Podcasts about borders books

Send us a textFor over three decades, Noodles & Company has served globally inspired noodle dishes with a side of comfort. But in today's competitive and value-conscious quick-service landscape, staying relevant, and resonant, requires more than just a beloved bowl of pasta. For Executive Vice President of Marketing Steve Kennedy, long-term success comes down to a deep commitment to customer experience, continuous innovation, and a loyalty strategy that transcends transactions.  With over 460 locations across the country, Noodles & Company has carved out a distinct niche in the fast-casual sector, offering made-to-order meals that emphasize bold global flavors and fresh ingredients. Kennedy, who joined the brand with deep roots in loyalty marketing from past roles at Domino's, Nestlé, and Borders Books, sees the company's loyalty strategy not as a standalone program, but as a core expression of its brand ethos. 

Send us a textWhat iconic things from millennial “yesteryear” do you miss? We kick off this super nostalgic episode with an ode to simpler times. Let's take a moment of collective silence for: the mall (in general), Borders Books (and more!), cheap concert tickets (like $50!??), and makeup when it was creative (what a time to be alive!). Our faves and fails of the week are all about those things that we miss as we amp up to share our favorite reads from the early to mid 2000's.Ashley and Liz present their top five college-age reads that influenced them during this pivotal time, and helped shape them into the readers (and people!) they are today. We bring memoirs, sci-fi reads, some horror and even some feminist theory to the table, put all ten titles in our trusty BATB Beanie and pick one to reread with all of you! Which one will it be?! We can't wait to share it with you! And, don't worry! We've got a great smash or pass taking us back to the college days with a smorgasbord of silver foxes, and a man who exploded porta potties for a legit living. Don't be shy, subscribe! New Podcasts every Tuesday!! (And sometimes Friday!…)Check out these author interviews? ⬇️We interviewed Callie Hart all about her NYT Bestseller Quicksilver! Watch it here! | https://youtu.be/CED5s7qDBdQ?si=8xtIRO1IzX6Rsld4Check the official Author Interview with Lindsay Straube of Split or Swallow! Now a Barnes & Noble & Amazon best seller titled: Kiss of the Basilisk!  https://youtu.be/fknhocSNIKMLooking for your next murder mystery Romantasy? Preview This Monster of Mine with our interview with debut author Shalini Abeysekara! | https://youtu.be/dMoOSLW1vTE?si=n6z3RXxSutNXN2oa____Shop bookish apparel worn in this episode!Ashley is Wearing: Fourth Wing Dragon T Shirt “Fly or D!e” from @caffeineandcurses | https://caffeineandcurses.comLiz is wearing:  (Vanna White style) our exclusive Bestie and the Books Beanie! DM us to be added to preorder list! | https://www.instagram.com/bestiesandthebookspodcast?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==Any link with an * is an affiliate link through the service Magic Links and is eligible for a commission to us with no extra cost to you. Thank you for helping support our podcast!YouTube | TikTok | Instagram | Podcast Platforms@BestiesandtheBooksPodcast Besties and the Book Club on Fable!https://fable.co/bestiesandthebookclub-474863489358Liz Instagram | TikTok@TheRealLifeVeganWife AshleyInstagram | TikTok@AshleyEllix

Today's digital landscape isn't just shaped by code—it's shaped by how deeply companies listen. Whether in retail, software, or AI, brands that center their design around real user behavior are pulling ahead. Intuit's “Follow Me Home” approach exemplifies this mindset, encouraging teams to observe customers in their daily environments to uncover real needs. This commitment to customer-centric innovation continues to influence how digital products are designed, tested, and trusted.So how do personal passions like music, books, or frustration with bad service help create better digital experiences?On this episode of DisruptED, host Ron J Stefanski welcomes back Scott Wilder, Global Head of Digital Self-Serve at LastPass and longtime friend from their Borders Books and Music days. Together, they reflect on how early exposure to physical retail and analog media helped inform Scott's approach to customer-centric innovation, particularly in building digital self-service solutions rooted in empathy, simplicity, and trust.Key Highlights:Fixing the Fractured Self-Serve Experience – Scott breaks down how disjointed help centers, support portals, and learning sites confuse users and weaken trust. He shares his approach to designing seamless, customer-first digital journeys.Bringing the Customer into the Room – Drawing on his time at Intuit, Scott explains how physically involving customers in product discussions—through calls, visits, or even team meetings—creates more meaningful innovation than spreadsheets ever could.Building Trust in an AI-Driven World – As AI tools become more central to support and learning, Scott argues that trust, clarity, and human touchpoints will define which experiences succeed and which fail.This is a special treat to have Scott Wilder from Last Pass on the DisruptED podcast. Ron and Scott worked together for 5 years at Borders Books and Music. As they acknowledge on these shows, they learned an awful lot about the kind of intellectual curiosity that fuels innovation.Scott is a recognized thought leader in advancing technology after leading a number of highly innovative tech initiatives as a key executive at Intuit, Google, Hubspot, Udacity, Coursera and Adobe. His passion for technology is fueled by intense curiosity about how to make things work better.

Technology disruption continues to reshape how we work, learn, and connect. From bookstores to browsers, the leap from physical to digital has transformed not only industries, but expectations. According to McKinsey & Company, generative AI alone could add up to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy, making it vital to understand how curiosity, learning, and innovation fuel this transformation.So what can we learn about today's digital evolution by revisiting the early internet days, especially from someone who built online experiences before “online” was mainstream?On this episode of DisruptED, host Ron J Stefanski reconnects with longtime friend and fellow Borders alum Scott Wilder, now the Global Head of Digital Self-Serve at LastPass. Together, they explore how bookstores, browsers, and bold ideas shaped some of today's most essential tech innovations. Their conversation tracks the early signals of technology disruption, from pioneering web platforms to building scalable, AI-enhanced learning and customer experiences.In this episode, Ron and Scott discuss:Borders as a Digital Pioneer – Borders wasn't just about books. Scott recalls how the company experimented with online media, store-level websites, and event integration—laying the groundwork for modern e-commerce personalization.Early Internet Innovation – From launching web support at Silicon Graphics to building web ad infrastructure at AOL, Scott helped define digital customer engagement before it became standard practice.Curiosity as a Catalyst – Whether in edtech or AI, Scott emphasizes how intellectual curiosity drives innovation, fuels collaboration, and helps overcome fear of new technologies.This is a special treat to have Scott Wilder from Last Pass on the DisruptED podcast. Ron and Scott worked together for 5 years at Borders Books and Music. As they acknowledge on these shows, they learned an awful lot about the kind of intellectual curiosity that fuels innovation.Scott is a recognized thought leader in advancing technology after leading a number of highly innovative tech initiatives as a key executive at Intuit, Google, Hubspot, Udacity, Coursera and Adobe. His passion for technology is fueled by intense curiosity about how to make things work better.

Our Listener Stories episodes are back, and this time, we've got more contributions than ever!This week, Trevin faces a dreadful dilemma at the DMV while trying to get a new ID after his birthday—leaving him questioning if he's even a real boy. Meanwhile, Amanda returns with an I told you so moment as she gives an update from the school drop-off line.For our middle segment, we're handing the mic over to YOU! No fun facts—just Dreadful Dilemmas straight from our listeners. We hear from Steve, Amy, Tiffany, Kristine, A-Line, and more, tackling everything from running out of “F's” to give to intense 20-question octopus debates and ceilings that just won't stay put.Storytime brings two wild listener-submitted petty crimes:Trevin covers Shea D.'s Airbnb horror story, proving that vacation rentals can hide way more than just bad reviews. What starts as a simple getaway to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver takes a dark turn when Shea and her husband discover the sinister side of short-term rentals.Amanda brings Keali G.'s ‘Webkinz Confessional' to life, imagining what would happen if our listener came clean to her mom about her biggest heist yet—stealing children's toys from Borders Books.Get ready for petty crime, absurd dilemmas, and all the dramatic storytelling you love. And if you've got a crime of your own, send it in—we're always looking for stories for our next volume!

André finds a comic creator with a unique talent to go along with his unique name (at least for North America)Eraklis Petmezas, a Savannah College of Art & Design graduate with a BFA in Illustration, has created art for numerous musical acts, editorial illustrations, and window displays for Borders Books and Music. He has worked on storyboards for Rich Barrett Designs, illustrated "The Tell-Tale Heart" for Adam Smith Academy, and has been published by Image Comics, Arcana, and Asylum Press. A storyteller at heart, he is currently working on new comics. In 2006, he joined 803 Studios and founded SketchCharlotte, a growing community of local artists. He also conducts a Comics Camp for the Charlotte Library.André and Eraklis discuss people trying to anglicize his name, having a historic lineage in Greek history and how a need for a Jewish centered Halloween story resulted in his book Rabbi Werewolf!Support the show

For over thirty-five years PANGAEA has been creating music that intrigues the mind and inspires the soul. Since their formation in 1989 they have garnered interest in over fifty nations across the globe.  The band's tight, melodic ensemble playing, highly proficient level of musicianship and excellent songwriting and singing, is reminiscent of prog rock's classic era while also showcasing the band's modern era sensibilities. The band was formed initially as Artica in 1989 in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Corey and Andi Schenck, Ron Poulsen, Darrell Masingale (guitar/vocals) and Keith Tinker.  Lead vocalist Steve Osborn joined the band in 1991, establishing the lineup that would become Pangaea.   The concept for the band was to create a sound based on the classic rock and progressive rock of the past while utilizing modern sounds and styles. The idea was simple: amalgamate memorable melodies; rich harmonies; powerful rhythms, and other musical elements into compact song structures.     Their first release was a ten-song album entitled Le Collage D'Exoticolours in 1991.  Tinker left the band in 1992 although he still performs and records with the band on occasion.     From 1992 to '94, they recorded and released three more albums – Rotating Oceans, Grey, and The Guild…with each release helping them to garner increased national exposure.   1995 saw the release of the EP, Liquid Placidity, which caught the attention of producer/musician Robert Berry (whose credits include 3, GTR, Greg Kihn and Keith Emerson).   The band went into Berry's studio in 1996 and recorded The Rite of Passage album, which sold well, received radio airplay on numerous radio stations both domestically and overseas and put the band on the musical map internationally.     Berry produced the band's albums Welcome to the Theatre (1999) and A Time & a Place(2002), both of which continued to garner the band critical praise and increase their fan base.  Berry also produced the band's The Reckoning album in 2003, but as-of-yet, it remains unreleased.   In 2005, Pangaea recorded acoustic arrangements of several songs at the home of actor/comedian Dan Aykroyd and his brother Peter Aykroyd.  This led to an unplugged tour of Borders Books stores, Hard Rock Cafes, and other venues.     The band performed in 2008 at a Houston Dynamo soccer match before 12,000 people but after that show, the band went on an extended hiatus that lasted 15 years.   Eventually deciding to reform in 2023, the band added multi-instrumentalist Scott Draughon to its classic lineup and recorded the new album, Beowulf, with Robert Berry back on board as producer.  The first single from the album, Tomorrow Will Come, was released in April.  The second single, Necromancer, was released in May.   https://pangaea.band   Link to Pangaea FB page:  https://www.facebook.com/pangaearock/photos/coming-may-23-2024beowulfthe-new-album-from-pangaeafeaturing-the-singletomorrow-/1079841843049963/?paipv=0&eav=Afad3fHO8UsHkm2m8meIxRV6ZTT3bERpInfhzREW6D9nQGt8a0gZ5D5VC-nXG6W1gnI&_rdr Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For over thirty-five years PANGAEA has been creating music that intrigues the mind and inspires the soul. Since their formation in 1989 they have garnered interest in over fifty nations across the globe.  The band's tight, melodic ensemble playing, highly proficient level of musicianship and excellent songwriting and singing, is reminiscent of prog rock's classic era while also showcasing the band's modern era sensibilities. The band was formed initially as Artica in 1989 in Tulsa, Oklahoma by Corey and Andi Schenck, Ron Poulsen, Darrell Masingale (guitar/vocals) and Keith Tinker.  Lead vocalist Steve Osborn joined the band in 1991, establishing the lineup that would become Pangaea.   The concept for the band was to create a sound based on the classic rock and progressive rock of the past while utilizing modern sounds and styles. The idea was simple: amalgamate memorable melodies; rich harmonies; powerful rhythms, and other musical elements into compact song structures.     Their first release was a ten-song album entitled Le Collage D'Exoticolours in 1991.  Tinker left the band in 1992 although he still performs and records with the band on occasion.     From 1992 to '94, they recorded and released three more albums – Rotating Oceans, Grey, and The Guild…with each release helping them to garner increased national exposure.   1995 saw the release of the EP, Liquid Placidity, which caught the attention of producer/musician Robert Berry (whose credits include 3, GTR, Greg Kihn and Keith Emerson).   The band went into Berry's studio in 1996 and recorded The Rite of Passage album, which sold well, received radio airplay on numerous radio stations both domestically and overseas and put the band on the musical map internationally.     Berry produced the band's albums Welcome to the Theatre (1999) and A Time & a Place(2002), both of which continued to garner the band critical praise and increase their fan base.  Berry also produced the band's The Reckoning album in 2003, but as-of-yet, it remains unreleased.   In 2005, Pangaea recorded acoustic arrangements of several songs at the home of actor/comedian Dan Aykroyd and his brother Peter Aykroyd.  This led to an unplugged tour of Borders Books stores, Hard Rock Cafes, and other venues.     The band performed in 2008 at a Houston Dynamo soccer match before 12,000 people but after that show, the band went on an extended hiatus that lasted 15 years.   Eventually deciding to reform in 2023, the band added multi-instrumentalist Scott Draughon to its classic lineup and recorded the new album, Beowulf, with Robert Berry back on board as producer.  The first single from the album, Tomorrow Will Come, was released in April.  The second single, Necromancer, was released in May.   https://pangaea.band   Link to Pangaea FB page:  https://www.facebook.com/pangaearock/photos/coming-may-23-2024beowulfthe-new-album-from-pangaeafeaturing-the-singletomorrow-/1079841843049963/?paipv=0&eav=Afad3fHO8UsHkm2m8meIxRV6ZTT3bERpInfhzREW6D9nQGt8a0gZ5D5VC-nXG6W1gnI&_rdr Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

@MarkRubbo from @readingsbooks shares his personal take on buying and building this iconic business. We cover a lot of ground including;How the opportunity to buy Readings came aboutLaving the music industry (Professor Longhair) for book retailingThe linkage of Marks business ambitions with the impact on;the Australian book industrythe broader literary community (writers, publishers)the local communityMark's ambition and opportunistic mindset to expanding Readings into multiple other locations, and the establishment of an online presenceThe importance of community engagement, author events and creating a vibrant bookstoreThe physical bookshops as a unique experience, with the opportunity for discoveryWhy Government support for bookshops is crucial in preserving the cultural value they bring to communitiesTransitioning out of the CEO role and ensuring a smooth succession to maintain the unique flavor of ReadingsThe challenges and rewards of running an independent bookstoreThe impact of Borders Books when it opened directly opposite in Lygon St in the early 2000'sThe impact of online retailers like AmazonHis experiences of succession planning, and advice for other small bookshop owners - to ensure the continuity of their business and to pass on their legacy.He also talks about his current projects;The Book Sellers podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-booksellers-podcast/id1683259417#Indigenousarts#literaryprizes@beyondblueAnd finally what it's really like to 'move on', and hand over day to day managementQUOTES:"Sometimes founders rightfully wrongly put everything they've got into it and other people get to benefit from it.""I hope Readings has been a sort of community focused business." Thanks for listening. Visit the Small Business Banter website to subscribe, listen back, or check out any resources or information mentioned on the show. Search @SmallBusinessBanter on your favorite podcast player to subscribe and listen to the episodes. Reach out to Michael Kerr via the website if you need personal assistance or advice for your small business. michael.kerr@kerrcapital.com.au www.smallbusinessbanter.com.au

TGIF Creek Talkers!! It's NEW RELEASE DAY!!

Notes and Links to Andrés Ordorica's Work        For Episode 225, Pete welcomes Andrés Ordorica, and the two discuss, among other topics, his early relationship to the written word, formative and transformative writers and writing, wonderful trips to Borders Books, moments and people that shaped his sensibilities, Shakespeare comparisons, and seeds for and salient themes related to How We Named the Stars, including love and loss, the intensity of young love and first love and college, longing and grief.        Andrés N. Ordorica is a queer Latinx writer based in Edinburgh. Drawing on his family's immigrant history and third culture upbringing, his writing maps the journey of diaspora and unpacks what it means to be from ni de aquí, ni de allá (neither here, nor there). He is the author of the poetry collection At Least This I Know and novel How We Named the Stars. He has been shortlisted for the Morley Lit Prize, the Mo Siewcharran Prize and the Saltire Society's Poetry Book of The Year. In 2024, he was selected as one of The Observer's 10 Best Debut Novelists.   Buy How We Named the Stars   Andres' Website   New York Times Review of How We Named the Stars from Maxwell Gilmer   At about 2:15, Andrés talks about the “surreal” experiences he's had since the book has been out in the world At about 3:20, Andrés shouts out Douglas Stuart and advice on dealing with multiple projects At about 5:40, Andrés calls his new project “part of a similar world” as that of How We Named the Stars At about 8:15, Andrés fill Pete in on his childhood relationship with libraries and the written word, including how his mother's storytelling influenced and inspired him At about 11:00, Andrés shouts out NorCal reading spots and how he “fell in love with the idea of books” At about 13:05, Andrés discusses writers and writing that catapulted him into writing and reading even more seriously-Cristina Garcia, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Susan Lori Parks, Sandra Cisneros, and Marquez  At about 19:30, Andrés shouts out Jackie Kay and Griffin Hansbury and other contemporaries he's reading in 2024 At about 22:45, Andrés discusses the stellar work of Jackie Kay's time as Maker of Scotland At about 24:10, GoodReads discourse! At about 25:20, Andrés discusses seeds for the book and its epigraph At about 28:55, Andrés reflects on love and loss as important themes in general and in his book in particular At about 30:00, Andrés shouts out places to buy his book, and mentions that his book is a Barnes and Noble Pick of the Month At about 32:20, Andrés breaks down his “pragmatic” and “poetic” decisions to write the book in the epistolary form and let the trader know very quickly about a shattering death At about 34:35, Pete and Andrés discuss the Prologue and the cosmos and axolotls being referenced  At about 39:40, Andrés gives history on how Elizabeth DeMeo helped him choose his dynamic title At about 41:00, Pete references ideas of light and darkness and tells a story about a mistaken symbol in Reyna Grande's Across a Hundred Mountains At about 43:55, Andrés talks about how even a novelist “doesn't have all of the answers” regarding the letter/book that constitutes the book At about 45:30, Pete makes a controversial comparison, re: Shakespeare  At about 47:15, Andrés gives background on a deleted scene from the book alluding to As You Like It At about 48:45, Pete references Karim new book on Shakespeare by Farah Karim-Cooper At about 51:30, The two discuss the intensity of college and “the transitory” experience that characterizes the beginning of college At about 54:50, Pete asks Andrés about the first interactions between Sam and Daniel in the book and about an early scene as a balancing act At about 1:00:20, Pete lays out early scenes from the book that deal with ignorant and racist comments and the “generous” Sam-Andrés expands upon the former scene's significance At about 1:06:00, The two discuss Andrés' homesickness and family connections and “family” at college At about 1:07:00, Themes of masculinity and genuine selfhood are discussed, and Andrés talks about how he shaped parts of the book as an “homage” to figures in his life  At about 1:09:50, Pete highlights Andrés incredible touch in rendering the immediate aftermath of a crushing death on the page     You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode.    I am very excited that starting in February with Episode 220 with Neef Ekpoudom and this episode, I will have one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review-I'm looking forward to the partnership!    Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl     Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!       This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 226 with Priscila Gilman, author of the memoir, The Anti-Romantic Child, and former professor of English literature at Yale University and Vassar College; Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, O, the Oprah Magazine, and elsewhere. Her memoir, A Critic's Daughter, was released to critical acclaim in Feb 2023    The episode will air on March 5.       

Welcome back to Analyze Scripts, where a psychiatrist and a therapist analyze what Hollywood gets right and wrong about mental health. Today, we are rereleasing one of our favorite episodes where we were joined by one of Dr. Furey's favorite teachers from residency, Dr. Zheala Qayyum. Dr. Qayyum is the Training Director for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program and the Medical Director of the Emergency Psychiatry Services at Boston Children’s Hospital. She has published on the use of fairy tales in teaching child psychiatry and joins us to discuss the first "Harry Potter" movie. In this episode, we discuss many interesting themes including the psychological effects of early childhood trauma and neglect, the attachment styles of the three main characters, and the importance of friendship in identity formation. We also reflect on the mirror of Erised and the importance of exploring dark feelings and themes in childhood from a safe space, such as through this magical film. We hope you enjoy as much as we enjoyed speaking with Dr. Qayyum! Instagram TikTok Website [00:10] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Hi, I'm Dr. Katrina Fieri, a psychiatrist. And I'm Portia Pendleton, a licensed clinical social worker. And this is Analyze Scripts, a podcast where two shrinks analyze the depiction of mental health in movies and TV shows. Our hope is that you learn some legit info about mental health while feeling like you're chatting with your girlfriends. There is so much misinformation out there. [00:30] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And it drives us nuts. [00:31] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And if someday we pay off our student loans or land a sponsorship, like with a lay flat airline or a major beauty brand, even better. So sit back, relax, grab some popcorn and your DSM Five and enjoy. [00:50] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Don'T. [01:17] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: For a very special episode of Analyze Scripts, because one of my favorite attendings for my residency training is joining us to talk about one of my favorite movies, harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, or The Philosopher's Stone, depending on which country you're watching it in. So today we have Dr. Gila Kayum, the training director for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship program and the medical director of the emergency Psychiatry services at Boston Children's Hospital. She holds faculty appointments at Yale School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School, and she's the associate director of medical student education and Psychiatry. She's also serving as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserves Medical Corps and deployed to Afghanistan and was later mobilized in support of the COVID-19 response to New York. Dr. Kayoom has published on the topics of medical education, autism spectrum disorders, inpatient treatment of early psychosis, and LGBTQ, plus youth, the use of fairy tales in teaching child psychiatry, and the risk of youth suicide and firearms. She has a particular interest in the areas of supervision and mentorship, which she's so good at psycho oncology and palliative care. And I feel like we always called her Dr. Q. I guess I'm allowed to call her by her first name because I'm a grown up now, but I still feel kind of funny about it. But you were one of my favorite mentors, and I feel like you're really special because sometimes when you have a mentor, it kind of feels like they're trying to mold you in their image. But I always felt like you just wanted what was best for me, and you were so encouraging, and I just always loved working with you, and you hold a really special place in my heart. [02:58] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: So this is really fun to talk about. [03:00] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Harry Potter no, this is, like, making me teary. This is just a lovely intro I have gotten. And it's just such a thrill that the people that you invest in grow up to be such amazing child or adult or psychiatrists, but more so, just people. And you're very dear to me as well. The best part of being an educator and a clinician is that not only are you trying to sort of transfer your skills or your wisdom, but you get to see your kids grow and become they're meant to be and their best versions. And if you think you're a part of that journey, I think that's just the most amazing privilege. [03:50] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Well, I know you were for me, and I know you were for a lot of my co residents, so it's so true. So I am dying to talk to you about this movie, given your interest in using fairy tales to explore development. So I just kind of want to jump right in and hear what you think about the first Harry Potter movie and kind of what jumps out at you. [04:13] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: So I think one of the loveliest things about Harry Potter was that it was a modern fairy tale, and we've had a lot of lovely fantasy series, but there was something very special about Harry Potter that just captured everyone, whether it was kids or adults. It's interesting, whenever I ask people what their favorite children's book is, inevitably, for a lot of them, it's Harry Potter. And I read it in med school. So I was much older, but I still stood in line at midnight yes, where I was standing next to like, ten year olds in their robes, and I was like, Am I in the right place? But you felt like you were in the right place. And I think that's what it communicated was it was or is a modern fairy tale for all ages. It just has that essence of a fairy tale, that it means something different to different people at whatever stage of development or life they're in. So a child can interpret it in their own way and have things that they resonate with. And as adults, we might find things that resonate to us, whether based on the hero's journey, these ordeals and call to action and your helpers that bring you along, but also the trepidations, the challenges, the times you doubt yourself when things are there. How do you overcome challenges and this power of transformation through a journey and a story that you're not the same person that you started off as, but with all of the things that you've had to experience? How does that evolve and transform you till you come full circle in some way? Not the same person that left, but so much more wiser grown. I think it's the transformative journey that we see from the first book that started, but there are these just themes that just feel like so relevant to today about loss and difficulty and when you're seeing this drive for power around you and how do you fit in the whole picture. And we usually have a reluctant protagonist in many stories that is not fully sure they want to take on the adventure and the call for action, and yet they do. But I think most importantly for me, the biggest thing was the importance of hope and friends. [07:04] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yeah, I totally agree. And it's funny you mentioned hearkening back to standing in line at midnight at, like, Borders Books or wherever you were. I totally did the same thing. I think I was in middle school and then high school. But it is really fascinating how Harry Potter and other fairy tales like it. But I feel like especially Harry Potter, it is such a cultural, communal enjoyment and not just in American culture, but certainly worldwide. It's just such a really cool thing that it just really spans ages, genders, cultures, nationalities, languages. Everyone loves it, right? And I feel like this movie rewatching it now as an adult with my children was so meaningful and fun. So I have a seven year old and a four year old and they were just enraptured by it. They wouldn't stop talking the whole time. They wouldn't take their eyes off and this isn't like a cartoon, so they're still at the ages where really it's cartoons that catch their attention for two and a half hours. But this one did, and that was really interesting to me and really special. And I love some of their commentary. Like, with her, MayAny always raising her hand. My daughter, which I was so happy, said she's got a really big brain. And I was like, yes, she know. And then when Draco came on the scene very early on, my son was like, oh, he's a bully. And I was just you know, it's just really cool to kind of see kids watching it too. [08:40] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah. I think it's worth mentioning something interesting. When I was starting to read the books before the music, the movies had started kind of coming out. I remember very distinctly the religious organization that I was a part of at the time was very split with people thinking that you shouldn't be reading it. It's magic. It's witchcraft. Witchcraft. And then the other half being like, if you know the story, it's like this good versus evil. Good always triumphs. There's hope. There's, like you were saying, friendships. I mean, it's such a positive message. And there's so many interesting. [09:23] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I don't. [09:23] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Know, like, spiritual parallels and parallels throughout all of the books. But I think it was just an interesting time to be know, hearing this spoken series is bad or evil and then reading them. Know, in my family, we were very pro Harry Potter and loving the messages. And I think that was just like I don't know. I'm sure some other people might have had that experience. [09:45] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Oh, I totally remember. [09:48] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Right. [09:48] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Like, we come to see this boy in, I would say, a pretty abusive home with a lot of neglect. And I think it's funny watching it or thinking about it now versus in. Like, I'm curious what even your kids picked up of the scenes. The parents certainly seem mean and right dismissive. And you picked that up even as a child, like something not right. Why does Dudley receive all of these gifts and Harry not his clothing? [10:18] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yeah, my kids were asking about that? [10:21] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Like why are they so mean to? [10:22] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Why is he living under the stairs? They certainly were asking those questions. [10:29] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah, no, I think it's a really lovely depiction of how prevalent and difficult it is for kids that have neglect. And I think also it really sort of from starting from him being under the stairs and just watching Dudley get 36 presents and counting and him thinking about, like he has to get hand me downs to go to school and what that would be like. Just that differential that was created and that sense of otherness or I don't belong or I'm not good enough. It really, I think, beautifully highlights how a child will internalize that, because you see that then play out throughout, which partly keeps him humble when everybody thinks he's this amazing everybody knows him, but he's coming from where? Nobody. Knows anything about him. And he held on to that for a very long time and it really changed his I think we see him work through it, but his sense of belief and faith in his own abilities and his self because they told him he wasn't good enough for a good eleven years. And that sense of feeling like you're worth something that he didn't get initially. And how does one young child actually grow to develop that? Partly it kept him humble in the face of, I don't know, magician dumb or stardom or whatever that was that he got later on. But also, it really impeded his ability to rely on other people. And we see. This in the later books as well, but whenever he has to do something, he's very like the avoidant attachment style. I can't trust people to be there for me. And we know later in the books there are other losses that sort of reinforce that for him. But he embarks on everything on his own and working with others and trusting others comes very, very it's very challenging for him, comes much later. [12:52] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And I like that you brought up his attachment style. Can you explain a little bit what avoided attachment is or the kind of kids or adults we might see that in and how Harry either fits in or doesn't quite fit in. [13:09] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: So the avoidant attachment style is when a young child has inconsistent caregiving where their needs may not be consistently met. And so rather than clinging to their caregiver to get their needs met, they're like avoiding contact with them because they don't know are they coming, are they going, or are they going to be there. So the child starts to avoid that contact and doesn't get need or avoids contact with the caregiver to get soothed and self regulated. So we see the same thing, that since the Attachment is our template for forming relationships, that we carry on in life, we see Harry particularly later on as he's growing older, that even in adolescence, whenever there is a challenge, he goes off on his own rather than relying on anybody else because he doesn't know. Are people going to really be there for him or not? Are they going to leave? Are they going to neglect him? So he might as well do that for himself and just go off on his own. So that sense of avoiding closeness with people because they might leave or not be there for you, is that sense that avoidant children internalize and so they don't keep looking for closeness with people. It's good that we see Harry work through this over a great many books, which also tells you that it runs in parallel with the life experience of a young child who's had early life neglect and avoidant attachment style might need a lot of reinforcement of positive interactions to say, no, you can rely on other people. If you do get close to people, it'll be okay. And yet loss is a very, I think, integral part of our human experience and life. And for an avoidant child, there is that risk that it just might reinforce that belief that people are not going to be there for them. [15:18] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And in addition to Harry having that early childhood neglect and abuse, he also had early loss of his parents, who seem like lovely caregivers, who were likely very attuned to his needs, at least as far as we can tell, and that he was present for their murder. And so I was really curious about your take on that, given around the age they depict that and then what it must have been like for him at age eleven to start learning the truth about that loss at the same time as he's learning their loss is why he's famous or special. I just imagine that's got to be so confusing. [16:03] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Absolutely. And I think that's such a lovely point of there's so much magic instilled in that power, of that parental love that he carried with him that it literally burned. Professor Squirrel. [16:22] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Right. [16:23] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: It was so powerful. I think it does show, though, however, that it was at a very sort of vulnerable time period in his life when that death occurred. He was still a baby, and we're thinking, like, till from infancy to toddlerhood, maybe the first part went well when his parents were attuned and taking care of him, but later on, and still in that very vulnerable time frame, he had a lot of neglect. And so as you're entering into your preteen years, your sense of, how do I relate with my peers? Who am I in relationship with them? Will they accept me as? We're thinking about later, latency age and early preteens going into your identity formation, who you are is so sort of determined by who are the people in your life? Who brought you here? What is your story? How did you start? And I remember as a child, my mom would tell me stories about, well, when you were little we did this things I wouldn't remember. But still you create these memories based on the things that your parents tell you as well when you're younger. But those things are so important in our development, and now he had to figure that out on his own. Who was he? What were his parents like? That question of when he goes and sees his father's name on the trophy room and he's like, I didn't know he was a Seeker. There's just so many knowns for him to figure out who he is because he doesn't know where he's coming from, and your legacy or your lineage or what are the wonderful stories about how amazing you are. Your parents tell you he never had that. And now he has to create his own narrative about who he is, which is the whole process through the book. [18:26] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: And speaking of like, identity formation, he went from being told that you're such a burden, you're unwanted. Your parents were horrible, they were weird or strange, to being praised or whoa, Ron's reaction to it's. You with the scar on the train, know, having all of this wealth suddenly and this importance in this world, it's just so interesting. You had written down with Hagrid, like him just going with that to this magical place that if somebody had told an eleven year old me, I think, and I'm hopefully that I'm securely attached, I would have been afraid to go with Hagrid. [19:08] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Right. [19:09] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: This big, burly, giant, half giant man who's telling me all these things that we're going to go to this magical place. I think for a securely attached child, they probably wouldn't have gone. But he didn't have any attachments. And then I think anything is better than living with the directly to finally. [19:29] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Take him out of that situation. [19:31] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Right. [19:31] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: It's like almost like this savior has come to rescue him. What were your thoughts about that, Dr. Q? The way he so know, latched onto Hagrid? [19:41] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah, I think just like Portia said, it's like that insecure attachment, there's nothing to hold him there. But he's also, I think, like you talked about at a point where he's thinking about things and his life. If he's going to go to the same school as Dudley, what is that going to be? He's getting into trouble constantly. And imagine the message you internalize after you're told that everything you do is wrong or you're a bad kid, and you get told that long enough, you start believing it. So maybe it wasn't such a far fetched thing to say, I'm going and I'm taking off. [20:19] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Right. [20:20] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: What's the worst thing that can happen whenever anything I do isn't good anyway? [20:27] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Right? And I think we see that in clinical work. And probably you see a lot more, given your line of work, in kids who maybe will go off with not safe people. That sort of increases their vulnerability for those very situations. [20:43] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Because at the core of it, every kid just wants to belong. [20:48] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yeah. [20:49] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: And so if it was what Hagrid said, is that's where you belong? He hasn't had that sense of belonging at the Dursleys. So he will try. And go and find if he belongs somewhere else and what other people. [21:09] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And he does find. [21:10] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I feel like I'm going to cry. [21:11] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Talking about Harry Potter and also just thinking about Hagrid is like, I just love Hagrid. He's such a gentle giant, but I couldn't think of a better person to come scoop up Harry. Right. Like, even just imagining him sort of putting him in the little sidecar, he's, like, nice and cozy and secure and contained and I hope just feels safe next to this big old guy who. [21:40] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Stood up to the dursleys, right? Chased found him. I remember my blood boiling even watching the movie again or rereading the book when they keep taking his know you know, it's such. [21:58] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: His letter. [21:59] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah, that's the one thing he has. [22:02] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: But then Hogwarts is like, well, we'll send you more. We're not going to give up. And I would imagine for, like, how wonderful. That must feel like, wow, they really. [22:12] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Are trying to get to me. [22:13] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: No one has wanted me like that before. And they're being like Hogwarts or whoever. Dumbledore's love for him is so transcendent and powerful that it wins. Out against the neglect of the know. [22:29] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Just beautiful and sort of how teary Hagrid was when he was first dropping him off when he was a baby and dumbledore saying it's not goodbye for. [22:42] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Oh my gosh I feel like, that's how I am. Every year the new school year starts, you're just like, oh, my gosh, they're growing up. [22:51] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: And then hermione I think it's worth mentioning. So she has, it seems, securely attached, supportive parents. But is living as a muggle her whole life until receiving these letters and going to Hogwarts and then learning that she is like a mudblood and that she is not good enough. Her blood is like, dirty. And yet she is so brilliant, and I think that's such an interesting reversal of her and Harry's experience. She's still really smart, but it's like it's not good know are calling her names like Draco. And I don't think that she experienced that. Prior know the little bits that we get of her pre hogwarts. [23:40] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And interesting to think about her parents. Like getting this random letter and sending her. Right? [23:47] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah. [23:51] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: That's the wonderful thing about secure attachment and great parenting is know, we're all about you. So if this is who you are and this is your success and this is where you're going to thrive, sure. [24:03] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: We don't know anything. Go for it. [24:06] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: And I think that is part of Hermione's own resilience as well is that that secure attachment, as difficult as those interactions with Draco are, allows her to stand up for Harry and Ron and build friendships and sort of extend that beyond the parental unit onto her friends, new people and say, because I have a good sense of attachment and security and I know people will be there for me, I can be there for other people, too. And then you can carry it forward. So I think Hermione is a really nice example of a secure attachment. And then I think you see that play out a little bit more. Not in the first book, but later on at the Yule ball, where she can put Ron in his place for not asking her out and sort of take ownership of her own. Know, next time you want to do this, pluck up the courage and ask, right? [25:10] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Boundaries. [25:11] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I think that's a really nice illustration of how important attachment is as a child is growing and then into adolescence that the same things play out in your other relationships. [25:25] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And how amazing to have a girl character like Hermione, right? Like, I think all the things you just said, like her bravery, her intellect, her self confidence, her boundaries, I just think so lovely to have a girl character like this for girls and boys and adults to read about and identify with. And she can maintain that sense of herself in the face of draco and the slurs and the comments, even when people even know who she goes on to marry down the road. Spoiler alert. Even as he's kind of putting her down for being smart, she doesn't stop raising her, know? And I remember as a middle school girl who loved school, just loving that, just loving that. And I loved watching now my daughter, watch her, and I'm just like, soak this up, soak this. [26:20] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah, such a lovely little bottle for girls. And then since we're on the topic, like, you think about Ron, who is like this lost soul in this big family of redheads. And so you kind of see his sort of anxious style come through that, particularly when he was asked to relax and he couldn't. [26:44] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yes, he's like, I don't know how. [26:49] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Right? And all the hand me down. Not that he got, but also the same sweater that he gets every year, that there is love in that family, there is care, but also with so many kids, they're kind of lost until they get into trouble, that they get into parental they get parental attention and you hear about their concerns. And so even though there is not a lot of any mal intent anywhere within the Weasley family, but you can see where Ron's anxiety and anxious attachment style comes in and you see the same thing in the Eubolic. And the anxious attachment style is, you know, the child that doesn't know how to get through, they're like, all right, please pick me up. No, now put me down. No, pick me up again. I'm not sure. They're just taking time to self regulate and self soothe and sometimes they can get pretty irritable and upset too, and so they might lash out. And you see that in the U ball scene, too, where I know I'm jumping ahead, but rather than asking Hermione, he gets really sulky and irritable rather than owning up, but he wants it, but he doesn't know how to do it. So you kind of see that tension and that sort of clinginess but not sure what to do sort of thing. So I think the whole series really highlights these attachment styles really nicely. [28:19] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Isn't that amazing? How did JK. Rowling do that? And I thought the fact that they're all eleven, it was just perfect, right? Like at that age and kind of with all the books following them through is just really beautifully done, I think. [28:39] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: And you can kind of play out in the carriage scene when they're first on the Hogwarts Express together, where I think Hermione comes in looking for Neville's Frog frog. And you see how confident she is and she's you're and who are you and have you done this? And so self aware, self confident. And then you have Harry just sitting by himself, not sure he wants to talk to anybody. And poor Ron, who's trying to get his presence known again, just like a young child in a big family would feel lost, that I have to make my presence known, otherwise I won't get the attention I need. And poor Scabbers that he's trying to turn yellow and that's not working out. So you kind of see it play so nicely in a very simple scene. [29:36] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Definitely something that I noticed, and I think it's just my interpretation of things, is that Ron seems to have the most obvious shame about his finances compared to the other siblings. I don't really notice or even Jenny's younger in this book, but being so visibly upset, I know that there's the interaction in the robes shop with Draco and then on the train, even with his little sandwich, right, he can't buy the treats. And then there's like whoa when Harry has those gold coins. And it really does seem to impact him even throughout the rest of the story. Just that intersectionality. He's a pure blood, but he is poor. And then how that really goes up against Draco and his Pure Blood and wealth family. [30:34] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: I think that's an interesting thing to think about the intersectionality of all their identities in this sort of fantasy world, right? There's so many parallels. Like even if you think about different intersectional identities in our culture today, and it's just interesting to think about it's an older book. [30:55] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: I mean, again, it's so easy to talk about these more seemingly popular nuanced ideas. They've been around for a while, but everyone kind of talks about their intersectionality or different identities. And it's so clear in the book, right? [31:13] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: It does seem like the type of series where you'll always get more from it. I reread the series I think, last year, and I loved it, and I feel like I got more from it as an adult than I did as a kid. And it's one of those things where I feel like every time you read it, you'll get more and more from it. [31:31] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: It just means something different. Yeah. [31:35] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: So one thing I was hoping we could talk about is the mirror of Irisev, which is desire spelled backwards. I totally choked up watching this part again, as an adult, I was curious to hear about your experience. [31:52] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah, I had so many thoughts about that. I mean, it's such a powerful thing. And the fact that if you're truly content, then you can see yourself as you are, only the happiness, and if that is the measure of happiness. And it was like, wow, just the visual illustration of happiness, that you could see yourself and just see yourself as you are. Because I just felt like, yes, it is desire spelled backwards, but it is so prevalent throughout with starting with those 36 presents that you want more, and Voldemort wanting more, that defeated and needing to come back and needs to get more and more power and even kills a unicorn for it. [32:46] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Oh, my gosh, that was devastating for my four year old daughter. I regretted that part horribly. [32:51] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Like, yes, moving but jarring scene. And then the fact that your heart's deepest desires that you're desperate for and you'll see that, but anything that's too much is going to consume you. And those people who sort of run after the things that they really, really want, I think it was a very powerful way of giving that message of too much consume you and there'll be nothing left. Like it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. So I just thought it takes so much courage, though, to ask yourself what it is that you really want in life. I mean, a lot of us may want all these things, but what is it that you truly, truly want? I think that's a very powerful question to ask. And how many of us really can look at ourselves in the mirror and say, this is what I really, really want in life, and to be able to face that and own it. [33:59] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: It's a good question to ask a client, even, because I think you can always get to the feeling right under it. So if someone's they're saying that their deepest desire is financial gain, it's like, okay, but what does that mean? Does that mean you want to feel secure? Does it mean that you want to be powerful in a sense of authority? Do you want people to look up to you? It's always like a feeling. [34:26] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And why? Where does that come from? [34:28] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah, it's a good place to explore with yourself and maybe with a patient as well. [34:33] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Can you imagine, like, starting off a session, they come to see you. For the first time. And you're like, here is my mirror of IRISET. [34:39] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah. [34:40] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Looking at what do you see and. [34:42] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: What does that mean? [34:45] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: It'll make our job so much easier. [34:47] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: I know, right quick, right real quick. [34:50] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: We'll get to the deep rooted issues in 10 seconds. [34:54] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Easy peasy. Managed care will love it. So we see what Harry wants, which is his parents. And again, I was so struck by him going back to that mirror repeatedly and I was just like, of course he is, right? Like his parents are moving. You see his mother, his father touch his shoulder. I was just like, oh, I so feel that for him. Then we see him drag ron so excited to share that experience of his parents with him. But Ron sees himself as head boy and winning the quidditch cup. And again, that totally makes sense based on everything we just talked about with Ron's family. We didn't see hermione. And I was curious what you guys thought. What would hermione see, if anything, or would she see herself? [35:46] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: I think maybe if anyone would be seeing themselves, it would be her. Especially like in book one. I think she does seem so content and excited and authentic that I think it might be her. Maybe it's her being top of the class. [36:04] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I think she is. [36:05] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: She already kind of is. [36:08] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I have a feeling that the one thing she grows to develop were friendships. That I wonder if she might see herself surrounded with friends. [36:17] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yeah, I think at her age again, I agree. Portia of the Three know. Harry rod hermione. I feel like she would be the one closest to seeing just her true self. But I wonder if at that age of eleven, as a girl, if there's something deeper she's not able to articulate yet that we might see like friendship. [36:38] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah, I think that's accurate. I think sometimes you get the books confused or what's, like maybe a fan fiction thing online or something. But I am pretty sure that she does say that she did struggle with friends and so to have these deep friendships build at Hogwarts, I think that might be it. [37:00] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah. I'm just thinking know, she is very brilliant. So seeing herself as like the know, graduate or something of her class probably isn't far fetched. But if that intimidates other kids when she's correcting them over livio saw yes, that might rub kids the wrong way. That maybe that peer acceptance and those close friendships might be something that we see sort of develop over time as well. [37:33] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And so as we start wrapping up our wonderful episode today, let's talk a little bit about their friendships. Because I just feel like, gosh, I thought the movie did such a good job explaining the book, which has so many concepts, so much magic in it. It's had to do so much in just two and a half hours of just like background, like this is where we find ourselves. This is Hogwarts. This is Quidditch. This is Voldemort. Like here it is. And capturing all these complex concepts in such like a beautifully visually appealing way. The music is wonderful but we certainly see the triad between Harry, Ron and Hermione starting and forming and we know that just grows and grows and gets more complex over time. And I was really curious Dr. Q about your thoughts about first of all that it's a triad. There's three of them, two boys and a girl and what do you think of all that? [38:36] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I just love the idea and particularly since you have the girl be somebody like hermione and I thought it's really nice to see their parallel processes. Each one of them is trying to sort of discovering that they're each really good at something but not good at everything. Like Hermione realizes she's not good at quit it. How humbling for someone who's really good and smart to know quidditch is not for, you know, Harry discovering that's what he's really good at and very early on know Ron playing chess and how it was reinforced with all the points even Neville's like standing up to your. So I felt that that was such a lovely way of saying that some of the reasons why friendships are important is that no one is whole in themselves and so much stronger when we all complement each other. But how do you explain that to an eleven year old? But if they saw the movie they would understand that we are so much more when we're all together and how those friendships last over years even for many of us. And I also felt like the complexity that you talked about. I think another movie that highlights it really nicely is Inside Out. [40:06] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yes, we love that movie. [40:08] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Our emotions are one color when they're younger and as you grow older they get more complex and those marbles are multicolored because emotions are more complex than just feeling sad, mad and glad. And similarly as we're thinking about I think this goes very nicely in a parallel of fairy tales and development that when children are younger they can only see good and bad. As long as you're giving me what I want you're the good parent. When you set limits you are not. [40:43] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Oh I feel this every day older. [40:46] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: You can hold the things together in the same person that there are things that are great about them and there are things that are some weaknesses. And when we're children we look at our parents as these idealized giants and as we grow older we see them for human beings that have wonderful strengths and flaws that we can still accept and love them still the same. So I think that is a big developmental challenge but I think the books highlight that really nicely with them being able to sit and tolerate that complexity. [41:29] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: That nothing is so and again with them starting this journey at age eleven. I feel like that's the perfect timing for all of this to start. And I wonder if even the darkness of Harry Potter in watching the first movie, I was like, all right. I think it'll be several years before I show my kids the second movie because each one gets a little darker, a little grittier. But I think that maybe contributes to why it sort of captured all of us. And it is darker than the Disney version. Like, Inside Out is a great example, but I think that just speaks to the reality. [42:12] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Like, the books get more complex, the books get darker, the characters get more complex, the characters get know. I think it was just such an interesting time to read it as a child as they came out, because it really kind of aligned perfectly with my own development. [42:28] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yeah, exactly. [42:29] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: I remember my mom read me the first book, and then I remember the last one coming out, and I think my grandma said it to me. It was like raft in the Muggles, right? Like Muggles can receive on whatever date, and then I read it for myself. So I think it's so uniquely that way that led to so many people being a part of it for years and still feeling really connected to it now. [42:53] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And now getting to share it with your own children, like I'm starting to do, is so special. [42:59] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah. And that's the power of fairy tales, is that even if it may be really dark, it creates this metaphorical, imaginary, special place where you can still explore this darkness in a very safe way. [43:13] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yes. [43:13] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Go process it. Look what it's like to be angry. Oh, my gosh. Cruel people, mean people. And then you come back to the safety of reading this with your mom and everything's going to be okay. [43:27] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah. [43:27] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: It's so beautiful. It is. It's very special. Very special. Well, Dr. Q, is there anything else you were hoping we could touch, know, talking about Harry Potter, the first it. [43:42] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I think it's just a wonderful part of my life. I wish I was in Hogwarts, and that was the life I lived. Sometimes I'm looking forward to having a real Harry Potter birthday someday. But I think the thing that resonates most with me is this quote from Neil Gaiman that says, fiction is a lie that tells us true things over and over. And I think that's the power of Harry Potter is that the reason it spoke to so many of us is that we all connected at some level with something that was very true for each one of us. [44:18] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: I like that. [44:20] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: That is a really beautiful place to leave it. Well, Dr. Q, thank you so much for joining us. We would love to have you back for the next seven movies over the course of time. It was so nice to personally reconnect with you again, thank you all for listening to this very special episode of Analyze Scripts. If you'd like to hear our take on Inside Out, we do have an episode about that from several months ago. I don't know. Dr. Q, did you know they're making a sequel? I think it's supposed to come out in the next couple of years, so that's really exciting. I hope it's about Riley's adolescence. Yes, and we really hope it also shows her living through COVID. Like, we could really use that for all the kids. We could, right? But you can find us at Analyze Scripts podcast on Instagram and TikTok and catch us next Monday for our next episode. Thanks so much. [45:24] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: See you next time. Thank you for having me. [45:32] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: This podcast and its contents are a copyright of Analyzed Scripts. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited. Unless you want to share it with your friends and rate, review and subscribe, that's fine. All stories and characters discussed are fictional in nature. No identification with actual persons, living or deceased places, buildings, or products is intended or should be inferred. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. The podcast and its contents do not constitute professional mental health or medical advice. Listeners might consider consulting a mental health provider if they need assistance with any mental health problems or concerns. As always, please call 911 or go directly to your nearest emergency room for any psychiatric emergencies. Thanks for listening and see you next time.

Welcome back to Analyze Scripts, where a psychiatrist and a therapist analyze what Hollywood gets right and wrong about mental health. Today, we are thrilled to be joined by one of Dr. Furey's favorite teachers from residency, Dr. Zheala Qayyum. Dr. Qayyum is the Training Director for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship Program and the Medical Director of the Emergency Psychiatry Services at Boston Children’s Hospital. She has published on the use of fairy tales in teaching child psychiatry and joins us to discuss the first "Harry Potter" movie. In this episode, we discuss many interesting themes including the psychological effects of early childhood trauma and neglect, the attachment styles of the three main characters, and the importance of friendship in identity formation. We also reflect on the mirror of Erised and the importance of exploring dark feelings and themes in childhood from a safe space, such as through this magical film. We hope you enjoy as much as we enjoyed speaking with Dr. Qayyum! Instagram TikTok Website [00:10] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Hi, I'm Dr. Katrina Fieri, a psychiatrist. And I'm Portia Pendleton, a licensed clinical social worker. And this is Analyze Scripts, a podcast where two shrinks analyze the depiction of mental health in movies and TV shows. Our hope is that you learn some legit info about mental health while feeling like you're chatting with your girlfriends. There is so much misinformation out there. [00:30] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And it drives us nuts. [00:31] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And if someday we pay off our student loans or land a sponsorship, like with a lay flat airline or a major beauty brand, even better. So sit back, relax, grab some popcorn and your DSM Five and enjoy. [00:50] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Don'T. [01:17] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: For a very special episode of Analyze Scripts, because one of my favorite attendings for my residency training is joining us to talk about one of my favorite movies, harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, or The Philosopher's Stone, depending on which country you're watching it in. So today we have Dr. Gila Kayum, the training director for the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship program and the medical director of the emergency Psychiatry services at Boston Children's Hospital. She holds faculty appointments at Yale School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School, and she's the associate director of medical student education and Psychiatry. She's also serving as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserves Medical Corps and deployed to Afghanistan and was later mobilized in support of the COVID-19 response to New York. Dr. Kayoom has published on the topics of medical education, autism spectrum disorders, inpatient treatment of early psychosis, and LGBTQ, plus youth, the use of fairy tales in teaching child psychiatry, and the risk of youth suicide and firearms. She has a particular interest in the areas of supervision and mentorship, which she's so good at psycho oncology and palliative care. And I feel like we always called her Dr. Q. I guess I'm allowed to call her by her first name because I'm a grown up now, but I still feel kind of funny about it. But you were one of my favorite mentors, and I feel like you're really special because sometimes when you have a mentor, it kind of feels like they're trying to mold you in their image. But I always felt like you just wanted what was best for me, and you were so encouraging, and I just always loved working with you, and you hold a really special place in my heart. [02:58] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: So this is really fun to talk about. [03:00] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Harry Potter no, this is, like, making me teary. This is just a lovely intro I have gotten. And it's just such a thrill that the people that you invest in grow up to be such amazing child or adult or psychiatrists, but more so, just people. And you're very dear to me as well. The best part of being an educator and a clinician is that not only are you trying to sort of transfer your skills or your wisdom, but you get to see your kids grow and become they're meant to be and their best versions. And if you think you're a part of that journey, I think that's just the most amazing privilege. [03:50] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Well, I know you were for me, and I know you were for a lot of my co residents, so it's so true. So I am dying to talk to you about this movie, given your interest in using fairy tales to explore development. So I just kind of want to jump right in and hear what you think about the first Harry Potter movie and kind of what jumps out at you. [04:13] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: So I think one of the loveliest things about Harry Potter was that it was a modern fairy tale, and we've had a lot of lovely fantasy series, but there was something very special about Harry Potter that just captured everyone, whether it was kids or adults. It's interesting, whenever I ask people what their favorite children's book is, inevitably, for a lot of them, it's Harry Potter. And I read it in med school. So I was much older, but I still stood in line at midnight yes, where I was standing next to like, ten year olds in their robes, and I was like, Am I in the right place? But you felt like you were in the right place. And I think that's what it communicated was it was or is a modern fairy tale for all ages. It just has that essence of a fairy tale, that it means something different to different people at whatever stage of development or life they're in. So a child can interpret it in their own way and have things that they resonate with. And as adults, we might find things that resonate to us, whether based on the hero's journey, these ordeals and call to action and your helpers that bring you along, but also the trepidations, the challenges, the times you doubt yourself when things are there. How do you overcome challenges and this power of transformation through a journey and a story that you're not the same person that you started off as, but with all of the things that you've had to experience? How does that evolve and transform you till you come full circle in some way? Not the same person that left, but so much more wiser grown. I think it's the transformative journey that we see from the first book that started, but there are these just themes that just feel like so relevant to today about loss and difficulty and when you're seeing this drive for power around you and how do you fit in the whole picture. And we usually have a reluctant protagonist in many stories that is not fully sure they want to take on the adventure and the call for action, and yet they do. But I think most importantly for me, the biggest thing was the importance of hope and friends. [07:04] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yeah, I totally agree. And it's funny you mentioned hearkening back to standing in line at midnight at, like, Borders Books or wherever you were. I totally did the same thing. I think I was in middle school and then high school. But it is really fascinating how Harry Potter and other fairy tales like it. But I feel like especially Harry Potter, it is such a cultural, communal enjoyment and not just in American culture, but certainly worldwide. It's just such a really cool thing that it just really spans ages, genders, cultures, nationalities, languages. Everyone loves it, right? And I feel like this movie rewatching it now as an adult with my children was so meaningful and fun. So I have a seven year old and a four year old and they were just enraptured by it. They wouldn't stop talking the whole time. They wouldn't take their eyes off and this isn't like a cartoon, so they're still at the ages where really it's cartoons that catch their attention for two and a half hours. But this one did, and that was really interesting to me and really special. And I love some of their commentary. Like, with her, MayAny always raising her hand. My daughter, which I was so happy, said she's got a really big brain. And I was like, yes, she know. And then when Draco came on the scene very early on, my son was like, oh, he's a bully. And I was just you know, it's just really cool to kind of see kids watching it too. [08:40] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah. I think it's worth mentioning something interesting. When I was starting to read the books before the music, the movies had started kind of coming out. I remember very distinctly the religious organization that I was a part of at the time was very split with people thinking that you shouldn't be reading it. It's magic. It's witchcraft. Witchcraft. And then the other half being like, if you know the story, it's like this good versus evil. Good always triumphs. There's hope. There's, like you were saying, friendships. I mean, it's such a positive message. And there's so many interesting. [09:23] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I don't. [09:23] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Know, like, spiritual parallels and parallels throughout all of the books. But I think it was just an interesting time to be know, hearing this spoken series is bad or evil and then reading them. Know, in my family, we were very pro Harry Potter and loving the messages. And I think that was just like I don't know. I'm sure some other people might have had that experience. [09:45] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Oh, I totally remember. [09:48] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Right. [09:48] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Like, we come to see this boy in, I would say, a pretty abusive home with a lot of neglect. And I think it's funny watching it or thinking about it now versus in. Like, I'm curious what even your kids picked up of the scenes. The parents certainly seem mean and right dismissive. And you picked that up even as a child, like something not right. Why does Dudley receive all of these gifts and Harry not his clothing? [10:18] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yeah, my kids were asking about that? [10:21] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Like why are they so mean to? [10:22] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Why is he living under the stairs? They certainly were asking those questions. [10:29] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah, no, I think it's a really lovely depiction of how prevalent and difficult it is for kids that have neglect. And I think also it really sort of from starting from him being under the stairs and just watching Dudley get 36 presents and counting and him thinking about, like he has to get hand me downs to go to school and what that would be like. Just that differential that was created and that sense of otherness or I don't belong or I'm not good enough. It really, I think, beautifully highlights how a child will internalize that, because you see that then play out throughout, which partly keeps him humble when everybody thinks he's this amazing everybody knows him, but he's coming from where? Nobody. Knows anything about him. And he held on to that for a very long time and it really changed his I think we see him work through it, but his sense of belief and faith in his own abilities and his self because they told him he wasn't good enough for a good eleven years. And that sense of feeling like you're worth something that he didn't get initially. And how does one young child actually grow to develop that? Partly it kept him humble in the face of, I don't know, magician dumb or stardom or whatever that was that he got later on. But also, it really impeded his ability to rely on other people. And we see. This in the later books as well, but whenever he has to do something, he's very like the avoidant attachment style. I can't trust people to be there for me. And we know later in the books there are other losses that sort of reinforce that for him. But he embarks on everything on his own and working with others and trusting others comes very, very it's very challenging for him, comes much later. [12:52] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And I like that you brought up his attachment style. Can you explain a little bit what avoided attachment is or the kind of kids or adults we might see that in and how Harry either fits in or doesn't quite fit in. [13:09] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: So the avoidant attachment style is when a young child has inconsistent caregiving where their needs may not be consistently met. And so rather than clinging to their caregiver to get their needs met, they're like avoiding contact with them because they don't know are they coming, are they going, or are they going to be there. So the child starts to avoid that contact and doesn't get need or avoids contact with the caregiver to get soothed and self regulated. So we see the same thing, that since the Attachment is our template for forming relationships, that we carry on in life, we see Harry particularly later on as he's growing older, that even in adolescence, whenever there is a challenge, he goes off on his own rather than relying on anybody else because he doesn't know. Are people going to really be there for him or not? Are they going to leave? Are they going to neglect him? So he might as well do that for himself and just go off on his own. So that sense of avoiding closeness with people because they might leave or not be there for you, is that sense that avoidant children internalize and so they don't keep looking for closeness with people. It's good that we see Harry work through this over a great many books, which also tells you that it runs in parallel with the life experience of a young child who's had early life neglect and avoidant attachment style might need a lot of reinforcement of positive interactions to say, no, you can rely on other people. If you do get close to people, it'll be okay. And yet loss is a very, I think, integral part of our human experience and life. And for an avoidant child, there is that risk that it just might reinforce that belief that people are not going to be there for them. [15:18] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And in addition to Harry having that early childhood neglect and abuse, he also had early loss of his parents, who seem like lovely caregivers, who were likely very attuned to his needs, at least as far as we can tell, and that he was present for their murder. And so I was really curious about your take on that, given around the age they depict that and then what it must have been like for him at age eleven to start learning the truth about that loss at the same time as he's learning their loss is why he's famous or special. I just imagine that's got to be so confusing. [16:03] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Absolutely. And I think that's such a lovely point of there's so much magic instilled in that power, of that parental love that he carried with him that it literally burned. Professor Squirrel. [16:22] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Right. [16:23] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: It was so powerful. I think it does show, though, however, that it was at a very sort of vulnerable time period in his life when that death occurred. He was still a baby, and we're thinking, like, till from infancy to toddlerhood, maybe the first part went well when his parents were attuned and taking care of him, but later on, and still in that very vulnerable time frame, he had a lot of neglect. And so as you're entering into your preteen years, your sense of, how do I relate with my peers? Who am I in relationship with them? Will they accept me as? We're thinking about later, latency age and early preteens going into your identity formation, who you are is so sort of determined by who are the people in your life? Who brought you here? What is your story? How did you start? And I remember as a child, my mom would tell me stories about, well, when you were little we did this things I wouldn't remember. But still you create these memories based on the things that your parents tell you as well when you're younger. But those things are so important in our development, and now he had to figure that out on his own. Who was he? What were his parents like? That question of when he goes and sees his father's name on the trophy room and he's like, I didn't know he was a Seeker. There's just so many knowns for him to figure out who he is because he doesn't know where he's coming from, and your legacy or your lineage or what are the wonderful stories about how amazing you are. Your parents tell you he never had that. And now he has to create his own narrative about who he is, which is the whole process through the book. [18:26] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: And speaking of like, identity formation, he went from being told that you're such a burden, you're unwanted. Your parents were horrible, they were weird or strange, to being praised or whoa, Ron's reaction to it's. You with the scar on the train, know, having all of this wealth suddenly and this importance in this world, it's just so interesting. You had written down with Hagrid, like him just going with that to this magical place that if somebody had told an eleven year old me, I think, and I'm hopefully that I'm securely attached, I would have been afraid to go with Hagrid. [19:08] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Right. [19:09] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: This big, burly, giant, half giant man who's telling me all these things that we're going to go to this magical place. I think for a securely attached child, they probably wouldn't have gone. But he didn't have any attachments. And then I think anything is better than living with the directly to finally. [19:29] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Take him out of that situation. [19:31] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Right. [19:31] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: It's like almost like this savior has come to rescue him. What were your thoughts about that, Dr. Q? The way he so know, latched onto Hagrid? [19:41] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah, I think just like Portia said, it's like that insecure attachment, there's nothing to hold him there. But he's also, I think, like you talked about at a point where he's thinking about things and his life. If he's going to go to the same school as Dudley, what is that going to be? He's getting into trouble constantly. And imagine the message you internalize after you're told that everything you do is wrong or you're a bad kid, and you get told that long enough, you start believing it. So maybe it wasn't such a far fetched thing to say, I'm going and I'm taking off. [20:19] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Right. [20:20] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: What's the worst thing that can happen whenever anything I do isn't good anyway? [20:27] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Right? And I think we see that in clinical work. And probably you see a lot more, given your line of work, in kids who maybe will go off with not safe people. That sort of increases their vulnerability for those very situations. [20:43] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Because at the core of it, every kid just wants to belong. [20:48] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yeah. [20:49] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: And so if it was what Hagrid said, is that's where you belong? He hasn't had that sense of belonging at the Dursleys. So he will try. And go and find if he belongs somewhere else and what other people. [21:09] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And he does find. [21:10] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I feel like I'm going to cry. [21:11] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Talking about Harry Potter and also just thinking about Hagrid is like, I just love Hagrid. He's such a gentle giant, but I couldn't think of a better person to come scoop up Harry. Right. Like, even just imagining him sort of putting him in the little sidecar, he's, like, nice and cozy and secure and contained and I hope just feels safe next to this big old guy who. [21:40] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Stood up to the dursleys, right? Chased found him. I remember my blood boiling even watching the movie again or rereading the book when they keep taking his know you know, it's such. [21:58] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: His letter. [21:59] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah, that's the one thing he has. [22:02] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: But then Hogwarts is like, well, we'll send you more. We're not going to give up. And I would imagine for, like, how wonderful. That must feel like, wow, they really. [22:12] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Are trying to get to me. [22:13] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: No one has wanted me like that before. And they're being like Hogwarts or whoever. Dumbledore's love for him is so transcendent and powerful that it wins. Out against the neglect of the know. [22:29] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Just beautiful and sort of how teary Hagrid was when he was first dropping him off when he was a baby and dumbledore saying it's not goodbye for. [22:42] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Oh my gosh I feel like, that's how I am. Every year the new school year starts, you're just like, oh, my gosh, they're growing up. [22:51] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: And then hermione I think it's worth mentioning. So she has, it seems, securely attached, supportive parents. But is living as a muggle her whole life until receiving these letters and going to Hogwarts and then learning that she is like a mudblood and that she is not good enough. Her blood is like, dirty. And yet she is so brilliant, and I think that's such an interesting reversal of her and Harry's experience. She's still really smart, but it's like it's not good know are calling her names like Draco. And I don't think that she experienced that. Prior know the little bits that we get of her pre hogwarts. [23:40] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And interesting to think about her parents. Like getting this random letter and sending her. Right? [23:47] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah. [23:51] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: That's the wonderful thing about secure attachment and great parenting is know, we're all about you. So if this is who you are and this is your success and this is where you're going to thrive, sure. [24:03] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: We don't know anything. Go for it. [24:06] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: And I think that is part of Hermione's own resilience as well is that that secure attachment, as difficult as those interactions with Draco are, allows her to stand up for Harry and Ron and build friendships and sort of extend that beyond the parental unit onto her friends, new people and say, because I have a good sense of attachment and security and I know people will be there for me, I can be there for other people, too. And then you can carry it forward. So I think Hermione is a really nice example of a secure attachment. And then I think you see that play out a little bit more. Not in the first book, but later on at the Yule ball, where she can put Ron in his place for not asking her out and sort of take ownership of her own. Know, next time you want to do this, pluck up the courage and ask, right? [25:10] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Boundaries. [25:11] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I think that's a really nice illustration of how important attachment is as a child is growing and then into adolescence that the same things play out in your other relationships. [25:25] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And how amazing to have a girl character like Hermione, right? Like, I think all the things you just said, like her bravery, her intellect, her self confidence, her boundaries, I just think so lovely to have a girl character like this for girls and boys and adults to read about and identify with. And she can maintain that sense of herself in the face of draco and the slurs and the comments, even when people even know who she goes on to marry down the road. Spoiler alert. Even as he's kind of putting her down for being smart, she doesn't stop raising her, know? And I remember as a middle school girl who loved school, just loving that, just loving that. And I loved watching now my daughter, watch her, and I'm just like, soak this up, soak this. [26:20] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah, such a lovely little bottle for girls. And then since we're on the topic, like, you think about Ron, who is like this lost soul in this big family of redheads. And so you kind of see his sort of anxious style come through that, particularly when he was asked to relax and he couldn't. [26:44] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yes, he's like, I don't know how. [26:49] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Right? And all the hand me down. Not that he got, but also the same sweater that he gets every year, that there is love in that family, there is care, but also with so many kids, they're kind of lost until they get into trouble, that they get into parental they get parental attention and you hear about their concerns. And so even though there is not a lot of any mal intent anywhere within the Weasley family, but you can see where Ron's anxiety and anxious attachment style comes in and you see the same thing in the Eubolic. And the anxious attachment style is, you know, the child that doesn't know how to get through, they're like, all right, please pick me up. No, now put me down. No, pick me up again. I'm not sure. They're just taking time to self regulate and self soothe and sometimes they can get pretty irritable and upset too, and so they might lash out. And you see that in the U ball scene, too, where I know I'm jumping ahead, but rather than asking Hermione, he gets really sulky and irritable rather than owning up, but he wants it, but he doesn't know how to do it. So you kind of see that tension and that sort of clinginess but not sure what to do sort of thing. So I think the whole series really highlights these attachment styles really nicely. [28:19] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Isn't that amazing? How did JK. Rowling do that? And I thought the fact that they're all eleven, it was just perfect, right? Like at that age and kind of with all the books following them through is just really beautifully done, I think. [28:39] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: And you can kind of play out in the carriage scene when they're first on the Hogwarts Express together, where I think Hermione comes in looking for Neville's Frog frog. And you see how confident she is and she's you're and who are you and have you done this? And so self aware, self confident. And then you have Harry just sitting by himself, not sure he wants to talk to anybody. And poor Ron, who's trying to get his presence known again, just like a young child in a big family would feel lost, that I have to make my presence known, otherwise I won't get the attention I need. And poor Scabbers that he's trying to turn yellow and that's not working out. So you kind of see it play so nicely in a very simple scene. [29:36] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Definitely something that I noticed, and I think it's just my interpretation of things, is that Ron seems to have the most obvious shame about his finances compared to the other siblings. I don't really notice or even Jenny's younger in this book, but being so visibly upset, I know that there's the interaction in the robes shop with Draco and then on the train, even with his little sandwich, right, he can't buy the treats. And then there's like whoa when Harry has those gold coins. And it really does seem to impact him even throughout the rest of the story. Just that intersectionality. He's a pure blood, but he is poor. And then how that really goes up against Draco and his Pure Blood and wealth family. [30:34] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: I think that's an interesting thing to think about the intersectionality of all their identities in this sort of fantasy world, right? There's so many parallels. Like even if you think about different intersectional identities in our culture today, and it's just interesting to think about it's an older book. [30:55] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: I mean, again, it's so easy to talk about these more seemingly popular nuanced ideas. They've been around for a while, but everyone kind of talks about their intersectionality or different identities. And it's so clear in the book, right? [31:13] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: It does seem like the type of series where you'll always get more from it. I reread the series I think, last year, and I loved it, and I feel like I got more from it as an adult than I did as a kid. And it's one of those things where I feel like every time you read it, you'll get more and more from it. [31:31] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: It just means something different. Yeah. [31:35] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: So one thing I was hoping we could talk about is the mirror of Irisev, which is desire spelled backwards. I totally choked up watching this part again, as an adult, I was curious to hear about your experience. [31:52] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah, I had so many thoughts about that. I mean, it's such a powerful thing. And the fact that if you're truly content, then you can see yourself as you are, only the happiness, and if that is the measure of happiness. And it was like, wow, just the visual illustration of happiness, that you could see yourself and just see yourself as you are. Because I just felt like, yes, it is desire spelled backwards, but it is so prevalent throughout with starting with those 36 presents that you want more, and Voldemort wanting more, that defeated and needing to come back and needs to get more and more power and even kills a unicorn for it. [32:46] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Oh, my gosh, that was devastating for my four year old daughter. I regretted that part horribly. [32:51] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Like, yes, moving but jarring scene. And then the fact that your heart's deepest desires that you're desperate for and you'll see that, but anything that's too much is going to consume you. And those people who sort of run after the things that they really, really want, I think it was a very powerful way of giving that message of too much consume you and there'll be nothing left. Like it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. So I just thought it takes so much courage, though, to ask yourself what it is that you really want in life. I mean, a lot of us may want all these things, but what is it that you truly, truly want? I think that's a very powerful question to ask. And how many of us really can look at ourselves in the mirror and say, this is what I really, really want in life, and to be able to face that and own it. [33:59] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: It's a good question to ask a client, even, because I think you can always get to the feeling right under it. So if someone's they're saying that their deepest desire is financial gain, it's like, okay, but what does that mean? Does that mean you want to feel secure? Does it mean that you want to be powerful in a sense of authority? Do you want people to look up to you? It's always like a feeling. [34:26] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And why? Where does that come from? [34:28] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah, it's a good place to explore with yourself and maybe with a patient as well. [34:33] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Can you imagine, like, starting off a session, they come to see you. For the first time. And you're like, here is my mirror of IRISET. [34:39] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah. [34:40] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Looking at what do you see and. [34:42] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: What does that mean? [34:45] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: It'll make our job so much easier. [34:47] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: I know, right quick, right real quick. [34:50] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: We'll get to the deep rooted issues in 10 seconds. [34:54] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Easy peasy. Managed care will love it. So we see what Harry wants, which is his parents. And again, I was so struck by him going back to that mirror repeatedly and I was just like, of course he is, right? Like his parents are moving. You see his mother, his father touch his shoulder. I was just like, oh, I so feel that for him. Then we see him drag ron so excited to share that experience of his parents with him. But Ron sees himself as head boy and winning the quidditch cup. And again, that totally makes sense based on everything we just talked about with Ron's family. We didn't see hermione. And I was curious what you guys thought. What would hermione see, if anything, or would she see herself? [35:46] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: I think maybe if anyone would be seeing themselves, it would be her. Especially like in book one. I think she does seem so content and excited and authentic that I think it might be her. Maybe it's her being top of the class. [36:04] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I think she is. [36:05] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: She already kind of is. [36:08] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I have a feeling that the one thing she grows to develop were friendships. That I wonder if she might see herself surrounded with friends. [36:17] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yeah, I think at her age again, I agree. Portia of the Three know. Harry rod hermione. I feel like she would be the one closest to seeing just her true self. But I wonder if at that age of eleven, as a girl, if there's something deeper she's not able to articulate yet that we might see like friendship. [36:38] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah, I think that's accurate. I think sometimes you get the books confused or what's, like maybe a fan fiction thing online or something. But I am pretty sure that she does say that she did struggle with friends and so to have these deep friendships build at Hogwarts, I think that might be it. [37:00] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah. I'm just thinking know, she is very brilliant. So seeing herself as like the know, graduate or something of her class probably isn't far fetched. But if that intimidates other kids when she's correcting them over livio saw yes, that might rub kids the wrong way. That maybe that peer acceptance and those close friendships might be something that we see sort of develop over time as well. [37:33] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And so as we start wrapping up our wonderful episode today, let's talk a little bit about their friendships. Because I just feel like, gosh, I thought the movie did such a good job explaining the book, which has so many concepts, so much magic in it. It's had to do so much in just two and a half hours of just like background, like this is where we find ourselves. This is Hogwarts. This is Quidditch. This is Voldemort. Like here it is. And capturing all these complex concepts in such like a beautifully visually appealing way. The music is wonderful but we certainly see the triad between Harry, Ron and Hermione starting and forming and we know that just grows and grows and gets more complex over time. And I was really curious Dr. Q about your thoughts about first of all that it's a triad. There's three of them, two boys and a girl and what do you think of all that? [38:36] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I just love the idea and particularly since you have the girl be somebody like hermione and I thought it's really nice to see their parallel processes. Each one of them is trying to sort of discovering that they're each really good at something but not good at everything. Like Hermione realizes she's not good at quit it. How humbling for someone who's really good and smart to know quidditch is not for, you know, Harry discovering that's what he's really good at and very early on know Ron playing chess and how it was reinforced with all the points even Neville's like standing up to your. So I felt that that was such a lovely way of saying that some of the reasons why friendships are important is that no one is whole in themselves and so much stronger when we all complement each other. But how do you explain that to an eleven year old? But if they saw the movie they would understand that we are so much more when we're all together and how those friendships last over years even for many of us. And I also felt like the complexity that you talked about. I think another movie that highlights it really nicely is Inside Out. [40:06] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yes, we love that movie. [40:08] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Our emotions are one color when they're younger and as you grow older they get more complex and those marbles are multicolored because emotions are more complex than just feeling sad, mad and glad. And similarly as we're thinking about I think this goes very nicely in a parallel of fairy tales and development that when children are younger they can only see good and bad. As long as you're giving me what I want you're the good parent. When you set limits you are not. [40:43] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Oh I feel this every day older. [40:46] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: You can hold the things together in the same person that there are things that are great about them and there are things that are some weaknesses. And when we're children we look at our parents as these idealized giants and as we grow older we see them for human beings that have wonderful strengths and flaws that we can still accept and love them still the same. So I think that is a big developmental challenge but I think the books highlight that really nicely with them being able to sit and tolerate that complexity. [41:29] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: That nothing is so and again with them starting this journey at age eleven. I feel like that's the perfect timing for all of this to start. And I wonder if even the darkness of Harry Potter in watching the first movie, I was like, all right. I think it'll be several years before I show my kids the second movie because each one gets a little darker, a little grittier. But I think that maybe contributes to why it sort of captured all of us. And it is darker than the Disney version. Like, Inside Out is a great example, but I think that just speaks to the reality. [42:12] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Like, the books get more complex, the books get darker, the characters get more complex, the characters get know. I think it was just such an interesting time to read it as a child as they came out, because it really kind of aligned perfectly with my own development. [42:28] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yeah, exactly. [42:29] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: I remember my mom read me the first book, and then I remember the last one coming out, and I think my grandma said it to me. It was like raft in the Muggles, right? Like Muggles can receive on whatever date, and then I read it for myself. So I think it's so uniquely that way that led to so many people being a part of it for years and still feeling really connected to it now. [42:53] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: And now getting to share it with your own children, like I'm starting to do, is so special. [42:59] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Yeah. And that's the power of fairy tales, is that even if it may be really dark, it creates this metaphorical, imaginary, special place where you can still explore this darkness in a very safe way. [43:13] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: Yes. [43:13] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: Go process it. Look what it's like to be angry. Oh, my gosh. Cruel people, mean people. And then you come back to the safety of reading this with your mom and everything's going to be okay. [43:27] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: Yeah. [43:27] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: It's so beautiful. It is. It's very special. Very special. Well, Dr. Q, is there anything else you were hoping we could touch, know, talking about Harry Potter, the first it. [43:42] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: I think it's just a wonderful part of my life. I wish I was in Hogwarts, and that was the life I lived. Sometimes I'm looking forward to having a real Harry Potter birthday someday. But I think the thing that resonates most with me is this quote from Neil Gaiman that says, fiction is a lie that tells us true things over and over. And I think that's the power of Harry Potter is that the reason it spoke to so many of us is that we all connected at some level with something that was very true for each one of us. [44:18] Portia Pendleton, LCSW: I like that. [44:20] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: That is a really beautiful place to leave it. Well, Dr. Q, thank you so much for joining us. We would love to have you back for the next seven movies over the course of time. It was so nice to personally reconnect with you again, thank you all for listening to this very special episode of Analyze Scripts. If you'd like to hear our take on Inside Out, we do have an episode about that from several months ago. I don't know. Dr. Q, did you know they're making a sequel? I think it's supposed to come out in the next couple of years, so that's really exciting. I hope it's about Riley's adolescence. Yes, and we really hope it also shows her living through COVID. Like, we could really use that for all the kids. We could, right? But you can find us at Analyze Scripts podcast on Instagram and TikTok and catch us next Monday for our next episode. Thanks so much. [45:24] Dr. Zheala Qayyum: See you next time. Thank you for having me. [45:32] Dr. Katrina Furey, MD: This podcast and its contents are a copyright of Analyzed Scripts. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited. Unless you want to share it with your friends and rate, review and subscribe, that's fine. All stories and characters discussed are fictional in nature. No identification with actual persons, living or deceased places, buildings, or products is intended or should be inferred. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only. The podcast and its contents do not constitute professional mental health or medical advice. Listeners might consider consulting a mental health provider if they need assistance with any mental health problems or concerns. As always, please call 911 or go directly to your nearest emergency room for any psychiatric emergencies. Thanks for listening and see you next time.

Our guest this week is Kathy High from Bay City Kitchen. Kathy High is a former Connecticut yankee and current pie enthusiast, with childhood training in why currants belong in jam and how Mark Twain handled conversation flow at dinner parties. Like most classically trained professional bakers, she cut her teeth in careers as a trainer for Borders Books and Music and multiple positions in museum education. After a stint in Atlanta battling kudzu and the challenges of catering in Georgia, a chance encounter with a craigslist ad brought her and her partner to the Pacific Northwest. Ten years, one million bagels, multiple tryouts for team USA for the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie and a pandemic later, she and her professional partner, chef Derek McCarthy, opened Bay City Kitchen on Tillamook Bay. Kathy spends her time making more pastries, lavishing affection on her cats, fostering native plants and exploring the joys of coast time. .When in doubt, she brings the pie.   @baycitykitchen   Right at the Fork is supported by: Zupan's Markets: www.Zupans.com RingSide Steakhouse: www.RingSideSteakhouse.com Portland Food Adventures: www.PortlandFoodAdventures.com 

Hey Podtimists, Where were you when you heard Hoobastank was going on tour and that they'd be performing at the Borders Books in Fresno, California? It's a moment that hit us all, and one we'll not soon forget. This week we want to thank Dan for suggesting Subnautica. Thank you Dan! We also want to thank both Dave C and Hill for suggesting the Pokemon Trading Card Game. This game owns and Chase is shocked it took him this long to play it. Thanks to you both! --- Timestamps: (00:00) - Intro (02:18) - What David has been playing (02:23) - The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom (05:19) - Nintendo Switch Sports (09:19) - Mario Party Superstars (12:55) - Horizon Forbidden West (23:08) - What Chase has been playing (23:20) - Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander (33:13) - Subnautica (53: 38) - Chase's Podtimistic thing of the week (55:18) - David's Podtimistic thing of the week (57:10) - Good Games! Featuring Pokémon Trading Card Game (1:28:56) - Outro --- Games mentioned: The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo Switch Sports Mario Party Superstars Horizon Forbidden West Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander Subnautica Pokemon Trading Card Game for Game Boy Color

The last time Kevin Ertell saw Russ Solomon, at the premiere of “All Things Must Pass”, Russ walked up to him and the first thing out of his mouth was, “Kevin! Can you believe what those fuckers have done to our website!?” During his time as SVP of Tower.com, Kevin spent many an afternoon in Russ Solomon's office while Russ peppered him with questions about online retailing from a recent article he had read. It was time that Kevin cherished. Kevin had a wide and varied career at Tower Records. Starting out in the original Las Vegas store in the video store, then to "apprentice" as the Classical Buyer for that store and out to Panorama City California as a Video Assistant Manager and eventual Store Manager. He landed as Sherman Oaks Video Store Manager under Regional Manager Gayle Boswell. While Kevin was in California he auditioned as the bass player for the band of a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member, but didn't get the gig.Working in the stores wasn't enough for Kevin. Having an interest in tech, he joined the Store Service team. With an all star roster of employees many will remember, he was a part of the nationwide and then world wide rollout of the Tower ISP program.Wanting to put that ISP knowledge to practical use and get closer to his long distance relationship, Kevin took the position of General Manager of the Tyson's Corner Virginia store. In a thriving, busy store he worked the Tower ISP program to its fullest, oversaw a one of a kind Cirque Du Soleil in-store and dealt with the wrath of a woman who worked for a US Senator who wanted Tower Records to remove their Playboy videos, lest they tempt her son.It was back to Sacramento to work on the challenge of Tower.com. Kevin tells us about the time it took to make Tower.com the #2 store in the US back when buying music on the web was not normal, how a consortium of retailers including Virgin, Best Buy, Borders Books and Tower Records got rejected by the record labels to sell major label music files before Apple Music and how after 20 years, in 2005 it all ended as Kevin was recruited by Borders Books to rebuild their Borders.com and help start up their Borders Rewards program.Kevin points out early in the episode that none of this would have happened had he not got a job at Tower Records in April of 1985 following an extremely dark chapter in his young life. Kevin said “I found my people. Tower saved me.”

Episode 171: I will discuss Borders Books & Music, Filene's Basement Clothing Stores, and what TV shows I watched when I came home after school in Chicago. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/pete-kastanes/message

Episode 171: I will discuss Borders Books & Music, Filene's Basement Clothing Stores, and what TV shows I watched when I came home after school in Chicago. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/pete-kastanes/message

Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick episode 053 celebrates and recognizes the teachers -- literal and literary -- that helped your host become a creator, a writer, and an author. Who are the teachers in your creative life, past or present? I encourage you to share them with the world by giving them a shout out in the comments! Links and Topics Mentioned in This Episode Get Hazy Days and Cloudy Nights: "How It All Got Started," my freely offered fiction serial, and enjoy well over a year and a half of weekly free fiction, when you subscribe.  For free! October means returning with a vengeance to my next novel, Shadow of the Outsider, the follow-up to  Light of the Outsider and "The Perfumed Air at Kwaanantag Bay." This episode owes a debt of gratitude to Natalie Goldberg and her book Long Quiet Highway, which you should read. You might recognize her as the author of the classic Writing Down the Bones, which you should also read. You might consider this episode an extension of the last, "In Gratitude." My beloved elementary school teachers in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania region were Mrs. Thomasser and Mr. Giles. Mr. Giles gave little Matt a hardcover single-volume edition of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and fully expected me to read it. Which I did. My survival as a child and teenager depended on stealing from the playbooks of Hawkeye Pierce and Peter Benjamin Parker. The quote I paraphrased to jab at Mr. Giles was spoken by Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: A New Hope: "Who is the greater fool? The fool, or the man who follows him?"  Or something like that. Gerry Conway, Len Wein, and Marv Wolfman wrote my Amazing Spider-Man comics, and taught me how to write dialogue. Karen Winn was my high school journalism instructor. She made sure we each got the ball and plenty of yards to run with it. Thanks, Karen; I'm still in the game. Paul Pflueger was my high school "contemporary world problems" instructor. You either loved him or hated him... and apparently the ones who hated him got him run out of a job. I thought he was the best. Ray Bradbury and Ursula K. Le Guin sit at the heads of the table populated by my story family. For more about story families, check out this episode of Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick. So long as I'm recommending excellent memoirs about the writing life, let's never forget Gail Sher's One Continuous Mistake and Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird. Go get them! Seriously! I taught scores of people how to be booksellers, and it was the beginning of my mission to add to the culture. I'm very proud of my time at Borders Books and Music. My patron community receives the uncut, unedited version of every episode. For this episode, they're privy to over eighteen minutes of extra content! Want in on that? Become a patron for at least $5.00 per month (cancel any time) and get a bunch of other perks and special access, too. Around thirty people listen to each new episode of this show during the first week it's released. If most of the listeners became Exceptional patrons ($5.00 per month), patron revenue would surpass $100 per month, and I could begin donating 10% every month to 826 National in support of literacy and creative writing advocacy for children. Let's go! Oh, and speaking of patronage: This episode was made possible in part by the patronage of listeners like you, including J. C.  Hutchins and Ted Leonhardt. Want to support the show and be listed in the credits, plus get lots of other goodies, perks, and exclusive access? Become a patron with a $3, $5, $10, or $20 monthly pledge! Love Sonitotum with Matthew Wayne Selznick and would like to make a one-time donation in support of the show? Donate via PayPal or leave a tip via Ko-Fi, with my grateful thanks.

EPISODE SUMMARY Join scientist and mindset & high-performance coach Claudia Garbutt and celebrity, actor, radio & podcast host, comic book & video game hero BRIMSTONE.   In this episode we talk about: - Passion projects, entrepreneurship & living a creative life - Being authentic and true to yourself even when others don't like what you do - How to think about failure in a way that allows you to grow and improve   EPISODE NOTES Brimstone has had a successful and rewarding career spanning well over four decades; participating in numerous entertainment fields boasting a list of titles including professional wrestler, radio host/professional podcaster, actor, voice actor, author, musician, philanthropist, food critic, horror model, and comic book/animated/children's book/video game hero. As the co-founder, President, and CEO of Hound Comics, Inc. (Hound Entertainment Group), Brimstone and his team of creators launched his comic book series, Brimstone and The Borderhounds on October 31, 2010 at Borders Books and as of January 11, 2011 went nation and worldwide via Barnes & Noble, B.Dalton, BN.com, ComiXology and Amazon. The Borderhounds brand has since then expanded with a variety of Brimstone branded products including (but not limited to) the “Border-Pups” children's book series, coloring books, video games, plush toys, vinyl toys (featured for multiple seasons on The Big Bang Theory) and the Animated Series. The most recent of his endeavors has been becoming the host of The Grindhouse Radio, a pop culture talk-based podcast and series that is currently syndicated on over twenty-five digital & terrestrial radio networks (including iHeartRadio, iTunes, Spotify & Google Play Radio) with a listenership of between 3.5 – 4 million weekly worldwide. Aside from accommodating promoters nationwide by hosting his own panels - Brimstone's charm, wit, and ability to engage large crowds have led him to add the roles of celebrity host, judge, and moderator to his already massive resume.   Website: https://www.therealbrimstone.com/   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealbrimstone/   ------------------ Music credit: Vittoro by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue) ----------------- If you enjoyed this episode, learned something new, had an epiphany moment - or were reminded about a simple truth that you had forgotten, please let me know by rating & reviewing this show on https://linktr.ee/wiredforsuccess. Oh, and make sure you subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss out on any of the amazing future episodes!    HELPFUL RESOURCES   Wanna prime your brain for success in less than 5min each day? Download my Brain Priming Affirmations For Entrepreneurs here: https://bit.ly/2VXC9VY   Wanna find out how I can help you leverage the power of your mind and tap into the wisdom of your body to feel fully aligned, trust your intuition, and achieve your goals with ease and joy rather than with constant hustle and pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion – book a free 20min Strategy Session with me: https://bit.ly/2YemfIe   Looking for great podcast guests for your own show or great shows to guest on? Try PodMatch, the platform that automatically matches ideal podcast hosts and guests for interviews. Like Tinder for podcasters. Or Guestio, the app that helps content creators interview high-level guests. Gives you access to those busy, hard-to-reach, next-level guests that you want to have on your show.  

Mark has worked with leaders from Google, Apple, JPMorgan Chase, General Electric, Goldman Sachs, Adorama, TerraCycle, Feltsberg, The New York Times, Wharton School of Business, New York University, Columbia University, NBC, Time Warner, and the United Nations.He's the author of the Amazon nonfiction bestseller Culture of Opportunity: How to Grow Your Business in an Age of Disruption. Mark has been been featured in Real Leaders, The Better Business Book, the Organization Development Review Journal, Lifetime Network, WPLJ, WCBS, Newsday, Working Women Magazine, and the San Francisco Chronicle.Notes on the Opportunity Lab:Opportunity Lab is a strategy consulting firm focused on company growth through conscious business.We started Opportunity Lab during the Great Recession of 2008. It was a time of turbulence and anxiety for many companies. And people.We saw companies with static business plans struggle in the economic downturn. Remember the big companies that went out of business? Blockbusters, Borders Books.But companies that adapted to changing markets found ways to keep growing and winning. Companies like Netflix, Amazon and Apple.We applied these models of growth to companies navigating through disruptive change. And we found opportunity for sustained growth even in the most difficult situations.Through this period, we grew Opportunity Lab, our team, and our collaborative Culture of Opportunity Process. We focused on company growth by applying conscious business practices and working with conscious business leaders.Since then, we've helped many companies thrive in any economy and through any business disruption.Opportunity Lab helps conscious business leaders solve strategic growth challenges. We deliver measurable results to help solve your business problems, and we give you the tools and process you can use when future challenges arise.www.opplab.comwww.livelifedriven.com

David Selinger was an early employee at Amazon, working directly under Jeff Bezos. He lead the R&D arm of Amazon's data-mining and personalization team. He is the CEO and Co-Founder of Deep Sentinel, an AI technology security company. In addition, he co-founded Redfin (now a multi-billion dollar company) and founded RichRelevance, a company that offers personalized shopping experiences for large retail brands, including Macy's, Barneys New York, Office Depot, and others.--The complete show notes for this episode can be found at: https://Podcast.SYGroupIntl.com--If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading the reviews!--Need help creating your businesses' next breakthrough? Book a Call!https://S4SPod.com/book-a-breakthrough

Our Trailblazer episodes continue this week with Jeannie Lin, one of the first authors to write historical romance featuring Asian characters set in Asia. Her debut romance, Butterfly Swords, is set in Tang Dynasty China. In this episode, we talk about the craft of romance, about preparing for and resisting rejection while finding her own path to publication, about how she honed her storytelling, and about the way cultural archetypes find their way to the page. We also talk about the lightning fast changes in romance over the last twelve years. Thank you to Jeannie Lin for making time for Fated Mates. This episode is sponsored by The Steam Box (use code FATEDMATES for 10% off) and Chirp Audiobooks.Next week, we're talking Sarah's Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, which will release March 22 in a new trade paperback format. After that, our next read along is Diana Quincy's Her Night With the Duke, which was on our Best of 2020 year-end list! Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or at your local bookstore. You can also get it in audio from our partner, Chirp Books!Show NotesThis week, we welcome romance author Jeannie Lin, whose newest book in the Lotus Palace Mysteries series, Red Blossom in Snow, comes out next week on March 21, 2022. Hear us talk about Jeannie Lin's books on our 2020 Best of the Year episode, our Road Trip Interstitial, and our So You Want to Read a Historical episode.The Tang Dynasty lasted from 618-907, and Empress Wu reigned from 624-705. RWA's Golden Heart Award was phased out in 2019. Twitter was launched in 2006 and Goodreads in 2007. Goodreads was acquired by Amazon in 2013. Borders Books closed in 2011. People mentioned: author Jade Lee, who also writes as Kathy Lyons; author Barbara Ankrum; author Shawntell Madison; author Amanda Berry; author Bria Quinlan; author Eden Bradley of Romance Divas forum; author Kate Pearce; actor Tony Leung; Piatkus editor Anna Boatman; agent Gail Fortune.

In this episode we meet French Techno Wizards AIR, and learn about how Borders Books and Music was not killed by Amazon, but by corporate stupidity. AIR: https://youtu.be/Q3c2hG59q3oThe Alarm (first 5 tracks only): https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsq9i9wjMUCXgT5GQG6VpAGvzlgsIe3N5 Air, Moon Safari: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyGF4pvTwW4_GYk3jSZy4IGXT7hW1PkdBKraftwerk: https://youtu.be/OQIYEPe6DWYMassive Attack: https://youtu.be/Epgo8ixX6WoPortishead: https://youtu.be/TmDkzVvherkDoves: https://youtu.be/dFM0pUn4dcAStereolab: https://youtu.be/tsumMcjEPtQ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nearly three decades ago, I ran across this weird book in the discount section of a Borders Books that was all about bio-hacks before the language of bio-hacking was a part of our cultural zeitgeist.

This week we're talking about how to make friends, how we made writing friends, and briefly reflecting on how we met. Thank you to all of our amazing listeners, including our Patrons at https://Patreon.com/BeyondTheTrope. Don't miss out on exclusive Beyond The Trope gear at https://BeyondTheTrope.Redbubble.com. Mentioned in this episode: Borders Books, Movies, and Music RMFW Aaron Michael Ritchey Patrick Hester Chris Pratt Keanu Reeves Anna Kendrick Kristen Wiig Graham Norton Will Smith Tom Holland David Tennant AN EMBER IN THE ASHES by Sabaa Tahir Hugh Jackman Friends Big Bang Theory

2005 Annual Report   Big Cat Rescue's Mission Statement:  To provide the best home we can for the animals in our care and to reduce the number of cats that suffer the fate of abuse, abandonment or extinction by teaching people about the plight of the cats, both in the wild and in captivity, and how they can help through their behavior and support of better laws to protect the cats.   Advances:  In 2005 the IRS reported that there are 964,000 registered charities in the U.S.  Only 81 of them qualify for and display the BBB Wise Giving Alliance Standards seal.  Big Cat Rescue is one of them. This seal confirms that the organization meets all 23 of the Standards for Charity Accountability. We have become so well known in the area, that our volunteers complain about wearing our logos in public because everyone loves us so much they just have to stop us and tell us so. Howie Baskin helped a Girl Scout troop organize our first Golf Tournament which netted 15,000.00. Invested in undercover surveillance equipment to shed light on the dirty truth behind the exhibition and exploitation of exotic cats.   Animal Care:  We added more whole prey to our cats' weekly diets and switched over to a prepared diet created by Natural Balance that improves their health via vitamin supplements. Faith the baby bobcat was upgraded to a much larger and more challenging Cat-a-tat where she had to learn to “out-fox” her food. Later, after completing her survival training, she was released onto 17,000 acres of pristine bobcat habitat.  President Jamie Veronica, and the interns track her weekly to insure that she is thriving on her own. We had to turn away 85 big cats that were no longer wanted by their owners but we rescued Snorkle the tiger from a circus owner and brought in tigers: India, Nyla, King, Princess and Narak from the circus. Rescued three baby mountain lions who were orphaned by a hunter in Idaho.  Their names are Artemis, Ares and Orion and they were neutered and spayed this year so that they can always stay together.   Staff and Volunteer Training:  Jamie Veronica got licensed by the state to be able to pick up injured or escaped wildlife.  In the past it had to be brought to us by someone who was so licensed .  Cathy Mayeski and Jen Rusczcyk completed the Clicker Training Expo in CA and now have 57 of our cats in the Operant Conditioning program. Jen organized and developed the Enrichment program making it one of the best in the country.   Jamie Veronica took the Intern Program to the next level and manages their housing, group activities and scheduling.  The Volunteer Committee re-wrote the Volunteer Program and the Intern Program and have updated ALL of our volunteers level of certification through testing. Some of our members attended the EARS training. (Emergency Animal Rescue Service) Hired green shirt Sharon Marszal to work filling orders for the gift shop and sent her to eBay training classes.  Read books on Non Profit Marketing, Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash to perfect our skills in these areas.   Education:  Our Education Director, Kathryn Quaas, is partnering with the Florida Aquarium to promote several joint efforts for schools and summer camps. We did legislative presentations to Stetson Law University on three occasions this year promoting a register to vote drive.  The Fur Ball CD of games, puzzles, screensavers and more were given to the 500 attendees with 300 extra being used as rewards for children who answer questions correctly during her presentations and field trips.   Howard began working with the Greenfund Network to create a joint venture in schools where kids turn in ink cartridges for recycling in bags that tell about Big Cat Rescue so that both their school and the sanctuary can benefit from the program.  Some kids may not care about raising money for scholarships, but they do care about saving tigers and this is a way to inspire them to keep these cartridges out of the landfills.   Filmed the rescue of three orphaned baby cougars with David Hurd Productions for use on the Animal Planet's new series that will be aired repeatedly, and thus help educate people about what is happening to their precious wildlife in the name of sport.  Six local libraries now stock our video, The Big Cat Picture in their documentary sections.   The portion of our web site that is devoted to education aimed at children through learning games has grown in leaps and bounds.  We added hundreds and hundreds of puzzles, free wallpapers, free screensavers and other educational activities that feature photos and drawings of the cats along with our message that “Exotic Animals Don't Make Good Pets!”  Began compiling worksheets and coloring pages for a educational handbook for students next year. Added FCAT lesson plans to our Teacher's Resource area. Used the Google grant to broadcast the availability of these teaching aids to students, their parents and teachers.  We participated in a study with Odd Cast that resulted in us being awarded 100,000 free streams for our Virtual Hosts.   Legislation:  Founder, Carole Baskin was unanimously elected to serve on the Board of the Humane USA Political Action Committee.  She was also appointed to the steering committee of the Florida Chapter of Humane USA. We enlisted the Florida Animal Control Association to help us approach the State of Florida in an effort to change the rules to better protect the animals and the public.  We were joined by HSUS and Humane USA in this endeavor and have asked the National Fraternity of Police Officers to join us as well. Carole was also appointed by Commissioner Brian Blair to serve on the Animal Advisory Committee and was elected secretary.  In November she was unanimously nominated to serve as Chair of the Animal Advisory Committee. We attended the Tampa Bay Partnership's Tampa Bay Day in Tallahassee and met with 25% of the state's legislators to ask for better animal protection laws.   We began promoting our Legislative portion of our web site that is dedicated to educating the public and legislators about animal welfare bills. 1,111,647 pages of bills were viewed by visitors.  We rallied support for the Federal bills to stop canned hunts with an aggressive online letter campaign to get people to ask their senators and representatives to co-sponsor this bill that would make it illegal to transport exotic animals across state lines for the purpose of injuring or killing them. We promoted hundreds of bills at the state and federal level. In just the first year we were responsible for 20,969 letters being sent to congress on behalf of the animals.   We launched our first online petitions and gathered 494 signatures on one to ban breeding and sale of exotic cats and 1878 signatures on 10 things we want legislators to know which includes the banning and breeding of exotic cats. We also launched our first online polls to see how people feel about issues such as animals in the circus, bobcats and cougars being hunted, exotic animal pets and more.  Response has been terrific and we are finding that roughly 85% of the public loves animals and want better laws to protect them and 90% do not want to see big cats being made to perform.   Attended AZA's Legislative session and Taking Action for Animals in Washington, DC.  Met with our Senators and Congressmen in D.C. and here locally to discuss the exotic animal issues. County Administrator, Pat Bean and Animal Services Director, Bill Armstrong both toured and interacted with the cats, learning about how we use operant conditioning for emergency preparedness.  We hosted tours for Hillsborough County Commissioners: Kathy Castor, Ronda Storms, Jim Norman, Ken Hagan, and for aids to Brian Blair and Mark Sharp.  We also toured Pinellas County Commissioners: Ronnie Duncan and Karen Seel.  We introduced these commissioners and State Representatives Kim Berfield and aids for Kevin Ambler along with team players for gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis so that they have a better understanding of why Florida needs laws to prevent the private ownership of dangerous exotic pets.   Requested that we be appointed to the state's Captive Wildlife Committee but were denied as the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission decided to comprise the committee of exotic pet owners.  State Legislators made it known later that the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission “had better fix this exotic animal problem or the legislature was going to get involved and FWCC was not going to like it.”  Began working on a memo with the help of former gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride's law firm that affirms a County's right to impose laws that do regulate exotic animal ownership as long as those laws do not single out exotic pet from other provisions that would apply to all.  In the past the Counties often thought they were helpless in the face of the constitutional amendment that had granted the Fish and Game agency the ability to act outside of the legislative process that all other states enjoy.   Fundraising and Marketing:  We had our first ever $10,000.00 day of tours and private tours in December.  Implemented our first direct mail campaign at Christmas with a request to support the three orphaned cougars.  We doubled the price of the Fur Ball tickets from 55.00 and 75.00 to 100.00 and 150.00 and raised a net of $60,000.00 (up from 40,465 last year) with only 500 attendees.  This enabled everyone to have a better time because there were no lines and our volunteers found it much easier to deal with 500 people at check out as opposed to 850 like we had last year at lower prices.  We discovered last year that at 55.00 we were just breaking even and for people for whom that was a lot of money we found that they did not spend money in the auctions so we had to evaluate whether the Fur Ball was a donor thank you party or a fundraiser and deciding it was the latter made the agonizing decision to double the price.   Opened an online store on eBay to reach a broader market with our logo's items and unique offerings. We tried MagFundraising.com for the first time and raised almost 3000.00 in magazine subscription commissions.  Our volunteers raised $3000.00 wrapping books at Borders Books.  Invested in Telosa's Donor Management software. We were given the front and back page of the Tampa Tribune's Commentary section and have been on several national programs including CNN, Fox, Animal Atlas on Discovery Channel and Animal Planet.   We purchased a second terminal for our Point of Sale system due to the overlap of tours beginning and ending in the gift shop.  In Jan our web site was averaging 170,000 hits per day and by the end of the year was reaching more than 300,000 hits per day with a surge to 744,000 hits per day thanks to a Google Adwords grant for unlimited advertising for three months. Cox radio gave us more than 100 on air spots to advertise the Valentine's Day wedding at Big Cat Rescue and gave us 300 more free advertising spots on air for our golf tournament on two stations. They also donated 300 spots for the Fur Ball.   Jamie Veronica's photos have been used in Biodiversity Magazine by Tropical Conservancy, and we created a Stock Photo portion of our website where featured artists donate their work and we sell the images online.  We set up Cafe Press and Zazzle sites to sell her images to raise money for the cats.  We were asked to apply for the WEDU's charity awards for our fundraising and marketing achievements.  The ink recycling program with Greenfund Network has succeeded far beyond our initial goals thanks to marketing the envelopes through our newsletter with now has a circulation of more than 35,000 homes.  We are candidates for the Webby Awards with the winner to be announced in 2006.   We created several video productions that tell viewers what we do including Orange Sky by Jamie Veronica and the Two Minute Tour by David Hurd.  In addition to this we created several new interactive slideshows including one called Born To Be Free that contrasts life in cages to life in the wild.  We started our first automatic direct deductions for banks and credit cards and a program with Albertson's where participating card carriers can have part of their purchases donated to us.  We created our first Big Cat Travel site that allows people to get the best Priceline prices on airfare, car and hotel rental, cruises and event tickets with the commissions paid to Big Cat Rescue.  Carole lost 17 more pounds with Matol and set up www.Matol-Diet.com so that others can lose weight, build their own home business and the commissions go to the cats as well. Volunteer Beth Stewart created and marketed a calendar of our sanctuary called Saving Big Cats.  This calendar was available at Amazon.com, Borders.com and BarnesAndNoble.com and we sold a number on site and on line as well.  The calendar was produced by TideMark Productions and featured photos of our cats for every month and their personal rescue stories.   With the help of Teasdale Worldwide Howard Baskin created our first formal Corporate Sponsorship program, both in general and for the Fur Ball.  We held special kid's tours after Thanksgiving and Christmas and were packed and got a lot of good press coverage for doing something for the kids.  We were in the press 48 times in 2005 and many of these were interviews with Scott Lope.  We were in Glamour Magazine twice, on CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Inside Edition and were instrumental in providing background information for Parade Magazines' piece on the exotic pet trade and for ABC's Prime Time that should air next year.  We have a PSA that was made jointly with the Girl Scouts of America that is airing nationally to encourage young people to get involved and do something good in their community.  We ended the year with money in the bank to begin building our Big Cat Lodge.   Grounds Improvement:  Completed two more tiger Cat-a-tats for the circus tigers in case of emergency. New Cat-a-tats were built for cougars; Mack and Cleo along with hurricane proof dens for each of them.  Cages were reshaped and room additions built for Caracals; Rusty & Sassy and Cachinga & Cachanga.  The same was done for the Serval; Alpha, Bobcats; Alex & Windsong and Banshee.  In addition many of the cats got hammocks, swinging platforms, secondary dens just to play in and Alex & Windsong got a new fort.  Tonga was moved and his old roofless cage was turned into a temporary playground for the three orphaned cougars.   The E-Center was whimsically painted to look like a leopard and the Cabins were painted by volunteer Julie Hanan to look like a tiger.  Butterfly gardens were added by Kathryn Quaas and the kids of summer camp to the Cabin area.  We moved the cavies off the tour route to a much larger enclosure and tore down the old otter cages that they had lived in on the lake.  The area was cleared so that there is a beautiful view of the lake and the tigers and lions beyond now.   Brought in a new Intern home that is a 4BR/2BA and Vern built a deck that is perfect for socializing after a long day of cat chores. Cleared all Brazilian Peppers from the back forty and built a road around the cell tower to make the back parcel more accessible. This area required heavy clearing and then bush hogging of dog fennel and some fill over the concrete to turn it into a lovely park like area.  Stood falling wall back up. Weeded and planted ferns at the beach. Began massive clean up of Styrofoam from lake banks. Bought a new shed for the two new golf carts and a new riding mower.  Added lots of filing cabinets and storage cabinets to the gift shop and office. The fenced waiting area had a cola machine, waterfall and lots of landscaping and mulching added to create a nice place for guests to wait for their tours.  Donor recognition signs were added to this area.   Bought three more acres for alternate access and parking and cleared the land of dog fennel so that we can keep it mowed.  Took on debt for the first time in our history with the purchase of this land.  Began negotiations with Outback and the County on building a multi use Education and Conference Center called the Big Cat Lodge.  Unveiled the new conceptual drawings of this improvement created by Collman and Karsky with help from Genesis at the Fur Ball. Applied for a Planned Development for this additional 3 acres to give us cross access, parking and 6 more residences for interns and volunteers.   Helping Others:  We invited other animal welfare groups to use our Legislative tools in customized banners on their web sites so that they could encourage their visitors to write their representatives about important animal welfare issues. We hosted the Alzheimer's Memory Walk for 600 walkers who raised 50,000 for Alzheimer's victims. Worked with PAKT to help them negotiate a deal with the circus and AZA for promoting responsible, life time care for animals who have had to work for a living. Continued to help ACT by driving the Spay Day trailer each month so that 100-160 cats per month can be spayed.   Charities that we donated to this year in the form of Free Passes to our sanctuary:  100 passes to No More Homeless Pets Adopt-a-thon 30 passes and gift certificate for a Big Cat Expedition to Florida Voices for Animals, Donated a Big Cat Expedition, a Feeding Tour and more to Animal Coalition of Tampa for their Some Enchanted Evening fundraiser and the same again to their Stride For Strays walk-a-thon. Donated the use of our facility to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay for their Volunteer Appreciation party and to National Humane Society for their volunteer and donor recognition party at Christmas. Donated an Expedition and Two for One Passes to SPOT and worked with them to create a segment on Pinellas County's Public Access Channel. Hosted a party for a team of Florida Panther protectors.   We raised 1250.00 each for EARS and HSUS to aid the animal victims of Katrina and 1000.00 each for conservation programs to save the margay in Brazil, to help start an eco tourism lodge in Guyana and to assist Lewa in Africa.   Other:  Gave a private tour to Toronto Blue Jay's Shea Hillenbrand. Customized a golf cart for hurricane use by creating a cat-proof cage to drop down over the carriage so that we can access any part of the property in the event of a cat being loose.   In a year when tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes ravaged the globe and other sanctuaries, even good ones, found themselves considering the euthanasia of their animals rather than let them starve due to the drop in donations we were able to thrive.  We are thankful to our staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly to make this possible and to all of our donors and visitors who kept our cats fed in these worst of times.   The saddest news is that we now have to turn away nearly 100 exotic cats every year, because we cannot afford to take in all of them that are being bred and sold into the entertainment, pet and zoo industries.  The most common victims are Lions, Tigers, Cougars, Servals, Caracals and Bobcats.  We are now devoting more time to raising awareness and trying to get laws enacted that will protect these magnificent creatures from man.   The mission has evolved from just saving the cats that ended up in places like fur farms, hunting ranches and auctions, to making a difference on a global scale. People who come here and spend time with our cats are transformed.  I hear, over and over again, how people feel like their lives were changed forever by knowing these animals on such a personal level.  Many times I have heard visitors say, “I looked into that cat's eyes, and I saw God!”   For many of them, it is the first time that they have ever felt that they were intimately connected with the rest of creation.  It is a wake up call that we are all ONE.   It is my dream to integrate the beauty and majesty of the great cats with the inner awakening we can enhance in our visitors.  By making people more aware, we can make the world a better place.   Our Officers and Board of Directors • President Jamie Veronica (not compensated by BCR) • Vice President & BOD Cathy Mayeski (not compensated by BCR) • Secty/ Treasurer  Vernon C. Stairs (not compensated by BCR) • Director and Coordinator Brian Czarnik (not compensated by BCR) These members met for monthly board meetings.   Paid Staff: • Operations Manager  Scott Lope (compensated but not a member of the board) • Gift Shop Manager Cynthia Montayre (compensated but not a member of the board) • Administrative Sharon Marszal (compensated but not a member of the board)  

Jaye McBride joins Dangilo and together they let their ADD fly! The funny, smart and proudly transgender comedian, Jaye McBride is one of Dangilo's favorite funny people to follow on social media and he just had to have her on B&B to talk random pop culture. Jaye talks about her binges on Pig Royalty and Law and Order, original recipe with daddy Jerry Brisco. Question: Did Jerry Orbach influence Dangilo's daddy desires? They talk about the time Comedy Central censored Jaye's joke for the sake of being P.C. They also bounce around subjects like Borders Books, rescue dogs named Lucy, living in Brooklyn, walking El Cajon Blvd in San Diego, spotting Mitt Romney at Costco, pooping in a cup and that old lady nobody likes named Caitlyn Jenner. Connect with Jaye McBride: www.jayemcbride.com or Twitter @jayemcbride and Facebook Find Dangilo on Instagram and twitter @dangilogogo Find Dangilo on Tiktok @dangilo

Rewind- The Top 50s Toys, Borders Books, & Politicians Avoiding Answers! (Ep 1080) this takes us back in time as Clever reads some old ad copy from the show that never made it to air because the companies went out of business. Clever compiles all the survey responses and goes over your top 1950's Toys. Clever finishes up with another daily dose of cleverness. Enjoy! Thanks so much for spending time with us. Don't forget to follow our podcast! You will get notified of the latest episodes, bonus content, and our random merchandise and prize giveaways! Check us out and follow us on all the majors of Social Media @tooclevermafia Want access to all our social media in one place? This is our empire! Click Here: https://linktr.ee/tooclevermafia …and of course we love coffee! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/tooclevermafia Paypal: https://paypal.me/2clevermafia?locale.x=en_US Grab a T-Shirt! https://merch.streamelements.com/tooclevermafia Grab a Mask! https://teespring.com/tooclevermafia Monthly Podcast Support: https://anchor.fm/tooclevermafia/support Like and Subscribe! Follow us @TooCleverMafia on all the majors of social media www.tooclevermafia.com "That's all I have to say about that.” The Too Clever Mafia Podcast owns the rights to all originally created content and audio files. Any third-party audio files that may be used within are used for educational, demonstrative, and/or transformative purposes only. All fair use standards and practices are strictly adhered to. Our hashtags keep growing. Every time we add a new show! You are welcome Mafians. #Wow #beinspired #StayAlpha #tooclevermafia #freedom #america #fridaymorning #fridaymotivation #volcano #vaccine #amazon #google #cyptocurrency #MLBShow2021 #MLB #bitcoin #dogecoin #tothemoon #elonmusk #coinbase jeffbezos #jimkrammer #spacex #theboringcompany #tothemoon #toppodcast --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tooclevermafia/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tooclevermafia/support

I'm wrestling fan and I'm proud to say it!!! And I had the privilege to talk professional wrestler Brimstone on his career in wrestling, fatherhood, and the impact that Shad Gaspard had on his life... Brimstone is a professional wrestler, actor, author, philanthropist and comic book/animated hero. He has had a successful and rewarding career participating in and administering numerous entertainment careers spanning well over two decades. As the co-founder and CEO of Hound Comics, Inc. Brimstone and his team of creators launched his comic book series, "Brimstone and The Borderhounds" on October 31, 2010 at Borders Books and as of January 11, 2011 went nation and world wide via Barnes & Noble, Book World, and Amazon. Bridging the gap of wrestling star and the corporate world, Brimstone has an extensive background in marketing, advertising, management, and branding. At Newsday, under Times Mirror and the Long Island Voice, he worked in Senior Management. He created and directed one of the largest employment publications in the Tri-State Area, the Employment Journal, with distribution centers in Long Island, NYC, and NJ; and administered LI Career Fairs, Long Island's top career fair company. Looking to train up and coming hopefuls in the art of professional wrestling, Brimstone launched Critical Mass Pro-Wrestling Corp, which was considered one of the biggest and best pro-wrestling training facilities in the North-East. Brimstone has also been a Head Trainer for Pro Wrestling Revolution and a guest trainer for FTW Wrestling and many other training facilities across the country.      Brimstone's career in professional wrestling has spanned over 14 years and he has made countless appearances worldwide for the leaders in sports entertainment and throughout the Independents. As a trainer, he is responsible for an enormous amount of talent including a handful of students who have made their mark in the business on WWE and TNA. Brimstone's hard work and dedication to the industry has garnered high honors, appreciation and the recognition of his peers including a 2008 Award from the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Memorable television credits include Sesame Street, Romper Room, WWF Superstars, The Ricki Lake Show, MTV's Total Request Live and BET's 106 & Park. Since his semi-retirement from the wrestling industry, Brimstone has pursued a career on the silver screen; making cameos and acting in multiple films, music videos and television pilots; and is currently under contract with Dick Clark Productions to produce his own series. Brimstone makes frequent appearances for the military, as well as speaking engagements at elementary schools for the Get-A-Voice Foundation. He donates a large portion of his time to supporting numerous charities and foundations including but not limited to The Arthritis Foundation, Dee Snider's Biker's for Babies, Wrestler's Rescue, Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, Make-A-Wish, and Toys For Tots. He is a celebrity spokesperson for Paul McCartney's RADD (Rockers Actors and Athletes Against Driving Drunk) and was recently asked to be the National Spokesperson for the Jamie Isaacs Foundation For Anti-Bullying.

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Wells Burke is a serial technology entrepreneur. His recent venture, Rocket Partners, is a cloud-focused enterprise software development services company. Over the last 3 years, Rocket has grown to nearly 50 developers in 3 countries focusing on retail and healthcare Azure and AWS custom critical projects. In 2010, Wells founded LIFT Retail, a point of sale (POS) connected digital shopper marketing platform. Lift became the fastest growing digital ad network in the US scaling from 0 to 10,000 outlets in 3 years. After selling to Verifone in 2012, Wells spent three years building out Verifone's digital marketing properties and product managing Verifone's $100MM global advertising network. Prior to LIFT, Wells founded Synthesis, a pioneer in the content management and electronic contracting space. Wells got his start at IBM where he helped launch some of the earliest interactive eBusiness initiatives for companies including Macy's, Borders Books, Hertz Rental Car, and Bank of America. Wells lives in Atlanta with his amazing wife Kate and three awesome kids Owen, Margaret, and Emily. He is an avid mountain biker, terrible golfer, and unapologetic cloud software development super-nerd. Wells is also a proud yellow jacket with a BS in computer science from Georgia Tech. In our conversation, Well's shares his entrepreneur journey. It started in a booming dot-com economy, then when through a bust, another boom, and a bust again. All while, starting businesses, bringing on co-founders, raising money, defining market problems, building solutions, exits, rebirths, and much more. This is a roadmap for starting and building the company that is your perfect fit.Watch and subscribe to my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/Paparellivideo. Turn on notifications

Haven’t had a chance to listen to our first 50 episodes yet? Never fear, you’ve got time and they’re not going anywhere. In the meantime, we’ve created an epic recap episode to keep you up to date with this ever-changing world. Throughout the first 50 episodes of Up Next in Commerce, we’ve chatted with some of the fastest-growing startups - like Thrive Market and Haus - to the more well-known companies like Puma, Rosetta Stone, Bombas, and HP. Our guests have shared everything from their toughest lessons, to their secrets to success, to the must-know advice for every ecomm leader. And while every company is different and every story unique, over the last 50 episodes, several common themes have emerged. On today’s special episode of Up Next in Commerce, host Stephanie Postles is joined by Albert Chou, the VP of Operations at Mission.org, to dive into some of these top trends.The two discuss the supply chain shakeups companies have had to face this year, and they do a deep dive into the world of influencers and how brands can work with them in a way that leads to lasting ROI. Plus, they look into their crystal balls to try to predict how DTC companies will work with and compete against Amazon, debate on how voice search will impact shopping, and discuss what the future of shoppable worlds might look like. Main Takeaways:Supply Chain Shakeups: Everyone is competing against the hard-to-match expectations set by Amazon — but it’s not all about fast shipping. Processing returns effectively and managing every step of the supply chain so you are left with margins that actually allow you to grow are the main areas that all retailers are, and will continue to be, focused on. I’ll Take One Order of Influencers: Because influencer marketing has become so in demand, there are more strategies than ever to try to get the most ROI out of influencers. What is likely to happen in the future is the creation of a marketplace where brands can buy verified influencers, who are themselves driving the demand for more upfront payment.  Make It Worth It: Building an omnichannel strategy is about more than just offering a brick and mortar location for people to buy your products. Today’s shoppers are looking for experiences that are memorable and entertaining. But it’s important that while brands create those memorable experiences, they don’t forget that little goal of converting potential customers into real buyers.Turning Virtual Into Reality: Shoppable video and the increased offerings of digital products is going to set the stage for future commerce. The next generation is already using real cash to buy virtual products for their avatars in various games. In years to come, not only will you have the option for your avatar to have that virtual product, the real-life version will be offered in tandem for the user behind the screen.For an in-depth look at this episode, check out the full transcript below. Quotes have been edited for clarity and length.---Up Next in Commerce is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Respond quickly to changing customer needs with flexible Ecommerce connected to marketing, sales, and service. Deliver intelligent commerce experiences your customers can trust, across every channel. Together, we’re ready for what’s next in commerce. Learn more at salesforce.com/commerce---Transcript:Stephanie:Hey everyone, and welcome back to Up Next in Commerce. This is your host, Stephanie Postles, co-founder of mission.org. Today, it's a new and interesting episode where I have our VP of ops, Albert Chou on the show, where we're going to go through the previous 50 episodes and talk about highlights, and then talk about future trends that maybe no one has talked about on the show so far. Albert, welcome.Albert:Yeah, thanks for having me. But to be clear, we're not going to go by the 50 episodes one by one because-Stephanie:We're doing one by one.Albert:No, that's terrible. We can't do it. Cannot do it.Stephanie:So, Albert, tell our listeners why did I invite you on the show?Albert:Well, I do have my own ecommerce business, www.[inaudible 00:00:41].com, I've also helped out on a couple others. The biggest one got to 10 million a year. And I worked for an ecommerce startup. One of the co-founders was a guest on the show AddShoppers. So, been working in the game of ecommerce probably since 2016 and still operating today, so learned from painful mistakes, as well as seeing other people have great success.Stephanie:Yeah, you always have some really good feedback and comments on our prep docs. Our amazing producer, Hilary, will put together an awesome prep doc for every episode for me, and then you come in along with all your other job responsibilities at mission, with the VP of ops, you do everything here, but you also come in and add some good questions and comments, and that's why I thought it would be fun to bring you on. So, thanks for hopping on here with me.Albert:Yeah, let's do it.Stephanie:So, to start, I thought we could kind of go through just some high level trends, because through all the episodes that I've had and all the guests we've had on the show so far, there's actually quite a bit of similarities that I heard. And starting with the first one, I think talking about supply chains is really interesting, because so many of the guests who've come on have talked about the shake up in supply chains that they've seen and how they're kind of pivoting and what they're experiencing, and I think that might be a good place to start.Albert:Well, when they talk about supply chain, everyone's competing against what Amazon has created, right? Amazon has created this expectation that you can get what you want, when you want it pretty darn fast. And so if you're any direct consumer brand, or any brand out there, if you're a retailer, that's what's becoming the now norm, right? Can you send it to your customer really fast, and can you take it back? That's like probably the most painful part of ecommerce is the fact that you do have a percentage of tolerance for returns. So, the tighter your supply chain is, the more margins you can create in the process, the more able you can take a return without losing everything. So, it makes total sense that every business is trying to figure this out, how to get closer to the consumer, how to make things closer to the customer, how to make sure that they can take back whatever is being sent back. So, it's just matching what the new customer expectation is.Stephanie:Yeah. I think it was also very interesting, talking to the ShipBob guy where he was talking about how you can basically tap into different fulfillment centers by using them, whereas before, everything with COVID, a lot of people actually were shipping all the way across the country and not really looking at maybe location based ordering. Maybe some people were, but I found that kind of a good shake up that now people are starting to think about how to do things more efficiently and how also not just to rely on one supply chain, because a lot of them maybe are going out of business right now, a lot of the warehouses are having issues, there's a lot of inventory issues. So, it's good to have not all your eggs in one basket.Albert:So, it's not just that. So, there's companies out there that are investing into logistics infrastructure specifically for other people to share. So, similar to ShipBob, there's other competitors in that field. But it goes further than that. If you take a look at some of the publicly traded companies, one of the larger ecommerce platforms, they have invested heavily in infrastructure and warehousing. I know that ChannelAdvisor did the same exact thing. They literally bought a warehousing logistics company. And ChannelAdvisor, for the longest time, has been a company that helps you as a merchant, list your products across the different marketplaces. So, if Stephanie's t-shirt company wants to list their product across Amazon, they want to list it across Rakuten, they want to list it across eBay, and maybe some others, she would still have to ship and fulfill from her own store.Albert:Now, why did ChannelAdvisor build that tool so you can list one product and get it plugged in everywhere? So, why did they invest in all these warehousing companies? Now, it hasn't come to full service yet but you can kind of see it down the road like the supply chain is where the innovation is going to occur. And I think you're going to continue to see that, you're going to see more entrance in it, and it's just non stop, that race will never stop. Basically, a customer can never get something fast enough. You know what I mean? There's always going to be this push to get it there faster.Stephanie:Yeah. It's also interesting hearing about certain companies trying to compete with shipping models against Amazon and trying to have one in two day shipping. It feels like such a hard thing to create from scratch now, but if you can figure that out, you're going to win.Albert:So, I don't know if you know this, Steph. I've also sold through FBA Amazon.Stephanie:I think you told me that?Albert:Do you know [crosstalk 00:05:37]?Stephanie:What did you sell, first of all?Albert:It was an adult card game.Stephanie:I don't want to hear anymore. This is a kid friendly show.Albert:It was not kid friendly. But how it worked is, so I got my order in China, and I had 5,000 pieces, literally shipped it to an FBA Center in New Jersey, never touched the product, and then Amazon automatically redistributed it across as its fulfillment network. And I would get updates like, "Oh, we're moving two boxes to Texas." "Why?" Because we predict, in Texas, someone will buy this, and therefore by moving it closer to the customer, we can reduce the shipping with our internal [crosstalk 00:06:20]."Stephanie:Do you have an influence over that prediction model.Albert:No.Stephanie:Because now more than ever, I'm like, how can anyone predict anything? I mean, there was a really good quote about like, should we be preparing for more people to buy Inkjet printers because they're all working from home, or extra freezers to prepare for the worst? It feels like there's no way to predict for that, so how do they even know that there's a couple in Texas who might want that?Albert:So, add to cart. I think add to cart is what they're doing, right? They're looking at how many people are adding to cart and then they're also looking at the percentage of conversion over time of people who do add to cart. So, if you see a bunch of cart adds for this product or a bunch of search volume increasing for a product in a specific area, you can automatically assume that that product is going to be in demand in that area. They've probably gotten it down to a super exact science.Stephanie:Yeah, I'm not going to question them. I'm sure they got it.Albert:Yeah. And since they're always moving products within their own fulfillment network everywhere, they see that there's a probability that this is going to happen, they just move it closer to you so that when they finally rely on last mile logistics, they've got it as close as possible so that they don't have to pay so much.Stephanie:Yeah, that makes sense. All right. So, the next one I want to kind of move into is influencers. So, first, we did a survey of our audience and a lot of people wanted to hear about influencers. How do I use influencers? What's a good way to actually get a good ROI on it? And a lot of our guests actually mentioned influencers as well. Some people were trying it out and were like, "I don't actually know if this is even working." Other people were having great success but were trying different models. So, I don't know if you've listened to the fancy.com CEO, Greg Spillane episode.Albert:I did.Stephanie:Okay. Well, first of all, that guy's a badass. I mean, making that company his stories. Like did you hear about how he went into a warehouse or a storage locker and found a bunch of credit cards that the founders were giving away with like $1,000 on it, and they were just giving it away to influencers just to try and get them to use fancy.com? Did you hear some of the stories that he was going through about what he experienced when coming into the company to try and turn it around?Albert:I mean, it's the classic, right? It's the classic problem in marketing, right? You're pretty sure some of it is going to work, some people say it's up to half, you just don't know which half, right? And so you're just blowing money trying to get more movement, but I get what they were originally trying to do makes total sense. I mean, you read about the stories of businesses like Gymshark, which built their whole business model off of influencers, and I think they just got a private equity valuation into the billions, so everyone wants to jump on that train.Albert:The problem is influencers themselves have created this marketplace, right? So, if you claim you're an influencer, and you have hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram, now influencers, they don't want to work on commission, they want to work on upfront fees. So, there's this new network which you're now going to see tools come into place of helping merchants buy influence. And so that's the next wave, right? Because I mean, there's a lot of influencers that are frauds or they have no influence on their audience whatsoever, they just have a big Instagram following for whatever reason.Stephanie:Yeah. They just [crosstalk 00:09:30].Albert:That's why the merchants are so frustrated.Stephanie:Oh, yeah. I mean, it's hard to know. You can see someone with a million followers, and something that I saw that was actually a good reminder for anyone with a small business was they're talking about how you can see if those followers have an intent to buy. So, if you have some influencer on there and they're showcasing some purse, or some lipstick, or whatever it might be, and the people in the comments are like, "Oh cute," or, "Pretty" or just liking it, they actually don't have followers who have an intent to buy. Versus you might see more micro influencers, like people that follow from around the area or something, and the people in those comments are like, "Where do I get that jacket from?" Like, "Please link up your shirt."Stephanie:And those are the kind of influences you want to go after because you actually know that if you're in front of their audience, they're ready to buy because they trust that person, which seems like it's kind of shifting, whereas before it was like just get the big name, the big followers, and now it's more like, "Let's make sure we get an ROI. How do we make sure to track this stuff and see some good conversions from it?"Albert:Yeah. I mean, you don't know what you don't know, so all you're looking at is what you assume is a big audience. And so that's the biggest misconception in social media, it doesn't determine their purchasing behaviors. It's just, "I like this person because I think she looks good, or I think he looks good, or I think he's funny. I'm not going to buy anything.Stephanie:Yeah, I can definitely see tools coming out soon, or maybe they're already out in the world, showing like here are kind of the demographics of this person's followers. So, you can sign up with an influencer and also see the income level, the job title, so you know that what you're getting with that influencer is going to have good results because you can see the profile of their followers.Albert:So, interesting, right? Platforms now that are creating marketplaces of influencers. So, I'll name one. We have not had their CEO on the show, but grin.co, you should join the show.Stephanie:[crosstalk] here.Albert:Yeah. GRIN is pretty fascinating, because they've built this marketplace where you as a merchant can then log in and you can see all the influencers, you can search by category. Let's say I want surfing, or you want food, or you want outdoor, whatever it is you want, it'll pull up a list of influencers and then it'll show the basic vanity metrics. But it also has ratings of probability of sale, because they've already maybe done a campaign for another brand, so you as a brand kind of see those numbers. Now, the problem always is, as a consumer is, you kind of always get drawn to the big numbers, right? So, you'll see like, let's say, the superstar TikToker, girl Charli D'Amelio. How do you pronounce her last name? D'Amelio?Stephanie:I don't know, and I'm surprised you know anyone on TikTok.Albert:But Charli D'Amelio, you'll see her name and it'll show you significant likelihood to influence dollars, it'll be significant, right? But then as a brand, you have to determine can you afford her, because she doesn't tweet or TikTok for you for nothing, right? It'll be hilarious. It'll say her agency, and of course, she's repped by a huge agency. So, that's where even tools like that, the problem is, let's say, the signal to noise ratio is still overwhelmingly noise and the ones that have tremendous signal, well, the problem is you can't afford it. So, I think the tools have to try to figure out by budget, almost, like how much ROI are you going to get per $1,000 of spend or something like that? That's probably going to be the next wave of measurement.Stephanie:Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think also the platforms are trying to catch up to be able to actually attribute sales to these influencers. I know TikTok is trying to do that right now. Instagram's been trying to do that, but I think they are still implementing a lot of features to actually allow the influencers to get paid. So, I think with that, you'll see a whole new wave of new influencers and micro influencers as well because now they can actually get paid.Stephanie:I mean, I saw someone, they were talking about some... I think it was some coffee mug or, I don't know, a cup or something on TikTok, and it was on Amazon, but didn't have any links or anything, and it sold out on Amazon because this one girl was talking about the functionality of it and how much she liked it, and people were like, "Oh, how do I buy through your link? I want to make sure you get a cut of it." And she was like, "I don't need that. I just review stuff because it's fun." And so it's interesting seeing how you have influencers who really do care about that attribution and won't work without it versus the people who maybe are big influencers but aren't actually looking for that, at least not right off the bat, or maybe because there's friction right now, with setting up that model.Albert:Well, I think the bigger you get as an influencer, the more you could charge for your time than results. So, if you're a superstar, like, let's go with professional athletes, the original influencers, right? If you're LeBron James, you're Michael Jordan and someone wants to buy your name, you just charge them for the name. Like you're like, "I don't know if you'll get $1 of sales, I'm just telling you right now that I'm not repping your product unless you pay me this much money." Right?Albert:So, it's still this push and pull where brands want all this information, they want to know your audience, they want to know all that stuff, and then influencers themselves are getting so big. Like, we're reading about how these people on TikTok, kids, I call them kids, I'm old, but they're making 100 grand a month, and that's considered an average influencer. What are talking about? 100 grand a month to make TikTok dance videos, and yeah. So, I can see a brand wanting to be like, "Well, how much will I get for sales," and I can just see how tough it is when the kid on the other end says, "Well, I won't TikTok dance for you for under 100,000."Stephanie:I just read that the next generation is getting paid more than ever right now, not just for being influencers but just for a lot of things. They're demanding higher payment than any other generation before them. That's good, good intense though.Albert:Yeah. Listen, ask for whatever you want. If you can get it, you might as well ask for it. Why not?Stephanie:Very, very true. So, I think the high level summary for that one then it's just that most brands should be exploring influencers in your market, but also making sure that you're setting up the ROI and tracking it correctly, and maybe looking for those new tools that are coming out or that are already out to make sure that wherever you're devoting your budget to you actually can track it, where in the past maybe it wasn't as required by your company or yourself to have that many metrics behind it, but now you actually can, so I think it's worthwhile.Albert:Yeah. I actually think some of our other guests that really talked about investing significantly into the product and making sure that the customer experience from the moment that they sign up, to buy it, to they receive it, that that experience is airtight, because that's where you're going to find your influencers, right? I think a couple of the men's shaving companies like Supply and Beard Brand talked about how they built a community of people who move these products. Well, that's the ultimate influence right there, right? Constant good reviews of your products. And if you get lucky enough to find a Dogface 208, then you win. Albert:Dogface is the guy that skateboarded while singing Fleetwood Mac and drinking cranberry juice.Albert:Well, cranberry juice sales, all time high. So, this wasn't a paid campaign or paid activation, sales are at an all time high. They're talking about it might see Wisconsin cranberry farming industry. That's how much in demand cranberry juice is right now. So, if you have a great product, your likelihood of catching a wave I think is much greater than if you're just constantly paying influencers.Stephanie:Yeah. And I like that idea of make sure all your other ducks are in a row first before you start going after influencers. I think we've had a couple of guests who talked about you really need to make sure everything from start to finish, to unboxing, to follow up, that needs to be airtight before you start trying a bunch of other things, because then you are at risk of getting distracted and actually not being able to focus on, not only your core product, but also your customer experience.Albert:You got it.Stephanie:All right. So, the other thing that I think was interesting that a lot of people have talked about is, of course, like omnichannel, and one of our guests is talking about the reinvention of brick and mortar stores, and talking about how it's now turning to be more about experiential experiences instead of just going there to buy something, because so many people now are shifting to a place where they're actually very comfortable buying online, even if they never did before, and going into the store is more about having a good experience and something to draw them in there versus actually making a purchase in store. I think it's all about experiences now and people are going to expect something very different going forward than they ever expected before.Albert:Yeah. I mean, that's the magic question, right? People are trying to... I've read articles about re-envisioning the mall of the future. If I think about current present retailers that are doing a pretty good job, I mean, obviously, Apple Store seems to be like one of the leaders where I had not admittedly walked by an apple store recently, but I do remember back when I did, six months ago, there were a lot of people in there, a lot of people in there touching the products, getting a feel of the products, they made it a very hands-on experience. I can think of other businesses that have done a really good job. Like, why does every Bass Pro Shops have a giant aquarium in the middle of the store? Because they want you to go and look at it. You know what I mean? To pull you in. They know you're a hobbyist. So, I don't know how good businesses are going to be at doing that, but I know that they're all trying. I mean, they have to.Stephanie:Yeah, yeah. I mean, when we had little burgundy shoes on, they were talking about how they were actually partnering with other people, other shops or people that are on the same street as them, even if it was a bank they're partnering with, and they were kind of doing giveaways or doing just different social business events or things like that, to make sure to get people in the store because they're like, "We don't really mind if you buy, but just coming in and getting that customer experience that we have, and being able to get in the vibe of the music, and actually experiencing our brand, even if it's only for a moment, is worth so much more than... Buying online is important, but we also want you to know who we are, and if that means partnering with other brands around us to give you an added benefit..." I mean, that's where I can see a lot of other brands doing that partnership strategy to try and get different customers that you would maybe never touch before in the same place.Albert:Yeah. Really, it remains to be seen that it'll work, because I always think, when I hear about the people with the rain experience, I don't question it at all, but I think also to Borders Books or Barnes and Nobles books, I felt like those are really inviting places. They got nice couches, good coffee, it smelled great, there's always baked goods there, you can read whatever magazine you wanted, or check out books, and they never kicked you out or nothing if you're hanging out there, but it didn't work. There weren't enough people buying the books, they were just chilling, I guess. So, I guess that's the real delicate balance, which is how do you educate, entertain and inform but also do it so much in a way that a person purchases the product versus, I don't know, coming in there and staying all day long?Stephanie:Yeah. That makes me wonder just about the business model, though, of like, are you encouraging people to buy, because... I mean, I don't know how the Amazon bookstores are doing now, but when I went in to them when we were in Seattle, it was just a very different experience because what you could get in the store was not what you can get online, not what you would get at any other bookstore, because there was actually, "Here's a review that we picked out," so you can kind of get a feel for this book, or, "Here's some of our top charting books right in front of you."Stephanie:So, it was kind of like it was bringing an online experience offline as well but in a very different way where I wanted to go in there, I wanted to hang out, but then I also found myself buying online afterwards. I was taking pictures of books and then I was just going on Amazon and buying. So, it seems like they figured it out there, and they don't have too much inventory to where they're holding a bunch of books and expecting them to sell, but it seems like it needs to move more to that model instead of thousands of books hoping someone comes in and buys.Albert:I can see that in a more curated... I know Amazon's experimenting with their five star stores where it's only physical products that have earned an average of four and a half, five stars. So, it's more of a curated experience, which is what we're more used to online, instead of looking at your whole catalog of crap, we see exactly what we're looking at what we want to see or the best stuff right up front.Stephanie:Yeah. And that's also something a lot of guests have mentioned, it's about that personalized experience and making sure that what you're showing the new customers, what they want to see. And I think the idea of curation too. I mean, people are trusting, not only these influencers, but also just people that they trust in general, where it's like, "Oh, my friend likes this." So, making sure that you can kind of show that or have that curated experience I think will be important going forward.Albert:Yeah. So, this is interesting, because I think this is actually a self-fulfilling prophecy of what's happening with consumer behavior and curation, which is, the more curated things become, the more likely or the lower the tolerance a person's patience becomes for browsing. Because I've read stats about how the average web browser, or consumer, whatever, spending less time on pages, clicking through less links, because they're constantly being served, let's say, what they want sooner, faster, so then they react that way. So, it's like feeding itself, right?Stephanie:Feeding the beast.Albert:Yeah. The consumer expectations. Like, if you don't know what I want within two clicks, I'm bouncing.Stephanie:You're done.Albert:I don't got time for those three clicks. I'm out.Stephanie:Yeah. That's tricky. I mean, it is kind of like building up a monster in a way where everyone's going to have to keep leveling up their game with how their new customers or current customers experience their shops.Albert:Yeah, it's going to be painful for merchants to do this, I think, it's going to be very painful. Or they can look at it the other way. There's an opportunity for a technology vendor that can do it. You know what I mean?Stephanie:Oh, yeah. Anyone who's got those good recommendations, yeah, they're already ahead of the game if they're implementing that.Stephanie:All right. So, the next trend, which actually no one really talked about, but it's more around partnerships, but I saw a very interesting partnership. I don't know if you have heard of that show on Netflix called Get Organized. Have you? Where they were going into homes, Reese Witherspoon, and they're organizing her house, and it's very popular now. Maybe your wife watched it. Have you heard of that?Albert:I can conceptualize what it is but I have not seen it or heard of it.Stephanie:Okay. So, they partnered with a Container Store, and they did it in a really good organic way where, of course, they're putting everything in containers and organizing it, and it made the container sales jumped by like 17% after this series went out, and I thought that's a really good example of not just product placement, but doing it in a way that wasn't annoying, and having, not only a partnership from the product perspective, but they also partnered with Netflix in the marketing aspect.Stephanie:So, it's like a good, well-rounded approach, but it also didn't make the content suffer. And I haven't seen a lot of companies do it that well. You always can think of other companies... I mean, there's product placement in almost everything, but you don't walk away being like, "Oh, I really need that to complete my experience." And I can just see a lot of more or a lot more unique partnerships forming like that in the future, where people are thinking outside the box and are not just doing the typical like, "Oh, let's just try this and see how it works." I can see more people experimenting with this, maybe not on that large of a level, but I thought that was a really unique partnership, and especially being able to see the sales jump right afterwards, it shows that it paid off.Albert:Do you think that was because they were actively solving a problem? Right? You're disorganized. I'm going to show you how to get organized. So, inherently the audience that watches it is looking to solve that problem, so inherently they then go purchase those products, or source those products.Stephanie:Yeah. I mean, they definitely, of course, nailed the perfect person who would have an intent to buy as someone who's also trying to get organized, but I think the way they did it just wasn't like hitting you over the head with it, it was kind of like, "Well, here's what we use." It was like, "No big deal, if you want to use it too, this is what we use."Stephanie:And I think that's actually the perfect strategy of like, "We're not going to push this on you, and we're not going to be annoying about it, this isn't an ad, but this is just exactly what we use to make this look perfect." And I think there's a lot of opportunity for other brands to think about that, like, how do you do it in a way where the content is still good? It's not making you feel pressured, but it's in the back of your mind of like, "Oh, this is what I could use to be like Reese Witherspoon," which she's the best.Albert:It's the classic, like, is this a threat or is this an opportunity, right? Because it just depends on the eye of the beholder. But one of the things, to your point, that makes it a threat to existing brands is if they're not good at it. One of the opportunities influencer see is that it's now easier than ever to make and source their own products under their own brand labels, right? Think of the power that Chip and Joanna Gaines have gained, right?Albert:Now it's to the point where it's like they're going to be almost impossible to buy because Magnolia products is coming, and it's already here, and it's going to keep getting bigger and bigger, where they're going to... You already know they know how to organically insert their products into all their content of you already think their style is the best, you already think their builds are the best, you already think their personalities are the best, now they're not even doing the partnership deal, right? Now it's not like, "Oh, go to Target to get the Magnolia collection?" No, go to Magnolia to get the Magnolia collection, right? They're going to cut the distribution network out and just be like, "We're the distributors of this." And that's always a challenge, I think. I do think that's something that the brands get nervous about is because like, if you sponsor somebody and they do a really great job, well, what stops them from cutting you out of the equation?Stephanie:Yep. Which is also what a lot of brands are scared about with Amazon. I mean, we heard mixed messages about that where some people were very excited about partnering with them, they were getting championed on that platform, Amazon was promoting them, and they weren't really worried too much about it, they're like, "Why wouldn't you be on Amazon, because that's where everyone said you should be selling on there?" And then we heard quite a few other ecommerce leaders who were like, "No way would I get on there. You're not going to make as much money. You can't control the experience. You can't control where it's being seen. And I want to make sure my DTC company is being portrayed how I want it and I don't want it to be knocked off on Amazon." So, the same kind of thing there.Albert:Yeah, that's it, and that's never going to stop. Constant threat market share takeover.Stephanie:Oh, I know. Constant battle, but interesting to watch. I think those people should be on Amazon, though, because I do think that is where so many people are. It seems like, yeah, it's where you need to be.Albert:Yeah. Here's what's interesting. The biggest players have kind of stepped off, but like Nike, Nike has got so much... Nike has enough power, I think, to step off that platform, but if you're trying to be discovered, I mean, it just does seem overwhelmingly hard to do it without that distribution network. I think it's just tough.Stephanie:Yeah. When we were talking about ShoppableTV, I'm also thinking about... I mean, you might know this better since your kids are on some of these gaming type of platforms, but having Shoppable worlds, whatever that may be, seems like something that could be coming in the future but we're not there yet, probably. I mean, I know we are when it comes to virtually shopping for things, that like, "Oh, I want to make sure to get this. Whatever this is in this world, I want to buy it," but it seems like there could be an opportunity as well for implementing your products into those worlds that are being built up right now.Albert:Yeah. Personally, I'm not as bullish on that because I still think people want to... I don't know. I don't really know, maybe because I just don't do it myself, because I definitely see my kids being drawn in when they're playing games, like they recognize products. What's weird is, when kids. To me, it's what's weird. So, for anyone who has kids that play Roblox, my kids see things on Roblox and they want to buy them, and they're digital products.Stephanie:Yeah. What are they? What are they buying?Albert:Like the new sword? They're like, "I want this sword." It's like, "What sword?" It's like, "The digital sword." It's like, "What do you mean digital sword." It's like, "My character can carry this sword if I buy this with real cash." And that makes no sense to me. What are you talking about?Stephanie:Exactly. I think it could be transitioning eventually. I mean, yes, people will always want those digital swords, I heard that people are buying t-shirts in there. I want to make sure my little avatar guy is wearing the coolest t-shirt. I don't really understand that, but then I don't know if you heard about Fortnight had Travis Scott do a virtual concert and was watched by millions of people.Albert:Yep.Stephanie:There's a very big reason why people would be like, "Whatever he was wearing, I want to wear."Albert:Now, did you hear about Travis Scott's McDonald's deal?Stephanie:No. What's that?Albert:It was like the number one selling meal for the last couple months.Stephanie:Just McDonald's in in general or what's his meal?Albert:The Travis Scott meal. I don't know. It's literally his meal. You know what I mean? You can have a number one, you can have a number two, you can have a Travis Scott.Stephanie:It says the Travis Scott meal is a quarter pounder with cheese, lettuce, and bacon.Albert:I'm just saying that's the power of you talking about a digital world. Yeah. There's the power of influence too, but he's already a mega celebrity, right? But I view it as this, it's like, what people are into, and this is why, like I was saying before, I feel like I age out of this stuff very quickly, and we're talking about ever evolving change. I came from a time where if I didn't have a physical product in my hand, I didn't think was real. I remember when mp3s first came out, I was like, "Why would I buy an mp3?" It's like, "It's a digital version of your songs." "What if I lose it?" They would be like, "What if you use your CDs?" "But at least I'm in control of my CD." You know what I mean? Like, that's my CD. I know where it is. I take responsibility for it. I was slow to convert there.Albert:And I feel for me, I'm always slow to convert to digital products, but when I watch my kids, it's just unbelievable. I don't even think they're interested in physical products. They keep wanting digital things. They want more games, they want more currency for their players, they just want this stuff. So, that's why I kind of didn't answer that because I was thinking simultaneously in my head, this is never going to work, but I think I mean this is not going to work on me but this is going to work on my kids, because it's happening right now. I get things all the time on my Google Play app, iTunes account, like, "What is this?"Stephanie:Why don't you buy one more virtual sword?Albert:So, will company start integrating like t-shirt... All right. So, let's take one of our t-shirt clients, right? We've kind of asked our guests on Up Next in Commerce, we've asked this to all of them. How do you convey that your product is soft, silky, whatever their product descriptors are, to someone without them touching it? And so it makes you wonder, in the future, is someone going to see a yellow hammock in their virtual world and be like, "Huh," and it'll pop up a ding like, bing. "Not only can your character have a yellow hammock, you can have one too." It's like, "Oh, okay, cool."Stephanie:Yeah. Especially if you can kind of see it blowing in the wind, or you can see that shirt like, oh, that's form fitting on this person in my virtual world that I really like. If you can kind of see things and details about it that mimic it. I mean, it seems like there's an opportunity there, it might not be here just yet, and you definitely have to figure out the demographics behind it, because, yeah, I mean, like you said, you might not be interested in that.Stephanie:However, I was listening to a pretty good interview with this guy, Matthew Ball, he was the former head of strategy at Amazon Studios, and he had a really good episode talking about how he was the same as you like, "Oh, this just isn't my world, however, I see actually a lot of companies, they will start being able to adapt these same types of technologies to where the older generation will actually start adopting as well, they just are trying to figure that out right now like, what will they feel comfortable with and what are they looking for? Like, what problems can you solve to get them there?"Albert:It's going to be pretty fascinating when someone's upsell customer journey path is actually get the digital avatar to consume this product first and then offer the physical. You know what I mean? When we talk about the hammock, can you imagine that, like, "Oh, my avatar really likes this hammock. He seems great. I think I might get one for myself in real life." What?Stephanie:I mean, I kind of would. I would do it. You need to get in these worlds to really experience it, but I mean, it does just seem like that is where the world is trending right now, around these games. I mean, a company I follow really closely is Epic Games, I think they're-Albert:They're in out neighborhood. [crosstalk 00:35:26].Stephanie:I think their leadership team is brilliant around what they're doing with their platform and how they're essentially giving away almost all the underlying technology that other companies have been charging for for a really long time, and they're kind of building this really big moat to be able to expand in a bunch of different ways. So, I kind of keep tabs on them, and that also, of course, influences my commerce hat when I'm thinking about too like, "Oh, wow, these two worlds could blend together in a really unique way and whoever gets there first..." Usually, the first movers are the ones that can get that arbitrage. So, seems like an interesting spot to watch.Albert:Yes, the Unreal Engine, for our listeners that are not familiar. Epic built a platform called the Unreal Engine of which you can build your gaming world on so that you could use... think of it as less code, you had less code, less character development, it's all built for you, you just add your characters and they can build worlds for you. How they do it is they charge you a royalty fee, I believe it's like 5%, but only if your sales are over a specific number.Stephanie:Yeah, it's very beneficial to creators, and that's why a lot of people are moving to that platform now because they're used to having these apps where certain stores, they're taking like 30 and 40%, and if you move to Unreal, you're essentially keeping the majority of your sales.Albert:Yeah, and you don't have to pay until you reach a certain number. So, by the time you're paying Epic, you've already made it, and then you're fine with it, I guess. The number is tolerable. By the way, if you follow Epic Games founder, Tim Sweeney, on Twitter right now, he's in a constant fight with Apple over [crosstalk 00:36:56].Stephanie:Oh, I know.Albert:He does not like it.Stephanie:I wouldn't either.Albert:It's a fun follow, though. It's a great follow.Stephanie:Go, Tim. I'm going to follow you right now.Stephanie:All right. So, the last one that I want to talk about is... I think this is interesting. You might be like, "That's weird." But I think there's such a big opportunity for optimizing, not only your website for voice searches, but also potentially building out custom Alexa skills to solve a problem. I see people doing that right now, but not really in ecommerce as much, but think about having an Alexa where you're like, "Hey, Alexa, tell me what wine goes best with this kind of recipe." Or, "Hey, Alexa, suggest some outfit for me based on the weather today." And you kind of build a tool that's actually helpful that's also you know, of course, very close to your brand. And so you can become top of mind by building out those skills or just implementing voice search in general. I just think the world is headed in that way because the technology is starting to get better, but I don't see a lot of brands jumping on that right now.Albert:I think the ability for AI to understand intent and meaning isn't quite there yet. I'm trying to think of myself using my own consumer behavior, right? Do I use voice to text right now to enter searches? Yeah, because it's a lot easier than typing it in or swiping it in, right? So, if I want to ask Google a question, I will just click the mic button and talk. Would I do that to solve problems? I don't know, but I think I haven't yet because contextually, it's very difficult, but it won't be far, right. So, right now, I think a lot of people Google best. Do you know what I mean? Like you said, best way to do X for Y, right? And then the next level is going to be can NLP technology, AI technology, whatever it is going to be that understands the nuance and intent and meaning start making it super personalized recommendations?Albert:So, can you imagine if you went to Home Depot, because what you're talking about would be super cool, if you go to Home Depot and say, "Hey, my garbage disposal broke. How do I replace it?" And it just comes up with like, boom, "You're going to need this, this, this, this," and then it gives me a how-to guide of how I buy a garbage disposal, I'm going to need these tools, I'm gonna need the sealants, and getting them-Stephanie:Can you imagine saying that, like, "Here's exactly how you're going to fix it. Let me send you a video to your phone." And like, "You need like Albert's brand of screws." Like, they're literally dropping your own products in there like, "This is how I would fix it, and also, here's a how-to video," and you walk away being like, "Wow, I not only bought that brand stuff, maybe, or I didn't, but they're top of mind now. They actually helped me fix my garbage disposal." How cool would that be?Albert:So, speaking of this, there was a while ago where I believe it was the president of O'Reilly, I'm pretty sure it was. The O'Reilly Auto Parts basically came out and said that Amazon was not a threat because buying car parts is very complicated. I'm not saying he's wrong, right? Right now car parts really aren't bought on Amazon because you have to know what model you have, you have to know the year, the make, the model, you actually have to know something about fixing cars to even begin to find the part. But can you imagine a future where you can ask it a question like, you go to O'Reilly or wherever you go and you say, "My air conditioner is not cold," and it remembers your car models, "Oh, you're going to need X, Y, Z. Would you like me to book you an appointment if you can't do this yourself?" Like, "Yeah, book me one. I don't want to do this?"Stephanie:Yes, please. Yeah. No, I mean, that's where I think the world is headed. And I mean, we did have a good interview, it wasn't our first 50, it was one of our more recent ones, talking about the world of identity and how you should be able to go places and you shouldn't always have to refill in your info, it should know maybe what's your brand of car if you put it somewhere else before. I'm trying to think of what episode that was.Albert:Fast.Stephanie:Oh, yeah, Fast. Yeah, that was such an interesting episode. I mean, now it's coming up right after this one drops, but [inaudible 00:41:10], so interesting where he was going through. Not only are they doing payments and identity, but where the world was headed around you should always have a Buy Now button on every single one of your products and that you shouldn't just make people add stuff to cart and then do the shipping and all that, you should let them buy when they want to buy it. And he was talking about the conversions behind that. But all that gets back to the identity piece, which is what you're talking about, going into an auto part store, you should be able to say, "Here's what I'm looking for," and it should know, "Okay, based on the information I have about you, here's what I'm going to recommend for you," and make it seamless and frictionless.Albert:Yeah, everyone wants that.Stephanie:My future. I don't know what yours is, Albert?Albert:Well, I think it's going to get there. It's not a matter of if, but when, but I still know that NLP... for anyone that's used an AI chat bot yet and been frustrated because you asked a simple question and it's like, "I don't know what you're saying," it's like we're not there yet, but I think it's coming, for sure it's coming. The technology providers, though, are going to be the ones focusing on that the most. I don't know when the merchants can start tapping into that resource.Stephanie:Yeah. That's why it's interesting to kind of keep an eye on these new startups and new tech companies that are launching around this stuff, like Fast, or even like the technologies like GPT-3. When that came out, I was just reading a whole article about how this guy created a program where you essentially can just talk and it'll build a website for you. So, you can say, "Create a red button, have the drop down say this, have the picture do this, grab the picture from here." And it is no code. You are speaking and it is coding for you in the background.Stephanie:I think the world is headed there but you just have to try and stay on top of those trends or the companies and try things out, honestly, experiment with it and see if it could work without bogging things down. I know you have been the first to say that the amount of plugins that you add on your website are just going to bog it down, and website speed is number one, so there is that balance, but I think it's interesting to stay on top of the trends outside of just your current industry.Albert:Yeah. Are we going to get to the part where we all have our own Jarvis? I don't know. But if that happens, it will be cool. Jarvis from Iron Man, for anyone that's not familiar with what I'm talking about, right?Stephanie:I was actually familiar with that one.Albert:Yeah? There you go. Look at you watching movies and stuff.Stephanie:I know. Look at me. I'm so trendy.Albert:It's not trendy. It's definitely very old. I think it's like a decade old now.Stephanie:Yeah. Still great, though.Albert:Yeah.Stephanie:All right. Are there any other forward looking trends that you think are interesting right now. So, we essentially covered the things that were in the 50 episodes, which were awesome and really cool, high level themes, but all the episodes had really good, juicy nuggets in each one. And then we looked at some of the forward thinking themes that maybe weren't covered, but I just think are interesting. But anything else you can think of where you're like, "I think a lot of people aren't thinking about this or aren't paying enough attention to this world that could help an ecommerce store owner"?Albert:Well, we got to do a big shout out to my awesome producer, Hillary, who loves Peloton.Stephanie:She does.Albert:Because Peloton is a very fascinating-Stephanie:[crosstalk 00:44:23].Albert:So, I bought stock in Peloton, and here's the reason why. I've never encountered a brand that I can think of where people so emphatically talk about it. Peloton and maybe CrossFit. Everyone says, "The first rule of CrossFit is you can't stop talking about CrossFit," I think that's also applicable to Peloton, because people who have Peloton love Peloton. So, I think this concept of building community so that your product extends beyond the purchase of the product, meaning like you buy a physical bike but you would stay subscribed to Peloton services. Because I think every brand, or not every brand, because could you do it with a ball? I don't know.Albert:But brands and products companies are probably trying to figure out how do I create a subscription community? I think that is going to be a trend that you can capitalize on now because it doesn't require, I don't think, as much technology that doesn't exist, but it's more like how do you build ongoing services at a price point where customers never want to leave you? So, like, I don't know. Let's use my example of kitchenware. Should fork, and knife, and bowl companies have active cooking communities? I think they should.Stephanie:Yeah. I mean, that was our interview with Food52, Amanda Hesser, that's exactly what they did. They built up this huge online community first and then they started reselling other people's products, drop shipping them, and then they created their own brand, and they did it in a way where they're like, "By then we had this huge community that we were doing cooking things together."Albert:Yeah. They could already forecast their sales. They were like, "Oh, we can automatically assume how many people are going to buy this."Stephanie:I know. And that was a long haul for them. I mean, she was the first to say that, however, I'm like, you essentially are launching to an audience that trust you, trust your content, you have this love for just anything that you're doing after you build this community, but trying to figure out how to do that right or figuring out what actually keeps people coming back and how to keep them engaged I think is really difficult without being annoying and without pushing your product too much. When you start in a more content focused way, it seems like it can be a lot more organic to build up those followers to then shift into a product where you have that trust. But it does seem hard when you're launching a new like DTC company and also trying to do content at the same time, it seems hard to figure that piece out.Albert:Yeah. And if we go back in time, right, Michelin figured this out. Michelin figured out that people weren't driving enough, so they created their star review system because they wanted people to drive and experience things all over the world, to the point now where here we are today, people still talk about Michelin star ratings for restaurants. It's still that important. People can't put two together and say, "Why would a tire company create that?"Albert:So, if you have that today, I think that's probably the next biggest trend, and you can already kind of see it happening. I think more products are going to try to create worlds or problems that their products and services solve, or whether it's exploratory or problem solving, I don't know. But when it comes to Peloton, I just think about the community that they've built, the fact that people just rave about the product. We got our buddy Hillary here, she's got a bike, it's not broken. She says, "They launched a new bike. The screen tilts so I can do yoga and then get back on the bike." It had a price point, a really high price point. I mean, Hillary was considering getting a loan to get this thing, which, by the way, they offer, they offer financing.Stephanie:We're going to put Hillary's... her like affiliate code, I don't know if she one. She needs one.Albert:Well, I'm telling you, the brand love that she has... But it's not just her. I say Hillary because, Hillary, we obviously work with her, but people love this product.Stephanie:There you go. Are you looking at our prep doc? She says h_tag24. Peloton all the time.Albert:Okay. If you want to buy, h_tag24. If you want to follow our buddy Hillary on Peloton, not only will she kick your ass in all these calories, or I don't even know what you guys measure.Albert:However you score points, she's scoring all the points.Stephanie:I don't know if that's a thing.Albert:Outputs. I don't know.Stephanie:Okay, outputs got it. This has gone into a bad hole. I'm not sure what we're talking about here.Albert:Well, we were saying like, what's the next thing to be aware of? I mean, I think that is closer than all those voice searches and things like that that you talked about, which I think are coming, I think you're going to see more companies build communities, and I also think you're going to see more companies burning out customers by trying to make everything like SaaS. Because one of my favorite Twitter handle to follow, everyone check it out, it's called the Internet of Shit, it's just non stop products that don't work if you aren't subscribed to their services. So, businesses out there that try to make me subscribe to make my refrigerator work, I'm anti-you. All right? Definitely anti-you, don't want to hear about it. So, follow the Internet of Shit, if you guys are curious.Stephanie:I have follow that one.Albert:But that's the delicate balance, right? How do you build a community of value that you charge for versus, I don't know, putting someone in entrapment where you're forcing funds out of them every month just to use your product?Stephanie:Yeah. I especially think after everything with COVID, people are also going to be dying for that community, even if it has to be online, I think it's going to be bigger now than it ever was before, because people have been cooped up and haven't been able to have that community like they may have been used to or they're actually maybe cherishing it in a different way now and they're trying to look for that. So, I think it'll be a big opportunity.Albert:There you go.Stephanie:All right. Anything else on your mind? If not, I think this was a fun episode. It was a good one.Albert:I hope so. I can never tell.Stephanie:You're really not, yeah. You're almost like, "I'm not sure." But yeah, I think this episode was awesome, it's really fun just kind of reminiscing through all the episodes we did. I can't believe we've already had 50. If you have not given us a review and a rating and subscribed, please do, because that helps spread the word, and we would love to hear how we're doing. We also have some really good interviews coming up, like we were mentioning earlier, the CEO Fast is coming on, we have a really cool company, Handwrytten coming on with [inaudible 00:51:04], Sheets and Giggles, Ring. We've got some big names coming up here, and yeah, I'm excited to do this next recap after the next 50.Albert:Until then.Stephanie:Right. Thanks, Albert.

Intro, AJ wants to demo his new Intro song , Clever reads Old Ad Copy for PanAm, TWA, and Borders Books. Thanks so much for listening. If you like the podcast, please Rate it 5 Stars on Apple Podcasts, or on whichever platform you are listen to us on! Much love and have a good day! Follow us “The Too Clever Mafia Podcast” for Motivation, Inspiration, and the Power of Knowledge. Instagram: @tooclevermafia Twitter: @tooclevermafia Facebook: @tooclevermafia YouTube: @tooclevermafia www.tooclevermafia.com Our Goal: We want to inspire the world to reach their dreams by sharing powerful and inspiring life stories, speeches, and life lessons for people around the globe. We want to share powerful messages that will change your life. If you know someone who could use this podcast, share it with them! The Too Clever Mafia Podcast owns the rights to all originally created content and audio files. Any third-party audio files that may be used within are used for educational, demonstrative, and/or transformative purposes only. All fair use standards and practices are strictly adhered to. #Wow #beinspired #StayAlpha #tooclevermafia --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tooclevermafia/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tooclevermafia/support

Full Episode Top 50s Toys, Borders Books, & Politicians Avoiding Answers Thanks so much for listening. If you like the podcast, please Rate it 5 Stars on Apple Podcasts, or on whichever platform you are listen to us on! Much love and have a good day! Follow us “The Too Clever Mafia Podcast” for Motivation, Inspiration, and the Power of Knowledge. Instagram: @tooclevermafia Twitter: @tooclevermafia Facebook: @tooclevermafia YouTube: @tooclevermafia www.tooclevermafia.com Our Goal: We want to inspire the world to reach their dreams by sharing powerful and inspiring life stories, speeches, and life lessons for people around the globe. We want to share powerful messages that will change your life. If you know someone who could use this podcast, share it with them! The Too Clever Mafia Podcast owns the rights to all originally created content and audio files. Any third-party audio files that may be used within are used for educational, demonstrative, and/or transformative purposes only. All fair use standards and practices are strictly adhered to. #Wow #beinspired #StayAlpha #tooclevermafia --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/tooclevermafia/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tooclevermafia/support

Coming up on this week’s episode, whatever happened to Borders Books? How did one of the OG disruptors of the book business, become the disrupted.In this week’s episode, I look at the rise – and fall – of Borders Books. What they did right. What they did wrong. And I’ll explore the one thing Borders’ Arch Nemesis – Barnes and Nobles did – that Borders didn’t.And I’ll share with you all, my theory on how that one thing may have made all the difference.The Risktory Podcast is created, written, produced and hosted by Jacinthe A Galpin. Soundtrack (sourced from www.freemusicarchive.org)Alan Spiljak – CloudsAlan Spiljak – ForgottenAlan Spiljak – Light blueAlan Spiljak – Empty daysAlan Spiljak – Stars aboveAlan Spiljak – Not the endAlan Spiljak – SunAlan Spiljak – Flying awayAlan Spiljak – TimeAlan Spiljak – Fantasy in my mind Bibliographyhttp://www.annarbor.com/business-review/borders-rise-and-fall-a-timeline-of-the-bookstore-chains-40-year-history/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borders_Grouphttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-borders-timeline/timeline-a-short-history-of-borders-group-bookstores-idUSTRE70404I20110105https://www.npr.org/2011/07/19/138514209/why-borders-failed-while-barnes-and-noble-survived#:~:text=Sullivan%2FGetty%20Images-,It%20appears%20to%20be%20all%20over%20for%20the%20Borders%20bookselling,employees%20will%20lose%20their%20jobs.&text=The%20retailer's%20first%20bookstore%20opened,Mich.%2C%2040%20years%20ago.https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/01/what-went-wrong-at-borders/69310/https://business.time.com/2011/07/19/5-reasons-borders-went-out-of-business-and-what-will-take-its-place/

Coming up on this week’s episode, whatever happened to Borders Books? How did one of the OG disruptors of the book business, become the disrupted.In this week’s episode, I look at the rise – and fall – of Borders Books. What they did right. What they did wrong. And I’ll explore the one thing Borders’ Arch Nemesis – Barnes and Nobles did – that Borders didn’t.And I’ll share with you all, my theory on how that one thing may have made all the difference.The Risktory Podcast is created, written, produced and hosted by Jacinthe A Galpin. Soundtrack (sourced from www.freemusicarchive.org)Alan Spiljak – CloudsAlan Spiljak – ForgottenAlan Spiljak – Light blueAlan Spiljak – Empty daysAlan Spiljak – Stars aboveAlan Spiljak – Not the endAlan Spiljak – SunAlan Spiljak – Flying awayAlan Spiljak – TimeAlan Spiljak – Fantasy in my mind Bibliographyhttp://www.annarbor.com/business-review/borders-rise-and-fall-a-timeline-of-the-bookstore-chains-40-year-history/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borders_Grouphttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-borders-timeline/timeline-a-short-history-of-borders-group-bookstores-idUSTRE70404I20110105https://www.npr.org/2011/07/19/138514209/why-borders-failed-while-barnes-and-noble-survived#:~:text=Sullivan%2FGetty%20Images-,It%20appears%20to%20be%20all%20over%20for%20the%20Borders%20bookselling,employees%20will%20lose%20their%20jobs.&text=The%20retailer's%20first%20bookstore%20opened,Mich.%2C%2040%20years%20ago.https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/01/what-went-wrong-at-borders/69310/https://business.time.com/2011/07/19/5-reasons-borders-went-out-of-business-and-what-will-take-its-place/

Comedians and Music Insiders Marty DeRosa and Paul Farahvar request mix tapes from their fun friends every week! This week, they dig into their favorite cover songs and make each other a mix tape of 5 songs while talking about Blockbuster Music drug tests, Paul being a "40 under 40" lawyer, Kurt Loder's 75th birthday and Borders Books store, What is on the list? Tune in to find out! REVIEW US TODAY, please? Email us at paulmartymix@gmail.com

On this episode of The Adaptables, Abbe and Emma chat about episode seven of the Hulu adaptation of Celeste Ng's bestselling novel, LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE. They're joined by Elena Nicolaou, Culture Editor at OprahMag.com. Abbe, Emma, and Elena discuss courage, hypocrisy, Izzy's sexuality, the enduring legacy of AIM screennames, and more. Discussion breakdown: Emma's Fire Count (1:13–2:32) Emma recaps the episode (2:40–6:19) Elena chats with Emma and Abbe about her relationship to the book (6:20–7:22) Izzy's sexuality storyline and backstory: “it's the '90s,” revelation that April and Izzy were girlfriends, analysis of April as a character and their relationship (7:23–11:14) Hypocritical actions and motivations of the characters in this episode, and the season so far (11:15–12:01) Richardson family tree lighting, trial prep, and Christmas card photo shoot. What are Elena's motivations in this episode, particularly her obsession with helping people, or being seen as a helper. Is this the root of her conflict with Mia? (12:02–14:49) AD Latina to Latina (14:50–15:34) Elena's confrontation with Mia in the courthouse bathroom, with a quick detour for Emma to flip out over courtroom procedure (15:35–18:01) Izzy as Elena's foil (18:01–18:29) Celeste Ng on the complicated reality of adoptions “Every adoption starts with a loss.” (18:30–19:47) Lexie and Pearl's journeys to grow up without becoming their mothers: especially Lexie dealing with her guilt over what she did to Pearl, both to get into Yale and at the abortion clinic, plus her break up with Brian, and Lexie's vocalization of the pressure to be perfect (19:48–22:40) Courtroom scenes: Bill as an attorney and his mind for strategy, plus the thematic impact of Bebe and Mia's testimonies (22:42–27:28) Detective Bill solves the case of the suspicious dinner receipt and has to confront Elena's behavior with Jamie 15 years ago and when she went to NYC (27:30–28:15) Plot machinations abound: Trip reveals to Pearl that Mia is paying for Bebe's lawyer, one of many things that start to make the two of them rethink their relationship. Meanwhile, Mia tries to back out of testifying after being threatened by Elena. Pearl and Mia have a huge blowup and Mia fails to reveal her and Pearl's past to Pearl (28:27–29:48) How courage, and its failure, guide the characters in this episode. Particularly, Mia in relation to her testimony and her need to tell Pearl about their past, April and her inability to be her authentic self at school, and Pearl and Trip failing to tell Moody about their relationship. “Why do any of us keep secrets? It's because we're scared or we feel bad.” (29:49–32:05) We finally get the backstory of the toy horses that we've seen Pearl with, and write about, all season (32:05–32:23) Izzy's Babies For Sale art protest project at school, and its racial and class implications, along with Mia's firm but loving explanation of how Izzy's own privilege needs to be acknowledged in her art, “you don't get to be the exception to the rule just because you want to be.” Plus Mia tells Izzy she was once in love with a women and gives Izzy a pep talk about perseverance. (32:27–35:27) Trip and Pearl hook up in Moody's hideaway (uncool) and decide to tell Moody they're together (cool), but then Moody sees them anyway and Trip then chickens out of telling him (uncool again) (35:28–36:26) Elena takes her final step to the dark side and reveals Pearl's origin story to her. (36:27–36:53) Favorite ‘90s moments: Borders Books, AIM screennames, Garbage, Collective Soul, and Tupac on the soundtrack, Tower Records, and a surprise sidebar about minimum wage practices in America. (36:54–39:12) Question for the group: is the book arsonist going to be the show arsonist? (39:12–42:02) TV show recap: Flashback to last summer, reveals April and Izzy's history (they got caught kissing during seven minutes in heaven at a party and April threw Izzy under the bus) Lexie finds out she got into Yale Elena and Izzy fight about Izzy's attire for the Richardson family Christmas card Elena and Izzy fight about Izzy's cabbage patch kid art project, for which she is suspended and Elena tells Izzy that it's “hard to be your mom.” Elena cuts Izzy (who is flipping the bird) out of all of the Christmas cards and Izzy finds the photos of herself in the trash The cracks start to show in Bill and Elena's marriage The disputed adoption trial for May Ling begins. Bebe and Mia both testify, despite Elena threatening Mia with exposure if Mia takes the stand Brian and Lexie break up. Trip and Pearl decide to tell Moody about their relationship, but fail to do so, and Moody finds out anyway. Pearl and Mia have a fight when Pearl learns that Mia is paying Bebe's attorney fees Elena tells Pearl about her past, her father, etc. LITTLE FIRES COUNT: 3

In today's talk. I'm proposing a challenge for the year 2020. 1 video every single day on YouTube. This talk is for everybody that already has or wants to create a YouTube channel, and there's three very good reasons why you should start a YouTube channel. If you don't already know what it is, find that thing that makes you most happy, if you need help finding that thing watch this video now. Now I'm not telling you to quit your job or sacrifice your entire life to do this. This is going to be a part time thing that you do with the end of the day when everyone else is asleep you have a couple hours to work at it. Reason #1. You do not want to spend the rest of your life doing what you're doing right now. It probably doesn't make you happy. It's probably not the thing that you're passionate about and you'd much rather be 80 years old and doing something you love than be 80 years old and regret your entire life. Reason #2 Big huge companies like Blockbuster and Borders Books got put out of business by people like you and me. The entire TV, radio, newspaper game is done. It's YouTube, It's podcasts, And it's blogs. So if you know your stuff and you're good enough or you're willing to put in the hours to honing in your craft, you could turn into the number one source that people go to online on the topic that you choose. Reason #3 The internet is still super young. There are not many people on it, even though you might think that YouTube is massively saturated and there's no room for you. There is plenty of room. I can promise you that the internet is in its infancy. If you take advantage of it now, you will be very happy later on down the line when there is no more real estate to grab up.

Dana and I do a great podcast and it is very fun. Our topic “My parents are screaming maniacally at me for not helping with the dogs I never wanted. Now threatening they will out. The reason is they gave me a gift and some money that I was told to be unconditional, only to say there were conditions afterwards.”

EPISODE 164 - Lights, Camera, BarstoolBUY A SHIRT (LARGE K9): https://store.barstoolsports.com/products/lights-camera-barstool-large-k9-tee(VOTE FOR ALL 2019 MOVIES IN LINKS BELOW)0:00 – Trillballin solo hour || 2:20 – Seeing Spider-Man with Stephen A. Smith || 4:09 – We loved Spider-Man: Far From Home || 7:33 – Ad Read #1 || 9:22 – Bond 25 behind the scenes || 13:39 – New Annabelle… good? || 17:32 – Toy Story 4 underwhelms at box office || 25:03 – Ryan Murphy's star-studded Netflix movie || 28:37 - …just listen || 31:15 – Borders Books, Barnes & Noble discussion || 37:18 – Waititi's Flash Gordon animated movie || 42:37 – Tanger Outlets || 43:30 – FOUR TRAILERS; FOUR WORDS || 48:08 – CHILD'S PLAY REVIEW (SPOILERS) || 1:03:19 – TOY STORY 4 REVIEW (SPOILERS) || 1:25:13 – TOP 5 FAVORITE VIDEO GAMES|| RATE 2019 MOVIES || JUNE: https://forms.gle/7kHJhSWhjpNrCTUV6 || JANUARY: https://goo.gl/forms/cJ5tYtYn7VQx4mlw2 || FEBRUARY: https://goo.gl/forms/N98XcvIy3SukhrIw2 || MARCH: https://goo.gl/forms/dBlIoB9WCB7mnDBQ2 || APRIL: https://forms.gle/7UKyQSYw5Qg5PTCt8 || MAY: https://forms.gle/JNuiEd4rvgLHnLkk9|| RATE 2018 MOVIES || DECEMBER: https://goo.gl/forms/waFMZz5jmTCBJkp43 || JANUARY: https://goo.gl/forms/nNzX19HbebeQMUAA3 || FEBRUARY: https://goo.gl/forms/DWG9TJMISLzUunsu2 || MARCH: https://goo.gl/forms/k0dL5ozOrhwJ2Bk03 || APRIL: https://goo.gl/forms/Z218hqWq3XGyqi9C3 || MAY: https://goo.gl/forms/f5aYcpJHnBMmkcs52 || JUNE: https://goo.gl/forms/IgBQVwKDx4ylerJP2 || JULY: https://goo.gl/forms/BBO8aAph3fpzj8Uy2 || AUGUST: https://goo.gl/forms/0Z10YRA59m2KJwYW2 || SEPTEMBER: https://goo.gl/forms/VbZhOoouq8obC4Um1 || OCTOBER: https://goo.gl/forms/CdcXBvZ6Q3yoNxqv2 || November: https://goo.gl/forms/GoyRGbeim2faUu5h2

Pat, Nate, and Paul explore Bench Time and its proper application. If you're on the bench or might be going on the bench soon, this is mandatory listening. We arrive at a number of "problems" and a number of "solutions" but one tag line stands out - "Stay off the bench stay in the bullpen", which is representative of our assertion that you should turn your bench into your bullpen. 3:08 - Nates Bench Adventures - AKA, another Nate Performance Review 5:50 - Quest to transform the bench into the bullpen? 6:42 - Looking at the bench from the individuals perspective 7:24 - Pat's Introduction to the Bench 8:24 - Paul's Introduction to the Bench 9:45 - Nate's Introduction to the Bench & Paul's Time at Borders Books 11:01 - Being an Entrepreneur on the Bench 13:58 - Building the Business From the Bench 17:28 - The Value of Internal Projects 18:33 - Looking at the bench from the company's perspective 21:34 - Giving Your Leaders Time To Lead (ie, how do we get the right people on the bench?) 28:21 - Being Proactive and Valuing Proactivity on the Bench 36:30 - Getting to some "Takeaways" 38:01 - Finding The Main Theme - "Solve your own problem - align your efforts to bringing in new business" 41:13 - Closing it out Intro & Outro - "Golden Sunrise" by Josh Woodward (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward/The_Wake_1790/JoshWoodward-TheWake-NoVox-10-GoldenSunrise) provided under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Season 3, Episode 12 Let's take a field trip to the library!

Global Product Management Talk is pleased to bring you the next episode of... The Everyday Innovator with host Chad McAllister, PhD. The podcast is all about helping people involved in innovation and managing products become more successful, grow their careers, and STANDOUT from their peers. About the Episode: Many companies have faced disruption. Of course, Uber and Airbnb are the poster children of disruption, but there are many more. Kodak was displaced by the digital camera. Blockbuster’s physical doors could not stay open in the face of Netflix’s virtual service. Borders Books failed in the wake of Amazon. Some companies have also managed to continue in the face of industry disruption, such as Best Buy and Barnes & Noble. What companies, both big and small, established and startup, can do to avoid disruption is the topic of this discussion. Our guest is Dr. Thales Teixeira, Associate Professor at Harvard Business School and research of digital disruption. He has a new book examining disruption titled Unlocking the Customer Value Chain. We discuss how value is now being created for customers.

In this episode, I have an in-depth conversation with the songwriter, composer, and independent music entrepreneur Emma Wallace. Emma Wallace has a dozen albums, EPs, and singles to her credit, including her latest, Immortal (available August 31, 2018). With over a decade of hard-fought experience building a career that supports a family of four through her music, Emma's got a lot to share about how to be a committed, steadfast, positivity-focused independent creator in the face of professional, personal, and financial challenges. No matter your creative endeavor, you'll find a lot of inspiration in her story. Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode Here are some of the things I talk about with Emma Wallace in this episode, including a few links to sites with which I have an affiliate relationship. I'll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase products through those links. It's a lovely way to show your support for Sonitotum! Find out more about Emma Wallace at her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Instagram. Listen to Emma Wallace on Spotify, Pandora, Google Play Music, Amazon Prime Music, or anywhere music is streamed. Buy Emma Wallace music on iTunes, Amazon.com, YouTubeMusic, or anywhere else you can purchase music downloads. There's a piece of new music in this episode, heard right at the beginning and end of the interview. This "bumper" music is a little tune called "Gwinton."  It's built around a bassline I cooked up while playing with my new Behringer U-Phoria UMC202HD audio interface. The drums, percussion, and guitar are samples and loops found in Mixcraft 8 Pro Studio; the bass guitar is played by your host. Emma mentions the song "Nature Boy," which includes the lyric, "The greatest thing you'll ever learn | Is just to love and be loved in return." Nat "King" Cole made the song famous first, but this Kurt Elling rendition is definitive to me. Emma and I met when we both worked at Borders Books and Music in Pasadena, California, ten thousand million years ago. James Raymond is a Los Angeles-based producer, performer, and songwriter. CDBaby is perhaps the oldest online distributor of digital and tangible music. "Hey kids, let's put on a show!" is all about the DIY, can-do, up-against-it attitude exemplified by Mickey Rooney's gumption in Babes In Arms. If you have a basement, a closet, a spare room, a garage... you can and should make your thing. Emma Wallace talks about the importance of gratitude. I wrote about how gratitude can make you a better creator and a better person. The Cult of Done has a manifesto you just might want to print out and put where ever you do your creative work... and maybe where you do everything but create, too! Michael Rosenbaum's podcast is Inside of You. Listen! Get a taste of Immortal, the album from Emma Wallace released on August 31, 2018 in this video for her song "Done." What Did You Think About This Episode? What are your thoughts?  Let's hear from you in the comments!

BAKED and AWAKE Mars Hill Church   Episode 20 27 December 2017 Why Mars Hill? I have loved religion from as far back as I can remember.  I am also more accurately described, when done so objectively, as a secular humanist more than anything else at least as regards my personal spiritual leanings. I don’t even claim agnostic per se, although that label might be accurate. I understand that term to mean that more or less we can’t rule a conscious Creator God out, but by no means can one be ruled IN, either. Therefore, agnostics claim to know NOTHING, or to not know one way or the other, if there is or is not a God.   Note: Definition of Agnostic, Origin; Greek (Unknowable) noun   a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God,and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience. 2. a person who denies or doubts the possibility of ultimate knowledge in some area of study. 3. a person who holds neither of two opposing positions on a topic:   Synonyms: disbeliever, non believer, unbeliever; doubter, skeptic, secularist, empiricist; heathen, heretic, infidel, pagan. Some notes on the Host and my own context for my interest in Mars Hill Church I grew up in the Episcopal Church on Long Island NY in the 1970’s and 80’s No Abuse, nor did I know of any in our church, specifically the clergy were scandal free I was an Altar Boy Was Confirmed at age 13, Catechism, etc Grew up watching The 700 Club and other Evangelicals on TV Youth Group, Vacation Bible School, Etc Began to distance myself from the church after Confirmation Questions I had were not being answered The standard teenager questions, albeit politely put always- “How could Jesus die and come back after three days? How did Mary have Jesus if she had never laid with Joseph? How did Noah and so many others live to such advanced ages? Speaking of Noah, how about all those animals? Dinosaurs? Lazarus? The Parting of the Red Sea? Etc Glib answers, then polite evasion gave way to eventual exasperation, (never malicious just lacking imagination) is how I would characterize the response from both my youth pastor and our actual Minister. I had to argue my way out with my parents finally at age 15 or so, when we relocated to WA State and I no longer had my old Youth Group and Sunday School kids to care about Still- I loved religion and spirituality, even as at the time I might have claimed to be an Athiest!  I read and studied religiously inspired books throughout High School and into my adulthood. This was during the Barnes and Noble and Borders Books heyday, and you felt like you could purchase your own personal LIbrary of Alexandria at the time. . Everything from vapid Christian self help books like “The Road Less Traveled” and others, to annotated translations of difficult to appreciate texts like The Dhammapada and The Upanishads. Now these books are not to be maligned as not worth understanding- indeed the opposite is quite true, and there are wonderful concepts that see expression in the beliefs and mythologies of Hinduism, Bhuddism, and indeed a personal favorite of mine, Taoism. Taoism, who’s most famous texts are the Tao Te Ching, and the Chuang Tzu, or Zhuangzi. They just take more work than reading your average study bible, for a young self taught reader trying to apply some critical analysis, or so I thought at the time- to the materials.   What follows is an unedited chat between the host and two guests, Adam Schaeffer and Douglas Moreland. Friends and former members of the Mars Hill Church Congregation. Part Two to follow in the next couple of days. Thank you for listening and please drop a review on iTunes sometime if you are enjoying the Pod!   -Steve  

After studying Spanish literature and embarking on a career as a lawyer, Matthew Lansburgh found fulfillment in writing. He won the Iowa Short Fiction Award for his linked short short story collection, OUTSIDE IS THE OCEAN. He and James discuss the spiritual fulfillment of writing, the need for dissatisfaction, the joys of close reading, and their shared love of outsiders in fiction. Plus, agent Christopher Rhodes.  - Matthew Lansburgh: http://www.matthewlansburgh.com/ Matthew and James discuss: Princeton University Middlebury College  POET IN NEW YORK by Federico Garcia Lorca  RESIDENCIA EN LA TIERRA by Pablo Neruda  WISE BLOOD by Flannery O'Connor  TOWARDS ANOTHER SUMMER by Janet Frame  92nd Street Y  "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" by Alice Munro  Darin Strauss  Hannah Tinti Josh Weil  Carmen Maria-Machado  Iowa Short Fiction Award  - Christopher Rhodes: https://christopherrhodes.net/ Christopher & James discuss: Borders Books at World Trade Center  Simon & Schuster  Michael Selleck  The Carol Mann Agency  Paul Auster  University and North Carolina at Wilmington  Emily Smith  ECOTONE  James Fitzgerald  BRASS by Xhenet Aliu  Random House  Gwendolyn Knapp  The Stuart Agency  Andrew Stuart  Scottie Jones  Taylor Brown  Garth Risk Hallberg  Emma Cline  MARLENA by Julie Buntin  THE NIX by Nathan Hill  W.B. Belcher  Jared Yates Sexton  LAY DOWN YOUR WEARY TUNE by W.B. Belcher  Beth Staples   THE SCAMP by Jennifer Pashley  ONE STORY  "World's End" by Clare Beams   - http://tkpod.com / tkwithjs@gmail.com / Twitter: @JamesScottTK Instagram: tkwithjs / Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tkwithjs/

In this episode, Tricia Wang, the founder of Constellate Data, turns the tables on our host Lou Rosenfeld. Lou tells Tricia his own war story of a failed client project with Borders Books. They discuss the dangers of silence, the value of speaking up, and when walking away from an impossible situation can be the best thing you can do for your career. Follow Tricia Wang on Twitter: https://twitter.com/triciawang Follow Rosenfeld Media: https://twitter.com/rosenfeldmedia

Commentary and News along with other stories of interest.

It was at Borders Books on Chicago's State Street where women and men were lined up literally around the corner to get a glimpse at the Money-Making Maven, Suze Orman. Signing autographs, smiling at strangers and shaking every hand that reached out to her made a successful book signing on The Road to Wealth. This book hit the New York Times Bestseller's list within its first weeks release, making Suze Orman a bona fide financial superstar! Suze shared with me, “Out of all the books I've written, I'm lovin' this baby more than any of them! 9 Steps to Financial Freedom hit number one on the New York Time Bestsellers list which was an absolute phenomenon in itself but everybody said, ‘that's not so hard – anybody can do that if you're on Oprah 11 times.' Courage to Be Rich comes out and goes right to number one on the New York Times Bestsellers list and everybody says, ‘oh, that's not that hard – you had an entire PBS special behind you. Road to Wealth comes out and one week after it comes out without any publicity whatsoever except for 4 minutes on the Today Show which is not enough to make a New York Times Bestseller; it hit the New York Times Bestsellers list within one week! What that says to me is that people are buying me now not being sold to me.”

Sam Harris is the author of the New York Times bestseller The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. Mr. Harris is a graduate in philosophy from Stanford University and has studied both Eastern and Western religious traditions, along with a variety of contemplative disciplines, for twenty years. His work has been discussed in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune, The Economist, The Guardian, The Independent, The Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, New Scientist, SEED Magazine, Stanford Magazine, and many other journals. He is a columnist for Free Inquiry magazine and makes regular appearances on television and radio to discuss the danger that religion now poses to modern societies. The End of Faith won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction. In this discussion with DJ Grothe, Harris explores what he calls the dangers of religion, and argues that because of their destructive consequences, religious beliefs should not be given special sanction in our society. Also in this episode, Free Inquiry editor Tom Flynn defends the magazine's republishing of the cartoons critical of Islam originally published in a Danish newspaper, and that some say incited riots around the world. He also talks about the recent widespread media stir caused by the Borders Books and Music's ban of the issue.