Podcasts about BCR

¿Cuál sería el beneficio real de vender el Banco de Costa Rica a un precio atractivo como para que efectivamente merezca la pena deshacerse de ese activo bancario? Y si se decide persistir en ese objetivo, ¿habría entidades internacionales (o alguna local) interesadas en una adquisición así, bajo las condiciones actuales del mercado bancario centroamericano? Estas y muchas otras interrogantes persisten de cara al renovado interés del gobierno de vender el BCR. Abordamos algunas de esas cuestiones con el economista José Luis Arce.

For many of us, our country is walking a tightrope between democracy and autocracy.I am a US American civilian. I avoided serving in the US military during the Vietnam War. My father and son were in the military – one in WWII – the other a never-deployed Marine. Despite these secondary contact with our armed forces, I do not understand the US military mind and culture. I do know it is the most lethal force in human history.For this BCR series -- "Nature of the U.S. Military" -- I ask US Veterans to help me understand the nature of our armed forces. And ask them -- if push comes to shove -- will our military uphold this republic of and by the people – or follow the orders of a corrupt Commander-in-ChiefCaptain Matthew Hoh helped get me starte. Matthew Hoh is a Senior Fellow with the Center for International Policy and a member of the Eisenhower Media Network.Matthew Hoh served nearly a dozen years as a US Marine with experiences in overseas wars in the American occupation of Iraq between 2004 and 2007 -- and Captain Hoh contributed to US policy and operations at the Pentagon and State Department. In 2009, Matthew Hoh resigned his position with the State Department in Afghanistan in protest of the escalation of that war.Alan Winsonbarcrawlradio@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Host Dr. Davide Soldato and guests Dr. David Einstein and Dr. Ravi Madan discuss JCO article, "National Cancer Institute's Working Group on Biochemically Recurrent Prostate Cancer: Clinical Trial Design Considerations," underscoring the need for a consensus on clinical trial designs implementing novel endpoints in this population, the importance of PSA doubling time as a prognostic factor and with an emphasis on treatment de-escalation to limit toxicity and improve patient outcomes. TRANSCRIPT The disclosures for guests on this podcast can be found in the show notes. Davide Soldato: Hello and welcome to JCO After Hours, the podcast where we sit down with authors from some of the latest articles published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. I am your host, Dr. Davide Soldato, medical oncologist at Ospedale San Martino in Genoa, Italy. Today, we are joined by JCO authors Dr. David Einstein and Dr. Ravi Madan. Dr. Einstein is a medical oncologist specializing in genitourinary malignancy working at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, part of the DFCI Cancer Center, and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Madan is a senior clinician at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), where he focuses on conducting clinical research in prostate cancer, particularly in the field of immunotherapy. Today, we will be discussing the article titled, "National Cancer Institute's Working Group on Biochemically Recurrent Prostate Cancer: Clinical Trial Design Considerations." So, thank you for speaking with us, Dr. Einstein and Dr. Madan. David Einstein: Thanks for having us. This is a great pleasure. Ravi Madan: Appreciate being here. Davide Soldato: So, I just want to start from a very wide angle. And the main question is why did you feel that there was the need to convey a consensus and a working group to talk about this specific topic: biochemically recurrent prostate cancer? What has been the change in current clinical practice and in the trial design that we are seeing nowadays? And so, why was it necessary to convey such a consensus and provide considerations on novel clinical trials? David Einstein: Yeah, so I think it's very interesting, this disease state of biochemically recurrent prostate cancer. It's very different from other disease states in prostate cancer, and we felt that there was a real need to define those differences in clinical trials. Years ago, metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer was the primary disease state that was explored, and over time, a lot of things shifted earlier to metastatic disease defined on a CAT scan and bone scan to an earlier disease state of metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer. And the clinical trial principles from late-stage could be applied to MCSPC as well. However, BCR is very different because the patients are very different. And for those reasons, there are unique considerations, especially in terms of toxicity and treatment intensity, that should be applied to biochemically recurrent prostate cancer as opposed to just using the principles that are used in other disease states. And for that reason, we thought it was very important to delineate some of these considerations in this paper with a group of experts. Davide Soldato: Thanks so much. So, one of the main changes that have been applied in recent years in clinical practice when looking at biochemically recurrent prostate cancer is the use of molecular imaging and particularly of PSMA PET. So, first of all, just a quick question: was the topic of the consensus related on which threshold of PSA to use to order a PET scan to evaluate this kind of patient? David Einstein: Yeah, thanks for that question. It's a super important one. The brief answer is that no, we did not address questions about exactly when clinicians would decide to order scans. We were more concerned with the results of those scans in how you define different disease states. But I think as a broader question, I think a lot of folks feel that finding things on a scan equates that with what we used to find on conventional scans. And fundamentally, we actually sought to redefine that disease space as something that's not equivalent to metastatic disease, and rather coined the term "PSMA-positive BCR" to indicate that traditional BCR prognostic criteria and factors still apply, and that these patients have a distinct natural history from those with more advanced metastatic disease. Ravi Madan: And if I may just add that the National Cancer Institute is running a trial where we're prospectively monitoring PSMA-positive BCR patients. And that data is clearly showing that, much like what we knew about BCR a decade ago, PSMA findings in BCR patients do not change the fact that overall, BCR is an indolent disease state. And the findings, which are usually comprised of five- to seven-millimeter lymph nodes, do not endanger patients or require immediate therapy. And so, while PSMA is a tool that we can be using in this disease state, it doesn't really change the principal approach to how we should manage these patients. And as Dr. Einstein alluded to, there is a drive to create a false equivalency between PSMA-positive BCR and metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer, but that is not supported by the data we're accumulating or any of the clinical data as it exists. Davide Soldato: One thing that it's very important and you mentioned in your answer to my question was actually the role of PET scan and conventional imaging, so CAT scan and bone scan that we have used for years to stage patients with metastatic prostate cancer. And you mentioned that there is a distinction among patients who have a positive PET scan and a BCR, and patients who have a positive conventional imaging. And yet, we know that sometimes the findings of the PET scan are not always so clear to interpret. So, I just wanted to understand if the consensus reached an agreement as to when to use conventional imaging to potentially resolve some findings that we have on PET scan among thess patients with BCR? David Einstein: Yeah, I think there's a number of questions actually buried within that question. One of which is: does PSMA PET result in false positives? And the answer has definitely been yes. There's a known issue with false-positive rib lesions. And so, first and foremost, we need to be very careful in calling what truly is suspicious disease and what might actually not be cancer or might be something that is totally separate. So I think that's the first part of the answer to that question. The second is to what extent do we need to use paired PET and conventional imaging to define this disease state? In other words, do you have to have positive findings on one and negative findings on the other in order to enter this definition? The challenge there, as we discussed, is that logistically, oftentimes it's hard to get patients to do multiple sets of scans to actually create that definition. Sometimes it's difficult to get insurers to pay for such scans. And finally, it's hard to sometimes blind radiologists to the results of one scan in reading the other. So, we did have some deliberations about to what extent you could use some of the CAT scan portion of a PSMA PET in order to at least partially define that. We also talked about using bone scans to confirm any bone findings seen on PET. But I think another important part of this is not just the baseline imaging, but also what's going to be done serially on a study in order to define responses and progression. And that's sort of a whole separate conversation about to what extent you can interpret changes in serial PET. Ravi Madan: And just to pick up on the key factor here, I think that the PSMA PET in BCR is pretty good at defining lymph node disease, and that's actually predominantly 80 to 90 percent of the disease seen on these findings. It might be pretty good at also defining other soft tissue findings. The real issues come to bone findings. And one thing the group did not feel was appropriate was to just define only PSMA-positive bone findings confirmed on a CT bone window. There's not really great data on that, but the working group felt that, when in the rare situation, because it is relatively rare, a PSMA-positive finding is in a bone, a bone scan should be done. And it's worth noting that Phu Tran, who is a co-author and a co-leader of this working group, his group has already defined that underlying genomics of conventionally based lesions, such as bone scan, are more aggressive than findings on next-gen imaging, such as PSMA. So, there is also a genomic underlying rationale for defining the difference between what is seen on a PET scan in a bone and what is seen on a bone scan. Davide Soldato: Coming back to this issue of PET PSMA sometimes identifying very small lesions where we don't see any kind of correlates on conventional imaging or where we see only very little alteration on the bone scan or in the CT scan, was there any role that was imagined, for example, for MRI to distinguish this type of findings on the PET scan? Ravi Madan: So, I think that, again, what can be identified on a PSMA frequently cannot be seen on conventional imaging. We didn't feel that it was a requirement to get an MRI or a CT to necessarily confirm the PSMA findings. I think that generally, we have to realize that in this disease state, that questionable lesions are going to be seen on any imaging, including PSMA. We've actually probably put way too much faith in PSMA findings thus far, as Dr. Einstein alluded to with some of the false positives we're seeing. So, I think that these false positives are going to have to be baked into trials. And in terms of clinical practice, it highlights the need to again, not overreact to everything we see and not necessarily need to biopsy everything and put patients' health in jeopardy to delineate a disease that's indolent anyway. Davide Soldato: Thanks so much. That was very clear. So, basically, the main driver was really also the data showing that if we have a BCR, so a patient with a biochemically recurrent disease that is positive on the conventional imaging, this is usually associated with a different aggressiveness of the disease. But coming back to a comment that you made before, Dr. Madan, you said that even if we talk about PSMA-positive BCR, we are still talking about BCR and the same criteria should apply. So, what we have used for years in this space to actually try to stratify the prognosis of patients is the PSA doubling time, so how quickly the PSA rises over time. So, coming back to that comment, was the consensus on the PSA doubling time basically retained as what we were using before, so defining patients with a doubling time less than 12 months, 10 months, 9 months, as patients with a higher risk of progressing in terms of developing metastatic disease? Ravi Madan: Yes, so that's a very important point. And the working group defined high-risk BCR as a PSA doubling time less than six months. And this really comes from Johns Hopkins historical data, which shows that if your doubling time is three months or less, there's about a 67 percent chance of metastasis at five years. If it's between three and six months, it's 50 percent. And if it's over six months, if it's between six and nine months, it's roughly only 27 percent. There are trials that are accruing with eligibility criteria that they may describe as high-risk that are beyond six months, but the data as really it's been defined in the literature highlights that truly high-risk BCR is less than six months. And the working group had a consensus on that opinion, and that was our recommendation. David Einstein: And I think an important follow-on to that is that's regardless of PET findings, right? And so, we present a couple of case studies of patients with positive PET findings who have a long doubling time, in whom the disease is in fact indolent, as you would have expected from a traditional BCR prognostic standpoint. Obviously, there are patients in whom they have fast doubling times, and even if they do not have PET findings, that doesn't make them not high-risk. Ravi Madan: And just to follow up that point, I will let you know a little bit of a free preview that my colleague Melissa Abel from the NCI will be presenting PSMA findings in the context of PSA doubling time at ASCO GU if that data is accepted. Davide Soldato: Looking forward for those data because I think that they're going to clarify a lot of the findings that we have in this specific population. And coming back to one of the points that we made before, so PET PSMA has a very high ability to discriminate also a very low burden of disease, which we currently refer to as oligometastatic biochemically recurrent prostate cancer, which is not entirely defined as an entity. But what we are seeing both in some clinical trials, which use mainly conventional imaging, but also what we're starting to see in clinical practice, is that frequently we use the metastasis-directed therapy to treat these patients. So, just a little bit of a comment on the use of this type of strategy in clinical practice and if the panel thought of including this as, for example, a stratification criteria or mandated in the design of novel clinical trials in the field of BCR? David Einstein: Yeah, I think that's an incredibly important point. You know, fundamentally, there's a lot of heterogeneity in practice where some folks are using local salvage approaches, some are using systemic therapies, in some cases surveillance may be reasonable, or some combination of these different strategies. We certainly have phase two data from multiple trials suggesting that met-directed therapy may help buy patients time off of treatment until subsequent treatments are started. And that in and of itself may be an important goal that we can come back to in discussing novel endpoints. I think what our panel acknowledged was that, in some sense, the clinical practice has gotten even farther ahead than where the data are, and this is being offered pretty routinely to patients in practice. And so, what became clear was that we, in developing clinical trials, cannot forbid investigators from doing something that would be within their usual standard of care, even if it might not be supported by the most robust data. But at minimum, it definitely should be used as a stratification factor, or in some trial designs, you can do met-directed therapy after a primary endpoint is assessed. And that offers a compromise between testing, say, the effect of a systemic therapy but also not excluding patients and investigators from doing what they would have done had they not been on a study. Ravi Madan: And I would just like to follow up your phrasing in the question of "oligometastatic prostate cancer." We have a figure in the paper and it highlights the fact that, unfortunately, that term in prostate cancer is imaging agnostic. And we've already discussed in this podcast, as well as in the paper, that imaging used to define a metastatic lesion, whether it's PSMA or conventional imaging, carries with it a different clinical weight and a different prognosis. So, we feel in the working group, that the correct term for this disease state of PSMA-positive BCR is just that: PSMA-positive BCR. We also have to realize that when we talk about oligometastatic disease, while it's imaging agnostic, it seems to be numerically based, whether it's five or three or 10 depending on the trial. But PSMA-positive BCR does not have a limit in terms of the number of lesions. And so again, we just feel that there is an important need to delineate what we're seeing in this disease state, which again is PSMA-positive BCR, and that should be differentiated frankly from oligometastatic disease defined on other imaging platforms. David Einstein: Right, and that also makes clear that patients can have polyfocal disease on PET that still is not what we would consider metastatic, but goes beyond the traditional definition of oligometastatic. So, in other words, just because someone has PET-detected disease only, that does not automatically equate with oligometastatic. Davide Soldato: Thanks so much. So, you were speaking a little bit, Dr. Einstein, about the different types of treatment that we can propose or not propose to this patient because you mentioned, for example, that in clinical practice MDT, so metastasis-directed therapy, is becoming more and more used. For these patients, we can potentially use systemic treatments, which include androgen deprivation therapy, which can be given continuously or in an intermittent fashion. And recently, we can also use novel systemic therapies, for example, enzalutamide, to treat this type of patient. So, given that the point of the consensus was really to provide consideration for novel clinical trials in this space, what was the opinion on the panel regarding the control arm? So, if we're looking at a novel therapy in the BCR space, does the control arm need to include a therapy or not? And if so, which therapy? David Einstein: Yeah, this is a super important question and one that's subject to a lot of discussion, especially in light of recent data from EMBARK. What we came to a consensus around was the fact that neither MDT nor systemic therapy should be required as a control arm on BCR trials. And we can talk about a number of reasons for that. There's also the pragmatics of what investigators might actually accrue patients to and what they would consider their standard of care, and that's important to factor in, too. I think that one of the major goals of our working group was outlining what kinds of trials we would like to see in the future and where the limitations of the current data stand. For example, EMBARK proposes a strategy of a single treatment discontinuation and resumption at a predefined threshold indefinitely. That's probably not how most people are practicing. Most folks are probably using some version of intermittent therapy as they would have before this trial, but we actually don't have any data supporting that. Moreover, we don't have data comparing different intermittent strategies to one another. We don't know what the right thresholds are, we don't know how much time we buy patients off treatment, and we don't know to what extent MDT modifies that. And so, those are all really important questions to be asking in future versions of these trials. I'd say my second point would be that a lot of drug development is happening with novel therapies that are not hormonal, trying to bring them into this space. And when you think about trying to compare one of those types of therapies to a hormonal therapy on short-term endpoints, the hormonal therapy is always going to win. Hormonal therapy is almost universally effective, it will bring down PSAs, and it will prolong, quote-unquote, "progression." The downside of that is that hormonal therapy doesn't actually modify the disease, it suppresses it, and it tends to have fairly transient effects once you remove it. And so, part of our goal was in trying to figure out some novel endpoints that would allow these novel types of therapies to be examined head-to-head against a more traditional type of hormonal therapy and have some measurement of some of the more long-term impacts. Davide Soldato: So, jumping right into the endpoints, because this is a very relevant and I think very well-constructed part of the paper that you published. Because in the past we have used some of these endpoints, for example, metastasis-free survival, as potentially a proxy for long-term outcomes. But is this the right endpoint to be using right now, especially considering that frequently this outcome is measured using conventional imaging, but we are including in these trials patients who are actually negative on conventional imaging but have a positive PSMA when they enter this type of trial? David Einstein: Yeah, there's a number of challenges with those types of endpoints. One of which is, as you say, we're changing the goalposts a little bit on how we're calling progression. We still don't exactly understand what progression on PET means, and so that's something that is challenging. That said, we're also cognizant of the fact that many times investigators are likely to get PET scans in the setting of rising PSA, and that's going to affect any endpoint that relies purely on conventional imaging. So, there's some tension there between these two different sets of goalposts. One thing that we emphasize is that not only are there some challenges in defining those, but also there're challenges in what matters to a patient. So, if a progression event occurs in the form of a single lesion on a PET scan or even a conventional image, that might be relevant for a clinical trial but might be less relevant for a patient. In other words, that's something that, in the real world, an investigator might use serial rounds of metastasis-directed therapy or intermittent therapy to treat in a way that doesn't have any clinical consequences for the patient necessarily. In other words, they're asymptomatic, it's not the equivalent of a metastatic castration-resistant disease progressing. And so, we also need to be cognizant of the fact that if we choose a single endpoint like PFS, that there's going to be many different versions of progression, some of which probably matter clinically more than others, and some of which are more salvageable by local therapies than others. Ravi Madan: So I think the working group really thoughtfully looked at the different options and underscored perhaps strengths and weaknesses, and I think that's presented as you mentioned in the paper. But I think it's also going to depend on the modality, the approach of the therapeutic intervention. In some cases if it's hormone-based, then maybe PSA is providing some early metrics, maybe metastasis-free survival is more relevant in a continuous therapy, but intermittent therapies might have a different approach. There's emerging immunotherapy strategies, radiopharmaceutical strategies, they might have some more novel strategies as well. I think we have to be open-minded here, but we also have to be very clear: we do not know what progression is on a PSMA scan. Just new lesions may not carry the clinical significance that we think, and we may not know what threshold that ultimately becomes clinically relevant is. So, I do think that there was some caution issued by the working group about using PSMA as an endpoint because we still do not have the data to understand what that modality is telling us. Again, I'm optimistic that the National Cancer Institute's prospective data set that we've been collecting, which has over 130 patients now, will provide some insights in the months and years ahead. Davide Soldato: So, just to ask the question very abruptly, what would you feel like the best endpoint for this type of trials is? I understand that is a little bit related to the type of treatments that we're going to use, whether it's intermittent, whether it's continuous, but do we have something that can encapsulate all of the discussion that we have up until this point? David Einstein: Yeah, so that's a perfect segue to the idea of novel endpoints, which we feel are very important to develop in these novel disease spaces. So, one thing that we discussed was an endpoint called treatment-free survival, which conceptually you can think of as exactly what it sounds like, but statistically you actually have to do some work to get there. And so essentially, you imagine a series of Kaplan-Meier curves overlaid: one about overall survival, one time to next therapy, one time on initial therapy. You can actually then take the area under those curves or between those curves and essentially sum it up using restricted mean survival time analysis. And that can give you a guide about the longitudinal experience of a patient: time spent on treatment versus off treatment; time spent with toxicity versus without toxicity. And importantly, each one of those time-to-event metrics can be adjusted depending on exactly what the protocol is and what is allowed or not allowed and what's prespecified as far as initiation of subsequent therapies. So, we felt that this was a really important endpoint to develop in this disease space because it can really capture that longitudinal aspect. It can really reward treatments that are effective in getting durable responses and getting patients off of therapy, because unfortunately, PFS-based endpoints generally reward more or longer systemic therapy versus shorter or no systemic therapy, and that's sort of an artificial bias in the way those endpoints are constructed. So, I think that there are challenges of course in implementing any new endpoint, and some of the things that are really critical are collecting data about toxicity and about subsequent therapies beyond what a typical trial might collect. But I think in this kind of disease space, that longitudinal aspect is critical because these are really patients who are going to be going through multiple rounds of therapy, going to be going on and off treatments, they're going to be using combinations of local and systemic therapies. And so, any one single endpoint is going to be limited, but I think that really highlights the limitations of using PFS-based endpoints in this space. Ravi Madan: I also think that in the concept of treatment-free survival lies one of the more powerful and, honestly, I was surprised by this, that it was so universally accepted, recommendations from the committee. And that was that the general approach to trials in this space should be a de-escalation of the EMBARK strategy as it's laid out with relatively continuous therapy with one pause. And so, I think again, buried in all of this highlights the need for novel endpoints like treatment-free survival. We get to the fact that these are patients who are not at near-term clinical risk from symptoms of their disease, so de-escalating therapies does not put them at risk. And if you look at, for example, lower-volume metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer, it's become realized that we need to de-escalate, and there are now trials being done to look at that. Historically, we know that BCR is an indolent disease process for the vast majority of patients who are not at near-term risk from clinical deterioration. So, therefore, we shouldn't wait a decade into abundant BCR trials to de-escalate. The de-escalation strategy should be from the outset. And that was something the committee really actually universally agreed on. David Einstein: And that de-escalation can really take multiple forms. That could be different strategies for intermittent therapy, different start-stop strategies. It could also mean actually intensifying in the short-term with the goal long-term de-intensification, kind of analogous to kidney cancer where we might use dual checkpoint inhibitors up front with some higher upfront toxicity but with the hope of actually long-term benefit and actually being able to come off treatment and stay in remission. Those kinds of trade-offs are the types of things that are challenging to talk about. There's not a one-size-fits-all answer for every patient. And so, that's why some of these endpoints like treatment-free survival would be really helpful in actually quantifying those trade-offs and allowing each patient to make decisions that are concordant with their own wishes. Davide Soldato: Thanks so much. That was very clear, especially on the part of de-escalation, because, as you were mentioning, I think that we are globally talking about a situation, a clinical situation, where the prognosis can be very good and patients can stay off treatment for a very long period of time without compromising long-term outcomes. And I think that well-constructed de-escalation trials, as you were mentioning and as the consensus endorsed, are really needed in this space also to limit toxicity. This brings us to the end of this episode. So, I would like to thank again Dr. Einstein and Dr. Madan for joining us today. David Einstein: We really appreciate the time and the thought, and I think that even starting these types of discussions is critical. Even just recognizing that this is a unique space is the beginning of the conversation. Ravi Madan: Yeah, and I want to thank JCO for giving us this forum and the opportunity to publish these results and all the expert prostate cancer investigators who were part of this committee. We produced some good thoughts for the future. Davide Soldato: We appreciate you sharing more on your JCO article titled, "National Cancer Institute's Working Group on Biochemically Recurrent Prostate Cancer: Clinical Trial Design Considerations." If you enjoy our show, please leave us a rating and review and be sure to come back for another episode. You can find all ASCO shows at asco.org/podcasts. The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guest statements on the podcast do not express the opinion of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement.  

Rebecca McKean and I started this program asking why so many U.S. Americans call Mayor Mamdani a "communist" and then explore the humanist idea that we all live in individual "landscapes" that form our perspectives and emotions -- and that those landscapes can be re-considered. We recorded at 5 Napkin Burger on Broadway and 84th Street in Manhattan -- speaking with David Andersson, the English-language editor of the Pressenza International Press Agency . We had talked with David in BCR #230 in June 2024 at the West Side Community Garden. And we invited N.J. high school honors student, Jeremy Maletzky -- who I had met at a talk at the Rosa Luxemburg Institute on ending the conflict in the Middle East a few weeks earlier -- to talk about "humanism" and the ideas of Mario Rodriguez Cobos -- an Argentinian, otherwise known as "Silo".Alan Winsonbarcrawlradio@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

New year, new intentions – but if you're in the northern hemisphere, January can feel less like renewal and more like the darkest, coldest stretch of endless winter. Maybe what you need isn't another resolution. Maybe you just need the right book.Ella Berthoud is an writer and an artist, but most importantly from our point of view a bibliotherapist. She has been prescribing fiction for life's ailments for over a decade. She co-wrote The Novel Cure, a brilliant guide that matches books to every psychological state and is packed with sound recommendations.Who better then to give me some great suggestions for avoiding the January blues. Join Kate and Ella as they talk about the questions that vex every reader: how do we find more time for reading? How do we escape reading slumps? And how can we read more deeply without it feeling like homework?Plus of course we're swapping lots of great book recommendations for January and the year ahead. Listen in for a shot of literary inspiration that might be just what you need.BooklistThe Novel Cure by Ella Berthoud Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins ReedCursed Daughters by Oyinkan BraithwaiteJitterbug Perfume by Tom RobbinsThe Enchanted April by Elizabeth von ArnimA Place Called Winter by Patrick GaleNotes from an Exhibition by Patrick GaleMetamorphoses by Ovid Humanly Possible by Sarah BakewellThe Golden Ass by ApuleiusA Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter (Jane Degras)Dálvi by Laura GallowayThe Artist by Lucy SteedsThe Homemade God by Rachel JoyceThe Hounding by Xenobe PurvisCall Me Ishmaelle by Xiaolu GuoPerfection by Vincenzo LatronicoThings: A Story of the Sixties by Georges PerecSky Daddy by Kate FolkThe Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (Robin Buss)Find out more about Ella at ellaberthoud.comFind all the books mentioned in this episode in the Book Club Review Bookshop, on Bookshop UK, the online retailer that supports independent bookshops.PatreonHead to Patreon.com/thebookclubreview to join The Book Club Review community for book recommendations, readalongs, book club and, new for 2026, Kate's Reading Diaries. You can also buy someone gift membership at https://www.patreon.com/thebookclubreview/gift Serious ReadersTake advantage of the Serious Readers offer. Head to seriousreaders.com/bcr and use the code BCR at checkout for £150 off any HD light.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's our 'Once Upon A Pastime Series' with 'The GOATS You Should Know'. We'll take a look at some of the best to ever play this game that history has forgotten. We're getting started a little early with this one because of the CFB playoff game being played tonight. We'll be done in plenty of time, so kick back and follow us to yesteryear for a night of MLB entertainment. We'll discuss that and more in our LIVE Chat with your host Mac Mg, BCR play-by-play broadcaster and baseball historian, will discuss this very important subject. Our 'Once Upon A Pastime Series' is a historical look at our great game of baseball. We can't wait to see you there. /*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

Rodrigo Trindade is an investor at Iporanga Ventures. He joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss his comprehensive research on local stablecoin adoption across Brazil and Latin America. Rodrigo built his own tracking dashboard monitoring on-chain metrics including supply, holders, transaction volumes, and DeFi activity for regional stablecoins. He argues that while USD-denominated stablecoins will remain dominant globally, local currency stablecoins are essential infrastructure for building functional on-chain financial systems in Latin America, where users need to transact, borrow, and lend in their native currencies. Looking ahead, Rodrigo identifies credit and yield products as the next major opportunities in the space, emphasizing the need for better transparency through real-time proof of reserves and improved liquidity infrastructure. ------------------------------------------------------------------Brazil Crypto Report is presented by AveniaIf you're building a wallet, a crypto consumer app, or a global payment platform, Avenia is your bridge to Latin America. Instantly connect to PIX, SPEI, and CBU using stablecoins — with one API. No banks. No FX desks. No SWIFT. Move money globally, with full compliance and real-time settlement. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠avenia.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.------------------------------------------------------------------Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠figment.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠-------------------------------------------------------------------

We're celebrating the end of the year with a look back over our favourite reads of 2025, from new releases to backlist gems, best book club books, best non-fiction, best comfort reads and more. Between us we read over 350 books in 2025. Listen in to hear the ones we loved best. We've also got a radical new idea for a book club involving cold-water swimming and the works of Robert B. Parker, and how to embrace DNFing without guilt. Join us for recommendations to see you through the festive season and set your new reading year off in style.With Phil Chaffee and Sarah OliverSerious ReadersTake advantage of Serious Readers offer. Head to seriousreaders.com/bcr and use the code BCR at checkout for £150 off any HD light.PatreonHead to Patreon.com/thebookclubreview for all the benefits of membership and how to sign up.You can also buy someone gift membership at https://www.patreon.com/thebookclubreview/gift BooklistMother Mary Come to Me by Arundhati RoyThe Silver Book by Olivia LaingCrudo by Olivia LaingDream Count by Chimamanda Ngoze AdicheThe Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran DesaiHeart the Lover by Lily KingDeep Cuts by Holly BrickleyThe Transit of Venus by Shirley HazzardPet Sematary by Stephen KingYou Dreamed of Empires by Alvaro EnrigueVera, or Faith by Gary ShteyngartLake Shore by Gary ShteyngartOur Country Friends by Gary ShteyngartGlorious Exploits by Ferdia LennonA Waiter in Paris by Edward ChisholmThe First Man by Albert CamusRobert B. Parker novelsQuestion 7 by Richard FlanaganThe Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre DumasMuybridge by Guy DelisleThe Sense & Sensibility Diaries by Emma ThompsonThe Lockwood & Co novels by Jonathan StroudThe Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth BrowerShattered Lands by Sam DalrympleMaurice and Marilyn, or A Marriage at Sea by Sophie ElmhurstAgent Zo by Clare MulleyThe Devil Two Step by Jamie QuattroTrain Dreams by Denis JohnstonTree of Smoke by Denis JohnstonThe Director by Daniel KelmanWe Do Not Part by Han KangHow to End a Story by Helen Garner (3 volume diaries collection)The Children's Bach by Helen GarnerThis House of Grief by Helen GarnerEucalyptus by Murray BailWild Thing by Sue PrideauxNonesuch by Francis SpuffordPet Sematary 1983 coverSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

John Delaney is CEO and co-founder of Crown. Crown recently raised a $13.5 million Series A round led by Paradigm and is the issuer of BRLV - Brazil's newest and stablecoin with over 360 million BRL subscribed. He joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss Crown's unique approach to capturing institutional flows in Brazil's high-yield environment - namely by letting BRLV holders earn native yield generated from the underlying reserves.The conversation explores BRLV's groundbreaking bankruptcy-remote reserve structure with perfected legal guarantees, making it the first stablecoin globally to implement such comprehensive security protections. Delaney shares insights on Brazil's position as a prime stablecoin market given its massive M2 money supply, crypto-friendly central bank, and positive real interest rates that outpace inflation. He outlines Crown's ambitious 10-year vision to achieve one trillion BRL in circulation, projecting stablecoins will represent high single-digit percentages of Brazil's money supply as financial infrastructure migrates on-chain.You can connect with John on Linkedin------------------------------------------------------------------Brazil Crypto Report is presented by AveniaIf you're building a wallet, a crypto consumer app, or a global payment platform, Avenia is your bridge to Latin America. Instantly connect to PIX, SPEI, and CBU using stablecoins — with one API. No banks. No FX desks. No SWIFT. Move money globally, with full compliance and real-time settlement. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠avenia.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.------------------------------------------------------------------Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠figment.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠-------------------------------------------------------------------

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE ARMCHAIR QBs & THE BCR! ARMCHAIR QB TODAY: GOOD MORNING FOOTBALL FANS | NFL Week 15 CFB Playoffs | FANTASY FB Playoff Advice ARMCHAIR QUARTERBACKS TODAY | WAGERS, PROP BETS. FANTASY FOOTBALL ADVICE & DFS, CFB & MLB ** Every Thursday Morning 9amET ARMCHAIR QUARTERBACKS TODAY will tackle the world of FOOTBALL WAGERS, PROP BETS. FANTASY FOOTBALL ADVICE & DFS. CBS Sports Radio's and Braves Country Radio's Mac Magee (63.8% WIN PCT (since 2014) hosts along side the other Armchair QB's. We give you 4 picks each, Underdog predictions, Survivor Picks, DFS line ups & take all of your questions. To watch LIVE become a channel member. The Armchair QB Show is in it's 12th season. It's a fun laid back approach to sports talk focusing on the world of football wagers and fantasy football.

El Caso BCR–SAFI volvió a escalar con fuerza a finales de la semana pasada y conviene poner todas las piezas nuevas sobre la mesa, porque el panorama se volvió sensiblemente más pesado tanto en el plano regulatorio como en el penal. Mieeeeentras tanto finalmente el plenario entrará a conocer el tema del levantamiento de la inmunidad de Chaves solicitado por el TSE. 

Thiago Barbosa, partner at Salles Nogueira Advogados, joins host Aaron Stanley to break down the complex and rapidly evolving landscape of crypto asset taxation and regulation in Brazil. The discussion centers on the latest major developments from the Central Bank, which is introducing stricter requirements for Virtual Asset Service Providers, and the new Receita Federal reporting mechanism called "Decripto". Barbosa explains how these changes create an increasingly tight compliance net, particularly for retail investors who've historically operated in gray areas. He emphasizes that the IRS is investing heavily in surveillance technology to identify discrepancies between reported income and actual lifestyle spending, warning that the window for undeclared crypto wealth is rapidly closing as Brazil integrates into the global tax reporting infrastructure.You can connect with Thiago on Linkedin and Instagram------------------------------------------------------------------Brazil Crypto Report is presented by AveniaIf you're building a wallet, a crypto consumer app, or a global payment platform, Avenia is your bridge to Latin America. Instantly connect to PIX, SPEI, and CBU using stablecoins — with one API. No banks. No FX desks. No SWIFT. Move money globally, with full compliance and real-time settlement. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠avenia.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.------------------------------------------------------------------Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠figment.io⁠⁠⁠⁠-------------------------------------------------------------------

'I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train' wrote Oscar Wilde, in the Importance of Being Ernest. In this episode Kate is joined by critic, editor and podcaster Lucy Scholes and regular pod guest Phil Chaffee to explore the intimate world of diaries. Can immersing ourselves in the details of other people's lives offer us valuable insight into how to fully appreciate the passing moments of our own? From gossipy self-mythologising Samuel Pepys right up to the present with the experimentation of Sheila Heti's Alphabetical Diaries, and the beauty and hard-won insight of Helen Garner's Baillie Gifford prize-winning diaries. Also not to be missed, living it up Vanity Fair style through the glitz and glamour of 80s New York, with Tina Brown.And if you enjoy this conversation don't miss Part II, over on the Patreon, where we swap notes on our favourite fictional diaries, consider the diaries we'd love to read if they had only been published and share some thoughts on our own diary keeping. You'll find that episode plus lots of benefits including ad-free listening, extra episodes, our community of readers and the pod book club over at patreon.com/thebookclubreview.And to take advantage of that Serious Readers offer of £150 off any HD light head to serious readers.com/bcr and use the code BCR at checkout.Book listThe Private Life of the Diary by Sally BayleyThe Paris ReviewThey by Kay DickLord Jim at Home by Dinah BrookeLove Life of a Cheltenham Lady by Dinah BrookePart of the Story by Margaret BusbyWoman Alive by Susan ErtzShow Don't Tell by Curtis SittenfeldSome People Need Killing by Patricia EvangelistaLook Closer by Robert Douglas FairhurstThe Correspondent by Virginia EvansThe Diary of Samuel Pepys, Robert Latham (ed)The Diaries of Virginia WoolfHow To End a Story by Helen GarnerHenry Chips Channon: The DiariesThe James Lees Milne diariesWriting Home by Alan BennettThere and Back: 1999–2009 by Michael PalinThe Vanity Fair Diaries 1983–1992 by Tina BrownEnd of a Berlin Diary by William L. ShirerWar in Val D'Orcia by Iris OrigoRussian Journal by Andrea LeeBeloved Son Felix: Coming of Age in the Renaissance by Felix PlatterDiary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba DonatiModern Nature by Derek JarmanPharmacopeia by Derek JarmanWent to London, Took the Dog by Nina StibbeAlphabetical Diaries by Sheila HetiA Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane RitterSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Costa Rica amaneció este jueves con uno de los operativos judiciales más grandes vinculados al sistema financiero estatal en la última década. La Fiscalía Adjunta de Probidad, Transparencia y Anticorrupción ejecutó 16 allanamientos simultáneos en casas y oficinas, incluyendo la sede de la Sociedad Administradora de Fondos de Inversión del Banco de Costa Rica (BCR-SAFI) y el departamento de Auditoría del BCR. 

Does soot in the airway always mean an immediate intubation? Join our Burn Team as they debunk common myths surrounding inhalation injury and distinguish true airway threats from superficial flash burns. We break down critical management strategies, from the 'HAM' protocol to ventilator management, and explain why these patients require massive fluid resuscitation. Tune in to master these high-stakes clinical decisions and ensure you are ready for your next burn patient. Hosts: - Kathleen Romanowski – University of California Davis Hospital, Shriners Hospital Sacramento - Laura Johnson – Grady Memorial Hospital - Lauren Nosanov – Grady Memorial Hospital - Victoria Miles – Louisiana State University Health Science Center, University Medical Center New Orleans Learning Objectives: - Recognize the clinical features and diagnostic challenges of inhalation injury in burn patients, including differentiation from thermal airway injury and flash burns. - Apply evidence-based criteria to guide intubation and ventilatory management, including the avoidance of unnecessary intubation. - Implement key principles of supportive care and complication prevention, including fluid resuscitation, pharmacologic therapies, and long-term airway considerations. References: - Hope E Werenski, Anju Saraswat, James H Holmes, John K Bailey, Is Burn Center Admission Necessary After Home Oxygen Ignition Injury?, Journal of Burn Care & Research, 2025;, iraf189, https://doi.org/10.1093/jbcr/iraf189 - Kathleen S. Romanowski, Tina L. Palmieri, Soman Sen, David G. Greenhalgh, More Than One Third of Intubations in Patients Transferred to Burn Centers are Unnecessary: Proposed Guidelines for Appropriate Intubation of the Burn Patient, Journal of Burn Care & Research, Volume 37, Issue 5, September-October 2016, Pages e409–e414, https://doi.org/10.1097/BCR.0000000000000288 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26284640/ - Walker PF, Buehner MF, Wood LA, Boyer NL, Driscoll IR, Lundy JB, Cancio LC, Chung KK. Diagnosis and management of inhalation injury: an updated review. Crit Care. 2015 Oct 28;19:351. doi: 10.1186/s13054-015-1077-4. PMID: 26507130; PMCID: PMC4624587. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26507130/ Please visit https://behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.   If you liked this episode, check out our recent episodes here: https://behindtheknife.org/listen Behind the Knife Premium: General Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/general-surgery-oral-board-review Trauma Surgery Video Atlas: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/trauma-surgery-video-atlas Dominate Surgery: A High-Yield Guide to Your Surgery Clerkship: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/dominate-surgery-a-high-yield-guide-to-your-surgery-clerkship Dominate Surgery for APPs: A High-Yield Guide to Your Surgery Rotation: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/dominate-surgery-for-apps-a-high-yield-guide-to-your-surgery-rotation Vascular Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/vascular-surgery-oral-board-audio-review Colorectal Surgery Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/colorectal-surgery-oral-board-audio-review Surgical Oncology Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/surgical-oncology-oral-board-audio-review Cardiothoracic Oral Board Review Course: https://behindtheknife.org/premium/cardiothoracic-surgery-oral-board-audio-review Download our App: Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/behind-the-knife/id1672420049 Android/Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.btk.app&hl=en_US

In this episode, host Aaron Stanley speaks with Justin Norman, founder of The Flip, a content creator and filmmaker who documents technology adoption in emerging markets. Justin shares insights from his recent Latin American research trip exploring stablecoin adoption, which resulted in a YouTube documentary series examining markets like Argentina and Bolivia. The conversation delves into the disconnect between Argentina's impressive stablecoin transaction volumes and the lack of visible retail adoption, revealing that stablecoins primarily serve as store-of-value tools and facilitate cross-border trade rather than everyday spending. Justin emphasizes the importance of understanding the macro conditions driving adoption, including dollar shortages, parallel exchange markets, and currency devaluation, rather than focusing solely on technology hype. He also draws compelling parallels between Latin American and African markets, noting how similar economic pressures create comparable crypto adoption patterns, while highlighting Latin America's superior payment infrastructure that enables more seamless on-ramps and off-ramps for stablecoin users.You can connect with Justin on LinkedinBe sure to check out Justin's incredible YouTube documentary on stablecoins in Argentina here------------------------------------------------------------------Brazil Crypto Report is presented by AveniaIf you're building a wallet, a crypto consumer app, or a global payment platform, Avenia is your bridge to Latin America. Instantly connect to PIX, SPEI, and CBU using stablecoins — with one API. No banks. No FX desks. No SWIFT. Move money globally, with full compliance and real-time settlement. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠avenia.io⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.------------------------------------------------------------------Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠figment.io⁠⁠⁠-------------------------------------------------------------------

On the latest episode of Bass Cast Radio me & Geek give it a go  & discuss a few of the topics that are currently shaping professional bass fishing. Plus if you have been following along on this journey we beleive we found our new hosting platform that makes since for BCR. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bass-cast-radio--1838782/support.Become a Patreon memebet now for less then a pack of worms you can support Bass Cast Radio as well as get each epsiode a day early & commercial free. Just click the link below. PATREON 

Anjali Mehta is a 31 year-old mountain climber challenging the "seven summits" to support international agencies fighting gender-based violence and to bring attention to the rights of transgender girl athletes. In this first part of a two-part BCR program, we asked Anjali about her mountain climbing experiences. She told us about falling into a crevice and overcoming the challenges and the joy of reaching the summit.In the second part of our conversation Anjali told us about her organization "What is the Power of We?" working to pull unite the efforts of the many agencies around the world working to end gender-based violence. For her next climb, Anjali will carry postcards with their stories to the summit of Mt Vinson -- the highest peak in Antarctica. If you would like to share your story or that of a loved one, you can use this form.Featured in this series is Nancy Kangas' rendition of Mary Oliver's "The Poet Dreams of the Mountain" and music from Wade Ripka's "Eastern Blokhedz" , "Four Celtic Voices" and "The Shrill Collective."Alan WinsonBCR Producer and Co-Hostbarcrawlradio@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anjali Mehta is a 31 year-old mountain climber challenging the "seven summits" to support international agencies fighting gender-based violence and to bring attention to the rights of transgender girl athletes. In the first part of this two-part BCR program, we asked Anjali about her mountain climbing experiences. See BCR #265. This program is the second part of our conversation; Anjali told us about her organization "What is the Power of We?" working to unite the efforts of the many agencies around the world working to end gender-based violence. For her next climb, Anjali will carry postcards with their stories to the summit of Mt Vinson -- the highest peak in Antarctica. If you would like to share your story or that of a loved one, you can use this form.Featured in this series is Nancy Kangas' rendition of Mary Oliver's "The Poet Dreams of the Mountain" and music from Wade Ripka's "Eastern Blokhedz" , "Four Celtic Voices" and "The Shrill Collective."Alan WinsonBCR Producer and Co-Hostbarcrawlradio@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Un esquema fraudulento ideado desde una subsidiaria (SAFI) de un banco estatal (BCR). Casi 1,500 inversionistas de buena fe, seducidos por atractivos rendimientos y el "respaldo" de un banco con garantía del estado que no encuentran ahora forma de recuperar sus ahorros. El Parque Empresarial del Pacífico (PEP) el activo inmobiliario más grande que se ha transado en Costa Rica dejó al descubierto con su desmoronamiento una verdadera red delictiva que -penalmente- aún no llega a los estrados judiciales y que administrativamente parece estar en un impasse. En Hablando Claro conversamos con Rodrigo Alberto Carazo y Javier Romero, voceros y al mismo tiempo víctimas de esta trama delictiva que no tiene a uno solo de los presuntos responsables tras las rejas.

Thomaz Teixeira, CEO of BRL1, and Ben Reid, Head of Stablecoins at Bitso, join host Aaron Stanley to discuss the BRL1 stablecoin project.BRL1 is a one-to-one Brazilian real-pegged token developed by a unique consortium of major crypto exchanges including Mercado Bitcoin, Bitso, Foxbit, and Cainvest. We explore how competitors joined forces to build shared infrastructure that reduces friction for market makers and liquidity providers moving value across global exchanges. Teixeira and Reid highlight BRL1's impressive early traction, with the token already ranking as the sixth or seventh highest-volume asset on Brazilian exchanges despite launching just months ago. We examine how the consortium model creates network effects that drive adoption, the growing interest from institutional market makers positioning for local currency stablecoins, and how BRL1 addresses interoperability challenges similar to those the now-shuttered Drex project aimed to solve.You can connect with Thomaz and Ben on Linkedin------------------------------------------------------------------Brazil Crypto Report is presented by AveniaIf you're building a wallet, a crypto consumer app, or a global payment platform, Avenia is your bridge to Latin America. Instantly connect to PIX, SPEI, and CBU using stablecoins — with one API. No banks. No FX desks. No SWIFT. Move money globally, with full compliance and real-time settlement. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠avenia.io⁠⁠⁠⁠.------------------------------------------------------------------Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.Learn more at ⁠⁠figment.io⁠⁠-------------------------------------------------------------------

Anul acesta, au fost economiști care au insistat pe ideea că România va intra în recesiune. Bineînțeles, nu era vorba doar despre defetism, ci și despre folosirea unui model de prognoză. Cifrele recente ar putea să le dea dreptate celor care au prognozat recesiunea. În trimestrul al treilea, economia românească a scăzut cu 0,2% față de trimestrul anterior. Este o evoluție care atrage atenția, cu atât mai mult cu cât, într-o precizare care nu îi este neapărat caracteristică, guvernatorul BNR, Mugur Isărescu a remarcat la sfârșitul săptămânii trecute, cu ocazia prezentării Raportului asupra inflației, că scăderea economică trebuie să fie un semnal de alarmă. Nu este neobișnuit ca economia să înregistreze o scădere față de trimestrul precedent. Ultima oară s-a întâmplat în primul trimestru al anului 2023, atunci când scăderea a fost minimă, cu 0,1%. Dar, sunt economiști care pun preț pe indicatorul de raportare la trimestrul anterior luând în calcul că acesta arată o tendință. Este adevărat că în termeni anuali creșterea economică este pe plus, adică atât în trimestrul al treilea 2025 față de aceeași perioadă de anul trecut, cât și în primele nouă luni ale anului, ritmul creșterii a fost cu 1,4%, ca serie ajustată sezonier. O analiză a grupului BCR arată că agricultura, prin producția realizată, și sectorul construcțiilor au contribuit la creșterea economică, iar producția industrială a scăzut față de aceeași perioadă a anului trecut. De asemenea, cererea internă și-a încetinit creșterea și a avut ca efect o scădere a vânzărilor cu amănuntul. O scădere care vine și pe fondul reducerii puterii de cumpărare din cauza creșterii inflației. Iar inflația a urcat din cauza creșterii TVA, a tarifelor la energia electrică și a accizelor. Va aluneca economia românească în recesiune? Prognozele oficiale spun că nu, de exemplu chiar Fondul Monetar Internațional (FMI) a publicat un raport despre România în care arată că prognoza de creștere pentru anul acesta este de 1%, iar anul viitor estimarea FMI pentru creșterea economică este de 1,4%. Dar, economiști independenți vorbesc în continuare despre o recesiune tehnică, situație în care s-ar ajunge dacă și în ultimul trimestru al anului s-ar înregistra o scădere față de trimestrul precedent. De fapt, marea problemă nu este neapărat intrarea sau nu în recesiune, ci faptul că economia și-a pierdut capacitatea de a genera o creștere la un nivel ridicat. În urmă cu patru-cinci ani, România avea un ritm solid de creștere economică, în pofida faptului că principala contribuție venea de la consum. Anul trecut, specialiștii au observat că la un stimul bugetar de 8,6% din PIB s-a realizat o creștere economică cu 0,9%, iar anul acesta pentru un deficit bugetar de 8,4% din PIB se va atinge, să admitem, o creștere economică de cel mult 1%, care ar putea include și un scurt episod de recesiune tehnică. Evident, este prea puțin. Desigur, în jocul evoluției produsului intern brut intră și inflația. BNR a realizat o amplă anchetă de prețuri cu ocazia creșterii TVA din luna august. Astfel, au fost monitorizate prețurile a 33.000 de produse alimentare plus același număr de mărfuri nealimentare pentru a vedea în ce măsură creșterea TVA s-a transmis asupra prețurilor produselor. Concluziile sunt că în cazul alimentelor, pentru 80% dintre produse prețurile au crescut o dată cu creșterea TVA, iar la o parte dintre mărfuri, 13%, creșterile de prețuri au fost mai mari decât creșterea TVA. La produsele nealimentare, majorările de prețuri au fost mai lente în timp și mai mici decât nivelul de creștere al TVA. Explicația poate fi aceea că mulți producători și comercianți au preferat să aștepte lunile de toamnă, atunci când în mod tradițional ajustează prețurile produselor nealimentare. Au fost și excepții. De exemplu, în cazul combustibililor transmiterea creșterii TVA în prețuri a fost de numai 50%, iar legumele, fructele și ouăle au avut chiar scăderi de prețuri. În concluzie, economia românească este în faza în care ajustează prețurile, în principiu, în sus, fără însă ca efectele să fie vizibile și asupra creșterii economice.

After three years of waiting, Brazil's central bank has finally released comprehensive VASP regulations. In this episode, Carlos Eduardo Russo (Bluegreen) and Cesar Carvalho (Baptista Luz Advogados) join host Aaron Stanley to break down the regulatory framework that will reshape Brazil's digital asset industry. We discuss the phased authorization process, capital requirements ranging from R$11-37 million, how stablecoins are now integrated into Brazil's FX market, and whether these rules truly level the playing field between local and international exchanges. Both guests have been deeply involved with AB Token's government affairs work and provide insider perspectives on what comes next for the industry.You can connect with Carlos and Cesar on Linkedin------------------------------------------------------------------Brazil Crypto Report is presented by AveniaIf you're building a wallet, a crypto consumer app, or a global payment platform, Avenia is your bridge to Latin America. Instantly connect to PIX, SPEI, and CBU using stablecoins — with one API. No banks. No FX desks. No SWIFT. Move money globally, with full compliance and real-time settlement. Learn more at ⁠⁠⁠avenia.io⁠⁠⁠.------------------------------------------------------------------Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.Learn more at ⁠figment.io⁠-------------------------------------------------------------------

We recently hosted another live webinar for our Gold Partners, Mundipharma,  this time asking the question, "Is high-risk BCR actually metastatic prostate cancer??". It's a reasonable question! This podcast was anchored from the GU Cast studio in Melbourne by usual hosts, Renu Eapen and Declan Murphy, joined in person by Andrew Loblaw, radiation oncologist from Toronto, and online by medical oncologist Jeff Goh in Brisbane.Best enjoyed on our YouTube channel if you want to check out the slides.  Runsheet:Is high-risk biochemical recurrence already metastatic prostate cancer?Declan MurphyIs the management of high-risk BCR and mHSPC now the same? Jeffrey GohProstate radiotherapy is the real triplet therapy; plus when should we use SBRT? Andrew LoblawQ&A and case discussionsThis webinar was organised by our Gold Partners, Mundipharma, who also support GU Cast as Gold Partners through an unrestricted educational grant.

Explore this year's Booker Prize shortlist on the latest episode of the Book Club Review! Hosts Kate and Laura and contributors Phil Chaffee and Martin Vovk discuss and debate the six shortlisted novels.Listen in to hear our predictions, and then find out our reaction to the winner as we listen in to the live Booker Prize ceremony. We won't spoil the plots for you, just whet your appetite to read some or all of the books, all of which make for brilliant discussion.BooklistPaddy Clark, Ha, H, Ha by Roddy DoyleLincoln in the Bardo by George SaundersFlesh by David SzalayAll That Man Is by David SzalayStarling House by Alex E. HarrowAny Human Heart by William BoydThe Rest of Our Lives by Benjamin MarkowitzCarmageddon by Daniel KnowlesYou Don't Have To Live Like This by Benjamin MarkowitzOh William by Elizabeth StroutAll Fours by Miranda JulyThe Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran DesaiThe Inheritance of Loss by Kiran DesaiAudition by Katie KitamuraOrbital by Samantha HarveyFlashlight by Susan ChoiNothing to Envy by Barbara DemickPachinko by Min Jin LeeThe White Tiger by Aravind AdigaProphet Song by Paul LynchSeascraper by Benjamin WoodBooker Longlist episodeEpisode 181 of The Book Club ReviewMartin's Eyes On the Prize blogBrowse Martin's archive and discover his extensive reviews (including The Women's Prize) here.PatreonHead to www.patreon.com/thebookclubreview for all the benefits (extra shows, readalongs, book club and more) and how to sign up.Serious ReadersTo take advantage of the special offer code for any Serious Readers HD Essential Reading Light head to SeriousReaders.com/bcr and use the code BCR at checkoutInstagramFollow Kate for updates between shows @bookclubreviewpodcastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Paulo David is CEO of AmFi. He joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss how his platform is revolutionizing access to Brazilian private credit markets through asset tokenization. As a third-time entrepreneur who previously built and sold two major fintechs including Grafeno, Paulo brings deep expertise in Brazil's capital markets infrastructure. The conversation explores how Brazil's position as having the world's second-highest interest rates creates a unique opportunity to export this yield to global investors through blockchain technology. Paulo explains how AmFi is addressing critical market inefficiencies including lack of transparency, limited accessibility, and absence of secondary markets that have historically prevented foreign capital from entering Brazilian private credit. He also discusses the platform's expansion strategy targeting Southeast Asia and the Middle East, and how democratizing access to these high-yield instruments can ultimately reduce borrowing costs and improve credit access for Brazilian businesses.------------------------------------------------------------------Brazil Crypto Report is presented by AveniaIf you're building a wallet, a crypto consumer app, or a global payment platform, Avenia is your bridge to Latin America. Instantly connect to PIX, SPEI, and CBU using stablecoins — with one API. No banks. No FX desks. No SWIFT. Move money globally, with full compliance and real-time settlement. Learn more at ⁠⁠avenia.io⁠⁠.------------------------------------------------------------------Figment is the leading independent provider of staking infrastructure with $18B assets under stake and provides the complete solution for over 1000 institutional clients in Latin America and globally. Through its enterprise-grade infrastructure, Figment enables clients such as banks and exchanges, to earn rewards on Proof-of-Stake assets such as Ethereum and Solana, while maintaining the highest standards of security, compliance, and performance.Learn more at figment.io-------------------------------------------------------------------

Gui Gomes, CEO of OranjeBTC, joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss his company's mission to become Latin America's leading Bitcoin adoption catalyst following their recent listing on Brazil's B3 exchange. Gomes brings a unique perspective shaped by his time at Bridgewater Associates, where working alongside Ray Dalio on global economic power shifts crystallized his conviction that Bitcoin represents the future of reserve currencies. He outlines OranjeBTC's dual mandate: building the region's largest Bitcoin treasury while delivering comprehensive education to investors at all levels. The company is actively accumulating Bitcoin through weekly purchases and exploring various capital instruments to grow their holdings, similar to strategies pioneered by MicroStrategy. Gomes shares his vision for Brazil's potential as an early Bitcoin adopter among major economies, arguing that the country's 215 million people could set a transformative example for emerging markets navigating the transition toward digital, decentralized monetary systems.You can connect with Gui on Linkedin-------------------------------------------------------------------

In which Kate is joined by pod regular, journalist Phil Chaffee and Professor Elizabeth Eva Leach. Both read over 200 books a year, and their reading stacks this year have included the Booker longlist.  And so who better to consider the books that didn't make the final cut – but which are, notwithstanding, the 'best' books selected from over 150 submitted titles. As we know, really great books can get overlooked for the shortlist. Consider Trust by Hernan Diaz, longlisted but not shortlisted, or, going further back Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and before that Penelope Fitzgerald's miraculous novel The Blue Flower. The fallibility of the judging process thus proven let's leave no stone unturned in considering this year's selection. Did the judges overlook a new favourite read? The Booker Prize is announced on 10th November and we'll be recording an episode on the shortlist on the night. Coming soon! Booklist Misinterpretation by Ledia Xhoga  Seascraper by Benjamin Wood Endling by Maria Reva One Boat by Jonathan Buckley The Outline Trilogy by Rachel Cusk The Rough Guide to Venice and the Veneto Universality by Natasha Brown The South by Tash Aw Love Forms by Claire Adam Barn 8 by Deb Olin Unferth The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai Patreon Head to www.patreon.com/thebookclubreview for all the benefits (extra shows, readalongs, book club and more) and how to sign up, and know that you'll be supporting a show that takes a lot of time and love to make. Serious Readers To take advantage of the special offer code for any Serious Readers HD Essential Reading Light head to SeriousReaders.com/bcr and use the code BCR at checkout Instagram Follow Kate for updates between shows @bookclubreviewpodcast

David Taylor is the co-founder of Etherfuse. He joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss his mission to bring tokenized sovereign debt on-chain for emerging markets. Etherfuse is building infrastructure to issue interest-bearing stablecoins backed by short-term government treasuries, providing what Taylor calls the missing primitive in crypto: a true risk-free rate that traditional finance relies on as a baseline for all other investments. Drawing on his background in cryptography at Boeing and Apple, Taylor explains how his experience building payment infrastructure revealed the fundamental limitations of traditional finance systems. The conversation explores Etherfuse's focus on non-US markets where regulatory clarity is stronger, their approach to mitigating sovereign and smart contract risks through continuous third-party audits, and why they view tokenized debt as the AWS-level infrastructure needed to properly bridge national currencies to blockchain and unlock the next generation of DeFi products.You can connect with David on Linkedin-------------------------------------------------------------------

In this episode: Kate and Laura are catching up on their pre-Booker season reading.  Did You Are Here by David Nicholls make Laura want to lace up her walking boots? How did Kate get on with A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm, a page-turning account that explores a side of the city that tourists never see. We're also reporting back on book club reads Mouthing by Orla Mackey and The Pretender by Jo Harkin. Mix in the enjoyment of Curtis Sittenfeld's latest collection of short stories, and the all-too relevant classic Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and that's our Autumn bookshelf. Books mentioned You Are Here and One Day by David Nicholls The Wedding People by Alison Espach A Waiter in Paris by Edward Chisholm Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain Show Don't Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky Your Life and Other Stories and Exhalations by Ted Chiang The Left-Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Mouthing by Orla Mackey Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout Every One Still Here by Liadan ní Chuinn The Pretender by Jo Harkin The Land in Winter by Andrew Miller Sky Daddy by Kate Folk The Rest of Our Lives by Benjamin Markovitz You Don't Have To Live Like This by Benjamin Markovitz Serious Readers Book Club Review listeners get £150 off any HD Essential Reading Light, plus free UK delivery. Go to SeriousReaders.com/bcr and use the code BCR at checkout. It's completely risk-free with a 30-day home trial. If you don't feel the difference, they'll collect it for free and fully refund you.  Patreon Support the show on Patreon and get ad-free episodes, extra shows, chat groups, book clubs and readalongs. Head to patreon.com/thebookclubreview to find out all the benefits and how to sign up. Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast

Qin en Looi is managing partner at Onigiri Capital and partner at Saison Capital. He joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss Onigiri's plans to deploy up to US$50 million of investment capital into Brazil and Latin America. Why is this Singapore-based VC taking such an interest in Brazil? Qin en explains his thesis that the market is ripe with potential for tokenization, stablecoin, payments and DeFi use casesYou can connect with Qin en on Linkedin. -------------------------------------------------------------------

Book Club: Universality by Natasha Brown & Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O'Donnell Welcome to The Book Club Review! In this episode, Laura joins Kate to dive into two book club picks: Natasha Brown's much-anticipated second novel, Universality, and the debut Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O'Donnell. In this episode: Kate and Laura catch up on their current reads, including Sky Daddy by Kate Folk and A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett, before diving into a discussion of Universality. How did it compare to Brown's acclaimed debut Assembly, and did the satirical style, bold narrative choices, and themes of media, class, and culture wars work for our book club. We then move on to Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O'Donnell, an historical tale of alchemy set across 18th-century London and Ireland. We're exploring the vivid sense of place and real-life inspirations behind the story, but did the many different characters and story arcs knit together? We're also meeting Kristina Ambrosia, who offers a creative twist on book club with her “Graffiti Book Club,” where members are encouraged to write, doodle, and annotate in their books before passing them around. All that plus our current reads and community updates on how to join the Book Club Review Patreon, participate in chat groups, and readalongs. Books mentioned: Universality by Natasha Brown Assembly by Natasha Brown Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O'Donnell Sky Daddy by Kate Folk A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett Katabasis by R. F. Kuang Welcome to Glorious Tuga by Francesca Segal The Women by Kristin Hannah Monsters: A Fan's Dilemma by Claire Dederer Just Kids by Patti Smith All Fours by Miranda July Theory and Practice by Michelle de Kretser And more! Links & Extras: Special offer for Serious Readers HD Essential Reading Lights: visit seriousreaderscom/bcr and use code BCR at checkout. Join the Book Club Review community on Patreon for ad-free episodes, bonus content, and monthly book club meetings: patreon.com/thebookclubreview Follow on Instagram @bookclubreviewpodcast or email thebookclubreview@gmail.com If you enjoyed the show, please share it with friends or leave a review – your support helps us reach more book lovers! Happy reading!

This episode is a live panel from Stellar's Meridian 2025 conference at Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro. The panel, hosted by BCR founder Aaron Stanley, explores stablecoin adoption for local solutions in emerging markets. Joining him are:- Sebastian Siseles, CEO of Vesseo- Ibrahim Abdul Hussein, CEO, Digibank- Camila Rioja, Executive Director of Plexus Institute - Justin Norman, founder of The FlipThe conversation reveals that successful crypto adoption hinges on deep localization rather than technological sophistication. - Ibrahim shares how Digibank created a 2,000+ location cash-out network across war-torn MENA regions where traditional remittance services don't exist, serving users who may not even own smartphones. - Camila discusses bringing Brazil's 180+ existing community currencies on-chain to enhance transparency in public goods distribution without disrupting established systems. - Sebastian explains how Vesseo abstracts blockchain complexity entirely, soon launching crypto-to-fiat cards that convert USDC at point-of-sale. The panel's consensus: the most impactful projects hide the technology, solve hyper-local problems, and meet users within their existing financial behaviors rather than demanding adoption of entirely new paradigms-------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are the BCR 2025 Week 6 IHSA Preview Capsules featuring Princeton, Hall-Putnam County, Bureau Valley, St. Bede and Amboy-LaMoille-OhioBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/friday-night-drive--3534096/support.

Raagulan Pathy is CEO of KAST. He joins host Aaron Stanley to discuss his stablecoin neobank that has achieved remarkable traction across emerging markets in a short period. KAST serves as a bank-like platform for crypto-native users and global remote workers, allowing them to deposit stablecoins and crypto, earn yield, and spend through cards worldwide. Pathy revealed that KAST has reached 500,000 app downloads with exceptional user engagement metrics - 64% weekly active users and 30% daily active users - while growing 20% monthly and processing over $20 million in volume within 14 months. The platform targets four key customer segments: crypto natives, stablecoin-first users from the Global South, remote workers, and mobile affluent individuals who operate across multiple countries. Latin America represents roughly 30% of KAST's global business, with Brazil being a particularly strong market due to locals seeking global banking alternatives and strong brand affinity for premium crypto products.You can connect with Raags on Linkedin-------------------------------------------------------------------

This week's guest picker for Week 5 is Mike Vaughn, our BCR photographer extraordinaire, who captures all the action on the gridironBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/friday-night-drive--3534096/support.

Nathan Sexer is the head of Devcon and Devconnect at Ethereum Foundation, and Romina Sejas runs ETH Kipu - host of the annual ETH Latam eventIn this conversation we discuss how Latin America will be the center of the crypto universe this November when Devconnect, the premier Ethereum developer gathering, comes to Buenos Aires and ETH Latam comes to Sao Paulo. These events will be a coming of age moment for the region as the crypto world grasps the importance and potential of these technologies in places like Brazil and Argentina-------------------------------------------------------------------

Roxana Tatu a terminat Facultatea de Matematică în 2004 iar apoi a intrat rapid în lumea bancară, unde a activat ca sales manager și top performer timp de aproape un deceniu în cadrul unor instituții de prestigiu – ABN AMRO și Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). După retragerea RBS de pe piața din România, a continuat în domeniul privat, unde a lucrat timp de cinci ani în sectorul energiei, în cadrul KDF Energy, o experiență care ulterior i-a oferit o viziune mai largă asupra pieței, riscurilor și oportunităților financiare. În 2018, a decis să revină la creditare, dar de această dată din postura de broker de credite autorizat ANPC. Astfel le oferă oamenilor acces la o piață întreagă de opțiuni, nu doar la oferta unei singure instituții. Astăzi colaboreză cu peste 30 de bănci și IFN-uri și ofer clienților mei acces la peste 150 de variante de creditare, toate alese cu grijă, în funcție de obiectivele și posibilitățile fiecăruia. Dacă aveti nevoie de serviciile Roxanei o gasiti aici: https://www.victoriafinance.ro/

“Stop the Chop” exists to eliminate non-essential helicopters from the skies above New York City – because – according to the "Stop the Chop" website: “Tourist, charter and commuter helicopter flights dramatically reduce the quality of life for millions of people in the metropolitan area. They pollute our environment, pose significant safety risks, harm our children, and make us miserable”It was a hot, second day of summer afternoon in Riverside Park – at the “You've Got Mail” promenade and garden. We sat on a bench and talked with our UWS neighbors about their concerns and questions regarding the Helicopter racket that invades our peaceful moments.Two experts, on the effects of the copter cacophony on our health and enjoyment of the our city parks, joined us -- Melissa Elstein and Ken Coughlin; both long-time NYC community organizers and environmental activists. Melissa was recently on BCR program #221 talking about “Love Your Street Tree Day” sponsored by the “West 80s Neighborhood Association” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The essence of Being Human is the practice of Biocultural Reproduction (BCR). BCR is defined as the set of marriage and kinship based rules for extra-maternal cooperation in the production, feeding, and care of offspring. Human evolution theory needs to explain how people successfully combined a vastly extended period of offspring dependency and delayed reproduction with helpless newborns — with large heads and much body fat (even with problems giving birth) -- a short duration of breast-feeding, an adolescent growth spurt, and vigorous post-menopause valuable grandmothers. Are these characteristics a package or a mosaic? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40697]

The essence of Being Human is the practice of Biocultural Reproduction (BCR). BCR is defined as the set of marriage and kinship based rules for extra-maternal cooperation in the production, feeding, and care of offspring. Human evolution theory needs to explain how people successfully combined a vastly extended period of offspring dependency and delayed reproduction with helpless newborns — with large heads and much body fat (even with problems giving birth) -- a short duration of breast-feeding, an adolescent growth spurt, and vigorous post-menopause valuable grandmothers. Are these characteristics a package or a mosaic? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40697]

The essence of Being Human is the practice of Biocultural Reproduction (BCR). BCR is defined as the set of marriage and kinship based rules for extra-maternal cooperation in the production, feeding, and care of offspring. Human evolution theory needs to explain how people successfully combined a vastly extended period of offspring dependency and delayed reproduction with helpless newborns — with large heads and much body fat (even with problems giving birth) -- a short duration of breast-feeding, an adolescent growth spurt, and vigorous post-menopause valuable grandmothers. Are these characteristics a package or a mosaic? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40697]

The essence of Being Human is the practice of Biocultural Reproduction (BCR). BCR is defined as the set of marriage and kinship based rules for extra-maternal cooperation in the production, feeding, and care of offspring. Human evolution theory needs to explain how people successfully combined a vastly extended period of offspring dependency and delayed reproduction with helpless newborns — with large heads and much body fat (even with problems giving birth) -- a short duration of breast-feeding, an adolescent growth spurt, and vigorous post-menopause valuable grandmothers. Are these characteristics a package or a mosaic? Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 40697]

Leaders Special. Radu Crăciun despre criza bugetară. Tăieri ritualice și măsuri de impact Cătălin Striblea este în dialog cu analistul economic, Radu Crăciun, șef al pensiilor BCR. Discutăm despre reducerile pe care trebuie să le facă statul în funcționare, mărirea TVA, posibilitatea unor noi taxe. Ce fel de stat ar fi eficient pentru România. Așteptăm întrebările și sugestiile voastre.

Bar Crawl Radio is back at the West Side Community Garden talking with UWSers helping those in need on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.Wendy Straus and BCR producer Alina Larson talked about their work for Open Hearts Initiatives and Pastor K [Karpan] told us about his Church on W. 86th Street. These two UWS organizations are doing in many programs to help our recent migrants from around the world looking for a safe place to be free and complete their dreams and homeless. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A NEW BCR SERIES:Starting on May 22, 2025, several peace activist will fast for 40 days -- vigiling in front of the United States Mission to the UN. They demand an end to US support of Israel's military and urge the American government to pressure Israel to open the Gazan borders to humanitarian aid. For this BCR series I will meet with one of these fasters -- Kathy Kelly -- periodically, and ask her to share her thoughts and concerns. Share your thoughts about this action at barcrawlradio@gmail.com or mike@veteransforpeace.orgAlan Winson -- BCR Producer and Co-Host Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ross Barkan's newest novel “Glass Century” is a panoramic story of New York City from our crime-ridden 70s. through the tragedy of 9/11 to the COVID lockdowns. The story focuses on Mona Glass a photojournalist in love with tennis and a married man. For this BCR podcast, we are not so interested in Mona Glass as the character in a novel but as a lens into the experiences of an American journalist and novelist and the author of “Glass Century” – Ross Barkan.For Bar Crawl Radio podcast. we talk to people doing positive work for their community, recording in neighborhood bars. Today at Gebhard's Beer Culture Bar on the fun side of West 72nd Street – because facing us is the mortuary across the street. We are alive and sitting on the porch with New York Times writer Ross Barkan. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Ames is the Owner and Operator of Baller Foods. Chef Kate grew up foraging, fishing, and camping in Terrace, British Columbia. From a young age, she was drawn more to the arts than the sciences. In high school, she took “easy” academic classes like English and French correspondence during the summer to free up her schedule for the subjects she loved most—foods, choir, band, art, yearbook, and theatre.Kate began cooking at a young age after moving out and getting married at just 18. Her culinary journey started with a dishwasher job at a fishing lodge and evolved through roles at KFC, Pizza Hut, Denny's, and Mr. Mikes. By the age of 20, she was managing both a Subway and a hotel pub.At 23, Kate moved to Vancouver to study graphic design and marketing at Emily Carr University and BCIT. She went on to freelance for over 15 years with her former business, Ames Design Studio, and held marketing and graphic design positions at the PG Free Press and the Northern Health Authority.When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Kate experienced major life upheavals, including the loss of childcare, employment, her design business, and her late partner. With resilience and passion, she pivoted toward her lifelong dream of owning a food truck. Leveraging her background in marketing and design, she launched Baller Food, a business born of both creativity and necessity.Kate began by making meatballs in the kitchen of Birch and Boar, where she found mentorship and support from chef and owner William Miller. Using guerrilla marketing tactics, she sold meatballs on the streets of downtown Prince George and gradually built a following. Over two years, she vended at community events, music festivals, weddings, and schools, eventually expanding into a full-fledged food truck operation.Since then, it's been “balls to the wall.” From May to October, Kate focuses on contract events, travels to northern B.C. music festivals—including Valhalla and Riverboat Days in Terrace, Midsummer in Smithers, ArtsWells near Quesnel, and Robson Valley Music Festival in Dunster—and serves outlying communities such as Quesnel, Vanderhoof, and Mackenzie. She also continues to grow retail sales, with products now available at PG Urban Shroomery and soon at Blackwood Gifts.To improve visibility, Kate has partnered with CO-OP and Superstore and has a regular setup at the Chevron Cardlock in the BCR site. She posts her monthly event schedule and weekly updates on Facebook and Instagram, encouraging followers to set alerts so they never miss where she'll be parked.In the off-season (October to May), Baller Food shifts its focus to hot lunch programs at local schools, event catering, and hot-and-ready meals. This fall, Kate will also launch cooking classes for kids at the South Fort George Family Resource Centre, continuing her mission to nourish and inspire the community through food.

At a time in which digital information is increasingly uncertain it feels more essential than ever to engage with books that tell us about the world, diversify our perspectives and propose solutions for change. Yet these 'serious' books aren't always what we feel like reading. In this episode Kate is joined by regular contributor Phil Chaffee to talk about the books so good they powered through them like a good novel, and felt changed afterwards. The books they want to pass on to someone else. The books that make for great book club discussions. One such is Carmageddon: How Cars Make Life Worse and What To Do About It by Daniel Knowles, a persuasive book that advocates for a world in which we rely on cars far less than we do currently. Daniel joines Kate and Phil from Chicago to discuss it. Booklist Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewall Putin's People by Catherine Belton Papyrus by Irene Vallejo Invisible Child by Andrea Elliot Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie Stranger in the Shogun's City by Amy Stanley Carmageddon by Daniel Knowles Notes Serious Readers lamps: visit seriousreaders.com/bcr and use the offer code BCR at checkout for £150 off any HD light and free UK delivery. You also get a 30-day trial period. Support the show Come join us on Patreon for extra episodes, our community chat group, and, at the book club level, come and talk books with Kate in person at the end of every month. We're currently reading Sparks of Bright Matter by Leeanne O'Donnell If you enjoyed the episode please take a moment to rate and review on your podcast app, which helps the pod's visiblity and helps other listeners find it. Your kindness is hugely appreciated.

We've got Mike Drucker on BCR today to chat all about his new book "Good Game, No Rematch" and to also determine the Mt. Rushmore of First Levels.