Podcasts about Austrian

Jonathan Newman returns to join Bob in a critique of Eliezer Yudkowsky's viral theory of investment bubbles. Yudkowsky states that the bad investment during bubbles should be felt before the bubble pops, not after. They argue that his perspective—while clever—fails to consider the Austrian insights on capital structure, time preference, and the business cycle. They use analogies from apple trees to magic mushrooms to show why Austrian economics provides the clearest explanation for booms, busts, and the pain that follows.Eliezer Yudkowsky's Theory on Investment Bubbles: Mises.org/HAP520aBob's Article "Correcting Yudkowsky on the Boom": Mises.org/HAP520bBob's on The Importance of Capital Theory: Mises.org/HAP520cJoe Salerno on Austrian Business Cycle Theory: Mises.org/HAP520dDr. Newman's QJAE Article on Credit Cycles: Mises.org/HAP520eThe Mises Institute is giving away 100,000 copies of Hayek for the 21st Century. Get your free copy at Mises.org/HAPodFree

We catch up with Adam Silverman and explore what to think about if you're running a tournament for the 1st time or the 21st time. Plus an overview of how the 2025 Asia Pacific Diplomacy Championship went at the Cane Toad Classic. Intro and Diplomacy chat The guys introduce the venue and their drinks (0 mins 15 secs) Gavin gives a quick update on how the Cane Toad Classic went and introduce the topic of  what do you're thinking about if you want to host a tournament (4 mins) Interview with Adam Silverman on how to run a tournament They start the interview with Adam, host of World DipCon 2025 and begin discussing how his games have been going so far this year  (5 mins 45 secs) Gavin asks Adam about what the difference is like between running a small or regular size tournament - like a standard Whipping tournament - and something as big as World DipCon (8 mins 50 secs) Adam discusses the importance of having people helping tournament organisation and what to be mindful of (11 mins 15 secs) The key things to aim for in tournament attendence (15 mins 30 secs) They discuss space and what to look for in a venue (20 mins 45 secs) Gavin and Adam talk about social activities and how to manage and plan for that (25 mins 30 secs) They talk about covering tournament costs (32 mins 30 secs) Adam discusses responsibilities for those assisting him with the tournament (37 mins) He shares what he's changed over the years based on player feedback (43 mins 15 secs) They discuss the NADF Code of Conduct (46 mins) Ken suggests the idea of a tournament finance officer (47 mins 45 secs) Gavin asks if Adam's taken anything away from our tournaments he's attended and brought to his own (50 mins 40 secs) The interview starts wrapping up before Ken and Gavin give their thoughts on key takeaways for them (52 mins) Cane Toad Classic wrap up: how to improve a tournament Gavin and Ken discuss player feedback from the tournament to help with future Cane Toads, plus the guys' own learnings (1 hr 0 mins 15 secs) Gavin starts sharing his ideas for next year's Cane Toad Classic, including the prospect of it moving to the Gold Coast in 2026  (1 hr 9 mins 30 secs) The guys get another round of drinks - and we get an update on how their next drinks taste as a Diplomacy mid-game before discussing further options to consider for next year and a possible future year venue (1 hr 12 mins 30 secs) Diplomacy chat Gavin has played for the first time in 5 years a virtual game using Backstabbr and Discord in a round of Snake Pit (1 hr 30 mins 30 secs) He discusses how it all went and what his experience was like - Gavin played as Austria and developed a great AIR with Sigurd (Italy) and Rob Hillier (Russia). You can view the game on Backstabbr, including an Austrian army in Liverpool (1 hr 33 mins) Ken mentions the latest DBN Deadline news discussing a new AI Diplomacy model, and we give a big thanks to DBN for covering in Gameday Live the Cane Toad Classic (1 hr 41 mins 30 secs) They talk about upcoming Australian tournaments before wrapping up the show (1 hr 46 mins 15 secs) Venue: Lang's Lounge, Brisbane Drinks for the interview: Gavin: Sally IPA by Your Mates Brewery, Queensland and a cheap and cheerful red Ken: Stone & Wood Hazey IPA, New South Wales followed by a Sally IPA Just a reminder you can support the show by giving it 5 stars on iTunes or Stitcher. And don't forget if you want to help pay off the audio equipment... or buy the guys a drink, you can also donate at Patreon, plus you get extra podcast episodes! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe so you get the latest Diplomacy Games episodes straight to your phone. Thanks as always to Dr Dan aka "The General" for his rockin' intro tune.

Greg Jenner is joined in the eighteenth century by historian Professor Katherine Astbury and comedian Jen Brister to learn about French queen Marie Antoinette. Born an Austrian princess, Marie Antoinette went on to be the last queen of France before the Revolution and the abolition of the monarchy. She is famous now for saying "let them eat cake", for her love of fashion, and her supposedly extravagant spending at a time when ordinary people in France were going hungry. But how true are any of these stories, and where did these myths about her originate? In this episode, we look at Marie Antoinette's Austrian childhood and overbearing mother, her marriage to Louis XVI and time as queen of France, and the hatred directed at her by the revolutionaries. Along the way we take in her involvement in politics, her love of the theatre, and her possible Swedish sweetheart. If you're a fan of radicals and revolutionaries, maligned women from history and royal scandals, you'll love our episode on Marie Antoinette.If you want more from Jen Brister, check out our episodes on Emma of Normandy and Hernán Cortés and Malintzin. Or for controversial French queens, listen to our episode on Catherine de'Medici.You're Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past.Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Charlotte Emily Edgeshaw Written by: Charlotte Emily Edgeshaw, Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

According to mainstream economists, inflation aids economic growth while deflation impairs growth. Austrian economists, however, point out that in much of US history, economic growth was accompanied by deflation.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/inflation-and-economic-growth

According to mainstream economists, inflation aids economic growth while deflation impairs growth. Austrian economists, however, point out that in much of US history, economic growth was accompanied by deflation.Original article: https://mises.org/mises-wire/inflation-and-economic-growth

Stefan Molyneux discusses modern monetary theory (MMT) with a pair of callers, examining its implications for the aging Baby Boomer population, labor shortages, and healthcare resources. They explore contrasts with Austrian economics and the potential of government debt as a private sector asset, while also considering the impact of cryptocurrencies on state power.SUBSCRIBE TO ME ON X! https://x.com/StefanMolyneuxFollow me on Youtube! https://www.youtube.com/@freedomain1GET MY NEW BOOK 'PEACEFUL PARENTING', THE INTERACTIVE PEACEFUL PARENTING AI, AND THE FULL AUDIOBOOK!https://peacefulparenting.com/Join the PREMIUM philosophy community on the web for free!Subscribers get 12 HOURS on the "Truth About the French Revolution," multiple interactive multi-lingual philosophy AIs trained on thousands of hours of my material - as well as AIs for Real-Time Relationships, Bitcoin, Peaceful Parenting, and Call-In Shows!You also receive private livestreams, HUNDREDS of exclusive premium shows, early release podcasts, the 22 Part History of Philosophers series and much more!See you soon!https://freedomain.locals.com/support/promo/UPB2025

Subscribe to the podcastIt feels like everyone is on the wrong side of the OP_RETURN debate and it's painful to have to adjust to that reality.Learn about Bitcoin at a trickleBitcoinTrickle.comSponsorLiberty MugsKeep in touch with us everywhere you areJoin our Telegram groupLike us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter: @libertymugs (Rollo), @Slappy_Jones_2Check us out on PatreonLearn everything you need to know about Bitcoin in just 10 hours10HoursofBitcoin.comPodcast version

Jason Mantzoukas joins us to talk about living the pumpkin spice life and how to not look weird when running on film. Then, Scott's former stepfather Bob Ducca returns with tales of adventurous menu items and arcade injuries—occasionally interrupted by The Wolf. Next, Austrian exchange student Peter Streusel discusses his recent stay in Los Angeles. And finally, first-time guest Queasy Jeans stops by to spread folksy wisdom. Don't forget to check out the Comedy Bang! Bang! Action Figures at shop.figurecollections.com and go to actionfigureseller.com for international purchases. If you want more great episodes of Comedy Bang! Bang! become a subscriber at comedybangbangworld.com. We have all of the past episodes from the archives, every live show, ad-free new episodes, and original shows like CBB Presents and Scott Hasn't Seen. Find more great Comedy Bang! Bang! merch at https://www.podswag.com/collections/comedy-bang-bang Get access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using this show link: https://siriusxm.com/cbb Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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This week on “Jesuitical,” Ashley and Zac sit down with Dean Detloff, a research and advocacy officer at Development and Peace – Caritas Canada, to talk about the importance of foreign debt relief in the Jubilee Year. Ashley, Zac and Dean discuss: - The biblical roots of forgiving debts in a jubilee year - How foreign debt stunts the development of poor nations - Why framing matters when it comes to debt forgiveness versus relief and justice In Signs of the Times, Ashley and Zac discuss Charlie Kirk's memorial service, including the stark juxtaposition of Erika Kirk's and President Trump's messages. They also talk about the recent execution of Father Mathew Eya in Nigeria, where 7,000 Christians have been killed so far this year.  Zac and Ashley also react to the recent escape attempt by three elderly Austrian nuns and the retirement of Loyola Chicago's Sister Jean. In “As One Friend Speaks to Another,” Zac catches Ashley up on what he's been up to and the perspective of being a new father. Links for further reading:  Dean's writing for America Caritas Canada's Jubilee Debt Campaign Jubilee People's Forum at the G7 in Kananaskis, Alberta Peruvian Cardinal speaks at People's Forum in Alberta Pope Francis lifts suspension imposed on Nicaragua's Ernesto Cardenal Charlie Kirk's widow says she forgives husband's alleged killer at memorial attended by Trump, Vance Who is being served by making Charlie Kirk a saint: God or Caesar? ‘Nuns on the run' in Austria offer a complex picture of aging in religious life You can follow us on X and on Instagram @jesuiticalshow.   You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/jesuitical.  Please consider supporting Jesuitical by becoming a digital subscriber to America magazine at americamagazine.org/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Insights into this year's Czech wine and brandy production. An unusual exhibition of replicas of crowns worn by rulers on the Czech, Hungarian, and Austrian thrones on show in Turnov.  And, David Mareček, head of the Czech Philharmonic, on this edition Prague Talk.

Just how close is the far right to taking power in Europe and the UK? Why is Germany the perfect starting point for far-right agitators? Is Europe's lacklustre response to an unfolding genocide in Gaza undermining Europe's post-war liberal order? Join Rory, Alastair, and Austrian social scientist Gerald Knaus, as they answer all these questions and more, in this special bonus episode on the rise of the far right. Join The Rest Is Politics Plus: Start your FREE TRIAL at therestispolitics.com to unlock exclusive bonus content – including Rory and Alastair's miniseries – plus ad-free listening, early access to episodes and live show tickets, an exclusive members' newsletter, discounted book prices, and a private chatroom on Discord. The Rest Is Politics is powered by Fuse Energy. The Rest Is Politics is powered by Fuse Energy. Fuse are giving away free TRIP Plus membership for all of 2025 to new sign ups

April 1796 - time for another critical chapter in the young Napoleon Bonaparte's legendary Italian campaign, brought to you once again by our Battlefield Despatches dream team. Clemens Bemmann presents; Rick Schneid is our battlefield correspondent; John Gill is with the Austrian command; and Graeme Callister is on Bonaparte's staff to provide the French perspective. Maps x2 can be found here.Produced by Alex Stevenson, with audio editing support from Sam Loose.Help us produce more episodes by supporting the Napoleonic Quarterly on Patreon: patreon.com/napoleonicquarterly

The SKATCAST Network presents:The Dipsh*t Files #156 with the Script KeepersToday's Dipsh*t:This week Mrs. Script Keeper teaches us about one of the most unique serial killers of all-time. He is often called the "Austrian Ripper", but he didn't just eliminate human life in Europe, but in the USA as well. We call him "The Recidivist" because people just kept letting him out of prison. You won't believe this one.Have a wonderful Wednesday! Visit us for more episodes of SKATCAST and other shows like SKATCAST presents The Dave & Angus Show plus BONUS material at https://www.skatcast.com Watch select shows and shorts on YouTube: bit.ly/34kxCneJoin the conversation on Discord! https://discord.gg/XKxhHYwu9zFor all show related questions: info@skatcast.comPlease rate and subscribe on iTunes and elsewhere and follow SKATCAST on social media!! Instagram: @theescriptkeeper Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scriptkeepersATWanna become a Patron? Click here: https://www.patreon.com/SkatcastSign up through Patreon and you'll get Exclusive Content, Behind The Scenes video, special downloads and more! Prefer to make a donation instead? You can do that through our PayPal: https://paypal.me/skatcastpodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Subscribe to the podcastWe live in a crazy world with a lot of bad going on around us. We talk about some role models past and present to help guide us on how to act righteously.Learn about Bitcoin at a trickleBitcoinTrickle.comSponsorLiberty MugsKeep in touch with us everywhere you areJoin our Telegram groupLike us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter: @libertymugs (Rollo), @Slappy_Jones_2Check us out on PatreonLearn everything you need to know about Bitcoin in just 10 hours10HoursofBitcoin.comPodcast version

I sat down with Lukas N. P. Egger, VP of Product Strategy and Innovation at SAP Signavio, to explore how storytelling derisks significant transformation and AI programs. We begin with his path from Austrian startup life to leading innovation within a global enterprise, and why early “peacocking” demos are only the first step.  Lukas demonstrates how he and his team transform messy narratives and SOPs into usable process models, then utilize Signavio's Transformation Advisor to connect business pain points to the first processes worth addressing. What struck me most is his take on strategy as a story. He explains how the correct narrative makes the unfamiliar feel familiar, helping teams bridge silos, align incentives, and transition from feature checklists to real outcomes. I share my approach to co-creating a shared future with stakeholders before pitching any solution, and Lukas adds a candid look at why some high-ROI pilots still fail when they threaten power structures. We discuss reframing, empathy, and the mindset shift innovators need to achieve lasting impact.  Lukas also raises a timely warning about AI systems that can build emotional rapport at the marginal cost of electricity, and why our incentive structures need an upgrade if we want technology to serve people, not the other way around. If you have a high-stakes AI initiative on your desk and you need a story that lowers the cost of failure, this conversation will give you practical ways to start, align, and deliver.  

You are likely to see just about anything inside any given Walmart. But what about an alligator in a shopping cart...in a dress? After 85+ years living the "straight and narrow" as nuns, 3 octogenarian sisters are not about to be told where to retire. When you're young and stupid there's a pretty good chance you're going to do something that will live on well past your retirement. And taking a pee in a pot of soup in a fancy restaurant will guarantee just that.In this Midweek BONUS Episode...Elton John Had His Old Kneecaps Baked Into JewelryLong Island Woman Shoots Neighbor in Face With Flare Gun In A Retirement CommunityA Gambler Jumped Off a Cruise Ship to Avoid His Debt, and Now Owes 15x as MuchEmotional Support Alligator No Longer Welcome in Pennsylvania WalmartA Couple Filed for Divorce...After Being Unable to Agree on a Name for Their ChildShould a Woman Named "Isis" Get to Keep Her "I AM ISIS" License Plate?A Humpty Dumpty Statue Was Stolen from a Mini Golf Place in New JerseyDrunk CA Woman Walks to a FL Popeyes Drive-Thru...Demands BaconatorNew Trend: Couples Adding Credit Card Machines to Bars at Weddings/Things That Instantly Ruin a WeddingDrunk Driver Claims Her Husband Was Driving, but He Wasn't in the CarCanadian Man Charged After Allegedly Making Tunnel to Upstairs Neighbor's ApartmentFlorida Woman Fights Off Alligator To Save Pet DogDefiant Nuns Flee Old Folks Home, Sneak Back To Old ConventCheating Scandal Rocks the "World Stone Skimming Championships"FL Boys Cause $50K in Damages to School Library—and Are Turned In By Their Own MomsYour Teenager's New Favorite Phrase Is "Clocked It"/Grown-Up Phrases That Your Teenagers Don't KnowWI Man Upset With 'Devil Music' at Heavy Metal Fest Suspected of Speeding Toward ConcertgoersSenior Citizens Want to Cancel the Word "Senior" Because It Sounds OldChinese Teens Ordered To Pay $300,000 For Peeing In Restaurant SoupSocial Media Trend Of "Peeing In Inappropriate Places" Forces MO High School To Close BathroomsBridesmaid Accidentally Posts Wedding Seating Chart Online, Including Bride's Blunt Notes About GuestsGet the full rundown of all the stupidity from the current events with the Insane Week In Review and meet the 7 new "winners" of stupendous stupidity in this week's Genius Awards!!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/insane-erik-lane-s-stupid-world--6486112/support.Real-time updates and story links are found on the TELEGRAM Channel at: https://t.me/InsaneErikLane  (Theme song courtesy of Randy Stonehill, ”It's A Great Big Stupid World”. Copyright ©1992 Stonehillian Music/Word Music/Twitchin' Vibes Music/ASCAP) Order your copy on the Wonderama CD from Amazon!

My guest today is Allen Farrington, writer, investor, and co-founder of Axiom, a Bitcoin-focused venture capital firm backing companies that use Bitcoin as real infrastructure rather than speculation. Allen co-authored “Bitcoin is Venice” and “Only the Strong Survive” and draws on a background in math, philosophy, Austrian economics, and long-term equity investing to explain why Bitcoin is both a technological breakthrough and a venture opportunity hiding in plain sight. In this episode, he shares why he believes the most valuable startups will use Bitcoin as invisible plumbing for payments, energy, and financial services rather than marketing themselves as “Bitcoin companies.” We explore why current stablecoin systems break under real demand, how Lightning and Taproot Assets enable issuer competition and scalable payments, and why the long arc ends with e-cash and Bitcoin-native money. Allen frames Axiom's edge as “temporal arbitrage”: investing early where technical understanding and adoption are low, anticipating that in a decade the market will recognize the value created by Bitcoin-based infrastructure.► If you got value, please like, comment, share, follow and support my work. Thank you!-- SPONSORS --→ Get your TREZOR wallet & accessories, with a 5% discount, using my code at checkout (get my discount code from the episode - yep, you'll have to watch it): https://affil.trezor.io/SHUn → Shield your bitcoin with time-delayed transactions over multisig with BitVault: https://bit.ly/bitvault_efrat – AFFILIATES –→ Get 10% off on Augmented NAC, with the code YCXKQDK2 via this link: https://store.augmentednac.com/?via=efrat (Note, this is not medical advice and you should consult your MD)→ Watch “New Totalitarian Order” conference with Prof. Mattias Desmet & Efrat - code EFRAT for 10% off: https://efenigson.gumroad.com/l/desmet_efrat → Get a second citizenship and a plan B to relocate to another country with Expat Money, leave your details for a follow up: https://expatmoney.com/efrat → Join me in any of these upcoming events: https://www.efrat.blog/p/upcoming-events -- LINKS –Allen's X: https://x.com/allenf32Axiom Website: https://www.axiombtc.capital/about Efrat's Twitter: https://twitter.com/efenigsonEfrat's Channels: https://linktr.ee/efenigsonWatch/listen on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/yourethevoiceSupport Efrat's work: ⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/efenigson   ⁠Support Efrat with Bitcoin: https://geyser.fund/project/efenigson-- CHAPTERS –00:00 - Coming Up01:12 - Introduction to Allen03:20 - Discovering Bitcoin & Career Trajectory 12:03 - Ad Break - Trezor & BitVault15:22 - Investment Philosophy & Lightning as Inspiration17:52 - Company and Investment Selection for Axiom VC30:12 - Stablecoins & Regulations37:32 - Why Most Stablecoin Systems Fail At Scale?44:50 - The Importance of Stablecoin Issuers51:16 - Stablecoins on Lightning & Taproot Assets: A New Approach1:01:23 - The Future of Digital Money: E-Cash1:05:47 - Steps to Migrate From Fiat To Bitcoin1:10:28 - Companies to Watch in the Bitcoin & Lightning Space1:16:43 - Allen Loves What He Does & Why He Does It

Operaspymaster you may ask? Read on and listen to this episode. In this powerful and multifaceted episode of Unstoppable Mindset, we welcome Kay Sparling, former opera singer, PTSD survivor, and now debut novelist—as she shares her incredible life journey from international stages to the shadowy world of espionage fiction. Kay talks about the creation of her first novel, Mission Thaw, a gripping spy thriller based on her own real-life experiences volunteering with refugees in post-Cold War Europe. Kay and Michael discuss the inspiration behind her protagonist, CIA agent Caitlin Stewart, and how real-world trauma and service led Kay to use fiction as both a vehicle for healing and a call to action on the modern crisis of human trafficking. This is a conversation that transcends genres—music, espionage, activism, and resilience—all converging through the unstoppable spirit of a woman who refuses to stay silent. About the Guest: Kay Sparling was raised in the Midwest. At the age of seven, she began her professional singing career as Gretl in “The Sound of Music” and she continued to perform through high school. After graduation Kay attended University of Kansas and earned a BME in music education and a minor in Vocal Performance. She then attended graduate school in opera voice performance for one year at UMKC Conservatory of Music. She was awarded a grant to finish my graduate studies in Vienna, Austria. From there she won an apprenticeship at the Vienna State Opera. After moving to NYC to complete her second apprenticeship, Kay lived in Germany, Austria, and Italy for many years. In 1999 Kay returned to NYC and continued singing opera and became a cantor for the NYC diocese. After 9/11, she served as a cantor at many of the funeral and memorial masses for the fallen first responders. In 2003, Kay moved from NYC to the upper Midwest and started a conservatory of Music and Theatre where her voice students have been awarded numerous prestigious scholarships and won many competitions. In 2020, the pandemic shut down her conservatory, so she began training to be a legal assistant and now works in workers compensation. Back in 2013, Kay had started writing a journal as a PTSD treatment. She was encouraged to extend the material into a novel. After much training and several drafts, Mission Thaw was published in 2024. Kay is currently writing the second book in the Kaitlyn Stewart Spy Thriller Series. Ways to connect with Kay: Website: https://www.kaysparlingbooks.com X: https://x.com/MissionThaw/missionthaw/ Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/missionthaw.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/505674375416879 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kay-sparling-8516b638/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missionthaw/ Litsy: https://www.litsy.com/web/user/Mission%20Thaw About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:16 Well, hi everyone. Welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. I'm your host, Mike hingson, and our guest today is a very fascinating individual. I was just teasing her a little bit about her email address, which is operaspy master@gmail.com I'm telling you, don't cross her. That's all I gotta say. Anyway, we'll, we'll get into all of that. But I really am glad that she is with us. Kay Sparling is a fascinating woman who's had an interesting career. She's written, she's done a number of things. She's used to be an opera, gosh, all sorts of stuff. So anyway, we'll get to all of it and we'll talk about it. I don't want to give it all away. Where would the fun in that be? Kay, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Kay Sparling ** 02:11 Well, thank you. I'm glad to be here. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 02:13 we're glad you're here. You're from up in Wisconsin. We were going to do this a couple of weeks ago, but you had all the storms, and it stole your internet and your power away, didn't   Kay Sparling ** 02:23 it? It sure did. Yeah, that was a terrible storm we had.   Michael Hingson ** 02:28 Yeah, that's kind of no fun. I remember years ago, I was talking to somebody on the phone. We were doing a sales call, and he said, I might not be able to stay on the phone because we're having a really serious storm, and he said it is possible that the lightning could hit the phone lines, and if it does, it could come in the house. And we talked for a few minutes, and then he said, I'm going to have to hang up, because I just felt a small shock, because the lightning obviously hit the phone line, so we'll have to talk later. And and he was gone. And we did talk later, though he was okay, but still, wow, yeah, there's a lot of crazy weather going on, isn't there? And we were just talking about the, we were just talking about the Canadian wildfires. They're No fun.   Kay Sparling ** 03:15 No, no. Just everywhere is having crazy weather.   Michael Hingson ** 03:20 Well, tell us a little bit about you growing up and all that sort of stuff, and telling me about the the early K   Kay Sparling ** 03:32 Well, growing up, I grew up in a farm community in the in the central Midwest, just you know, right in the middle of the bread basket, you might say, not near where you are now. No no, no further south and in very much agriculture time, I mean skipping ahead. I remember talking to a famous opera conductor when I was an apprentice, and I made some reference, and he goes, Well, how would you know that? And I said, because I grew up on a farm. And he went, Oh, get out here. Nobody makes it, you know, to a major European opera house from a farm. And I went, Well, I did. And later, I asked my mom to send me a picture, because we had had an aerial view taken of our homestead, and it was obvious for miles, all the way around the house and the barn and all, it was just corn fields and soybeans. You know what they showed   Michael Hingson ** 04:40 Illinois, Illinois, and so you showed it to him, yeah,   Kay Sparling ** 04:44 I showed it to him, and he was like, well, doggone, you're not lying. Like, No, I wasn't kidding you. I really did.   Michael Hingson ** 04:51 It shows how good I really am. See how far I progressed.   Kay Sparling ** 04:55 Well, you know, I was one of these kids. I. At five years old, I my parents took me to see sound and music at the theater, and during the intermission. Now I'm five years old, it's pretty late for me, right? But when we're in the concession stand, I tug at my mom's skirt, and I say, Mom, that's what I want to do. And she looks at me kind of funny, and she's kind of funny, and she's kind of confused. Well, what do you want to do work in a theater? You know, a movie theater? No, no, I want to do what those kids are doing on that on the movie screen. And she was like, Well, honey, you know, that's that's really hard to get somewhere like that. So that was when I was five. And then when I was seven, she just, you know, the all the school and the church were telling her, this kid's got a great voice, and they kept giving me solos and stuff. And so when I was seven, she put me in the Sangamon County Fair Little Miss competition. And of course, my talent was singing, so I just sang away. I really can't remember what I sang, but afterwards, a fellow came up to my parents and introduced himself, and he said that he was there, he had family, not, you know, in the area, and that he had grown up there, but since then, he he was in St Louis, and he said, we are, I'm a scout, and I'm looking, I'm an entertainment Scout, and I'm actually looking for, you know, the von trop children. We're going to do a big production, and we'd love to audition your daughter. Well, we were about, think it was an hour and a half away from St Louis, so my parents are like, wow, that'd be quite a commitment. But long story short, I did it, and that started my professional career. I was the youngest Bon Troy. You know, over cradle, yeah. And so it just went from there. And, you know, it was all Broadway, of course, and I did a lot of church singing, you know, it got to be by the time I was, you know, in high school, people were hiring me for weddings, funerals, all that kind of thing. And so I was a Broadway and sacred singer. Went to college. My parents said, you can't depend on a vocal performance degree. What if things don't work out? You have to have something fall back. So I went into vocal music ed at a very, very good school for that, and also music therapy, and, you know, continue being in their shows. And when I when I graduated, continued the Broadway, and one night I was also singing a little bit of jazz in Kansas City, where I was living, someone approached me. She was a voice teacher at the conservatory there, and that conservatory had an apprenticeship with the Kansas City Lyric Opera. And she said I knew you was an undergrad. My husband works where you, where you went to school, and I have been watching you for a long time. And I wish you quit this nonsense of singing Broadway and jazz and rock and everything and get serious, you know, and try opera. So I thought she was crazy to bring that up, but it wasn't the first time it had been brought up. So I have been teaching for a year, and at the end of that school year, I announced everyone I was going to graduate school and I was going to study opera. And so   Michael Hingson ** 08:55 what were you teaching?   Kay Sparling ** 08:57 I was teaching high school choir, okay, at a very big high school, very, very good choir department.   Michael Hingson ** 09:03 Now, by the way, after doing Gretel, did you ever have any other parts as you grew older in Sound of Music?   Kay Sparling ** 09:11 Okay, that's a very cool question. I am one of the few people that I know that can say I have sang every major role in Sound of Music sometime in my life. Ah, okay, because it was so popular when I was Oh, yeah. And as I would grow older, well now you're going to sing, you know, you just kept graduating up. And then pretty soon I sang quite a few Marias. And then after I was an opera singer. During covid, I was asked to sing Mother Superior. Mother Superior. Yeah, literally, have sung, you know, in a decades long career, I've sung every role in Sound of Music.   Michael Hingson ** 09:56 Cool. Well, that's great.   10:00 Yeah, so, so, anyway, so   Michael Hingson ** 10:02 you said that you were going to go study opera,   Kay Sparling ** 10:07 and I did a graduate school, and then I got the chance to get an international grant over to Europe, and so I decided to not finish my masters at that time and go over there and finish it, and most of all, importantly, do my first apprenticeship in Europe. And so I thought that was a great opportunity. They were willing. They were going to willing to pay for everything. And I said I would be a fool to turn this down. Yeah, so off I went, and that's kind of the rest of the story. You know, got a lot of great training, left Europe for a while, moved to New York City, trained best coaches and teachers in the world at the Metropolitan Opera and then, you know, launch my career.   Michael Hingson ** 11:04 So you Wow, you, you've done a number of things, of course, going to Europe and being in Vienna and places like that. Certainly you were in the the right place.   Kay Sparling ** 11:16 Yes, yes, definitely. You know, at that time in the in the middle 80s, United States was we had some great opera houses Iran, but we had very few. And it just wasn't the culture that it was in Europe, in Europe. And so, yes, there was a lot more opportunity there, because there was such a culture established there already.   Michael Hingson ** 11:44 So you went off and you did Europe and saying opera, what were you a soprano? Or what were you that sounds like a way a little high for your voice?   Kay Sparling ** 11:59 Well, you have to remember, I'm a senior citizen now. So this is the way it worked for me, because we're talking decades from the age 27 and I quit singing at 63 so that's a very long time to sing opera. So I started out, as you know, there is a voice kind of category, and each one of those, we use a German word for that. It's called Foch, F, A, C, H, and you know, that is determined by the kind of vocal cords you have, and the kind of training and the literature you're singing, and hopefully that all meshes together if you have good coaches and a good agent and such. And I literally have seen so many different Fox lyric, lyric mezzo, then to, very shortly, lyric soprano, and then for a long time, spinto soprano, which would be the Puccini and a lot of them really popular things. And then I was, I felt I was quite lucky that my voice did have the strength and did mature into a Verdi soprano, which is a dramatic soprano, not many of those around. And so that was, that was an endeavor, but at the same time, that was a leg up. And so most of the time in my career, I sang the bigger Puccini, like, let's say Tosca, and I sang a lot of Verdi. So I was an Italian opera singer. I mostly sang in Italian, not to say that I didn't sing in German or French, but I did very little in comparison to the   Michael Hingson ** 13:56 Italian Well, there's a lot of good Italian opera out there, although mostly I don't understand it, but I don't speak Italian well.   Kay Sparling ** 14:07 The great thing about most houses now is, you know, you can just look at the back of the seat in front of you, and there's the translation, you know, yeah, that   Michael Hingson ** 14:18 doesn't work for me. Being blind, that doesn't work for you. Yeah, that's okay, though, but I like the music, yeah. So how long ago did you quit singing?   Kay Sparling ** 14:32 Um, just about, well, under, just a little under three years ago, okay?   Michael Hingson ** 14:38 And why did you quit? This was the right time,   Kay Sparling ** 14:42 senses or what I had a circumstance, I had to have throat surgery. Now it wasn't on my vocal cords, but it was on my thyroid, and unfortunately, the vocal cord nerve. They had to take out some Cyst On. My right thyroid, and then remove it too. And unfortunately, my vocal cords were damaged at that time, I would have probably be singing still now some you know, I mean, because dramatic sopranos just can go on and on and on. One of my mentors was Birgit Nielsen, famous singer from Sweden, and she was in my grandmother's generation, but she didn't, I went to work with her, and she demonstrated at 77 she could still pop out of high C. And I believe, I believe I would have been able to do that too, but you know, circumstances, you know, changed, but that's okay. Yeah, I had sung a long time, and at least I can speak. So I'm just very happy about that.   Michael Hingson ** 15:51 So when you did quit singing, what did you decide to go do? Or, or, How did, how did you progress from there?   Kay Sparling ** 16:01 Well, I had already made a transition where I had come in 2003 to the Midwest. I came back from New York City, where I lived many, many years, and I started a conservatory of music and acting, and then that kind of grew into a whole conservatory of music. So I was also a part time professor here in Wisconsin, and I taught voice, you know, one on one vocal lessons, so high school and college and graduate school, and so I had this huge studio. So when that happened, I wasn't getting to sing a whole lot, because I was much more focused on my students singing me at that point, especially the older ones, professional ones, and so, you know, I just kept teaching and and then I had started this book that I'm promoting now, and so that gave me more time to get that book finished   Michael Hingson ** 17:10 and published. What's the name of the book?   Kay Sparling ** 17:13 The book is called Mission, thaw.   Michael Hingson ** 17:16 Ah, okay, and what is it about   Kay Sparling ** 17:22 mission thaw is feminist spy thriller set at the very end of the Cold War in the late 80s, and the main protagonist is Caitlin Stewart, who it who has went over there to be an opera singer, and soon after she arrives, is intensely recruited by the CIA. They have a mission. They really, really need a prima donna Mozart soprano, which is what Caitlin was, and she had won a lot of competitions and won a grant to go over there, and so they had been vetting her in graduate school in the United States. And soon as she came to Europe, they they recruited her within a couple weeks of her being there, and she, of course, is totally blindsided by that. When they approach her, she had she she recognized that things were not exactly the way they should be, that people were following her, and she was trying to figure out who, are these people and why are they following me everywhere? Well, it ends up being young CIA agents, and so when the head chief and his, you know, the second chief, approach her, you know, she's not real happy, because she's already felt violated, like her privacy has been violated, and so she wasn't really too wonderful of listening to them and their needs. And so they just sort of apprehend her and and throw her in a car, in a tinted window Mercedes, and off they go to a park to talk to her, right? And so it's all like crazy movie to Caitlin. It's like, what is going on here? And, you know, she can tell they're all Americans, and they have dark suits on, even though it's very, very hot, and dark glasses, you know? So everything is just like a movie. And so when they approach her and tell her about what they need her to do, you know, and this would be in addition to the apprentice she is doing that, you know, she just gets up and says, I'm sorry I didn't come over and be in cloak and dagger. A, you know, ring, I'm getting out of here. And as she's walking away, the chief says, Well, what if you could help bring down the Berlin Wall? Well, now that stops her in her tracks, and she turns around. She goes, What are you kidding? I'm just a, you know, an opera apprentice from the Midwest grew up on a farm. What am I gonna do? Hit a high C and knock it down. I mean, what are you talking about?   Michael Hingson ** 20:28 Hey, Joshua, brought down the wealth of Jericho, after all. Well, yeah, some   Kay Sparling ** 20:34 later, someone tells her that, actually, but, but anyway, they say, well, sit down and we'll explain what we need you to do. And so the the initial job that Caitlin accepts and the CIA to be trained to do is what they call a high profile information gap. She has a wonderful personality. She's really pretty. She's very fashionable, so she can run with the jet set. And usually the jet set in Europe, the opera jet set is also where all the heads of states hang out, too. And at that time, the the Prime Minister was pretty much banking the Vienna State Opera where she was apprenticing. So he ends up being along with many other Western Austrian businessmen in a cartel of human trafficking. Who they are trafficking are all the the different citizens of the countries that USSR let go. You know, when you know just got to be too much. Remember how, oh yeah, we're going to let you go. Okay? And then they would just pull out. And there was no infrastructure. There was nothing. And these poor people didn't have jobs, they didn't have electricity. The Russian mafia was running in there trying to take, you know, take over. It was, it was chaos. And so these poor people were just packing up what they could to carry, and literally, sometimes walking or maybe taking a train into the first Western European country they could get to. And for a lot of them, just because the geographical area that was Austria. And so basically, the Austrians did not want these people, and they were being very unwelcoming and arresting a lot of them, and there was a lot of lot of bad behavior towards these refugees. And so the Catholic church, the Catholic Social Services, the Mennonite Relief Fund, the the UN and the Red Cross started building just tent after tent after tent on the edge of town for these people to stay at. And so the businessmen decide, well, we can traffic these people that have nothing over to the East Germans, who will promise them everything, but will give them nothing. But, you know, death camps, basically, just like in World War Two. So you have work camps, you have factories. They they don't feed these people correctly. They don't they don't give them anything that they promise to them in in the camps. And they say, Okay, be on this train at this time, this night. And then they stop somewhere in between Vienna and East Germany, in a very small train station in the middle of the Alps. And they have these large, you know, basic slave options. And unfortunately, the children in the older people get sent back to the camp because they don't need them or want them. So all the children get displaced from their families, as well as the senior citizens or anyone with a disability. And then, you know, the men and the women that can work are broken up as well, and they're sent to these, you know, they're bought by these owners of these factories and farms, and the beautiful women, of course, are sold to either an individual that's there in East German that just wants to have a sex aid, pretty much. Or even worse, they could be sold to an underground East Berlin men's club. And so terrible, terrible things happen to the women in particular, and the more that Caitlin learns. As she's being trained about what's happening, and she interviews a lot of these women, and she sees the results of what's happened, it, it, it really strengthens her and gives her courage. And that's a good thing, because as time goes through the mission, she ends up having to be much, much more than just a high profile social, you know, information gather. She ends up being a combat agent and so, but that that's in the mission as you read, that that happens gradually and so, what? What I think is really a good relationship in this story, is that the one that trains her, because this is actually both CIA and MI six are working on this, on this mission, thought and the director of the whole mission is an very seasoned mi six agent who everyone considers the best spy in the free world. And Ian Fleming himself this, this is true. Fact. Would go to this man and consult with him when he was writing a new book, to make sure you know that he was what he was saying is, Could this really happen? And that becomes that person, Clive Matthews become praying, Caitlyn, particularly when she has to start changing and, you know, defending herself. And possibly, you know,   Michael Hingson ** 26:38 so he becomes her teacher in   Kay Sparling ** 26:42 every way. Yes. So how   Michael Hingson ** 26:45 much? Gee, lots of questions. First of all, how much of the story is actually   Kay Sparling ** 26:50 true? All this story is true. The   Michael Hingson ** 26:53 whole mission is true. Yes, sir. And so how did you learn about this? What? What caused you to start to decide to write this story?   Kay Sparling ** 27:08 So some of these experiences are my own experiences. And so after I as an opera singer, decided to be a volunteer to help out these refugees. I witnessed a lot, and so many years later, I was being treated for PTSD because of what I'd witnessed there. And then a little bit later in Bosnia in the early 90s, and I was taking music therapy and art therapy, and my psychiatrist thought that it'd be a good idea if also I journaled, you know, the things that I saw. And so I started writing things, and then I turned it in, and they had a person that was an intern that was working with him, and both of them encouraged me. They said, wow, if, if there's more to say about this, you should write a book, cuz this is really, really, really good stuff. And so at one point I thought, Well, why not? I will try. So this book is exactly what happened Caitlin, you know, is a real person, and everyone in the book is real. Of course, I changed the names to protect people and their descriptions, but I, you know, I just interviewed a lot of spies that were involved. So, yes, this is a true story.   Michael Hingson ** 29:06 Did you do most of this? Then, after your singing career, were you writing while the career, while you were singing?   Kay Sparling ** 29:13 I was writing while I was still singing. Yeah, I started the book in 2015 Okay, and because, as I was taking the PTSD treatment and had to put it on the shelf several times, life got in the way. I got my my teaching career just really took off. And then I was still singing quite a bit. And then on top of it, everything kind of ceased in 2018 when my mother moved in with me and she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, but Louie body Alzheimer's, which is a very, very rough time, and so I became one of her caretakers. So I quit singing, put that on hold, and I. I had to really, really bring down the number in my studio I was teaching and spend time here at home. And so I would take care of her, but then after she would go to bed, and she'd go to bed much earlier than I wanted to, that's when I write, and that's when I got the lion's share of this book written. Was during that time, it was a great escape from what I was dealing with, believe it or not, you know, even though there's some real graphic things in the book and all it wasn't, it was a nice distraction.   Michael Hingson ** 30:36 Wow, so you, you lived this, needless to say,   Kay Sparling ** 30:41 Yes, I did, and yes.   Michael Hingson ** 30:45 So you've talked a little bit about what happened to these countries after the collapse of the USSR and communism and so on, these eastern companies, companies, countries. Has it changed much over the years.   Kay Sparling ** 31:03 Oh, yeah, for instance, one, you know, I went to Budapest after they were freed, I guess is what usr would say. Stayed in a five star hotel, and we were lucky if we had running water and electricity at the same time. And every time you went down on the streets, all you'd see is lines, you know, I mean, just because there'd be all like, Red Cross, etc, would be there, and they'd have these big trucks they drove in every day, and it just got to be because they had nothing. If you saw a truck, you'd start running towards it and get in line. You didn't care what it was, you know, and it was. And then fights would break out because they wouldn't have enough for everyone. And then, like, you know, maybe someone's walking away with a bag of rice, and some of us knock them over the head and take, you know, and it was very hard, you know, I was a volunteer there, and it was very, very hard to see this, you know, desperation, one story that I'd like to tell, and I put it in the book. I was riding my bike, you know, on a Friday afternoon to get some groceries at the nearest supermarket where my apartment was, and at that time, they still had the European hours, so they were going to close at five o'clock, and they weren't going to open until seven or eight on Monday morning. So you had to make sure you got there to get your weekend supply. So I was on my way, and I was parking my bike, and this woman, refugee woman, runs up and she has two small children with her, and she's carrying a baby, and she's speaking to me in a language I did not know. I do speak several languages, but I don't know Slavic languages and so, but I'm getting the gist of it that she has nothing to eat, neither do her children, and so I'm patting her on the shoulder, and right when I do that, a policeman that was guarding the door of the supermarket came up to me and, like, grabbed me really hard, and told me in German that I was not To speak to them, and I was not to help them, because if you help them, they'll stay. And I said to him in German, I'm an American. I am not Austrian. I am here on a work visa, and I can do whatever the hell I want to do. Well, he didn't like that. And so I just walked away from him, and I went in the store. And so I got up everything I get. Think of the big need, you know, I never had a baby, so I was trying to kind of figure that out, yeah, and I had to figure it out in German, you know, looking at labels now. And so finally I got, I got some stuff, you know, the stuff I needed, and, and, and the stuff that I got for the family, and I checked out, and I'm pushing the cart, you know, towards them. And he runs up beside me and stops me, and he says, I am going to arrest you if you bring that. I told you not to help them. And I said, again, I don't think I'm breaking any laws. And he said, Oh yes, you are. And I said, Well, I didn't read that in the papers. I didn't see it on TV where anyone said. That you cannot help a refugee. And so we're going back and forth. And so, you know, I'm pretty strong, so I just keep pushing it towards it. Well, she's kind of running down the park, and I'm like, wait, wait, you know, because she's getting scared of this guy, you know, he has a gun, he has a nightstick. Of course, she's scared, and so, you know, I would say, No, no, it's okay, because I can't speak for language, right? And so I'm just trying to give her body language and talk. Well, finally she does stop, and I just throw I give the one sack to the little boy, and one second little girl, they just run and and then, you know, I'm talking to her and saying, you know, it's okay, it's okay. And he grabs me, and he turns me around and he spits in my face.   Michael Hingson ** 35:53 Wow. Talk about breaking the law. But anyway, go ahead.   Kay Sparling ** 36:00 Welcome to Austria in the late 80s. You have to understand their Prime Minister Kurt voltheim won on the Nazi ticket. Mm, hmm. At that very time, if you got on a bus and you saw these businessmen going to work, at least 50% of them were reading the Nazi paper. Okay, so we kind of know what, where his affiliations lie. You know, this policeman and, you know, and I was very aware, you know, of of that party being very strong. And so you have to watch yourself when, when you're a foreigner. And I was a foreigner too, just like her. And so after wiping my face, I mean, I really, really wanted to give him a kick or something, yeah, and I do, I do know martial arts, but I was like, no, no, gotta stay cool. And I just told her to run. And she did and caught up with the children, and, you know, kept running. So that was the first experience I had knowing how unwelcome these people were in Austria. Yeah, so I got involved, yeah, I got involved because I was like, this is absolutely not right.   Michael Hingson ** 37:31 And so the book is, in part, to try to bring awareness to all that. I would think   Kay Sparling ** 37:36 absolutely there are, there are bits of it are, they're pretty darn graphic, but it's all true, and it's all documented. Sometimes people about human trafficking, they think, oh, it's not in my backyard. I'm not going to think about that. Well, I live in a very small college town, around 17,000 people, and two months ago, on the front page of this small paper here in town, there were seven men that were arrested for many counts of human trafficking of underage women and prostitution. So guess what, folks, it is in your backyard. If it's in this little town, it's probably in yours too. And we have to be aware before we can do anything. So we have to open our eyes. And I hope this book opens the eyes of the reader to say, Oh, my God, I knew things were bad, but I didn't realize that torture, this kind of thing went on. Well, it does, and I the International Labor Union estimates that 21 million people are being you. You are victims of human trafficking right now, as we speak, throughout the world, that's a lot of people, a lot of people. So most likely, we've all seen some hint of that going on, it didn't register as it at the time. You know, if you're just walked out of a restaurant, and you're walking to your car that's parked on the street, and you happen to go by an alley and there's restaurants on that row, and all of a sudden you see people being kind of shoved out and put in a truck. That's probably human trafficking, you know? And you know, a lot of people don't pay attention, but like, if they stop and think that doesn't look right, and if those people look like they may be from another country, yeah. And all you have to do is call the authorities, you know, and other ways that you can help are by you know, that that you can get involved. Are, you know, donate to all the different organizations that are finding this now.   Michael Hingson ** 40:19 Was the book self published, or do you have a publisher?   Kay Sparling ** 40:25 I self published, but it's more of a hybrid publishing company that's kind of a new thing that's going on, and so I cannot learn all those different facets of publishing a book, right? It just wasn't in my, you know, skill set, and it also wasn't even interesting to me. I don't want to learn how to do graphic illustration. Okay? So what I did is I hired a hybrid company that had all these different departments that dealt with this, and I had complete artistic control, and I was able to negotiate a great deal on my net profits. So I feel that, after looking into the traditional publishing world and not being exactly pleased with it to say the least, I think that was the right business choice for me to make, and I'm very happy I did it.   Michael Hingson ** 41:46 How do you market the book then?   Kay Sparling ** 41:48 Well, that was, that was the tricky part that that publisher did have some marketing they started, but obviously now they agreed it wasn't enough. So at that point, I attended a virtual women's publishing seminar, and I really paid attention to all the companies that were presenting about marketing. And in that time, I felt one that I just was totally drawn to, and so I asked her if we could have a consultation, and we did, and the rest is history. I did hire her team and a publicist, Mickey, who you probably know, and, yeah, it's been going really great. That was the second smart thing I did, was to, you know, hire, hire a publicity.   Michael Hingson ** 42:50 Well, yeah, and marketing is one is a is a tricky thing. It's not the most complicated thing in the world, but you do have to learn it, and you have to be disciplined. So good for you, for for finding someone to help, but you obviously recognize the need to market, which is extremely important, and traditional publishers don't do nearly as much of it as they used to. Of course, there are probably a lot more authors than there used to be too. But still,   Kay Sparling ** 43:19 yeah, their their marketing has changed completely. I remember I had a roommate that became a famous author, and just thinking about when he started, you know, in the 80s, how the industry is completely changed. Mm, hmm, you know. So, yeah, it's, it's really tricky. The whole thing is very tricky. One thing that I also did is one of my graduate students needed a job, and so I've known her since, literally, I've known her since eighth grade. I have been with this student a long time, and she's done very well, but she really is a wiz at the social media. And so she made all my accounts. I think I have 12 altogether, and every time I do something like what I'm doing tonight, soon as it's released, she just puts it out there, everywhere and and I have to thank her from again that that's probably not my skill set.   Michael Hingson ** 44:37 Well, everyone has gifts, right? And the the people who I think are the most successful are the people who recognize that they have gifts. There are other people that have gifts that will augment or enhance what they do. And it's good that you find ways to collaborate. I think collaborating is such an important thing. Oh, yeah. All too many people don't. They think that they can just do it all in and then some people can. I mean, I know that there are some people who can, but a lot of people don't and can't.   Kay Sparling ** 45:12 Well, I've got other things. I've got going, you know, so maybe if I only had to do the book, everything to do with the book, that would be one thing, but I, you know, I have other things I have to have in my life. And so I think that collaboration is also fun, and I'm very good at delegating. I have been very good at delegating for a long time. When I started my school. I also started a theater company, and if you know one thing, it's a three ring circus to produce an opera or a musical, and I've done a lot of them, and yeah, I would have not survived if I didn't learn how to delegate and trust people to do their own thing. So what are you   Michael Hingson ** 45:58 doing today? What are you doing today? Besides writing?   Kay Sparling ** 46:04 Well, during covid, everything got shut down, and I didn't have an income, and I had to do something. And one of, believe it or not, one of my parents, of one of my students, is an attorney for the state of Wisconsin, and she was very worried. I mean, it looked like I might lose my house. I mean, I literally had no income. And so, you know, I was a small business person, and so she offered me very graciously to come work in the department of workers compensation in the legal Bureau at the state of Wisconsin. So I never have done anything like that in my life. I have never sat in a cubicle. I've never sat in front of a computer unless it was in its recording studio or something like that. So it was a crazy thing to have to do in my early 60s, but I'm a single woman, and I had to do it, and and I did, and it put me on solid ground, and that was one reason I couldn't finish the book, because I didn't have to worry about a live cookie. And so I am continuing to do that in so as in the day, that is what I do. I'm a legal assistant, cool.   Michael Hingson ** 47:32 And so when did mission thought get published?   Kay Sparling ** 47:38 Mission thought almost a year ago, in August of 2024 it launched, yes, okay, yeah. And it was very scary for me, you know, because my hybrid publishers up in Canada, and they were telling me, Well, you know, we're going to get you some editorial reviews and we're going to have you be interviewed. And you know, those very first things where my editor at at the publisher had told me it was one of the really a good book, and that was one of the cleanest books she ever had to edit. And so that kind of gave me some confidence. But you understand, look at my background. I I didn't go to school to be a writer. I had never studied writing. I hadn't done any writing up until now, and so to that was my first kind of sigh of relief when the editor at the publisher said it was really a good book, and then I started getting the editorial reviews, and they were all stellar, and they continue to be. And I'm, I'm still a little shocked, you know, because it takes time, I guess, for a person to switch gears and identify themselves as an author. But you know, after a year now, I'm feeling much more comfortable in my shoes about that. But at first it was, it was trying because I was scared and I was worried, you know, what people were going to think about the book, not the story, so much as how it was crafted. But it ends up, well,   Michael Hingson ** 49:15 it ends up being part of the same thing, and yeah, the very fact that they love it that that means a lot. Yeah, so is, is there more in the way of adventures from Caitlin coming up or what's happening?   Kay Sparling ** 49:30 Yeah, this is hopefully a trilogy, um of Caitlin's most important standout missions. And so the second one is set in the early 90s during the Bosnian war. And this time, she cannot use opera as a cover, because obviously in a war zone, there's no opera. And so she has to. To go undercover as either a un volunteer or Red Cross, and this time, her sidekick is not the Clive Matthews. He has actually started a special squad, combat squad that's going in because, of course, we, none of us, were really involved with that war, right? But that's what he's doing. And so, believe it or not, her, her sidekick, so to speak, is a priest that very early, goes on and sees, you know, this absolute ethnic cleansing going on, you know, massacres and and he tries to get the Catholic Church to help, and they're like, no, no, we're not touching that. And so he goes AWOL. And had been friends in Vienna with the CIA during the first book. He goes to the CIA and says, This is what's going on. I saw it with my own eyes. I want to help. And so he becomes Caitlin's sidekick, which is a very interesting relationship. You know, Caitlin, the opera singer, kind of, kind of modern girl, you know, and then you know, the kind of staunch priest. But they find a way to work together, and they have to, because they have to save each other's lives a couple times. And this is my favorite book of the three. And so basically what happens is called Mission impromptu, and I hope to have that finished at the end of this month. And the reason we call it impromptu is because her chief tells her to just get the information and get out, but her and the priest find out that there is a camp of orphaned boys that they are planning to come massacre, and so they they they basically go rogue and don't follow orders and go try to help the boys. Yeah. And then the third book, she has actually moved back to New York, and she's thinking, well, she does retire from the CIA, and it's the summer of 2001 and what happened in September of 2001 911 and so they call her right back in she literally had been retired for about three months.   Michael Hingson ** 52:35 Well, to my knowledge, I never met Caitlin, so I'm just saying Mm hmm, having been in the World Trade Center on September 11, but I don't think I met Caitlin anyway.   Kay Sparling ** 52:43 Go ahead. No, she wasn't in the towers, but no, I was in New York. And yeah, so they called her back right away. And so the third one is going to be called Mission home front, because that's been her home for a very long time. She's been living in New York.   Michael Hingson ** 53:01 Are there plans for Caitlin beyond these three books? I hope so.   Kay Sparling ** 53:08 I think it would be fun for her to retire from the CIA and then move back to the Midwest. And, you know, it turned into a complete fiction. Of course, this is not true stuff, but, you know, like kind of a cozy mystery series, right, where things happen and people can't get anyone to really investigate it, so they come to Caitlin, and then maybe her ex boss, you know, the chief that's also retired, they kind of, you know, gang up and become pi type, you know, right? I'm thinking that might be a fun thing.   Michael Hingson ** 53:46 Now, are mostly books two and three in the mission series. Are they also relatively non fiction?   53:53 Yes, okay,   Michael Hingson ** 53:57 okay, cool, yes. Well, you know, it's, it's pretty fascinating to to hear all of this and to to see it, to hear about it from you, but to see it coming together, that is, that is really pretty cool to you know, to see you experiencing have the book, has mission thought been converted by any chance to audio? Is it available on Audible or   Kay Sparling ** 54:21 anywhere it has not but it is in my plans. It's there's a little bit of choice I have to make do. I use my publisher and hire one of their readers you know to do it, someone you know, that's in equity, that type of thing. Or you know, my publicity, or people are also saying, well, because you're an actor, and, you know, all these accents, it might be nice for you to do to read your own book. Well, the problem is time, you know, just the time to do it, because I'm so busy promoting the book right now. And really. Right writing the second one that you know, I just don't know if I'm going to be able to pull that off, but I have my own records, recording studio in my voice studio downstairs, but it's just and I have all the equipment I have engineers. It's just a matter of me being able to take the time to practice and to get that done. So it's probably going to be, I'll just use their, one of their people, but yes, yeah, it's coming. It's coming. Well, it's,   Michael Hingson ** 55:29 it's tough. I know when we published last year, live like a guide dog, and the publisher, we did it through a traditional publisher, they worked with dreamscape to create an audio version. And I actually auditioned remotely several authors and chose one. But it is hard to really find someone to read the book the way you want it read, because you know what it's like, and so there is merit to you taking the time to read it. But still, as you said, there are a lot of things going on,   Kay Sparling ** 56:09 yeah, and I have read, you know, certain portions of the book, because some podcasts that I've been on asked me to do that, and I and I practiced and that, it went very well. And of course, when people hear that, they're like, Oh, you're the one that has to do this. You know Caitlin. You can speak her, you know her attitudes and all. And then you also know how to throw all those different accents out there, because there's going to be, like, several, there's Dutch, there's German, there's Scottish, high British and Austrian. I mean, yeah, yeah, Austrians speak different than Germans. Mm, hmm,   Michael Hingson ** 56:53 yeah, it's it's a challenge, but it's still something worth considering, because you're going to bring a dimension to it that no one else really can because you wrote it and you really know what you want them to sound like, Yeah, but it's a it's a process. I and I appreciate that, but you've got lots going on, and you have to have an income. I know for me, we started live like a guide dog my latest book when the pandemic began, because I realized that although I had talked about getting out of the World Trade Center and doing so without exhibiting fear, didn't mean that it wasn't there, but I realized that I had learned to control fear, because I learned a lot that I was able to put to use on the Day of the emergency. And so the result of that was that, in fact, the mindset kicked in and I was able to function, but I never taught anyone how to do that. And so the intent of live like a guide dog was to be a way that people could learn how to control fear and not let fear overwhelm or, as I put it, blind them, but rather use fear as a very powerful tool to help you focus and do the things that you really need to do. But it's a choice. People have to learn that they can make that choice and they can control it, which is kind of what really brought the book to to mind. And the result was that we then, then did it. And so it came out last August as well.   Kay Sparling ** 58:27 Oh, well, if you read my book, you'll see Caitlin developing the same skills you were just talking about. She has to overcome fear all the time, because she's never been in these situations before, and yet she has to survive, you know?   Michael Hingson ** 58:44 Yeah, well, and the reality is that most of us take too many things for granted and don't really learn. But if you learn, for example, if there's an emergency, do you know where to go in the case of an emergency? Do you know how to evacuate, not by reading the signs? Do you know? And that's the difference, the people who know have a mindset that will help them be a lot more likely to be able to survive, because they know what all the options are, and if there's a way to get out, they know what they are, rather than relying on signs, which may or may not even be available to you if you're in a smoke filled environment, for example, yeah,   Kay Sparling ** 59:22 yeah, you should know ahead of time. Yeah, you know, I know the state where I work. I I mostly work at home. I'm able to do that, but we do have to go in once a week, and we just changed floors. They've been doing a lot of remodeling, and that was the first thing, you know, the supervisor wanted us to do was walk through all the way for a tornado, fire, etc, and so we did that, you know, and that's smart, because then you're like, you say you're not trying to look at a chart as you're running or whatever,   Michael Hingson ** 59:56 and you may need to do it more than once to make sure you really know it. I know for me. I spent a lot of time walking around the World Trade Center. In fact, I didn't even use my guide dog. I used a cane, because with a cane, I'll find things that the dog would just automatically go around or ignore, like kiosks and other things. But I want to know where all that stuff is, because I want to know what all the shops are down on the first floor. Well, now that that is the case anymore, but it was at the time there was a shopping mall and knowing where everything was, but also knowing where different offices were, knowing who was in which offices, and then knowing the really important things that most people don't know about, like where the Estee Lauder second store was on the 46th floor of tower two. You know, you got to have the important things for wives, and so I learned what that was. Well, it was, it was, those are important things, but you'll learn a lot, and it's real knowledge. Someone, a recent podcast episode that they were on, said something very interesting, and that is that we're always getting information, but information isn't knowing it. Knowledge is really internalizing the information and making it part of our psyche and really getting us to the point where we truly know it and can put it to use. And that is so true. It isn't just getting information. Well, that's great. I know that now, well, no, you don't necessarily know it now, until you internalize it, until you truly make it part of your knowledge. And I think that's something that a lot of people miss. Well, this has been a lot of fun. If people want to reach out to you, is there a way they can do that?   Kay Sparling ** 1:01:40 Yeah, the best thing is my book website, K, Sparling books.com spelled and it would K, a, y, s, p, as in Paul, A, R, L, I N, G, B, O, O, K, s.com.com, okay, and you can email me through there. And all the media that I've been on is in the media section. The editorial reviews are there. There's another thing that my student heats up for me is the website. It's it's really developed. And so lots of information about the book and about me on on there. And one thing I want to mention is, just because of my background and all the all the people that you know, I know, a friend of mine is a composer, and he wrote a song, a theme song, because we do hope that someday we can sell this, you know, yeah, to for movie and, or, you know, Netflix, or something like that. And so he wrote a theme song and theme music. And I just think that's fun. And then I wanted my students saying, saying it. And then, you know, it's with a rock band, but it's, it's very James Bond, the kind of with a little opera, you know, involved too. But, you know, not a lot of authors can say that on their website, they have a theme song for their books.   Michael Hingson ** 1:03:16 And where is   Kay Sparling ** 1:03:18 it? It would be under, it's going to be about the author. And there's a nice one of my other students is a graphic artist. She She did a graphic a scene of Caitlin with her ball gown, and she's got her foot up on a stool, and she's putting her pistol in her thigh holster, in I think, you know, it's kind of like a cartoon, and it quotes Caitlin saying, I bet you I'm going to be the only bell at the ball with this accessory pistol. And then right underneath that, that song, you can click it and hear it. We also are on YouTube mission. Thought does have its own YouTube channel, so you can find it there as well.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:05 So well, I want to thank you for being here and for telling us all the stories and especially about mission. I hope people will get it and read it, and I look forward to it coming out in audio at some point. Yes, I'll be lazy and wait for that, I I like to to get books with human readers. You know, I can get the print book and I can play it with a synthetic voice, but I, I really prefer human voices. And I know a lot of people who do AI has not progressed to the point where it really can pull that off.   Kay Sparling ** 1:04:38 Well, no, it cannot. Yeah, I totally agree with you there.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:42 So Well, thank you for being here, and I want to thank all of you for listening and watching us today. This has been fun. And as some of you know, if you listen to many of these podcasts, we have a rule on the podcast, you can't come on unless you're going to have fun. So we did have fun. We. You have fun? Yeah. See, there you go. I was gonna ask if you had fun. Of course, yes. So thank you all for listening. Love to hear from you. Love to hear what your thoughts are about today's episode. Feel free to email me at Michael H, i@accessibe.com that's m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, E, S, S, i, b, e.com, also, please give us a five star rating. We appreciate it. K, I'll appreciate it. And when this goes up, when you hear it, we really value those ratings and reviews very highly. If you know anyone else who ought to be a guest and KU as well, love to hear from you. Please introduce us. Kay, you'll have to introduce us to Caitlin, but But seriously, we always are looking for more guests. So if anyone knows of anyone who ought to come on and tell a story, we'd love to hear from you. But again, Kay, I want to thank you one last time. This has been great, and we really appreciate you being here.   Kay Sparling ** 1:05:59 Well, thank you for having me.   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:04 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

In this episode, we speak with Nina Marczell, Senior Vice President of Industrial Sales & Marketing for Fuels & Feedstock at OMV, who shares how the integrated energy company is leading sustainable aviation fuel development from early production to commercial scale across Europe.Marczell discusses:OMV's early-mover advantage, launching SAF production at their Austrian refinery in 2022 – well ahead of EU mandates – starting with 2,000 tonnes through co-processing and scaling to 4,000 tonnes.Europe's first major standalone SAF facility in Romania, featuring 250,000 tonnes annual capacity for SAF and renewable diesel, uniquely integrated with green hydrogen plants that serve both as feedstock and to decarbonise OMV's own refinery operations.Strategic partnerships including groundbreaking collaboration with Airbus on feedstock acceleration, book-and-claim system development, and joint European market advocacy, plus an innovative SAF certificate programme with Microsoft.Why SAF should be considered a premium product with distinct environmental attributes rather than pursuing cost parity with conventional jet fuel.Critical challenges with EU RefuelEU mandate implementation, particularly the steep jumps from 2% to 6% to 20% SAF requirements.OMV's ambitious target to produce up to 1.5 million tonnes of renewable fuels annually by 2030.If you LOVED this episode, you'll also love the conversation we had with Etosha Cave, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Twelve. Check it out here. Learn more about the startups, strategists, and sceptics working to close the gap between growth and green ambition in our new book ‘Sustainability in the Air: Volume Two'. Click here to learn more.Feel free to reach out via email to podcast@simpliflying.com. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It's about time.Links & more:New book: Sustainability in the Air, Vol Two - SimpliFlyingSustainable Aviation Fuel - OMVAustria's OMV signs deals to supply almost one million tonnes of SAF to Lufthansa Group and Ryanair – GreenAir News OMV adds new processing plant at Schwechat refinery - Oil & Gas Journal OMV Petrom approves renewable fuels plant for Petrobrazi refinery - Oil & Gas JournalAirbus, OMV announce SAF collaboration to reduce carbon - Airport Technology OMV and Microsoft accelerate decarbonization of corporate air travel and its supply chain logistics - OMV 

Radio International - The Ultimate Eurovision Experience is broadcast from Malta's Radio 105FM on Tuesday evenings from 2100 - 0059 hours CET. The show is broadcast live on Wednesday evenings from 1900 - 2300 hours CET on the Eurovision Radio International Mixcloud Channel as well as on the Facebook Page of Eurovision Radio International with an interactive chatroom.         AT A GLANCE - ON THE SHOW THIS WEEK  Interview with Raquela (Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2025) Interview with Victoria Sciberras (Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2025) Eurovision Spotlight: Eurovision's Magical Numbers with Chris Poppe (final in the current series) Tribute to Inge Brück (Germany 1967)  Eurovision News with Javier Leal courtesy of  www.escXtra.com Eurovision Birthday File with David Mann Eurovision Cover Spot with David Mann Eurovision Calendar with Javier Leal  National Final Update for Junior and Eurovision Song Contest with Alain Forotti  New Music Releases by Eurovision Artists  Your music requests  Raquela (Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2025) Interview with Raquela and Victoria Scriberras (Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2025): On Sat. 08 Feb 2025 Miriana Conte and her song "Kant" (now "Serving") was selected by the jury and Maltese public to represent Malta at the Eurovision Song Contetest 2025 in Basel in May. Miriana successfully placed Malta in the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest ranking 17th at the end of the voting sequence.   Earlier on in February 2025, Radio International conducted interviews with all the contestants at the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2025 and more. This week, Radio International will broadcast an interview with Raquela who took part in the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2025. A veteran at the Malta Eurovision Song Contest, Raquela took a long break before returning to the contest. The song she competed with is called "Silenced" and succsessfully qualified from Semi Final 1 to the Grand Final of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2025 where at the end of the Voting Sequence ended up at Number 12.    Victoria Sciberras (Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2025) The second artist from the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2025 we feature on Radio International this week is Victoria Sciberras who is also a newcomer to the contest. Victoria had a very special stage performance to the song entitled "Juno". At the end of the Voting Sequence Victoria's entry ranked at Number 4 in the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2025. Listen to the interview with the singer on the show this week and she will tell you all about her song and the performance.    You can watch all the interviews Radio International did at the Malta Eurovision Song Contest 2025  by visiting the Radio International YouTube Channel - or check out our complete coverage of the Malta Eurovision Song Contest - click here.       Tribute to Inge Brück (Germany 1967):  The World of the Eurovision Song Contest recently received the sad news of the passing of Inge Brück at the age of 88. Inge represented Germany at the Eurovision Song Contest 1967 with the song "Anouschka" reaching Number 8. The contest was won by the United Kingdom's Sandi Shaw and "Puppet on a string". Radio International will broadcast a little tribute to Inge on the show this week and remember her entry to Eurovision 1967.   The Eurovision Spotlight: The Eurovision Song Contest 2025 - Eurovision's Magic Numbers:   With  the start of the Summer 2025 the Eurovision Spotlight Team Members decided to continue where the left off last year at the end of summer with Eurovision's Magic Numbers. Enjoy this unique way of featuring the songs of the Eurovision Song Contest on the show. This week Chris Poppe will be joining JP with his collection of songs which is also the last edition in the current series. Next week the team will review the Austrian entries to the Eurovision Song Contest in view of Austria hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.   Eurovision News, New Song Releases, Birthday File, Coverspot, Eurovision Calendar:Also JP will be joined by David Mann for the Eurovision Birthday File and Eurovision Coverspot.  Javier stands in for Nick and will be presenting the Eurovision News courtesy of escXtra.com. There will be a lot of the great new releases of Eurovision artists on the show as well as great Eurovision Classics. Javier will be updating us on the upcoming Eurovision events in the Eurovision Calendar and Alain Forotti gives us already some updates of the National Finals regarding the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2025 and the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 and and....   For full details of this week's Show Content and Play List - click here

Tonight, we'll read about the history of jewelry around the world, from Jewels and the Woman written by Marianne Ostier and published in 1958. Ostier was the principal designer and artistic driving force behind Ostier Inc., the New York jewelry firm she founded in 1941 with her husband, Oliver. Marianne was an accomplished painter and sculptor before her marriage, while Oliver came from a distinguished line of Austrian court jewelers. The couple emigrated to the United States to escape war, where they rebuilt their lives and careers. Their firm became known for its distinctive approach to jewelry design. The workshop specialized in bespoke commissions—one-of-a-kind pieces crafted for private clients, often film stars, collectors, or patrons of the arts. The book reflects Marianne Ostier's deep understanding of both the artistry and the history of jewelry. In it, she traces how cultures across centuries and continents have used ornaments not merely as decoration, but also as symbols of power, wealth, protection, and devotion. From ancient amulets and royal regalia to modern design innovations, the story of jewels is inseparable from the story of civilization itself — read by N' — Sign up for Snoozecast+ to get expanded, ad-free access by going to snoozecast.com/plus! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We're sorry about missing Round 15 of MotoGP due to some technical difficulties, but we are absolutely back for Round 16 in Misano home to many of our riders on the grid!! What an intense and busy weekend all around the paddock, from chains flying off, to aero not staying put, to a most likely returning world champion wrecking out of the lead, this weekend felt like it carried it all!! Just as we kept giving credit where it was due to the Austrian manufacturer, all seemed lost this weekend as each bike seemed to throw a chain at some point, causing their top rider to not finish the race on Sunday after fighting some intense battles!! Adding to the commotion of the weekend the illustrious Marc Marquez squeezed right around Marco Bezzecchi and then almost immediately dumped his bike to crash out of the sprint, although he was able to keep it up on Sunday and paired with the Italian on the Aprilia RS GP we were given quite an amazing race for the entire 27 laps!!! Maybe the saddest part of the weekend though was our former world champion Pecco Bagnaia wrecking out of the race after a pore performance on Saturday showing us once again that he just doesn't have what it takes to ride with the top this season!!! https://fantasy.motogp.com/ Code: NF9ZDUE9

Walt joins the podcast to discuss the current state of Bitcoin and what is investable in and around the Bitcoin ecosystem. In this episode: Austrian economics and Bitcoin Bitcoin's strengths and limitations when it comes to innovation and durability The modern role of decentralization and trust Whether nation-states will fully adopt BTC The role of Bitcoin in network states Owning BTC and other cryptoassets directly vs in equity wrappers Assessing the monetary value of cryptoassets BTC for payments?

Dawn tells us why we shouldn't be asking people how they're doing. Bradley finally got his Meghan Markle jam and they try it on the air. There are a couple publationships we need to check in on, including Shailene Woodley and that actor who looks a lot like Aaron Rodgers. Bradley's got a heartwarming story about three Austrian nuns breaking out of their care home. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Subscribe to the podcastWe talk about how people have been reacting to the reactions to Charlie Kirk's murder.Learn about Bitcoin at a trickleBitcoinTrickle.comSponsorLiberty MugsKeep in touch with us everywhere you areJoin our Telegram groupLike us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter: @libertymugs (Rollo), @Slappy_Jones_2Check us out on PatreonLearn everything you need to know about Bitcoin in just 10 hours10HoursofBitcoin.comPodcast version

In this episode of The Sweeper Podcast, we cover the big stories from 2026 World Cup qualifying and the latest international football news from Europe and beyond: Part 1: EuropeAustria's stadium sinkhole saga continues as Ralf Rangnick takes to an e-bikeRomania's Mircea Lucescu becomes the second-oldest international coach everKosovo are unofficial world champions - but continue to face geopolitical challengesErling Haaland apologises mid-game as Norway beat Moldova by record 11-1 scoreSlovakia and Iceland upset the odds to record famous World Cup qualifying wins Part 2: Rest of the worldSuriname turn around their fortunes with sports passport initiative & Dutch DNABolivia rely on altitude again to give themselves an edge in World Cup qualifyingUzbekistan continue incredible year by beating Iran to win 2025 CAFA Nations CupNepal cancel Bangladesh friendly due to civil unrest & elect new leader on DiscordNorthern Mariana Islands' U23s face China in one of football's biggest mismatches The Sweeper is the global football podcast bringing you weird and wonderful stories from every corner of the planet. Whether you're into underdogs and upsets, ultras and fan culture, groundhopping and travel, derbies and rivalries, geography and geopolitics, or simply want a break from the relentless churn of big-money football, The Sweeper has you covered! Support The Sweeper: Join The Sweeper on PatreonSupport The Sweeper on Buy Me A Coffee The Sweeper team Hosts: Lee Wingate and Paul WatsonEditor: Ralph Foster Chapters: 00:00 – Intro00:58 – Austrian sink holes and bicycles05:34 – Mircea Lucescu: Football's oldest coach?09:08 – The 2025 Amateur Nations Cup11:14 – The World Tram Driver Championship13:48 – Kosovo's unofficial world title16:18 – UEFA's seven banned match-ups21:35 – Norway's demolition job on Moldova26:33 – Celebrations for Slovakia & Iceland31:03 – Suriname's World Cup push34:59 – Bolivia's strategic masterclass38:25 – New Caledonia's Gibraltar friendly40:56 – Uzbekistan are Central Asian champions42:29 – Nepal's protest-related cancellation45:02 – China's U23s thrash Northern Mariana Islands Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The new 2.5-liter F1 of 1954 raised the bar for engineering excellence and cost of entry to the pinnacle of motor racing. With Mercedes-Benz leaving the shadows of WWII and becoming an accepted participant in motor racing again, the Grand Prix community had to anticipate a full-out effort of a new generation of Silver Arrows. Indeed, new standards were set with a series of W196 variants born out of vast corporate resources, supported by component suppliers like Continental, Bosch, and Esso. In this story, the imaginary Italian “Unione Automobili,” previously formed of national legacy manufacturers other than Fiat, takes on the role of the Auto Union AG of the 1930s as an antagonist of Mercedes-Benz and promoter of the mid-engine layout. A probabilistic SWAT analysis reveals what it will take to beat the mighty opponent from Stuttgart. This is the start for a motley crew of Austrian and Italian engineers lead by Robert Eberan-Eberhorst to create a victorious challenger. The prescribed engine configuration is a compact V6 in homage to the Lancia brand. Breaking with Italian traditions, emphasis is put on chassis development where innovations in tires, brakes, and aerodynamics will provide decisive competitive advantages. Dr. Karl-Heinz Mertins (“K-H”) holds degrees in mechanical engineering and a doctorate in mechatronics/ag engineering from the Technical University Berlin, Germany. In more than 35 years of engineering and business experience in Europe and the US, he focused on product innovation and new business incubation, applying cross-disciplinary methods with cross-cultural considerations. His work included experimental work on intelligent mobile equipment and wind energy systems in multinational corporations and start-ups. His enthusiasm for F1 goes back to the 1961 season. ===== (Oo---x---oO) ===== 00:00 The Challenge of Beating Mercedes-Benz 03:01 Mercedes-Benz's Post-War Comeback; The 300 SL and the Marshall Plan 08:59 The Shift to Mid-Engine Layout 12:28 The Italian Engineering Dream Team 18:45 Mercedes-Benz's Methodical Development 26:43 Lessons from the 300 SL 29:04 Chassis Design, Radial Tires, Space Frame and Aviation Influence 33:26 Innovative Suspension Systems 38:39 Brakes and Aerodynamic Innovations 40:43 Driver Position and Engine Choices 47:20 Fuel Injection and Aerodynamics 50:29 Concluding Thoughts and Acknowledgements ==================== The Motoring Podcast Network : Years of racing, wrenching and Motorsports experience brings together a top notch collection of knowledge, stories and information. #everyonehasastory #gtmbreakfix - motoringpodcast.net More Information: https://www.motoringpodcast.net/ Become a VIP at: https://www.patreon.com/gtmotorsports Online Magazine: https://www.gtmotorsports.org/ This episode is part of our HISTORY OF MOTORSPORTS SERIES and is sponsored in part by: The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), The Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), The Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Argetsinger Family. 

My guest today is Max Hillebrand, praxeologist, cypherpunk, and open-source advocate dedicated to building freedom tech that empowers individuals through economic and technological sovereignty. As a contributor to projects like Bitcoin Core, Wasabi Wallet, BTCPay Server, JoinMarket, Lightning Network, Bisq, Angor, White Noise, and Amethyst. In this episode, Max shares his journey from Austrian economics into Bitcoin privacy, recounting how tools like CoinJoins, Wasabi, and the Taproot upgrade push Bitcoin closer to true anonymity. We explore the battle between fiat and freedom, the broken incentives of inflation and war, and why opting into Bitcoin is both a moral imperative and a form of resistance. Max also introduces Nostr as the communications layer for a censorship-resistant future, explains the axioms of human action, argumentation ethics, and resistance, and highlights why he believes we now have the technological weapons to end modern financial slavery in our lifetime.► If you got value, please like, comment, share, follow and support my work. Thank you!-- SPONSORS --→ Get your TREZOR wallet & accessories, with a 5% discount, using my code at checkout (get my discount code from the episode - yep, you'll have to watch it): https://affil.trezor.io/SHUn → Shield your bitcoin with time-delayed transactions over multisig with BitVault: https://www.bitvault.sv/ – AFFILIATES –→ Get 10% off on Augmented NAC, with the code YCXKQDK2 via this link: https://store.augmentednac.com/?via=efrat (Note, this is not medical advice and you should consult your MD)→ Watch “New Totalitarian Order” conference with Prof. Mattias Desmet & Efrat - code EFRAT for 10% off: https://efenigson.gumroad.com/l/desmet_efrat → Get a second citizenship and a plan B to relocate to another country with Expat Money, leave your details for a follow up: https://expatmoney.com/efrat → Join me in any of these upcoming events: https://www.efrat.blog/p/upcoming-events -- LINKS –Max's Website: https://towardsliberty.com Max's Nostr: npub1klkk3vrzme455yh9rl2jshq7rc8dpegj3ndf82c3ks2sk40dxt7qulx3vtEfrat's Twitter: https://twitter.com/efenigsonEfrat's Channels: https://linktr.ee/efenigsonWatch/listen on all platforms: https://linktr.ee/yourethevoiceSupport Efrat's work: ⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/efenigson   ⁠Support Efrat with Bitcoin: https://geyser.fund/project/efenigson-- CHAPTERS –00:00 – Coming Up01:23 – Intro to Max05:56 – Max Passion for Austrian Economics06:56 – Bitcoin: Bridging Economics with Computer Science11:16 – Building Freedom Tech14:16 – CoinJoin and Bitcoin Privacy18:56 – Legal & Regulatory Challenges for Privacy Tech – Samurai, Tornado, Wasabi Wallet26:36 – Why Is Privacy Important?29:06 – Economics of Wars & The Broken Window Fallacy41:23 – The Value of Cash and Fiat Currency45:38 – Moving to a Bitcoin Standard & Influence on Businesses50:03 – Max's Take on Bitcoin Treasury Companies52:03 – Nostr & Decentralized Protocols1:00:03 – “White Noise” - Building Nostr Private Encrypted Messaging1:04:48 – Austrian Economics Axioms: Human Action, Argumentation, Resistance1:13:10 – Max's Book Recommendations & Reasons to Stay Hopeful

Power of Dirndls and Lederhosen: Part 2Hans finds his confidence and the fraulein, too.Based on the post by cb summers, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.PART TWO – October 6, 1992Normally I found it impossible to be spontaneous around hot chicks like this, but something about being in that costume, thinking about my grandfather's irrepressible charm brought out a boldness in me which I didn't normally possess. I put my arm around this hot, blue-eyed fraulein and said, in my worst German accent, “Yah, and dis here is mein liebchen, Helga Boob en schteen.”She corrected me comically, “Not Boob en schteen, Boob en schtein!” Everyone in the entire room laughed themselves silly. Then Helga loudly introduced the girls. “May I introducen mein fellow pledges from ze Tau Nu Upsilon Sorority? Ya, dis here is Gertruda Cock en suck en.”Everyone laughed at her crude pun, but I clicked my heels together very seriously, like a proper Austrian man, and said “Guten abend, Gertruda,” then I bowed and kissed the back of the adorable redhead's soft little hand.Helga went on, pointing to a busty little African American girl, who looked quite stunning in her bright orange dirndl. “And zis here is little Heidi Ho. Yah, she's an actual ho!” I clicked my heels together, and kissed Heidi's hand. “And dis vun here ist Muschi von Kitten licker.” Muschi, who had short black hair and snow-white skin, leaned forward and presented her cheek to me, so I kissed it, laying my lips on the second female of my life. Her skin was as soft as silk.Helga gestured toward a cute blonde with bright pink circles painted on her cheeks, saying, “And, finally, mein beste freunden, Hildegard Fuck me up the ass en stein, the third.” Hildegard laughed, then turned and wiggled her ass at me. I bowed deeply and said, “Very nice to meet you, Herr Fuck me up the ass en stein.” She wiggled her ass again, right in my face, so I leaned down a little farther and kissed her right on her behind, and the crowd went wild. I was surprising the shit out of myself. My grandfather's DNA was having a field day with my confidence. I raised my oversized prop stein, and shouted, “Beer! Ve must haff beer!”Helga had an identical stein, and so we filled them together from the keg and chugged them while everyone clapped, until they were empty. I saw that beer was leaking out of her defective stein and dripping all over her glorious, copper colored cleavage, making her white top wet enough for me to see the lacy blue bra she was wearing under it. Oh shit. I couldn't take my eyes off her tits. She caught me looking, but instead of getting mad, she just looked down at her breasts and said, “Oops. I can be zo clumzy zometimes, liebchen! You know how I am!” She ran her fingers over her soaked cleavage.I don't know what came over me, but I took her wrist in my hand and said, clicking my heels together, “Allow me, fraulein Boob en schtein.” And I wrapped my lips around her fingertips and licked them dry of beer. She just stared at me with the biggest smile on her face, and her eyes twinkling. My god! Who was I?I had no idea what to do next, but some joker saved me by playing a polka on the stereo. Without missing a beat, Helga shouted, “Shall ve dance, mein liebchen?” She didn't even wait for me to answer. She just grabbed my hand and dragged me to the middle of the floor and we started to polka.I'd been to a few polkas when I was a kid, so I knew the basic moves, and a few of the special ones, and I guess Helga had been to a few polkas too, because she kept right up with me. Soon, everyone was clapping and cheering and snapping photographs, and at least ten others, who knew how to polka, joined in, including Heidi Ho! Where a black girl learned to polka is anybody's guess. When the song finally ended, I lifted my stein and shouted the traditional Oktoberfest starting cheer, which for some reason popped to mind even though I thought I'd forgotten it years ago “O' zapft is! The Keg Is Tapped! Let Oktoberfest Begin!”After the ear-splitting cheer, the music switched back to hip hop, and the lights dimmed, and the disco lights began to flash, and soon Helga and I were dancing in the center of a crowd, this time gyrating like fools, just like everyone else on the dance floor. By the third song, I was utterly smitten with her. She had such a bold, fearless spirit, that I just let all of my nerdy inhibitions go, and danced, not caring how stupid I looked, because my eyes were glued to her. Her breasts. Her coppery face. Her stunning, sky-blue eyes. And she was looking right back at me, sometimes smiling, but sometimes with an expression on her face that reminded me of the expression I'd seen on Briona's face while Troy was fucking her. Damn. Helga was giving me sex face! It was unbelievably cool!The third song was a raunchy rap song that was bit that year, Baby Got Back, and suddenly Heidi Ho, Helga's black friend, appeared in front of me and started grinding her ass against my crotch. I'd never danced like this before, but there were other couples doing it, so I put my hands on her hips and grinded away. I started to get a boner, so I turned around, afraid she might feel it. But then Gertruda Cocken sucken, an adorable freckle-faced girl, with vivid red hair, started grinding her ass into my crotch instead, apparently unconcerned about the fact that I was rubbing my erection against her. Or maybe even enjoying it! It was an incredible feeling. Then Heidi put her arms around me from behind, and started grinding her crotch against my ass, and now I was sandwiched between two Bavarian hotties, feeling Heidi's firm tits rubbing all over my back. My mind was now officially blown. But I rolled with it. Why the fuck not? It was Oktoberfest!Midnight in the campus park.Then when that song ended, Hildegard Fuck me up the ass en stein switched with Heidi, and Helga von Boob en schtein switched with Gertruda, and now I was feeling Helga's large, coppery tits flopping back and forth across my back. Hildegard was a bit drunk by this time, so she leaned forward and started rubbing her ass up and down, grinding her pussy against my cock, making it look exactly like I was fucking her. She even started making orgasmic sounds. And I realized that in all likelihood, my cock was actually rubbing against more than just her ass. In fact, it might be rubbing right against her tight little pussy! Shit, this was getting way out of hand! Then I noticed that the older sisters in her sorority were watching us with great amusement. Maybe this was part of their initiation ceremony. But I didn't care. If she wanted to dry hump me in a room full of people, more power to her. She even grabbed my wrists and pulled my hands up to her tits! Oh shit! They weren't all that big, but I could feel the hard lumps of her nipples bouncing under my fingers as I squeezed her little grapefruits.I began to feel the warning signs of an impending orgasm coming on strong. Oh my god, I was going to blow my load feeling the first tits of my life! But at just the last minute, the final girl in Helga's harem, Muschi von Kittenlicker, pushed Hildegard aside, but instead of grinding her ass against mine, she faced me and started gyrating against me in time with Helga behind me. Now two sexy women were rubbing her tits against me, and my cock got enough of a reprieve that my urge to cum faded mercifully away.Muschi's paper pale face was flush with devastating sexiness, but she wasn't looking at me. She was looking past me at Helga. And in spite of how much I was enjoying this once-in-a-lifetime experience, I think I detected pure infatuation in Muschi's expression. She didn't make eye contact with me even once, but she kept licking her lips as if she wanted to kiss someone. I bent toward her, suddenly excited about kissing another girl, but she just shifted to the other side, her eyes staring past me, and looking down at Helga's ample cleavage. Oh shit, she wants to kiss her friend! I turned to look at Helga's beautiful copper colored face in the flashing disco light, but she appeared to be totally unaware of Muschi's lustful looks.The song changed, and now all the Bavarian girls crowded around me and began to rub their bodies and asses, all over me. It was dark, and the lights were flashing, and I had no idea who was who, but my hand definitely squeezed another girl's breast for a few seconds, maybe Heidi Ho's and I also fondled a couple of their asses, running my fingers over their delightful ass-cracks. It was almost like I was in some kind of fully clothed orgy!But then, halfway through the song, a hand grasped mine, and pulled me off the dance floor. It was Helga Boobenschtein. She grinned back at me as she pulled me out the front door, leaving her friends behind, obviously sick of sharing me with them. She wanted me all to herself. That was just fine with me. It was getting pretty weird anyway. Helga and I ran hand in hand through the campus, laughing like lunatics. I suppose the beer had gone to our heads, because we were utterly silly with hilarity. I never was much of a drinker. When we'd run ourselves tired, we sat down on a bench, still holding hands.After she caught her breath, she said in her regular voice, “I lied to you earlier, my name's not really Helga Boobenschtein.”“Ach du lieber! I'm shocked! Is it Boobenschteen after all?”She laughed and said, “No. My real name is Annie Stoltz. And yes, that is a German name.”I dropped the accent and said, “You sure don't look German!”“No, my mother's Brazilian. I got my black hair and dark skin from her. But I learned to polka from my dad. He also gave me these eyes.” Indeed, her eyes were the most amazing baby-blue color I'd ever seen. They almost glowed against her copper colored face.“Well, I have a surprise for you too. I'm not really Helmutt von Wiener. My name is Hans Willis.”Annie laughed, “You have German name too? That's too perfect!”“My grandpa's from Austria, and my grandma from my mother's side is Bavarian.”“Oh my god. What are the odds that two half-Germans would meet at an Oktoberfest party in Illinois, dressed in matching costumes? It's a good thing I don't believe in fate, or I'd say it was fate.”I laughed, “I don't believe in fate, either, but show me the evidence, and I'll be happy to reconsider. But in any large sampling, like life, coincidences are bound to happen. And they have to happen to somebody. In this case, to us.”“Spoken like a true scientist, Hans.”I smiled. But for some reason, I wanted to avoid talking about science. That's what had derailed my date with Briona. So instead I said, “That party was off the hook!”She blushed. “I'm sorry about the girls. They're a bunch of sluts. Except for Muschi, her real name is Barbara. She's a lesbian.”“Yeah. I kinda noticed. And I think she has the hot for you, Annie.”Annie laughed, “I know. I know. I keep telling her I'm not into it, but she just won't give up. But I love her to death. And you enjoyed our little dance, didn't you?”I had no words for how much I'd enjoyed our dance. So I just blushed and smiled.She laughed and squeezed my hand, giving me a strange erotic thrill. Then she said, “I've seen you around the labs. What's your major?”“General science.”She grinned, “Yeah? I might do that too, but I'm just a freshman. I'm taking a bunch of different classes this year until I figure out what my passion is. But it's definitely in the sciences. I love science. I love science. I'm taking this biology class right now, and we're learning all about the…”As she bubbled with enthusiasm about biology, her face absolutely glowed, in spite of her dark skin. She just seemed to radiate a luminosity that filled my heart with a feeling so powerful that I was on the verge of laughter or tears. I had the overpowering urge to tell her how much I loved science too, but remembering how things went with Briona, I did something else instead.I kissed her.It was a sudden impulse, perhaps inspired by Grandpa's mischievous DNA, and I acted on it without getting hung up by my normal crippling uncertainty. I didn't even wait for her to finish her current sentence. I just leaned toward her and planted my lips on hers. She didn't push me away or slap my face. Instead, she threw her arms around me, pulled me closer on the bench, and kissed me back, deeply, passionately, lustfully as if she'd been waiting for this moment her entire life. Her mouth opened and our tongues began to polka. This sweet, funny, brainy girl was a seething well of passion under that fun-loving surface. She was moaning into my mouth in no time at all, clearly enjoying this amazing kiss every bit as much as me.We must have made quite a tableau in our costumes, making out like crazy on a bench in the center of the quad, illuminated by a nearby streetlight. I could hear people walking by, occasionally snickering or making crude comments. But I didn't care. This was my first French kiss, and I had no intention of letting embarrassment cut it short. And the longer we kissed, the more I dialed out the rest of the world, until there was only the two of us, and our tongues, and our lips, and our hearts.Suddenly she turned and straddled me, and I enjoyed the feel of her breasts heaving against my chest. By this time I had a massive erection, so I held her back a bit, to prevent her from feeling it.She started shivering, and said, “My legs are freezing”. I took that as an invitation to help warm them up, so I put my hands on her calves, which were splayed out on the bench on my left and right. Some girls, like Muschi, have baby-soft skin, but not Annie. Her skin felt thick and smooth and was covered with a soft, almost invisible peach fuzz. The feel of her flesh made my cock throb with desire. I'd never felt anything so amazing in my life. It felt like suede leather, only softer and suppler.She began humming happily in my mouth as I rubbed her calves. I moved my hands up higher, my fingers slipping under the edge of her skirt to rub her soft thighs. Then with each stroke of my hands, I went a little higher under her skirt. I expected her to tell me to stop at any moment, but she didn't. Finally my fingertips touched the edge of her panties, and a few strokes later my hands were all the way onto her ass, cheeks, squeezing them through the soft, stretchy cotton of her undies. She giggled, but she didn't make me stop. I loved the feel of her ass wiggling under my hands as she laughed.Then, unexpectedly, she slid forward on my lap, pressing her crotch against my hard on. She gave a lustful little gasp, as did I. I couldn't believe how well this was going! The only thing separating my cock from her pussy was a few thin layers of fabric. It was insanely erotic, and all the while we explored each other's mouths with our tongues, absolutely breathless with passion.We kissed and kissed and kissed in this position for the longest time. The campus clock struck 1, then 2. I couldn't believe we'd been at it for so long. But I knew it couldn't last forever. There were classes tomorrow and we were both dedicated students. So, reluctantly, we pulled back and just looked into each other's eyes for a while. I found that to be ten times more intimate than kissing. For the first time in my life, I could look into a woman's eyes without glancing away nervously after a few seconds. I could look into Annie's baby-blue eyes forever.Carnal Knowledge In the Woods.She said, “Would you care to escort me back to my dorm, liebchen?”“But of course, fraulein.” I was sad when she squirmed off my lap. I had the sinking feeling that this was a one shot deal. In the light of day she'd notice how crooked my teeth were. She'd notice my acne scars and wiry hair. But we walked, hand in hand, like boyfriend and girlfriend, and I started to think, maybe, just maybe, a second date?She led me on a roundabout route, rather than the direct way to her dorm. It took us into the dimly lit park next to Davenport ravine, which was totally deserted. We waded through drifts of fallen leaves. I put my arm around her waist and snuggled her close. My palm was tucked right under her right breast, which would occasionally bounce down against the top of my thumb, giving me an incredible thrill each and every time. I was trembling with lust. I wanted to move my hand higher, but I was afraid of overstepping. But then it occurred to me that Annie was my girl now. I don't know how I knew it, I just did. It gave me the confidence to cup her breast in my hand. She hummed and leaned her head against mine and squeezed my waist tighter. We walked that way for a while. I thrilled at the feel of her soft, squishy boob bouncing playfully in my fingers. I even felt her nipple getting harder against my palm. And the heft of her breast was amazing. The bulge in my lederhosen was pointing straight ahead.I could see the bright windows of her dorm getting closer over the treetops, and I knew this magical night would soon be over. This was a girl's only dorm. Boys weren't allowed in at any time. But she steered me off the path toward a huge thicket of bushes near the center of the park. Then she got down on her hands and knees and said, “Follow me, Hans.” She crawled into a dark opening in the branches, which I'd never noticed before. I followed. It was a dark and thorny little tunnel, but I could see her silhouette ahead of me, and I could hear the thorns scratching at the edges of her skirt. A chill of fear swept through me suddenly. Fear of the unknown, I guess. Fear of dark places.The thorny tunnel took a few twists and turns, but eventually I saw her crawling out into the moonlight ahead of me. She stood up and smiled at me as I climbed out of the tunnel into a small clearing in the center of the giant thicket. I wondered how many people knew about this secret place?We were totally alone. Moonlight twinkled in her eyes and we kissed again. She pulled me close, then pulled me over with her into a pile of leaves that had collected in the center of the clearing. We laughed. I kneeled over her, my legs straddling her thighs. I looked down, mystified by her beautiful moonlit face. She put her hands on her blouse and pulled the front of it down, all the while looking at me with an intensely trusting and intimate expression. She had a thin baby-blue bra under the blouse, through which I could see the dark circles of her areolas.She reached up and pulled my face down into her coppery cleavage, and I breathed in her powdery perfume and kissed her supple skin, in circling motions, hardly believing this was happening, until I was kissing her hard nipple through the thin fabric of her bra. She groaned in pleasure and suddenly pulled the front of her bra down, exposing her moonlit breasts to me. Her areolas were chocolate brown. I took one of her large nipples into my mouth and circled it with my tongue, and bit it lightly with my teeth, making her giggle. This was an absolute dream come true, but it was only getting better with each passing second.As I switched to kissing and licking her other breast, she opened her legs, and I shifted so I was kneeling between them. I lowered myself onto her, pressing my hard-on into her crotch, and began to grind myself against her, softly at first, but with growing urgency. She ran her fingers through my hair, then began to push my head downward. For a second I thought she wanted me to stop licking her boobs, but she kept pushing me down with one hand, while she pulled up her flouncy skirt with the other. Soon my face was inches away from her lacy blue panties. There was a large wet spot in the center of the blue lace. I saw it only for a second before she pulled my face down into her warm wet crotch. I was overwhelmed by the musky moistness of her. I'd caught a whiff of Briona the night she fucked Troy, but now that I was buried in an actual pussy, I took a deep breath of her animalistic aroma. Good grief, I loved it!I grabbed her suede-soft thighs with both hands and began kissing her pussy through the lacy fabric, licking the tender flesh of her labia on either side, which made her moan with delight. I worked my tongue around the edge of the panties, slowly pulling the edge of it inward, exposing more of her tender flesh. I felt her downy black pubic hairs tingling across my tongue. I pulled at them playfully with my lips. She laughed, then groaned. I teased her for a while, licking the left side, then the right, moving ever inward, but not all the way. She twisted about passionately trying to make me go further, but I playfully delayed, as much to entice her as to prolong the moment for me. This was, without doubt, the greatest night of my life, and I wanted it to go on forever. Finally she couldn't wait any longer, so she reached down and pulled her panties all the way open and pulled my face into her warm wet pussy. My nose buried itself in her downy bush, and my tongue slipped between her swollen lips. She tasted incredible.“Oh, liebchen…” she moaned, “that feels so good.”Although this was my first time, I'd listened to Briona's instructions as Troy ate her out, so I had a general idea of what to do. For the next half hour or more I ate Annie's sweet pussy with absolute abandon. I kissed and teased her, and tried to make her squirm and whimper with pleasure. I found I couldn't put my tongue very far into her vagina. There was a thin membrane just an inch inside her pussy lips. It took me a few seconds to realize what it was. Oh shit, that's her hymen! I recognized it from biology class. For some reason, because of her sexual confidence, I'd assumed Annie wasn't a virgin, exactly the opposite mistake I'd made from judging Briona. I chuckled, realizing that I was a terrible judge of things like that. But it didn't matter. I was touched that Annie trusted me to kiss her this way. I was careful not to lick her too vigorously. I knew from biology class that the hymen could be broken accidentally, and I certainly didn't want to be responsible for an unintentional defloration! So I concentrated most of my efforts on her tiny little clitoris. She loved it when I sucked it and swirled it with my tongue.After a while I discovered that her favorite thing was when I rubbed her pussy up and down with my entire face. I'd start with my nose buried between her quivering lips, then slide upward, so my nose and tongue went up her pussy until I could lift the little hood covering her clitoris with the tip of my tongue, and flick that sensitive little nub before making my way back down. I went up and down this way, again and again, starting slowly but building up speed. My face was slick with her copious juices, which thrilled me to no end. She whimpered and gasped and groaned, and started saying, “Oh, god. Oh god. Oh yes. Oh yes…” And then, quite suddenly, her entire body tensed up like crazy, and she closed both of her thighs around my head and held me in a vice grip while she bucked and arched and clenched, squealing with an incredibly powerful orgasm. A splash of warm juices surged out of her pussy onto my face, startling me, and delighting me at the same time.Then I began licking and sucking her dripping wet pussy with gusto, swallowing her juices, and slurping her delicious clit. But after a few seconds of this she started banging my forehead with her palm, apparently too overwhelmed to be able to communicate vocally. I took the hint and left her over-stimulated clit alone. Annie's body remained as stiff as a board, and a deep trembling rolled through her thighs for two solid minutes. Finally she relaxed, and her thighs opened, releasing my head from the vice grip. She just lay there for the longest time, panting hard as if she'd just jogged a mile. I took the opportunity to finally take a good long look at her beautiful pussy in the moonlight. Every woman in the world has one, but Annie's was the first I'd seen this closely. I'd seen Briona's but she was so hairy, I really hadn't been able to make out any details. But Annie's pussy only had a little oval tuft of silky black hair on top, and simple curving chocolate brown lips below, topped with a tiny little nub. I knew right then and there that for the rest of my life, Annie's vagina would be the one I'd judge all others by. It was simply too beautiful for words. An absolute work of art, just like every other square inch of her.I kissed her pussy lips gently this time, savoring the similarity of these lips to her other lips. After a while she tugged at my hair. So I crawled up and snuggled her in the leaves, my leg over her legs to keep them warm in the chilly October air. Slowly she came out of the post orgasmic state she'd been in for the last ten minutes. She looked at me with wide eyes and said, “Hans, I never did that before. That was an orgasm I guess. Wow.”“Yeah, wow!” I said, smiling. We kissed. She backed off and wrinkled her nose in distaste.“Is that what I taste like?”“Delicious.”“If you say so,” she said sardonically.“I do say so. Your pussy, my dear, is ze finest pussy in all ze fatherland. Yah, sweet nectar from Odin…”She kissed me to shut me up. We hugged and kissed sweetly for a long time, shivering against each other, neither of us wanting the night to end.There was a rustling in the bushes. We both tensed and listened intently for more. Was someone else crawling up the tunnel? Fear gripped us, but after a few minutes of deadly silence, I said, “Must have been a branch falling.”“Sorry,” she said, “I get easily spooked.”“I saw a ghost once.” She let this random bit of information sit there in the darkness. A cloud moved over the moon and suddenly we were plunged into pitch darkness. I could only, just barely, make out her sky blue eyes in the inky blackness.“A ghost?”“Yeah.”“There are no such things as ghosts.”She sighed, “Yeah, I know, but I saw one, so, I guess that's stupid, right?”My science brain now switched on, instinctively. “You know, I used to love ghost stories and paranormal stuff. But nobody has ever found scientific evidence that any of that stuff exists, in spite of millions of dollars spent on research, hundreds of independent studies, probably more. In the whole of human history, there's still no conclusive evidence that human consciousness survives death.”“I know. But it hasn't been disproved either.”“You can't prove a negative.”She laughed. “I know, Hans, I know. I told you it's stupid.”“So what's this ghost you saw? Could have been a dream, or a hallucination. They're more common than people think.”“Maybe.” She said. The cloud moved off the moon, and once again I could see her lovely bronze face. I could tell from her expression that she didn't want to tell me more. She'd given me a glimpse of her dark secret, but that was all I was going to get. She could let me lick her pussy, but the ghost story thing was a little too personal. Go figure.Perhaps as a way to change the topic, she rolled over to straddle me. In response my softened cock began to grow again. She looked down at me in the moonlight and said, “You know, Hans, you're quite lovely.”“Handsome, you mean”“Lovely. Handsome men don't wear lederhosen.”I was about to say something funny, but she began to grind herself on my hardening erection. A beautiful, lustful expression came over her sweet face. She inched herself slowly down my body, and I watched her as she unbuttoned the buttons on the front of my lederhosen. There were a lot of them, and it would have been amusing except I was suddenly aware that she intended to touch my cock. I got lightheaded with amazement and lust. One of the great dreams of my life was about to come true, and I tried to commit the sight of Annie unbuttoning me to memory. My underwear-clad cock began to emerge more and more with each button, rising up to her grinning face, eager to meet her, to shake hands, to say hello. She tickled the tip of it playfully, amused at the way it jumped with each touch.“Little Hans wants out. Should I let him?”“Yes Fraulein. Zat would be lovely.” I tried to be funny and cool, but my voice cracked with tension.She pulled the band of my underwear down, and my cock sprang up in front of her face, looking quite impressive in the moonlight, if I may say so myself. Her eyes twinkled at the sight of it. “I stand corrected. Not little Hans. BIG Hans!” I'm glad she'd never seen Troy's cock! Then she touched my cock with her fingers, sending shivers up and down my spine. She began to bat it with her fist, making it bob about playfully. She'd obviously never seen a penis before, because she was utterly fascinated. She stroked it gently, and rolled my furry balls in her fingertips, giggling at the strange feel of me. I was in absolute heaven by this point. And when she leaned down and kissed the underside of my cock with her beautiful lips, my heart skipped a beat. She kissed it again and again, and the more she kissed it, the harder it got, which I didn't even think was possible. Finally she opened her mouth and the tip slipped between her warm, wet lips. I felt her teeth, her lips, her tongue, but mostly I saw. Really, it was the sight of her mouth, her beautiful, rosy mouth, wrapped around this most intimate part of me, which made my heart do loop-de-loops.She tongued me and kissed me and sucked me in a variety of ways. It was her turn now to experiment, and I loved every minute of it. After a while she unbuttoned my suspenders and pulled the shorts down, without bothering to take my boots off. She spread my thighs open and licked my furry balls, taking them into her mouth, while stroking my turgid shaft with her soft fingers. She was clumsy and inexperienced, but I didn't know better. It was perfect as far as I was concerned. I just laid back and let her service me, amazed at how much she got into it. She kept looking up at me with her baby blue eyes as she slobbered all over my cock, which was truly mind-blowing. I'd daydreamed about blowjobs for years, but the reality was so much better. I mean, this was literally one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen in my life, and she was sucking my cock. It was beyond wonderful. It was life altering.After only a few minutes of her wonderful mouth bobbing up and down on my cock, I began to feel the telltale signs of impending orgasm. “Oh shit, Annie, I'm gonna cum if you keep that up.”She looked up at me and said, “I want to feel you cum in my mouth, Hans. Is that okay?”I nodded, dazed with excitement. Then she sucked and slurped, putting her limber neck into it, and rolling my balls with her fingertips. The underside of my cock became so sensitive that I could feel every taste bud on her magical tongue. Then I felt a hot burst in my nuts, and I began to buck and writhe with the most incredible orgasm I'd ever felt. She kept sucking and jerking as I shot my seed into her mouth. Her cheeks quickly became distended, and cum began to ooze past her lips down my cock. Then I saw her gulping, and I realized she was actually swallowing my cum.I didn't get soft for a second, so she just swallowed and kept on sucking. Sure, my cock was so sensitive by this time that it almost felt painful being in her mouth, but I put up with the pain because I didn't want it to end. I had no idea when or if I'd ever get another blowjob. Happily I got over the hypersensitivity after a few minutes, and she continued to suck and slurp for another ten or fifteen minutes until I thought I was probably on the verge of cumming again.But then Annie suddenly sat up and grabbed her purse. My heart sank. I was certain she was going to check her watch and say it was time to go home. But instead she pulled out a little wrapper and clumsily tore it open. My head nearly exploded when I realized what she was doing. I'd totally forgotten to bring my condom with me. Thank God Annie was more organized than me. She tried to put it on my cock, but it was too dark to see that she was putting it on inside out. We both laughed as she yanked the stretchy rubber on my throbbing shaft. It was so hilarious that it almost took my mind off what was about to happen.Eventually she got the condom over about half my phallus, and said, “Well, that's as good as it gets, I guess!” Then she stepped out of her panties and squatted over me. I reached up and our fingers interlocked. I was filled with the most amazing love for Annie as she lowered her muff onto my pole. Then before I knew it, I felt the head of my scepter pushing against the tender flesh of her hymen. She paused, our eyes locked on each other. We both knew this was an important moment and should be savored. Then she lowered herself, with a deep groan, and popped her cherry on me. She slid all the way down with a throaty gasp, until I was totally immersed in her tight pussy. She sat there for a minute or two, and we looked at each other smiling. It was over. We were no longer virgins.“High five.” I said.We high-fived each other, smiling like crazy.I was thrilled with the thought that half of my cock, the part uncovered by the condom, was touching the inside of her sweet tunnel. She slowly lifted herself, then lowered herself. She was so tight around me, I might as well not have been wearing a condom. It was incredible.She moaned, “Oh fuck, Hans. You feel so big. Oh god. Oh god. What a great cock. Thank you. Thank you for this, Hans.”I was actually fucking a gorgeous half-Brazilian hottie in a pile of leaves, and she was actually thanking me. I looked up at her in wonder. The moonlight was glinting on her dark, shiny braids. As she slowly lifted herself up again her gorgeous lips opened to emit a moan of transcendent pleasure. I was moved more than words can convey.I blurted, “I love you.” Her blue eyes opened wide, and for a moment I was worried that I'd made a mistake. But then she began to pump her body up and down on me with crazy abandon, her eyes locked to mine, as she gave off beautiful, throaty moans.“Oh, oh, oh. You feel so good inside me. Oh yeah. So good. Goddamned fucking fantastic! Oh Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!” Soon she was pounding herself on me faster, making the leaves rustle and bounce into the air. I reached up and yanked the front of her bra down, releasing her large brown breasts again. They looked amazing, bobbing and bouncing in the moonlight with those dark brown areolas flying up and down in a blur. Then I began to arch my pelvis in rhythm with her movements, rising up to meet her with each downstroke. The bare skin of our pelvises began slapping wetly together again and again. She was so wet, I could feel her juices dripping down my balls.Suddenly, a sharp, spine-tingling, high-pitched groan came from the bushes to our left. We froze in primal fear. I felt every hair on my headstand erect, and Annie's pussy tightened like a clamp around my shaft. After a few moments of silence, the bushes rustled, as if something was moving slowly around the edge of the clearing. It groaned again, weirder this time, sounding almost human, but I was certain it had to be an animal. Annie's face was contorted in terror. She pulled off me, and plopped to her hands and knees.She whispered desperately, “Come on. Fuck me Hans. Hurry up.”I couldn't believe she wanted to keep going. I wanted to run. As a matter of fact, I was scared shitless. But there she was, kneeling with her skirt bundled up, exposing her beautiful brown ass to the moonlight. I kneeled behind her and slowly slid my cock into her tight, trembling canal, while she looked at the bushes, following the eerie rustling sounds with her head. Man, oh, man, her hips felt good in my hands, and her pussy felt incredible around my cock. I began to pound her hard and fast, trying to work her up to another quivering orgasm. I felt myself building up to one too, but I was able to put it off longer than I normally could have, because my abdomen was clenched into a tight little fist of fear. But after thirty, forty, fifty strokes, she let out a little choking gasp, and warm juices surged out of her all around my shaft, splashing loudly into the leaves between her knees.At the moment of her climax a huge black flying thing burst out of the edge of the clearing and flew right at us then up out of sight making us both Scream! Right then I began to ejaculate, spurred on by fear and the shivering, quivering spasms that were rolling through her pussy and thighs. My orgasm seemed to go on and on for minutes, as I continued thrusting and squirting shot after shot into that wonderful girl. Or, into the condom, I should say.When my spasms finally ended, I pulled out of her and plopped into the leaves next to her. She crawled on top of me and whispered into my ear, “I love you too. Now let's get the hell out of here.”I yanked the fully loaded condom from my penis, and tossed it into the leaves, then we dressed hastily, laughing like idiots, and crawled in terror through the tunnel. Then we sprinted breathlessly, hand in hand through the park to her dorm. We didn't look back until we got through the doors in the foyer. I swear, it felt as something was chasing us the whole way, but when we turned to look out the glass doors, nothing was there but the cold October dawn. The sky was glowing with the first rays of morning light. We laughed and breathlessly talked about what an amazing night we'd had! But what the hell was that thing? We agreed it must have been a bird. What else could it have been?Only then did we realize that she'd bled a bit from her broken hymen. The brown crotch of my lederhosen had splashes of dark crimson, and her flowery skirt and white stockings were spattered too. But we both laughed, happy that the lobby was deserted at this hour. We held onto each other in the foyer until the morning sun broke over the treetops, casting October orange light on her bronze face, and filling her blue eyes with wonder. She was even more stunning than ever. We stood up and I kissed her goodnight, or good morning I guess. But before she went inside, I haltingly said, “Uh, do you think, that you'd like to, uh, go out with me again?”She smiled as if I'd just asked her the dumbest question in the world. “I'm your girlfriend, stupid.”My heart soared. I have a girlfriend!by CBSummers, for Literotica 

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv British couple dying in Afghan prison, warns woman held by Taliban Unite the Kingdom Thousands gather in London for protest Why everyones talking about The Summer I Turned Pretty Defiant nuns flee Austrian care home for their abandoned convent in the Alps Starmer defended Mandelson after officials knew about Epstein emails, BBC understands Mystery of British woman who disappeared from a luxury Caribbean yacht Freshers week What I wish I knew before going to university Students at Utah university where Kirk was killed vow to continue his debates Manchester We went for curry and 11 of us needed paramedics Coldplay get giddy as they smash Wembley Stadium record

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Queen give the BBC Proms a Rhapsodic send off Davina McCall engaged to partner Michael Douglas Freshers week What I wish I knew before going to university Unite the Kingdom Thousands gather in London for protest Trump ready to sanction Russia if Nato nations stop buying its oil Mystery of British woman who disappeared from a luxury Caribbean yacht Manchester We went for curry and 11 of us needed paramedics Defiant nuns flee Austrian care home for their abandoned convent in the Alps No 10 questioned Peter Mandelson on Epstein links before appointment With Donald Trumps UK state visit days away, Mandelson blame game begins

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Defiant nuns flee Austrian care home for their abandoned convent in the Alps Why everyones talking about The Summer I Turned Pretty Freshers week What I wish I knew before going to university Coldplay get giddy as they smash Wembley Stadium record Students at Utah university where Kirk was killed vow to continue his debates Mystery of British woman who disappeared from a luxury Caribbean yacht Manchester We went for curry and 11 of us needed paramedics Unite the Kingdom Thousands gather in London for protest British couple dying in Afghan prison, warns woman held by Taliban Starmer defended Mandelson after officials knew about Epstein emails, BBC understands

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Unite the Kingdom Thousands gather in London for protest Mystery of British woman who disappeared from a luxury Caribbean yacht Defiant nuns flee Austrian care home for their abandoned convent in the Alps Trump ready to sanction Russia if Nato nations stop buying its oil No 10 questioned Peter Mandelson on Epstein links before appointment With Donald Trumps UK state visit days away, Mandelson blame game begins Manchester We went for curry and 11 of us needed paramedics Freshers week What I wish I knew before going to university Queen give the BBC Proms a Rhapsodic send off Davina McCall engaged to partner Michael Douglas

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Mystery of British woman who disappeared from a luxury Caribbean yacht Why everyones talking about The Summer I Turned Pretty Coldplay get giddy as they smash Wembley Stadium record Students at Utah university where Kirk was killed vow to continue his debates Starmer defended Mandelson after officials knew about Epstein emails, BBC understands Freshers week What I wish I knew before going to university Manchester We went for curry and 11 of us needed paramedics Unite the Kingdom Thousands gather in London for protest Defiant nuns flee Austrian care home for their abandoned convent in the Alps British couple dying in Afghan prison, warns woman held by Taliban

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv Queen give the BBC Proms a Rhapsodic send off With Donald Trumps UK state visit days away, Mandelson blame game begins Davina McCall engaged to partner Michael Douglas Trump ready to sanction Russia if Nato nations stop buying its oil Defiant nuns flee Austrian care home for their abandoned convent in the Alps Manchester We went for curry and 11 of us needed paramedics No 10 questioned Peter Mandelson on Epstein links before appointment Freshers week What I wish I knew before going to university Unite the Kingdom Thousands gather in London for protest Mystery of British woman who disappeared from a luxury Caribbean yacht

The Power of Dirndls And Lederhosen: Part 1Hans channels his grandfather's German roots, to overcome his inadequacies with women.Based on the post by cb summers, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.September 22October was almost here. Outside, a cold, gusty wind was blowing the freshly fallen leaves across the campus commons. But I was warm in my room, snuggled under the covers, devouring chapter seven of Advanced Organic Chemistry. I had a test scheduled for the next morning, but studying wasn't a chore for a nerd like me. It was a joy. I was basking in the awesome power of carbon, and the stunning ways it had chemically combined with other compounds over the unimaginable eons of time to form the very basis of life itself.I loved learning. I loved science. I loved textbooks. They allowed me to escape myself. In textbooks I wasn't a loveless, lonely virgin. I wasn't an awkward, babbling dork. I didn't have a disappointing body with deep pockmarks from a high-school bout with acne, and crooked teeth from parents too poor to pay for braces. And I didn't become embarrassingly tongue-tied in the presence of hotties, because there were no hotties in textbooks. There wasn't even a me. Lost in the mysteries and majesty of science, I became the universe itself. Immortal. Beautiful. Content.It was a blessed relief from all the stress I'd been under of late. You see, I could understand carbon. I could understand DNA. I could understand calculus, non-Euclidean geometry and superstring theory. But girls? They were a total mystery to me.My roommate Troy had been trying to share his ‘wisdom' about the fairer sex with me, but it wasn't easy for me to take his advice. After all, he was a Neanderthal. Normally, I avoided guys like him. You know, big dumb lunks, with handsome faces, muscular bodies, and cocky attitudes. Troy was willfully ignorant about the natural world. He didn't believe in evolution, because it just didn't make sense to him, but he did believe in Bigfoot because he saw a movie about it once. I mean, he was just an idiot. I never would have chosen a guy like him to be my roommate, but my roomie for the last two years suddenly transferred to Columbia just before school started in September, so Troy, was assigned to me at random.I'll never forget the day I met the big dope. He swaggered into my room as if he owned the place. He was tall and broad, with a thick, strong neck, short tan hair, and an infuriating air of confidence. I hated him instantly. But I resolved to try to get along with him, so I said, “Hi. I'm Hans. Hans Willis.”He replied, “Look dude, here's the deal I'm gonna fuck a lot of girls in this room, so we need to work out some kinda arrangement. If you see a sock hanging on the doorknob, don't come in. Got it? Just assume I'm boning some chick. I don't care if you have to sleep in the lobby, don't come between me and my pussy. But don't worry, same rules apply for both of us. If I see the sock, I'll stay out too. Those are now the house rules. Name's Troy, by the way.” He held his fist out for me to bump, so I bumped it.A Crushing Defeat To The Neanderthal.But the one girl I actually did go on one date with, that September, ended up becoming my roommate's main fuck buddy, Briona. She's maybe the smartest female in the science department, but her primal desires led her to the neanderthal, Troy.  It wasn't even a week after my one feeble date. Briona basically ignored me in class, and I was miserable. I became depressed and stayed in my dorm, sulking myself to sleep.So there I was, lost in my textbook on a cold September evening, when voices in the hallway brought me out of my reverie. They stopped in front of my door and began to talk back and forth in hushed tones. I recognized Troy's voice. He started talking loudly. “No, really, don't worry about my roommate. He's asleep. Sleeps like a fucking log.”A girl's voice whispered, “Really? I don't know about this. Are you sure?”He answered loudly, “Yeah, I toldja, he's on some kinda meds to keep his acne from coming back. Those things knock him out like a light. It's actually kinda bizarre. Hey, why don't you see for yourself?”He was fumbling with his keys, and then he dropped them loudly on the floor. I realized with shock that he was hoping I'd hear him so I could pretend to be asleep. I was gripped with utter terror. He'd never done anything like this before. He usually called me if he wanted to bring a girl over, to give me time to clear out. But he must have met this girl at some late night party, and didn't think I'd agree to leaving the room at 2:15 in the morning. So what was his plan? He wanted me to stay? To, what? Pretend to be asleep while he fucked this girl? It was a crazy idea! Utterly indecent! Utterly wonderful! Two conflicting thoughts raced through my head at the same time. One: I don't have time for this! I have to study! Two: Oh holy shit, oh holy shit, shit,!What a position to put me in! But I felt I had no choice but to play possum! I heard the key clicking into place, so I barely had time to put my books on the floor, flip out my bedside lamp, and yank the covers messily over my head before the door swung open. I didn't see them coming in, but I heard their voices.He said, in a normal voice, “See? What did I tell you? Out like a light.”She whispered, “No, really?”The door closed, and he said, “Here. Let me show you.” He tromped over to me, shook me and shouted, “Wake up, roomie! The building's on fire!” Then he leaned down close enough to whisper, “Please, Hans. Just go with it.” I didn't make a peep, so he said loudly, “What did I tell you? Dead to the world. It's just you and me, sweetheart.'She giggled and whispered, “Damn. Those must be some killer meds. Which one does he take? Xeotrex, or Iso…”She fell silent. From the sound of the wet little smacking sounds I heard, he must have started kissing her to stop her questions. Damn, what a caveman he was. But she didn't complain. Soon she was making hungry little moans and wet slobbering gasps and groans. Oh shit. I couldn't believe they were making out, right there in my room! My cock started to harden. It was a good thing I'd turned to my side, or she might have seen a volcano rising under my sheets.I just lay there in shock for the next five minutes, unable to block out those sexy sounds. I couldn't believe this was actually happening. But it only got more shocking when I heard the unmistakable sound of a belt buckle clinking open. Troy moaned, “Oh yeah, baby. Fuck yeah.”She giggled, saying, “Let's see what you got in here, big boy. Oh, hot damn. It's so big. Damn. My fingers barely fit around it. Fuck. I gotta get a taste of that.” Then she inhaled and made a wet slurping sound.Troy moaned deeply, “Oh, fuck.”Up to that very moment, I'd had no intention of peeking. But once I realized that a girl was giving Troy a blowjob just a few feet away from me, and the only thing that stood between them and my eyes was my blanket, well I just couldn't resist. I had to see. I just had to! So I slowly moved my hand up to my face and began to tug at the blanket to form a shadowy little opening to peep through. The first thing I saw was Troy's rapturous face, illuminated by his bedside light. He looked right at me. I thought he'd be pissed, but he just smiled and put his finger to his lips, then pointed down, grinning like a birthday boy showing off his brand new BB gun.With that encouragement, I pulled the opening a little more open, and laid my eyes on a sight that absolutely shook me to the core.Briona Skorsczi was on her knees sucking my roommate's big fat cock.I couldn't have been more shocked if I'd suddenly seen my family being eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was horrifying, yet I couldn't look away. I just couldn't. Briona's big, beautiful nose was bobbing forward and back, her glasses sliding down to the tip as she sucked him into her beautiful mouth. Her delightful bunny teeth were sliding gently over the raw, naked flesh of that frighteningly huge cock of his. It had to be eight or nine inches long. Maybe more.She must have taken off her coat and shirt before getting on her knees, because I saw her enormous tits absolutely straining to escape the confines of her lacy white bra. I'd been right all along. She had been hiding a smoking hot body under all those baggy clothes. Her tits were even bigger than I'd suspected, probably full D cups, and her creamy white cleavage was wiggling like a bowl of Jell-O as she slurped Troy's cock with increasing eagerness.I watched all of this in utter shock. I couldn't believe this was actually happening. The sweet, innocent, genius of my dreams was polishing a Neanderthal's knob. It was wrong on so many levels; I just couldn't wrap my head around it. How the hell had he met her anyway? I hadn't told either of them about each other, but Prairie Tech wasn't a very big college, so this was just one of those random coincidences that happen from time to time. Only this time it was happening to me, goddamn it!It was heartbreaking to watch. But I had to. I had to. Those full, beautiful lips, which I'd been too timid to kiss, were now sliding and slurping over the bulbous head of Troy's throbbing meat. And her delicate pink tongue, which had said so many fascinating things to me over the course of our evening together, was now slipping out, and flicking that sensitive spot on the underside of his glans. All the while she stroked his long shaft with those delicate hands I'd imagined holding in my own. Then she lifted his shaft, leaned forward and slurped his big, hairless balls into her mouth, making him grab his bedside table for support.“Oh fuck. Suck my balls, bitch. Yeah, so fucking good.”I watched her lick every inch of his veiny shaft, her big beautiful nose occasionally bending in contact with his cock, which I found particularly obscene. Then she kissed her way back to the tip of his salami and began gobbling him forward and back in long swooping moves, making her brown hair bob and bounce, taking him deeper and deeper into her throat with each stroke. She began to drool copiously, coating his cock with so much slime that long strands of slobber dripped down onto her creamy white cleavage. God, I just about passed out at the sight of it. She tilted her head lithely side to side as she gulped his phallus, literally swallowing it until I could actually see the end of his massive member distorting her willowy neck! It was astonishing. She was making loud, wet gasping sounds, but unbelievably, she wasn't choking on his cock; not one tiny bit.That's when it dawned on me that she wasn't a sweet little shy virgin after all. She'd obviously sucked a cock or twelve in her time. Hell, for all I knew, she did this sort of thing every single night of the year. I'd completely misjudged her. She hadn't turned me down because she was too busy. She'd turned me down because I was a coward.Looking back, I suddenly realized that she'd been waiting for me to make some kind of move all night during our date. Now with hindsight twenty twenty, I could remember at least half a dozen opportunities for intimacy that I'd passed up. I could have held her hand at the art show. I could have sat next to her at dinner. I could have put my arm over her shoulder on the walk to her place. And that awkward silence before she closed the door? She'd definitely wanted me to kiss her!Idiot! Why Didn't I Fucking Kiss Her? And if I had, then what? Would she have pulled me inside? Would she have dropped to her knees and pulled out my cock and started sucking me, just like she did with Troy? And then what? Would she have fucked me too?! Oh shit. I blew it. I fucking blew it.I closed the gap in my blankets, and closed my eyes, trying to stifle my sobs of crushing regret. Oh god, I was a pathetic excuse for a man. I wasn't a man at all! I was a fucking Boy! Troy may have been a stupid caveman who didn't believe in evolution, but did believe that a magnetic wristband could make you run faster, but nevertheless, he was still twice the man as me. My pitiful erection faded away and I silently wept, feeling lower and more useless than I'd ever felt in my life.Okay. I must admit. I was wallowing a bit. But then I heard Briona say, “I want you to cream on my tits, baby.”I instantly forgot my misery, and opened the flap again, just in time to see her reaching behind her back and unhooking her bra. It popped open and her big pale breasts fell into view. My cock leapt fully erect again. Her nipples were puffy and pink. Oh god, her tits were more magnificent than I could have ever imagined. Troy grabbed her head with both hands and began fucking her face hard and fast. Then he stiffened up, arched his back and let out a long, gut-wrenching, guttural groan. She pulled back and presented her tits to him, while she jerked his long pipe with one hand. I saw his nuts literally jumping, then ropes of glistening white ropes shot out of him, splooging all over her breasts and neck. She jerked it out of him with expert yanks, until her cleavage was dripping with goo. Then she leaned forward and sucked his cock head while squeezing his balls, making him squirt another shot into her mouth. She looked up at him over her glasses and opened her mouth, and let the cum slowly drip out of it onto her tits. Oh fucking christ! It was so fucking Filthy! Then she ran both hands over her breasts, spreading his shiny cum all over until she her tits were glistening.He couldn't stand up any longer, so he plopped down onto his bed, and fell onto his back. Briona stood up, and quickly stripped out of her shoes, jeans and panties, a sight that made my eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. She had an incredible ass and a stunningly narrow waist. What a figure! She was built like a movie star! Her back was to me now, so I reached into my shorts and wrapped my hand around my throbbing hard cock and started jerking off as quietly as I could manage. She leaned forward to yank Troy's pants off, giving me an amazing view of her extremely hairy pussy. It was big, bushy and brown, but fucking hot as hell. I couldn't make out her pussy lips, but I didn't care. I just stared up her ass crack, jacking off like the pathetic little perv I was, my cock lubricated by the copious amounts of precum it was weeping.Once she'd stripped his bottom half bare, she wiped her tits clean of cum with his pants, then climbed on top of him. I thought she was gonna fuck him, but she kept going upward until she was straddling his face. “Suck my fucking pussy, donkey-dick.”I couldn't get over how filthy her mouth was. It was like she was split personality, or something. This wasn't the brainy girl I'd been out on a date with. That girl could wax poetically about superstring theory and the big bang. But this girl was gleefully grinding her pussy against a moron's face, as she moaned, “Oh fuck yeah. Eat my pussy, fuck wad. Eat my fucking pussy. Yeah, that's right. Stick that tongue inside my cunt. Taste my fucking cum.”I couldn't see exactly what he was doing. Her back was to me, and his big fat cock was in the foreground, blocking some of the view. But I saw the underside of his chin, and his tongue going up into her. He was making crazy slurping sounds, and his semi-hard cock slowly stood to attention again, and he started stroking it, at the same time that I was stoking mine. I wondered what it must feel like to have a monster cock like that in your hand. Mine was puny compared to his. A measly seven and a half inches.Briona was like a wild woman, and she couldn't get enough of Troy's tongue. She just kept grinding herself roughly into his face for the longest time, while he jerked himself off. Her aggressiveness was a bit scary, actually. I wondered what I would have done if she'd attacked me like that in her apartment. I was starting to feel like maybe I dodged a bullet there. Sure, she was sexy, smart and sweet, but damn, she was an animal in the sack! She started shouting out filthy commands as she rode his face. “Yeah, suck my pussy, you mother fucker! Suck my hairy snatch. You know you like it, fuck face. Gimme that hand. Use your finger, oh shit yeah. Oh, fuck yeah, right there. Yeah, like that. No don't stop licking my clit. Yeah, oh fuck, No, don't change anything! Just keep doing it like that, mother fucker! Oh Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!”She was screaming so loud, they were in serious danger of having the RA's realize there was a girl in the room, but Troy clamped his free hand over her mouth. For the next ten minutes she moaned and groaned into his hand, and he took her through a series of awe-inspiring orgasms. Then right when it seemed she was at the peak of her excitement, she suddenly jumped backward and straddled his cock, then lowered herself slowly onto it.Wow. She didn't even make him put on a condom! I saw his huge manhood spreading her furry pussy lips wide for a moment before she lowered herself slowly down his shaft, while juices dripped out of her. Based on the guttural moan she emitted, I guess he was stretching her to the limit, and she liked it. The sight of him disappearing into her snatch triggered something in my own cock. I felt a burst of pleasure, and moments later I was filling my underwear with cum. But I didn't get soft for a second, so I just kept jerking, ignoring the sticky gunk on my hand, taking advantage of the fact that her back was turned to me so she couldn't see my blankets jumping as I jerked off like a monkey in a zoo.She rode him like that for a good long time, slowly at first, moaning, “Oh fucking Christ on a sandwich! You're so fucking big! I've never fucked anyone like you before! Oh god. You're splitting me open, you fucking animal!” But once she got used to his girth, she began to fuck him with more speed and gusto. She started getting less careful, so she could no longer keep his cock from popping out of her pussy. But each time she'd reach down, pull it back into place and start galloping him again, slamming herself down on him like she was riding a wild horse. She was insatiable! And he had lasting power. I shot a second wad into my shorts, but he just kept fucking her on and on and on!Eventually, he flipped her over onto her back, and lifted her long, pale legs high in the air on each of his shoulders, and started ramming himself into her like he was trying to destroy her cunt. But she just stared up at him with those big brown eyes and urged him on. “Harder, you fucking wimp. Fuck me harder.” She said it with an animal intensity, which  I'd never imagined her capable of. It was frighteningly sexy! And he seemed to love it, because he attacked her with the fury of a jungle cat. They were two wild animals, groaning and grinding on that squeaky dorm bed, in a crazy battle to the death.They were turned sideways to me now, so I beheld the stunning sight of Briona's big breasts surging up and down her chest as he pounded her. He occasionally leaned forward and sucked them roughly into his mouth, nibbling her puffy nipples hard enough to make her squeal with delight. It looked so painful to me, but Briona seemed to love it.She kept groaning and cursing the whole time he fucked her. “Harder! Fuck me harder! Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Fuck me with that big fat cock! Shit! You feel so fucking huge! Harder! Fuck me harder! Oh my god. Oh my god, you feel so good inside me! Oh fucking god! Oh fucking god! oh.”He slammed his hand over her mouth as she had another crazy loud orgasm. He pounded her with merciless glee, his well-muscled body glistening with sweat. He moaned, “Take it bitch. Fucking take it!”I had to stroke myself slower, now that she could possibly see me, but that didn't stop me from cumming a third time. My underwear was absolutely gross with accumulated cum by now, but my cock didn't get soft, so I kept squeezing and stroking it as I stared at Briona's beautiful tits, her long, lithe legs, and her beautiful big nose. She was looking up at Troy, right into amazed eyes, with a passion so hot that it could have started a forest fire.She suddenly crawled out from under him, moaning, “Oh, shit, Fuck me doggy style, you son of a bitch!” She got up on her hands and knees and he immediately rammed himself into her slit from behind. She arched her neck up ward, her lush mouth opening into a long, breathy groan. “God damn. So fucking good.”My eyes were drawn to her pendulous breasts. They were flopping forward and back as Troy fucked her. Once or twice he leaned forward to fondle them, something I longed to do, but that just threw off his rhythm, so he went back to fucking her. I wanted to get out of bed, and crawl under her, and let those big boobs sweep up and down my face. But I was pretty sure that would have freaked her the fuck out, so I just kept playing possum.He looked toward me a few times, smiling with wicked pride. He even flashed me one of those stupid ‘hang ten' hand signals that dopes like him were fond of. I wanted to hate him for stealing my girl, but I just couldn't be mad at him. It wasn't his fault. It was mine. I'd let her slip out of my hands. And now he was fucking my dream girl. I sure hoped he was enjoying it, because the longer it went on, the more my image of her slipped away. She wasn't my dream girl any longer. Oh, I loved her still, and admired her. I also hoped one day I might be friends with her. But I didn't dream about fucking her any longer. I knew I'd never be able to handle her. For one thing, she seemed to like it rough, which just wasn't in me. And for another thing, she absolutely adored Troy's humungous cock. It was at least an inch or two longer than my pitiful seven inches. It was apparent now why all those girls were so happy after fucking him. How could I ever hope to make her happy in bed after she'd been fucked like this?Troy grinned at me and mouthed, “Watch this”, then he grabbed his pillow, stripped the pillowcase off, flipped the loose end under her midsection and grabbed both ends with his fists and suddenly lifted her up, so her knees left the bed. Now, with her utterly under his control, he started to fuck her harder than ever, and she started to squeal and weep and scream. She looked back at him with a look of pure, worshipful amazement as he pounded her pussy like a pro, tears pouring out of her eyes from the sheer perfection of the moment. She'd been calling the shots all night, but now he was in command, and she was enraptured. Utterly enraptured.And I guess I was enraptured too. They both amazed me. I felt like a pathetic troll compared to these guys. If any two people on earth were made to fuck each other, it was Troy and Briona, goddamn it! He fucked her that way longer than I could ever have done, but he finally began to grunt and stiffen with impending release.Briona moaned, “Oh yeah. Cum inside me. I want to feel you cumming inside me. Oh god, yes, I can feel it!”The astounding sight of my roommate filling that beautiful, busty nerd's pussy with cum made me blast one final load of semen into my sticky underwear. And as impossible as it may seem, I actually fell asleep immediately afterward. I don't know if they kept fucking or not, but I would have slept through an earthquake at that point. It was probably some sort of psychological defense mechanism. My brain had overloaded with a lethal combination of lust and self-loathing. My only escape was sweet oblivion.Frat Party Invite: “You should go,” said Troy.“Yeah, I agree,” said Briona, cuddling next to him in his bed. “What have you got to lose?”I shrugged. “I don't really know these guys. And I wouldn't know anyone else at the party either.”Briona shrugged, “So what?”Troy added, “And it's at a frat, dude! Think of all that fresh young sorority pussy!”Briona slapped his arm, hard enough to make him squeal. “Shut up, you big dumb ape!”Troy pouted adorably, nursing his arm. “Sorry Bree.”“Oh, did I hurt you, baby?” Then she gently, lovingly kissed his arm, as he looked at her enraptured.They'd only been together for two weeks, but the change she'd had on Troy had been amazing. He'd stopped trolling for chicks, even though she hadn't asked him to. And when the two of them weren't over at her apartment fucking like rabbits, she was over at our room studying with me! It worked out for all three of us because our studying together encouraged him to do his own homework, so his grades began to improve as well.Just in case you're wondering, Briona had no idea that I'd been awake the night she fucked him. In fact, when she found out that I was his roommate, she nearly had a heart attack, but I pretended his ‘acne medicine' story was true. There are some acne medicines that cause drowsiness, although I'd been off them for over a year. Still, I kept up the charade, secretly hoping that she might fuck him again while I ‘slept'. But apparently the night she came over her cousin had been visiting, so her apartment wasn't empty. That wasn't true any longer, so I hadn't seen hide nor hair of her pussy since that wonderful night, and I probably never would again.But that was okay. She was fast becoming one of my best friends. The fact that I'd seen her totally naked, riding my roommate's cock while she cursed like a whore, didn't diminish my fondness or admiration for her one tiny bit. It actually opened my eyes up to my own naïve ideas about sexuality. I realized that sex isn't just for sluts and dopes, but for smart people too. People like Briona, and people like me! It finally dawned on me that everybody in the world had sex, and every woman, however shy she may seem, had a secret tiger in her, just waiting to be discovered and unleashed.As for Troy, he was still a bit of an asshole, but he treated Briona like a princess. He was honestly in love. So much so that it frightened him a bit. After I told him that she was a genius, he started to worry that she'd lose interest in him, so he worked extra hard to earn her love. But I'd seen him fucking her. As long as he kept slaying her pussy like that, he had nothing to worry about.Briona asked, “Who are these guys again?”“Roland Rawlings and Joseph, something, I forget his last name. They're in Tau Sigma Omicron, I think. I'm in their Astrophysics study group. I guess that's why they invited me to their Oktoberfest party. I can't think of any other reason. I'm certainly not interested in pledging any frats. I don't have that kind of money anyway.”Briona nodded. “Well, I don't know them, but Tau Sigma has a good reputation. If you were pledging, you could do worse. Though Delta Delta is the one that most of the guys in the science department belong to. They have an excellent academics record.”Troy grinned mischievously, saying, “Yeah, but the real question is, does Tau Sigma have a sister sorority, and do they like to fuck nerds?”Briona roared like a lion and started snapping her teeth at him. “I told you to stop it, you dirty little boy! Don't make me bite you!”He stuck his tongue out at her so she leapt on top of him like a jungle cat. I watched them roughhouse with a smile on my face. Troy was much bigger and stronger than her, but he let her pin him with only minimal resistance. That's one of the ways I knew he was smitten with her. She'd literally tamed him. It was really kind of cute.Still straddling Troy, Briona turned to me and said, “No, really, Hans, you ought to go. You don't have anything better to do tonight, do you?”I shrugged. “No, but I don't have a costume. Everyone's supposed to dress up like Germans.”Troy said, “Well, you're German, aren't you? Just go as yourself.”“My grandpa's from Austria, but I don't think that counts as a costume.”Briona smiled, “Oh hey, there's that costume store over in that strip mall next to the Wendy's. I bet they're open for another hour or two. You should run over there and, here, ” She reached into her pocket and pulled out her wallet, then took out sixty dollars, “Go rent a costume.”I put my hand up, “No, no. I can't take your money.”She hopped off Troy and pressed the money into my hands. “Consider it a loan, Hansie. Pay me back when you can.”I looked at the money, and my heart started to beat hard. I'd never gone to a real party before. Or at least not one at a cool fraternity, which I just knew would be chock full of eligible women getting drunk off their asses. I didn't know what to say, but Briona just pulled me off my bed and pushed me toward the door, saying, “You better hurry up before they close! Scoot!”Troy shouted from his bed. “Yeah, get out of here, loser, so I can fuck my girlfriend!”As she was closing the door behind me, I heard her saying to Troy, “Okay mister. You've officially pissed me off. Now you're gonna get bit!”I stood in that hallway for a few minutes, listening to her jungle-cat roars turn into orgasmic groans as they attacked each other in my room, perhaps even on my very bed. It made my cock stir with lust. Since it was unlikely they'd ever do it while I was ‘sleeping' again, eavesdropping at my dorm room door might be the closest I'd ever get. But as fun it was to listen to Briona's dirty talk, her money was burning a hole in my hand, and I knew she'd expect me to have a story to show for it, so I dragged myself away from her beautiful moans, and sweet obscenities.By the time I'd walked to the costume shop, the sun was already setting, and they were just about to close. But the man let me in and showed me his selection of Bavarian costumes. Most of them were cheap, mass-manufactured Halloween costumes, but one was really quite authentic. I should know. I'd been dragged to my fair share of polkas and Oktoberfest celebrations when I was a kid. My parents were proud of their Austrian ancestry, so I could tell an authentic outfit when I saw one. It wasn't cheap, but Briona's money, added to my own pitiful stash, added up to just barely enough to rent it, along with an oversized plastic stein. That was all the money I had for the rest of the month, but I figured, if I'm going to look like a fool, I might as well do it in style. Besides, if I impress those guys, maybe they'll invite me to another party.As I was trying it on, the shop owner said, “You're lucky you're not a woman. A bunch of girls came in here earlier and rented all the Bavarian dresses in the place. Hey, you know what? I bet they're going to the same party as you.” I shrugged, barely hearing him. I was distracted by my own reflection in the mirror. I looked exactly like my grandfather. There was photo of him hanging on our wall back home which was taken when he was a boy in Austria, wearing a costume that was freakishly similar to this: a pair of dark brown lederhosen with suspenders, high socks embroidered with ducks and edelweiss flowers, a loose white peasant shirt and a blue cap with a long feather sticking out the top. My god, I was the spitting image of my grandfather.Suddenly I flashed on the old man. He was the most rakish, hearty, balls-to-the-wall man I'd ever met. He could have eaten ten Troys for breakfast and still had room for seven Brad Pitts. When Grandpa came into a room, everybody smiled. He flirted with all the ladies, even his own relatives, and made every man his buddy. He was amazing, and lived life to the fullest, right up to the very end. I hooked my thumbs in my suspenders, just as he was doing in that old photograph, and grinned, trying to make my eyes twinkle just like his. Damn. I looked more like him than ever. And then I remembered that he had a pockmarked face too. I'd never thought about it before, but he must have had acne as a teenager, the same as me! But he hadn't let that stop him from being a man, and damn it all, I wasn't gonna let it stop me either!I walked proudly to Fraternity Row, dressed in my costume, ignoring the catcalls from passers-by. No, scratch that. I didn't ignore them. Whenever someone laughed or shouted out some obscenity at me, I raised my fake German stein and shouted, “Oktoberfest!” at the top of my lungs, and their jeers turned instantly into cheers. I felt almost as if I was channeling my grandfather's spirit. But I didn't believe in any sort of afterlife, so I knew that my grandfather's spirit didn't exist. No. If anything, it was my grandfather's DNA coursing through my blood, which gave me the gumption to act as if I was the man I wanted to be. That, and the long feather in my cap.I charged into that party as if I owned the place, and stomped all the way into the middle of the room on my big, loud boots. That's when I noticed that I was the only person in sight wearing a costume of any kind. Then I saw the assholes who'd invited me; laughing their asses off. My heart sank, and my cheeks burned bright red. I'd thought I'd left this kind of crap behind me in high school. But I was wrong. You never get too old for a pair of snotty assholes to make you feel like a fool. I refused to give them the pleasure of seeing my embarrassment, so I just smiled and waved, proud of my Bavarian heritage and culture.I was about to make a humiliating retreat from this frat party when I realized, much to my delight, that I wasn't alone. Six freshmen girls, dressed in sexy little Bavarian dresses, filed through the door, drawing fresh gouts of laughter from the assembly. Now I knew who'd rented all the female costumes from the store! Most of the girls looked utterly embarrassed, but one of the girls was shining with confidence. Her sky-blue eyes caught sight of me and a broad grin spread out on her stunningly beautiful, copper-colored face. I'd seen her around the Science Building, but I didn't know her name. All I knew was that she was a freshman, and insanely hot. I considered her so far out of my league that I didn't even daydream about asking her out.She was simply stunning to behold, her lovely tits were perfectly displayed in the snug bodice. Her figure was looking scrumptious, particularly as she made her way through the crowd toward me, smiling from ear to ear. As she came closer, I realized that her costume was the female match for mine. They had the same brown, green and blue fabrics, the same embroidered socks. But instead of the lederhosen and suspenders my costume had, she was wearing a traditional dirndl, which was comprised of a brown skirt, a big green apron, a puffy white blouse, and a bodice with a low front, which was pushing her ample breasts up into a startling display of feminine pulchritude. I mean, this chick's cleavage was epic, and it was wiggling about wonderfully as she clomped toward me in her polka shoes. Her wavy dark brown hair was braided into two long braids that were framing her tits marvelously.Coincidence was once again rearing its ugly head, but this time it seemed to be working in my favor!She shouted in a fake German accent, “Liebchen! Vere haff you been? I've been vorried schick about you!”Then she gave me a big hug and a quick kiss on the lips. I was stunned. That was literally the first kiss of my life, and even though she meant it as a joke, my heart did a total flip flop in my chest, and tingles shot down my spine! Then she took my hand in hers and pulled me toward the other costumed girls, all of whom were adorable, each in their own way. “Come vit me, liebchen. I vant you to meet my freundins!” The girls laughed when they saw that I was wearing the male match of their friend's dirndl. “Girls, girls, I vant you to meet mein freund, Helmutt von Wiener.”Continued in Part Two,Based on a post by CBSummers, for Literotica

Nepal's major political parties have demanded parliament be reinstated a day after it was dissolved following deadly anti-corruption protests. Anti-government protests this week sparked by a now reversed social media ban saw at least fifty one people killed and more than a thousand injured.Also on the programme: 100,000 people have joined a far- right march in London featuring violent clashes, calls to send migrants home, and a message of support from Elon Musk; and we'll hear about the three Austrian nuns who have run away from the retirement home to return to their former convent.(People take part in a candlelight vigil in memory of people who died during the protest against anti-corruption triggered by a social media ban, which was later lifted, in Kathmandu, Nepal, September 13, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar)

The widow of Charlie Kirk, a right-wing political activist in the US, says she will never let his legacy die. She said her cries would echo around the world like a battle cry. Charlie Kirk was President Donald Trump's bridge to young Republicans. We ask if his death is likely to aggravate political tension in the US? Also in the programme: a Qatari official, Majed Al Ansari, tells the BBC that his country remains on high alert as the government cannot rule out another Israeli strike; and the three Austrian nuns who refuse to stay in their old peoples' home.Photo: Charlie Kirk with his wife, Erika Kirk, celebrating Trump's inauguration in Washington, D.C., in January Credit: Getty

Kate Adie introduces stories from Gaza, France, the Thailand-Cambodia border, Iraq and Slovenia.Around a million Palestinians have been told to leave Gaza City ahead of a new Israeli offensive - though many are wary of leaving, saying there is nowhere to go. Lucy Williamson was granted rare access to Gaza by the Israeli army, and was taken to see its planned new aid distribution site.Days after French PM, François Bayrou, was ousted from office after losing a confidence vote, street protests took place across France as people voiced anger over proposals to remove two national holidays and impose a pensions freeze. Andrew Harding watched events unfold in Paris.Thailand also has a new prime minister – its third in just over a year - following a political crisis that ignited a short, sudden conflict with Cambodia. Our Southeast Asia Correspondent Jonathan Head has been looking into this catastrophic breakdown of relations.Ten years ago, 71 migrants from Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan died in the back of a refrigerator truck abandoned on a motorway lay-by near the Austrian border with Hungary. Nick Thorpe travelled to northern Iraq to meet relatives of some of those who died - and interviewed the smugglers convicted for their role in their deaths.Slovenia has produced some of the best male cyclists in the world today - including Tadej Pogacar. Every year, the four-time Tour de France champ hosts a cycling festival in his home town of Komenda - and Guy De Launey went along for the ride.Series Producer: Serena Tarling Production Coordinator: Rosie Strawbridge Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

At 54, exhausted and running on empty, Monique van Tulder did something radical — she walked away from the life that was draining her. What started as a small step — changing lightbulbs in another house — turned into five months of solitude, adventure, and self-discovery. She calls it A Grown Up's Gap Year. In this conversation, Monique shares the truth so many women over 50 will recognise: years of putting everyone else first, of pushing through fatigue and health scares, of saying yes when they wanted to say no. Her story begins not with adventure, but with depletion — thyroid cancer, low iron, invisible burnout — and a quiet longing to feel like herself again. What followed was a journey that was both terrifying and exhilarating: arriving alone in a silent Austrian village, leaping off cliffs to prove she still had courage, and slowly rediscovering joy, creativity, and her own voice. She came home renewed, lighter, and ready to name herself Project Fabulous Woman — a reminder that her own health, joy, and worth matter too. This episode is not just about leaving home. It's about permission. Monique reframes midlife and shows how any woman, anywhere, can create her own version of a gap year. Even fifteen minutes a day can be the spark of transformation. Whether you're feeling burnt out, invisible, or simply craving something more, Monique's story is a powerful reminder: midlife is not the end of the story. It's the perfect season to begin again. What You'll Learn in This Episode: Why women so often hit burnout in midlife — and how to recognise the signs. How Monique turned a small act of escape into a life-changing adventure. The role of fear, courage, and joy in rediscovering yourself. What it means to become your own “Project Fabulous Woman.” Simple tools like “Kind Starts” and mini gap years you can use right now. Links: https://www.moniquevantulder.com/ https://www.instagram.com/moniquevantulder/

After endeavouring to wreak their revenge on Serbia, what would be the greatest hammer blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the First World War? With Leviv having fallen apocalyptically to the Russian hordes, what had gone so wrong? How might the war have been brought to an end before Christmas of 1914? And, with the darkness gathering around the Austrian defences, could the great fortress of Przemyśl hold out against the Russian barrage for a second time…? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian advance, on the brutal Eastern front, as the first year of the First World War grinds bloodily on… Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at therestishistory.com For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mr Pi and Mrs Mole check out the Venty while discussing amongst other things, run-ins with Austrian rozzers, Reinhard's grow and an email from Nico.  Get High Discord Server: http://www.discord.gg.vVQKUsxBvw

I recently spent a week in Austria, bouncing between my grandparents' farmhouse and the alpine trails I grew up on. And it hit me how stark the contrast is between the foundation they built and the environment kids are growing up in today.  My grandparents are 92 and 93, still living on their own. They had decades of clean food, pure alpine water, long days outside and zero WiFi. And then, over the last 10-20 years, an Americanized creep of seed oils, ultra-processed snacks and glyphosate started showing up in force.  Fortunately, for my grandparents, their health trajectory was already set. But the sad reality is that today's Austria looks a lot more like the U.S. than the one I left in 2007. You see it in the soda cases and packaged snacks; in childhood obesity, which simply wasn't common when I was a kid; and in the push for convenience over quality.  On paper, the cardiovascular stats are surprising, with heart issues accounting for about a third of Austrian deaths vs roughly a fifth in the U.S. But context matters. Life expectancy is higher in Austria, smoking remains far more prevalent, alcohol is a daily staple for many, and coding practices differ. And while European rules do more to keep out junk — i.e., no drug ads to consumers, tighter oversight of additives, a precautionary approach — you still find head-scratchers like the EU's renewed glyphosate approval, and the official dietary guidance in Austria is every bit as misguided as America's: more grains, less meat, avoid saturated fat.  Meanwhile, the water story flips the other way; Austria's alpine spring water really is great, while here I won't drink unfiltered tap water. The throughline I keep coming back to is the environment. Austrians still walk and bike more, take real vacations and spend time outside. But the trend is heading in the wrong direction.  My takeaway for both sides of the Atlantic is the same: don't wait for guidelines or brands to save you. Vote with your fork and your feet. Buy directly from farmers when you can. Filter your water. Create a home rhythm that makes movement and sunlight normal. Ignore food-industry talking points. And recreate the conditions humans have traditionally thrived in, focusing on better food, cleaner water and more time outside. If that resonates, start small this week. Audit what's in your pantry, pick one item you can swap for a simpler version, take your next meeting while on a walk, and move dinner earlier so your sleep isn't collateral damage. Then share this episode with a friend who still thinks “Europe is automatically healthier” or that “America is too far gone.” The future isn't predetermined; it's built choice by choice. Learn more: The 8 Core Pillars of a Healthy Lifestyle: https://michaelkummer.com/health/healthy-lifestyle/  Keto vs. Carnivore vs. Paleo (And Why I Combine Them): https://michaelkummer.com/health/keto-vs-carnivore-vs-paleo/ Episode 106: Why Eating Like Your Grandparents Won't Save You: https://www.primalshiftpodcast.com/106-why-eating-like-your-grandparents-wont-save-you/  Episode 42: Let Nature Dictate What You Should Be Eating: https://www.primalshiftpodcast.com/42-let-nature-dictate-what-you-should-be-eating/ Thank you to this episode's sponsor, OneSkin! OneSkin's lineup of topical skin health products leverage the power of the company's proprietary OS-01 peptide to remove dead skin cells, improve collagen production, increase skin hydration and more.  Check out my before and after photos in my OneSkin review: https://michaelkummer.com/health/oneskin-review/  Get 15% off with my discount code MKUMMER: https://michaelkummer.com/go/oneskinshop  In this episode: 00:00 Intro 01:33 Comparing generations: Then and now 02:24 Health statistics: Austria vs. USA 05:10 Diet and lifestyle differences 07:42 The influence of big pharma and agriculture 09:38 Food additives and regulations 13:48 Water quality: Austria vs. USA 16:21 Work-life balance and stress 19:12 Observations from a recent trip to Austria 22:55 Final thoughts Find me on social media for more health and wellness content: Website: https://michaelkummer.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MichaelKummer Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/primalshiftpodcast/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/michaelkummer/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/mkummer82 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realmichaelkummer/ [Medical Disclaimer] The information shared on this video is for educational purposes only, is not a substitute for the advice of medical doctors or registered dietitians (which I am not) and should not be used to prevent, diagnose, or treat any condition. Consult with a physician before starting a fitness regimen, adding supplements to your diet, or making other changes that may affect your medications, treatment plan, or overall health. [Affiliate Disclaimer] I earn affiliate commissions from some of the brands and products I review on this channel. While that doesn't change my editorial integrity, it helps make this channel happen. If you'd like to support me, please use my affiliate links or discount code. #Diet #Nutrition

Subscribe to the podcastWe do talk about the lady freaking out about the homerun ball. We also talk about what consensus means in Bitcoin (and what it doesn't) and also about trusting the experts.Learn about Bitcoin at a trickleBitcoinTrickle.comSponsorLiberty MugsKeep in touch with us everywhere you areJoin our Telegram groupLike us on FacebookFollow us on Twitter: @libertymugs (Rollo), @Slappy_Jones_2Check us out on PatreonLearn everything you need to know about Bitcoin in just 10 hours10HoursofBitcoin.comPodcast version

In this episode, I chat with Trace Mayer, early Bitcoin investor and the mind behind the Seven Network Effects, about monetary sovereignty and the ideas that shaped Bitcoin culture. We dive into his rabbit-hole journey from gold to Bitcoin, debates from the block size wars, why “proof of keys” still matters, and how time preference and family tie into sound money. If you want a masterclass in first-principles Bitcoin thinking with historical and philosophical depth, this episode is for you. Support My Work Paypal: https://www.paypal.biz/BitcoinMatrix Strike/Bitcoin: BitcoinMatrix@strike.me Cash App: https://cash.app/$BitcoinMatrix Venmo: https://venmo.com/u/bitcoinmatrix PO Box: The Bitcoin Matrix, P.O. Box 18056, Sarasota, FL 34231 ––– Offers & Discounts ––– Theya is the world's simplest Bitcoin self-custody solution. Download Theya Now at theya.us/cedric Get up to $100 in Bitcoin on River at river.com/matrix The best Team Bitcoin merch is at HodlersOfficial.com. Use the code Matrix for a discount on your order. Become a sponsor of the show: https://thebitcoinmatrix.com/sponsors/ ––– Get To Know Today's Guest ––– • Trace Mayer on X: https://x.com/TraceMayer ––– Socials ––– • Check out our new website at https://TheBitcoinMatrix.Com • Follow Cedric Youngelman on X: https://x.com/cedyoungelman • Follow The Bitcoin Matrix Podcast on X: https://x.com/_bitcoinmatrix • Follow Cedric Youngelman on Nostr: npub12tq9jxmt707gd5vnce3tqllpm67ktr0mqskcvy58qqa4d074pz9s4ukdcs ––– Chapters ––– 00:00 - Intro 01:18 - Trace's rabbit-hole origins 04:00 - Digital gold currencies & early “sound money” online  11:24 - Austrian deep dive: Mises, Rothbard & building a “proof-of-work” mind  13:31 - When the dots clicked: entering Bitcoin as a monetary-sovereignty maxi  18:21 - Bitcoin at 25¢: early evangelism, Keiser/Schiff, Ron Paul trail  21:10 - “Tangible, not corporeal”: precious numbers vs precious atoms  28:18 - Stock-to-flow & Bitcoin's hardness argument (early public mentions)  32:01 - Money & family: time preference, children, and society's horizon  38:45 - Nations, gold repricing, and why the U.S. advantage may persist  43:20 - Inside the Blocksize Wars: uncertainty, secession & antifragility  55:09 - Is Bitcoin a store of value? 58:29 - Proof of Keys: origin story, purpose & January 3rd culture  1:00:56 - The Seven Network Effects 1:05:01 - Global adoption, tax code, and Bitcoin's persistence 1:07:12 - “Bitcoin changes you” & personal sacrifices 1:20:47 - Lessons from WWII & proof of work in life 1:22:05 - Closing thoughts I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of you for tuning in, supporting the show, and contributing. Thank you for listening! The information in all The Bitcoin Matrix Podcast episodes and content is based on hypothetical assumptions and is intended for illustrative purposes only. PAST PERFORMANCE DOES NOT GUARANTEE FUTURE RESULTS. This video is provided for entertainment purposes only. The information contained herein represents temporary, changing views and subjective impressions and opinions regarding the inherently uncertain and unpredictable issues discussed. The reader, user, and/or viewer must not assume that these contents are accurate, complete, timely, or up to date. Market conditions change rapidly and unpredictably. Nothing herein should be interpreted as any kind of offer, solicitation, commitment, promise, warranty, or guarantee whatsoever relating to any of the contents of these videos. INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE BITCOIN MATRIX PODCAST IS PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FREEDOM FROM INFRINGEMENT. The viewer of this video assumes the entire risk of any acting on any information contained herein. No representation is made that any regulatory authority has passed on the merits, adequacy or accuracy of this information. The viewer assumes all liability.

St Maxim was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1888. At this time all Orthodox Churches had been captured and subjected to the "Unia," by which, though keeping the Orthodox liturgical rites, they were united to the Roman Catholic Church. Many of the Carpatho-Russian people were ignorant of the change and what it meant; others were unhappy with it but, in their subject condition, saw no alternative. Maxim's farmer parents, at great personal sacrifice, obtained an education for him that enabled him to study for the priesthood at the Basilian seminary in Krakow. Here he discerned the un-Orthodox nature of the "Greek Catholic" training there and traveled to Russia, where he became a novice at the Great Lavra of Pochaev and met Archbishop Anthony (Khrapovitsky), who encouraged him in his quest for Orthodoxy. (Archbishop Anthony, after the Russian Revolution, became the first Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad). He entered seminary in Russia in 1905 and was ordained to the Priesthood in 1911.Metropolitan Anthony, knowing the hardships and persecutions that awaited any Orthodox priest in Austro-Hungary, offered to find Maxim a parish in Russia. But Maxim was already aware of the hunger for Orthodoxy among many of the Carpatho-Russian people; several people from his village had travelled to America and while there had attended Orthodox Churches and confessed to Orthodox priests. They begged him to return to his country and establish an Orthodox parish there.   When he returned to his native village of Zhdynia, the polish authorities, seeing him in the riassa, beard and uncut hair of an Orthodox priest, mocked him, saying "Look, Saint Nicholas has come to the Carpathians!" But the people of nearby Hrab sent a delegation asking him to set up an Orthodox parish in their village. This he did, setting up a house-church in the residence that the people gave him. Almost immediately, he and his people began to be harassed and persecuted, first at the instigation of "Greek Catholic" priests, then of the government. His rectory/church was closed, and he and several of his parishioners were repeatedly jailed, sometimes on trumped-up charges of sedition. (The Carpatho-Russian people were always suspected of pro-Russian political sympathies by the Austrian and Polish authorities).   Despite these persecutions, through Fr Maxim's labors a wave of desire for Orthodoxy spread through the region, with many Carpatho-Russians openly identifying themselves as Orthodox. The government issued orders to regional mayors to forbid those who had identified themselves as Orthodox to gather and, in 1913, appointed a special commissioner whose task was to force the people to return to Catholicism.   In 1914, war broke out between Russia and Austro-Hungary. Despite lack of any evidence that Fr Maxim had engaged in pro-Russian political activity — he once said "My only politics is the Gospel" — he was arrested and executed on September 6 by the Papal calendar, August 24 by the Church Calendar. He was denied any form of Church burial, and his father buried him with his own hands.   Following the First World War, Orthodoxy became legal in the new Polish Republic, and a monument was placed over Fr Maxim's grave in his home town of Zhdynia. In 1994, the Orthodox Church of Poland officially glorified St Maxim.

Austrian athlete Simon Oberauner has competed in the Red Bull X-Alps five times and has always finished in 6th place or better. In this year's race he placed third for the second time, a mere seconds behind Lars Meerstetter after over 1200 kilometers (course line!) and 8 days of ferocious racing across the Alps. Simon reflects on his amazing experiences in this years race and the importance of attitude, teamwork, and training evolution. He shares insights on navigating risks, the legacy of the 8-time champion Chrigel Maurer, and offers suggestions for improving the race experience. Simon emphasizes the balance between safety and adventure, highlighting the need for understanding one's strengths and the role of a supportive team in achieving success.

This evening's Auberge du Bald prix fixe menu opens with a velvety consommé of critiques simmered to perfection as Trixie and Katya revisit Episode 4 of Season 7, ladling out a slightly tart first course of humiliation and an amuse-bouche of sweet nostalgia. Before the main course, light humiliation is flambéed tableside, its acrid smoke mingling delightfully with champagne bubbles of self-deprecation. For the main course, the producers and RuPaul are folded into the cassoulet de canard with rare Austrian truffles—transforming the dish into a life-altering lesson in flavor, foie gras, and friendship. For dessert, a traditional crème brûlée is served with genuine gratitude on a gilded platter, thus concluding an episode that is a shining banquet of memory, misery, and the miracle of drag destiny. Go to https://Ro.co/BALD for your free insurance check to see if your insurance covers GLP-1s for free. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://BetterHelp.com/BALD and get on your way to being your best! Audible's romance collection has something to satisfy every side of you! Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at https://Audible.com/BALD Follow Trixie: @TrixieMattel Follow Katya: @Katya_Zamo To watch the podcast on YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/TrixieKatyaYT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To check out our official YouTube Clips Channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/TrixieAndKatyaClipsYT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Don't forget to follow the podcast for free wherever you're listening or by using this link: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/thebaldandthebeautifulpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you want to support the show, and get all the episodes ad-free go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thebaldandthebeautiful.supercast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you like the show, telling a friend about it would be amazing! You can text, email, Tweet, or send this link to a friend: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/thebaldandthebeautifulpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To check out future Live Podcast Shows, go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://trixieandkatyalive.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To order your copy of our book, "Working Girls", go to: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://workinggirlsbook.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To check out the Trixie Motel in Palm Springs, CA: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.trixiemotel.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Listen Anywhere! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/thebaldandthebeautifulpodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   Follow Trixie: Official Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.trixiemattel.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@trixie⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/trixiemattel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/trixiemattel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter (X): ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/trixiemattel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   Follow Katya: Official Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.welovekatya.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@katya_zamo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/welovekatya/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/katya_zamo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Twitter (X): ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/katya_zamo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠    #TrixieMattel #KatyaZamo #BaldBeautiful Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices