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About this episode: Over the past few months, USAID has been dismantled, forcing the abandonment of aid projects and flushing away millions of dollars worth of food and medicine. In this episode: Journalist Hana Kiros talks about her reporting on the thousands of USAID-funded projects that have been terminated, the potential PR nightmare for the U.S., and what is happening to lifesaving supplies. Guest: Hana Kiros is a writer and an assistant editor at The Atlantic, where she covers human rights and technology. Host: Stephanie Desmon, MA, is a former journalist, author, and the director of public relations and communications for the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs. Show links and related content: Inside the USAID Fire Sale—The Atlantic Sudden Impact: When Health Programs End—Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine What Foreign Aid Means for National Security—Public Health On Call (February 2025) Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.

Elaine Hsieh Chou is the author of the debut story collection Where Are You Really From, available from Penguin Press. Official September 2025 pick of the Otherppl Book Club. Elaine Hsieh Chou is a Taiwanese American author and screenwriter from California. Described as “the funniest, most poignant novel of the year” by Vogue, her debut novel Disorientation was a New York Times Editors' Choice Book, New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award Finalist and Thurber Prize Finalist. A former Rona Jaffe Graduate Fellow at New York University, her Pushcart Award–winning short fiction appears in Guernica, Black Warrior Review, Tin House Online, Ploughshares and The Atlantic, while her essays appear in The Cut and Vanity Fair. She is a Fred R. Brown Literary Award recipient, a Sundance Episodic Lab Fellow and a Gotham Series Creator to Watch. Her work has been supported by the Harry Ransom Center, the New York Foundation for the Arts and Hedgebrook's Writers-in-Residence Program. *** ⁠Otherppl with Brad Listi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, etc. Get ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠How to Write a Novel,⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ the debut audio course from DeepDive. 50+ hours of never-before-heard insight, inspiration, and instruction from dozens of today's most celebrated contemporary authors. Subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠Brad's email newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support the show on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Merch⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bluesky⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠proud affiliate partner of Bookshop⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Gaar Adams joins Let's Talk Memoir for a conversation about living amongst and depicting queer and migrant communities in the Gulf states, falling in love with Arabic literature and translation, the undeniable parallels between queerness and migration, exploring subversive acts, capturing ourselves in less than flattering ways, combating self-censorship, concern with how loved ones might perceive us, protecting our memory, calibrating interiority, writing into periods of discomfort, the importance of chosen families, transcribing and organizing vast amounts of material and interviews, allowing for a multiplicity of voices, intentional interrogation of stories that aren't being told, and his new book Guest Privileges: Queer Lives and Finding Home in the Middle East.   Also in this episode: -the fallacy of the solo artist -knowing when to let go -protecting our memory   Books mentioned in this episode: Notes on a Foreign Country by Suzy Hansen  Sea State: A Memoir by Tabitha Lasley Maximum City by Suketu Mehta The Pink Line by Mark Gevisser   Gaar Adams is the author of Guest Privileges: Queer Lives and Finding Home in the Middle East, longlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize. His reporting from the Middle East and South Asia has been featured in The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, Rolling Stone, Bloomberg, VICE, Slate, and elsewhere. He received his Doctorate of Fine Arts from the University of Glasgow and currently teaches on the MA in Creative Writing at the University of Hull. He lives in London, UK.   Connect with Gaar: Website: https://gaaradams.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gaar.adams/ X: https://x.com/gaaradams   – Ronit's writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, The New York Times, Poets & Writers, The Iowa Review, Hippocampus, The Washington Post, Writer's Digest, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and their eventual reconciliation was named Finalist in the 2021 Housatonic Awards Awards, the 2021 Indie Excellence Awards, and was a 2021 Book Riot Best True Crime Book. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts' 2020 Eludia Award and the 2023 Page Turner Awards for Short Stories.  She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Pacific University, is Creative Nonfiction Editor at The Citron Review, and teaches memoir through the University of Washington's Online Continuum Program and also independently. She launched Let's Talk Memoir in 2022, lives in Seattle with her family of people and dogs, and is at work on her next book. More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com Subscribe to Ronit's Substack: https://substack.com/@ronitplank Follow Ronit: https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/ https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank https://bsky.app/profile/ronitplank.bsky.social   Background photo credit: Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash Headshot photo credit: Sarah Anne Photography Theme music: Isaac Joel, Dead Moll's Fingers

“My book is called Empire of AI because I'm trying to articulate this argument and illustrate that these companies operate exactly like empires of old. I highlight four features that essentially encapsulate the three things you read. However, I started talking about it in a different way after writing the book.The four features are: they lay claim to resources that are not their own, which is the centralization of resources; they exploit an extraordinary amount of labor, both in the development of the technology and the fact that they're producing labor-automating technologies that then suppress workers' ability to bargain for better rights; they monopolize knowledge production, which comes when they centralize talent.”In this episode of the Speaking Out of Place podcast, Professor David Palumbo-Liu talks with investigative journalist Karen Hao. She explains that OpenAI is anything but “open”—very early on, it left behind that marketing tag to become increasingly closed and elitist. Her massive study, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI had a rather different subtitle in its UK edition: Inside the reckless race of total domination. She fleshes out the overlap between these two points of emphasis. Hao argues that in general, the AI mission “centralizes talent around a grand ambition” and “centralizes capital and other resources while eliminating roadblocks, regulation, and dissent.” All the while, “the mission remains so vague that it can be interpreted and reinterpreted to direct the centralization of talent, capital, resources, however the centralizer wants.” Karen explains that she chose the word “empire” precisely to indicate the colonial nature of AI's domination: the tremendous damage this enterprise does to the poor, to racial and ethnic minorities, and to the Global South in general in terms of minds, bodies, the environment, natural resources, and any notion of democracy. This is a discussion everyone should be part of.Karen Hao is a bestselling author and award-winning reporter covering the impacts of artificial intelligence on society. She was the first journalist to profile OpenAI and wrote a book, Empire of AI, about the company and its global implications, which became an instant New York Times bestseller. She writes for publications including The Atlantic and leads the Pulitzer Center's AI Spotlight Series, a program that trains thousands of journalists worldwide on how to cover AI. She was formerly a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, covering American and Chinese tech companies, and a senior editor for AI at MIT Technology Review. Her work is regularly taught in universities and cited by governments. She has received numerous accolades for her coverage, including an American Humanist Media Award, an American National Magazine Award for Journalists Under 30, and the TIME100 AI. She received her Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from MIT.www.palumbo-liu.comhttps://speakingoutofplace.comBluesky @palumboliu.bsky.socialInstagram @speaking_out_of_place

“My book is called Empire of AI because I'm trying to articulate this argument and illustrate that these companies operate exactly like empires of old. I highlight four features that essentially encapsulate the three things you read. However, I started talking about it in a different way after writing the book.The four features are: they lay claim to resources that are not their own, which is the centralization of resources; they exploit an extraordinary amount of labor, both in the development of the technology and the fact that they're producing labor-automating technologies that then suppress workers' ability to bargain for better rights; they monopolize knowledge production, which comes when they centralize talent.”In this episode of the Speaking Out of Place podcast, Professor David Palumbo-Liu talks with investigative journalist Karen Hao. She explains that OpenAI is anything but “open”—very early on, it left behind that marketing tag to become increasingly closed and elitist. Her massive study, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI had a rather different subtitle in its UK edition: Inside the reckless race of total domination. She fleshes out the overlap between these two points of emphasis. Hao argues that in general, the AI mission “centralizes talent around a grand ambition” and “centralizes capital and other resources while eliminating roadblocks, regulation, and dissent.” All the while, “the mission remains so vague that it can be interpreted and reinterpreted to direct the centralization of talent, capital, resources, however the centralizer wants.” Karen explains that she chose the word “empire” precisely to indicate the colonial nature of AI's domination: the tremendous damage this enterprise does to the poor, to racial and ethnic minorities, and to the Global South in general in terms of minds, bodies, the environment, natural resources, and any notion of democracy. This is a discussion everyone should be part of.Karen Hao is a bestselling author and award-winning reporter covering the impacts of artificial intelligence on society. She was the first journalist to profile OpenAI and wrote a book, Empire of AI, about the company and its global implications, which became an instant New York Times bestseller. She writes for publications including The Atlantic and leads the Pulitzer Center's AI Spotlight Series, a program that trains thousands of journalists worldwide on how to cover AI. She was formerly a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, covering American and Chinese tech companies, and a senior editor for AI at MIT Technology Review. Her work is regularly taught in universities and cited by governments. She has received numerous accolades for her coverage, including an American Humanist Media Award, an American National Magazine Award for Journalists Under 30, and the TIME100 AI. She received her Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from MIT.www.palumbo-liu.comhttps://speakingoutofplace.comBluesky @palumboliu.bsky.socialInstagram @speaking_out_of_place

“My book is called Empire of AI because I'm trying to articulate this argument and illustrate that these companies operate exactly like empires of old. I highlight four features that essentially encapsulate the three things you read. However, I started talking about it in a different way after writing the book.The four features are: they lay claim to resources that are not their own, which is the centralization of resources; they exploit an extraordinary amount of labor, both in the development of the technology and the fact that they're producing labor-automating technologies that then suppress workers' ability to bargain for better rights; they monopolize knowledge production, which comes when they centralize talent.”In this episode of the Speaking Out of Place podcast, Professor David Palumbo-Liu talks with investigative journalist Karen Hao. She explains that OpenAI is anything but “open”—very early on, it left behind that marketing tag to become increasingly closed and elitist. Her massive study, Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI had a rather different subtitle in its UK edition: Inside the reckless race of total domination. She fleshes out the overlap between these two points of emphasis. Hao argues that in general, the AI mission “centralizes talent around a grand ambition” and “centralizes capital and other resources while eliminating roadblocks, regulation, and dissent.” All the while, “the mission remains so vague that it can be interpreted and reinterpreted to direct the centralization of talent, capital, resources, however the centralizer wants.” Karen explains that she chose the word “empire” precisely to indicate the colonial nature of AI's domination: the tremendous damage this enterprise does to the poor, to racial and ethnic minorities, and to the Global South in general in terms of minds, bodies, the environment, natural resources, and any notion of democracy. This is a discussion everyone should be part of.Karen Hao is a bestselling author and award-winning reporter covering the impacts of artificial intelligence on society. She was the first journalist to profile OpenAI and wrote a book, Empire of AI, about the company and its global implications, which became an instant New York Times bestseller. She writes for publications including The Atlantic and leads the Pulitzer Center's AI Spotlight Series, a program that trains thousands of journalists worldwide on how to cover AI. She was formerly a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, covering American and Chinese tech companies, and a senior editor for AI at MIT Technology Review. Her work is regularly taught in universities and cited by governments. She has received numerous accolades for her coverage, including an American Humanist Media Award, an American National Magazine Award for Journalists Under 30, and the TIME100 AI. She received her Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from MIT.www.palumbo-liu.comhttps://speakingoutofplace.comBluesky @palumboliu.bsky.socialInstagram @speaking_out_of_place

In this week's episode of Supply Chain Secrets, Caroline Weaver and Lars Jensen break down the latest shifts across major trades.Asia–Europe: Spot rates dip below spring levels, but Lars explains why it's not yet a full collapse.Trans-Pacific: A striking bifurcation—rates out of Southeast Asia/China erode while Northeast Asia (Korea, Japan) surges by $500/FEU.Atlantic: After months of stability, head-haul rates slide from $1,800 to $1,500 per FEU.Capacity Updates: Carriers move beyond blank sailings, with Gemini canceling an entire service for Q1 2025.Tariff Watch: Mexico considers hikes on Chinese imports, raising the specter of retaliation.Safety & Compliance: Nearly 11% of cargo is misdeclared—new AI initiatives aim to reduce fires, accidents, and container losses.Get the latest maritime news here!

What makes someone a genius? Are they the smartest, most creative, most innovative people? Those with the highest IQ? Who we consider a genius may actually tell us much more about what we value as a society than any objective measure of brilliance. A compelling or quirky life story often shapes who is elevated to genius status.Host Ira Flatow unpacks the complicated and coveted title of genius with Helen Lewis, author of The Genius Myth: A Curious History of A Dangerous Idea.Read an excerpt of The Genius Myth: A Curious History of A Dangerous Idea. Guest: Helen Lewis is a staff writer at The Atlantic, based in London, who writes about politics and culture.Transcripts for each episode are available within 1-3 days at sciencefriday.com. Subscribe to this podcast. Plus, to stay updated on all things science, sign up for Science Friday's newsletters.

With Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the shooting of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk, due to appear in court Tuesday, investigators are pointing to “dark internet” culture as a factor that potentially radicalized him. Meanwhile, Donald Trump and his supporters are calling for a crackdown on political opposition. David Frum was a speechwriter for George W. Bush, who now analyzes politics and culture as a staff writer at The Atlantic.  He joins the show to discuss. Also on today's show:  Journalist & filmmaker Petra Costa; Susan Mayne, former director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Capehart: "I Am Very Concerned" About What The Reaction To Charlie Kirk's Assassination Will Be. Jemele Hill of The Atlantic goes on a defamatory rant and falsely accuses Charlie Kirk of being a white supremacist. Shutdown coming. Who cares? Ukranian drones hit Russian oil refinery. Israel hits more Hamas operatives. What is coming to Costco? IU students honoring the life of Charlie Kirk. Hannah Einbinder says "Free Palestine" in her Emmys acceptance speech.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Capehart: "I Am Very Concerned" About What The Reaction To Charlie Kirk's Assassination Will Be. Jemele Hill of The Atlantic goes on a defamatory rant and falsely accuses Charlie Kirk of being a white supremacist. Shutdown coming. Who cares? Ukranian drones hit Russian oil refinery. Israel hits more Hamas operatives. What is coming to Costco? IU students honoring the life of Charlie Kirk. Hannah Einbinder says "Free Palestine" in her Emmys acceptance speech. Colts pull it off with game winning field goal! Pete Buttigieg continues to prove himself untrustworthy and power hungry. Bob Hammel IU Championship Ring. Indy Spanglish getting threats. Hoosier Leadership for America gathering this weekend. City to consider $18M bailout loan to keep delayed Gold Building redevelopment afloat. When is I-69 going to be finished? Tik Tok deal to be announced? Trump needs to call out the New York Times as NOT the paper of record.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Send me a DM here (it doesn't let me respond), OR email me: imagineabetterworld2020@gmail.comToday I'm honored to introduce you all to: Montauk and Camp Hero, ritual abuse, mind control, human experimentation, and organized abuse survivor, whistleblower, and overcomer, former Camp Hero employee, loving father, biking, hiking and outdoor lover, former actor, humanitarian, and passionate purveyor of truth: Joe Loffreno For many years of his life, Joe was the steadfast steward of Camp Hero State Park, a wild, windswept stretch at the eastern edge of Long Island, where craggy cliffs meet the restless Atlantic. This abandoned military base, with its looming Cold War-era radar tower and whispered ties to Stranger Things, is more than a workplace for Joe - it's the epicenter of his life, his memories, and his nightmares. “It's a place that's dominated my life,” he's confessed, his voice carrying the weight of decades spent unraveling its mysteries.A Montauk native, Joe's walked the park's eerie trails and sealed WWII gunnery tunnels, knowing its secrets better than most. But it's his own story that sets him apart - a chilling discovery that he was one of the “Montauk Boys,” abducted as a child during the 80's. It was under hypnosis that he would have vivid memories flooded back: a stranger luring him to the base, men in civilian clothes leading him to a sunken house, and an underground lab where he lay on a table, wires snaking from his body like a science experiment gone wrong. “They analyzed us like animals,” he recalls, haunted by visions of up to 50 other kids, some of whom he believes met darker fates. “It was a very dark, very evil thing.”Despite the skepticism he's received surrounding the truth around Camp Hero, Joe's conviction is unshakable. He's no eccentric recluse; he's a grounded former parks employee, a friend to locals, a man of integrity and conviction, and a father with strong bonds to his children. His discovery, with another employee, of remnants matching his hypnotic visions only fuels his resolve. “If I could dig, I'd find cement structures down there,” he's insisted while pointing to a spot he's certain holds answers.For those of you who have been listening and following along to this podcast featuring survivors of MK ULTRA, Montauk is a location many of you have heard time and time again. Some survivors still believe experimentation on children is still taking place there to this day underneath the ruins of what was once an operational military base. Today, we are going to find out and learn more pieces to the Camp Hero puzzle from a man whose personal experiences at Montauk - both as an unwitting child and as an adult employed by the park itself - are invaluable to the questions we all still have. Joe's story is a testament to resilience, a man confronting a past shrouded in mystery while safeguarding a place that draws Stranger Things fans and truth-seekers alike. Camp Hero, with its rusting 90-foot radar tower and abandoned bunkers, is Long Island's own Area 51 - a vortex of intrigue where history and conspiracy collide. And Joe stands at its heart, a guardian of its secrets, driven by a quest for truth and a refusal to let the shadows of his childhood define him. CONNECT WITH EMMA / THE IMAGINATION: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@imaginationpodcastofficialRumble: https://rumble.com/c/TheImaginationPodcastEMAIL: imagineabetterworld2020@gmail.com OR standbysurvivors@protonmail.comMy Substack: https://emmakatherine.substack.com/BUY ME A COFFEE: Support the show

This week the SUNDAY WIRE broadcasts globally on Alternate Current Radio, with host Patrick Henningsen covering the top stories from the US and internationally – beginning with the shooting of American political activist Charlie Kirk, an inflammatory event which is now being used to further polarise Left-Right politics and Christian-Muslim tensions on both sides of the Atlantic. Meanwhile, Israel and the Trump administration have stepped up their slaughter of the native Palestinian population of Gaza—with no end to the violence in sight, or at least not until the Zionists achieve their “final solution” total annihilation and ethnic cleansing of the region's indigenous inhabitants. Later in Overdrive, we'll also be joined by co-host Bryan ‘Hesher' McClain, Adam ‘Ruckus' Clark, and also Basil Valentine, to help breakdown all this and other top news items from around the world this week. All this and more… Watch this episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ7MilGCnlw  This month's featured music artists: Phil Zimmerman, Beady Man Poet, Joseph Arthur, Peter Conway, Peyoti for President & Red Rumble. SUPPORT OUR MEDIA OUTLET HERE (https://21w.co/support)

A playlist of handpicked gems from both sides of the Atlantic. The playlist features Max Nagl; Vincent Ségal, Stéphane Kerecki; Naïssam Jalal, Sylvain Rifflet; Luke Stewart; Jeff Walton; Miguel Zenón [pictured]. Detailed playlist at https://spinitron.com/RFB/pl/21173273/Mondo-Jazz (up to "There Will Never Be Another You"). Happy listening!

"Together, we can get our kids back."We live in a world where childhood is being rewritten by screens—and the consequences are showing up in our kids' mental health, sleep patterns, and ability to thrive in the real world. In this episode, psychologist and researcher Dr. Jean Twenge joins us to unpack her groundbreaking book 10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World.Dr. Twenge doesn't sugarcoat the truth: social media is rewiring our children's brains, devices are stealing the very sleep they need to grow, and parents are often left feeling powerless against Big Tech's grip. But she also brings hope—and a plan. Through ten clear, practical rules, she explains how parents can reclaim their authority, set boundaries that actually stick, and raise kids who are grounded in real-world experiences instead of lost in endless scrolling.This is more than just a parenting guide—it's a call to action. Because no parent can fight this battle alone. Our children's future depends on a collective stand: saying no to predatory platforms, demanding safer technology practices, and prioritizing human connection over algorithms designed to addict.If you've ever wondered how much tech is too much, if you've seen your child slip into the black hole of social media, or if you're simply worried about what kind of world we're handing the next generation—this conversation will give you both the urgency and the tools you need.JEAN M. TWENGE, PhD, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University, is the author of more than 190 scientific publications and several books based on her research, including 10 Rules for Raising Kids in a High-Tech World, Generations, iGen, and Generation Me. Her research has been covered in Time, The Atlantic,Newsweek, The New York Times, USA TODAY, and The Washington Post. She has also been featured on Today, Good Morning America, Fox and Friends, CBS This Morning, Real Time with Bill Maher, Meet the Press, and NPR. She lives in San Diego with her husband and three daughters. Please visit her at: www.JeanTwenge.com  and X: @jean_twenge.

Air Week: September 15-21, 2025 Atlantic Records, Pt. 9 – 1955 Atlantic Records was the most influential, significant and important independent record label to come out of the late-1940s, during a time when there were many great, small indie labels being born. What gave Atlantic the advantage over Specialty, Chess, Modern, Vee-Jay, Exclusive, King, etc […]

What happens when Italian folk traditions cross the Atlantic? This video explores how Italian witchcraft, especially the healing practice of Segnature, has been reimagined, reinvented, and often misrepresented in the United States. From Leland's Aradia to Wicca-inspired “Stregheria,” we'll look at how Italian-American communities blended folklore, Catholic devotion, and Pagan spirituality to create new forms of practice. But are these the same as the vernacular traditions in Italy, or something entirely different?This video is a recording of the paper I presented at the World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions, held at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.Join me as we unpack the myths, the reinventions, and the cultural translations behind Italian witchcraft in America.CONNECT & SUPPORT

Matthew 28:16-20Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him, but they doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. We are party deprived. That's the argument Ellen Cushing makes in a wonderful little article in The Atlantic earlier this year. On any given weekend or holiday, only 4% of Americans hosted or attended a social event. Polling shows most people like the idea of parties, but nobody wants to host them. Maybe that sounds familiar.None of this should surprise us. More than any other time in modern history, adults spend less time with friends and more time alone—and we're strangely okay with it. In fact, we often prefer it. Confined to our couches, transfixed by our phones, feeding on the stories our screens serve us. Simply put: we need more parties.And yes, that's part of my response to today's question: is the church a mission center or a social club? This is the second-to-last week of our Asking for a Friend series. And we have covered lots of big topics. But today the question is both what should the church with a capital C—the universal body of Christ across all time and space—be, but also the lowercase c church: Cross of Grace. What are we? A mission center or a social club?Someone was looking at the list of questions a couple weeks ago and began laughing out loud. Oh no, I thought, we made a typo. But then they turned to me and said “who's preaching on the 14th?”. I lied and said I don't know because depending on why they laughed I might have changed it. But this person said well because it'll be the easiest answer of them all. I said “why is that?” and they said because the answer is yes!It is both a mission center and a social club. I'm sure many of you think so, too. But if I had to guess, most would say the church needs to be a mission center:the place that equips, educates, empowers, and then sends out not just people but disciples to share the gospel in word and deed. That's what Jesus commands in the Great Commission: Go, baptize, make disciples.Here at Cross of Grace, that language is familiar. Nearly 25 years ago, when we were just getting started in the school and knocking on doors, we called ourselves a mission center—even without a building. It's also why we call ourselves Partners in Mission, not members. Members join to consume. Think wellness center, country club, or book club. But partners engage to participate. And this mission of sharing the grace of Jesus Christ, with no strings attached, depends on your participation.It just so happens that church is also a social club. And sometimes we feel guilty about that—like fellowship is less important than mission, or just a by-product of “real” church work. But here's the problem: too often we treat mission and worship like consumers. We show up, get what we think we need, and leave. That makes faith transactional—something we “use” to make ourselves better.So maybe the real question is: should mission always come first, and fellowship second? I don't think so. I don't think that's what the Bible shows us, either. Which is why today I want to come to the defense of church as a social club, because fellowship is not secondary. It's essential.Keep in mind, when we talk about church as a mission center or social club, we're talking in metaphors. And metaphors are helpful—they give us new ways of seeing something familiar. But no single metaphor ever tells the whole story. Take the old saying that the church is a “hospital for sinners.” It sounds good, but if we lean on it too hard, church becomes just a place you visit when you're sick, get patched up, and leave until the next problem. Every metaphor has limits. Whether we call the church a hospital, a mission center, a social club, or one of the thousand other metaphors we use. At best, they point us toward the deeper truth: the church is a community of flawed people, gathered by God, given the gift of grace in Jesus Christ.This gift of grace doesn't just forgive us; it transforms us. It places us in relationship with God, and that changes who we are. As Isaiah says, we become a light that reveals the source of our gift, a lens that offers a new way of seeing the world. We become liberators for those held down by oppression. That is what Jesus did, and that becomes our mission too—not because we have to, but because we can't help but share what we ourselves have received.But that kind of work is never easy. It is hard, long, dangerous, and exhausting. Which is why the grace of God doesn't just send us out—it also gathers us in. It gives us each other. Because if we're going to live into this mission for any length of time, we will need fellowship.That's exactly what we see in Acts. After hearing Peter proclaim the grace of Jesus, the people were moved. But notice what they did next: they didn't scatter to form food pantries or community centers. Instead, they devoted themselves to eating and praying together. In just five verses, Acts gives us five reminders of the early church's desire simply to be with one another. Fellowship wasn't an afterthought, and it didn't come after mission. The two rose up together, side by side, as the Spirit's gift to the church.To me, the bigger miracle of Pentecost wasn't that people suddenly spoke in languages they had never learned. The real miracle was that people actually wanted to be with one another. Can you imagine such a thing in the year of our Lord 2025? Fellowship be damned—we'd rather be alone. Or maybe the deeper truth is we don't really know how to be together anymore. And that's exactly why I want to defend the Church—this church—as a social club for this moment in time. Because if we don't know how to be together, then practicing fellowship is the mission. At a time when political violence is rising, when fear of our neighbors is the default, when anxiety and loneliness feel normal—and we're largely okay with that—the work the church is called to right now is fellowship itself.And if you think that's not biblical, Jesus should did spend a lot of time eating and drinking with people… so much so that he was known as a glutton and a drunk. And the people weren't just his disciples, but those who were different from him in every imaginable way.Maybe if we spent more time together, if we ate and drank more together, if we learned how to talk and listen to one another, if we began to see the image of God in each person, we wouldn't feel the need to tear each other apart over political disagreements. I know that's an over simplification, but I also believe it's true. What's really happening at our social gatherings—brew club, Mardi Gras, Oktoberfest, moms' night, or anything else—is that the grace of Jesus Christ is shaping us. It's teaching us to be a people who want to be together.This desire is not soft sentimentality. It's the work of the Spirit: forming in us a determination to care for our neighbors and seek their good, even when they are different, indifferent, or opposed to us. Grace gives us the desire—and the courage—to be in the company of one another. And when we do, we begin to see the face of God in every person, whether a Partner in Mission, a neighbor, a friend, a Democrat, a Republican, a president, pundit, and more.The Church is constantly reforming how we meet the needs of our neighbors and the world around us. Right now that looks like more parties and more fellowship—especially with people who don't look, act, think, believe, or behave like us. Yet, what never changes is what we offer. The church, this church, always offers the grace of Jesus, with no strings attached. We offer it at the font, at the table, through the resources we share, and yes, through the fellowship that binds us together in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The assassination Charlie Kirk, conservative activist and close ally of President Donald Trump, has raised new questions about escalating political violence in the country. Join moderator Jeffrey Goldberg, Peter Baker of The New York Times, Laura Barrón-López of MSNBC, Susan Glasser of The New Yorker and Tom Nichols of The Atlantic to discuss this and more.

David Brooks interviews Yascha Mounk to mark the paperback edition of The Identity Trap. Yascha Mounk is the founder and editor-in-chief of Persuasion. His latest book is The Identity Trap, which is out in paperback with a new afterword on September 23. David Brooks is a columnist for The New York Times and a contributor to The Atlantic. He is a commentator on The PBS Newshour. His latest book is How To Know A Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen. In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and David Brooks discuss how Yascha's personal history influences his thought, the intellectual history behind the identity synthesis, and how to create a vision for the Democrats to inspire voters. Email: leonora.barclay@persuasion.community Podcast production by Jack Shields and Leonora Barclay. Connect with us! ⁠Spotify⁠ | ⁠Apple⁠ | ⁠Google⁠ X: ⁠@Yascha_Mounk⁠ & ⁠@JoinPersuasion⁠ YouTube: ⁠Yascha Mounk⁠, ⁠Persuasion⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠Persuasion Community⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

00:00:00 – Back to Shenanigans Mike and Cratchit open the Saturday show with coffee, jokes about writing a “book of forwards,” and a quick nod to the previous episode's deep-dive guest before settling in for clips, headlines, and weird news. 00:10:00 – Alex Jones Iso-palooza A rapid-fire romp through Alex Jones clips becomes a running gag—perfect ringtones and “quotes for the book”—setting a chaotic, comedic tone before the heavier stuff. 00:20:00 – The “Hitler Score” Thought Experiment Mike proposes a tongue-in-cheek metric to rate politicians' “Hitler percentage,” using it to critique lazy political labeling while cautioning that early details about the Charlie Kirk shooting are murky and easily weaponized. 00:30:00 – Evidence, Drones, and Media Spin They scrutinize the Kirk shooting footage—drones, CCTV, ballistics, missing round—arguing how low-quality clips invite cherry-picking. Bill Maher's “calm down” monologue gets a brief listen as they urge skepticism across the board. 00:40:00 – Atlantic Piece & Temperature Check Reacting to The Atlantic's “turning point” framing, they highlight calls for nonviolence from some allies, contrast it with heated rhetoric on both sides, and note how quickly narratives harden in the aftermath. 00:50:00 – Peter Thiel & The Antichrist (Techno-Theology Hour) A wild segment on Peter Thiel's private lecture series about the Antichrist spirals into “beast system” speculation—surveillance tech, Palantir, and Revelation vibes—equal parts curiosity, side-eye, and satire. 01:00:00 – Open Lines & Spicier Speculation Call-ins amplify theories around motives, confessions, who benefits, even Mossad rumors. The crew reminds listeners that lots of claims are unverified, with courts and discovery likely far off. 01:10:00 – Shooter Background & Timeline Holes They recap reported bio details, plane-tracking videos, and the still-missing bullet—asking how fast radicalization happens and whether early reporting is mixing facts with filler. 01:20:00 – Paranormal Real Estate Break: The Conjuring House “Money Pit 2: Amityville Edition?” The infamous Rhode Island farmhouse goes back on the block; jokes fly about museum-ifying it, while the Warrens' grandson calling the franchise “pure fantasy” gets a nod. 01:30:00 – FOI-Gate on the Loo (Australia) Bureaucrats vs. one notorious dumper: an office switches to 2-ply to stop chronic clogs, sparking toilet-timer jokes and a segue to proposals limiting freedom-of-information requests. Peak OBDM bathroom policy analysis. 01:40:00 – Space Oddity: 3I Atlas Turns Green The interstellar (or cometary?) object shifts color with cyanide off-gassing; the gang wonders aloud about alien probes, anti-tails, and what October observations might reveal. 01:50:00 – Smart Laundry Hack (Netherlands) Student washers get “jailbroken” for free loads; management locks the room; Mike and Cratchit dunk on default passwords and IoT negligence while praising old-school analog backups. 02:00:00 – Emotional Support Alligator & Sign-Off An ESA gator is banned from Walmart (shock!), and the show winds down with community plugs (Patreon, Discord) and a tease of digging up OBDM episode “zero.”   Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research ▀▄▀▄▀ CONTACT LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Phone: 614-388-9109 ► Skype: ourbigdumbmouth ► Website: http://obdmpod.com ► Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/obdmpod ► Full Videos at Odysee: https://odysee.com/@obdm:0 ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/obdmpod ► Instagram: obdmpod ► Email: ourbigdumbmouth at gmail ► RSS: http://ourbigdumbmouth.libsyn.com/rss ► iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/our-big-dumb-mouth/id261189509?mt=2  

Bernie Campbell is joined by Rachel Blackman-Rogers of King's College London and Olivier Aranda of the University of Western Brittany to discuss naval strategy in the Mediterranean theatre in the 1790s, with a particular emphasis on the Battle of the Nile.The episode explores the strategic importance of the Mediterranean for both France and Britain during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods, particularly focusing on the lead-up to the French invasion of Egypt and the Battle of the Nile. It highlights how each nation's naval priorities shifted over the 1790s depending on political alliances and military objectives.Olivier Aranda explains the French dilemma of having to split their naval forces between the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and how this dual-front created both opportunities and problems for the French navy. The discussion contrasts the fortunes of France's Mediterranean (Toulon) and Atlantic (Brest) fleets, illustrating the divergent outcomes and strategic thinking.Rachel Blackman-Rogers provides insight into British strategy, emphasizing the significance of trade, power projection, and political influence in the Mediterranean. The episode also discusses Britain's reliance on bases, alliances with smaller regional powers, and the critical impact of controlling Mediterranean routes for economic and diplomatic reasons.Both speakers detail the roles and shifting alliances of other Mediterranean powers—such as Spain, Naples, Venice, the Ottoman Empire, and the Barbary States—influencing French and British strategies. The complexity of these ever-shifting diplomatic relationships is shown to be a constant challenge for both major powers.The consequences of the Battle of the Nile are examined in terms of their profound impact on French and British strategic options. The destruction of the French fleet isolated Napoleon in Egypt, shifted the naval initiative firmly to Britain, and set the stage for changing coalitions and further military campaigns in the region.Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly

Greg talks to Riley Frain of Mid Major Madness and the Portal Report about St. Joseph's coach Billy Lange leaving and heading to the New York Knicks with Steve Donahue taking over the program with their outlook & the Atlantic 10 landscape overall.Link To Greg's Spreadsheet of handicapped lines: https://vsin.com/college-basketball/greg-petersons-daily-college-basketball-lines/Greg's TikTok With Pickmas Pick Videos: https://www.tiktok.com/@gregpetersonsports?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A La Niña watch has been issued, but what does that really mean for the rest of Atlantic hurricane season and snow this winter in the U.S.? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The search for a suspect in Charlie Kirk's death continues. The FBI released some grainy photos of a person of interest wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap — all in black — in the hope it might trigger tips or other information from the public. The FBI also said it recovered a bolt-action rifle that may have been used in the shooting. With no suspect in custody, no motive has been established either. And let's be incredibly clear: as of this moment, we still do not know why someone shot and killed Charlie Kirk. We spoke with Graeme Wood, Atlantic staff writer, about the growing trend of political violence in America.And in headlines, Senate Republicans go nuclear to push through Trump's nominees, the U.K. fires its ambassador to the U.S. over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, and the Department of Education ends grant funding for minority-serving colleges.Show Notes:Check out Graeme's piece – https://tinyurl.com/3p6ed8cjCall Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

After the fatal shooting of right-wing personality Charlie Kirk on Wednesday afternoon, the rhetoric on the right quickly escalated. Influential voices on social media declared war on the left, despite the absence of any knowledge about the suspect or their motive at the time. President Donald Trump made a formal address where he pledged to go after the “radical left.” “We are seeing language weaponized so swiftly,” says Intercept columnist Natasha Lennard. “I think the Trump administration has a clear track record at this point of taking these little chips that they can leverage to induce state repression and encroach on civil liberties,” says Ali Breland, a staff writer at The Atlantic.This week on The Intercept Briefing, host Akela Lacy speaks to Lennard and Breland about the implications of Kirk's killing and how we think about political violence in the U.S. “We already know that whoever it does turn out to be, we are living in a moment with an authoritarian government that will weaponize this moment either way,” says Lennard. “This is about finding any opportunity to further escalate the white nationalist project.”“I worry that his assassination is a progression toward something darker in which a wider group of people are considered to be targets for political violence,” says Breland. “And I don't think that the rhetoric that's coming out right now is doing anything to stop it or off-ramp us on this dark path.”Listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. You can support our work at theintercept.com/join. Your donation, no matter the amount, makes a real difference. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thanks to reporter Adam Lowenstein, we'll be bringing you lots more interviews with smart authors writing about climate, policy, democracy, and power. This week, Adam talks to Casey Michel, author of Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy Around the World. Michel also recently wrote a fascinating piece in The Atlantic, applying what he learned in researching and writing the book to what he's seeing during the second Trump administration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the past few years, we have witnessed a frightening spiral of political violence. We've seen the killing of Charlie Kirk; the killing of Brian Thompson, the health insurance executive; the assassination of a Minnesota House Speaker and her husband; the shooting of a Minnesota state senator and his wife; several attempted assassinations of Donald Trump; an attack on Nancy Pelosi's home and husband; a plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer; and calls to lynch Vice President Mike Pence on January 6. As The Atlantic's Adrienne LaFrance writes, this is looking to be "an age of assassinations." LaFrance, the executive editor of The Atlantic, has written tens of thousands of words, including cover stories for the magazine, on the history of political violence in the U.S. Today, we talk about media coverage of political violence before getting to the hardest question: How can America survive a period of mass delusion, deep division, and political violence without seeing the permanent dissolution of the ties that bind us? If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Adrienne LaFrance Producer: Devon Baroldi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Sean and Scott discuss:How should Christians respond to the assassination of Charlie Kirk?Will the CDC recognize the suffering of individuals who've attempted to change their sex and regret it?A study across 5 continents finds that men and women with multiple sex partners are less desirable as long-term matesIn an Atlantic essay, a high school student bemoans the effects of AI on their generation==========Think Biblically: Conversations on Faith and Culture is a podcast from Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, which offers degrees both online and on campus in Southern California. Find all episodes of Think Biblically at: https://www.biola.edu/think-biblically. Watch video episodes at: https://bit.ly/think-biblically-video. To submit comments, ask questions, or make suggestions on issues you'd like us to cover or guests you'd like us to have on the podcast, email us at thinkbiblically@biola.edu.

Crises unfold around us daily: gun violence, devastating foreign wars and U.S. democratic norms shattering. And still, we cook dinner and go to work. For those directly affected, the harms are inescapable. But for others, the contrast between catastrophic headlines and ordinary routines creates a dizzying dissonance: life moving as normal, against a backdrop of unsettling change. We'll talk about this strange tension and what it does to us, and we'll hear how you are navigating it. Guests: Kate Woodsome, journalist and founder, Invisible Threads (katewoodsome.substack.com), a media and leadership lab exploring the link between mental health and democracy Adrienne Matei, writer, The Guardian US; her recent piece is "Systems are crumbling – but daily life continues. The dissonance is real" Gisela Salim-Peyer, associate editor, The Atlantic; her recent piece is "Authoritarianism Feels Surprisingly Normal – Until It Doesn't" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we step away from the American story and cross the Atlantic to witness one of the most turbulent centuries in the history of the Catholic Church. From the chaos of the French Revolution to the rise and exile of popes, from clashes with Freemasonry to the revival of the Jesuits, the 19th century redefined the Church. Discover how the papacy went from political captivity to spiritual resurgence, laying the groundwork for its future in the modern world.#CatholicHistory #PapalHistory #Jesuits #Freemasonry #Vatican #ChurchAndState #SyllabusOfErrors #Ultramontanism #PopePiusIX #HistoryPodcast #UShistory #Americanhistory #AmericanrevolutionSupport the show:Buy me a coffee! https://buymeacoffee.com/historyofthepapacyPatreon: http://patreon.com/historyofthepapacyBuy me a book: http://bit.ly/40ckJ8EHave questions, comments or feedback? Here are ways to contact me:Email Us: steve@atozhistorypage.comHow to listen: https://www.atozhistorypage.com/podcastMusic Provided by:"Sonatina in C Minor" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"Funeral March for Brass" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)"Crusade Heavy Perfect Loop" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Agnus Dei X - Bitter Suite Kevin MacLeaod (incomptech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jess here. My guest this week is Jeff Selingo, an author and speaker I've admired for a long time. His work on college, college admissions and the transition to work and life in emerging adulthood are essential reads for anyone looking to understand what want and need in higher education and life. His books, There is Life After College, Who Gets In and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions and his forthcoming book, Dream School: Finding the College That's Right for You are all essential reads for teens and emerging adults as well as parents of teens and emerging adults. I adore all three, but I wanted to talk with Jeff about a few aspects of his writing: how he created a speaking career, finds his topics, and how on earth he gets people to talk about topics that tend to be shrouded in secrecy behind very high walls (such as college admissions). Check out Jeff's newsletter, Next, and Podcast, Future UKJ here, as you probably know, to tell you that if you're not listening to the Writing the Book episodes Jenny Nash and I have been doing, you should be. Jenny's working on her latest nonfiction, and I'm working on my next novel, and we're both trying to do something bigger and better than anything we've done before.We sit down weekly and dish about everything—from Jenny's proposal and the process of getting an agent to my extremely circular method of creating a story. We are brutally honest and open—even beyond what we are here. Truly, we probably say way too much. And for that reason, Writing the Book is subscriber-only.So I'm here saying: subscribe. That's a whole 'nother episode a week, and always a juicy one—plus all the other good subscriber stuff: the First Pages: BookLab, Jess's From Author to Authority series, and whatever else we come up with. (It varies enough that it's hard to list it all.) Plus, of course, access whenever we run The Blueprint—which, I don't know, might be soon.That's all I've got. So head to amwritingpodcast.com, get yourself signed up, and come listen to Writing the Book. Then talk to us. Tell us—tell us about your book writing and what's going on. We really want to hear from y'all.Thanks a lot. And Subscribe!Transcript below!EPISODE 465 - TRANSCRIPTKJ Dell'AntoniaHowdy, listeners—KJ here, as you probably know—to tell you that if you're not listening to the Writing the Book episodes Jennie Nash and I have been doing, you should be. Jennie is working on her latest nonfiction, and I'm working on my next novel, and we're both trying to do something bigger and better than anything we've done before. We sit down weekly and dish about everything from Jennie's proposal and the process of getting an agent to my extremely circular method of creating a story. We are brutally honest and open—even beyond what we are here. Truly, we probably say way too much, and for that reason, Writing the Books is subscriber-only. So I'm here saying: subscribe. That's a whole other episode a week, and always a juicy one—plus there's all the other good subscriber stuff: the First Page Booklab, Jess' From Author to Authority series, and whatever else we come up with, which kind of varies enough that it's hard to list out. Plus, of course, access to whenever we run the Blueprint, which—I don't know—it's going to be soon. That's all I got. So head to AmWritingpodcast.com, get yourself signed up and come listen to Writing the Book, and then talk to us. Tell us—tell us about your book writing and what's going on. We really want to—we want to hear from y'all. Thanks a lot, and please subscribe.Multiple SpeakersIs it recording? Now it's recording. Yay! Go ahead. This is the part where I stare blankly at the microphone. Try to remember what I'm supposed to be doing. All right, let's start over. Awkward pause. I'm going to rustle some papers. Okay. Now, one, two, three.Jess LaheyHey, it's Jess Lahey, and welcome to the Hashtag AmWriting Podcast. This is a podcast about writing all the things—short things, long things, poetry, proposals, queries, nonfiction, fiction—all the stuff. In the end, this is the podcast about getting the work done. And in the beginning of this podcast, our goal was to flatten the learning curve for other writers. So I am super excited about who I have today. Oh—quick intro. I'm Jess Lahey. I'm the author of The Gift of Failure and The Addiction Inoculation, and you can find my work at The New York Times, The Atlantic and The Washington Post, as you can find the work of my guest there too. So my guest today is someone that I have looked up to for a long time, and someone I use as sort of a—to bounce things off of and to think about how I do my work and how to do my work better. Jeff Selingo, thank you so much for coming to on the show. Jeff is the author of a couple of books that I'm a huge—In fact, I can look over at my bookshelf right now and see all of his books on getting into college, why college is not the end point. He has a new book coming out that we're going to be talking about—really; it's coming out real as soon as this podcast comes out. And I'm just—I'm a huge fan, Jeff. Thank you so, so much for coming on the pod.Jeff SelingoJust the same here—and I'm a huge fan of this podcast as well. It's on my regular rotation, so...Jess LaheyOh yay.Jeff SelingoI am thrilled, as always, to be here.Jess LaheyIt's—it's changed over the years, and now that we have four different, you know, co-hosts, there's sort of different takes on it. We've got, like, Sarina—the business side, and Jess—the nonfiction geek side, and KJ—the fiction side, and Jennie—the nuts-and-bolts editor side. So it's been really fun for us to sort of split off. But what I wanted to talk to you about today are a couple of different things. Your book Who Gets In and Why is—um , on the podcast, we talk about dissecting other people's work as a way... In fact, I was talking to my daughter about this yesterday. She's writing a thesis—what she hopes will be one chapter in a book. And I was saying, you know, one of the things you can do is go dissect other books you think are really well constructed—books that are reaching the same, similar audience. And your book, Who Gets In and Why, I think, is essential reading for anyone who's writing interview based, and specifically nonfiction around attempting to get their arms around a process. And a process that—for you—what I'm really interested about in this book is a process that's usually, you know, guarded and kind of secret. And no one wants to let you in for real on all the moving parts and how the decisions are made, because the college admissions process is—it's an inexact recipe. It depends on where you are, it depends on the school, but everyone wants the secret. Like, Jeff, just get me the secrets of how to get in. So how do you approach people who are, in a sense, some ways, secret-keepers and guardians of the secret sauce—to mix metaphors? How do you get those people to agree to be a part of a book—not just to be interviewed, but to actually put themselves out there and to put the sausage-making out there in a book, which can be a huge leap of faith for any organization or human being?Jeff SelingoYeah, and I think it's definitely harder now than it was when I did Who Gets In and Why. I think it's harder than when, you know, other people have been inside the process—whether it's, you know, Fast Food Nation, with the, you know, the fast food industry, which is a book that I looked up to when I was writing, Who Gets In and Why. I think it's—people just don't trust writers and journalists as much as they used to. So I think that's—a lot of this is really trust. First of all, you have to approach organizations that trust their own process. When people ask me, “Why these three schools?” You know, I approached 24 schools when I wrote, Who Gets In and Why, and three said yes. Twenty-one said no. And when I describe the people who said yes and why they said yes, they trusted their own process. And they also trusted me. But the first thing they did was trust their own process.. And so when I heard later on from people who had said no to me—and I would, you know, talk to them, you know, off the record about why they said no—there was always something about their process, their admissions process, that they didn't trust. They were getting a new, like, software system, or they had new employees that they didn't really quite know, or they were doing things—it's not that they were doing things wrong, but that, you know, it was at the time when the Supreme Court was making a decision about affirmative action, and they didn't quite know how that would play, and so they didn't quite trust it—and then how that, obviously, would be used by me. So the first thing you have to do is think about organizations that really believe in themselves, because they're going to be the ones that are going to talk about themselves externally. And then you just have to build trust between them and you. And that just takes—unfortunately, it takes time. And as a book author or a reporter, you don't always have that on your side.Jess LaheySo when—were some of these cold? Like of the 24, were all of these cold? Were some of these colder? Did you have an in with some of these?Jeff SelingoI had an in with most of them, because I had been covering—I mean, that's the other thing. You know, trust is built over time, and I had been covering higher ed for almost 25 years now. So it was just that they knew me, they knew of me, they knew of my work. I had other people vouch for me. So, you know, I had worked with other people in other admissions offices on other stories, and they knew people in some of these offices, so they would vouch for me. But at the end—so, you know, it ended up being Emory, Davidson and the University of Washington. It was really only Davidson where I knew somebody. Emory and University of Washington—I kind of knew people there that were the initial door opener. But beyond that, it was just spending time with them and helping them understand why I wanted to tell the story, how I thought the story would put play out, and getting them to just trust the process.Jess LaheyThere's also something to be said for people who have some enthusiasm for the greater story to be told—especially people who have an agenda, whether that's opening up admissions to the, quote, “whole student” as opposed to just their test scores, or someone who feels like they really have something to add to the story. Both of the people who I featured in The Addiction Inoculation and who insisted on having their real names used said, you know, there's just—there's a value for me in putting this story out there and finding worth in it, even though for these two people, there was some risk and there was embarrassment, and there's, you know, this shame around substance use disorder. But these two people said, you know, I just think there's a bigger story to be told, and I'm really proud to be a part of that bigger story. So there is a selling aspect also to, you know, how you position what it is you're doing.Jeff SelingoAnd there's—so there's a little bit of that, and that was certainly true here. The admissions deans at these places were longtime leaders who not only trusted their own process but understood that the industry was getting battered. You know, people were not trusting of admissions. They felt like it was a game to be played. And there was definitely a larger story that they wanted to tell there. Now truth be told—and they've told this in conferences that I've been at and on panels that I've moderated with them—there was also a little bit of they wanted to get their own story out, meaning the institutional story, right? Emory is competing against Vanderbilt, and Davidson is a liberal arts college in the South, when most liberal arts colleges are in the Northeast. So there was a little bit of, hey, if we participate in this, people are going to get to know us in a different way, and that is going to help us at the end—meaning the institution.Jess LaheyDo you have to? Did you? Was there a hurdle of, we really have, you know, this is some PR for us, too. So did that affect—I mean, there's a little bit of a Heisenberg thing going on here. Did the fact that you were observing them change, you think, anything about what they did and what they showed you?Jeff SelingoIt's an interesting thing, Jess. It's a great question, because I often get that. Because I was—you know, originally, I wanted to do one office. I wanted to be inside one institution. And when all three of them kind of came back and said, yes, we'll do this—instead of just choosing one of them—I thought, oh, this is interesting. We have a small liberal arts college. We have a big, private urban research university. We have a big public university in the University of Washington. So I wanted to show—kind of compare and contrast—their processes. But that also meant I couldn't be in one place all the time. There's only one of me, and there's three of them, and they're in different parts of the country. So clearly I was not there every day during the process. And somebody would say to me, oh, well, how do you know they're not going to do X, Y, and Z when you're not there? And I quickly realized that they had so much work to do in such a short amount of time that they couldn't really—they couldn't really game the system for me. After a while, I just became like a painting on the wall. I just was there. And in many cases, they didn't even notice I was there—which, by the way, is where you want to be—because they would say things, do things, without realizing sometimes that a reporter was present. And there's the opening scene of the book, which is just a fantastic—in my opinion, one of my favorite scenes in the book—right where they're talking about these students and so forth, and in a way that is so raw and so natural about how they did their work. If they knew I was in the room at that point—which of course they did—but if they really perceived my being there, that would have been really hard to pull off.Jess LaheyDid they have, did you guys have an agreement about off the record moments or anything like that? Or was there and speaking of which, actually, was there any kind of contract going into this, or any kind of agreement going into this?Jeff SelingoI basically told them that there would be no surprises. So everything was essentially on the record unless they explicitly said that, and that was usually during interviews, like one-on-one interviews. But while I was in the room with them, there was really nothing off the record. There couldn't be because it was hard to kind of stop what they were doing to do that. The only thing I promised was that there would be no surprises at the end. So when the book was done, during the fact-checking process, I would do what The New Yorker would do during fact-checking. I wouldn't read the passages back to them, but I would tell them basically what's in there, in terms of it as I fact-checked it. And so they really kind of knew, for the most part—not word for word—but they kind of knew what was in the book before it came out.Jess LaheyI like that term—no surprises. It's a real nice blanket statement for, look, I'm not looking to get—there's no gotcha thing here.Jeff SelingoThere's no gotcha, exactly...Jess LaheyRight. Exactly.Jeff SelingoThis was not an investigative piece. But there were things that, you know, I'm sure that they would have preferred not to be in there. But for the most part, during the fact-checking process, you know, I learned things that were helpful. You know, sometimes they would say, oh, that's an interesting way of—you know, I would redirect quotes, and they would want to change them. And I said, well, I don't really want to change direct quotes, because that's what was said in that moment. And then they would provide context for things, which was sometimes helpful. I would add that to the piece, or I would add that to the book. So at the end of the day—again—it goes back to trust. And they realized what I was trying to do with this book. It's also a book rather than an article. Books tend to have permanence. And I knew that this book would have, you know, shelf life. And as a result, I wanted to make sure that it would stand the test of time.Jess LaheyYeah, I've been thinking a lot about your new book—your book that's just coming out as this is getting out into the world—called Dream School. And by the way, such a great title, because one person's dream school is not another's. But like, my daughter happens to be at, I think, the perfect school for her, and my son went to the perfect school for him—which, by the way, wasn't even his first choice. And in retrospect, he said, I'm just so glad I didn't get into that other place—my, you know, early decision place—because this other place really was the perfect match. And I think that's why I love that title so much, because I spend a lot of time trying to help parents understand that their dream may not necessarily be their child's dream. And what makes something a dream school may, you know—in fact, in terms of time—my daughter was applying to colleges just coming out of COVID. Like, she had never been to a school dance. She'd never—you know—all that kind of stuff. So for me, the dream looked very different than maybe it would have four years prior, thinking I was going to have a kid that had the opportunity to sort of socially, you know, integrate into the world in a very different way. So I love that. And is that something that—how did—how do your ideas emerge? Did it emerge in the form of that idea of what is a dream school for someone? Or—anyway, I'll let you get back to...Jeff SelingoYeah. So, like many follow-up books, this book emerged from discussing Who Gets In and Why. So I was out on the road talking about Who Gets In and Why. And I would have a number of parents—like, you know when you give talks, people come up to you afterwards—and they say, okay, we love this book, but—there's always a but. And people would come up to me about Who Gets In and Why, and they would be like, love the book, but it focused more on selective colleges and universities. What if we don't get into one of those places? What if we can't afford one of those places? What if we don't really want to play that game, and we want permission? And this—this idea of a permission structure came up very early on in the reporting for this book. We need to be able to tell our friends, our family, that it's okay, right? You know how it is, right? A lot of this is about parents wanting to say that their kid goes to Harvard. It's less about going to Harvard, but they could tell their friends that their kid goes to Harvard. So they wanted me to help them create this permission structure to be able to look more widely at schools.Jess LaheyI like that.Jeff SelingoSo that's how this came about, and then the idea of Dream School—and I'm fascinated by your reaction to that title. Because the reaction I've been getting from some people is—you know—because the idea, too many people, the idea of a dream school, is a single entity.Jess LaheyOf course.Jeff SelingoIt's a single school; it's a single type of school. And what—really, it's a play on that term that we talk about, a dream school. In many ways, the dream school is your dream, and what you want, and the best fit for you. And I want to give you the tools in this book to try to figure out what is the best match for you that fulfills your dreams. It's kind of a little play on that—a little tweak on how we think about the dream and dream school. And that's really what I'm hoping to do for this book—is that, in some ways, it's a follow-up. So you read Who Gets In and Why, you decide, okay, maybe I do want to try for those highly selected places. But as I tell the story early on in in Dream School. A. It's almost impossible to get into most of those places today—even more so than five or six years ago. And second, many of the students that I met—young adults that I met in reporting Dream School—ended up at, you know, fill-in-the-blank: most popular school, brand-name school, highly selective school, elite school—whatever you want to put in that blank—and it wasn't quite what they expected. And so that's another story that I want to tell families in this book—is that, hey, there's a wider world out there, and there is success to be had at many of these places.Jess LaheyThere's something I say occasionally, that I have to take the temperature of the room, just because I—you know, you and I speak at some fairly similar places, like, you know, the hoity-toity private schools that—you know, everyone's just go, go, go, do, do, do, achieve, achieve, achieve. And every once in a while, I like to insert—I like to, number one, tell them that my college was, I think, perfect for me. I went to my safety school. I went to the University of Massachusetts and had an extraordinary experience. But I'm a very certain kind of person, and maybe for another—like, for example, my daughter, when we were looking at schools, our state school was just too big for her. It just—she was going to get lost. It wasn't going to work very well. But the thing I like to say when I can, when I feel like the audience is ready to hear it is: What if it's a massive relief if you don't have an Ivy kid? If you have a kid who's not going to get into an Ivy school, isn't it a relief to say that's not what we're aiming for here, and we can actually find a place that's a great fit for my kid? And that sometimes goes over really well. For a few people, they'll come up and thank me for that sort of reframing afterwards. But for some people, that is just not at all what they want to hear.Jeff SelingoAnd it's—you know, it's really hard. And I think you go back to audience, and—you know—most people make money on books kind of after the fact, right? The speaking, as you mentioned, and things like that. And it's interesting—this book, as I talk to counselors about it, high school counselors—oh, they're like, this is perfect. This is the message I've been trying to get through to parents. Then I talk to the parents—like, I'm not quite sure this message will work in our community, because this community is very focused on getting into the Ivy League and the Ivy Plus schools?Jess LaheyYes, but that's why your title is so brilliant. Because if you're getting—and I talk a lot about this, I don't know if you've heard, I've talked about this on the podcast—that with the substance use prevention stuff, it's hard for me to get people to come in. So I use The Gift of Failure to do that, right? So you've got this title that can get the people in the seats, and then you, in your persuasive and charismatic way, can explain to them why this is a term that may—could—use some expanding. I think that's an incredible opportunity.Jeff SelingoAnd it's important, too—early on, my editor told me, “Jeff, don't forget, we're an aspirational society.” And I said—I told, I said, “Rick,” I said, “I'm not telling people not to apply in the Ivy League. I'm not saying they're terrible schools. I'm not saying don't look at those places.” All I'm saying is, we want to expand our field a little bit to look more broadly, more widely. So we're not saying don't do this—we're saying, do “do” this. And that's what I'm hoping that this book does.Jess LaheyWell, and the reality is, people listen to the title. They don't read the subtitle, because subtitles are long, and they have a great use—but not when you're actually talking about a book with someone. And so what they're going to hear is Dream School, and I think that's a fantastic way to position the book. But since you opened up the topic, I also—I am right now mentoring someone who is attempting to sell a book while also planning for a speaking career, which, as you know, is something that I did concurrently. How did you—did you know you wanted to do speaking when you were first writing your books? Or is this something that sort of came out of the books themselves?Jeff SelingoIt just came out of the books. You know, the first book, which was College (Un)bound, which was 2012, sold better than I expected, but it was aimed at a consumer audience. But who ended up reading that were college leaders, presidents and people work at colleges. So I had a very busy schedule speaking to people inside the industry. Then I turned my—you know, the second book, There Is Life After College— really turned it to this parenting audience, which was a very new audience to me, and that really led to me to, you know, Who Gets In and Why, and now this book. The difference—and I'm always curious to talk to parenting authors like you—is that college, you know, people—even the most aspirational people in life, I understand, you know, people in certain cities think about preschool, what preschool their kid's going to get into to get into the right college—but in reality, they're going to read a college book when their kids are in high school. And that is the more challenging piece around, you know, I—unlike most parenting authors who have a wider audience, because a lot of the issues that face parents face parents when they have toddlers, when they have pre-teens, when they have teens. Obviously, some parenting authors just focus on teens, I get that.But this book really has kind of a short life in terms of the audience. And so what we're trying to do—so think about it: Who Gets In and Why— it's still in hardcover. Has never been published in paperback, largely because there's a new audience for it every year, which is fantastic...Jess LaheyYeah, I was going to mention that. That is the massive upside. And for me, it's usually a four-year sort of turnover in terms of speaking anyway.Jeff SelingoYeah, you're right. And so the nice thing on the speaking front is that I have almost a new audience every year, so I could continue to go back to the same schools...Jess LaheyRight.Jeff Selingo...every year, which has been really helpful—with a slightly different message, because the industry is also changing, and admissions is changing as a result. So, no, I—the speaking came afterwards, and now I realize that that's really kind of how you make this thing work. I couldn't really have a writing career without the speaking piece.Jess LaheySince figuring that out—and I guess assuming that you enjoy doing it, as I hope you do—is that something that you're continuing to market on your own?Jeff SelingoYes. So that's what we're doing. You know, one of the big changes from the last book is that we have developed a—you know, we built a customer relationship management system under our newsletter. So we use HubSpot, which is, you know, like Salesforce. It's something like that And so we've now built a community that is much stronger than the one that I had five years ago. That's a community of parents, of counselors, of independent counselors. So we just know so much more about who we serve, who our readers are, and who will ask me to come speak to their groups and things like that. So that, to me, has been the biggest change since the last book compared to this book. And it has enabled us—and it's something that I would highly encourage authors to do. I don't think they have to go out and buy one of these big, robust systems, but the more you know about your readers and build that community, the more that they're going to respond to you. They really want to be with you in some way. They want to read your books. They want to come to your webinars. They want to listen to your podcasts. They want to see you speak. They want to invite you to speak. And building that community is incredibly important to having that career, you know, after the book comes out.Jess LaheyIt's also for marketing purposes. So Sarina Bowen—again, brilliant at this. he way she does that is, she slices and dices her mailing list into all kinds of, like, where the reader came from—is this someone who's, you know, more interested in this, did I—did I meet them at this conference, you know, how did I acquire this name for my list? And she does a lot of marketing very specifically to those specific lists, and that information is amazing. And I think so many of us tend to think just—and I have to admit that this is where I spend most of my time—is just getting more emails in your newsletter. Owning, you know, the right—because it's an honor of being able to reach out to those people and have them be interested in what you have to say. But that's your—I may have to have you come back to talk specifically about that, because it's increasingly—as we're doing more of the marketing for our books—I think that's the future for people who want to keep things going.Jeff SelingoAnd that's—you know, that is the reality today. That's why proposals sell. Because people—you know, publishers really want people with platforms. And if you're not a superstar, there are very few of those out there, you need to figure out another way to build that platform. And so marketing yourself is critically important, and I've learned that from book one. You know, people would say, “Well, you're always just selling your book.” And I said, “Well, if I don't sell it, no one else,” right? So at some point, the publisher—you know, there's only so much the publisher is going to do. And they don't really have the tools that you do. And more than that, Jess, like, you understand your audience. Sarina understands her audience, right? Like, we understand our audiences in ways that publishers, who are doing, you know, dozens and dozens of books a year, just don't get.Jess LaheyRight. No, absolutely.Jeff SelingoLike, no offense against them. I think they're doing really good work. But it's just—it's hard for them, I think, to really understand, well, who's going to really read this book?Jess LaheyAnd I love the idea of using the questions you get. As you know, I tend to take the questions that I get and turn them into videos or—and I do answer all the emails—but I keep a spreadsheet of what those questions are so that I can slice and dice it in various ways. And they're fascinating. And that shapes like, oh wow, I had no idea so many people—like, I had no idea that so many kids were actually interested in knowing whether or not the caffeine—amounts of caffeine that they're drinking—are healthy, or how to get better sleep. Because if you ask their parents, they're like, “Oh no, they don't care about sleep,” or, “They just drink so much coffee and they don't care.” And yet what you hear from the kids is such a different story. And the thing that I also love is the idea of, you know, what that dream school concept means to the actual kid applying. You've probably heard this before, but I needed some symbolic way to let my kids know that this was not, in the end, my decision, and how important this decision was for them in terms of becoming adults. And so I said, the one thing I will never do is put a sticker for a school on the back of my car. Because your choice of where to become a young, emerging adult is not—I don't—that's not my currency to brag on as a parent. It's too important for that. And so people go nuts over that. They're like, “But that's what I really want—is that sticker on the back of the car!” And so I have to be careful when I talk about it, but for my kids, that was my one symbolic act to say, this is about your growth and development, and not my bragging rights. And I think that's a hard message.Jeff SelingoI think that's really important—especially, I have two teens at home. And I think this is a whole topic for another conversation around, you know, most parenting authors are also parents at the same time that they're doing this—advice out to everybody else. And I—I'm very aware of that. I'm also very aware of the privacy that they deserve. And so that's an—it's a fine line. It's a hard line to walk, I will say, for authors, because people—they want to know about you. And they ask you a lot of questions—like, especially around college—like, “Well, where are your kids applying? Where are they going to go?” Like, “Oh, I bet you—especially this book, where I'm encouraging parents to think more broadly—well, you're probably giving that advice to everybody else, but you're not going to follow that, surely, right?” So it's—you just have to—it's hard when you're in this world that you're also part of every day.Jess LaheyIt's really tough. And things have gotten a lot more complicated—as listeners know, I have a trans kid, and that means that everything that I've ever written about that kid is out there. Some of it changeable, a lot of it—most of it—not. And would I do it again? I don't—I don't think so. And that—you know, that's been a journey. But it's also been—you know, we can't know what we don't know. I don't know—it's a tough one. But I really admire your—that's why I throw my safety school thing out there all the time. I'm like, “Look, you know, I went to the place that saved my parents a boatload of money and allowed me to do stuff like traveling that I never would have had the ability to do if I hadn't gone to my state school. And my priorities were big, and adventures, and lots of options.” And I'm very, very clear that standing up for myself was something that I wanted to learn how to do more. On the other hand, that's not been the priority for both of my kids, so... Can I just—I want to ask one quick college question, just because it's—in reading all of your books, this comes up for me over and over again. How do you help parents see the difference between their dream and their kid's dream—or their goals and their kid's goals? And how do you dance that line, which I think is a very easy place to lose readers, lose listeners, because they just shut down and they say, “That's not something I want to mess with. This is too important to me.”Jeff SelingoIt's a fine line. It's a difficult line to walk. At some point I have to realize who's the you that you're speaking to. And I even say this in the introduction of the new book—it's largely parents. They're the readers. I know that—I hope their kids will read it. Maybe—maybe they will, maybe they won't, and maybe they'll read it as a family. But I'm really speaking to the families, and I want them to understand that college especially is an emotional good. It's something many of us—you're talking about your undergraduate experience. I'm not going to ask you how long ago that was, but my undergraduate experience...Jess LaheyI'm 55. So it's been a long time ago.Jeff SelingoAnd I'm 52, right? So same here. But we have this—you know, most people, because of the audiences I tend to speak to, they're not first-generation students, right? They're mostly parents. You know, most of the parents in the audience went to college themselves, and for many of them it was a transformative experience, like it was for me.People met their—they met their lifelong friends, they met their partners, they decided what they wanted to do in life. It was— it was this experience we all think it is. And as a result, I think a lot of parents put that then on their kids. “Well, this was a transforming experience for me, so it definitely has to be a transformative experience for you. Oh, and by the way, these are all the mistakes I made in doing that. I want to make sure you don't make any of those.”Jess LaheyAnd, by the way, no pressure, but this is going to be—this is where you're going to meet your best friends, your spouse. It's the best years of your life, so don't sacrifice even a second of it.Jeff SelingoYeah. And then I...Jess LaheyNo pressure.Jeff SelingoNo pressure. And not only that, but it is—it is something we bought a very long time ago. I'm always amazed when—sometimes we go to the Jersey Shore on vacation, and I'll be out on a walk on the beach in the morning, and I'll see people wearing, you know, college shirts, sweatshirts. And, you know, some of these people are old—much older than I am. And I say, “Oh”—you know, we'll start to have a conversation, and I'll say, “Oh, so does your grandkid, you know, go to X school?” Terrible assumption on my part, I know. But they say, “No, that's where I went.” And it's amazing to me—these are people in their 70s and 80s—because I'm the only other person out that early walking—and they love this thing so much that they're still kind of advertising it. But it was so different back then. And that's the thing that I—going back to your question—that's the thing I try to explain to parents. You can guide this. You can put guardrails up. You might have to put guardrails up about money and location and all that other stuff. But college has changed so much that—don't try to make this your search. You had your chance. You did your search. It worked out. It didn't work out. You would have done things differently. I think that's all great advice to give to your kids. But this is their life. This is their staging ground. They have to learn. And again, it's also different. Like, part of what I hope my books do is to try to explain to people—who, you know, kind of dip in and dip out of higher ed just when their kids are applying—that it's very different than when they applied and went to college.Jess LaheyThe thing I like to mention a lot is that people in admissions read so many applications that they can tell when something is sincere and something is personal and smacks of a kid, as opposed to when something smacks of a parent. That is a very different application. It's a very different essay—which is the thing that I guess I have the most experience with. But—so I am just so incredibly grateful to you for this book. I'm so grateful that there's evidence that people will actually agree to be interviewed, even in thorny situations like college admissions, which—I don't know. I'm still in awe of the fact that you got anyone to say yes. But—and I heavily—I heartily, heartily recommend Dream School to anyone who's listening. I just—I don't even have anyone applying to college, and I think it's just a fascinating topic, because the idea of where we become who we're going to be, and how we prime lots of other stuff that's going to happen later on in our life—I think that's a fascinating topic. So thank you so much for writing about it. Thank you for writing about it with such empathy and such interest. That's the other thing—is you can tell when someone really is interested in a topic when you read their book. And thank you for providing a book that I recommend all the time as a blueprint—as a dissection book—for people writing nonfiction, heavily interviewed nonfiction. So thank you, so, so much. Where can people find you if they want you to come speak, if they want you—if they want to find your books—where can people find you?Jeff SelingoPretty simple. Jeffselingo.com is my website, and you can also follow me on most social—handle is @jeffselingo, as in Jeff. And I just love hearing from readers. As you know, books change lives, and I love hearing the stories when readers tell me they read something in a book and they acted on it. It's just the most beautiful thing.Jess LaheyYeah, it's the best. I get videos occasionally; too, of like little kids doing things their parents didn't think they could do. And—“Look! Look! They did this thing!” It's just—it's an amazing and place of privilege. You have a newsletter also…Jeff SelingoI do. Called Next. It comes out twice a month.Jess LaheyIt's Fantastic!Jeff SelingoOh, well, thank you. And I have a podcast also called Future U— that's more around the kind of the insider-y nature of higher ed and how it works. But a lot—I know a lot of families listen to it to try to understand this black box that is college. So that's called Future U as in U for university.Jess LaheyThe reason I love the podcast so much is, a lot of what parents get exposed to when they're doing the college admissions process are those graphs—scatter graphs of like, where do your numbers intersect with the expectations of this school—and it's a real human version of that. It's a human version of how that black box operates.Jeff SelingoAnd at the end of the day, as I always remind parents, it's a business. You might have this emotional tie to college, but if you don't—if you don't—and you know a mutual friend of ours, Ron Lieber, who writes for The New York Times around...Jess LaheyHe's the best! The best!Jeff SelingoCollege finances, right? He always reminds people of this too. I don't remind them as often as he does, and I probably should. It's this—you're buying a consumer product. And you have to act as a consumer. Yes, you can have an emotional tie and a love for this place, but this is a big purchase, and you have to approach it like that.Jess LaheyDid you see his most recent piece about, yeah, taking some time and seeing—seeing what kind of offers you can get? I loved it. I love Ron's approach to—he's just a great guy. And his books are fantastic. Thank you again, so much. I'm going to let you get on with your day, but I'm always grateful for you. And good luck with the launch of Dream School.I will be out applauding on pub day for you.Jeff SelingoAppreciate it. Thank you, Jess.Jess LaheyAll right, everyone—until next week, keep your butt in the chair and your head in the game.NarratorThe Hashtag AmWriting Podcast is produced by Andrew Perella. Our intro music, aptly titled Unemployed Monday, was written and played by Max Cohen. Andrew and Max were paid for their time and their creative output—because everyone deserves to be paid for their work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amwriting.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, we dive deep into Jennifer Senior's acclaimed Atlantic article and her NPR interview, exploring the realities of insomnia, common myths, and the emotional journey of those who can't sleep.  Learn why pills, therapy, and meditation often fall short, and discover the real “loop” that keeps so many awake at night. Whether you're seeking understanding or support, this conversation offers hope, insight, and practical wisdom for anyone affected by sleep struggles.   f you found this helpful, please like, comment, and share to help others find peaceful sleep and peace of mind! If you're new here and like what you've seen so far, you'll want to download our FREE 'Off-to-Dreamland' e-booklet. Simply head over to https://www.thesleepcoachschool.com and click the link at the tippy top.  Happy reading! — If you're ready to leave insomnia for good, check out our coaching options.  Head over to www.thesleepcoachschool.com and click on GET SLEEP in the menu.  The Insomnia Immunity program is perfect if you like learning through video and want to join a group on your journey towards sleeping well. BedTyme is ideal if you like to learn via text and have a sleep coach in your pocket.  The 1:1 Zoom based program is for you if you like to connect one on one with someone who has been where you are now. — Do you like learning by reading? If so, here are two books that offer breakthroughs! Tales of Courage by Daniel Erichsen  https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Courage-Twenty-six-accounts-insomnia/dp/B09YDKJ3KX Set it & Forget it by Daniel Erichsen  https://www.amazon.com/Set-Forget-ready-transform-sleep/dp/B08BW8KWDJ — Would you like to become a Sleep Hero by supporting the Natto movement on Patreon? If so, that's incredibly nice of you

Ian Sacks and Isaac Bourne dive into conference previews for the Atlantic 10, America East and ASUN. They begin the episode with the breaking news of Billy Lange leaving St. Joseph's for a job with the New York Knicks and being replaced by Steve Donahue.

What happens when musical talent meets comedic genius? In this episode, we dive deep with multi-talented creator Chandler Cooper, whose unique blend of music, comedy, and authenticity has captivated audiences across social media platforms.Chandler takes us through his fascinating journey from performing Stitch impressions as a child to developing his distinctive musical style. With remarkable candor, he shares the stories behind songs like "Looking for Sarah" and "Funny," revealing how personal experiences transform into art that resonates with thousands. There's something magical about how Chandler crafts lyrics with meticulous intention while maintaining an openness to collaboration that many artists lack.The conversation explores the delicate balance between influence and originality, with Chandler noting how the most successful artists draw inspiration without becoming carbon copies of their heroes. "I want to be in a room where I'm the dumbest in the room at something," he explains, highlighting a refreshing humility that seems central to his creative philosophy. This approach has allowed him to develop a voice that's unmistakably his own, whether he's crafting emotional songs or creating character-driven comedy.Beyond music, we weave through surprising territory – from camping out in freezing temperatures to meet Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul to the creative benefits of saying "yes" to unexpected opportunities. Chandler's recommendation of Matthew McConaughey's "Greenlights" underscores his philosophy of embracing life's journey with openness and authenticity.If you've ever struggled to find your creative voice or wondered about the intersection of different artistic mediums, this conversation offers both inspiration and practical wisdom. Follow Chandler on tour this March hitting Denver, Omaha, Atlantic, Branson, and Oklahoma City by following @ChandlerCooperOnTour on Instagram for all the details.

In the second and final part of their discussion defence expert Lee Pilgrim and host Iain Ballantyne resume their survey of the Royal Navy and how to fix it. They ponder the need for a new ‘Dreadnought moment' under a leader as radical as the legendary Admiral Jacky Fisher who introduced war-winning tech and a new mindset. Fisher pushed through construction of the all-big-gun, steam turbine powered HMS Dreadnought, which in 1906 made all other battleships obsolete. Lee suggests it will also require a latter-day Julian Corbett, the civilian naval visionary who helped Britain forge a strategy for the immensely powerful Royal Navy of the early 20th Century. In their lively chat, Lee and Iain weigh up the worth of the UK's new Atlantic Bastion concept, and the part uncrewed systems will play in it, along with the need to keep humans in the kill chain if drones are to be a major part of policing the Greenland-Iceland-UK (GIUK) gap.  The latter is the main gateway to the broader Atlantic used by Russian submarines since the Cold War, but Iain and Lee wonder if a less passive, more forward leaning strategy is needed. Also touched on in the discussion is the utility of drones as part of the UK Carrier Strike Group and the  F-35B jet as a fighter-bomber compared to how the Royal Navy used to do things the last time it had big carriers (in the 1970s). •Lee Pilgrim has worked in defence and intelligence - for government and industry - for over 30 years both in the UK and overseas, so has some useful insights into a whole load of interesting things. His social media posts on X are well worth a read. Follow him on that platform @MtarfaL He has also written several articles for Warships IFR and contributed to our forthcoming ‘Guide to the Royal Navy 2026.' •Iain Ballantyne is the founding and current Editor of Warships IFR (first published in 1998) along with its ‘Guide to the Royal Navy' (since 2002) and ‘Guide to the US Navy' (since 2018). Iain is also author of the books ‘Hunter Killers' (Orion) and ‘The Deadly Trade' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson), both about submarine warfare, plus ‘Arnhem: Ten Days in The Cauldron' (published by Canelo). In 2017 Iain was awarded a Fellowship by the British Maritime Foundation, which promotes awareness of the United Kingdom's dependence on the sea and seafarers. Visit his web site Bismarckbattle.com and follow him on X @IBallantyn The new (October) edition of Warships IFR is out 19.9.25 in the UK and also being deployed globally. Visit the magazine web site http://bit.ly/wifrmag  Follow us on X @WarshipsIFR Facebook @WarshipsIFR and Warships IFR TV on YouTube @warshipsifrtv3668  To subscribe to the magazine's digital and/or hard copy variants https://warshipsifr.com/subscriptions/ The ‘Guide to the Royal Navy 2026' mentioned in this podcast episode is published on 18.9.25 and can be ordered here https://sundialmedia.escosubs.co.uk/store/products,guide-to-the-royal-navy-2026_640.htm

In this episode Sam discusses some news around the league with Dustin Wolf's extension, Kraken's new third jersey, Carey Price's contract being traded, and more (2:09). Sam transitions to talking about the Hurricanes with the prospect showcase starting and the training camp schedule being set (10:20). For the last part of the episode Sam predicts the Eastern Conference standings. He starts out with the Atlantic division (20:44) and ends with the Metropolitan Division (33:45). If you have any questions or just want to contact us please email us at: thecaniacreport@gmail.com Follow us on our Social Media Accounts below! X: https://twitter.com/TheCaniacReport Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecaniacreport/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/thecaniacreport.bsky.social Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thecaniacreportpod Follow us on YouTube: YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/@TheCaniacReport Donation Link: https://paypal.me/sgwallace917?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US

In this week's installment, the guys pit the Buffalo Sabres up against the Ottawa.(0:00) Intro(0:17) Opening Thoughts(4:46) Adds/Losses(8:43) Key Storylines(17:46) Comparing Lineups(28:28) Closing Thoughts

Kelly Drane, research director at Giffords Law Center, Ned Parker, investigative reporter at Thomson Reuters, and McKay Coppins, staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Romney: A Reckoning (Simon & Schuster, 2023), talk about guns and the state of political violence in America after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at an event on a Utah college campus.

He was, after all, the eldest boy. The family drama that inspired HBO's Succession ended this week with a settlement that ensures Rupert Murdoch's conservative media conglomerate will pass to his oldest and most conservative son, Lachlan. The Atlantic staff writer McKay Coppins wrote about the Murdoch succession saga for The Atlantic's April cover story, “Growing Up Murdoch.” He joins Radio Atlantic to share insights from his months of reporting on the family and what he thinks now that the real-life Succession has ended. Get more from your favorite Atlantic voices when you subscribe. You'll enjoy unlimited access to Pulitzer-winning journalism, from clear-eyed analysis and insight on breaking news to fascinating explorations of our world. Atlantic subscribers also get access to exclusive subscriber audio in Apple Podcasts. Subscribe today at TheAtlantic.com/listener. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On today's show: Kelly Drane, research director at Giffords Law Center, Ned Parker, investigative reporter at Thomson Reuters, and McKay Coppins, staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Romney: A Reckoning (Simon & Schuster, 2023), talk about guns and the state of political violence in America, after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed at an event on a Utah college campus.

This week, Daily Mirror deputy royal editor Jennifer Newton is joined by her colleague from across the Atlantic, Brigid Brown, royal reporter for Daily Express US. They discuss Donald Trump's upcoming state visit to the UK, how the Royals are viewed in the US, and potential family reconciliation after Harry visited King Charles at Clarence House - their first face-to-face meeting for 19 months. Pod Save the King is a Reach Studio production for the Daily Mirror. It is presented by Jennifer Newton, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ep 227 | This week on Discover Ag, Natalie and Tara dig into parasites in your salmon, Post Malone's fashion debut, and a conspiracy theory about Babybel cheese --- plus why the Maha grocery trend might backfire. First up: Wild-caught salmon filled with living parasites. A viral video shows worms crawling out of fresh salmon from Costco, sparking conversations about food safety, flash freezing, and the reality that up to 80% of wild salmon can harbor parasites. The hosts explore why this is normal in natural ecosystems and how proper handling makes it safe. Then, Post Malone launches his Austin Post Apparel line at Paris Fashion Week. While the western-inspired collection stayed true to his personal style, the hosts debate whether it was too safe for such a high-profile debut. From cowboy boots to turquoise jewelry, they weigh authenticity versus innovation in western fashion. Next up: A hilarious conspiracy theory connecting Babybel cheese to Maker's Mark whiskey. Both require peeling off red wax to access the goodness inside --- coincidence or calculated grooming by Big Charcuterie? The hosts dive into the comment section gold and share their own charcuterie secrets. Finally, an Atlantic article warns that "Maha washing" is making junk food seem healthier through superficial changes like removing dyes while ignoring real issues like sugar content. The hosts discuss whether the Make America Healthy Again movement has lost its way. BUT WAIT --- there's more! Stick around for an exclusive Case IH interview recorded live at Farm Progress Show. Natalie talks with livestock specialist Brian Williams about the new Farm All lineup, including the return of the historic Super M tractor and innovations in telematics technology. What We Discovered This Week

The latest Epstein fallout played out on both sides of the Atlantic, exposing the same tired playbook of elites protecting their own. In Britain, Ambassador Peter Mandelson was sacked after leaked emails revealed he described Epstein as his “best pal” and defended his conviction as “wrongful.” Across the U.S., Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic measure to release Epstein's case files, hiding behind “national security” while proving once again that child-protection rhetoric vanishes when real accountability is on the line. Meanwhile, newly leaked emails from Epstein's Yahoo account demolished Ghislaine Maxwell's courtroom defense, showing her not as a victim but as the COO of his trafficking operation—micromanaging flights, properties, and staff like it was a corporate empireTogether, these stories show that nothing has really changed since Epstein's death. Politicians feign outrage, the press acts surprised, and the powerful keep burying the truth. Mandelson will quietly resurface, the Senate will keep stonewalling, and Maxwell's receipts will fade into the next news cycle. Survivors remain sidelined while the system that built and protected Epstein carries on intact. What's sold to the public as accountability is really just theater—carefully staged scandals, controlled leaks, and token sacrifices to keep the machinery of power untouched. Epstein may be gone, but the joke is still on us.to contact me:bobbycapucci@protonmail.com

This week, James Shapiro celebrates New York's love affair with Shakespeare; Mark Nayler goes on the hunt for monsters; and Lily Herd introduces this issue's In Brief pages. 'Monsterland: A journey around the world's dark imagination', by Nicholas Jubber'The Perilous Deep: A supernatural history of the Atlantic', by Karl BellProduced by Charlotte Pardy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bonus episode Michael and Madeline tackle two extraordinary political stories. First, the dramatic resignation of Peter Mandelson as Britain's US ambassador, following renewed scrutiny of his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Why did Keir Starmer take so long to act – and what does the debacle reveal about his leadership style?Then, across the Atlantic, America is reeling from the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Michael and Madeline reflect on the tragedy, what it means for free speech, and whether political violence is reshaping the way debate happens in the public square.Produced by Oscar Edmondson, Oscar Bicket and Matt Miszczak. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week, Donald Trump announced the military had blown up what he said was a drug-smuggling boat. This week, we still don't know why he believes the boat was full of smugglers. But even if they were trafficking drugs, can the president  legally blow up 11 people in international waters?  Guests: Shane Harris, staff writer covering national security and intelligence for The Atlantic.  Ana Vanessa Herrero, journalist based in Caracas, Venezuela and reporting on South America for the Washington Post.   Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Donald Trump announced the military had blown up what he said was a drug-smuggling boat. This week, we still don't know why he believes the boat was full of smugglers. But even if they were trafficking drugs, can the president  legally blow up 11 people in international waters?  Guests: Shane Harris, staff writer covering national security and intelligence for The Atlantic.  Ana Vanessa Herrero, journalist based in Caracas, Venezuela and reporting on South America for the Washington Post.   Want more What Next? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to get access wherever you listen. Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme, and Rob Gunther. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's odd that one of our listeners' favorite frequent guests is an atheist: Jonathan Haidt. And yet, it's not really that unusual because Haidt, though not a believer, is perhaps the world's foremost thinker on issues Christians face every day: the digital war on our attention spans, how technology is making us anxious, how removing obstacles and pain-points from our children hurts them, and why we all seem to hate each other so much. This week, Dr. Moore welcomes back social psychologist Jonathan Haidt to ask him how things have changed in recent months in the rapidly evolving landscape of technology and its impact on faith communities. Haidt—author of The Anxious Generation, The Coddling of the American Mind, and The Righteous Mind—shares his latest observations and updated insights since we last spoke. This is a fresh new conversation, building off of the previous ones. As the digital world shifts at breakneck speed, Haidt offers new analysis on what he's witnessing on the front lines: how smartphones and social media are reshaping our capacity for prayer and Bible reading, the escalating influence of TikTok and short-form video, and emerging concerns about AI in church settings. From practical questions about phone-free churches to broader concerns about protecting children in digital environments, this conversation bridges scientific insight with pastoral care. You'll hear Haidt's surprising predictions about AI's future, discover which social media platform he considers most harmful, and learn his single most important piece of advice for church leaders seeking to preserve human connection in our high-tech age. This is an essential dialogue for anyone concerned about reclaiming our ability to pay attention,  think deeply, pray meaningfully, and build authentic community in an era of endless digital distraction. See more from Jon Haidt: Anxious Generation website: AnxiousGeneration.com Jon's Substack: AfterBabel.com New book: The Amazing Generation, (pre-order now, releasing December 30th)  Resources mentioned in this episode or recommended by the guest include: The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion The Coddling of the American Mind (with Greg Lukianoff) Politico Article: There's Only One True Bipartisan Issue Left Derek Thompson's Atlantic article: The Anti-Social Century Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Trump regime wants us feel powerless, like their take over is inevitable, but it's not. Part of the struggle is simply not giving up. To stay engaged and keep your people informed as to what they're doing to our health care, our education, our voting rights, our civil rights and then responding with action. That is what Sky Perryman and her team at Democracy Forward is doing to great success. In a recent article in the Atlantic titled “The Anti-Trump Resistance That is Actually Working” Democracy Forward is called “the single largest source of Trump‘s legal troubles”. So although every day might feel like the bad guys are winning, when you look at the courts - real, and the court of public opinion - they're actually losing. They're losing. Every. Single. Day.  As always, if you find worth in what we do, please consider SUBSCRIBING to PoliticsGirl Premium. You'll get this podcast ad free, along with a bunch of other perks, like the rants directly to your inbox and the knowledge that you're making this kind of highly researched, factual information possible. If that interests you, please go to https://www.politicsgirl.com/premium and subscribe today!! Thank you so much! xoPG As always, please RATE and SUBSCRIBE so we can grow the show, open the dialogue, and inspire change moving forward! Guest social: https://democracyforward.org/ Blue Sky: @democracyforward.org Insta: @democracyforward                YouTube: @democracyforward Twitter:@DemocracyFwd All show links here!: https://linktr.ee/politicsgirl   This episode is sponsored by… https://sundaysfordogs.com/politicsgirl code: politicsgirl https://cookunity.com/politicsgirlfree code: politicsgirlfree https://joindeleteme.com/politicsgirl code: politicsgirl https://nakedwines.com/politicsgirl click: “Edit Voucher” code: PoliticsGirl