Podcasts about Birmingham

AlabamaSen. Tuberville says US military is forcing Venezuela regime out of powerAJ McCarron is officially the football coach for Birmingham StallionsSalesforce from CA dumps SPLC metrics for determining "hate groups"BLM co-founder of Birmingham chapter arrested for domestic violenceNew state law allows treatment and transfer of injured K-9 officersDHR in Alabama testing new security features on EBT cards in 11 countiesNationalBrown University shooter found dead in storage unit from self inflicted woundHHS Secretary Kennedy prohibits any transgender procedures for minorsFBI in MN details a comprehensive fraud scheme now into Billions of dollarsGA Lt. Governor calls Fulton county DA Fani Willis a "disgrace" after hearingPresident Trump declares Christmas Day and Day after as federal holidays

SAG-AFTRA's top three national officers — President Sean Astin, Executive Vice President Linda Powell and Secretary-Treasurer Michelle Hurd — sit down together with National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland during the 23rd International Federation of Actors (FIA) Congress in Birmingham, England last month. They discuss the power of global solidarity, the challenges facing performers across borders, and how issues like A.I., self-tapes, DEI, and workplace safety are shaping the next era of the industry. They also reflect on their paths to leadership and the unexpected moments that come with guiding a union of this size and influence. *The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of their organization or SAG-AFTRA. Any mention of products or services does not imply endorsement.

Every year you will hear stories about how "they" want to cancel Christmas - so how much truth is there to it? Are ‘they' really trying to cancel Christmas?? We go through a few examples over the years and try to get to the bottom of it, including the infamous Winterval Festival in Birmingham!This is a comedy/history podcast, the report begins at approximately 00:04:31 (though as always, we go off on tangents throughout the report).This was recorded live at the Oasis Comedy Club in Perth in 22/11/2025!For all our important links: https://linktr.ee/dogoonpod Check out our other podcasts:Book Cheat: https://play.acast.com/s/book-cheatPrime Mates: https://play.acast.com/s/prime-mates/Listen Now: https://play.acast.com/s/listen-now/Who Knew It with Matt Stewart: https://play.acast.com/s/who-knew-it-with-matt-stewart/Jess Writes A Rom-Com: https://shows.acast.com/jess-writes-a-rom-comOur awesome theme song by Evan Munro-Smith and logo by Peader ThomasDo Go On acknowledges the traditional owners of the land we record on, the Wurundjeri people, in the Kulin nation. We pay our respects to elders, past and present. REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING:The Winterval Myth by Kevin Arscothttps://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/08/winterval-modern-myth-christmashttps://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2011/11/christmas-mail-wintervalhttps://7news.com.au/news/south-australias-education-department-throws-out-parents-claim-adelaide-school-had-cancelled-christmas-c-19996510https://6abc.com/archive/7820429/www.vox.com/2015/11/10/9707034/starbucks-red-cup-controversyhttps://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/dec/23/winterval-man-who-created-christmas-is-cancelled-myth Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kevin Kijewski, Birmingham attorney and Republican candidate for Michigan Attorney General, weighs in on major accountability issues facing the state. Kijewski discusses emails that have come to light showing Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel contacted Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson regarding an investigation involving Nessel's wife. According to new evidence, the request to pull back the investigation was followed, raising grave concerns about abuse of authority, conflicts of interest, and unequal justice. He argues that if the law is not applied evenly, especially by the state's top law enforcement official, it undermines public trust and may rise to the level of impeachable conduct.

The latest episode of Physics World Stories takes you inside CUWiP+, the Conference for Undergraduate Women and Non-Binary Physicists, and the role the annual event plays in shaping early experiences of studying physics. The episode features June McCombie from the University of Nottingham, who discusses what happens at CUWiP+ events and why they are so important for improving the retention of women and non-binary students in STEM. She reflects on how the conferences create space for students to explore career paths, build confidence and see themselves as part of the physics community. Reflections and tips from CUWiP+ 2025 University of Birmingham students Tanshpreet Kaur and Harriett McCormick share their experiences of attending the 2025 CUWiP+ event at the University of Warwick and explain why they are excited for the next event, set for Birmingham, 19–22 March 2026. They describe standout moments from 2025, including being starstruck at meeting Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, who discovered radio pulsars in 1967. The episode provides practical advice to get the most out of the event. Organizers design the programme to cater for all personalities – whether you thrive in lively, social situations, or prefer time to step back and reflect. Either way, CUWiP+ offers opportunities to be inspired and to make meaningful connections. Hosted by Andrew Glester, the episode highlights how shared experiences and supportive networks can balance the often-solitary nature of studying physics, especially when you feel excluded from the majority group.

On this week's episode of That Peter Crouch Podcast, Pete, Sids and Chris are joined by a former teammate - with spells at Arsenal, Liverpool, Stoke and Portsmouth (as well as being a long-time friend of the pod!) winger Jermaine Pennant for one of the most honest and equally hilarious conversations the pod has ever had.Jermaine opens up about being labelled “wasted talent”, growing up with zero structure, and how a late ADHD diagnosis finally helped him understand the chaos, impulsive decisions and moments that defined his career. From becoming a £2m teenager at Arsenal to playing in a Champions League final with Liverpool, Pennant reflects on the highs, the lows, and the managers who either got the best out of him — or completely missed the mark.The lads also dig into dressing-room dynamics, the importance of man-management, why Steve Bruce got it right, why Rafa Benítez didn't, and how football ultimately became Jermaine's escape from childhood trauma. There are laugh-out-loud stories (including one unforgettable pair of Liverpool boots), emotional moments, and a powerful reminder that success isn't always as simple as trophies and appearances.Plus, we've got darts chaos, Christmas plans, league twists and classic Crouchy tangents.As always — get involved in the comments.

Weihnachten hat in den USA einen hohen Stellenwert. Davon zeugt allein schon die Tradition, dass die First Lady das Weisse Haus nach ihrem Geschmack dekorieren lässt. 51 Weihnachtsbäume, 213 Meter Girlanden, 75 Kränze, 54 Kilogramm Lebkuchen, mehr als 2000 Lichterketten und 2800 – natürlich – goldene Sterne schmücken gemäss Agenturen das Anwesen. Konkurrenz machte dem einzig Jill Biden, die zuletzt mehr als 80 Bäume aufstellen liess. Thema des diesjährigen Weihnachtsfestes sei «Zu Hause ist, wo das Herz ist», teilte Melania Trump mit.Am Herzen liegt Weihnachten auch Gatte Donald. Seinen Slogan «Make America Great Again» hat er entsprechend angepasst. «Make Christmas Great Again» ziert Weihnachtskarten mit dem Präsidenten. Er habe «Weihnachten zurückgebracht», sagte Donald Trump kürzlich bei einem Auftritt in Pennsylvania. «Die radikale Linke wollte das Wort Weihnachten abschaffen.» Jetzt aber sage wieder jeder «Frohe Weihnachten».Auch Trump-Kritikerinnen und -Kritiker instrumentalisieren die Geburt Jesu. So stellte eine katholische Kirche in der Nähe von Boston, Massachusetts, eine Krippe mit Maria, Joseph und den Hirten auf. Was fehlte, war das Jesuskind in der Krippe. Darüber stand ein Schild mit der Aufschrift: «ICE was here.» Eine Anspielung auf die Immigrationsbehörde «United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement» (ICE), die Zehntausende illegale Einwanderer verhaftete und ausschaffte.Tina Kempin Reuter, Professorin in Birmingham, Alabama, steckt mitten in den Weihnachtsvorbereitungen. Und sie verkauft sogar selbst Christbäume. Können sich die Amerikanerinnen und Amerikaner einen Christbaum leisten angesichts der gestiegenen Preise? Wie erlebt sie den Kulturkampf um Weihnachten in Trumps Amerika? Und sagt sie nun «Merry Christmas» oder «Happy Holiday», wenn sie frohe Weihnachten wünscht? Darüber unterhält sich Christof Münger, Leiter des Ressorts International, mit Kempin Reuter in einer neuen Folge des USA-Podcasts «Alles klar, Amerika?». Produzent ist Noah FendHier seht ihr noch Trumps Weihnachtskarte sowie die Krippeninstallation ohne Jesuskind in Massachusetts:Santa Trump politisiert sogar Weihnachten Mehr USA-Berichterstattung finden Sie auf unserer Webseite und in den Apps. Den «Tages-Anzeiger» können Sie 3 Monate zum Preis von 1 Monat testen: tagiabo.ch.Feedback, Kritik und Fragen an: podcasts@tamedia.ch Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dan Rolinson, Mat Kendrick and John Townley were joined by Dan Bardell and Ty Bracey plus 170 Aston Villa fans at Hockley Social Club in Birmingham for a final live event to chat all things Aston Villa.

How does militarization threaten contemporary democracies? Why is Brazil's case significant for understanding the causes and consequences of militarizing politics? How does it compare to other current cases of the same phenomenon in terms of similarities and differences? Join Deborah Monte in this episode of the People, Power, Politics podcast to explore these questions and the state of civil-military relations in Brazil. This episode is based on Octávio Amorim and Igor Acácio's book “Presidentialism and Civil-Military Relations – Brazil in Comparative Perspective”, published in 2025 by Palgrave Macmillan. Dr. Octavio Amorim Neto is a professor of political science at the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration in Rio de Janeiro. He specializes in comparative political institutions, civil-military relations, and Brazilian politics and foreign policy. Dr. Igor Acácio is an assistant professor in the Division of Politics, Administration, and Justice at California State University, Fullerton. He specializes in democracy, civil–military relations, and defense and security issues in Latin America. Déborah Monte is an adjunct professor of international studies at Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD – Brazil) and a visiting researcher at CEDAR during the 2024-25 academic year. The People, Power, Politics podcast brings you the latest insights into the factors that are shaping and re-shaping our political world. It is brought to you by the Centre for Elections, Democracy, Accountability and Representation (CEDAR) based at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Join us to better understand the factors that promote and undermine democratic government around the world and follow us on Twitter at @CEDAR_Bham! Read the transcript here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Head Coach of Samford Football John Grass joined the 3 Man Front crew and shared his coaching journey, what led him back to Birmingham, and insight into new staff additions! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a beer enthusiast, bottle shops have always played an important role in my life. They were there when I first got into beer in a big way, supplying me with hard to find bottles imported from the United States, or new releases from some of the most exciting new breweries in the UK. It was through them that I also met some of my most valued friends and peers, including Jen Ferguson and Glenn Williams of South London's Hop Burns and Black, who gave me one of my first breaks as a beer writer with a monthly column published on their website. When we launched Pellicle in 2019, they were there to sponsor us for our first two years. Looking back, we probably wouldn't have made it through those first 24 months without their support. Then there's Phill and Steph Palgrave-Elliott of Caps and Taps in Tufnell Park. Not only did they give me my first ever gig as a freelance photographer, but like Jen and Glenn they became wonderful pals, and are also long time supporters of the magazine. It's through both of their shops that I gleaned a deep perspective of how important bottle shops once were within the beer ecosystem. Here is where you came when you wanted to support local and independent, or when you wanted to find the latest fussed-over cans, or simply something delicious from a brewery you were yet to discover. But things have changed a lot since those early days of craft beer—the early 2010s when everything felt shiny and new. Breweries came and went, some sold out, some focused on shifting units in national supermarket chains, and—after the pandemic—most of them started shipping direct to their customers. The role of the bottle shop shouldn't have changed, but the industry changed around them, forcing them to pivot and adapt. Some became bars, some focused on online retail, others simply weren't able to compete, and closed their doors forever.Without them, however, we probably would have the vibrant selection of independent breweries we're blessed with today. In this episode of The Pellicle Podcast I'm joined by the owners of three different UK bottleshops: Krishan Rajput of Stirchley Wines in Birmingham, Sam Parker of Keg Cask and Bottle in Prestwich, Manchester, plus Rosie and Greg Start, who run R&G's Beer Vault in both Macclesfield and Congleton. Together we chew through the last few years in beer, and discuss the importance of bottle shops. This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the 2025 Salford Beer Festival. Huge thanks to organiser Jim Cullen for inviting us down to host this chat. We're able to produce The Pellicle Podcast directly thanks to our Patreon subscribers, and our sponsors Get ‘Er Brewed. If you're enjoying this podcast, or the weekly articles we publish, please consider taking out a monthly subscription for less than the price of a pint a month.

In episode 63 of Going anti-Viral, Dr Mari Kitahata joins host Dr Michael Saag to discuss the role of outcomes research on clinical decisions for patient care. Dr Kitahata is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington (UW) in the Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. For more than 3 decades, she has directed the UW/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Clinical Research Core. Dr Kitahata's research focuses on improving long-term outcomes for people with HIV and she has led studies demonstrating key determinants of increased survival in people with HIV including early initiation of antiretroviral therapy and care managed by physicians with greater HIV experience. Dr Kitahata discusses the significance of outcomes research in clinical settings, particularly in the context of HIV care. She explains the differences between efficacy and effectiveness, the challenges faced in observational studies, and the importance of statistical techniques to address biases. Dr Kitahata and Dr Saag discuss the role of electronic medical records (EMRs) in enhancing data collection and the necessity of data validation through adjudication processes. Additionally, the conversation touches on the importance of patient-reported outcomes and the limitations of EMR data, including issues of misclassification. Finally, Dr Saag and Dr Kitahata discuss the distinction between predictive modeling and etiologic modeling in research, underscoring the complexities of clinical care and the future directions for outcomes research.0:00 – Introduction2:30 – Efficacy versus effectiveness5:51 – Challenges in outcomes research8:27 – Statistical techniques in observational studies16:13 – The role of electronic medical records19:36 – Patient-reported outcomes and their importance22:18 – Data validation and adjudication28:30 – Limitations of observational data35:08 – The future of outcomes research __________________________________________________Produced by IAS-USA, Going anti–Viral is a podcast for clinicians involved in research and care in HIV, its complications, and other viral infections. This podcast is intended as a technical source of information for specialists in this field, but anyone listening will enjoy learning more about the state of modern medicine around viral infections. Going anti-Viral's host is Dr Michael Saag, a physician, prominent HIV researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and volunteer IAS–USA board member. In most episodes, Dr Saag interviews an expert in infectious diseases or emerging pandemics about their area of specialty and current developments in the field. Other episodes are drawn from the IAS–USA vast catalogue of panel discussions, Dialogues, and other audio from various meetings and conferences. Email podcast@iasusa.org to send feedback, show suggestions, or questions to be answered on a later episode.Follow Going anti-Viral on: Apple Podcasts YouTubeXFacebookInstagram...

This month on Unpacked, we're diving into Afar's just-released Where to Go list—but this year's picks are different. In 2026, we want to lessen the burden on overtouristed destinations and expand visitation to other parts of the world. Our editors carefully selected 24 emerging regions and overlooked locales that will inspire your next great adventure. For Birmingham, that means discovering what Alabama's second-largest city really offers—especially its quietly stellar food scene that's been racking up James Beard nominations. In this episode, host Aislyn Greene talks with Jenny Adams, a travel writer and Birmingham native now based in New Orleans. Jenny shares why this "big fish in a small pond" city deserves a second look—from its fourth-largest concentration of barbecue restaurants in America to Alabama white sauce, a downtown transformed by Railroad Park, and vintage shopping that rivals anywhere in the South. She also makes a case for an Alabama road trip, from Muscle Shoals to the Gulf Coast beaches. Plan Your Birmingham Getaway (First, explore our Alabama travel guide.) Stay —Book a room at The Elyton, a historic downtown hotel —Try The Painted Lady, a new boutique hotel in the city center Eat and Drink —Start your morning at Continental Bakery in English Village for old-world European pastries —Get a sandwich at The Garage Café, a collection of 1920s car garages with a courtyard bar where everything—including the furniture—is for sale —Try Birmingham barbecue at SAW's BBQ or Jim 'N Nick's, and don't skip the Alabama white sauce—a tangy, mayo-based condiment invented in Decatur —For Gulf seafood and oysters, head to Bayonet, a new raw bar —Sip fancy cocktails at Adios, a Mexican bar and James Beard semifinalist —For a bucket-list dive bar experience, go to The Nick for cheap domestics and live grunge bands See and Do —Walk or bike Railroad Park, a linear park built on former blighted railroad tracks —Tour Sloss Furnaces, the historic ironworks that defined Birmingham's industrial past —Visit the 16th Street Baptist Church and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to engage with the city's essential history —Catch a show at one of three restored historic theaters: The Alabama, The Carver, or The Lyric Shop —Browse Pepper Place, a collection of old brick warehouses with permanent shops and a Saturday farmers market —Find vintage treasures at Devore, with pieces spanning the Victorian era to the 1970s —Pick up artisan Alabama goods at Stone Hollow Farms (pickles, ginger syrups, cast iron cookware) and Design Supply (Southern artists and large-scale art) —Visit Shoppe, a garden store with a charming general store next door where you can eat a BLT while browsing tablecloths and vintage spoons Resources • Follow Jenny's work on Instagram • Visit Jenny's website • Explore all 24 destinations on Afar's Where to Go in 2026 list • Follow us on Instagram: @afarmedia Listen to All the Episodes in our Where to Go 2026 Series E1: T⁠⁠⁠⁠his Island in the Bahamas Promises Pink Sand, Historic Hideaways, and Perfect Solitude ⁠⁠⁠⁠ E2: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Why Peru's Second City Might Be Its Best-Kept Secret⁠⁠⁠ E3: ⁠⁠⁠The New 170-Mile Hiking Network Connecting Stockholm's Dreamy Archipelago⁠⁠⁠ E4: ⁠Route 66 Turns 100—and Albuquerque Is Ready to Celebrate ⁠ E5: Why Morocco's Chill Capital Deserves Your Attention E6: Three Hours From Nashville, the South's Next Great Food Capital Is Waiting (this one!) Stay Connected Sign up for our podcast newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Behind the Mic⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, where we share upcoming news and behind-the-scenes details of each episode.  Explore our other podcasts, ⁠⁠View From Afar⁠⁠, about the people and companies shaping the future of travel, and⁠⁠ ⁠Travel Tales⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, which celebrates first-person narratives about the way travel changes us. Unpacked by Afar is part of⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Airwave Media⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠'s podcast network. Please contact ⁠⁠⁠advertising@airwavemedia.com⁠⁠⁠ if you would like to advertise on our podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Byline Times editor in chief Hardeep Matharu and executive editor Peter Jukes join Adrian Goldberg to look beyond the doom loop - as per the latest Byline Times print edition - as they explore their highlights and lowlights of 2025. Produced in Birmingham by Adrian Goldberg and Harvey White. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hebrews 1:1–4 (Listen) The Supremacy of God's Son 1:1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (ESV)

Charles ScribnerMPA, College of Arts and Sciences, 2015Executive Director, Black Warrior RiverkeeperMore InformationUAB School of Public Health - Black Warrior Riverkeeper receives 2025 Lou Wooster Public Health Hero AwardBlack Warrior Riverkeeper - websiteBlack Warrior Riverkeeper - Charles Scribner bioCollege of Arts and Sciences News - I am Arts and Sciences: Charles ScribnerBham Now - Charles Scribner celebrates 20 years with Black Warrior Riverkeeper

Bundle up for a festive episode of Activity Quest! Bex explores Edinburgh’s magical Christmas market, sharing sights, sounds, and delicious treats. Lloydie visits the bustling Birmingham Frankfurt Christmas Market, chats to families, and discovers a talking moose! Join Fun Kids Podcasts+: https://funkidslive.com/plusSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amici In Affitto con La Marghe e Maxi B parte con uno studio particolare.Secondo l'università di Birmingham, gli errori grammaticali altrui sono deleteri per la nostra salute.Buon ascolto

Join us as we look back at the draw at Birmingham City, hearing from Nathan Jones and Tanto OlaofeThanks to our sponsors PSF Steel Ltd for making this show possible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Benjamin Bloom discusses EFL Championship round 21 - take advantage of our Nord VPN offer at www.nordvpn.com/BBFC Chapters 0:00 - Intro 0:40 - Coventry 1-0 Bristol C, Boro 3-1 QPR, Oxford 1-2 Preston, Millwall 1-3 Hull 17:33 - Nord VPN 20:55 - Leicester 3-1 Ipswich, Stoke 2-1 Swansea, Norwich 2-1 Southampton, Birmingham 1-1 Charlton 38:53 - Wrexham 2-2 Watford, West Brom 2-0 Sheff Utd, Sheff Wed vs Derby, Portsmouth 2-1 Blackburn 48:11 - Outro

David Harewood, who turned sixty this week, returns as Othello for the third time on stage. It's a role he first took on in 1997, becoming the first black actor to play the part at London's National Theatre. Growing up in multicultural Birmingham in the sixties and seventies, he was born to immigrants from Barbados. Described as gregarious by his teachers at school, Harewood showed an interest in entertaining from an early age and subsequently trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of the Dramatic Arts. In his early twenties, he had a psychotic breakdown, something he spoke about in a recent documentary. A string of roles in TV and film followed. And then came his breakthrough role as CIA agent David Estes in the acclaimed hit US TV show Homeland.Mark Coles looks back at his career. Contributors: Gary Turner – childhood friend Pete Mortiboys – school physical education teacher Jeremy Harrison – Royal Academy of the Dramatic Arts (RADA) classmate and friend Afua Hirsch – broadcaster, journalist and author of the book Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging Tom Morris – Theatre director and colleague Toby Jones – Actor and colleague Production team: Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Ben Carter, Laura Cain Editor: Nick Holland and Justine Lang Sound: Gareth Jones Archive LIST COPYRIGHTED ARCHIVE USED Audio of David Harewood as Othello, 2025, Theatre Royal Haymarket, clean from trailer. David Harewood episode of BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs, 2022. David Harewood: Psychosis and Me documentary, 2019, for BBC, production company: Films Of Record Limited.

Phish Free 7:30 2025/09/12 Louisville, KY Phish Piper > 7:35 2025/09/17 Alpharetta, GA Phish The Lizards 10:13 2025/09/17 Alpharetta, GA Phish Cities 16:05 2025/09/13 Birmingham, AL Phish Golden Age > 14:50 2025/09/14 Birmingham, AL Phish What’s the Use > 7:57 2025/09/14 Birmingham, AL Phish Good Times, Bad Times 7:31 2025/09/14 Birmingham, AL Phish Waste > 5:36 2025-09-19 Hampton, VA Phish Rock & Roll 8:05 2025-09-19 Hampton, VA Phish Sand 16:57 2025/09/17 Alpharetta, GA Phish 2001 8:16 2025/09/12 Louisville, KY Phish Tweezer Reprise 3:20 2025-09-19 Hampton, VA

MUSICRoger Daltrey of The Who is now SIR Roger Daltrey. He was knighted by Prince William at Windsor Castle on Wednesday. It's in recognition of not only his musical achievements, but also his charity work. Here he is on the award, and what his younger self and band would've thought back in the day. https://consequence.net/2025/12/sir-roger-daltrey-knighted/ Sharon Osbourne has given her first interview since the death of her husband Ozzy this past July.Appearing Wednesday on the British TV show Piers Morgan Uncensored, hosted by her longtime friend, she opened up about his health struggles, doing his final show this past July 5th in Birmingham, England, their last conversations and much more. You can watch the show on YouTube, and here are a few excerpts:Sharon Osbourne on the last two weeks of Ozzy's life. OC:...in seven years. :27 [Courtesy of Piers Morgan Uncensored]"He was so happy Piers afterwards. And he kept looking at the papers and he goes to me, 'I never knew so many people like me.' But that was the way he was. I mean, he knew he was famous, but not to the amount that people loved him. It's a whole different thing. And he was just so happy. Happier than we'd seen him in seven years."Sharon Osbourne on dreams Ozzy was having the last week of his life. OC:...he was ready. :26 [Courtesy of Piers Morgan Uncensored]"He was having dreams the last week of his life. He was seeing people that he never knew. I said, 'Well, what kind of people?' He goes, 'All different people. And I just keep walking and walking and I'm seeing all these different people every night. And I go back there and I'm looking at these people and they're looking at me and nobody's talking.' And he he knew. He was ready." Sharon also talked about the first time she and Ozzy met, when they fell in love, how she will never want to get married again, how if she didn't have kids she would have killed herself when he died, and the thing she misses most is holding his hand.On a lighter note, she also talked about how she wanted to get back at Roger Waters for the negative things he said about Ozzy after he died. And that was by sending him a Tiffany box filled with feces, which she used to do to critics who wrote negative reviews about Ozzy's shows without being there. When she did, it was her infant son Jack's poop that would be used.She ultimately decided against it, saying, “Even that is a waste, to send [crap] to him. It's a waste because he's really insignificant. But I just thought, anybody that passes has a family… you don't do that.” (Sharon's not the first musician's wife to do that. Paul and Linda McCartney sent some of their daughter Stella's poop to a journalist who earned their trust, then betrayed them.)Going forward, Sharon says she's continuing to work on an Ozzy bio-pic and that she knows who she wants to play him. When asked if it was Yunglbud she didn't confirm nor deny.https://youtu.be/aaLMsEJKZEQ Kurt Cobain's MTV Unplugged Martin D-18E has been donated to the Royal College of Music London by Peter Freedman, who paid $6,010,000 for it at an auction in 2020. Megadeth have released a trailer for Behind the Mask, the documentary and listening event for their self-titled album that will be in theaters on January 22nd. Watch it on YouTube.Blumhouse Games has released a mini-documentary about Robin Finck of Nine Inch Nails scoring the new horror video game Sleep Awake. Watch it on YouTube.Trailer for new U.K. documentary on David Bowie's final years titled "David Bowie - The Final Act" has been released https://ruralradio.com/rrn/abc_news/trailer-for-new-uk-david-bowie-documentary-released-abcid0409636a/ Guns N' Roses have announced the openers for their summer tour -- rappers Public Enemy will open for them when they are here at Busch Stadium in August. The Eagles, Stevie Nicks, Kings of Leon, Lorde and The Black Keys are among the headliners at the 2026 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, commonly known as Jazzfest.The first weekend, April 23rd to the 26th, will feature Stevie Nicks, Rod Stewart, Kings of Leon, Lorde, Jon Batiste, Tyler Childers, David Byrne, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, St. Vincent, Irma Thomas, The Isley Brothers and The Revivalists.The second weekend, April 30th through May 3rd, features will feature the Eagles, Teddy Swims, The Black Keys, Widespread Panic, Earth, Wind & Fire, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Alabama Shakes, Ziggy Marley, Lake Street Dive, Mavis Staples, Little Feat and Rickie Lee Jones.Passes go on sale tomorrow (Friday) at nojazzfest.com. TVJohn Stamos is joining the next season of Netflix's "Hunting Wives" show. https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/john-stamos-cast-hunting-wives-drama-wife-questions-potential-nude-scenes Sigourney Weaver will appear in Amazon Prime's live-action series of Tomb Raider https://www.the-independent.com/tv/culture/sigourney-weaver-tomb-raider-phoebe-waller-bridge-b2883033.html MOVING ON INTO MOVIE NEWS:"Ella McCay" (PG-13) Trailer - A comedy starring (British actress) Emma Mackey as an idealistic young woman trying to juggle family problems while taking over her mentor's job as governor once he accepts a cabinet position in Washington. Woody Harrelson is her sexually irresponsible father, Jamie Lee Curtis is her supportive aunt, and Albert Brooks plays her political mentor. (20%)"Silent Night, Deadly Night" (R) Trailer This is the second remake of a 1984 slasher about a kid who witnesses his parents being murdered by a guy in a Santa suit . . . then grows up, puts on a Santa suit himself, and goes on his own killing spree. It stars Rohan Campbell from "The Monkey" as your killer Santa, and Ruby Modine from "Happy Death Day" as a true crime junkie (slash) his love interest. (84%)"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (PG) Trailer The 25th anniversary re-release of the live action movie starring Jim Carrey as the Grinch, Taylor Momsen (from The Pretty Reckless) as Cindy Lou Who, and Christine Baranski as the woman who secretly has feelings for the Grinch. (50%)Will Smith hit with another major scandal—longtime friend turns on him in $3 million lawsuit Everybody's getting into the year-end roundup business. Even the deliciously gay hookup app Grindr!!! Here's a sample of their 2025 wrap-up:Mother of the Year: Lady GagaDaddy of the Year: Pedro PascalMother-In-Training: Sabrina CarpenterShow of the Year: "Overcompensating", Prime VideoAlbum of the Year: "Mayhem", Lady GagaSong of the Year: "Abracadabra", Lady GagaGay Dictionary . . . The Phrase on Everyone's Lips: Delulu. (Short for "delusional".)Hottest Man of the Year: Jonathan Bailey (Fiyero in the "Wicked" movies)Movie of the Year: "Kpop Demon Hunters"Bulge of the Year (!!!): Bad BunnyGayest Fashion Trend: Slutty little glassesBest Beef: Cardi B vs. Nicki MinajMost Bears: IrelandHighest Percentage of Twinks: Switzerland AND FINALLYWe all know the debate about "Die Hard". But there are plenty of other films that spark the same argument, "Is this actually a Christmas movie?" Here are 13 more:1. Every "Harry Potter" movie (2001 - 2011). All the "Potter" flicks . . . with the possible exception of the last one . . . have some kind of yuletide vibe . . . or at least a wintry one.2. "Batman Returns" (1992). One of the big set pieces is the lighting of the Gotham Christmas tree.3. "Eyes Wide Shut" (1999). Even though it was released in July, it takes place over Christmas.4. "Gremlins" (1984). This one has Christmas written all over it. And also little green, murderous demons.5. "First Blood" (1982). The first of the "Rambo" films has a Christmas tree in the background of one scene. So . . . Christmas movie!!!6. "Trading Places" (1983). There's a Christmas party, and Dan Aykroyd as a drunken Santa waving a handgun. But it doesn't end on December 25th. If it's a Christmas movie, then it also qualifies as a New Year's movie.7. "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" (2005). This one takes place during the Christmas season in L.A. And it was released in November.8. "Edward Scissorhands" (1990). Kind of a no-brainer.9. "Lethal Weapon" (1987). Another one of those action movies that HAPPENS to take place around Christmas.10. "Rocky" (1976). This might be the greatest American holiday film of all time, because it includes Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. And also punching.11. "Hook" (1991). The scenes in the real world, outside Neverland, are set at Christmas. 12. "Iron Man 3" (2013). The whole movie plays out around Christmas.13. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993). Is it a Christmas movie or a Halloween movie? Why not both?AND THAT IS YOUR CRAP ON CELEBRITIES!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Blake Lovell and Max Barr preview Alabama vs. Arizona in the 2025-26 college basketball season and share predictions for this highly anticipated non-conference matchup between Nate Oats and Tommy Lloyd in Birmingham. YEARLY CO Use promo code SE16KIT for a free sizing kit! https://yearlyco.com/ ROKFORM Use promo code SEC25 for 25% off! The world's strongest magnetic phone case! https://www.rokform.com/ JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIP Join the "It Just Means More" tier for bonus videos and live streams! Join Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv1w_TRbiB0yHCEb7r2IrBg/join FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter: https://twitter.com/16Southeastern ADVERTISE WITH SOUTHEASTERN 16 Reach out to caroline.bellcow@gmail.com to find out how your product or service can be seen by over 200,000 unique viewers each month! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Live from sunny California, Martin Hunt joins Matthew – who is live from cold, gloomy Birmingham. Martin is Principal Cornet of the Western Territory Staff Band, Songster Leader at Pasadena Tabernacle and works at Territorial Headquarters as Assistant Programme Secretary. Martin tells us about his early influences, why he moved to the USA and where his ultimate carolling gig would be!Staff Bandsman Jonathan Evans completes his in-depth look at RSA's masterpiece, ‘At the edge of time'.Major Ian Standley leaves cold, gloomy Birmingham for the hot and sunny Arid Island. Surely, being December, he's packed a Christmas album?Christmas Bandmastermind and Sparsely Scored complete another episode.Hosted by Matthew FrostProduced by Simon Gash Published by Music Editorial Audio extracts used with permission of SP&S Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sportstime with Brett & Bryant gets started with their Top and Not Top Story. Next, we talk college football with Pat Smith of WJOX in Birmingham. After Pat we preview the Tigers basketball game against Louisville.

Jumu'ah Khutbah recorded at Green Lane Masjid, Birmingham, UK.https://www.greenlanemasjid.org

"McElroy & Cubelic In The Morning" airs 7am-10am weekdays on WJOX-94.5!! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thursday's 9am hour of Mac & Cube saw Taylor Hicks, Birmingham native & former American Idol winner, tell us about his upcoming concert at The Lyric for Toys for Tots, what goes into picking a concert set list, how he'll help Greg learn an instrument inside a year; later, Greg gets into the Sherrone Moore firing and asks what kind of a job is Michigan; and finally, listeners give advice for taking kids to Disney World. "McElroy & Cubelic In The Morning" airs 7am-10am weekdays on WJOX-94.5!!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been a banner year for Yungblud, the English rock star who just released a joint EP with Aerosmith, titled “One More Time.” He also recently picked up his first Grammy nominations for his solo album “Idols,” as well as for his emotional performance of Black Sabbath's “Changes” at their farewell show in Birmingham over the summer. Yungblud joins Tom Power to talk about his breakout year in music, the personal toll it's had on him, and what he most remembers from singing at Ozzy Osbourne's last show.

Ryan Dilks and Justin Peach look back at the midweek action from across the Championship.Coventry fail to win again!Late scenes from QPR against Birmingham!Southampton continue their charge!Ipswich and Middlesbrough make ground!It's the Second Tier.Sign up to our Patreon here for ad-free episodes, bonus content and access to the Discord for $4 a month.You can also join our brand new YouTube Membership here!Watch this episode on YouTube here!Follow us on X, Instagram and email us secondtierpod@gmail.com.**Please rate and review us on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your pods. It means a lot and makes it easy for other people to find us. Thank you!** Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Dr. Steven Petak, Past President of AACE and ISCD and former Chief of Endocrinology at Houston Methodist Hospital, as he leads an in-depth conversation on Hypophosphatemia with Dr. Laila Tabatabai, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell and metabolic bone specialist at Houston Methodist, and Dr. Basma Abdulhadi, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and head of bone densitometry. Together, they discuss how to distinguish Hypophosphatemia from osteoporosis and osteomalacia, recognize key symptoms across ages, and apply a focused diagnostic workup. The discussion also highlights FGF23-mediated disorders, XLH, and current treatment approaches including burosumab, reinforcing a key reminder for clinicians to check phosphate levels to help prevent missed diagnoses. This episode is made possible through a sponsorship from Kyowa Kirin.Kyowa Kirin was not involved in the content of the podcast.

Our conversation with Brian Vickers, Lead Music Supervisor at Walt Disney Studios, is both inspiring and insightful as he shares how an early passion for music evolved into an extraordinary career.Brian has worked on a ton of projects like Project Runway, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Khloé & Lamar, Kourtney & Kim Take New York, The Real World and Bad Girls Club, including trailer campaigns for Avengers: Infinity War, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Black Panther and The Incredibles 2, to name a few.If you've ever found yourself obsessed with a movie soundtrack or a perfectly placed song over a scene, this is the episode for you. Brian takes us on a journey as to how he, as a Howard University grad from Birmingham, Alabama, ended up moving to Los Angeles in 2008, right before the writers' strike and how the industry's pivot to reality TV steered his early career. We talk about how the Bernie Mac Show was the series that opened his eyes to music supervision, his thoughts on AI in the music industry and what he wants aspiring creatives interested in sync to know about being 'sync friendly.'

The Go Radio Football Show: 11th of December, 2025. Join host Paul Cooney alongside Celtic Hero Andy Walker and Rangers Hero Chris Burke in Association with Burger King. Don't miss it – PLAY and HIT SUBSCRIBE, and NEVER miss an episode! Rangers crucial Europa League clash against in Budapest, while Celtic have a high-stakes showdown with Roma at Celtic Park. Aberdeen also fight for survival in Europe against Strasbourg. The panel debates Rangers' shaky European campaign, Celtic's new era under Wilfried Nancy, and Hearts' surprise title challenge. Plus, Chris Burke shares his next big career move and reflects on life after Kilmarnock. Rangers in Budapest: Team news and formation analysis: Back three or back five? Defensive frailties exposed as Ferencváros fight back to win 2–1. Danny Röhl's January transfer priorities and leadership philosophy. Celtic vs Roma Preview: Wilfried Nancy's bold tactical tweaks and his response to early criticism. Austin Trusty on adapting to change and embracing pressure. Can Celtic deliver a statement win ahead of Sunday's cup final? Scottish Football Landscape: Hearts' impressive run—are they genuine title contenders? Aberdeen's European hopes and domestic resurgence. Personal Insight: Chris Burke on his new coaching chapter down south and the challenges of moving family. Behind-the-scenes stories from his playing days at Rangers, Birmingham, and Scotland. This is a catch-up version of the live, daily Go Radio Football show.  The Go Radio Football Show, weeknights from 5pm-7pm across Scotland on DAB, Online, Smart Speaker and on the Go Radio App. IOS: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/go-radio/id1510971202  Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.thisisgo.goradio&pcampaignid=web_share  In Association with Burger King. Home of the Whopper, home delivery half time or full time, exclusively on the Burger King App  https://www.burgerking.co.uk/download-bk-app. Follow us @thisisgoradio on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Tik Tok  Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbsfwnlMFeI&list=PLBoA8NYTpHtcqoS3M5IrA0C7K-iCmvg-F For more Podcasts from Go Studios, head to: https://thisisgo.co.uk/podcasts/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1ATeQD... 

Alabama Men's Basketball Head Coach Nate Oats joins The Next Round for an in-depth conversation on all things Crimson Tide hoops as the season heats up

This week on the Moms on Call Podcast, Jennifer and Laura speak with parents Mark and Elizabeth Messenger from Birmingham, Alabama. They share their experiences as a blended family with children ranging from 11 years to seven months old, including their journey with their youngest, James, who spent time in the NICU. They discuss the challenges and blessings of having a routine in the hospital and how it helped their son thrive once home. The episode also touches on the emotional and logistical aspects of parenting, including the balance of caring for multiple children and the support systems that help families navigate these challenges.

In the summer heat of Birmingham, children faced police dogs and fire hoses. On a bus in Montgomery, a 15-year-old refused to stand. From Claudette Colvin to Rosa Parks, from Greensboro counters to the March on Washington—the Civil Rights Movement shook America awake. Yet, even as laws changed, maps and mortgages quietly redrew the lines of belonging.In this episode of Built to Divide, Dimitrius Lynch tracks what happened after the marches. The Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination, but zoning boards found new tools to enforce it. Highways tore through Black neighborhoods in San Francisco and Detroit. Urban renewal became “Negro removal.” Birmingham forced the country to look. Kennedy named it a moral crisis. Johnson created HUD, appointing Robert C. Weaver, the first Black cabinet secretary. Then came the pivot—Section 235, 236, vouchers, block grants, Pruitt-Igoe, Moses vs. Jacobs, Nixon's New Federalism, and a shift from building homes to subsidizing rent.This is the story of how a movement won rights—but lost ground in planning rooms, mortgage offices, and zoning maps. How public housing gave way to vouchers. How the market replaced the public builder. And how America traded homes as social infrastructure for housing as financial asset.If you want to understand why affordability collapsed, why public housing withered, why vouchers fall short, and how modern inequality took shape—Episode 4 shows the pivot point.Episode Extras - Photos, videos, sources and links to additional content found during research. Episode Credits:Production in collaboration with Gābl MediaWritten & Executive Produced by Dimitrius LynchAudio Engineering and Sound Design by Jeff Alvarez

A busy three days for QPR for Andy, Ant and Dun to pick the bones out of 2 excellent home wins- Varane bags his first in the Hoops - He does do braces you know. Burrell at the double- Kone , King of the assists- QPR Throttles the Throstles, The baggies defence were a little saggy. - QPR NYC model Jimmy Dunne scores against the Blues again- Birmingham keep right on to leave it late, but fail to get to the end of the road as Rangers leave it even later- Morgan mayhem leaves Brum glum. LIMBS! SCENES!- The (mis) adventures of Paul Nardi - Not a bad first game at Loftus Road for our friend Marti, not that Marti- West Ham get a bye to the 4th Round of the FA Cup- FIFA takes the absolute peace- USA takes Hart from a soft draw, England get the group of serious injury- A Horrible Hummel? Flash or Trash- Predictions. A dry old affair.- Jacob's been on the Margeuritas (commiserations to Trinity University)- QPR NYC proud to join Tactico 90's Toy Drive to spread joy during the holidays- Oh, AND COME TO THE FOOTBALL FACTORY FOR THE QPR WATCHPARTY on the 23rd and 24th January 26 in association with ACTUAL QPR and THE EFL!Rate, review and all that good stuff

From an inexplicable force that turned a woman to ashes in her farmhouse, to strange phenomena that transformed a quiet English town into a UFO hotspot, these chilling Christmas mysteries continue to baffle investigators and haunt communities long after the holiday decorations were packed away.IN THIS EPISODE: A nurse was found dead in her bed - and her boyfriend and his nine-year-old son vanished, leaving behind only a truck full of bloodstained presents. (Christmas Murder in Lockhart) *** A little girl vanishes on a winter road trip to Las Vegas, and twenty Christmases later, a detective's search for answers leads to a desperate couple's final confession - but not to the truth about what really happened to two-year-old Nikole Betterson. (Nikole's Christmas Farewell) *** Behind one of the most beloved Christmas poems ever written lies a centuries-old mystery: was "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" penned by a scholarly professor for his children, or did someone else create the story that shaped how we see Santa Claus? (‘Twas The Mystery Before Christmas) *** When Patty Vaughan left her home on Christmas Day 1996, she left behind three children and a trail of mysterious clues - including an abandoned van, suspicious blood stains, and a red work uniform that would puzzle investigators for decades to come. (The Patty Vaughan Vanishing) *** When farmhand John Larson awoke to find soot on his pillow on Christmas morning 1885, he never imagined he'd discover his employer Patrick Rooney dead from smoke inhalation and his wife Matilda mysteriously burned to ash in a perfectly circular hole in their kitchen floor - with no other fire damage to the house. (Matilda Rooney's Christmas Combustion) *** In the quiet town of New London, Connecticut, what began as a simple flat tire on Christmas Eve 1973 turned into one of the community's darkest mysteries when twenty-year-old Kevin Showalter was struck and killed by a driver who vanished into the night - leaving behind a grieving mother, whispers of a cover-up, and questions that would haunt the town for decades. (The Hit And Run Death of Kevin Showalter) *** A teenage girl's first office Christmas party should have been a celebration of new beginnings, but for Rhonda Hinson, it became her last night alive - and the start of a mystery that would puzzle investigators for over forty years. (Rhonda Hinson's Only Office Christmas Party) *** A mother's quick errand turns into a decades-old mystery when Tracy Mertens vanishes from her Birmingham flat days before Christmas, leaving investigators with a yellow Ford Escort, two mysterious men, and questions that remain unanswered to this day. (The Tracy Mertens Mystery) *** On Christmas morning 1964, the quiet town of Warminster, England woke up to strange sounds that would mark the beginning of one of history's most puzzling mysteries - a series of unexplained events that would become known worldwide as 'The Thing. (The Warminster Christmas Thing)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = Cold Cases, Colder Nights00:02:38.802 = Show Open00:06:20.432 = The Warminster Christmas Thing00:13:13.664 = *** The Tracy Mertens Mystery00:17:10.974 = The Mystery of Matilda Rooney's Christmas Combustion00:21:36.666 = Rhonda Hinson's Only Office Christmas Party00:27:32.493 = *** Christmas Murder in Lockhart00:30:24.890 = The Holiday Hit-And-Run of Kevin Showalter00:33:56.238 = Nikole's Christmas Farewell00:38:20.096 = *** The Patty Vaughan Vanishing00:41:44.518 = ‘Twas The Mystery Before Christmas00:47:49.521 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakSOURCES PAGE: https://weirddarkness.com/ChristmasMysteries

It's Day 2 of American Conference Media Week here on In The Circle, powered by SixFour3. Today, we first head to Denton to talk about the new-look Mean Green. We chat with head coach Cody White about his journey from Division II to North Texas. You'll also hear from pitcher Anneca Anderson about her decision to return to UNT and play for Coach White.Next, we travel to Birmingham to examine UAB, a team poised to add more wins to its tally in 2025. Head coach Taylor Smartt reflects on her first year in charge and the many close games her team played. Then, hear from Hannah Dorsett and Abi Perkins about being roommates and their BBQ recommendation.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alexei Sayle and Talal Karkouti hear Linda Sayle's report from the inaugural Your Party Conference!   They also talk Monsieur Aubergine, robotic correspondence and conclude the thrilling Cilla Black mystery. Alexei WILL be appearing in Birmingham at an event for Paul Holden's new book. Get tickets here. Be a comrade and support the show! Become a Patron and get access to the video version of the podcast, live episodes and more - patreon.com/AlexeiSaylePodcast Send your fan art, thoughts and questions to alexeisaylepodcast@gmail.com Please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to Alexei's YouTube channel here and join him for his Bike Rides. The Alexei Sayle Podcast is produced and edited by Talal Karkouti Music by Tarboosh Records Photograph from the Andy Hollingworth Archive 

What does it really take to build a multi-six-figure author business with no advertising? Is running your own warehouse really necessary for direct sales success — or is there a simpler path using print-on-demand that works just as well? In this conversation, Sacha Black and I compare our very different approaches to selling direct, from print on demand to pallets of books, and explore why the right model depends entirely on who you are and what your goals are for your author business. In the intro, Memoir Examples and interviews [Reedsy, The Creative Penn memoir tips]; Written Word Media annual indie author survey results; Successful Self-Publishing Fourth Edition; Business for Authors webinars; Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant; Camino Portuguese Coastal on My Camino Podcast; Creating while Caring Community with Donn King; The Buried and the Drowned by J.F. Penn Today's show is sponsored by Bookfunnel, the essential tool for your author business. Whether it's delivering your reader magnet, sending out advanced copies of your book, handing out ebooks at a conference, or fulfilling your digital sales to readers, BookFunnel does it all. Check it out at bookfunnel.com/thecreativepenn This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Sacha Black is the author of YA and non-fiction for authors and previously hosted The Rebel Author Podcast. As Ruby Roe, she is a multi-six-figure author of sapphic romantasy. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights, and the full transcript is below. Show Notes Two models for selling direct: print on demand vs running your own warehouse. Plus, check out Sacha's solo Rebel Author episode about the details of the warehouse. Cashflow management Kickstarter lessons: pre-launch followers, fulfillment time, and realistic timelines How Sacha built a multi-six-figure business through TikTok with zero ad spend Matching your business model to your personality and skill set Building resilience: staff salaries, SOPs, and planning for when things change You can find Ruby at RubyRoe.co.uk and on TikTok @rubyroeauthor and on Instagram @sachablackauthor Transcript of the interview Joanna: Sacha Black is the author of YA and nonfiction for authors, and previously hosted the Rebel Author podcast. As Ruby Roe, she is a multi-six-figure author of sapphic romance. So welcome back to the show, Sacha. Sacha: Hello. Thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure to be here. Joanna: I'm excited to talk to you today. Now, just for context, for everybody listening, Sacha has a solo episode on her Rebel Author podcast, last week as we record this, which goes into specific lessons around the warehouse in more detail, including financials. So we are going to come at this from a slightly different angle in our discussion today, which is really about two different ways of doing selling direct. I want us to start though, Sacha, in case people don't know your background, in case they've missed out. Can you just give us a quick recap of your indie author journey, because you haven't just come out of nowhere and jumped into this business and done incredibly well? Sacha's Indie Author Journey Sacha: No, I really haven't. Okay. So 2013, I started writing. So 12 years ago I started writing with the intention to publish, because I was writing before, but not with the intention. 2017 I first self-published and then two years after that, in 2019, I quit the day job. But let me be clear, it wasn't because I was rolling in self-published royalties or commissions or whatever you want to call them. I was barely scraping by. And so those are what I like to call my hustle years because I mean, I still hustle, but it was a different kind. It was grind and hustle. So I did a lot of freelance work. I did a lot of VA work for other authors. I did speaking, I was podcasting, teaching courses, and so on and so forth. 2022, in the summer, I made a realisation that I'd created another job for myself rather than a business that I wanted to grow and thrive in and was loving life and all of that stuff. And so I took a huge risk and I slowed down everything, and I do mean everything. I slowed down the speaking, I slowed down the courses, I slowed down the nonfiction, and — I poured everything into writing what became the first Ruby Roe book. I published that in February 2023. In August/September 2023, I stopped all freelance work. And to be clear, at that point, I also wasn't entirely sure if I was going to be able to pay my bills with Ruby, but I could see that she had the potential there and I was making enough to scrape by. And there's nothing if not a little bit of pressure to make you work hard. So that is when I stopped the freelance. And then in November 2023, so two months later, I started TikTok in earnest. And then a month after that, December the eighth, I went viral. And then what's relevant to this is that two days after that, on December the 10th, I had whipped up my minimum viable Shopify, and that went live. Then roll on, I did more of the same, published more Ruby Roe books. I made a big change to my Shopify. So at that point it was still print on demand Shopify, and then February 2025, I took control and took the reins and rented a warehouse and started fulfilling distribution myself. The Ten-Year Overnight Success Joanna: So great. So really good for people to realise that 2013, you started writing with the intention, like, seriously, I want this to be what I do. And it was 2019 when you quit the day job, but really it was 2023 when you actually started making decent money, right? Sacha: Almost like we all need 10 years. Joanna: Yeah. I mean, it definitely takes time. So I wanted just to set that scene there. And also that you did at least a year of print on demand Shopify before getting your own warehouse. Sacha: Yeah, maybe 14 months. Joanna: Yeah, 14 months. Okay. So we are going to revisit some of these, but I also just want as context, what was your day job so people know? Sacha: So I was a project manager in a local government, quite corporate, quite conservative place. And I played the villain. It was great. I would helicopter into departments and fix them up and look at processes that were failing and restructure things and bring in new software and bits and bobs like that. The Importance of Business Skills Joanna: Yeah. So I think that's important too, because your job was fixing things and looking at processes, and I feel like that is a lot of what you've done and we'll revisit that. Sacha: How did I not realise that?! Joanna: I thought you did know that. No. Well, oh my goodness. And let's just put my business background in context. I'm sure most people have heard it before, but I was an IT consultant for about 13 years, but much of my job was going into businesses and doing process mapping and then doing software to fix that. And also I worked, I'm not an accountant, but I worked in financial accounting departments. So I think this is really important context for people to realise that learning the craft is one thing, but learning business is a completely different game, right? Sacha: Oh, it is. I have learnt — it's wild because I always feel like there's no way you can learn more than in your first year of publishing because everything is brand new. But I genuinely feel like this past 18 months I have learnt as much, if not more, because of the business, because of money, because of all of the other legal regulation type changes in the last 18 months. It's just been exhausting in terms of learning. It's great, but also it is a lot to learn. There is just so much to business. Joanna's Attempts to Talk Sacha Out of the Warehouse Joanna: So that's one thing. Now, I also want to say for context, when you decided to start a warehouse, how much effort did I put into trying to persuade you not to do this? Sacha: Oh my goodness, me. I mean a lot. There were probably two dinners, several coffees, a Zoom. It was like, don't do it. Don't do it. You got me halfway there. So for everybody listening, I went big and I was like, oh, I'm going to buy shipping containers and convert them and put them on a plot of land and all of this stuff. And Joanna very sensibly turned around and was like, hmm, why don't you rent somewhere that you can bail out of if it doesn't work? And I was like, oh yeah, that does sound like a good idea. Joanna: Try it, try it before you really commit. Okay. So let's just again take a step back because the whole point of doing this discussion for me is because you are doing really well and it is amazing what you are doing and what some other people are doing with warehouses. But I also sell direct and in the same way as you used to, which is I use Bookfunnel for ebooks and audiobooks and I use BookVault for print on demand books, and people can also use Lulu. That's another option for people. So you don't have to do direct sales in the way that you've done it. And part of the reason to do this episode was to show people that there are gradations of selling direct. Why Sell Direct? Joanna: But I wanted to go back to the basics around this. Why might people consider selling direct, even in a really simple way, for example, just ebooks from their website, or what might be reasons to sell direct rather than just sending everything to Amazon or other stores? Sacha: I think, well, first of all, it depends on what you want as a business model. For me, I have a similar background to you in that I was very vulnerable when I was in corporate because of redundancies, and so that bred a bit of control freakness inside me. And having control of my customers was really important to me. We don't get any data from Amazon or Kobo really, or anywhere, even though all of these distributors are incredible for us in our careers. We don't actually have direct access to readers, and you do with Shopify. You know everything about your reader, and that is priceless. Because once you have that data and you have delivered a product, a book, merchandise, something that that reader values and appreciates, you can then sell to them again and again and again. I have some readers who have been on my website who have spent almost four figures now. I mean, that is just — one person's done that and I have thousands of people who are coming to the website on a regular basis. So definitely that control and access to readers is a huge reason for doing it. Customising the Reader Relationship Sacha: And also I think that you can, depending on how you do this model, there are ways to do some of the things I'm going to talk about digitally as well. But for me, I really like the physical aspect of it. We are able to customise the relationship with our customers. We can give them more because we are in control of delivery. And so by that I mean we could give art prints, which lots of my readers really value. We can do — you could send those digitally if you wanted to, but we can add in extra freebies like our romance pop sockets, that makes them feel like they are part of my reader group. They're part of a community. It creates this belonging. So I think there is just so much more that you can do when you are in control of that relationship and in control of the access to it. Joanna: Yeah. And on that, I mean, one of the reasons we can do really cool print books — and again, we're going to come back to print on demand, but I use print on demand. You don't have to buy pallets of books as Sacha does. You can just do print on demand. Obviously the financials are different, but I can still do foiling and custom end papers and ribbons and all this with print on demand through BookVault custom printing and bespoke printing. The Speed of Money Joanna: But also, I think the other thing with the money — I don't know if you even remember this, because it's very different when you are selling direct — you can set up your system so you get paid like every single day, right? Or every week? Sacha: Yes. Joanna: So the money is faster because with Amazon, with any of these other systems, it can take 30, 60, 90 days for the money to get to you. So faster money, you are in more control of the money. And you can also do a lot more things like bundling and like you mentioned, much higher value that you could offer, but you can also make higher income. Average order value per customer because you have so many things, right? So that speed of money is very different. Sacha: It is, but it's also very dangerous. I know we might talk about cashflow more later, but— Joanna: Let's talk about it now. Managing Cashflow With Multiple Bank Accounts Sacha: Okay, cool. So one of the things that I think is the most valuable thing that I've ever done is, someone who is really clever told me that you're allowed more than one business account. Joanna: Just to be clear, bank accounts? Sacha: Yes, sorry. Yeah. Bank accounts. And one of my banks in particular enables you to have mini banks inside it, mini pots they call it. And what I do with pre-orders is I treat it a bit like Amazon. So that money will come in — you know, I do get paid daily pretty much — but I then siphon it off every week into a pot. So let's just say I've got one book on pre-order. Every week the team tells me how much we've got in pre-orders for that one product and all the shipping money, and I put it into an account and I leave it there. And I do not touch it unless it is to pay for the print run of that book or to pay for the shipping. Because one of the benefits of coming direct to me is that I promise to ship all pre-orders early, so we have to pay the shipping costs before necessarily Amazon might pay for its shipping costs because they only release on the actual release day. But that has enabled me to have a little savings scheme, but also guarantee that I can pay for the print run in advance because I haven't accidentally spent that money on something else or invested it. I've kept it aside and it also helps you track numbers as well, so you know how well that pre-order is doing financially. Understanding Cashflow as an Author Joanna: Yeah. And this cashflow, if people don't really know it, is the difference between when money comes in and when it goes out. So another example, common to many authors, is paying for advertising. So for example, if you run some ads one month, you're going to have to pay, let's say Facebook or BookBub or whoever, that month. You might not get the money from the sale of those books if it's from a store until two months later. In that case, the cash flows the other way. The money is sitting with the store, sitting on Amazon until they pay you later. This idea of cashflow is so important for authors to think about. Another, I guess even more basic example is you are writing your first book and you pay for an editor. Money goes out of your bank account and then hopefully you're going to sell some books, but that might take, let's say six months, and then some money will come back into your bank account. I think this understanding cashflow is so important at a small level because as it gets bigger and bigger — and you are doing these very big print runs now, aren't you? Talk a bit about that. The Risks of Print Runs Sacha: Yeah. So one of the things I was going to say, one of the benefits of your sell direct model is that you don't have to deal with mistakes like this one. So in my recent book, Architecti, that we launched at the end of September, we did a print run of a thousand books, maybe about 3,000 pounds, something like that, 2,000 pounds. And basically we ended up selling all thousand and more. So the pre-orders breached a thousand and we didn't have enough books. But what made that worse is that 20% of the books that arrived were damaged because there had been massive rain. So we then had to do a second print run, which is bad for two reasons. The first reason is that one, that space, two, the time it's going to take to get to you — it's not instant, it's not printed on demand. But also three, I then had to spend the same amount of money again. And actually if we had ordered 2,000 originally, we would've saved a bit more money on it per book. So you don't — if you are doing selling direct with a print on demand model, the number of pre-orders you get is irrelevant because they'll just keep printing, and you just get charged per copy. So there are benefits and disadvantages to doing it each way. Obviously, I'm getting a cheaper price per copy printed, but not if I mess up the order numbers. Is Running a Warehouse Just Another Job? Joanna: So I'm going to come back on something you said earlier, which was in 2022 you said, “I realised I made a job for myself.” Sacha: Yeah. Joanna: And I mean, I've been to your store. You obviously have people to help you. But one of my reservations about this kind of model is that even if you have people to help you, taking on physical book — even though you are not printing them yourself, you're still shipping them all and you're signing them all. And to me it feels like a job. So maybe talk about why you have continued — you have pretty much decided to continue with your warehouse. So why is this not a job? What makes this fun for you? The Joy of Physical Product Creation Sacha: I wish that listeners could see my face because I'm literally glittering. I love it. I literally love it. I love us being able to create cool and wacky things. We can make a decision and we can create that physical product really quickly. We can do all of these quirky things. We can experiment. We can do book boxes. So first of all, it's the creativity in the physical product creation. I had no idea how much I love physical product creation, but there is something extremely satisfying about us coming up with an idea that's so integrated in the book. So for example, one of my characters uses, has a coin, a yes/no coin. She's an assassin and she flips it to decide whether or not she's going to assassinate somebody. We've actually designed and had that coin made, and it's my favourite item in the warehouse. It's such a small little thing, but I love it. And so there is a lot of joy that I derive from us being able to create these items. Sending Book Mail and Building Community Sacha: I think the second thing is I really love book mail. There is no better gift somebody can give me than a book. And so I do get a lot of satisfaction from knowing we're sending out lots and lots of book presents to people and we get to add more to it. So some of the promises that we make are: I sign every book and we give gifts. We have character art and, like I've mentioned before, pop sockets and all these kinds of things. And I get tagged daily in unboxings and stories and things like this where people are like, oh my gosh, I didn't realise I was going to get this, this, and this. And I just — it's like crack to me. I get high off of it. So I can't — this is not for everybody. This is a logistical nightmare. There are so many problems inherent in this business model. I love it. Discovering a Love of Team Building Sacha: And I think the other thing, which is very much not for a lot of authors — I did not realise that I actually really like having a team. And that has been a recent realisation. I really was told that I'm not a team player when I was in corporate, that I work alone, all of this nonsense. And I believed that and taken it on. But finding the right team, the right people who love the jobs that they do inside your business and they're all as passionate as you, is just life changing. And so that also helps me continue because I have a really great team. Joanna: I do have to ask you, what is a pop socket? Sacha: It's a little round disc that has a mechanism that you can pull out and then you — and it has a sticky command strip back and you can pop it on the back of your phone or on the back of a Kindle and it helps you to hold it. I don't know how else to describe it. It just helps you to hold the device easier. Joanna: Okay. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was confused. I'm like, why are you doing electrical socket products? Know What Kind of Person You Are Joanna: But I think this actually does demonstrate another point, and I hope people listening — I hope you can sort of — why we are doing this partly is to help you figure out what kind of person you are as well. Because I can't think of anything worse than having lots of little boxes! And I've been in Sacha's thing and there's all these little stickers and there's lots of boxes of little things that they put in people's packages, which make people happy. And I'm like, oh, I just don't like packages of things. And I mean, you geek out on packaging, don't you as well? Sacha: Oh my goodness. Yeah. One of the first things I did when we got the warehouse was I actually went to a packaging expo in Birmingham. It was like this giant conference place and I just nerded out there. It was so fun. And one of the things that I'm booked to do is an advent calendar. And that was what drove me there in the first place. I was looking for a manufacturer that could create an advent calendar for us. I have two. I'm not — I have two advent calendars this year because I love them so much. But yeah, the other thing that I was going to say to you is I often think that as adults, we can find what we're supposed to do rooted in our childhood. And I was talking the other day and someone said to me, what toy do you remember from your youth? And I was like, oh yeah. The only one that I can remember is that I had a sticker maker. I like — that makes sense. You do like stickers. And I do. Yeah. Digital Minimalism vs Physical Products Joanna: Yeah, I do. And I think this is so important because I love books. I buy a lot of books. I love books, but I also get rid of a lot of books. I know people hate this, but I will just get rid of bags and bags of books. So I value books more for what's inside them than the physical product as such. I mean, I have some big expensive, beautiful books, but mostly I want what's in them. So it's really interesting to me. And I think there's a big difference between us is just how much you like all that stuff. So if you are listening, if you are like a digital minimalist and you don't want to have stuff around your house, you definitely don't want a warehouse. You don't want all the shipping bits and bobs. You are not interested in all that. Or even if you are, you can still do a lot of this print on demand. Then I think that's just so important, isn't it? I mean, did you look at the print on demand merch? Did you find anything you liked? The Draw of Customisation Sacha: Yeah, we did, but I think for me it was that customisation. We are now moving towards — I've just put an order in this morning for 10,000 customised boxes. We've got our own branding on them. We've got a little naughty, cheeky message when they flip up the flap. And it's little things like that that you can't — you know, we wouldn't have control over what was sent. So much of what I wanted, and some of the reasons for me doing it, is that I wanted to be able to sign the books. I was being asked on a daily basis if people could buy signed books from me, and it was driving me bonkers not being able to say yes. But also being able to send a website mailing list sign-up in the box, or being able to give them a discount in the box. I mean, I know you do that, but yeah, there was just a lot more customisation and things that we could do if we were controlling the shipping. Also, I wanted to pack the boxes, the books better. So we wanted to be able to bubble wrap things or we wanted to be able to waterproof things because we had various different issues with deliveries and so we wanted a bit more control over that. So yeah, there were just so many reasons for us to do it. Print on Demand Is Still Fantastic Sacha: Look, don't get me wrong, if I suddenly wanted to go off travelling for a year, then maybe I would shut down the warehouse and go back to print on demand. I think print on demand is fantastic. I did it for 14 months before I decided to open a warehouse. It is the foundation of most authors' models. So it's fantastic. I just want to do more. Joanna: Yeah. You want to do more of it. Life Stage Matters Joanna: We should also, I also wanted to mention your life stage. Because when we did talk about it, your son is just going to secondary school, so we knew that you would be in the same area, right? Sacha: Yeah. Joanna: Because I said to you, you can't just do this and — well, you can, you could ditch it all. But the better decision is to do this for a certain number of years. If you're going to do it, it needs time, right? So you are at that point in your life. Sacha: Yeah, absolutely. We — I mean, we are going to move house, I think, but not that far away. We'll still be in reachable distance of the warehouse. And yeah, the staying power is so important because it's also about raising awareness. You have to train readers to come to you. You have to show them why it's beneficial for them to order directly from you. Growing the Business Year Over Year Sacha: And then you also have to be able to iterate and add more products. Like you were talking earlier about increasing that average order value. And that does come from having more products, but more products does create other issues like space, which may or may not be suffering issues with now. But yeah, so for example, 2024, which was the first real year, I did about 73 and a half thousand British pounds. And then this year, where — as we record this, it's actually the 1st of December — and I'm on 232,000. So from year one to year two, it's a huge difference. And that I do think is about the number of products and the number of things that we have on there. Joanna: And the number of customers. I guess you've also grown your customer base as well. And one of the rules, I guess, in inverted commas, of publishing is that the money is in the backlist. And every time you add to your backlist and every launch, you are selling a lot more of your backlist as well. So I think as time goes on, yeah, you get more books. Kickstarter as an Alternative Joanna: But let's also talk about Kickstarter because I do signed books for my Kickstarters and to me the Kickstarter is like a short-term ability to do the things you are doing regularly. So for example, if you want to do book boxes, you could just do them for a Kickstarter. You don't have to run a warehouse and do it every single day. For example, your last Kickstarter for Ruby Roe made around 150,000 US dollars, which is amazing. Like really fantastic. So just maybe talk about that, any lessons from the Kickstarter specifically, because I feel like most people, for most people listening, they are far more likely to do a Kickstarter than they are to start a warehouse. Pre-Launch Followers Are Critical Sacha: Yeah, so the first thing is even before you start your Kickstarter, the pre-launch follow accounts are critical. So a lot of people think — well, I guess there's a lot of loud noise about all these big numbers about how much people can make on Kickstarter, but actually a lot of it is driven by you, the author, pushing your audience to Kickstarter. So we actually have a formula now. Somebody more intelligent gave this to me, but essentially, based on my own personal campaign data — so this wouldn't necessarily be the same for other people — but based on my campaign data, each pre-launch follower is worth 75 pounds. And then we add on seven grand, for example. So on campaign three, which was the most recent one, I had 1,501 pre-launch followers. And when you times that by 75 and you add on seven grand, it makes more or less exactly what we made on the campaign. And the same formula can be applied to the others. So you need more pre-launch followers than you think you do. And lots of people don't put enough impetus on the marketing beforehand. Almost all of our Kickstarter marketing is beforehand because we drive so many people to that follow button. Early Bird Pricing and Fulfillment Time Sacha: And then the other thing that we do is that we do early bird pricing. So we get the majority of our income on a campaign on day one. I think it was something wild, like 80% this time was on day one, so that's really important. The second thing is it takes so, so very much longer than you think it does to fulfil a campaign, and you must factor in that cost. Because if it's not you fulfilling, you are paying somebody else to fulfil it. And if it is you fulfilling it, you must account for your own time in the pricing of your campaign. And the other thing is that the amount of time it takes to fulfil is directly proportionate to the size of the campaign. That's one thing I did not even compute — the fact that we went from about 56,000 British pounds up to double that, and the time was exponentially more than double. So you do have to think about that. Overseas Printing and Timelines Sacha: The other lesson that we have learned is that overseas printing will drag your timelines out far longer than you think it does. So whatever you think it's going to take you to fulfil, add several months more onto that and put that information in your campaign. And thankfully, we are now only going to be a month delayed, whereas lots of campaigns get up to a year delayed because they don't consider that. Reinvesting Kickstarter Profits Sacha: And then the last thing I think, which was really key for us, is that if you have some profit in the Kickstarter — because not all Kickstarters are actually massively profitable because they either don't account enough for shipping or they don't account enough in the pricing. Thankfully, ours have been profitable, but we've actually reinvested that profit back into buying more stock and more merchandise, which not everybody would want to do if they don't have a warehouse. However, we are stockpiling merchandise and books so that we can do mystery boxes later on down the line. It's probably a year away, but we are buying extra of everything so that we have that in the warehouse. So yeah, depending on what you want to do with your profit, for us it was all about buying more books, basically. Offering Something Exclusive Sacha: I think the other thing to think about is what is it that you are doing that's exclusive to Kickstarter? Because you will get backers on Kickstarter who want that quirky, unique thing that they're not going to be able to get anywhere else. But what about you? Because you've done more Kickstarters than me. What do you think is the biggest lesson you've learned? Reward Tiers and Bundling Joanna: Oh, well I think all of mine together add up to the one you just did. Although I will comment on — you said something like 75 pounds per pre-launch backer. That is obviously dependent on your tiers for the rewards, so most authors won't have that amount. So my average order value, which I know is slightly different, but I don't offer things like book boxes like you have. So a lot of it will depend on the tiers. Some people will do a Kickstarter just with an ebook, just with one ebook and maybe a bundle of ebooks. So you are never going to make it up to that kind of value. So I think this is important too, is have a look at what people offer on their different levels of Kickstarter. And in fact, here's my AI tip for the day. What you can do — what I did with my Buried and the Drowned campaign recently — is I uploaded my book to ChatGPT and said, tell me, what are some ideas for the different reward tiers that I can do on Kickstarter? And it will give you some ideas for what you can do, what kind of bundles you might want to do. So I think bundling your backlist is another thing you can do as upsells, or you can just, for example, for me, when I did Blood Vintage, I did a horror bundle when it was four standalone horror books in one of the upper tiers. So I think bundling is a good way. Also upselling your backlist is a really good way to up things. And also if you do it digitally, so for ebooks and audiobooks, there's a lot less time in fulfillment. Focus on Digital Products Too Joanna: So again, yours — well, you make things hard, but also more fun according to you, because most of it's physical, right? In fact, this is one of the things you haven't done so well, really, is concentrate on the digital side of things. Is that something you are thinking about now? Sacha: Yeah, it is. I mean, we do have our books digitally on the website. So the last — I only had one series in Kindle Unlimited, and I took those out in January. But so we do have all of the digital products on the website, and the novellas that we do, we have in all formats because I narrate the audio for them. So that is something that we're looking at. And since somebody very smart told me to have upsell apps on my website, we now have a full “get the everything bundle” in physical and digital and we are now selling them as well. Surprising. Definitely not you. So yeah, we are looking at it and that's something that we could look at next year as well for advertising because I haven't really done any advertising. I think I've spent about 200 pounds in ads in the last four months or something. It's very, very low level. So that is a way to make a huge amount of profit because the cost is so low. So your return, if you're doing a 40 or 50 pound bundle of ebooks and you are spending, I don't know, four pounds in advertising to get that sale, your return on that investment is enormous for ads. So that is something that we are looking at for next year, but it just hasn't been something that we've done a huge amount of. A Multi-Six-Figure Author With No Ads Joanna: Yeah. Well, just quoting from your solo episode where you say, “I don't have any advertising costs, customers are from my mailing list, TikTok and Instagram.” Now, being as you are a multi-six-figure author with no ads, this is mostly unthinkable for many authors. And so I wonder if, maybe talk about that. How do you think you have done that and can other people potentially emulate it, or do you think it's luck? It's Not Luck, It's Skill Set Sacha: Do you know, this is okay. So I don't think it's luck. I don't believe in luck. I get quite aggressive about people flinging luck around. I know some people are huge supporters of luck. I'm like, no. Do I think anybody can do it? Do you know, I swing so hard on this. Sometimes I say yes, and sometimes I think no. And I think the brutal truth of it is that I know where my skill set lies and I lean extremely heavily into it. So what do I mean by that? TikTok and Instagram are both very visual mediums. It is video footage. It is static images. I am extremely comfortable on camera. I am an ex-theatre kid. I was on TV as a kid. I did voiceover work when I was younger. This is my wheelhouse. So acting a bit like a tit on TikTok on a video, I am very comfortable at doing that, and I think that is reflected in the results. Consistency Without Burnout Sacha: And the other part of it is because I am comfortable at doing it, I enjoy it. It makes me laugh. And therefore it feels easy. And I think because it feels easy, I can do it over and over and over again without burning out. I started posting on TikTok on November the 19th, 2023, and I have posted three times a day every day since. Every single day without stopping, and I do not feel burnt out. And I definitely feel like that is because it's easy for me because I am good at it. Reading the Algorithm Sacha: The other thing that I think goes in here is that I'm very good at reading what's working. So sorry to talk Clifton Strengths, but my number one Clifton Strength is competition. And one of the skills that has is understanding the market. We're very good at having a wide view. So not only do I read the market on Amazon or in bookstores or wherever I can, it's the same skill set but applied to the algorithm. So I am very good at dissecting viral videos and understanding what made it work, in the same way somebody that spends 20,000 pounds a month on Facebook advertising is very good at doing analytics and looking at those numbers. I am useless at that. I just can't do it. I just get complete shutdown. My brain just says no, and I'm incapable of running ads. That's why I don't do it. Not Everyone Can Do This Sacha: So can anybody do this? Maybe. If you are comfortable on camera, if you enjoy it. It's like we've got a mutual friend, Adam Beswick. We call him the QVC Book Bitch because he is a phenomenon on live videos on TikTok and Instagram and wherever he can sell. Anything on those lives. It is astonishing to watch the sales pop in as he's on these lives. I can't think of anything worse. I will do a live, but I'll be signing books and having a good old chitchat. Not like it's — like that hand selling. Another author, Willow Winters, has done like 18 in-person events this year. I literally die on the inside hearing that. But that's what works for them and that's what's helping grow their business models. So ah, honestly, no. I actually don't think anybody can do what I've done. I think if you have a similar skill set to me, then yes you can. But no, and I know that I don't want to crush anybody listening. Do you like social media? I like social media. Do you like being on camera? Then yeah, you can do it. But if you don't, then I just think it's a waste of your time. Find out what you are good at, find out where your skill set is, and then lean in very, very hard. Writing to Your Strengths and Passion Joanna: I also think, because let's be brutal, you had books before and they didn't sell like this. Sacha: Yep. Joanna: So I also think that you leaned into — yes, of course, sapphic romance is a big sub-genre, but you love it. And also it's your lived experience with the sapphic sub-genre. This is not you chasing a trend, right? I think that's important too because too many people are like, oh, well maybe this is the latest trend. And is TikTok a trend? And then try and force them together, whereas I feel like you haven't done that. Sacha: No, and actually I spoke to lots of people who were very knowledgeable on the market and they all said, don't do it. And the reason for this is that there were no adult lesbian sapphic romance books that were selling when I looked at the market and decided that this was what I wanted to write. And I was like, cool, I'm going to do it then. And rightly so, everyone was like, well, there's no evidence to suggest that this is going to make any money. You are taking a huge risk. And I was like, yeah, but I will. I knew from the outset before I even put a word to the page how I was going to market it. And I think that feeling of coming home is what I — I created a home for myself in my books and that is why it's just felt so easy to market. Lean Into What You're Good At Sacha: It's like you, with your podcasting. Nobody can get anywhere near your podcast because you are so good at it. You've got such a history. You are so natural with your podcasting that you are just unbeatable, you know? So it's a natural way for you to market it. Joanna: Many have tried, but no, you're right. It's because I like this. And what's so funny — I'm sure I've mentioned it on the show — but I did call you one day and say, okay, all right, show me how to do this TikTok thing. And you spent like two hours on the phone with me and then I basically said no. Okay. I almost tried and then I just went, no, this is definitely not for me. And I think that this has to be one of the most important things as an author. Maybe some people listening are just geeking out over packaging like you are, and maybe they're the people who might look at this potential business model. Whereas some people are like me and don't want to go anywhere near it. And then other people like you want to do video and maybe other people like me want to do audio. So yeah, it's so important to find, well, like you said, what does not work for you? What is fun for you and when are you having a good time? Because otherwise you would have a job. Like to me, it looks like a job, you having a warehouse. But to you, it's not the same as when you were grinding it out back in 2022. Packing Videos Are Peak Content Sacha: Completely. And I think if you look at my social media feeds, they are disproportionately full of packing videos, which I think tells you something. Joanna: Oh dear. I just literally — I'm just like, oh my, if I never see any more packaging, I'll be happy. Sacha: Yeah. That's good. The One Time Sacha Nearly Burnt It All Down Sacha: I have to say, there was one moment where I doubted everything. And that was at the end — but basically, in about, of really poor timing. I ended up having to fulfil every single pre-order of my latest release and hand packing about a thousand books in two weeks. And I nearly burnt it all to the ground. Joanna: Because you didn't have enough staffing, right? And your mum was sick or something? Sacha: Yeah, exactly that. And I had to do it all by myself, and I was alone in the warehouse and it was just horrendous. So never again. But hey, I learned the lessons and now I'm like, yay, let's do it again. Things Change: Building Resilience Into Your Business Joanna: Yeah. And make sure there's more staffing. Yes, I've talked a lot on this show — things change, right? Things change. And in fact, the episode that just went out today as we record this with Jennifer Probst, which she talked about hitting massive bestseller lists and doing just incredibly well, and then it just dropped off and she had to pivot and change things. And I'm not like Debbie Downer, but I do say things will change. So what are you putting in place to make sure, for example, TikTok finally does disappear or get banned, or that sapphic romance suddenly drops off a cliff? What are you doing to make sure that you can keep going in the future? Managing Cash Flow and Salaries Sacha: Yeah, so I think there's a few things. The first big one is managing cash flow and ensuring that I have three to six months' worth of staff salaries, for want of a better word, in an account. So if the worst thing happens and sales drop off — because I am responsible for other people's income now — that I'm not about to shaft a load of people. So that really helps give you that risk reassurance. Mailing Lists and Marketing Funnels Sacha: The second thing is making sure that we are cultivating our mailing lists, making sure that we are putting in infrastructure, like things like upsell apps. And, okay, so here's a ridiculous lesson that I learned in 2025: an automation sequence, an onboarding automation sequence, is not what people mean when they say you need a marketing funnel. I learned this in Vegas. A marketing funnel will sell your products to your existing readers. So when a customer signs up to your mailing list because they've purchased something, they will be tagged and then your email flow system will then send them a 5% discount on this, or “did you know you could bundle up and get blah?” So putting that kind of stuff in place will mean that we can take more advantage of the customers that we've already got. Standard Operating Procedures Sacha: It's also things like organisational knowledge. My team is big enough now that there are things in my business I don't know how to do. That's quite daunting for somebody who is a control freak. So I visited Vegas in 2025 and I sat in a session all on — this sounds so sexy — but standard operating procedures. And now I've given my team the job of creating a process instruction manual on how they do each of their tasks so that if anybody's sick, somebody else can pick it up. If somebody leaves, we've got that infrastructure in place. And even things down to things like passwords — who, if I unfortunately got hit by a car, who can access my Amazon account? Stuff like that, unfortunately. Joanna: Yeah, I know. Well, I mean, that would be tragic, wouldn't it? Sacha: But it's stuff like that. Building Longer Timelines Sacha: But then also more day-to-day things is putting in infrastructure that pulls me out. So looking more at staffing responsibilities for staffing so that I don't always have to be there, and creating longer timelines. That is probably the most important thing that we can do because we've got a book box launching next summer. And we both had the realisation — I say we, me and my operations manager — had the realisation that actually we ought to be commissioning the cover and the artwork now because of how long those processes take. So I'm a little bit shortsighted on timelines, I think. So putting a bit more rigour in what we do and when. We now have a team-wide heat map where we know when the warehouse is going to be really, really full, when staff are off, when deliveries are coming, and that's projected out a year in advance. So lots and lots of things that are changing. And then I guess also eventually we will do advertising as well. But that is a few months down the line. Personal Financial Resilience Sacha: And then on the more personal side, it's looking at things like not just how you keep the business running, but how do you keep yourself running? How do you make sure that, let's say you have a bad sales month, but you still have to pay your team? How are you going to get paid? So I, as well as having put staff salaries away, I also have my own salary. I've got a few months of my own salary put away. And then investing as well. I know, I am not a financial advisor, but I do invest money. I serve money that I pay myself. You can also do things like having investment vehicles inside your business if you want to deal with extra cash. And then I am taking advice from my accountant and my financial advisor on do I put more money into my pension — because did I say that I also have a pension? So I invest in my future as well. Or do I set up another company and have a property portfolio? Or how do I essentially make the money that is inside the business make more money rather than reinvesting it, spending it, and reinvesting it on things that don't become assets or don't become money generating? What can I do with the cash that's inside the company in order to then make it make more for the long term? Because then if you do have a down six months or worse, a down year, for example, you've got enough cash and equity inside the business to cover you during those lower months or years or weeks — or hopefully just a day. Different Business Models for Different Authors Joanna: Yes, of course. And we all hope it just carries on up and to the right, but sometimes it doesn't work that way. So it's really great that you are doing all those things. And I think what's lovely and why we started off with you giving us that potted history was it hasn't always been this way. So if you are listening to this and you are like, well, I've only got one ebook for sale on Amazon, well that might be all you ever want to do, which is fine. Or you can come to where my business model is, which is mostly even — I use print on demand, but it's mostly digital. It's mostly online. It's got no packaging that I deal with. Or you can go even further like Sacha and Adam Beswick and Willow Winters. But because that is being talked about a lot in the community, that's why we wanted to do this — to really show you that there's different people doing different things and you need to choose what's best for you. What Are You Excited About for 2026? Joanna: But just as we finish, just tell us what are you excited about for 2026? Sacha: Oh my goodness me. I am excited to iterate my craft. And this is completely not related to the warehouse, but I have gotten myself into a position where I get to play with words again. So I'm really excited for the things that I'm going to write. But also in terms of the warehouse, we've got the new packaging, so getting to see those on social media. We are also looking at things like book boxes. So we are doing a set of three book boxes and these are going to be new and bigger and better than anything that we've done before. And custom tailored. Oh, without giving too much away, but items that go inside and also the artwork. I love working with artists and commissioning different art projects. But yeah, basically more of the same, hopefully world domination. Joanna: World domination. Fantastic. So basically more creativity. Sacha: Yeah. Joanna: And also a bigger business. Because I know you are ambitious and I love that. I think it's really good for people to be ambitious. Joanna: Oh, I do have another question. Do you have more sympathy for traditional publishing at this point? Sacha: How dare you? Unfortunately, yeah. I really have learnt the hard way why traditional publishers need the timelines that they need. This latest release was probably the biggest that — so this latest release, which was called Architecting, is the reason that I did the podcast episode, because I learned so many lessons. And in particular about timelines and how tight things get, and it's just not realistic when you are doing this physical business. So that's another thing if you are listening and you are like, oh no, no, no, I like the immediacy of being able to finish, get it back from the editor and hit publish — this ain't for you, honey. This is not for you. Joanna: Yeah. No, that's fantastic. Where to Find Sacha and Ruby Roe Joanna: So where can people find you and your books online? Sacha: For the Ruby Empire, it's RubyRoe.co.uk and RubyRoeAuthor on TikTok if you'd like to see me dancing like a wally. And then Instagram, I'm back as @SachaBlackAuthor on Instagram. Joanna: Brilliant. Thanks so much for your time, Sacha. That was great. Sacha: Thank you for having me.The post Two Different Approaches To Selling Books Direct With Sacha Black And Joanna Penn first appeared on The Creative Penn.

On one side of the world, a major corporate landlord is evicting tenants by jacking up rents by hundreds of dollars.On the other, its parent company is linked to Israeli bombs, genocide, and illegal settlements.This is the multibillion-dollar story of American Landmark — one of the country's most eviction-happy landlords — and Elco, a corporate powerhouse whose subsidiaries are tied to the Israeli military and far-right settler movements. It's even been cited by the UN for facilitating human rights violations.Thomas Birmingham spent months meeting the families at the mercy of American Landmark, interrogating the corporate landlords profiting off them, and examining the connection between one kind of displacement here in America and another thousands of miles away, in the West Bank and Gaza.His feature, "The Eviction Kings," is in the December issue of The Nation. Our Sponsors:* Check out Avocado Green Mattress: https://avocadogreenmattress.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Jeremiah 33:1–16 (Listen) The Lord Promises Peace 33:1 The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the guard: 2 “Thus says the LORD who made the earth,1 the LORD who formed it to establish it—the LORD is his name: 3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. 4 For thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against the siege mounds and against the sword: 5 They are coming in to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them2 with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down in my anger and my wrath, for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil. 6 Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. 7 I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. 8 I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. 9 And this city3 shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it. 10 “Thus says the LORD: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,' in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again 11 the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the LORD:   “‘Give thanks to the LORD of hosts,    for the LORD is good,    for his steadfast love endures forever!' For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the LORD. 12 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks. 13 In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the LORD. The Lord's Eternal Covenant with David 14 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 16 In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.' Footnotes [1] 33:2 Septuagint; Hebrew it [2] 33:5 That is, the torn-down houses [3] 33:9 Hebrew And it (ESV)

Phoebe and Pat are sans-Milo this week and have decided to tackle the history of storytelling, from archaic Greece to the modern era. Anyway, which Ajax was the big one? You can check out Pat's new podcast Past Lives here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/PastLivesMedia/posts You can see Milo on Tour in Birmingham, Europe and Ireland here: https://www.miloedwards.co.uk/liveshows Get many more episodes like this on our Patreon from just $5 a month: https://www.patreon.com/c/mastersofpod

Episode 345 – Birmingham 1–3 Saints Review + West Brom PreviewHello and welcome to Episode 345 of the Total Saints Podcast, your home for all things Southampton Football Club.Southampton kicked off the Tonda Eckert era in style, beating Birmingham City 3–1 in his first Championship match as permanent Saints boss. We look at the early signs of a “Tonda blueprint”, and what his full-time appointment means for the club moving forward. We'll also turn our attention to Tuesday night's clash with West Brom, looking at key selection questions, injury updates, and how Saints can build on a confident opening display.In This EpisodeBirmingham Review - Saints off to a flying start under full-time boss Tonda Eckert, winning 3–1The Tonda Appointment - Has he already begun to justify the club's decision?West Brom Preview - Can Saints maintain momentum and control games at home?Prediction LeaguePlenty of movement again this week, with over 130 entries and a clear majority backing Saints to win. Prediction League access is included with all Patreon tiers.Support the PodcastPatreon: https://patreon.com/TotalSaintsPodcastMerch: https://shop.totalsaints.co.ukSocials: @TotalSaintsPod on all platformsWebsite: https://totalsaints.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is the season of advent? The season of advent is a season of waiting on the Lord. We're waiting. We recognize not everything is right, we're waiting for it to be reordered. And we find the people of God in Isaiah chapter 40 in a season of waiting. And what is it that they're having to wait for? Well, Isaiah tells us they're waiting for mishpat, a Hebrew word that means "judgment," or "law. They're waiting for justice, and they're waiting for the fulfillment of these promises that come in Isaiah 40:28-31Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. >>Watch on YouTubeDr. Mark Gignilliat is professor of divinity at Beeson Divinity School, where he teaches courses in Old Testament and Hebrew. Mark also serves as theologian in residence at St. Peter's Anglican Church in Birmingham. Dr. Gignilliat is married to Naomi, and they have four children.

Tonight's guest is Peter, coming to us from Birmingham in the UK. Peter takes us back to a quiet stretch of motorway in Warwickshire, where an ordinary drive home turned into a moment that reshaped his understanding of what can be seen in the night sky. What began as a bright white orb drifting low over the fields soon revealed itself as something far more structured and deliberate. But this isn't the only strange moment in Peter's life. Years earlier, he lived in a new-build flat in Digbeth that carried a presence no one could explain. Shadow figures, slamming doors, and a soldier-like apparition that seemed tied to the land beneath the modern block.More information on this episode on the podcast website:https://ufochroniclespodcast.com/ep-363-the-warwickshire-ufo/Hidden Cults (Promo)It is a documentary-style podcast that digs deep into the world's most extreme, elusive, and explosive fringe groups. Listen on all podcast apps: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Q0kbgXrdzP0TvIk5xylx1Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-cults/id1816362029If you enjoy this podcast, please support the show with a virtual coffee:https://ko-fi.com/ufochroniclespodcastFollow and Subscribe on X to get ad free episodesX: https://x.com/UFOchronpodcast/Want to share your encounter on the show?Email: UFOChronicles@gmail.comOr Fill out Guest Form:https://forms.gle/uGQ8PTVRkcjy4nxS7Podcast Merchandise:https://www.teepublic.com/user/ufo-chronicles-podcastHelp Support UFO CHRONICLES by becoming a Patron:https://patreon.com/UFOChroniclespodcastAll Links for Podcast:https://linktr.ee/UFOChroniclesPodcastThank you for listening!Like share and subscribe it really helps me when people share the show on social media, it means we can reach more people and more witnesses and without your amazing support, it wouldn't be possible.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ufo-chronicles-podcast--3395068/support.

In this episode of "The Drink,” Kate Snow sits down with comedian Roy Wood Jr. to discuss his new book, "The Man of Many Fathers.” Best known for his years as a correspondent on "The Daily Show" — and now the host of CNN's "Have I Got News for You" — Roy reflects on the challenges that have shaped his career so far: a complicated childhood in Memphis and Birmingham, a college arrest, and even time spent sleeping in his car while traveling the country to perform stand-up."The Drink" is Kate Snow's interview series featuring candid conversations with actors, authors, athletes, and visionaries — all over the beverage of their choice.Watch every episode of "The Drink" now at NBCNEWS.COM/THEDRINK. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.