deal is the fast backfill that reality demanded. The side note both hosts flag: Anthropic is running on H100s, H200s, and B200s, which puts the whole "Anthropic only runs on Trainium and TPUs" narrative to rest. (The Decode) 3. Cerebris Files for a $3.5 Billion IPO at $26.6 Billion Valuation — This marks their second attempt at an IPO after pulling the first filing. The architecture is genuinely unique, a complete wafer with massive on-chip SRAM and interconnects built directly onto the wafer rather than copper or photonics. Pat calls it the first credible Western alternative for AI inference. Daniel's framing cuts through: you do not have to beat NVIDIA to sell right now. You just need to have availability. The more interesting headline, both hosts agree, is that Sam Altman and Greg Brockman are angel investors, which adds fuel to the ongoing OpenAI lawsuit. (The Decode) 4. NVIDIA and Corning Announce $500 Million Optical Partnership — Three new US factories, co-packaged optics for Vera Rubin, and a supply chain strategy that mirrors what NVIDIA did with Coherent. Pat's context: this is vertical integration through investment rather than acquisition. Daniel's observation is that the pace of movement toward co-packaged optics is accelerating faster than anyone expected, and his "rule of and" applies here too. Copper is not going away. Optics are being added on top because the data volumes moving across these racks are outrunning what copper alone can handle. US manufacturing in North Carolina and Texas is a strategic bonus. (The Decode) 5. IBM Think 2026: Day Zero, Sovereign Core, and the Quantum Plus AI Bet — Pat moderated on stage with CEO Arvind Krishna and calls this IBM's best showing in five years. Arvind opened with the AI divide, the gap between companies still running POCs and companies already in production, and framed where IBM sits as day zero, not because nothing has happened, but because enterprise AI deployment at scale is still so early. Daniel's biggest takeaways: watsonX Orchestrate updates, Sovereign Core going GA with policy at runtime, and the Confluent acquisition potentially being IBM's most important asset since Red Hat, given that 40% of Fortune 500 companies run on it and real-time streaming data is foundational to agentic systems. Both hosts land on quantum plus AI as IBM's next inflection moment. (The Decode) 6. ServiceNow Knowledge 2026: Enterprise SaaS 2.0 is Emerging — Daniel got there on day three of the event and noted the conference was densely packed. His observation: enterprises have not gotten the memo from Wall Street that SaaS is supposedly dead. His emerging thesis is that middleware could make a comeback for AI, with companies needing a layer that lets agents work across any infrastructure, any app, and within the rules of their specific business. Pat agrees and adds that the growth question is about mix, not survival. (The Decode) 7. The Flip: Is Anthropic at $1.2 Trillion the Most Important Company in Enterprise Tech? — Daniel took the affirmative citing that Claude Code is deeply entrenched in developer workflows. Anthropic went from $9 billion to $45 billion ARR in months. Every major hyperscaler is both a customer and an investor. The PE JVs are turning verticals into Anthropic engines. Dario said they planned for 10x and got 80x. Pat's counter: the enterprise trust gap is real after what Anthropic pulled on pricing and performance. Microsoft has 2 billion users across 365, Azure, and Copilot. NVIDIA is the infrastructure Anthropic runs on. And workforce replacement, which is how Anthropic extracts its terminal value, is not arriving as fast as the valuation suggests. In reality, both hosts admit their notes looked almost identical. (The Flip) 8. AMD — Lisa Su guided AI data center growth up from 60% to 80%. With OpEx growing 83%, net income up 95%, free cash flow ripping, and CPUs growing at nearly 40% without price increases, Pat reads this as unit market share gains coming soon. Daniel's framing: AMD is now a two-headed juggernaut with CPUs and GPUs for the data center. And Helios has not even started shipping yet. Both hosts take a victory lap for previously calling this one. (Bulls and Bears) 9. Palantir — Triple beat on revenue, EPS, and forward guidance. Rule of 40 at 145%. Government revenue up 84%, 47 deals over $10 million, and the largest guidance raise in the company's history. Daniel's take: Palantir is redefining the category entirely. It's not a software company in the Salesforce or ServiceNow sense. It's technology, plus ontology, plus people, deployed at the deepest layers inside governments and enterprises. Pat adds that the four deployed FTE model lets them stand up AIP POCs within a week, which is why they are winning business at this pace. (Bulls and Bears) 10. ARM — AGI processor demand doubled from $1 billion to $2 billion within 45 days. Record revenue, strong pipeline, royalty growth at 21% for the full year. The stock ripped after hours, then sold the next day when management confirmed only enough supply for $1 billion of that $2 billion demand. Pat's read: 50% CPU market share with hyperscalers at the core level is the most underdiscussed signal on the call. Daniel adds that the worry about ARM competing with its own customer base in custom silicon has been quietly swept away by the sheer volume of compute demand. (Bulls and Bears) 11. Supermicro — A board member allegedly used a hairdryer to remove labels from GPU boxes being shipped to China. Approximately 20% of their revenue has reportedly been illegally shipped to China. They beat on EPS and Q4 guide but missed Q3 revenue versus consensus. Stock still ripped 18%. Daniel's take: if you are selling picks and shovels during a gold rush and you are this messed up, he cannot imagine owning it with the overhang that is building. (Bulls and Bears) 12. Lattice Semi and Coherent — Lattice revenue up 42%, back into growth, guiding to 50% year-on-year at midpoint. The AMI acquisition at $1.65 billion doubles their serviceable market from $6 billion to $12 billion and puts them inside every AI server on the planet at the BIOS and platform firmware layer. Pat calls the timing right: core financials crushing it, time to make a move. Coherent printed 21% year-on-year growth, 55% EPS growth, margins expanding, debt coming down, entered the S&P 500, and sits at the center of the co-packaged optics trend that is accelerating. Pat's choke point note: Indium phosphide capacity is the constraint. Six-inch fabs are doubling capacity in 2026, a quarter ahead of plan, and competitors are still ramping their transitions. (Bulls and Bears) Want the full breakdown from IBM Think and ServiceNow Knowledge, and check out our on-the-ground coverage linked in the show notes. Be part of our community. Hit that subscribe button and let us know what you want us to cover next week in the comments. Intro Pat on Stage at IBM Think https://x.com/PatrickMoorhead/status/2051381046537601101?s=20 The Decode OpenAI and Anthropic Both Launch PE-Backed Enterprise Services JVs on the Same Day — The Palantir FDE Model Goes Mainstream https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-04/openai-finalizes-10-billion-joint-venture-with-pe-firms-to-deploy-ai https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/04/anthropic-and-openai-are-both-launching-joint-ventures-for-enterprise-ai-services/ https://www.semafor.com/article/05/04/2026/openai-anthropic-ramp-up-enterprise-push Anthropic and SpaceX Sign Massive Compute Deal — Full 300MW / 220,000 GPU Colossus 1 Memphis Data Center Plus Exploration of Multi-Gigawatt Orbital AI Compute https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/06/anthropic-spacex-data-center-capacity.html https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-06/anthropic-inks-computing-deal-with-spacex-to-meet-ai-demand https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/musks-spacex-has-rented-out-access-to-its-supercomputers-220-000-nvidia-gpus-and-300-megawatts-of-ai-compute-power-to-rival-anthropic Cerebras Files for $3.5B IPO at $26.6B Valuation — The First Major AI Chip IPO of 2026 https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/04/cerebras-ipo-ai-chipmaker.html https://theaiinsider.tech/2026/05/06/cerebras-systems-eyes-3-5b-in-largest-tech-ipo-of-2026-on-strength-of-ai-chip-demand/ https://www.briefs.co/news/ai-chipmaker-cerebras-just-filed-for-a-3-5-billion-ipo/ NVIDIA and Corning Announce Game-Changing Optical Partnership — $500M Investment, 3 New U.S. Factories, and Co-Packaged Optics for Vera Rubin and Beyond https://www.corning.com/worldwide/en/about-us/news-events/news-releases/2026/05/nvidia-and-corning-announce-long-term-partnership-to-strengthen-us-manufacturing-for-ai-infrastructure.html https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/06/nvidia-corning-optical-factories-nc-texas-ai.html https://www.wsj.com/tech/nvidia-corning-form-partnership-to-expand-fiber-optic-manufacturing-17f525de https://kfgo.com/2026/05/06/corning-partners-with-nvidia-to-expand-us-fiber-optic-output-for-ai-growth/ IBM Think 2026 Boston — Watsonx Orchestrate Next-Gen, Confluent Real-Time Data, IBM Concert, and Sovereign Core Define IBM's Agentic Operating Model https://newsroom.ibm.com/2026-05-05-think-2026-ibm-delivers-the-blueprint-for-the-ai-operating-model-as-the-ai-divide-widens https://www.ibm.com/new/announcements/ibm-announcements-at-think-2026 https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX42DlrglOs/ ServiceNow Knowledge 2026 Las Vegas https://www.servicenow.com/events/knowledge.html https://newsroom.servicenow.com/press-releases/details/2026/Cohesity-and-ServiceNow-Deliver-Real-Time-Recovery-for-Enterprise-AI-Agents/default.aspx https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/04/nvidia-backed-cohesity-eyes-2026-ipo-with-valuation-rivaling-17-billion-rubrik.html   The Flip: Anthropic at $1.2T Now the Most Important Company in Enterprise Tech — More Important Than NVIDIA, Microsoft, or OpenAI FOR: Dual-hyperscaler compute anchor (Amazon $33B + Google $40B = $73B) is structural — unmatched https://futurumgroup.com/insights/anthropics-gigawatt-scale-tpu-deal-with-broadcom-creates-a-structural-advantage/ Constitutional AI safety positioning wins regulated industries https://www.anthropic.com/news/anthropic-nec-japan-ai-engineering-workforce $900B valuation surpasses OpenAI ($852B) at faster revenue growth and lower burn rate https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/30/anthropic-potential-900b-valuation-round-could-happen-within-two-weeks/   AGAINST: NVIDIA still controls the substrate — every Anthropic dollar of revenue requires NVIDIA inference at some layer https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/27/nvidia-just-hit-an-all-time-high-why-some-think-a-rally-is-just-getting-started.html Microsoft has the enterprise distribution — 365 + Azure + Copilot reach >2 billion users https://www.marketbeat.com/originals/microsofts-maia-200-the-profit-engine-ai-needs/ $900B valuation is venture marketing — the IPO will reset the number https://www.semafor.com/article/05/04/2026/openai-anthropic-ramp-up-enterprise-push   Bulls & Bears: AMD Q1 2026 — Revenue $10.3B (+38% YoY), MI300X Data Center GPU Demand Drives Stock +20% on the Print https://ir.amd.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1284/amd-reports-first-quarter-2026-financial-results https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/05/amd-q1-2026-earnings-report.html https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/amd-q1-2026-earnings-revenue-203331768.html Palantir Q1 2026 — Revenue +85% YoY, US Commercial +133%, Rule of 40 Score Hits 145%; Largest Guidance Raise in Company History https://investors.palantir.com/files/Palantir%20-%20Q1%202026%20Business%20Update.pdf https://www.reddit.com/r/PLTR/comments/1t3t0me/palantir_reports_q1_2026_us_revenue_growth_of_104/ https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/palantir-technologies-inc-q1-2026-002218719.html https://semiconalpha.substack.com/p/palantir-q1-2026-rewriting-the-rule Arm Holdings Q4 FY2026 — Record $1.49B Quarter, Full-Year Revenue Crosses $4.92B, $2B AGI CPU Pipeline; Stock +16% After Hours https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/arm-q4-earnings-call-highlights-225942093.html https://www.stocktitan.net/sec-filings/ARM/6-k-arm-holdings-plc-uk-current-report-foreign-issuer-7e9ca9ac7dda.html https://semiconalpha.substack.com/p/arm-q4-fy2026-record-quarter-2-billion Super Micro Computer Q3 FY2026 — Revenue $10.2B (+123% YoY), Strong Q4 Guide; Stock +18% AH on First Earnings Call Since Co-Founder Indictment Drama https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/05/super-micro-smci-q3-earnings-report-2026.html https://www.stocktitan.net/sec-filings/SMCI/8-k-super-micro-computer-inc-reports-material-event-e70b2f8b3cb7.html https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX42DlrglOs/ Lattice Semiconductor Q1 2026 — Beat-and-Raise Quarter ($170.9M, +42% YoY) Paired With $1.65B AMI Acquisition That Doubles Lattice's SAM to $12B https://www.stocktitan.net/sec-filings/LSCC/8-k-lattice-semiconductor-corp-reports-material-event-642a862b2bf9.html https://www.ami.com/resources/ami-announces-agreement-to-be-acquired-by-lattice-semiconductor/ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/patmoorhead_lattice-semiconductor-posts-beat-and-raise-activity-7457411226944425984-xA8T Coherent Q3 2026 Earnings https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/coherent-cohr-tops-revenue-expectations-in-q3-as-ai-demand-accelerates-shares-decline/ar-AA22Bz24?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds  

Sunday, 10 May 2026   But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. Matthew 19:22   “And having heard, the young man, the word, he departed – grieving, for he was ‘having possessions, many'.” (CG)   In the previous verse, Jesus said to the young ruler, “If you desire to be complete, you go, you sell your ‘the possessings,' and you give these to ‘poor', and you will have treasure in heaven. And you, hither! You follow Me.”   That was the final instruction for this young man to enter perpetual life in the manner he requested. Matthew next records, “And having heard, the young man, the word, he departed – grieving.”   It must be remembered that this person was asking how he could merit perpetual life. This is the problem. The young ruler was making the issue about himself and his merit before God. All three synoptic gospels indicate this. Matthew, which is indicative of the other accounts, said, “Teacher, what ‘good' I should do that I may have ‘life perpetual'?”   He was doing this based on the words of the law found in Leviticus 18:5. Jesus' answer was necessary to give as He did because the law was still in full force. It would be inappropriate for Him to say that He could find life some other way at this time.   Therefore, Jesus gave the commandments He wanted the young man to focus on, and then He said to be complete in meeting them, he would need to sell what he possessed, give it to the poor, and he would have treasure in heaven. Then he was to come to Jesus and follow Him.   This is what brought about his grief. He would have to give up everything to attain life, but what a challenge! But this is how the law works. If he couldn't love his neighbor as himself, he proved, by default, that he did not love God above all else.   Because of this, Matthew records, “for he was ‘having possessions, many'.” As the subject and accomplishment were about himself while living under the law, he could not find the spiritual stamina to do it. And indeed, no one could. Approximately fourteen hundred and fifty years of Israel living under the law proved this.   But step back now and look at what he missed by making it about himself. Jesus told him to keep certain commandments. Did Jesus do this? Yes, He fulfilled the law perfectly. But more, before He did that, what did He do? He gave up all of the riches of heaven to accomplish the necessary requirements of the law –   “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:5-11   Jesus gave up everything, giving Himself to the poor people of the world who were stuck under the authority and condemnation of Satan. He did not ask the ruler to do anything He didn't do. Now that Christ has fulfilled the law, the answer to the same question can be answered quite differently –   Q: Teacher, what ‘good' I should do that I may have ‘life perpetual'? A: Trust in the completed work of Jesus Christ, and you will have ‘life perpetual'.   Jesus had not yet completed His mission when the young man came to Him. Therefore, the answer had to be about the law leading to death. Now, with Christ's sacrificial offering that brought the law to an end, there is no law to deal with. Rather, there is Christ's fulfillment of it. Our faith is in what He did, not in what we must do. Our “doing” is His “having done.”   Life application: The general tone of commentaries concerning this passage is essentially that we must do what Jesus instructed this young man. And it is true, if we accept the premise that we are under law, such as the Seventh Day Adventists, Hebrew Roots adherents, etc., claim, then we are obligated to do just what Jesus told him to do.   However, if we accept the premise that Jesus died in fulfillment of the law, we are under no obligation to do those things. They have been done for us. Why would Jesus tell you to do the things of the law that He accomplished, fulfilled, and annulled? That would mean His cross was a pointless gesture.   He wouldn't, and He doesn't. All He asks of the people of the world to do is to trust that His doing was sufficient and that He will be our representative before the Father. So the proposition is laid forth for you. You can go it alone under law, or you can trust Jesus, who accomplished all, all by Himself. Choose wisely. Choose Jesus.   Lord God, it is not easy to set ourselves aside and say, “I will relinquish my very soul into the hands of another.” But when the “other” is You, how easy it suddenly becomes. Thank You, O God, for coming in the form of a bondservant under the law to redeem us to Yourself. What manner of love this is! Hallelujah to You, O God. Amen.

How do attorney skills differ from business owner skills, and why is it crucial for law firm owners to transition to owner mode? Transitioning from attorney mode to owner mode is essential for sustainable growth in law firms because the skills required to excel as an attorney are distinct from those needed to run a successful business. While some individuals may naturally possess both sets of skills, most need to learn how to effectively balance being an attorney and a business owner. Neglecting either aspect can hinder the growth of a law firm, emphasizing the importance of discussing and understanding this transition more frequently. What motivated you to prioritize the business aspects when starting your law firm, and how did you manage this focus alongside legal responsibilities? Prioritizing the business aspects of running a law firm was appealing due to the scalability potential inherent in professional service businesses. Before tackling client work, a deliberate effort was made to set up the business infrastructure meticulously. Weekly meetings, system creation, software implementation, and continuous learning through various resources were pivotal in balancing legal and business responsibilities. By embracing the challenge and enjoying the business side of law, the journey of running a law firm became more engaging and rewarding. How do you divide your workweek between business owner tasks and attorney responsibilities, and what strategies do you use to maintain this balance effectively? Approximately 40% or more of the workweek is dedicated to running the business, with structured days focusing on different aspects such as administration, team meetings, and strategic planning. By calendar blocking and delegating responsibilities within the firm, a clear division between business owner and attorney roles is maintained. While the workload may fluctuate weekly, a consistent effort is made to invest time in business operations to ensure smooth functioning and strategic growth. What aspects of the business owner role do you find most fulfilling, and how do your experiences in customer service industries contribute to your approach in running a law firm? The fulfillment in the business owner role stems from creating a superior client experience and service quality, drawing upon a background in customer-centric industries to guide interactions and operations within the firm. Emphasizing the importance of tailored experiences, handholding, and personalized service, the focus on customer service excellence drives the approach to running the law firm. The scalability potential in professional service businesses further fuels the exploration of expansion opportunities and continuous improvement in service delivery. How can thinking like a business owner versus an attorney impact the growth and success of a law firm, particularly in terms of attracting better clients, increasing revenue, and optimizing operations? Thinking like a business owner is crucial for addressing key questions related to firm growth, such as hiring decisions, marketing effectiveness, revenue generation strategies, and operational improvements. While excelling as an attorney is vital for client service, adopting a business owner mindset enables law firm owners to enhance the impact of their work by attracting ideal clients, maximizing revenue, and driving overall success. The shift in perspective from attorney to business owner is essential for navigating challenges, making informed decisions, and fostering long-term growth in the firm.

Approximately 73 thousand Kiwis left New Zealand in the past year, and over half of those moved to Australia. Indeed it seems like every day there is another article about New Zealanders moving across the Tasma for better jobs, better money and a better lifestyle, but is that really true? Well TVNZ's Jack Tame is investigating that very question for a new show airing on Monday night called You, Me & Aussie and joins Jesse to discuss. You, Me & Aussie is on Monday 11th May on TVNZ1 at 8:40pm and TVNZ+. [picture id="4KGB12Q_31681878_751954_png" crop="16x10" layout="full"]

Shalin Shah shares his personal experience of being tested for testosterone at age 30 after becoming a father, which led him to establish a decade-long focus on testosterone health. He explains that testosterone serves as an important biomarker for overall health, affecting cardiovascular health, glucose metabolism, insulin sensitivity, bone health, and muscle health. Key takeaways Testosterone is one of the most important biomarkers for overall health, providing insights into cardiovascular health, glucose metabolism, bone health, muscle health, and inflammation The TRAVERSE study released in June 2023 definitively proved that testosterone replacement therapy does not cause heart attacks, debunking earlier flawed studies Approximately 25 million men in the U.S. are hypogonadal, but only 2-3 million are currently on therapy; the goal is to reach 10-12 million for better population health outcomes Oral testosterone therapy represents a breakthrough, bypassing the liver through lymphatic absorption and providing daily physiologic levels versus the roller coaster effect of weekly injections Testing should be standard practice regardless of symptoms, as testosterone deficiency can manifest differently in different individuals Patients must be their own advocates, as many traditional physicians lack education on hormone replacement therapy Shalin Shah is a distinguished leader in the field of metabolic health, specializing in testosterone replacement therapy. As the Chief Executive Officer of Marius Pharmaceuticals, he was instrumental in the development and FDA approval of KYZATREX® (testosterone undecanoate) CIII Capsules, an oral testosterone treatment for adult men with low or no testosterone levels due to certain medical conditions. Shalin has become one of the most trusted voices in the testosterone and hormone health space. Spearheading a national education effort through his nonprofit, The Testosterone Project, he hopes to improve the public's understanding of hormone health among both patients and physicians. Most recently, he presented to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, advocating for modernized testosterone regulations to expand responsible access for patients and empower doctors to better treat hormone deficiencies. Visit rethinktestosterone.com to learn more Visit ConfidenceThroughHealth.com to find discounts to some of our favorite products.Follow me via All In Health and Wellness on Facebook or Instagram.Find my books on Amazon: No More Sugar Coating: Finding Your Happiness in a Crowded World and Confidence Through Health: Live the Healthy Lifestyle God DesignedProduction credit: Social Media Cowboys

Answer our 2026 Audience Census! "I want to make things big and explosive." You've just been thrown in jail, locked up inside a massive prison complex in the Netherlands. Along with 125 other prisoners, you must scheme, bribe, blackmail, commit mayhem, and find your way out. This is Prison Escape, an immersive experience structured as a cinematic escape from prison. In 2025, Prison Escape ran 280 shows with an average player count of 125 participants. Approximately 22 of those shows were available in English. Prison Escape creator Rik Stapelbroek joins us on REPOD to talk about this remarkable experience. There are many paths through to the end, including sweet talking the guards, perhaps poisoning a few, or maybe you work together with other prisoners to start a riot. Rik walks us through some of the logistics of how they create different opportunities for each type of player to succeed. Rik has designed many types of interactions, from social manipulation style puzzles, to fact gathering missions so a player can contribute to a shared escape route map. He is also expanding their offerings online so more people can experience Prison Escape. This is an absolutely bonkers game, in the best way possible. If you're a fan of larps, or large scale open world play, this episode is a must-listen.   Full Show Notes   Episode Sponsors We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: REA Patreon Backers, PG's Playhouse, Buzzshot, and the Reality Escape Convention. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.   Buzzshot Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS. Special Offer for REPOD Listeners: REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.   Support Us On Patreon Today Love escape rooms as much as we do? At Room Escape Artist, we've been analyzing, reviewing, and exploring the world of immersive games since 2014. We help players find the best experiences, and push the industry forward with well-researched, rational, and reasonably humorous escape room and immersive gaming content and events. By becoming a Patreon supporter, you're not just backing a blog — you're fueling a mission to make the escape room and immersive gaming community stronger, more thoughtful, and more connected. Access exclusive Patreon content such as: The Bonus Aftershow The Spoilers Club Early access to escape room Tour tickets and REA articles. Your Patreon support goes toward our mission: paying our contributors, funding our infrastructure, and supporting deep research and industry advocacy.   PG's Playhouse If you love wordplay, puzzles, and trivia, this is the podcast for you! PG's Playhouse recreates a fun game night, all in a short, 30-minute format. Of course, what's game night without making new friends? We bring on different guests for the different episodes. Each episode features a puzzle packed with wordplay and trivia, a short chat with the guest, and a segment exploring an interesting topic. I hope you'll take a listen and play along with us at PG's Playhouse.   Reality Escape Convention Our convention, RECON, will be in Laval, Quebec Canada on August 16th & 17th, 2026. RECON offers a curated collection of talks and experiences exploring the business and art of escape room and immersive game creation. All are welcome at this event that is crafted around professionals and aspiring professionals.   Production Credits Hosted by David Spira & Peih-Gee Law Produced by Theresa Piazza Supported by Lisa Spira Edited by Steve Ewing Music by Ryan Elder Logo by Janine Pracht

The Norse settlement of Greenland, founded by Eric the Red in approximately 985 AD, provides a poignant and sad look at the final chapters of the Viking Age. Excavations at the Herjolfsness graveyard at the southern tip of Greenlandhave yielded extraordinary organic material preserved by the permafrost, including the clothing of the last inhabitants. These garments, such as a patched and coarse woolen dress, reveal that by the 15th century, the Greenlanders were no longer high-status people and had become increasingly isolated from the broader Norse diaspora. The settlement struggled as the climate cooled, while the Inuit people, who were better adapted to the Arctic conditions, thrived and moved further south. Artifacts like small wooden figures found in the region suggest interactions between the Norse Greenlanders and the Inuit populations. The final historical records of the colony are remarkably personal, documenting a witch burning in 1407 and a wedding in 1408. In the case of the witch burning, a man named Kolgrim was executed for allegedly using witchcraft to seduce a married woman. These events represent the last known activities of the Norse in Greenland before they vanished entirely, leaving behind only ruins and memories in the ice. 8/81630

The Art of the Follow-Up: Turning "No" into Private CapitalAre you tired of finding great real estate deals only to have them stall because you lack the funding? Many investors believe that "raising capital" is a one-time pitch, but the reality is much more persistent. In the world of private money, the fortune is truly in the follow-up. While most people give up after the first attempt, the elite investors—the ones closing deals month after month—know that a "no" today is often just a "not yet" for tomorrow.In this episode, we dive deep into the systematic approach to raising private capital, treating your marketing like a professional athlete treats their swing. Whether you are a seasoned note investor or just starting out, mastering these nine steps of follow-up will ensure you never run out of fuel for your deals again.Key Takeaways from This EpisodeRaising capital is a skill developed through repetition and persistence. Here is the breakdown of the follow-up system discussed:The Power of 80%: Approximately 80% of sales are made between the 5th and 12th contact, yet nearly half of all professionals never follow up a second time.The Baseball Analogy: Raising capital is like hitting in baseball; even the best fail 70% of the time. You must keep taking "swings" (marketing attempts) to eventually hit your singles, doubles, and home runs.Mining the Right List: Successful fundraising starts with a quality list, such as Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA) owners found through county appraisal districts.The Multi-Channel Approach: Effective follow-up isn't just letters; it involves a mix of direct mail, social media sleuthing, email marketing, and SMS text blasts.The "Hello Letter": Your first touch should be a professional, printed letter (not a "yellow letter") that includes a QR code to your pitch deck.Social Sleuthing: Use VAs to find LinkedIn and Facebook profiles of your leads. Sending a personalized DM is a low-cost, high-impact way to move a cold lead into your CRM.Case Studies as Fuel: Don't just "check in." Share case studies of deals you are evaluating or have closed to show prospects that you are an active, credible investor.The Power of SMS: Text messages have an 85% open rate within the first five minutes, making them far more effective than the 17-20% open rate typical of emails.The Essential Toolkit: To go pro, you need four core assets: a professional website, a 10-minute pitch deck video, a CRM with open-rate tracking, and a consistent schedule.Stop Waiting for the "Whale"Many investors spend their time chasing one giant "whale" investor, but this system is built on singles and doubles. By consistently touching your market once a week or once a month, you build an "avalanche" of capital that snowballs over time. Remember, the best time to raise capital is before you actually need it. Start your marketing today, stay coachable, and watch your real estate business transform.Ready to scale? Don't let your leads drift away "like smoke in the wind". Implement these follow-up steps and start hitting your funding goals!Watch the Original VIDEO HERE!Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here's How »Join Note Night in America community today:WeCloseNotes.comScott Carson FacebookScott Carson TwitterScott Carson LinkedInNote Night in America YouTubeNote Night in America VimeoScott Carson InstagramWe Close Notes Pinterest

Legacy, Nobel Snubs, and the Fringes of Science Following the confirmation of the Big Bang theory, the cosmic microwave background was measured at approximately 2.73 degrees Kelvin, a discovery that George Gamow spent his final years advocating for as a validation of his 1940s work. Gamow, whose health declined due to heavy smoking and alcohol use before his death in 1968, frequently reminded the scientific community that his earlier calculations with Ralph Alpher had correctly predicted this radiation, using the metaphor that a lost and found penny is still the same penny. While the Big Bang gained universal acceptance, Fred Hoyle faced a professional crisis when the Nobel Prize for stellar nucleosynthesis was awarded solely to William Fowler, excluding Hoyle and his other collaborators, Margaretand Jeffrey Burbidge. This snub, which some speculate was due to a misunderstanding by nominator Hans Bethe or Hoyle's increasingly controversial reputation, led Hoyle to sever ties with Fowler and retreat to the Lake District. In his later years, Hoyle moved toward the fringes of science, championing the theory of "panspermia"—the idea that life and diseases such as AIDS and Legionnaire's disease originated in space and arrived on Earth via comets. He also drew the ire of the scientific establishment by arguing that Darwinian evolution was impossible due to the Earth's age, a stance that ironically gained him support from creationist groups despite his own atheism. Paul Halpern characterizes both Gamowand Hoyle as "seat of the pants" thinkers who relied on flashes of intuition rather than slow, methodical archival work, though Hoyle was notably more stubborn in defending his unconventional ideas. Ultimately, both men are remembered as brilliant storytellers who made the complex physics of the 20th century accessible to the public while fundamentally shaping our understanding of the universe. Guest Author: Paul Halpern. (4/4)DECEMBER 1951

According to the Investment Company Institute, more than 120 million individuals in the U.S. own some type of fund. After all, they may not have a choice; the most common way Americans save for retirement is through an employer plan such as a 401(k), and in most of those plans, the only investment choices are a menu of funds. Robert Brokamp and Amanda Kish discuss the factors to consider when evaluating mutual funds and ETFs. Also in this episode:-Interest rates are rising, bond prices are falling, and the Fed is staying put… as is Jerome Powell.-Approximately a third of car buyers who traded in a vehicle had negative equity, and auto loan default rates are at their highest level since 2010.-Almost half of retirees stop working sooner than expected, mostly not by choice, so factor a shorter career into your retirement calculations.-We're already a third through 2026, so revisit those New Year's resolutions from January by getting caught up with our “Year Well Planned” challenge. Host: Robert Brokamp, CFP®, EAGuest: Amanda Kish, CFA, CFP®Engineer: Bart Shannon Disclosure: Advertisements are sponsored content and provided for informational purposes only. The Motley Fool and its affiliates (collectively, “TMF”) do not endorse, recommend, or verify the accuracy or completeness of the statements made within advertisements. TMF is not involved in the offer, sale, or solicitation of any securities advertised herein and makes no representations regarding the suitability, or risks associated with any investment opportunity presented. Investors should conduct their own due diligence and consult with legal, tax, and financial advisors before making any investment decisions. TMF assumes no responsibility for any losses or damages arising from this advertisement.We're committed to transparency: All personal opinions in advertisements from Fools are their own. The product advertised in this episode was loaned to TMF and was returned after a test period or the product advertised in this episode was purchased by TMF. Advertiser has paid for the sponsorship of this episode.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steven Aguiar is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ad Grants Pilot, which is "Ad Grants on easy mode. Turn Google's $10,000/month in free ads into real donors and impact — without hiring an agency." Steven is also the Founder of BlueWing Digital, a media company with a focus on community missions. Google for Nonprofits offers a free grant for Google search ads up to $10,000 of total value for a month. Approximately 300,000 nonprofits have a Google for Nonprofits account, but nearly 10 million could be using it. A recent M+R benchmark reported the average nonprofit may be getting $1300-1400 in value against the $10,000 offered. Ad Grants Pilot is designed to help nonprofit organizations actually leverage the grant using AI tools to help manage the process. Steven talks about the Ads Grants process requiring things like conversion tracking, the need to use keywords correctly, quality scores on ads and website for conversion goals. Steven further describes how the tool helps avoid common problems that have occurred in the past and prevented many nonprofits from using the grants. He also describes how maximizing search ads can improve GEO, Generative Engine Optimization (AI summaries inserted into search) as well. Get more details on how to subscribe on our podcast page. Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or your platform of choice. Thanks!

15. John Hardie explains Ukraine's innovative drone technology, including long-distance interceptors operated via Starlink. Drones cause approximately 80% of Russian casualties and protect pilots by moving them from the front lines. However, Ukraine still faces a severe manpower shortage that drones cannot fully resolve on their own. 151930 COUNCIL OF WORLD PARLIAMENTS

The Art of the Follow-Up: Turning "No" into Private CapitalAre you tired of finding great real estate deals only to have them stall because you lack the funding? Many investors believe that "raising capital" is a one-time pitch, but the reality is much more persistent. In the world of private money, the fortune is truly in the follow-up. While most people give up after the first attempt, the elite investors—the ones closing deals month after month—know that a "no" today is often just a "not yet" for tomorrow.In this episode, we dive deep into the systematic approach to raising private capital, treating your marketing like a professional athlete treats their swing. Whether you are a seasoned note investor or just starting out, mastering these nine steps of follow-up will ensure you never run out of fuel for your deals again.Key Takeaways from This EpisodeRaising capital is a skill developed through repetition and persistence. Here is the breakdown of the follow-up system discussed:The Power of 80%: Approximately 80% of sales are made between the 5th and 12th contact, yet nearly half of all professionals never follow up a second time.The Baseball Analogy: Raising capital is like hitting in baseball; even the best fail 70% of the time. You must keep taking "swings" (marketing attempts) to eventually hit your singles, doubles, and home runs.Mining the Right List: Successful fundraising starts with a quality list, such as Self-Directed IRA (SDIRA) owners found through county appraisal districts.The Multi-Channel Approach: Effective follow-up isn't just letters; it involves a mix of direct mail, social media sleuthing, email marketing, and SMS text blasts.The "Hello Letter": Your first touch should be a professional, printed letter (not a "yellow letter") that includes a QR code to your pitch deck.Social Sleuthing: Use VAs to find LinkedIn and Facebook profiles of your leads. Sending a personalized DM is a low-cost, high-impact way to move a cold lead into your CRM.Case Studies as Fuel: Don't just "check in." Share case studies of deals you are evaluating or have closed to show prospects that you are an active, credible investor.The Power of SMS: Text messages have an 85% open rate within the first five minutes, making them far more effective than the 17-20% open rate typical of emails.The Essential Toolkit: To go pro, you need four core assets: a professional website, a 10-minute pitch deck video, a CRM with open-rate tracking, and a consistent schedule.Stop Waiting for the "Whale"Many investors spend their time chasing one giant "whale" investor, but this system is built on singles and doubles. By consistently touching your market once a week or once a month, you build an "avalanche" of capital that snowballs over time. Remember, the best time to raise capital is before you actually need it. Start your marketing today, stay coachable, and watch your real estate business transform.Ready to scale? Don't let your leads drift away "like smoke in the wind". Implement these follow-up steps and start hitting your funding goals!Watch the Original VIDEO HERE!Book a Call With Scott HERE!Sign up for the next FREE One-Day Note Class HERE!Sign up for the WCN Membership HERE!Sign up for the next Note Buying For Dummies Workshop HERE!Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!Here's How »Join the Note Closers Show community today:WeCloseNotes.comThe Note Closers Show FacebookThe Note Closers Show TwitterScott Carson LinkedInThe Note Closers Show YouTubeThe Note Closers Show VimeoThe Note Closers Show InstagramWe Close Notes PinterestGet Signed Up For the Next Note Buying Workshop HERE!

Embracing a Robust Life: Charlotte Mason Approach with Nicole Williams, Special Patreon Release   Psalm 24:1 (NIV) The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;   *Transcription Below*   Questions and Topics We Discuss: Will you teach us what is meant by Charlotte's quote, "Education is the science of relations?" What are the unexpected benefits of living a life out of doors and delighting in nature, almost regardless of weather? What potential do you see in morning time, afternoons, and evenings?   Nicole Williams home educated her three children using Charlotte Mason's principles and methods for 18 years. She also taught four of her adopted siblings from middle school through graduation. Watching the feast of life-giving ideas restore her sibling's innate love of learning inspired her to dig deeper into Mason's philosophy of education and then to share her experiences with others. She does that now by co-hosting the podcast A Delectable Education, writing for SabbathMoodHomeschool.com, and teaching workshops. She is also the author of Living Science Study Guides, where she helps families and schools implement Charlotte Mason's natural way of teaching science. Nicole enjoys working in her garden, collecting living books, and hiking.   A Delectable Education Podcast Sabbath Mood Website   Thank You to Our Sponsors: Chick-fil-A East Peoria and The Savvy Sauce Charities (and donate online here)   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook or Instagram or Our Website   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV) Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”   Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”   Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”   John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:08)   Laura Dugger: (0:09 - 1:54) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.   I want to say a huge thank you to today's sponsors for this episode: Chick-fil-A East Peoria and Savvy Sauce Charities.   Are you interested in a free college education for you or someone you know? Stay tuned for details coming later in this episode from today's sponsor, Chick-fil-A East Peoria. You can also visit their website today at Chick-fil-A.com forward slash East Peoria.   If you've been with us long, you know this podcast is only one piece of our nonprofit, which is the Savvy Sauce Charities. Don't miss out on our other resources. We have questions and content to inspire you to have your own practical chats for intentional living. And I also hope you don't miss out on the opportunity to financially support us through your tax-deductible donations. All this information can be found on our recently updated website, thesavvysauce.com.   This is part two of our Charlotte Mason-inspired miniseries. Emily Kaiser was the first guest to lay the foundation, and Nicole Williams is going to follow up today with more practical ideas for how we can implement this method into our own family lives, regardless of our schooling option. Here's our chat.   Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Nicole.   Nicole Williams: (1:55 - 1:57) Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.   Laura Dugger: (1:57 - 2:04) Well, can you just start us off by sharing a little bit more about your own faith and educational background?   Nicole Williams: (2:06 - 5:28) Yes, I was not raised in a Christian home actually. And neither was my husband. In fact, we had the funniest conversation recently where we were talking about him going to church when he was a kid.   And I said, well, that was really nice of your parents to see value in that. He said, no, they were just trying to get us out of the house and make us into better kids. But they didn't go with them. So, neither one of us were Christians. And then both of us became believers before we got married. And it has been so fun to watch our children grow up as believers or in a believing home, that that was the atmosphere and how that differed from him and I and our trust in the Lord.   We, you know, both of us really knew he was there, but had no knowledge of him. And so that was really fun to see the difference there. We started homeschooling.   Really, I would say it was really based on fear. We wanted to protect our kids. And that was pretty much the underlying motivation.   And then I had fear of doing it. Can I possibly do this? And when my oldest child, who's four years older than the next one, I have three, when he was just about to start kindergarten, I went by myself and toured a local private school.   And my husband was so funny. He's like, honey, I know you can do this. Give it a try.   And I just am so grateful that I have his support that I always have. I know that that is not the story for a lot of people, that their husbands don't necessarily see the value and what they're trying to do. And so, I've always really appreciated that.   But I went to school and we moved and we moved and I transferred college and transferred college. And then I was pregnant and I went in and said, “What am I close to? How can I just finish this?   And I ended up with a math and science degree, which wasn't really what I was going for. I was really interested in biology. But it's funny how that led to this, that that wasn't really where I was headed.   But then I ended up in the science field. But I didn't learn about Charlotte Mason until my oldest was in third grade. Well, actually, he was just about to start the third grade.   And the box curriculum that I was using came in the mail. And I learned about Charlotte Mason and just all of a sudden that didn't suit anymore. It just fell flat.   This big idea that I was learning about. But at the same time, my mom and dad had had by then adopted nine children. They had two biological children.   And they asked me to homeschool their last three who were in fifth, sixth and seventh grade. So, I told her, well, I'm going to do this new thing. I don't understand what it is.   So, if you're okay with that, then I'll do it. And I think it actually turned out to be a huge blessing to me. And then my two little girls started school a couple years later.   And so, they were homeschooled using Charlotte Mason's methods all the way through school. And my youngest is going to graduate in May.   Laura Dugger: (5:29 - 6:02) Oh, my goodness. That's incredible. You are on the other side; you're going to have so much value to add to each of us who are in the thick of it.   Regardless of our choice of how to school. And in case anyone has missed the recent Savvy Sauce episode with your podcast co-host Emily Kaiser, that's where we laid the foundation for this philosophy. But now to build on that foundation, will you teach us what is meant by Charlotte's quote, education is the science of relations?   Nicole Williams: (6:03 - 10:34) Absolutely. When we give a child, Charlotte Mason called it the broad beast. It's just all these subjects that sometimes in the regular world we think of as extracurricular.   So, she didn't just have history. She wanted them to be learning the history of their own country, the history of their neighboring country, and ancient history all at the same time. They started the ancient history in fifth grade, but they continued this on all the way through.   In science, they were always learning biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science all the way through school, all the way through high school. And how many of us really got that? We usually had to take biology, maybe chemistry, and historic.   That was maxing out our requirements. She wanted them to have this all the way through (Art, art history, music, music history, singing, and folk songs).   There's just all of this stuff. She suggested that when we're giving them this broad beast, we're allowing them to have natural relations with a vast number of things and thought. She said that thought breeds thought.   Children familiar with great thoughts take as naturally to thinking for themselves as the well-nourished body takes to growing. We must bear in mind that growth, intellectual, moral, spiritual, is the sole end of education. And just stopping right there with an aside that how many people, much less children, do we know who can think about the major issues that we're faced with, the major issues in the church, in our country?   It is something that I feel like this whole question and answer, can you pass the test? Can you tell me what I want you to tell me? That is not serving our children and our culture and our country very well.   So, what we don't realize is how interconnected all of the pieces of this kind of a curriculum that she wants us to have this broad feast are. Then Mrs. Wicks, she's somebody who often wrote in kind of a magazine of sorts that went out to the parents of Charlotte Mason's curriculum users. And she said, when we remember that knowledge is truth, we know at once that no part of truth can be omitted without wrecking the whole.   Scripture, history, geography, botany and all the others are actually different facets of the same thing. And the longer we work from these wonderful programs, she means like the assigned to work that Charlotte Mason gave, the more we realize how well balanced they are, how satisfying to the hungry mind, how the subject is dovetail, how difficult it is to teach history only in history time, like the time of day, the lesson, how it will flow over into geography, literature or even into such unexpected channels as arithmetic or botany. So, the idea of the science of relations is actually the culmination of several things. There is this wealth of ideas presented to the child for them to think about.   And then they do their own work of their education, meaning that when we ask them to narrate back about a subject, they're telling us what they got out of it. But they're also kind of telling us how that relates to something else they know. So, these things are tying together.   So that is explained through something Charlotte Mason said she was telling of the small English boy of nine who lived in Japan. And he remarked to his mom, Isn't it fun, mother? All of these things, everything seems to fit into something else.   But Charlotte Mason pointed out the boy had not found out the whole secret. Everything fitted into something within himself. And so, the science of relations is talking about how everything fits into each other.   But we aren't doing it for the student. We're not creating unit studies where we say, oh, this is related to this and it's related to that. So, I'm going to pull those all together for the student.   We are letting those connections happen within themselves. And that helps memory. It helps understanding. It creates a full life.   It creates a person who knows about a lot of things and can relate to a lot of things and talk to a lot of people about whatever that person is interested in.   Laura Dugger: (10:35 - 11:02) And as you're describing this, this sounds so appealing. And like you said, it's a very robust philosophy. And yet I've heard someone say that Charlotte Mason's load was light.   Her burden was light. So, when you explain teaching your children all of these parts in homeschooling, were the lessons short enough that this did not feel overwhelming?   Nicole Williams: (11:03 - 13:16) It really is. And what we find is any time I'm doing a subject and it's too hard for the child, it's too hard for me to get through in the lesson time that she specified, it's too hard for us to understand what we're doing. Usually what I find is that we're doing it wrong.   She gave such bite sized pieces. Like, for instance, chemistry. When I am working out the science study guides that I write, I try to assign the same amount of work that she assigned.   And I'm using different books because I'm trying to use books that are more up to date with the information provided. But I still want them to have the same quality of a living book. But I will even count the words on a page and figure out, OK, if she is assigning six pages a day, there's this many words on a page.   How does that equate to what I'm assigning? What I often find is that a lesson that will be 30 or 40 minutes long, there will be 10 or 15 minutes worth of reading. And the other 15 minutes is allowing time for narrating or discussing the topic.   So sometimes we try to cram so much into our day or into our lesson times that she actually really felt like we should keep it small. These bite size amounts every day or every week. And then our mind is processing that information and working with it. Some people have done comparisons of what their kids get out of something if they read through a book fast or if they read through it slow. And so much more is gained from reading through it slow, having a time of narration, a time of discussion or using that to write an essay, say, or something like that. So, yeah, it seems like a burden because there's so many things.   But if we get in the habit of doing what she specified, it actually is light. And that switching subjects lightens it, too, because maybe you're doing a math lesson and it's hard and we're challenging ourselves and we're trying to figure out this puzzle. And then the next thing we do is sing a folk song.   You know, it just changes things up and makes us ready for maybe a history lesson after that.   Laura Dugger: (13:17 - 13:29) That's so helpful. And then getting really nitty gritty. Approximately how long would this be for an elementary age student, a junior high student and high schooler?   Nicole Williams: (13:29 - 15:24) Yeah. So, we always hear of Charlotte Mason, her short lessons people talk about. And in form one, which is the grades one through three in those first three years, they had lessons that were between 10 and 20 minutes.   Even their math lesson was only 20 minutes. And the whole point was she was trying to teach them to focus with all their might during that time. So, if we're going to read about history or a history tale is what they would have read at that time.   She wanted them to focus and listen and be able to narrate at the end of that. And if any of us have tried that, it's hard work. So, she was starting with these small amounts.   Then by the time they're in form two. So that's fourth, fifth and sixth grade. So upper elementary. They had longer lessons that went up to 30 minutes. So, the math lesson was 30 minutes at that time. Some of their history lessons were.   And then by the time they're in form three, which is middle school, seventh and eighth and up through high school, they had lessons that were more typically 30 to 40 minutes. So that doesn't seem like a short lesson to us. But the thing that we have to keep in mind is that she was building up their ability to attend closely through those years.   So, when they got up into a 40-minute science lesson in high school, they were supposed to be able to attend and pay close attention during that whole 40-minute lesson. And statistically, we know that that's not something that the adults of our day can do. Numbers have gone from a 30-minute attention span to 20-minutes here just in the last decade or so.   Thanks to social media and the switching that we're doing with our brain. So, what she was requiring of them actually appears to be really long lessons in high school. But we always talk about her short lessons.   Laura Dugger: (15:25 - 15:32) And then in high school, let's say how many of those lessons would you do on average per day?   Nicole Williams: (15:33 - 17:32) I would say six or eight lessons a day, but some of them are still short. Like for instance, they have a recitation lesson. By the time they're in high school, they're doing that on their own outside of school time.   But in middle school, they still have a 10-minute recitation lesson. They may have a 10-minute time of reading. So not all of the lessons are going to take 40 minutes.   And I also want to point out that in high school right now, many of the schools are changing to block systems. Where they are providing like an hour and 45 minutes to two hours for a single subject. So, say math.   First of all, who can pay attention to a subject that is often challenging for two hours like that? But then on top of that, they may do it in the fall semester, then not have math. Because the way they do it, these blocks, they would have like four classes a semester.   So maybe they would not have math at all in the spring. And then maybe the next year they're a sophomore and they don't have math in the fall, but they do in the spring. So, they've gone a full year with no math of any kind.   And now again, they have two-hour lessons. And then you compare that to what we can do in a homeschooling scenario. And this is what Charlotte Mason wanted us to do was every day, 30 minutes, every day, 30 minutes.   All the way through high school, every day of the week. And she actually had them doing algebra two days a week, geometry two days a week. And then continuing arithmetic, even maybe up into statistics, because some of these things they get done.   They go on to trigonometry or something in this session. But they are always getting that mental work every single day. Comparing those two things, you can see why this short lessons is valuable to just always be touching on a subject and challenging yourself in that way.   Laura Dugger: (17:32 - 17:59) There's another Charlotte Mason quote that I want to read where she says, “My object is to show that the chief function of the child, his business in the world during the first six or seven years of his life, is to find out all he can about whatever comes under his notice by means of his five senses. Nicole, how can we intentionally incorporate this idea?”   Nicole Williams: (18:00 - 22:09) So what she's talking about here is nature study, really. And we often think of nature study as just an extracurricular subject or, you know, something light. I actually my first introduction to Charlotte Mason, it was the nature study that drew me in.   But I know for a lot of people, it's the opposite. You know, they like, why do we have to do this nature study stuff? But she's also particularly talking about a very young child in this case.   So, what she tells us later in this quote is that the intellectual education of the young child should lie in the free exercise of perceptive power, because the first stages of mental effort are marked by the extreme activity of this power. So perceptive power, picking up details, paying attention long enough to pick up details. And furthermore, this little quote, it is about two sentences after the header.   Habit is ten natures, which is kind of a funny title. But habit is one of the three educational instruments that Charlotte Mason said that we were allowed as teachers, as parents were teaching our kids. She said we were only allowed three instruments of education.   That is the atmosphere of environment, the discipline of habit and the presentation of living ideas. So that's kind of a big thing. But what I want to point out is this idea of habits.   What we're doing when we are helping them in those first years to find out whatever comes under his notice is they're learning the habit of being attentive. And this is one of the habits of mind. She talks about habits of like our body and our mind, our intellectual habits, just habits like, you know, covering your cough or pushing in your chair.   But she talks about habits of mind when she talks about them. So, they're learning the habit of being attentive for more than a fraction of a second. She gives them a scenario where a child kind of runs by a daisy and the mom calls him back and says, “Oh, look closer. You know, this daisy closes its eye at night. So, it's like a day's eye because during the day it's open and at night it closes up.”   And for that moment, the mom is just drawing the child back to this little object lesson and helping them to look at it for just a couple more seconds than they were going to look at it on their own.   So, she's building that habit of attention and using their senses. They're also learning the habit of thinking when they're spending time in nature about what they've observed. You know, they're asking themselves, why does the daisy close at night?   And where's the bee going next? And how did the tree produce these flowers in spring? How does it know when it's time for the tree buds to open or the daffodils to bloom?   And so, they're learning the habit of thinking and they're learning the habit of imagining, which is another one of the habits of mind. Where does the tracks of this fox come from? Was it skulking around here last night?   What was he looking for and where was he going and learning to imagine? And they're learning the habit of remembering. They may see a bee and they saw a bee yesterday, but they remember that yesterday's bee had a black face and this one has a yellow face.   So, it must be a different one. And they're often narrating; we're asking them to tell us what they saw. And so, they're learning the habits of accuracy and truthfulness.   No, there wasn't a thousand bees, but there was a lot. How many? Maybe, maybe a hundred, you know, so they're learning to be accurate.   So, these habits that we're cultivating through nature study and object lessons in these very young age allow our children to make the most of living ideas when they're presented through their education. So, you know, we think it's nothing, but we're helping them when they start their reading lesson, when they start their math lesson. All of these habits of mind that we've been training through nature study are going to be able to be utilized in the child when they get to doing lessons like that.   Laura Dugger: (22:10 - 22:24) Well, that leads me to wonder, Nicole, from your perspective, what are the unexpected benefits of living a life out of doors and delighting in nature, almost regardless of weather?   Nicole Williams: (22:24 - 27:31) OK, I've just started reading the book. There's no such thing as bad weather. And she even chuckles in there.   She's from Sweden and she says that there is a poll done in Sweden where they ask people because they are like they have outdoor kindergarten. Like every day is outdoor the whole-time kindergarten in Sweden, you know. And she said all they could say is it's good for you.   And it truly is good for us. It's good for us mentally and it's good for us physically. On the mental note, Charlotte Mason talked about how we can recall something that we've seen, and it gives us a level of peace when we're kind of in our busy lives.   So, she had the children do something called picture painting, which was actually just a mental exercise with maybe mom and child would be standing at the edge of a pond and they would make a mental picture of that pond. And the mom could help by pointing out things like the reflection of trees on the lake or something like that to help them get a more full picture. But the idea was these pictures of natural places they had experienced and been to would be with them always.   And they could kind of reflect on them anytime they needed a peaceful moment. There's also studies that show that if students spend time in nature before they take a big test, they do better on the test. And interestingly, those tests were side by side with people who spent time in nature or people who spent time like walking down a busy street.   And the mental piece that came from walking solely in nature versus walking on a busy street where your mind is keeping track of the cars and the people and things like that, that's not restful. And the restfulness of walking in nature allowed kind of their brain to regroup and they did better on a test after that. That was a test that was mentioned in Last Child in the Woods, which is an excellent book.   And if you think you know all the reasons why nature is valuable and important, that book has so much more to say than you ever thought. Also, one of the things that happens is the child's sense of beauty grows. I do a whole hour-long talk on the importance of this and how we miss it.   My husband and I went away for just three nights here recently. And each morning he would go out and fish and he would come back. And the last day he said, the daffodils have bloomed since we've been here. And I said, “No, are you talking about it like the big curve in the road?” He said, “Yeah.” And I said, “Those were bloomed when we got here.”   And he just he was really focused on the river and the fish, and he'd missed it every day. And we do this when I do my talk. I actually show this little video or something really large and interesting shows up in the screen.   And every single time, 50 percent of the people don't see it. And when we think about the importance of seeing beauty around us, it's God's world. It's the beauty that he has given us to kind of encourage us and build us up and remind us of what purity looks like.   And if we don't see it at all, because we're just really honed in on our life and our schedule and the next thing we've got to get to, that's just a huge loss. So, on that note, it could lead to a greater reverence and a fuller appreciation of God. There's so much that God reveals to us through nature and we have to be able to see it in order to appreciate that.   And then, like I talked about before, it's the natural way people, young children, older people to learn. So, if they spend time in nature and they're able to, say, discern that black faced bee from the yellow faced bee. Then when we're asking them to look at the letter B versus D and there is just such a small difference between the two, they are more attentive and discerning to little details.   And then finally, my favorite one is that it lays the foundation for science. I would even say it really is science. People want to skip this and just go to the book, Work of Science.   But also, in Lash Out of the Woods, Richard quotes a man who is Stanford University School of Medicine professor. And he points out that it's alarming to teach these doctors how the heart works as a pump because they've never done anything that shows the physics of this. They've never, I think he says, like worked a garden hose or worked on a car, siphoned something.   All of these direct experiences in the backyard, they've missed those. And so, they're being trained them by rote memory, but they have no experience with the physics of the way the world works. So, it really is science also.   Laura Dugger: (27:32 - 27:44) That's incredible. And I'm hearing such a mystery involved as well. We don't know all that God is up to being outdoors and what he created, but there's so much learning taking place.   Nicole Williams: (27:44 - 27:45) Absolutely.   Laura Dugger: (27:47 - 33:22) And now a brief message from our sponsor.   Did you know you can go to college tuition free just by being a team member at Chick-fil-A East Peoria? Yes, you heard that right. Free college education. All Chick-fil-A East Peoria team members in good standing are immediately eligible for a free college education through Point University. Point University is a fully accredited private Christian college located in West Point, Georgia.   This online self-paced program includes 13 associates degrees, 17 bachelor's degrees and two master's programs, including an MBA. College courses are fully transferable both in and out of this program. This could even be a great option to complete your general education courses and then transfer to the college of your choice and save money in the process.   So, if you're looking for an affordable college option while simultaneously gaining valuable work experience and earning an income, Chick-fil-A East Peoria is the place for you. You don't have to go into debt to get a great education. To apply today, please go to Chick-fil-A.com forward slash East Peoria and click on the Careers tab. You can also call the restaurant at 309-694-1044 to find out more. And if you aren't located near Chick-fil-A East Peoria, make sure you check with your local Chick-fil-A restaurant to see if they also participate in the Elevate program with Point University. Thanks for your sponsorship.   Are you utilizing Savvy Sauce Charities to full capacity? Other than our Special Patreon Release episodes, our content is now available in video form in addition to our audio only. And we have written transcriptions for every episode.   Visit our website today, thesavvysauce.com, to access all these forms of interviews. And while you're there, make sure you sign up for our email list to receive encouragement, questions, and recommended resources about once a month to promote your own practical chats for intentional living. I also want to remind you about the financial side of Savvy Sauce Charities.   As you know, we recently became a non-profit, which means all your financial support is now tax deductible. There are multiple ways to give, and we would be so honored if you would share your financial support with us so that we can continue producing free content that is accessible to the general public. Your money will go to support creatively getting the gospel message of Jesus Christ to the nations as we continue to share the good news on every episode.   And I say this is reaching the nations because The Savvy Sauce podcast is downloaded in all 50 United States, as well as over 100 countries around the world. Your financial support also supports practical needs, such as aiding our team to continue producing helpful content that is practical and uplifting and always pointing to Jesus. Your financial support, furthermore, will help us continue to expand our reach and secure future projects we have planned for this ministry.   If your ears are hearing this message right now, I am specifically asking you to give. We are so grateful for any amount, and our team will continue to seek to be good stewards of the gifts offered to us. So, if you want to write a check or set up an ongoing payment with your bank that delivers a check to us each month, this is the most beneficial way to give because no percentages are taken out for processing fees.   You can make your checkout to Savvy Sauce Charities at P.O. Box 101, Roanoke, Illinois, 61561. Additionally, with our new website, we now have a donate button. There are processing fees that we cover for these donations, but we wanted to offer listeners a seamless way to share their finances with us when we share our content with them. So just visit thesavvysauce.com and find the donate page under the tab support. Another way to find it is simply type in donate to the search bar on our website and just click the first picture shown. We are all about sharing around here, sharing resources, sharing joy, and sharing the good news about Jesus Christ.   We ask that you also will share by sharing financially, sharing The Savvy Sauce podcast episodes, and sharing a five-star rating and review. You can also share any of our social media posts on Instagram or Facebook. We are grateful for all of it, and we just love partnering together with you.   Now, back to the show.   Well, Nicole, you mentioned that your specialty is science, and when I think of your website, it has the name Sabbath in the title. So how do you weave these two together in your life?   Nicole Williams: (33:23 - 37:23) Yeah. So, I started a blog immediately after hearing a Wendell Berry poem, and that's how I named my blog. So, it was named before I started doing science curriculum.   But if you don't mind, I'd love to read the poem to you. It's beautiful. It's short.   Yeah, please do.   He says, “Whatever is foreseen in joy must be lived out from day to day. Vision is held open in the dark by our ten thousand days of work. The hand must ache, the face must sweat, and yet no leaf or grain is filled by work of ours. The field is tilled and left to grace. That we may reap great work is done while we're asleep.”   When we work well, a Sabbath mood rests on our day and finds it good. And that just had such a powerful impact on me because I realized as homeschool families, and Charlotte Mason made this very, very clear, we are presenting all of the feasts to our children, but we don't know what they're going to be interested in, what they're going to have an aptitude for, learning disabilities or challenges they may have, or places where they will excel and go above and beyond in a subject. We don't know those things.   We are working in cooperation with the Holy Spirit by sitting down every day and doing the lessons that are part of our schedule for that day. And what becomes of that within our child is up to the Lord. And that is hard for us because we have a lot to prove, or we think we do, to our neighbors, to our in-laws, to the local school, if we are having to school under some kind of an umbrella system in our state.   If we have children who have any kind of delays or special needs, we feel like we have even more to prove. And what Charlotte Mason wanted us to do was just present this information and let it take root in the child the way it would, because she said that they had a natural desire to learn. When they don't, it's because we've actually done something to destroy it.   They have a natural desire and ability to learn the types of things that we're putting before them. So, there's a lot of faith that goes into what we're doing. And frankly, there's a lot of faith that goes into a teacher in a classroom.   It's not any different. It's just that we will have a whole lot more peace in our life if we acknowledge that that's how it is, that we're not in charge here, that God is. So that is how my blog got its name.   And then science fell into that. And I feel like it's the same. It really just everything falls under that category for me, that our children are due the material that we're offering them.   And it's not within our right to hold back pieces and parts of it because maybe it's hard for us. For instance, physics. A lot of parents did not take physics in school because it was so math based in school.   But I was just talking to you about how physics is their love that God gave us. They are in nature everywhere we see. So, to kind of put blinders on and pretend like it's not there, that's not right.   It's a subject that's due to our child, whether they can handle the math or not. And so, through my curriculum, I actually have the math as optional. And I say optional, but it's not optional to the students.   It's optional because if a student can't do the math, they still have the ability to do the course and learn about the laws that God's given us. So, I don't know if that answers your question or not.   Laura Dugger: (37:23 - 37:44) I love how you explain things. And I think it's helpful that we've covered an overview of your chosen method of homeschooling. But I'd also like to know some more specific rhythms.   And so, what potential do you see in morning time, afternoons, and evenings?   Nicole Williams: (37:46 - 44:32) Yeah, I feel even more strongly about this stuff now that I'm not homeschooling because I really began to follow Charlotte Mason's ideas for her schedule. And it wasn't just the school schedule. She had kind of a whole day schedule for the kids.   She wanted them to start lessons at around nine, eight or nine. And, of course, these things are flexible. I don't want to make it sound like it's a legalistic thing, but she wanted them to start school around nine.   And then depending on their age, school stopped after two and a half to four hours. Two and a half for the youngest children, four hours for the oldest. And she had different amounts established for the different ages.   And the reason that it was kind of short like that is because she felt like twofold. One, their attention was going to be greater on their subjects if we kept their school day shorter. And she packs a lot in there.   So, there is this feeling of like the big deep breath after school is over because we've worked hard during that time, especially if you have kids, multiple kids in different age ranges. But then because after school she wanted them to have time for free play and just literally running mostly outside games, climbing trees, collecting wildflowers, doing things like that. And we know whether we want to acknowledge it or not, we know how important this free time is to kids.   For one thing, when they are playing outside, how many times have we seen our kids playing a game that is related to what we've been reading in history or tapping into whatever their science was? You know, maybe they're studying insects and now they're out there collecting them. So, there is this thing that happens in their brain.   It's like when we go to sleep after reading a book and mulling over a big question and then we wake up in the morning and we have our answer. Our brains do work in the background when we are not busy trying to shove things in. But this doesn't happen when we're playing video games or watching TV.   Our brains really check out at that. So, we have to have a play time for the kids or free time. And then she called them back just before what she called tea time.   And it really is like our dinner time an hour before then. And everybody did what she called occupations. And this was handicrafts.   And maybe your child plays the piano and they need to practice every day making entries in their book of centuries, which is kind of a history timeline kind of book, their nature notebook, things like that. So, there is this block of time before dinner. And by the way, some chores and things like that and then dinner.   And so that kind of leaves the before school in the morning and the after dinner to like leisure time, chore time, maybe getting meals cooked and things like that. Well, I started following her schedule pretty closely during my time homeschooling. I didn't really pick up on her schedule until kind of about halfway through my homeschooling journey.   But little by little, I understood more what she was saying to do and really implemented it. Well, then when I was done homeschooling, I still had one, but she was very independent. My life seems to kind of go off the rails.   I was struggling. I just could not get anything done. It felt like I was doing so much.   And I don't know. I just I can't even really quite explain it. But I was super overwhelmed with the work that I do.   I wasn't getting dinner made. And at some point I realized that all of that really somewhat rigid schedule that we had fallen into over the years was such a piece to my life. I am not a person who likes a schedule.   I actually just really want to be left alone. Whatever the day brings that I want to do, I want to do it. I am not a person who keeps a list of what they're going to do every day of the week and stuff like that.   It's just not a comfortable place to me. But what I found when all of that was taken away is that the comfort and the peace that came with those routines was gone. And so, I look back and I just have to say that is that is the potential in those things and having a time for all of the things.   So, I eventually had one day a week that I would accept, you know, doctor's appointments when I started homeschooling. If they wanted me to go to the dentist at, you know, 10 in the morning because I'm flexible, I'm a homeschooler. I would go do that and totally wreck our whole school day.   And then there came a time where I said, no, we only do appointments on Wednesday afternoons. And maybe I had a backup thing if it happened. That was the doctor's day off or something like that.   But if I had to wait five weeks for an appointment, that's what I did. Unless it was an emergency, of course. But I really landed on a pretty rigid outline.   Now, we have things happen. We moved in the middle of the school year like five times. We remodeled the house.   I lost my mom. I cared for my grandma at the end of her life. Things happen.   So, I'm not suggesting that this is like a very rigid thing, but we have to have something to aim at. And when we do and we know nine o'clock, I'm going to have my mom butt in my chair. And I expect everybody else to be there, too, because this is my job.   And there are other people who can educate my kids, and the bell will ring and it starts on time. So, if I'm going to take on this role in my life, I need to be accountable to my children, to my husband, to myself to make this a priority. And when I started having a little bit more of that attitude.   There came peace. It's just like our life under the law of the board. The rules he gives us allows us to have peace in our life.   And when we establish some of those for ourselves, it can bring peace, too. So, there's definitely potential in having kind of blocks of your day. This is what we do now. This is what we do this day of the week. That kind of thing. And everybody gets on board with it, too.   We take a nature walk on Friday. Everybody knows it. Everybody looks forward to it. And everybody holds me accountable to it. That kind of thing.   Laura Dugger: (44:33 - 44:49) That is so helpful to hear. And really, even during those especially trying seasons, it seemed like this self-disciplined intentionality with which you lived life, that that really brought in freedom kind of unexpectedly.   Nicole Williams: (44:50 - 45:25) It really did. In fact, towards the end of homeschooling, I found that my business was growing, and I felt like I had so much to do there. But when I sat down to do lessons with my kids, there was never more scheduled for that day's series of lessons than we could do during that time.   So, there was never this feeling of being behind or being rushed or trial. It was just like; this is what we're going to do today. And it gave great peace.   It really did. It took a long time for me to get to that place. I hope other people can get there faster than me.   Laura Dugger: (45:26 - 45:42) But even to hear about your journey, if you said the longest school days, I'm assuming even as they got older, it was about four hours to get everything done. So then by one o'clock in the afternoon, is that when you would do your work?   Nicole Williams: (45:42 - 47:49) It is. And so, at that point, they were older. What I found is that when we do our lessons with our kids in that kind of intense way, like we've got four hours, we're doing them.   And my kids, of course, at that age, they were both the last two were in high school. You know, one might be on one couch, one on the other. I'm in the chair and I do something with one of them and then maybe the other.   Then we're both doing. So, they're not like going off. They were there. We were all. And maybe I had a period of time to myself that I could use for planning, you know, a half hour.   They're both reading their history. I'm going to plan for, you know, tomorrow's lesson or something like that. So, there was some let up there. It is different when you have like two children who are learning to read.   You know, there is a lot more challenge than that. I used to say when they were younger that I felt like an air traffic controller and the intensity of that time of me getting from this child's lesson to that child's lesson. Now I've got to hear a narration.   We really had to be very orderly about it, or it wasn't going to get done. But when it was done, the kids wanted to go off and play. They weren't going to hang on me because they'd had a lot of really good quality time with me.   So, they were ready to go play. And that gave me like, OK, redirect, you know, have a break. I would do some work.   Often I made lunch and cooked dinner at the same time after school lesson. And then that was done and put aside. And then later I did have a child who got into ballet and spent like four hours some nights in ballet.   And then that's when I kind of did my work. You will never, ever hear me recommend to a homeschooling mom to take on work. It is hugely challenging to homeschool your kids, take care of your home and do any kind of outside work.   You really, it's hard just to do the basics. It's really hard when you have to throw some number of hours every day of work in there, too.   Laura Dugger: (47:49 - 48:02) And yet it sounds like God did call you to this work and you've participated well and you've ordered your life in this way. He's provided the grace to make this all happen.   Nicole Williams: (48:03 - 49:30) He has. I'd say one of the big things that I have taken away from all this is when you have times in your day where, you know, this is when I do school. This is when I cook dinner. This is when I do my morning chores. I will be home these days of the week. I won't go out of the house.   When you order your life in that way and you get called to do something like take care of my elderly grandma, you have room in your life to do that kind of thing. My grandma only lived a short distance from me. It took me like five minutes to get to her house.   But I would go every night, and I would take her dinner, and I'd sit with her for another hour or so and then I would put her to bed at night. Well, there were times in my life where I ran myself so hard that I could have never done that for her. So sometimes when we feel like we have a little extra time, we may take up knitting or, you know, read a book.   Do something that is edifying and building you up because you don't know what the Lord is going to call you to do in your life. And when we pack out every minute of every day, we're not really allowing him to call us into helping another person or do something that he's calling us to do. So that's my little soapbox.   Laura Dugger: (49:30 - 49:56) Yes, that is rightfully convicting. I think of a local woman here, Marsha Cook, who said margin makes me kinder. And so, I think that's worth pursuing.   But I am grateful that you work because you do a lot of good work and you have so much available. Can you just share a little bit more about your work and where we can go after this chat to learn more from you?   Nicole Williams: (49:57 - 53:15) Sure. My website is Sabbath Mood Homeschool, again, named after Brindleberry's poem. And there you will find just a lot of blog posts over many, many years.   You also find my living science curriculum there that is based entirely on how Charlotte Mason did it. So, I take no pride in my idea because it isn't my idea. I am literally just trying to basically do lesson planning for the parent.   You know, what experiment goes with this reading this week? What other resource like a current event or maybe a video would help to support this information? Just trying to take that work that the parent would need to do to prepare for that lesson and do it for them so that I have that there.   And in the last couple of years, I started making nature videos, too, to help people along with nature study. Charlotte Mason felt that it was best for the parent to learn about nature so that they could then help their kids along. So, I have videos about the different categories of flowers and birds and trees through the seasons and what to watch for.   And there's just a lot of things that like, you know, lots of people don't know that the buds on bushes and trees that form the flowers and the leaf buds are often formed in the fall. And they're there all winter long and we can look for them. So, things like that.   So, I have that there. And then I also have a newsletter that you can sign up for there. That is kind of random, both in how often it comes out and in what I include.   But I include things like, you know, the books I've read in a year and if there's a special coming up or sometimes just encouragement to something that maybe I'm thinking about at the time regarding how we spend our time or something like that. And then I'm also the co-host of a delectable education. And you've interviewed Emily and I think Liz comes next.   Right. Is that how it goes? That's correct.   All right. And the three of us together have the podcast of delectable education. And we're just finishing up our ninth season right now.   So, we have episodes on every subject of a Charlotte Mason education. Like, how do we do history? What in the world is Sulfa?   And what do we do? But then we also just have a lot of episodes just, you know, encouraging the homeschool family how to do this, what to do with afternoon times, things like that. And we put on a virtual conference every year called ADE at home.   And that is in February. And it was kind of born out of the delays of 2020, you know, but no conferences could happen. But we found that it has been a beautiful way to utilize students doing their lessons.   And so, when people watch, they're watching a family do a lesson before them, which we can never do at an in-person conference. So that has been incredible. We've gotten really good feedback on that.   So, we've continued doing it. That's about it. That's everything I think.   Laura Dugger: (53:16 - 53:40) So much on your plate, but we will link to all of that in the show notes for today's episode in case anyone wants to follow up and study further. And Nicole, you may know that we're called the Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with discernment or practical knowledge. And we would love to hear your practical life tips.   So as my final question for you today, what is your savvy sauce?   Nicole Williams: (53:42 - 54:45) Well, I would just have to say in a sentence is making a schedule and sticking to it. As much as I say that you have you have to picture me kicking and screaming on the floor like a two-year-old because I don't like to do it. But flexibility is fun, but it's not actually going to get the important things done in our life.   And we are responsible people who have integrity. And we know there are things that we must get done. And that's the only way that I know how to do it.   But I sometimes think of life creeping in. I have this mental picture of being in the front of a concert and people pushing and pushing. And if you go down, you're going to get trampled and maybe killed.   And I feel like that is how life is. It is always trying to creep in and push in on us. And we have to guard our life, our kids' school schedule, our kids' play time.   We have to guard that seriously because it's very, very important. So that's it. Make a schedule and stick to it.   Laura Dugger: (54:45 - 54:59) That is so good. And, Nicole, you just have such a warm and welcoming personality and a very calming presence. I really enjoyed this opportunity to get to interview you.   So, thank you for being my guest.   Nicole Williams: (55:00 - 55:18) Thank you so much. I wish the best of luck to all of your listeners. And I know this is a hard thing we've taken on.   It is not easy. But it is such a value. There's going to be fruits in their life throughout their whole life because of the time that you're devoting to them now.   Laura Dugger: (55:20 - 58:36) Thank you for that encouragement.   One more thing before you go, have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you, but it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a savior, but God loved us so much. He made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life. We could never live and died in our place for our sin.   This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished. If we choose to receive what he has done for us, Romans 10:9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   So, you pray with me now. Heavenly father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you.   Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life? We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus name we pray.   Amen. If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me. So, me for him, you get the opportunity to live your life for him.   And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you're ready to get started.   First, tell someone, say it out loud, get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes and Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible and I love it.   You can start by reading the book of John. Also get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.   We want to celebrate with you too. So, feel free to leave a comment for us here. If you did make a decision to follow Christ, we also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process.   And finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, “in the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

In this powerful episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony and Jesse return to their parable series with an in-depth examination of the Laborers in the Vineyard from Matthew 20:1-16. This often-misunderstood parable confronts our natural inclination toward merit-based thinking and exposes the scandal of God's grace. The hosts unpack the covenantal language embedded in the text, particularly the workers' "grumbling"—a loaded term echoing Israel's wilderness rebellion. Through careful exegesis and theological reflection, they demonstrate how this parable dismantles religious entitlement while celebrating God's sovereign freedom to bestow mercy according to His purposes, not our calculations. The discussion offers fresh insights into grace, election, and the radical generosity that defines God's kingdom economy. Key Takeaways The parable operates on covenant logic, not economic fairness: The landowner's dealings with his workers reflect covenantal promise-keeping rather than marketplace transactions, establishing that God's relationship with His people is fundamentally gracious. "Grumbling" carries profound theological weight: The Greek word used for the workers' complaint is the same term in the Septuagint for Israel's wilderness rebellion—not mere dissatisfaction, but a covenantal accusation against God's faithfulness. Two types of workers represent two approaches to God: The first-hired workers who contracted for specific wages represent those relating to God through legal obligation and merit, while later workers who trusted the owner's promise represent faith-based relationship. The reversal of payment order is narratively essential: By paying the last workers first, the landowner deliberately exposes the merit-based assumptions of the first workers, forcing them to confront their entitlement. Grace doesn't negate justice—it transcends it: The landowner fulfills every contractual obligation while simultaneously exercising sovereign generosity beyond what is owed, demonstrating that mercy and justice coexist in God's character. The parable addresses the present kingdom, not just heaven: Because it includes grumbling and complaint, this parable describes life in God's kingdom now—the "already but not yet"—rather than the consummated state. Divine sovereignty in salvation is the theological climax: The landowner's declaration "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?" directly addresses God's freedom in election and the scandal of unmerited grace. Key Ideas The Covenantal Nature of the Landowner's Dealings The parable's opening establishes a formal agreement between the landowner and the first workers: one denarius for a day's labor. This contractual arrangement is crucial for understanding what follows. Unlike marketplace haggling, this represents a covenant—the landowner binds himself to provide what he has promised. Tony emphasizes that even this initial contract is an act of condescension and grace, as the master had no obligation to employ anyone at all. As the day progresses, subsequent workers are hired with increasingly less formal agreements. By the third hour, the landowner promises only "whatever is right," and by the eleventh hour, no wage is even mentioned. These later workers enter the vineyard based entirely on the landowner's character and trustworthiness. This progression mirrors the movement from law to gospel—from contractual obligation to trusting promise. The theological implication is profound: those who relate to God based on His gracious word rather than calculated merit are actually in a more secure position than those who attempt to earn their standing through works. The Wilderness Echo: Grumbling as Covenant Violation The hosts make a critical exegetical observation about the Greek word for "grumbling" (γογγύζω) used in verse 11. This is not casual complaining but the identical term used throughout the Septuagint to describe Israel's covenant rebellion in the wilderness. When the workers grumble "upon receiving" their wages, they're not merely expressing disappointment about pay inequality—they're filing a covenant lawsuit against the master, accusing him of unfaithfulness. This connection to Numbers 16 and Exodus 16-17 is devastating. The Israelites' wilderness grumbling wasn't about logistics or comfort; it was fundamentally about doubting God's covenant fidelity. By employing this loaded terminology, Matthew signals that the first workers' complaint is nothing less than accusing God of covenant violation. The landowner's response ("Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?") is a covenant defense—he has fulfilled his obligations precisely. The workers' real offense is not miscalculation but begrudging God's freedom to show mercy beyond what is contractually required. The "Evil Eye" and Begrudging God's Grace The final rhetorical question—"Or do you begrudge my generosity?"—contains another Jewish idiom often lost in translation. The Greek literally reads, "Is your eye evil because I am good?" This "evil eye" imagery appears throughout Scripture as a metaphor for envy, stinginess, and resentment toward another's blessing. The landowner's question cuts to the heart: are you cursing me for being generous? This directly parallels Jonah's response to Nineveh's salvation. Jonah had just experienced miraculous deliverance through the great fish, yet when God showed identical mercy to the Ninevites, Jonah's response was essentially, "I knew you were gracious—that's why I ran!" The parable exposes the same perverse logic: those who have received covenant mercy begrudging that same mercy extended to others. For the Pharisees listening to Jesus, this was an indictment of their resentment toward tax collectors and sinners receiving the kingdom. For Christians today, it challenges any sense of spiritual superiority based on how long we've been in the kingdom or how much we've sacrificed. Memorable Quotes Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity? That 'or' is a logical connector—either I'm not allowed to do what I want with my belongings, which is ridiculous, or if I am allowed, then you must be mad at me for being generous. Those are the only options. — Tony Arsenal The grumbling in the Old Testament in this context is a covenantal accusation. These workers aren't just complaining about not getting what they thought they would—they're questioning the veracity of the covenant that was made. — Tony Arsenal Most of us are this eleventh-hour call. It's much better to be in the place of that younger brother who comes in and repents than to be the older brother who is stubborn and finds some reason to come before God with self-righteous grievances. — Jesse Schwamb Full Episode Transcript [00:01:05] Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 488 of the Reformer Brotherhood. I'm Jesse  [00:01:13] Tony Arsenal: and I am still Tony, and this is the podcast where Tony comes back. Hey brother.  [00:01:19] Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. The band is back together again, man. It's reunited and boy, do you feel it? It feels good, doesn't  [00:01:26] Tony Arsenal: it? I do, I do. I'm excited to come back. It was nice to take a break. [00:01:29] Jesse Schwamb: Good.  [00:01:29] Tony Arsenal: I, uh, I've been, you know, texted with you a couple times. Just it was, I did my best to sort of not think about the podcast because that's sort of defeats the purpose of taking a break from something if you spend a lot of time thinking about it. Um, so I'm back. I'm refreshed. I'm ready to go.  [00:01:44] Break and Work Chaos [00:01:44] Tony Arsenal: I appreciate the listeners' patience. Uh, it's been sort of a weird, crazy busy time at work. Uh, there's a lot going on. I, I lost like. 60% of my staff in the course of like three weeks. And, um, I'm still kind of in the thick of it, but we're coming out of it. So took a little bit of time to just make sure that I was having a, an appropriate space to de-stress from that and take care of my family and attend to worship. And, um, it was really a, a blessing to have that. Uh, sort of sabbatical. Ironically, the sabbatical wars were going on at the same time on Twitter, and Jesse is blissfully unaware of that 'cause he's not involved in in the Twitter. That's true. Um, but yeah, just took a little break and it's kinda like overblown it, to call it a sabbatical. Like this is a podcast, it's a hobby, but, but it was nice to have, uh, a little bit of extra time, you know, couple hours extra week, uh, uh, each week of extra time to just decompress and, uh, play with the kids and spend time with my wife and clean the house a little bit, which was good.  [00:02:36] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, it is always good to have a clean house. You look great. You seem refreshed. The voice sounds good, and I'm like, I don't know, in year seven or eight of my Twitter sabbatical, it's going great so far. I feel like I haven't missed a whole lot. The world still seems wild and I'm sure, or X, right? We gotta go X on this. It's  [00:02:53] Tony Arsenal: always Twitter. It's always gonna be Twitter. I don't care what Elon Musk  says.  [00:02:56] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, I'm listen. I'm totally fine with that.  [00:02:58] Back to Parables [00:02:58] Jesse Schwamb: And I teased this in the last episode, but we can't be stopped. I mean, people should know this by now, we have an inexorable march through the parables of Jesus's true. That will not be stopped. We're always gonna come back until there are no more. And on this episode, we're gonna be hanging out in Matthew 20, talking about laborers in the Kingdom of Heaven.  [00:03:17] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I'm stoked. I'm, I'm, I'm excited to get back into it. I'm excited to get back into the word together with everybody. I'm excited to clear whatever that was on in my throat out  [00:03:27] Jesse Schwamb: emotion,  [00:03:27] Tony Arsenal: live on the air. Uh, but yeah, it'll be good. I'm, I'm stoked. I mean, I love this stuff and it's good to be back.  [00:03:32] Jesse Schwamb: Listen, you had the rest. Now let's talk about labor. So speaking of labor, it's, it's time for you to work up here, Tony. Are you affirming with or denying against on this episode?  [00:03:42] Tony Arsenal: Uh, I'm affirming something and I'm hopeful, uh, that just a little behind the scenes activity here. Jesse recorded episode 487, like an hour and a half ago. I have not yet listened to it, so I don't know if you did an affirmation and I I did. If you did. I hope it's not the same one.  [00:03:58] Jesse Schwamb: I did not. You're  [00:03:59] Tony Arsenal: safe. Uh, good. So I'm safe.  [00:04:01] Artemis II Hype [00:04:01] Tony Arsenal: So, um, I'm affirming the Artemis two mission. Um, oh, nice. Have you been, I mean, I know you're not on Twitter, but I'm sure there's news elsewhere. Uh, this amazing mission around the moon, um, for astronaut, for astronauts, I think, um, the furthest man space travel, um, since the Apollo program. Um. Pretty intense, pretty amazing pictures, right? The camera technologies amazing. Increased exponentially, uh, since we were there last. Um, this is ostensibly in preparation for an actual moon landing, which who knows when that will be? Um, but as far as I've seen, the mission was a resounding success. There was no right. I think they had, they ran into a few little hiccups early on with some technical things, but nothing crazy. I have not heard. Um, I know they did touch down and they did reentry. Um, I've not heard anything one way or another, but I'm assuming since I have not heard terrible, tragic news that they made it through, did they do the reentry? I'm really, apparently I'm not actually paying as much attention to this as I thought I was. I saw a lot of information about reentry, but I guess, I don't know for sure when that happened or is happening.  [00:05:05] Jesse Schwamb: I mean, by this point, when people listen to it, it'll be old news anyway, right? So  [00:05:09] Tony Arsenal: For sure. Yeah. And either, either it went terribly wrong and I'm gonna feel awful, or it went fine and I'm gonna feel a little silly for. Throwing a caveat that it went terribly wrong out there. But, um, it's cool. It's, it's amazing. I mean, I, I commented to my wife the other day and she's kinda like, yeah, maybe we should like, spend that money on people who are on the planet. I was like, okay, I can, I can buy that wisdom. But, um, there's something very cool and very Genesis, uh, one, ask Genesis one and two, ask about flying out into space and taking dominion over Yeah, for sure. Over a, a little ball of rock, uh, you know, uh, 25,000 miles away or whatever it is. Um. And, you know, I'm like an engineering nerd. I, I don't know anything about engineering, but I love watching YouTube videos that explain stuff like this. And  [00:05:52] Jesse Schwamb: me  [00:05:52] Tony Arsenal: too, all of the videos that have cropped up now about free return and how, like they're able to basically like do minimal burn on the thrusters to get into the right trajectory and then just like meet the moon in the place it's gonna be. And then the, you know, the moon's gravity captures it and whips it back around and then shoots it back towards Earth. And for the most part, they're able to do all of that with relatively minor, um, relatively minor energy output because they're just utilizing physics and gravity and math, um, to fly to the moon and come back. Yes. It's pretty crazy amazing. So, yeah. Amazing. And the photos of like the, the sort of like new versions of the Earthrise photos are really, really phenomenal. Um, they're crisp, they're clean, they're obviously like the best, the best actual pho photographic images we've had of the lunar surface. Um. And the, the far side of the lunar surface, which we get all sorts of like telescopic photos and things of this side of the lunar surface because it's tightly locked and is facing us at all times. We don't get a ton of really great photography of the far side of the moon, which is a big part of what this mission was, so,  [00:06:56] Jesse Schwamb: right.  [00:06:56] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. If you haven't seen the photos, I mean, they're out there, they're amazing. There will be even more available once we get back. You know, they, they're transmitting only the most stellar, amazing ones. Um, and, but they're taking, I'm sure thousands and thousands of photos and, um, so yeah, it's pretty cool. I'm affirming the Artemis two mission. Um. It's just amazing what, what people can do with common grace, you know? That's right. In insight into nature. Um, I don't know anything about the astronauts. I don't know anything about their religious faith or their spiritual life or anything like that. But, um, the people who design this, the people who fly it, they're just tapping into the truth that's present in God's creation. So good on them. Uh, either I'm glad they got home, wish they have a safe home coming, or something along those lines, I guess. I don't know.  [00:07:40] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, you'll be happy to know that NASA is reporting that the four astronauts are an excellent condition after they landed in the Pacific Ocean. So  [00:07:47] Tony Arsenal: good.  [00:07:47] Jesse Schwamb: All, all appears to be well. And it says they have a giant SD card of pictures that's they've been taking. Yeah. And saving. I'm sure. They were just, they were just too big to send to over wifi.  [00:07:58] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Like massive wideness. Yeah. I mean, I'm sure they have a ton that they didn't send because you know Right. Data rates to the moon are pretty high. Yeah.  [00:08:05] Jesse Schwamb: Ex. Yeah.  [00:08:05] Tony Arsenal: This economy is crazy. So  [00:08:07] Jesse Schwamb: Exactly. In this economy. Really In this economy. Yeah, exactly.  [00:08:11] Cosmic Worship Reflections [00:08:11] Jesse Schwamb: I think you're right. This is good. I haven't talked about this at all. It's hard not to get just stoked, even in the amateur way about the science, the technology, the physics of all this stuff, and then even the astronauts just being overwhelmed by what they're seeing. [00:08:24] Tony Arsenal: Mm-hmm.  [00:08:25] Jesse Schwamb: It's hard not to get pulled into that and think about the universe that God has created and find that there is something transcendent just, uh, by observing all of these things. Yeah. Like even casually, which I think shows, again, this is literally the, the heavens and the earth crying out for God, showing his immeasurable power and, you know, immortal nature. It's incredible that we can even see and be a part of some of these things. Just wild.  [00:08:49] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, and I think it's crazy that they can get signals to the moon. I mean, I drive home from Dartmouth College and I go through half of the spot there, and I don't have a cell signal, but we can get images from the moon. Um, so yeah, it's great. It's great. Check it out if you haven't seen it. If you haven't heard about it, I don't know what you're doing. Uh, this is probably the largest major scientific advancement in our generation. Um, in terms of like big scale scientific enterprise projects. There's been a lot of really amazing technology that's been developed. But this is like the first big. Almost like risky kind of scientific,  [00:09:30] Jesse Schwamb: right?  [00:09:30] Tony Arsenal: I dunno. Gambit or I dunno, gamble that we've done in a long time. Big deal. I mean, big a lot. Deal of things. Deal. Nothing went wrong. Nothing ma major went wrong. Praise God that they all got back to the planet safely. Right. But, um, a lot of things could have gone wrong, uh, and they didn't. So check out the photos, check out the scientific data they're gonna get. I mean, I'm sure they've got all sorts of information about the way the, the, the space ship moved, all of that stuff. It's gonna be really interesting to see kind of how this all comes about.  [00:09:56] Jesse Schwamb: Get some worship on, right? Yeah. I mean this is what a one, a thing to be reminded about how big and how glorious God is. [00:10:01] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:10:01] Jesse Schwamb: And, and to realize, like you said, the risks of this exploration. And this is God again, creating all of this outta nothing. Why? Yeah. Just absolutely wild. Incredible.  [00:10:12] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah, for  [00:10:12] Jesse Schwamb: sure. Blown away.  [00:10:13] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. What about you, Jesse? What do you have for us?  [00:10:15] Bayes and Predictability [00:10:15] Jesse Schwamb: I got affirmation. It's equally nerdy, and actually this is as is always the case. This is why one of many reasons I miss you is it, it dovetails so nicely, so I'm affirming with a book. It's called Everything Is Predictable, how Esy and Statistics Explains the World. It's by a guy named Tom Chivers. I know this sounds super nerdy, but hear me out on this because Thomas Bayes, if you don't know this guy is first kind of like a wild and interesting guy, but this whole theory he put forward is super interesting. And this book is not like a mathematics book. It's like reads almost like a statistical thriller, which as it came outta my mouth, realized it was not maybe more ingratiating. I could have chosen better words than statistical thriller. But Thomas Bayes was alive in the 17 hundreds. And what's interesting to me at least about him, is he was an English statistician, who was a Presbyterian minister actually. He was a non-conformist and his, this whole theorem that he developed was actually published after his death. And the non-conformist part is super interesting. It's all in this book, even some of his different theological ideas. But because he was non-conformist, it basically meant like he couldn't learn. He was kicked out of all the English universities. He had to go to Scotland. Even all of that shaped how he came up with this particular theorem. But the gist of it is. Rather than treating like probabilities, as we think about it as this fixed frequency, you know, how many times does this thing occur? He argued and realized that it should represent a degree of belief and then you would update that belief rationally as new evidence comes in. And I know that sounds super quaint, but this is like what machine learning is based on medical diagnosis. A lot of like space travel is based on this in terms of understanding uncertainty and systems spam, all of that stuff. Here's an example, I think Tony, because we are, we have to carry forward with the top 50 medical podcast thing, right? We've got going on here. Lemme just give everybody an example of why you need this and why you automatically think this way. So. Statistics is really important, especially in medical testing. This was really prevalent in during COVID. So there's two ways that you can describe how a medical test performs you. You know this already, Tony, you're an expert. So one would be like sensitivity. So like how AIG  [00:12:19] Tony Arsenal: not an expert.  [00:12:20] Jesse Schwamb: Oh, you're definitely an expert in testing. Here we go. So one would be like sensitivity. How good is the test at catching people who are sick? So if you're sick, you, you want the test to identify that, that you're sick. That's sensitivity. So a test with a 99% sensitivity is gonna correctly identify 99 out of a hundred people who are truly sick. It always gonna miss one person. It's a false negative. The other half of that coin is something called specificity. So if sensitivity is all about catching the people who are sick, specificity is gonna say, how good is the test at clearing people who are not sick? And so a test with 99% specificity, you might have correctly guessed, is gonna identify or clear 99 out of a hundred healthy people. Now if you have a test. Both of those 99% sensitive and 99% specific, you might be thinking, that is the dream. That's exactly what I want. That that test is gonna be so precise and accurate. How could my intuition fail me? But this is the thing. It actually fails all the time, and here's why. Let's say that. You go out and you screen a group of people, a general population for a rare disease that affects one in a thousand people. One in a thousand people, rare disease. So if you screen 10,000 people from the general population, that means that truly only 10 of them are going to have the actual disease. I'm not gonna do all the math 'cause it'll, oh, this is already making for amazing podcasting. But here's the bottom line. That test, which sounds so good on the face, is going to identify 109 people as truly sick or truly having disease. But the problem is that only 10 of them actually have it. That means that only there's, it only has a success rate of 9%. There's only 9% chance you actually have the disease, but it's falsely identified. The short end of this is Bayes corrects that problem. He fixes it with his theorem so that we get to the right number of people. That's what's called like a base fallacy rate. It's not taking into account that really only 10 people should have this particular disease or this sickness. So I know that's sounds super nerdy, but so much of our lives are based on this. We have a prior belief or a prior set of things that we understand about the world. And then as evidence comes in, we refine that. That sounds so normal and normative, but it's revolutionary in this book actually. Bayes versus what's called like frequentist or frequent, um, probability is like hotly debated. People actually throw down over this theorem. So it's a really fun read. Go check out. Everything is predictable. Al Bayesian statistics explains our world. It really is for everybody. And then you can impress your friends with all the statistical pross you're gonna have when you're done reading it.  [00:14:56] Tony Arsenal: Like the medical administrator hat that I can't always take off is like, why would we screen 10,000 people? Are, are they all symptomatic? Are none of them symptomatic? But suppose it doesn't really  [00:15:08] Jesse Schwamb: matter for the example. That's a great, so generally what happens here is, let's say it's like some kind of rare form of cancer, unless you use Bayesian statistics, what you'll find is you'll get these false positive rates. So these tests do use Bayesian statistics. It corrects, in other words, for this problem. So there might be a lot of people that are gonna screen for this because if you, you wanna know if you have it, but you don't wanna get it wrong and say that you do. So this ensures his approach ensures that you get it. Right. It's wild. Fascinating stuff.  [00:15:34] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, and I would think actually, you know, there's probably, there's other mechanisms as well where they would, where they would sort of screen out. People that shouldn't be tested or help identify false negatives, false positives. Um, but yeah, that's, that's interesting. I probably won't read that book, but it sounds like an interesting read. I just don't have a lot of room on my A TBR shelf.  [00:15:55] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, listen. That, that's fair.  [00:15:57] Goodreads DNF Update [00:15:57] Jesse Schwamb: By the way, here's like a, a side affirmation. I think you and I both share speaking like books and cataloging books. If you use Good Reads, good Reads. Right. Finally adding a list of the Do Not Did Not Finish book. That's fantastic. This, this might be an example for some people, so pick it up and even if you don't have a place for it, guess where you can put it on the did not finish list. Yeah. Good Reads.  [00:16:16] Tony Arsenal: That's finally, that's one of those like, like why didn't they add that 15 years ago? Kind of an updates and you get the email and they're like, we're so excited to introduce the did Not Finish thing. And we're like, yeah. Like of course. Like, duh. It's likes, like, we're proud to introduce that. Your keypad now has a zero on it.  [00:16:36] Jesse Schwamb: Right. So  [00:16:37] Tony Arsenal: yeah. I'm, I'm excited about the DNR, um, the DNF, um, I'm so excited. I can't even remember what it's called. Yeah. The shelf. But, uh, very, very useful. The DNR list  [00:16:47] Jesse Schwamb: is a diff it is a different list. Speaking of medical things, it's a different  [00:16:50] Tony Arsenal: list. Yeah. Yeah, that's definitely a different thing. Usually it's not a list. It's a list of one in most cases.  [00:16:56] Jesse Schwamb: Exactly,  [00:16:57] Tony Arsenal: yeah. You can't put other people on your  [00:17:00] Jesse Schwamb: DNR  [00:17:00] Tony Arsenal: This,  [00:17:00] Jesse Schwamb: I suppose. Yeah, I should clarify that. You can really, you can only really put yourself, or I suppose somebody for whom you have that kind of authority over on that list, but I was thinking that more from like a medical perspective, that somewhere there would be a database in which there might be a list of DNR. I don't know.  [00:17:15] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, maybe. I don't know. I'm not sure. Probably there was at some point, but I think with medical chart technology now, that's probably like a. A moot point. Yeah. They don't need to be able to like cross reference a master list anymore. They just look in the patient's electronic record. We're really like in the weeds here. You can tell it's been a while since I've, I've podcasted. I don't really remember how to do this.  [00:17:35] Jesse Schwamb: This is great.  [00:17:36] Segue to Matthew 20 [00:17:36] Jesse Schwamb: I think at this point we try to make some kind of awkward segue that is mildly successful. Again, probably has statistically like a 20 to 27% chance of being successful and really hitting the mark. Yeah. So do you have anything that's gonna move us into this?  [00:17:49] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I mean, I feel like you've been podcasting for the last several weeks without me and I've been working hard and now I'm kind of coming in as Johnny come lately and we're gonna get paid the same amount so. Even though you've worked harder for longer and I'm coming in late to the game here. [00:18:03] Jesse Schwamb: Oh man. Ple loved ones. Please tell me you got that. Please tell me you got all of that. That's, that's what you show up for here. Yeah, that was  [00:18:10] Tony Arsenal: a deep cut.  [00:18:11] Jesse Schwamb: That, that was beautiful. And I think leads us right into Matthew 20. So I think we've got at least 16 verses to get through here. Maybe again, if we're gonna keep a statistical theme here, something about engineering and math, all that stuff, we'll let everybody else pick the over under and whether or not we're gonna get through this and how many verses that's going to be. But at this point, we might as well begin.  [00:18:32] Tony Arsenal: Yes. Yeah.  [00:18:33] Read the Parable [00:18:33] Tony Arsenal: I'll start by reading. Uh, we're here in Matthew chapter 20, the first 16 versus this is the parable of the laborers in the vineyard and it reads. For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborer laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into the vineyard and going out about the third hour, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. He said to them, you go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right, I will give you. So they went, going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the 11th hour, he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, why do you stand here idle all day? They said to him, because no one has hired us. And he said to them, you go into the vineyard too. And when the evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, call the laborers and pay them with their wages, beginning with the last up to the first. And when those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now, when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house saying, these last worked only one hour and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat. And he replied to one of them, friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me? For a denarius, take what belongs to you and go, I choose to give the last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you beg, do you begrudge my generosity? So the last will be first and the first will be last. Now I just wanna head this off. I did bite my tongue earlier and I probably am lisping and this is like a running gag. We thought that we'd resolved it. Uh, so if you hear me stumble over my words a little bit, it's just, it's just the struggle bus today.  [00:20:24] Jesse Schwamb: Listen, this is the, these are like the real things we have to deal with when the podcasting, like the real threats, the real injuries. I appreciate you like working through it. Like you just get back up and you walk it off with your tongue.  [00:20:35] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, my, my, uh, my podcasting hiatus was actually just a recovery of the last time I bit my tongue. I just needed a couple weeks to, no, I'm just kidding.  [00:20:43] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, we didn't wanna say.  [00:20:44] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:20:44] Kingdom Fairness and Grumbling [00:20:44] Tony Arsenal: So, Jesse, this is a, this is a parable that follows right on the heels, um, of kind of everything we've been talking about. And I think as we go through these parables and we look at them and we, we sort of pick them up and we look at the different facets of them, we sort of compare them to each other. We kind of, we kind of place them in their context really. They all have basically the same theme, right? Like they're all kind of circulating around these same topics. In this parable, it's circulating around this idea that, um, the, the owner of the vineyard, the master of the vineyard, is allowed to pay the people he employs whatever he wants. And as long as the payment that is due to an individual is received by that individual, then what other people receive and how they receive it and how hard they've worked and how hard they didn't work. That's really not germane to whether or not the, the laborer received a fair wage, uh, in the first place. Right. So we're, we're circling around themes of kind of fairness of, uh, of sort of resentment, I think for resentment at the master's generosity, which has been a big theme in previous ones. So this will be good for us to expand on. There's always little nuggets and kernels of things that are different from other parables, and then it's interesting to always see the ways that they kind of line up and, and tell us similar things.  [00:21:57] Jesse Schwamb: And this parable is unique to Matthew. Yeah. And it does function as this exposition or expansion of what Jesus says in chapter 19 where it says, but many who are first will be last. And the last first, which is repeated with this lovely like inverted emphasis in, at the end of this as you just read. So it belongs to this like interesting cluster of teacher teachings on discipleship and reward nature of the kingdom of God. And we've, we've spoken a lot about that. I think I was just reminded of this as you were, you were. Reading this, I feel like I remember this from some teaching, like this parable is kind of like a unique chiasm that's anchored on the landowner, sovereign generosity, which you brought up. And then there's the complaints of the first hired, which is mirrored by the late comers vulnerability. And then the landowners, two speeches which divide everything, kind of provide sandwich and the like, the theological climax. It does start in that really familiar way, which we've gotten accustomed to thinking about that introductory formula of the kingdom of heaven is like, and it signals of course that what follows is not gonna be a lesson in economics, but it's gonna use all this economic language as theological disclosure for how God's kingdom operates. And it starts again, like you said, with this master of the house, which to me seems. Pretty clearly like a, a God figure himself. Yeah. It's, that's kind of like a reoccurring mathian image. I think. So we've got this vineyard, which of course has all this symbolism, steeply rooted in Israel's covenant imagination and evokes God's people and his redemptive labor among them. So, man, now that I'm saying this all loud, is this thing like super pregnant with all kinds of like imagery and meaning?  [00:23:27] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, it's, it's always good to remember, although parables have kind of some parables, most parables have sort of distinct discreet, symbolic elements where like, this represents that this represents that almost in an allegorical form. And, and in some cases, like purely in allegorical form, where it's like pilgrim's progress where each, each individual, each entity, each location each represents some sort of symbolic value. But we have to remember that when, when it says the parable of the kingdom of heaven is like the master of the house, it's not just like the master of the house. Yes. Right. It's like this whole scenario. Yes. It's, it's like. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's like everything that follows, it's like the entire, um, the entire paree here. That's what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. And one of the things that I think is striking about this is the kingdom of heaven is like some people complaining, like the people complaining about, some people are getting the same wage for less work. Um, that is part of what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. So I think we sometimes think of, of. The kingdom of heaven in, um, in the parables, we think of it as though God is just saying, this is what heaven is like. Right? Jesus Just saying like, this is what heaven is like, but the kingdom of heaven, that language is broader than what we normally would say, uh, is. We're thinking of heaven, like in the, the spiritual abode where God lives and the angels live. Um, where, where the departed saints are waiting for the resurrection, the kingdom of heaven is, is also inclusive of the, the sort of like. Time now between the victory of Christ on the cross and the consummation of the kingdom and the last day, the kingdom of heaven is inclusive of that time period too. And so this parable sort of situates us. I think it situates us in that pre consummated state where we're talking about what it's like to be a part of the kingdom of heaven here and now in our fallen state, but still solidly in the kingdom of heaven. 'cause there's not gonna be any complaining or grumbling about God's justice in God's fairness once we're in the final resurrected state. Right? Sure. Nobody's gonna be looking back and be like, yeah, you were way too gracious for that guy. Nobody's gonna be playing the Jonah part when we're all resurrected and we're worshiping for, for all time going forward. So this parable, because there are elements of. Dissatisfaction or elements of grumbling or complaining similar to like the, the parable of the prodigal son. There's this sun figure, the, the older sun figure who like is just a bonehead and doesn't get it. Well, that can't be talking about the people who are in the resurrection kingdom in the final kingdom. It's gotta be talking about people who are still awaiting the resurrection of the body and who are still not yet. Uh, and even in, in that parable, the, the older son doesn't even seem to be a figure who's, who's regener. Maybe he does become regener at some point in the future, but he doesn't seem to be. In, even in God's kingdom, he doesn't seem to be, even among God's people, he's consistently placed outside of the field. You don't even know he exists until Nick halfway through the parable. This is similar in that there are these workers, they're receiving their wages and some of them are, are outwardly dissatisfied and grumbling against the master of the house. Um, so I think if we think about parables as describing heaven rather than the kingdom of heaven, we can lose sight of, of what's actually being said in a lot of them. [00:26:50] Contracts Versus Grace [00:26:50] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that's really good stuff because it strikes me that there are like, strangely, two groups here mentioned, I, I find this really kind of fascinating. We, I think we should talk about this, like the first group has like the most formal agreement, it's almost a legal contract, right? Various was like a standard day laborers wage sufficient mostly for subsistence. And so that detail seems theologically loaded to me. These workers relate to the landowner on the basis of a contract and what is owed. And so their claim at the end of the day will be exactly that. They're owed something and they know it, and that sets up Then this contrast with a second group, which is mostly all about grace because by the time we get to that third hour, like. Approximately like 9:00 AM then we're beginning this pattern repeated at the sixth and the ninth hours. And crucially, for those workers who go out, go out and get recruited, there's no wage that's specified for them. Only the promise of like whatever is right. And so they enter the vineyard, not on the basis of a contract, but on the basis of like the owner's word and character. And that seems to be like more of a picture of trust and not, not calculation. Yeah. Separate than like the first group. And that marketplace, idleness, as I read this, doesn't imply like laziness because verse seven clarifies like they just had not been hired. Right? They were overworked, they were unemployed. They were marginalized. So it does set up, like you said, everything you just talked about, about the kind of this, I like that. Like the Jonah, the Jonah whiners or whatever, like yeah, they want to complain about this, right? There are, and there are two, two separate groups that have kind of been brought into the fold, not under different terms or pretenses, but differently. [00:28:17] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And I think too, bear's saying, um. Although there are elements of parables that are very, very directly applicable. Mm. We shouldn't read this as though every, every specific thing in the parable is not a parable. Right. Right. I think we can look at this and we can go, you know, you can read this in a way where, oh yeah, there's some people actually earn their, earn their wage, they earn ary. Right. It's a fair contract. And they work all day and he says, well, I'm gonna give you what's right, what you, what I owe you.  [00:28:45] God Owes Nothing [00:28:45] Tony Arsenal: The reality is God doesn't owe any of us anything. Right? Right. He owes us wrath and judgment and destruction. And so even, even the people who are the hard workers in the kingdom of God don't merit and never could merit, um, to, in a certain sense, in a strict sense and stick with me before you send your, your angry emails in a real strict sense. Even Adam couldn't merit. What was, well, it was guaranteed to him, according to the Covenant of Works, God had to condescend to make the covenant of works in order for Adam to have any sort of fruition of his blessedness. So there there's no natural obligation, strict obligation that God has to reward the work of his creatures because nothing they could do could ever be sufficient enough to obligate him. So the, the obligation of himself, and that's, this is where I do think this is strong, the fact that he obligates himself to these workers to give them their denarius after a hard day's work  [00:29:37] Jesse Schwamb: exactly  [00:29:37] Tony Arsenal: is itself. A covenantal, um, contractual, yes. But I actually read this as sort of a covenantal thing and the, the strange part is that the people don't recognize the sort of semi gracious covenantal nature of this. Yes.  [00:29:50] Grace In The Hiring [00:29:50] Tony Arsenal: I think, um, you know, there have been times when I, where I've been unemployed, um, not for very long. Now, I know some people face unemployment for a lot longer than I ever have, but I know there was times where I was, I was looking for work and someone would say to me like, Hey, you know, my, my, my lawn needs to be mowed. Could you come over and I'll, I'll give you 25 bucks to mow my lawn. It's a small lawn. Um. That's a gracious act in most cases. Right, right. Um, yes, I'm performing a task. Yes, they're paying me, but they didn't have to offer me that work. They didn't have to offer me that job, especially when it's something that like they could have accomplished themselves. They could have just done it themselves. Um, so I think there's an element of that here, that there's, there's a condescension of the master to these workers, to these laborers who are not part of his household. These are not, they're not slaves. These are not people who are part of his household, who are regular employees. These are people that he goes out into the market to, to find and to hire. And as we see some of, some of these mark, like the difference between the ones that are hired and the ones that are not hired until later in the day, the parable's not super clear about what it is. Just that they're not hired, it doesn't say the lazy ones were left there. The ones were exactly, that were ugly or had like limp legs or like just couldn't cut it. It just says like there was some that didn't get hired. Um, so there's a gracious element of this, and that makes the recognition at the end or the lack of recognition at the end by these full day laborers, the, the sort of like recognition, this, this entitled ness, um, that actually makes it all the worst. It's like the people who are outwardly attached to the covenant of grace. Um, I know all the Baptists in our, our group, their heads just exploded, but like are outwardly attached to the covenant of grace, um, who wanna somehow complain about like the graciousness of the covenant of grace that they're outwardly attached to it. It's just sort of like a form of, of theological and temporary insanity, I think. And that's what we see on full display here.  [00:31:40] Jesse Schwamb: It's definitely all grace. You're right that nobody's gonna get injustice right in this parable. And I think that's definitely exemplified the further out you go in this hiring order. [00:31:49] Eleventh Hour Mercy [00:31:49] Jesse Schwamb: So by the time you get to 5:00 PM which is pretty extraordinary, right? Only really like one hour remains before sense, right? It's the end of the working day.  [00:31:56] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:31:56] Jesse Schwamb: You can imagine like these guys who are being hired at the hour probably can contribute very little in the last hour of the day, right? But this owner goes out and hires them and no agreement is stated whatsoever. It's just pure grace. The landowner's question, why do you stand here idle all day? I think to your point, underlies their vulnerability. They were not idle by choice, presumably. And so I think we rightly here in this, like a foreshadowing of those who are called the late in redemptive history, Gentile sinners, the seemingly least qualified for kingdom membership. All of that I think is at play and it's all, it's getting this lovely setup of all these groups to help us understand what that kingdom is actually like.  [00:32:33] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah.  [00:32:35] Reverse Payroll Setup [00:32:35] Tony Arsenal: And then we have this, um, this is where the sort of dramatic tension turns, right? The end of the day comes and, uh, the master calls the, the people that he brought last, right? He calls the people who'd only been there for an hour and he starts to go down the list of the people who, the people who were last, and the people who came in next. And the people who came in next, right? And the workers who had contracted at the beginning of the day. Um, they're watching this happen and they're kind of going, oh, this is gonna be good. Like, that guy's only been here for an hour and he got a denarius. You know, the logic is probably like, I'm gonna get 12 denarius, like I'm gonna go 12 days worth of work. Um, because I think there's an assumption on their part, um, that the master's fair that he is, he's providing an equitable wage. Um, of course the master is fair, but he's providing an equitable wage that's commensurate with the work delivered. A delivered, delivered, right? And that, that's the key to this parable.  [00:33:26] Merit Mindset Exposed [00:33:26] Tony Arsenal: I think the expectation that God. Helps those who help themselves. Right? God rewards those who put in the hard work. God. God provides blessing or salvation according to the merit provided by the one who's being saved. That perspective is what's on full display here. Yes. By the people who are, uh, the ones who contracted for the full day. They're not thinking about the covenant that they have with this person or the contract they have with this person. They're not thinking about the fact that they agreed to work for the day in order to earn a day's wage. They're thinking about how this actually is gonna work out great in their favor. They're looking at this as a strictly merit-based kind of a, a thing. And you would think that like when the, the one hour people come in, they get a denarius, and then the three hour people come in and they get a denarius. You'd think they would pick up on it at some point, but then in the course of the payroll, it doesn't seem that they do. They still get to the bottom of the list and think they're gonna get more compared to the other people who all got the same.  [00:34:22] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that display piece is critical to this. It is like complete setup. Like you can imagine he, the landowner calling everybody together at the end of the day and they're all standing around. Some of them are exhausted because they've again born all their work in the heat of the day on their backs. They're tired, they're dirty, maybe they're exhausted. And he starts in this reverse order. And by the way, we should note that there is something here that's beautiful in that the law, the landowner is law abiding because right evening payment is mandated in the Torah. So we see all this taking place as to fulfill the law in some ways. But the reversal of the order that last of first is like such deliberative and good narrative storytelling and staging, isn't it? 'cause it ensures that the first hired workers are going to witness the payment of those who work the least. And if without that order, if you just did it the other way around, the more a crisis of the parable disc like completely goes away.  [00:35:10] Tony Arsenal: Yeah.  [00:35:10] Jesse Schwamb: So this execution of the payment at the owner's will, it just shows that he has. He's completely independent. His sovereignty belong. The sovereignty belongs to the master alone. And so this 11th hour workers receiving a full day's wage for one hour of work, that's like an act of sheer generosity. It's not proportional justice. And I think as reform, people, maybe all of us at some point have had this conversation about predestination and justice and mercy. And again, really I think putting a crowbar between this idea that nobody is receiving injustice, but some are receiving mercy and grace. And here these first hired workers seeing this form, like you said, this expectation that they're gonna receive more, like you said, where that came from. Yeah, it's just them, right? It's purely manufactured in their own reasoning. It's not anchored in the covenantal promise and certainly not witnessed in the grace that they should be receive, like perceiving as the payments get doled out, like sequentially moving in their reverse order toward those who have worked the longest. But their expectation reveals that they have fundamentally misread like the landowner's character. They're still operating in the register of a contract and not grace.  [00:36:16] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And you know, I think to sort of lock this covenant covenantal frame and sort of like lack of recognition of the covenant into place too, when you look at the language of this parable, um, and especially kind of what it's following up on, it's coming on the heels of this interaction with this rich, rich young ruler who comes in and he thinks that he's gonna earn eternal life by keeping the commandments. Um, and, and he, he has this outward sense or this outward display of pty. He's calling Jesus good. He's saying he, you know, he keeps the commandments, Jesus doesn't even disagree with him actually, that he has connect. Yes. You know, I think it's implied that, well, of course you haven't, but he, he still is graciously trying to like, convince this guy, no, you actually need to abandon your self righteousness and, and pursue and follow me. Um. But this is a parable where like other people are listening, right? There's other witnesses. This isn't like the rich young ruler came to him in the middle of the night, like Nicodemus. This is something that's happened on PO on in the public. So we can anticipate that the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes and the lawyers were all aware of this. They may have been there, but they were at least aware of this happening. And I think there's some language in here that is actually directed at those people.  [00:37:30] Grumbling As Accusation [00:37:30] Tony Arsenal: And, and here's where it comes in, is you get to verse, um, we'll start reading again at verse nine. It says, when those hired about the 11th hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now, when those hired first came, so we're referring to the people who are hired at the beginning of the day. Now, when those who were hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius and on receiving it, right? So this is as, this is, um, uh, just unbelievable as they're receiving the denarius on receiving it, they grumbled at the master of the house. Now, just the way that I read that and said the word grumbled tells you that that word is really important here. Yes. If you look at this Greek word. And you compare it to the, the word, the usage of this word in the, the, um, Sept. Yes. Which of course is the Greek translation of the Old Testament. This word most commonly appears in the wilderness wandering accounts. [00:38:22] Jesse Schwamb: Yes.  [00:38:23] Tony Arsenal: Right. And the, the primary sin of the Israelites during the wilderness wandering was grumbling against the Lord. And this grumbling against the Lord in that context is not just a general complaining, right. It's not just like a, a sort of like a, a general dissatisfaction or like murmuring. This isn't like water cooler frustration about your boss. The grumbling in the Old Testament in this context is a covenantal accusation, right. So this is tied to the, the accounts where Moses first is told to strike the rock, and he does so when the water comes out, and then second is told to speak to the rock, but he strikes it. I won't go into all the details, but the scene that's being, being displayed there is the people come, they accuse the Lord of abandoning them into the wilderness. And this scene where Moses is set up on the rock and he strikes the rock, that scene is a judicial scene. The people have filed a covenant accusation against the Lord, and in reality, it's the people who have been unfaithful. But the Lord standing in the place of the rock is the one who is struck, right? Jesus was the rock in the wilderness from which the water came. Paul says that in First Corinthians, right? So this language of grumbling in this is not just, they're not just complaining about the fact that they didn't get what they thought they were going to, they're questioning the veracity of the covenant that was made. So they're, they're still locked into this merit-based. This merit-based idea even more than it seemed at first, right? There's a logic to the idea that like, oh, if the, the master is actually paying a wage of one denarius for per hour, like there's a logic to that. But it's not just that they're saying, and this is, this explains the response of the master. It's not just that they're saying like, Hey, wait a second, like the wage rate that you're paying is not right. They're saying you have violated the terms of our covenant in the way that you have paid us. 'cause it's upon receiving it that they complain or they grumble and the master says more or less like, Hey. You agreed with me for one Denarius, I'm giving you what you've earned. I'm giving you what you agreed on. Why don't you take it and go. So the answer is not to try to justify why he is free to pay these other people more, or why he's free to pay these people a perceived less. The answer is, again, they're complaining against the covenant. He is bringing it back to the covenant saying, well, here's what the covenant relationship was. You work for the day. I give you Denarius. We're square here, we're on the same page. We've fulfilled our covenant obligations, and you've received your reward for that. So I, I think that's another thing we have to lock in here is this is not just a general idea of like unfairness that's being presented. This is not just a general idea that people are saying the master of the house is unfair. They're saying he's covenantal. Unfaithful. Right? That's a pretty big accusation.  [00:41:09] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that is, thank you by the way, for completely stealing the whole tugen thing from me. Like I was just going hot to Tugen to find that reference. And now all I can do is add to it. So that is from at least one of those occasions, a number 16, and I just wanna read the verse. This is 16 six. So Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel at evening, you will know that Yahweh has brought you outta the land of Egypt. And in the morning you will see the glory of Yahweh for he hears your grumblings against Yahweh. And what we are that you grumble against us. So I'm totally with you. This is not subtle. The workers first complaint here, the first workers' complaint is like theologically serious. Uh, I think that's what you're hitting us on. Like it charges the owner with injustice. Right. And as I read it, the grievance has like two layers or two parts, I would say. One is this comparative part, which is basically saying, you made us equal to them. Right? And the second be like a meritorious part, they have worked harder and in worse conditions. And that's why they say things like, it's, it's all inflammatory language, isn't it? Like the scorching heat emphasizes like the real bodily cost and their complaint. I think if we're honest, it's not irrational, but it's spiritually revealing at least because Right, they believe their greater effort, mayors greater reward and they resent that grace shown to others. So like you said, they're bringing forward a very serious grievance and it's, it's not just like, Hey, we think maybe could you give us a bonus? Right. But that is a matter of faithfulness. And in fact, like as I'm looking at this tugen here, shout out to logos Bible software. And I'm saying that that verb that we're talking about in Exodus 16 is in the imperfect tense. So this is, they kept on grumbling and it is like an an echo of Israel's murmuring in the wilderness, which I presume like Matthew certainly had intentionally used there or had that view in part casting these workers as the same types of those who relate to God through entitlement rather than gratitude. So it's like insults upon insult here, but it is to emphasize this fact that it's no small accusation, it's not subtle, it's meant to be in your face. They're coming in hot with this and they're making a big deal about it.  [00:43:16] Tony Arsenal: Yeah, and again, I think like underscoring the covenantal nature of this is so key. And I think, you know, when we look at this, we really have to land that this is not just saying. Your wage structure is not right. 'cause and, and we gotta remember, they weren't there when the master went and made this bargain, or, you know, brought these other workers into the vineyard. They weren't there to hear what covenant or contract he did or didn't make. And as we've commented, they didn't, he didn't even make a covenant with them. He basically just said, I'm gonna put you to work and I'll pay you what's fair. I'll pay you what's right. Um, and they went, okay, you need the work and thank you. Like, I think, I think that's kind of like the, the scene here is they're standing there. They recognize they're not gonna get a wage for the day, especially these ones that he's coming in at the 11th hour, they're not gonna get a wage for the day. And as you said, these are subsistence workers. Right. These are people that if you don't get a wage, and this is the, the grounding of the Old Testament, um, the Old Testament command of, of paying at the end of the day is that if they don't get their wage, they're not gonna eat. They're not gonna have food, they're not gonna have the money they need to survive. Um, so he comes in and he basically says like. You don't have a job that's not gonna be good for you. I'll take care of you. I'll, I'll give you a job and I'll take care of you. And the ones who are complaining and grumbling, they have no line of sight to that process. That, that's right. They make a lot of assumptions about the, and this is, goes back to, um. The parable of the talents, which we haven't really talked about yet. The, the, there's a lot of assumptions about the nature of this master that the, the contracted or covenanted day laborers are making that don't turn out to be accurate. Right. They, they assume that he's working, as you've said, that he's working on this one-to-one, you know, quid pro quo. You do this, I do that kind of a, a methodology and he's actually operating on a basis of a much more. Basic, uh, grace principle. Uh, and again, even, even the principle of hiring these original workers and covenanting with them is gracious in the sense that he didn't have to hire them. Right. So, so all along the way they're, they're, it's like the epitome of looking a gift horse in the mouth.  [00:45:24] Jesse Schwamb: Yes.  [00:45:24] Tony Arsenal: They've been hired, and so yes, it is right for them to expect their, um, to expect their wage, whatever that wage might be. But they, they are misinterpreting the idea of what the wages are and how the wages are to be delivered. They're, they're applying, this is actually a lot like job's, friends, right? Their, their logic is not actually all that bad, but they have, they have missing parts of the picture that makes the logic. Apply differently in this particular situation. They think that this, this master works on a strict merit-based. You do X amount of work, you receive X amount of money. And this master is actually more functioning on this covenantal principle of, I'm gonna pay you what's right, regardless of what, what work you've done, which, what work is actually owed to you. And the master makes these, this agreement with these other workers to just say, go into the vineyard and then when the evening comes, I'll pay you. Right. Well, he intended to pay them what they needed to survive, regardless of how much work they provided. Right? So they're all, even though there's a formal contract to say these, this group works for the whole day and this group, you know, and, and they receive one day's labor, at the end of the day, he's graciously providing another day of survival for all of these people, for the work that they're, they're putting forward regardless of how much they actually contribute to his bottom line. [00:46:41] Owner Defends The Covenant [00:46:41] Jesse Schwamb: And we see that in verse 13, where the landowner gives his defense, you know, it says. He and he replied, friends, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for Denarius? Now the address, because now I'm deep in the Greek Tony. Here we go. So the address I'm seeing in, uh, again, shout out to Locus Bible software, it, this use of friend is not like the warm fellows, but like a more formal or distance term of address. It's used elsewhere in Matthew. But I think the point here is that the owner's first line of defense is this contractual point, which you're saying. I have not wronged you. He's kept his agreement precisely. No injustice has been done. And that's crucial. The owner doesn't re appreciate justice. He actually fulfills it. He obligates himself and he fulfills that obligation. And what the worker receives is exactly what was promised and exactly what is due. And so by the time he gets to verse 14 where he says, take what belongs to you, and go, I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you here. I think this is like the theological beating hide of this whole bad boy. Yeah.  [00:47:37] Jesse Schwamb: The landowner explicitly invokes his will, his sovereign freedom to do and to give as he pleases, which is exactly how God behaves. It's not a negation of justice, but this declaration of something beyond justice, it is grace. He exercises his freedom and generosity to those who had no claim, and the command, take what belongs to you and go is, is kind of like a world dismissal, like, like you were saying. Yeah. We're in the courtroom. He's like, I, I've ruled on this already. Like, bring Brian, bring your grievance. Here's my ruling. Take what you have and go. Their grumbling has revealed that they're not celebrating the kingdom. They're actually grieving it. So yeah, you know, I think original invocation of like Jonah is right on the money. It's basically like, are are you mad enough? Yeah, I'm mad enough to die. Like, how dare you give me, give me this great shade and then take it away from me. Yeah. And in some ways this is even worse because what they have been given has been that were promised to them, was given to them, and they get to retain and God says, go, or the landowner as God says, go now and take what is yours. Take what I've given to you graciously. But your point that like what supersedes that, the antecedent to all of that is still God's covenant keeping, covenant making promise, making, right? That sets the whole thing up. But I love this idea that, you know, I will choose, it's my desire, it's language of divine volition. And of course the reform theology, this single verb resonates with the entire doctrine of election. It's God's free, sovereign, and gracious will to bestow blessing without reference to merit, like praise his name.  [00:49:00] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And then we come to kind of the close of this parable, right? And this is, this reall

I haven't given an update to the Veneto region in more than a decade. With an upcoming Patron trip to the region, I think it's high time! Veneto is in northeastern Italy, Veneto is famed for wines like Prosecco, Valpolicella (including Amarone), Soave, and Bardolino. With 14 DOCGs, 29 DOCs, and 10 IGPs, covering about 104,400 ha (258,000 acres) of vineyards, the province makes every style of wine imaginable. Approximately 75% of plantings are white varieties—dominated by Glera at around 39% (this is the main Prosecco grape)—while 25% of plantings are red, led by Corvina with Corvinone, Rondinella, and Molinara. In this show, I discuss the history of Veneto, and then break the province down into three distinct regions, with some star DOCs and DOCGs: Eastern part: Prosecco/ Treviso Province Wine Zones: Valdobiaddene, Conegliano, Asolo, Cartizze Central part of Veneto: Around Vicenza/Padova - Breganze, Gambellara, Colli Berici, Colli Euganei Western Part: In the Hills of Verona: Valpolicella, Bardolino, Custoza, Lugana, Soave, Garda   I address some of the unfair criticisms levied against Veneto by certain wine writers, talk about how to find the best of the best wines from this region, and suggest some top producers.    A great show and a fun update after all these years! So much has changed and improved!    Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today! www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople _______________________________________________________________   Check out my exclusive sponsor, Wine Access.  They have an amazing selection -- once you get hooked on their wines, they will be your go-to! Make sure you join the Wine Access-Wine For Normal People wine club for wines I select delivered to you four times a year!    To register for an AWESOME, LIVE WFNP class with Elizabeth or get a class gift certificate for the wine lover in your life go to: www.winefornormalpeople.com/classes    

One day before Nancy, mother of news anchor Savannah Guthrie, goes missing, the DOJ releases the largest, single dump of documents in the history of the Epstein case.   Over 3.5 million pages. More than 2k videos. Approximately 180k images.   A little over 24 hours later, Nancy vanishes and the internet starts connecting some dots, suggesting strings were pulled to ensure her disappearance monopolized the national news stage instead of the most recent Epstein files dump.   Netizens cite Savannah Guthrie's 2019 interview with 6 of Epstein's survivors including Shante Davies who was pictured with the former US president Bill Clinton and the now late, Virginia Guiffre. The dateline special was Virginia's first ever televised interview, where she sat across from Savannah and specifically implicated Prince Andrew in Epstein's trafficking ring.   So is the timing of Nancy's disappearance just coincidental or is there something deeper at play?   Most importantly, what exactly is in these files that the public would possibly ‘need distracting' from?         Full show notes available at RottenMangoPodcast.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One day before Nancy, mother of news anchor Savannah Guthrie, goes missing, the DOJ releases the largest, single dump of documents in the history of the Epstein case.   Over 3.5 million pages. More than 2k videos. Approximately 180k images.   A little over 24 hours later, Nancy vanishes and the internet starts connecting some dots, suggesting strings were pulled to ensure her disappearance monopolized the national news stage instead of the most recent Epstein files dump.   Netizens cite Savannah Guthrie's 2019 interview with 6 of Epstein's survivors including Shante Davies who was pictured with the former US president Bill Clinton and the now late, Virginia Guiffre. The dateline special was Virginia's first ever televised interview, where she sat across from Savannah and specifically implicated Prince Andrew in Epstein's trafficking ring.   So is the timing of Nancy's disappearance just coincidental or is there something deeper at play?   Most importantly, what exactly is in these files that the public would possibly ‘need distracting' from?         Full show notes available at RottenMangoPodcast.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

One day before Nancy, mother of news anchor Savannah Guthrie, goes missing, the DOJ releases the largest, single dump of documents in the history of the Epstein case.   Over 3.5 million pages. More than 2k videos. Approximately 180k images.   A little over 24 hours later, Nancy vanishes and the internet starts connecting some dots, suggesting strings were pulled to ensure her disappearance monopolized the national news stage instead of the most recent Epstein files dump.   Netizens cite Savannah Guthrie's 2019 interview with 6 of Epstein's survivors including Shante Davies who was pictured with the former US president Bill Clinton and the now late, Virginia Guiffre. The dateline special was Virginia's first ever televised interview, where she sat across from Savannah and specifically implicated Prince Andrew in Epstein's trafficking ring.   So is the timing of Nancy's disappearance just coincidental or is there something deeper at play?   Most importantly, what exactly is in these files that the public would possibly ‘need distracting' from?         Full show notes available at RottenMangoPodcast.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.