Podcasts about Caribbean

Welcome back to The Bourbon Road, recorded live at the Bourbon Road Bar in Simpsonville, Kentucky. Hosts Jim Shannon and Todd settle in for a double-barrel recording day — two episodes back to back — and they've dedicated this session entirely to finished whiskeys. Four bottles make it to the mat tonight, each one showcasing a different finishing technique: rum barrels, French and Appalachian oak staves, honey-coated barrels, and maple syrup casks. It is a sweet, sessionable lineup that ranges from 101 to 110 proof, proving that finished whiskeys can be approachable without sacrificing character. On the Tasting Mat: - Wheel Horse Double Mash Whiskey, Finished in Caribbean Rum Barrels (101 proof): A limited-edition blend of Green River Straight Bourbon (70% corn, 21% rye, 9% malted barley) and Straight Rye (95.5% rye), each aged a minimum of five years and then finished for up to two years in three styles of Caribbean rum barrels. Distilled at Latitude Spirits (Green River), MSRP $45. The nose opens with molasses, leather, and cooked brown sugar — rich but not heavy. On the palate it delivers a sweet, easy-drinking profile with a noticeable rye bite and a finish that runs a little shy. An excellent candidate for cocktails, highballs, or a few cubes. *(00:03:20)* - Gypsy Explorer Straight Bourbon, Finished with French and Appalachian Oak Staves (103 proof): The inaugural release in the Explorer series from Eric Church's Gypsy brand. A blend of two six-year-old bourbons — a low-rye Kentucky distillate (sweetness-forward) and a high-rye Indiana distillate (spice-forward) — yielding a combined mash bill of 66% corn, 30% rye, and 4% malted barley, reduced to 103 proof and then finished with staves sourced from the forests of Tronçais, France, and the Appalachian Mountains. MSRP $69.99. The nose is standout: rich, layered, and inviting. The palate softens dramatically into buttery Danish butter cookie territory, with dried apricots, honey, pistachios, and a baklava-like sweetness. Vanilla from the French oak weaves throughout. Approachable enough for any drinker, complex enough to contemplate neat. *(00:10:03)* - Pursuit x Meat Church Honey Hog Barrel Bourbon (105 proof): A limited-edition collaboration between Pursuit Spirits and Matt Pittman's Meat Church BBQ, designed as a tabletop companion to smoked meats. The blend combines Kentucky (78% corn, 10% rye, 12% malted barley) and Tennessee (80% corn, 10% rye, 10% malted barley) straight bourbons. Finishing involved coating barrels with over 55 gallons of Texas wildflower honey sourced from Burleson's Honey in Waxahachie, Texas. 105 proof, MSRP $79.99 for a 700 ml bottle, primarily available through the Pursuit P Club and the Pursuit Louisville location. The nose is sweet, floral, and unmistakably wildflower honey. The palate follows suit with a large honey presence alongside classic bourbon caramel — forward and sweet. A natural companion for the grill or as a warm-weather sipper. *(00:23:50)* - Short Barrel Sapsquatch Straight Bourbon, Finished in Maple Syrup Barrels (110 proof): Short Barrel's maple-forward annual release begins with a blend of Kentucky (70% corn, 21% rye, 9% malted barley, aged 6–8 years) and Indiana (75% corn, 21% rye, 4% malted barley, aged 6–8 years) bourbons. Unusually, the whiskey first conditions in stainless steel with sugar maple fusion spirals for six to eight weeks, building a foundation of maple depth and caramelized sugar before ever entering a finishing barrel. It then moves into Kelvin Cooperage toasted barrels that previously held maple syrup sourced from Vermont and Ohio. 110 proof, MSRP $89.99. The nose is dark and maple-rich but measured — not syrup-bomb territory. On the palate: whole-grain pancakes, warm butter, caramelized sugar, and toasted marshmallow, with the maple remaining present but disciplined. Notably, the finish pivots away from sweetness toward toasted oak, giving the whiskey structure and length. *(00:36:01)* Whether you're a fan of rum-influenced blends, buttery French oak, honey-laced barbecue whiskeys, or maple-driven dessert drams, this episode has something to satisfy every sweet tooth on the tasting mat. Jim and Todd also remind listeners about the upcoming Sample Soirée on August 22nd at the Corner Rick House in Frankfort, Kentucky — home of the Frankfort Bourbon Society — where all those accumulated sample bottles finally get cracked open for the roadies. Sign up at thebourbonroad.com to reserve your spot and grab your official Roadie membership card for the door.

7.27.2026 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Haitians Face TPS Deadline. 1,000 Marches to the Polls Launch. Howard Freshmen Get Help After today, thousands of Haitian immigrants will be in the United States legally after their temporary protection status ends. The question is what they will face when they return to the Caribbean island that armed gangs have taken over. Early voting in Georgia's special election to fill the late U.S. Rep. David Scott's seat in the 13th Congressional District hasn't been good. Reports indicate less than 2-percent have voted so far. It's Moral Monday Public Pulpit, and it's the launch of the 100 Days of Mobilization and 1,000 Marches to the Polls across all 50 states and D.C. We'll have some of that rally live. Federal judges deny an injunction to block Tennessee's GOP-favored congressional map that splits a majority-Black district in Memphis. Wisconsin voters sue to allow for a vote to count if an absentee ballot is late. And colleges in D.C. and New York are stepping up to help the hundreds of disenrolled Howard University incoming freshmen. Black Star Network Partner: Chapter Chapter and its affiliates are not connected with or endorsed by any government entity or the federal Medicare program. Chapter Advisory, LLC represents Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO, and PFFS organizations and stand alone prescription drug plans that have a Medicare contract. Enrollment depends on the plan’s contract renewal. While we have a database of every Medicare plan nationwide and can help you to search among all plans, we have contracts with many but not all plans. As a result, we do not offer every plan available in your area. Currently we represent 50 organizations which offer 18,160 products nationwide. We search and recommend all plans, even those we don’t directly offer. You can contact a licensed Chapter agent to find out the number of products available in your specific area. Please contact Medicare.gov, 1-800-Medicare, or your local State Health Insurance Program (SHIP) to get information on all of your options. ____ Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dangerous rip currents and huge waves are hitting parts of the California coast. There's deadly wildfires raging across Spain and France and hundreds of thousands of people have already been evacuated, leaving tourists stranded. And an increasingly desperate search is ongoing on the Caribbean island of Grenada.

Akilah Riley-Richardson, MSW, CCTP, is a couples therapist, published researcher, and Relational Healing Facilitator with over 16 years of experience. She specializes in working with couples—including those practicing consensual non-monogamy—and supporting sexual and racial minorities across the Caribbean and internationally.She is the founder of the BIPOC Relational Healing Institute and creator of the P.R.I.D.E. Model.Akilah is the author of Marginalized Couples in Therapy: Interventions for Healing from Systemic Trauma (2026), which offers culturally responsive frameworks and practical tools for working with BIPOC and LGBTQI couples impacted by systemic oppression.She has consulted with organizations such as NASTAD, the Relational Life Institute, I-TECH, and Caribbean Vulnerable Communities, and has presented at major psychotherapy and mental health conferences.In This Episodehttps://akilahrileyrichardson.com/Marginalized Couples in Therapy: Interventions for Healing from Systemic Trauma Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-trauma-therapist--5739761/support.---Thank you for listening!If you want to support the show, I've got three options and every bit helps.$5.00 PayPalhttps://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/NPKS32G8KVSN2$10.00 PayPalhttps://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/495AMDFXQFC3L$15.00 PayPalhttps://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/M7V5RREUKVD8JThank you to our Sponsors: Jane App - use code GUY1MO at https://janesoftware.partnerlinks.io/ngvcwcxqt2jx-4afv8i (https://jane.app/book_a_demo)Rebound - https://hellorebound.com/ttBeducated - Complete the quiz for one month free https://beduc.at/pd2629-traumatherapist

In this episode of Amateur Traveler, Sam Williams joins Chris to talk about the Caribbean island of Dominica, a destination he describes as “unspoiled Caribbean.” Unlike many Caribbean islands, where the main draw is the beach, Dominica is known for its rainforest, mountains, waterfalls, hot springs, snorkeling, whale watching, canyoning, and sea turtles. Sam recommends spending about a week on the island, renting a car, and using the Roseau area as a base for much of the trip before finishing on the wilder east coast near Rosalie Bay. Why Visit Dominica? Sam says Dominica is a good choice for travelers who want a Caribbean island experience that feels different from the standard resort-and-beach vacation. The island has beaches, but its real appeal is its jungle interior, dramatic waterfalls, volcanic activity, rugged roads, and low-key feel. Outside of cruise ship days, many sights can feel surprisingly uncrowded. ... https://amateurtraveler.com/travel-to-dominica/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some bands reunite because nostalgia sells. Others reunite because they still have something to say. Listening to Haircut 100's new album, Boxing the Compass, it's pretty clear which camp they fall into. This week, Steve welcomes the always charming Nick Heyward back to Stuck in the '80s to talk about the band's first album featuring the original lineup in an astonishing 44 years. Rather than trying to recreate 1982, Haircut 100 has delivered an album that acknowledges the decades that have passed while still carrying the wit, warmth and melodic sparkle that made them one of the most distinctive bands of the early MTV era. Nick talks about reconnecting with his longtime bandmates, finding the creative chemistry that had been dormant for decades, and why making new music together ultimately felt more exciting than simply revisiting the old hits. Steve also offers his thoughts on Boxing the Compass, discussing why it avoids so many of the pitfalls that plague reunion albums. Instead of sounding like a museum piece, it feels alive, adventurous and unmistakably Haircut 100. The conversation also looks ahead to the band's upcoming North American tour alongside Adam Ant and Squeeze—a lineup that feels like someone raided an exceptionally good mixtape from 1982. And for fans planning even farther ahead, Nick shares his excitement about appearing aboard The 80s Cruise in 2027, where Haircut 100 will once again be surrounded by thousands of people who still know every word to "Love Plus One," "Fantastic Day" and "Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)." Whether you've followed Nick since the days of Pelican West or you're just discovering why Haircut 100 remains one of the smartest, most melodic bands of the decade, this conversation is one you won't want to miss. So pour yourself something tropical, dust off the pastel blazer you swore you'd never wear again, and join us for another trip back to the decade that refuses to fade. Join Us on The 80s Cruise! If talking with Nick makes you wish you could hear Haircut 100 while sailing through the Caribbean... good news—you can! Haircut 100 joins an incredible lineup aboard The 80s Cruise 2027, where you'll enjoy live performances, artist interviews, trivia, themed parties, and enough nostalgia to make your Walkman jealous. When you book, be sure to use our promo code STUCK to receive up to a $250 cabin credit. It's the easiest way to turn your favorite decade into your next vacation. We'll see you onboard! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This weeks show starts off in a classic style with music from Glen Washington, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Ini Kamoze, Jacob Miller, Israel Vibration, Buju Banton, Garnet Silk, Black Uhuru, Ronnie Davis & The Aggrovators, The Mighty Diamonds, The Officials, Burning Spear, Willie Williams, Wayne Wade & King Tubby, I-Kong, Keith Goode, Ranking Dread, Mystic Eyes, Travelers, Ras Ibuna & The Village Bunch, Danny Red, Tony Tuff, Barrington Levy, Dennis Brown, & Sanchez. New Music this week comes from Macka B, Aza Lineage, Samory I, Ginjah, Ras Shiloh, Elastica Dub & Gabriel Blue, Capleton, Swashii & Guru Nile, Stinging Ray, Buju Banton, Red Fox, L'Entourloop with Flavia Coelho, and Christopher Ellis. Also this week we run an oldies set with music from The Techniques, The Cables, Alton Ellis, Slim Smith, Phyllis Dillon & U-Roy, Johnny Osbourne, and The Tennors. Enjoy! Glen Washington - Rockers A Nuh Crackers - Reggae Anthology: Joe Gibbs: Scorchers From The Mighty Two - VP Records Bob Marley & The Wailers - Roots, Rock, Reggae - Rastaman Vibration - Tuff Gong Ini Kamoze - World A Music - Dancehall: The Rise Of Jamaican Dancehall Culture - Soul Jazz Records Jacob Miller - We A Rockers - Songbook: Chapter A Day - VP Records Israel Vibration - Rudeboy Shufflin - On The Rock - Ras Records Israel Vibration - Times - Dub The Rock - Ras Records Horns Of Guiding Star Orchestra & The 18th Parallel - Bonanza Charge - Fruits Records Buju Banton feat. Ras Shiloh - Give I Strength - Inna Heights 10th Anniversary Edition - VP Records Buju Banton - Hills & Valleys - Inna Heights 10th Anniversary Edition - VP Records Garnet Silk - Kingly Character (mix 3) - VP records Black Uhuru - Natural Mystic (original mix) - Black Sounds Of Freedom Deluxe Edition - Greensleeves Ronnie Davis & The Aggrovators feat. Prince Fatty - Sun Is Shining/Dub Is Shining - Gorgon Records/VP Records 7” Mighty Diamonds - Want To Know The Boss/Boss Dub - Music Works 7” The Officials - Babylonian - DKRNYC 7” Burning Spear - No Worry U Self - People Of The World - Slash Willie Williams - So Real - Natty With A Cause - Jah Shaka Music Wayne Wade & King Tubby - Man Of The Living/King Tubby Special - Yabby You: Jesus Dread 1972-1977 - Blood & Fire I Kong - Babylon Walls - The Way It Is - VP Records Keith Goode - Jah Jah Deliver Us/Jah Jah Deliver Us Version - Under Ground/Pressure Sounds Ranking Dread - Same Thing Happening Every Day - Art & Craft Mystic Eyes - Perilous Time - Thompson Sound 7” Travelers - Joy Bells Ringing - King Jammy A Man & His Music: Volume 1 Roots & Harmony Style - Ras Records Ras Ibuna - Diverse Doctrine - More Pressure Vol. 1: Straight To The Head - Pressure Sounds Macka B - Memories - Chinelo Records The Village Bunch - Diverse Doctrinen Version - More Pressure Vol. 1: Straight To The Head - Pressure Sounds Danny Red - Walking With Jah/Walking In The Garden Dub - Red & Conscious - Conscious Sounds Tony Tuff - Praising Jahovia - Tony Tuff Meets Earl 16 At The Dubfront: Showcase Style - Dubfront Outernational Barrington Levy - 21 Girls Salute - Reggae Anthology: Henry Junjo Lawes Volcano Eruption - VP Records Dennis Brown w/ Joe Gibbs & The Professional - How Could I Leave You/Leaving Dub - Joe Gibbs 12” Bob Marley & The Wailers - Is This Love - Kaya - Tuff Gong Sanchez - Rearrange My Life - Back At One: The Best Of Sanchez - VP Records The Techniques - My Girl - Treasure Isle Time - Heartbeat Records The Cables - Baby Why - Best Of Studio One - Heartbeat Records Alton Ellis - Baby I Love You - The Duke Reid Collection - Rhino Records Slim Smith & The Uniques - My Conversation - Keep That Lovelight Shining - Trojan Records Phyllis Dillon & U-Roy - Don't Stay Away - Version Galore - Trojan Records Johnny Osbourne - Can't Buy Love /Dub It Easy - Truths & Rights Deluxe Edition - Studio One The Tennors - Pressure & Slide - Rock Steady Classics - Nighthawk Records Aza Lineage feat. Johnny Osbourne - A Rub A Dub Or Two - Rebel Daawta - VP Records/Jammys Samory I feat. Agent Sasco - Cruise - Revelation - TunUp Squad Entertainment  Ginjah - Niceness - Soul Connection - Tad's Records Ras Shiloh - One Drop Rule - Stay Nice Music Jackie Mittoo - Drum Song - The Keyboard King At Studio One - Soul Jazz Records Nat Birchall Meets Al Breadwinner - Organizer Version - Tradition Disc In Dub - Tradition Disc Crazy Baldhead - Dubbin' For Don - Pressure Drip - Jump Up! Records Mafia & Fluxy feat. The Pharmacist - Jesus Dread - Mafia & Fluxy Remembers King Tubby's King Of Dub - Mafia & Fluxy Katsu - Tenement - Bristol Archive Records Indica Dubs & Vibronics feat. Spltz Horns - Land Of Promise - Highest Principals Of Dub - Indica Dubs Chemist - Ital Juice Dub - Dub Prescription - Kingdom Records Errol Flabba Holt - My Eyes Told Me My Heart Is In Danger - Flabba 12” Elastica Dub & Gabriel Blue - Revolution Time/Revolution Time Dub - Dubophonic Records Cornell Campbell - New Scroll/New Scroll Dub - New Scroll - Zion High Productions Unlisted Fanatic feat. Earl 16 - Incredible/Incredible Dub/Ruffer Dub - Unlisted Fanatic Stephen Marley - 40 Days & 40 Nights - Ghetto Youths International Presents: Set Up Shop Vol. 4 - Ghetto Youths International  Capleton feat. Damian & Stephen Marley - Babylon So Evil - Heights Of Fire - Evidence Music Swashii w/Guru Nile & Travis D'Mario - The Israelites - WaspNest Entertainment Stinging Ray - China Man Party - The Man From Beijing - Irie Ites Records Daddy Rings - Ganja Pipe - Billie Jean Riddim - Irie Ites Records Irie Ites - Billie Jean Version - Billie Jean Riddim - Irie Ites Records Buju Banton - We Nuh Play - Too Too Bad - Gargamel Music/VP Records Red Fox - Shell It Down - Bent Backs Records L'Entourloop & Flavia Coelho - Venha Selecta - Evidence Music Christopher Ellis - My Sound - Ghetto Youths International Anthony Johnson - We Rule/We Rule The Dub - Tuff Scout Records

Miquita Oliver is a podcaster, TV presenter and all-round brilliant woman. She was just 16 when she burst onto our screens co-hosting Channel 4's cult music show Popworld alongside Simon Amstell. Twenty-five years later, she's still one of Britain's most distinctive broadcasters and interviewers. She co-created Miss Me?, with Lily Allen, and now co-hosts it with musician Jordan Stephens of Rizzle Kicks. You may also know Miquita from the acclaimed BBC series The Caribbean with Andi and Miquita, in which she and her mother, Andi Oliver, travelled to Antigua to reconnect with their family, heritage and identity. We talk about Miquita surviving the 2004 tsunami in Thailand, the shame she associates with going bankrupt, her struggle with alcoholism in her thirties, love, family, and why she still can't quite conquer her driving theory test. She even opens up about her hopes and fears around motherhood. This is an essential conversation for any one who survived the noughties diet culture or who has grappled with financial hardship. Frank, funny and unexpectedly moving: just like Miquita herself. IN THIS EPISODE: 00:00 Introduction 02:42 Heritage and Caribbean Roots 04:19 Tsunami Trauma and Healing 07:04 Iconic Co-Hosts and Craft 10:51 Losing Home 13:03 Miss Me Origins and Honesty 15:26 Bankruptcy Shame and Survival 30:58 Weight and Work Comeback 32:02 Second Reinvention Switch 33:01 Money Lessons After Bankruptcy 34:21 Why Aren't We Taught Tax 35:50 Alcoholism 39:19 Leaving Richmond and Getting Clear 43:12 Motherhood Without Shame 48:03 Driving Test Fail LINKS + MENTIONS: Listen to Miss Me? wherever you get your podcasts Join the How To Fail community: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Elizabeth's Substack: www.theelizabethday.substack.com WANT MORE? Andi Oliver - swap.fm/l/kcBWNXdPsg7LhgcGhvoF Lily Allen - swap.fm/l/8Otj3tpmbH5SF4xjVHTJ Neneh Cherry - swap.fm/l/r5YD9vNivp5t6yw1gN1U Mabel - swap.fm/l/bfOzGVjFFpo13LK7MHUu LOVE THIS EPISODE? Subscribe on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts Leave a 5⭐ review – it helps more people discover these stories Follow How To Fail & Elizabeth: Instagram: @elizabday TikTok: @howtofailpod Podcast Instagram: @howtofailpod Website: www.elizabethday.org Guest bookings for How To Fail only come from official @sonymusic.com emails Elizabeth and Miquita answer listener questions in our subscriber series: www.howtofail.supportingcast.fm/#content Have a failure you're trying to work through for Elizabeth to discuss? Click here to get in touch: howtofailpod.com Production & Post Production Coordinator: Eric Ryan Engineer: Matias Torres Assistant Producer: Shania Manderson Senior Producer: Hannah Talbot Executive Producer: Alex Lawless Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amy Phillips and Emily Dorezas share personal updates, including the death of Maddie's betta fish Caribbean after a tank cleaning and Amy's ongoing 2026 decluttering/office-closet organization project, then preview upcoming recaps (McBee, Dish/news, RHOC, The Valley, Next Gen). They dive into Real Housewives of Atlanta in Scotland, focusing on the intense, seemingly irreversible Porsha–Shamea conflict after Shamea brought parents into it, Shamea's repeated apologies, and the group's mixed but questioning reactions. They discuss Drew's confusing confessional styling, Phaedra's blonde wigs, the karaoke night, Phaedra's interest in local history at Greyfriars Cemetery (including Emily's personal connection), and Porsha's passive-aggressive birthday toast to Phaedra amid questions about how close they are off-camera.This episode is sponsored by:TUSHYStay fresh and healthy where the A/C can't reach. For a limited time, our listeners get 10% offtheir first bidet order when you use code DRAMA at checkout. That's 10% off your first bidet order at HelloTUSHY.com with promo code DRAMA RULAStart your mental wellness journey today with Rula, visit: https://www.rula.com/drama/HERS puts your health and goals first, visit: forhers.com/dramaTo watch this recap on video, listen to bonus episodes, get ad free listening, and exclusive content, go to: http://Patreon.com/dramadarlingFollow Amy Phillips on Instagram: Instagram.com/meetamyphillipsFollow Drama, Darling on Instagram: Instagram.com/dramadarlingshowFollow Amy on TikTok: tiktok.com/@realamyphillipsEmail Drama, Darling with YOUR comments, questions and drama:  DramaDarlingz@gmail.comDrama Darling Shop https://drama-darling-shop.printify.me/

What if your relationship struggles aren’t just personal—but shaped by the systems you live in? Akilah Riley Richardson returns to explore how systemic trauma quietly shapes our relationships, nervous systems, and sense of self. Drawing from her work with marginalized couples, she introduces the concept of relational privilege and explains why healing cannot be separated from the social systems we live in. Together, Akilah and Sue challenge traditional Western therapy models, discuss the importance of “responsible externalizing,” and explore how therapists can create space for grief, imagination, and genuine connection instead of trying to fix what cannot simply be solved. “The experiences of marginalized people are often devalued even by helping professionals, and this text is my dedication to carving a space where we, as practitioners, can ensure that we are of service in a way that is rooted in the realities of our people. It is also a reflection of my obligation to marginalized couples and individuals. My sincere wish for them all is that they are never harmed in therapy but instead uplifted. ” – Akilah Riley-Richardson Time Stamps for The Hidden Weight of Systemic Trauma: How Oppression Shapes Our Relationships with Akilah Riley-Richardson (306) 02:05 The systemic trauma faced by marginalized couples 04:12 Barriers for global south therapists and voices 08:00 Fear, threat, and navigating space as a marginalized person 09:57 Relational privilege and systemic influence 12:03 The role of colonial Christianity in systemic trauma 17:50 The danger of model dogmatism in therapy 20:06 Neurobiological threat and systemic trauma 22:02 Practicing responsible externalizing in therapy 26:07 The grief of systemic trauma and loss 28:04 The limitations of evidence-based models 29:58 The need for imagination and community in healing 31:47 The concept of lostness and liminality in trauma 34:06 The danger of attachment to models and frameworks 35:59 Differentiating systemic from relational reality 38:10 Yoruba and indigenous healing traditions 41:59 The influence of colonialism and imperialism on therapy 43:53 Acknowledge systemic trauma in therapist self-awareness 49:57 Habits of survival and internalized oppression 51:52 The impact of systemic trauma on body and mind About our Guest – Akilah Riley-Richardson, MSW, CCTP Akilah Riley-Richardson, MSW, CCTP is a dedicated therapist, educator, and researcher with several years of experience. As a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional and STAIR Method Certified clinician, Akilah specializes in relational healing, focusing on the needs of couples and individuals, both in the Caribbean and internationally.Her expertise extends to supporting sexual and racial minorities, ensuring that her practice is inclusive and culturally sensitive. Akilah's commitment to education and advocacy has led her to consult for esteemed organizations, including NASTAD, I-TECH, CARPHA, and CVC, where she has made significant contributions to healthcare training and community support. She has presented her work at various prestigious forums, such as the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium, Academy of Therapy Wisdom, Harvard Medical School, Chicago School of Psychology and the Black Mental Health Symposium. From 2012 to 2025, she served as a Social Work Educator at the University of the Southern Caribbean, mentoring future leaders in the field. Currently, she serves as a Research Supervisor and Examiner at the University of the West Indies Global Campus. As the founder of the Relational Healing Institute and the creator of the P.R.I.D.E. model, Akilah is passionate about advancing relational therapies. Her book, “Marginalized Couples in Therapy” reflects this passion. Resources for The Hidden Weight of Systemic Trauma: How Oppression Shapes Our Relationships with Akilah Riley-Richardson (306) Marginalized Couples in Therapy: Interventions for Healing from Systemic Trauma – Akilah’s new book, use this link for 20% off. Get your copy today! Akilah’s website  – Resources, opportunities and additional information Beyond Attachment Styles course is available NOW!   Learn how your nervous system, your mind, and your relationships work together in a fascinating dance, shaping who you are and how you connect with others. Online, Self-Paced, Asynchronous Learning with Quarterly Live Q&A’s! Earn 6 Continuing Education Credits – Available at Checkout As a listener of this podcast, use code BAS15 for a limited-time discount.       You are invited!  Join our exclusive community to get early access and discounts to things we produce, plus an ad-free, private feed. In addition, receive exclusive episodes recorded just for you. Sign up for our premium Neuronerd plan!! Click here!!  Get your copy of Secure Relating here!!

✨ Ready to attract dream clients + sell in a way that feels natural, authentic + in service? Register for my free live workshop, Confidence That Converts: http://alyssanobriga.com/webinar-bashar   ====   What if humanity is closer to open contact than most of us realize?   This week on The Healing & Human Potential Podcast, I sit down with Darryl Anka, world-renowned channel for Bashar, to explore extraterrestrial contact, consciousness, and what may be unfolding over the next few years.   Darryl shares Bashar's latest perspective on UAP disclosure, why 2026 could be a pivotal year, and what open contact may look like. We also explore Darryl's own UFO sightings, parallel realities, telepathy, crop circles, AI, and humanity's connection to a larger galactic community.   Beyond the mystery, we discuss releasing fear-based beliefs, following your authentic path, and meeting the unknown with more curiosity, trust, and openness.   ==== Guest Bio:   Darryl has given seminars around the world for over 40 years on the subject of metaphysics via Bashar Communications, Inc. which is owned and operated by April Rochelle. Over 20 books, based on his seminars, have been published in the United States and Japan, with more books on the way. Recordings and additional information can be found at www.bashar.org.     In addition to his speaking career, Darryl has over 40 years of experience in miniature effects, storyboards, sets and designs on three Star Trek films, Iron Man, The Aviator, Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End, I Robot, Live Free or Die Hard, and Flags of our Fathers among several others.    Darryl has made three films as writer-director-producer. The films "Dearly Departed," "First Contact," and "Alienated" are distributed internationally by Indie Rights Movies on Amazon, Vimeo, and Tubi TV among other platforms.   In addition to writing scripts, Darryl has written two published sci-fi novels in an ongoing series called "Shards of a Shattered Mirror," available at darrylanka.com.    Guest Links: boggledescaperooms.com darrylanka.com bashar.org ==== Website: alyssanobriga.com Instagram: @alyssanobriga TikTok - @alyssanobriga Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6b5s2xbA2d3pETSvYBZ9YR Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/healing-human-potential/id1705626495 ==== Alyssa Nobriga International, LLC - Disclaimer This podcast is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or any other qualified professional. We shall in no event be held liable to any party for any reason arising directly or indirectly for the use or interpretation of the information presented in this video. Copyright 2023, Alyssa Nobriga International, LLC - All rights reserved.

In this powerful episode, we sit down with Kaylyn Vega — a Puerto Rican-Dominican mom from the Bronx, now raising her four-year-old autistic daughter in Florida alongside her Jamaican husband. Kaylyn opens up about spotting the early signs of autism, pushing back against family denial rooted in cultural stigma, navigating a resistant pediatrician, and ultimately becoming a fierce advocate for her daughter and other families on the same journey. Her story is raw, real, and deeply inspiring.In this episode, we discuss:0.00 Welcome & introducing Kaylyn — from the Bronx to Florida0:26 Kaylyn's background: Puerto Rican, Dominican & her daughter's Jamaican heritage1:18 Early signs she noticed — tippy-toeing, delayed milestones, limited verbal communication2:01 Who first said "autism"? Kaylyn did — and why she already knew2:40 Cultural pushback: "She'll grow out of it"4:26 Getting the diagnosis — pushback from the pediatrician AND the preschool10:02 Finding peace in the diagnosis and mourning the "planned" future14:01 How Kaylyn's daughter is thriving today — speech, swimming, meditation15:27 Running a "tight ship" when family babysits20:13 Navigating insurance & the out-of-pocket diagnosis — what moms need to know22:37 Going back to school: psychology major, health insurance, and RBT certification26:13 Kaylyn's vision: an autism wellness advocacy business27:56 Self-care, a supportive partner, and guided meditation with her daughter29:22 How to reach Kaylyn29:42 Advice for moms struggling with family and cultural barriers31:17 What makes Kaylyn a badass? Her voiceConnect with Kaylyn:Instagram: www.instagram.com/kayykulture._Email: kaylynvega58@gmail.comIf this episode resonated with you:-Follow the Autism for Badass Moms Podcast-Leave a review to help other autism moms find this community-Share this episode with a parent who may feel unseen or misunderstoodFollow Us:Instagram: www.instagram.com/theabmpodcastFacebook: www.facebook.com/theabmpodcast

In this episode, Steph recaps day two of her trip with her coworkers. From Rope Dropping with Martin to seeing Bluey with Charlie. Steph also talks about her plans for D23 and her final opinion on the new animatronic on Pirates of the Caribbean after seeing it in person.Thank you to all of my listeners, friends and supporters! A special thank you to my sponsor, Arias Transportation, for supporting this podcast. Be sure to check them out at www.ariastransportation.com and download the app next time you need a ride in the Southern California area. Be sure to add Steph 20 in the notes for a 20% discount off your first reservation.Follow me on on social media for fun photos, podcast updates and funny videos: Instagram @Magic_Key_Adventures or use this link: https://www.instagram.com/magic_key_adventures/Facebook: Magic Key Adventures or use the link: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61582188742734&sk=aboutTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@magickeyadventuresFeel free to email questions and comments at: magickeyadventures@yahoo.comSupport the show with a one-time donation at: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/magickeyadhNew! Patreon: Join my Patreon, it's FREE!https://www.patreon.com/c/MagicKeyAdventuresSubscribe, rate and review!https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/once-upon-a-castle-podcast/id1838081825

You can call it a vacation to the Caribbean, Spain, or the farthest possible location from my mother in law, but packing and unpacking night just be the one thing that ruins it all. If you're overdramatic of course, which my kids are. What are we packing, what are our tips, and what are some travel secrets we should've kept to ourself (Spoiler alert, one of the Garg's doesn't wear clean socks and I am getting a DNA test asap). Thank you to this week's sponsors. Make your summer wardrobe feel easier. Go to https://www.Quince.com/zarna for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too. Function provides 160+ lab tests for $1/day and member pricing on advanced imaging. Join at https://www.functionhealth.com/ZARNA and use code ZARNA25 for a $25 credit. And before you go, text a question to 855-608-1717 on SMS or WhatsApp, for a chance to get a shoutout in the next episode! My very handsome son built this tool so I can learn more about all of you, so get texting! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mientras nos preparamos para la segunda mitad del año de El Sonido: Cancioneros, abrimos los archivos oficiales de KEXP para revisitar algunas de las sesiones Live on KEXP más memorables de artistas latinoamericanos, iberoamericanos y caribeños que han pasado por nuestros estudios. En este tercer episodio viajamos hasta Cuba de la mano de Jesús "Aguaje" Ramos y The Buena Vista Orchestra. Trombonista, compositor y director musical, Aguaje fue una figura fundamental en las históricas grabaciones de Estrellas de Areíto y posteriormente se convirtió en uno de los pilares del legendario Buena Vista Social Club. Grabada en Seattle en 2024, esta Live on KEXP session celebra la tradición de la música cubana y su vigencia a través de nuevas generaciones de músicos. Suscríbete al canal de KEXP Podcasts en YouTube para disfrutar de estos episodios especiales en video con subtítulos en inglés y español. Una producción original de KEXP en español. Más información en kexp.org/el-sonido Créditos Host & Producer: Albina Cabrera Audio Mastering: Jackson Long Producer: Jose Pabon Editorial supervision: Dusty Henry Original Podcast Music: Roberto Carlos Lange (Helado Negro) Support El Sonido: kexp.org/el-sonido As we prepare for the second half of the year of El Sonido: Cancioneros, we're opening KEXP's official archives to revisit some of the most memorable Live on KEXP sessions by Latin American, Iberian, and Caribbean artists who have performed in our studios. In this third episode, we travel to Cuba through Jesús "Aguaje" Ramos and The Buena Vista Orchestra. A trombonist, composer, and musical director, Aguaje played a pivotal role in the historic Estrellas de Areíto recordings before becoming one of the cornerstones of the legendary Buena Vista Social Club. Recorded in Seattle in 2024, this Live on KEXP session celebrates the enduring tradition of Cuban music and its continued vitality through new generations of musicians. Subscribe to the KEXP Podcasts YouTube channel to watch these special video episodes with subtitles available in English and Spanish. An original KEXP production in Spanish. More information at kexp.org/el-sonido Credits Host & Producer: Albina Cabrera Audio Mastering: Jackson Long Producer: Jose Pabon Editorial supervision: Dusty Henry Photo by: Renata Steiner Original Podcast Music: Roberto Carlos Lange (Helado Negro) Support El Sonido: kexp.org/el-sonidoSupport the show: http://kexp.org/elsonidoSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Camille's Lakou (Vanderbilt UP, 2025), a novel by Guadeloupean writer and educator Marie Léticée, tells the story of Camille, a young Caribbean girl living with her single‑parent mother in a 1960s urbanized zone at the edge of Pointe‑à‑Pitre, Guadeloupe, following her through her adult life as a Caribbean migrant in Florida. Léticée explores neocolonial culture clash and identity conflict themes that will be familiar to readers of the Francophone Caribbean coming‑of‑age novel and its revisions by women writers such as Capécia, Lacrosil, Manicom, Schwarz‑Bart, Condé, Pineau, and others. Léticée makes it her own by fleshing out a time and place not well‑represented in Guadeloupean literature. While previous bildungsromanefrom the writers mentioned here typically focus on rural peasant or urban bourgeois settings, Camille's Lakoushifts location to an impoverished urban environment. “Lakou” is translated as “courtyard” or, more colloquially, “yard.” The author explores the culture and politics of lakou society while raising the issue of how this social dynamic is transformed through the impact of globalization and dispersal into a diasporic experience outside the island milieu of Camille's childhood.In a collaborative translation effort between the author and Kevin Meehan, Camille's Lakou will bring the realities and joys of Léticée's Guadeloupe to an English audience for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

36. Behind the Scenes at the Haunted Mansion: Alex Interviews Kris About Being a Disneyland Cast Member What does it really feel like to work at the Haunted Mansion? In this special interview episode, Alex turns the tables and interviews co-host Kris about her unforgettable time as a Disneyland Cast Member at one of the world's most beloved attractions—the Haunted Mansion. From being assigned to her dream attraction on her very first day to walking the attraction with the lights on, working New Year's Eve on Main Street, backstage traditions, celebrity encounters, magical guest moments, and even riding Pirates of the Caribbean during a shift, Kris shares stories she's never told publicly before. The conversation also explores the personal side of her Disney journey—how working for The Walt Disney Company helped her through one of the most difficult periods of her life and ultimately led her to lifelong friendships, renewed confidence, and the path that eventually brought The Swinging Wake Podcast to life. Whether you're a Haunted Mansion superfan, a Disney Parks enthusiast, or someone who's ever dreamed of becoming a Cast Member, this is an episode you won't want to miss. In This Episode Disney Parks news and Oogie Boogie Bash updates Christmas in July with ConciEARS How Kris became a Haunted Mansion Cast Member Traditions and Cast Member training Walking the Mansion with the lights on Behind-the-scenes areas guests never see Working Haunted Mansion Holiday vs. Classic Favorite Cast Member memories and magical guest interactions Celebrity encounters at Disneyland New Year's Eve on Main Street Cast Member traditions and camaraderie Favorite Haunted Mansion scenes, ghosts, and details Why Kris ultimately left The Walt Disney Company Would she ever return to Disneyland? Listener Question If you could spend one hour backstage at the Haunted Mansion, what would you choose to see? Would you: Walk the attraction with the lights on? Visit the workshop where props are restored? Watch the stretching room "unstretch?" Explore somewhere else entirely? Let us know by emailing us or commenting on social media! Featured Sponsor A huge thank you to James at ConciEARS for sponsoring this episode! James has planned Disney vacations for us in the past and is currently helping us plan our Disneyland trip this September. His vacation planning services are completely FREE and can help take the stress out of planning your next Disney or Universal vacation.

Camille's Lakou (Vanderbilt UP, 2025), a novel by Guadeloupean writer and educator Marie Léticée, tells the story of Camille, a young Caribbean girl living with her single‑parent mother in a 1960s urbanized zone at the edge of Pointe‑à‑Pitre, Guadeloupe, following her through her adult life as a Caribbean migrant in Florida. Léticée explores neocolonial culture clash and identity conflict themes that will be familiar to readers of the Francophone Caribbean coming‑of‑age novel and its revisions by women writers such as Capécia, Lacrosil, Manicom, Schwarz‑Bart, Condé, Pineau, and others. Léticée makes it her own by fleshing out a time and place not well‑represented in Guadeloupean literature. While previous bildungsromanefrom the writers mentioned here typically focus on rural peasant or urban bourgeois settings, Camille's Lakoushifts location to an impoverished urban environment. “Lakou” is translated as “courtyard” or, more colloquially, “yard.” The author explores the culture and politics of lakou society while raising the issue of how this social dynamic is transformed through the impact of globalization and dispersal into a diasporic experience outside the island milieu of Camille's childhood.In a collaborative translation effort between the author and Kevin Meehan, Camille's Lakou will bring the realities and joys of Léticée's Guadeloupe to an English audience for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

Camille's Lakou (Vanderbilt UP, 2025), a novel by Guadeloupean writer and educator Marie Léticée, tells the story of Camille, a young Caribbean girl living with her single‑parent mother in a 1960s urbanized zone at the edge of Pointe‑à‑Pitre, Guadeloupe, following her through her adult life as a Caribbean migrant in Florida. Léticée explores neocolonial culture clash and identity conflict themes that will be familiar to readers of the Francophone Caribbean coming‑of‑age novel and its revisions by women writers such as Capécia, Lacrosil, Manicom, Schwarz‑Bart, Condé, Pineau, and others. Léticée makes it her own by fleshing out a time and place not well‑represented in Guadeloupean literature. While previous bildungsromanefrom the writers mentioned here typically focus on rural peasant or urban bourgeois settings, Camille's Lakoushifts location to an impoverished urban environment. “Lakou” is translated as “courtyard” or, more colloquially, “yard.” The author explores the culture and politics of lakou society while raising the issue of how this social dynamic is transformed through the impact of globalization and dispersal into a diasporic experience outside the island milieu of Camille's childhood.In a collaborative translation effort between the author and Kevin Meehan, Camille's Lakou will bring the realities and joys of Léticée's Guadeloupe to an English audience for the first time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

The Aunties are back, and this week we are joined by content creator, host, and viral personality Kelso (@Kelsoshow)! From his controversial comments on immigration and Windrush to the viral debate on where all the 40+ Black men are, no topic is off-limits. We dive deep into Caribbean vs. African identity, building wealth, height privilege, and why Kelso officially stopped talking to girls after hitting the limelight. Plus, we run through the comments, call out the latest viral madness (including that Paraguayan senator and World Cup politics), and talk about Kelso's insane rise from corporate manager to online star. ⚡ Kelso explains (and defends) his Windrush comments — was it really what people think he meant? ⚡ Being 6'7": the DMs, the dating, the disadvantages nobody talks about ⚡ Buy Back Brixton, Ghana's reparations bid, and who actually got rich off the slave trade ⚡ The Paraguayan senator's vile comments about Mbappé — and Trump getting FIFA to overturn a red card ⚡ "Where are the Black men over 40?" — we run to the comments and it gets heated ⚡ Kelso's actual rise: from a corporate job at Peabody to going viral in Grenada in three months

Deb Wolfe asks what is most likely to hurt you at Yellowstone? Is it a Bison? What should you do if a wild animal charges at you? A listener asks, ‘Why does my cat never get stoned off catnip?' Deborah gives the science behind catnip and shows you her 3 rescue cats enjoying a catnip high at debwolfepetexpert on YouTube. There is a right way and a wrong way to walk a dog through a crowd and the man Deb Wolfe saw at the Caribbean parade and Fifa crowd fest in Victoria, B.C., Canada, was doing it wrong! Please check out the footage on Deb's Facebook and tell us what you think was going on with this guy and his dog walking between his legs? Send text, emails or voice clips to deb@petliferadio.com with your comments, pet questions and suggestions please. EPISODE NOTES: Yellowstone Dangers, Catnip Myths & One Very Confusing Dog WalkerBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/animal-party-dog-cat-news-animal-facts--6666735/support.

Puerto Viejo's cocktail culture reflects the region's tropical fruits, local coffee, and Caribbean influences — and the ingredients are simple enough to recreate at home. Here is what defines the experience. To learn more, visit https://www.wearegigi.com/ GigiO Restaurant Puerto Viejo City: Puerto Viejo de Talamanca Address: Stanford's Square Website: https://www.wearegigi.com/ Phone: +1 786 6517997 Email: Ckinay@marketingtreasure.com

The Biggest Lie About Success (Almost Everyone Believes It).  Boyd K. Packer Watch this video at- https://youtu.be/29dSbLEQAZ8?si=EiOebuqHqVbdXmCq LDS Lights: Uplifting Messages 14.8K subscribers 11,512 views Jun 30, 2026 #JesusChrist #Faith #LDS The world measures success by wealth, fame, and status. But God measures it by faith, righteousness, and becoming more like Jesus Christ. Long after money fades and recognition is forgotten, our choices to follow Him will remain forever. Choose what lasts. Choose Christ. That is true success. -(October 1980) The Choice This message is for anyone feeling lost, tired, or seeking God. Jesus Christ knows your struggles. There is hope, healing, and purpose in Him.

Telling the Story: Part 2 Acts 7:1-16 by William Klock When I was an American school kid in the 70s and 80s I learned that the defining events in the history of the United States were was the founding of Jamestown in 1607; the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth in 1620; and, of course, the Revolutionary War that began in 1775 and the signing of the Declaration of Independence—well—almost exactly 250 years ago.  There were plenty of other events that shaped the story, but those were the events that set the United States on its trajectory: a heritage from Britain with a good dose of religious freedom and Protestant work ethic coming together in a grand expression of the rights of man shaped by the Enlightenment.  Were there flaws?  Yep.  Slavery was a big one.  But the way I learned the story, the British mainland colonies of North America were on the fringe of the slave trade.  We received a tiny fraction of it.  The real slavery problem was in the Caribbean and Latin America.  Plus, we dealt with it.  The whole Civil War thing—a tragedy.  But it was a story to be proud of. But in 2019, the New York Times began a new publishing project.  They called it The 1619 Project.  It was subtitled, “A New Origin Story”.  Why 1619?  That was the year the first African slaves were brought to Virginia.  Before the Pilgrims.  Before the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.  It was a deliberate attempt to reframe the story of the United States.  Instead of a story rooted in a proud English heritage and religious liberty and Enlightenment ideals of freedom and liberty, the 1619 Project told the story of the United States as one rooted in racism and slavery and oppression.  Instead of a story that makes you stand proud, it's a story meant to instil shame and guilt. The 1619 Project didn't come out of nowhere.  It made public a story that many people had already been telling, especially to younger generations. And, as you would expect, this resulted in a great cultural clash.  Both sides shouting at the other, basically saying, “How dare you tell our story wrong!”  It wasn't so much a matter of the events themselves.  Both versions of the story involved the same events, the same people, and all of that.  But it highlights how much how you frame a story, how much you stress certain events and people and ideas over others, that you can end up with stories that are essentially the same, while dramatically different.  One instils national pride; the other instils national shame.  That doesn't mean there's no right or wrong.  Framing the American story as if slavery and racism are its fundamental core is dishonest.  But at the same time, telling a story that glosses over those evils for the sake of instilling pride, well, that's a problem too. And as much as this Postmodern metanarrative dilemma was nowhere on the radar of First Century Jews, I think it's a good way to understand what was going with Jews in those days and it's a good illustration of what Stephen is doing in his speech before the Sanhedrin in Ats 7.  [It's page 1087 in the Pew Bibles.]  There were different “parties” competing for influence and control in First Century Judaea and as much as they all told the same story of Israel, reaching back to Abraham and Moses and David, to the law and the Prophets, all rooted in the same exodus and exile and the same promises, how they told the story produced very different results, different feelings about Israel's present situation, different ideas about the future and how to get there—just as how I learned American history makes you smile when you see the Stars and Stripes, but others, having learned The 1619 Project story, feel shame. For Pharisees, unfaithfulness to the law resulted in exile—one that was still effectively ongoing—and only national faithfulness to the law would get them out of it.  For the Sadducees, that was all in the past.  God had restored them from their exile, and the temple and its priests were the proof.  All was well.  For the Zealots, the story said that armed revolution was the only way out of their oppression.  For the Essenes, the group responsible for the Dead Sea Scrolls, the story said that the everyone and everything had been defiled by unfaithfulness, even the temple itself.  God would wage holy war on the unfaithful, so they—the only truly righteous ones—retreated to the desert to wait and to keep pure.  And there was the historian Josephus.  A generation later, he told the story—after the disaster had happened—to say that the Jewish revolutionaries had brought God's wrath on themselves and that God had raised up the Romans to act as his instrument of judgement.  Same story, but the different ways they told it, the different parts they emphasised, the way they interpreted certain events like the Babylonian Exile, landed them in very different places.  Like I said last week, the story got them to the airport, but they were all waiting at different gates—and none of them the right gate for the God's real homecoming.  That said, all of them held the same markers of Jewish identity dear: the torah, the temple, the promised land, their circumcision.  They disagreed on a lot, but attack any of those things and they'd all join in stoning you after charging you with blasphemy. So what Stephen is doing before the Sanhedrin, backing up all the way to Abraham and telling the story yet again, was in good keeping with what was going on in First Century Judaea.  So—in case you missed last week or have forgotten—in the first sixteen verses, Stephen began telling the story of Jesus and the Spirit by going back to Abraham.  This was the moment when the God of glory—Stephen wants to stress that he's here to glorify the God of Israel, not blaspheme him or his holy things—Abraham was the moment when God stepped into the darkness and misery of his broken, fallen, corrupted creation and called to Abraham.  In Abraham, God was launching his project to restore rebellious humanity to himself and to set to rights the creation that we broke.  Now, there was more to it than this—it's online if you missed or forgot it—but Stephen's main point is that the gospel is not a departure from the story of Israel.  It's not something new that has no roots in what happened before.  He's saying to the Jewish elders: When the God of glory, the God of Israel called Abraham out of Ur and settled him in the promised land and established his covenant with him to make him a nation, that was the beginning of the story that brings us to Jesus, to the cross and the empty tomb, to the ascension and to Pentecost.  The story of Abraham is the story of the gospel and vice versa. Remember, they accused him of blaspheming torah and temple and Stephen's saying, “No way!  Torah and temple are good.  They're glorious.  They're how God prepared us and brought us to Jesus.”  Like I said last week, when you leave your car and board the ferry, you are in no way saying your car was bad.  It got you to the ferry.  But you can't drive on water.  Now it's time do something new—to do the very thing your car brought you to do. And then from Abraham to Joseph.  Stephen tells Isreal's story in such a way to highlight that when the God of Israel acts to bless and to save his people, it's often in unexpected ways.  Abraham was promised the land of Canaan, but never had any more of it than a little burial plot.  And Jacob and his sons were forced to flee the land of Canaan in order to survive a famine.  And Jacob's sons were wicked men who sold their brother, Joseph into slavery after nearly choosing to murder him.  And Joseph went from slavery to prison.  How was God going to work anything good from any of that?  But he did.  The sovereign God was at work all along.  Slavery and prison led Joseph to the premiership of Egypt just in time deliver his family when they arrived.  None of them had ever expected any of that.  But God delivered them.  And Stephen's telling of the Joseph story also highlights that gracious forgiveness has always been at the heart of the story of God and his people.  There was Joseph, hated, abused, sold into slavery by his brothers, but instead of taking revenge, he welcomes them and throw a party. This is what Jesus had been doing as the lost sheep of Israel, the tax collectors and sinners, came to him in repentance and faith. And this is the sort of rejoicing that would take place in heaven were the Sanhedrin to see how the story leads to Jesus and repent.  God was waiting for them with open arms and a promise of blessing, and they should know that, because that's how God's great story has always worked.  It's the key in which this great symphony is written. So now, Moses.  As important as Abraham and Joseph were, Moses stands like a colossus over the story of Israel.  Moses was the deliverer who led Israel out of Egypt and parted the sea.  It was Moses who went up Mt. Sinai and saw God for himself.  It was Moses who came down and delivered the torah to Israel.  It was under Moses that God made a nation out of Abraham's family.  And this is where they've accused Stephen of blasphemy.  They've accused him of speaking against the torah and temple and Moses.  So look at Acts 7, beginning at verse 17.  Stephen highlights three things about Moses.  The first thing he stresses is how Moses was raised up by God to be the right man at the right place at the right time—even though no one would have guessed at the beginning that Moses was God's man for the hour. Stephen says: “God had sworn an oath to Abraham.  [Remember the promise to make him a great nation and to give his descendants the land of Canaan?] When the time drew near for this promise to be fulfilled, the people had increased and multiplied in Egypt, until another king arose over Egypt, one who had not known Joseph.  He got the better of our people, and ill-treated our fathers, forcing them to abandon their newborn children so that they would die.  It was at that time that Moses was born, and he was pleasing to God. He was nursed for three months in his father's house.  But, when they abandoned him, Pharaoh's daughter claimed him and brought him up as her own son.  So Moses was educated in the full teaching of Egyptian wisdom, and he was powerful in what he said and did.” Already, in the life of Joseph, Stephen has stressed that God works human evil for good.  Nothing escapes his sovereign hand.  And just so with Moses.  First, this new Pharoah decides to make slaves of the Hebrews.  Not good.  And then, when their numbers increase so prolifically that Pharaoh fears being able to control them, he hatches a plan to murder all the baby boys.  And so Moses ends up in a basket in the river, where Pharaoh's daughter finds him and decides to raise him as her own.  God turns Pharaoh's hate, prejudice, and injustice against him, sovereignly placing one of those Hebrew boys right in Pharaoh's own home, raised at Pharaoh's expense, and tutored by Pharaoh's own tutors in the famed wisdom of the Egyptians.  God ensure the story is full of irony.  Pharaoh unwittingly nurtures and educates the very man who will be his downfall.  And Moses, himself, receives the training needed one day to oversee, to govern the people of Israel.  Again, at the time, none of this made any sense.  No one could see any significance to the story as it was unfolding.  But God has a plan and one of the things the Jewish people learned from Moses' story—and so many others—is to trust God.  In the famous words of William Cowper, God moves in a mysterious way.  It's another motif in the divine symphony—one that comes back over and over and that God's people out to recognise when they hear the music. Second, Stephen stresses the rejection of Moses by his own people.  Look at verse 23: “When he had grown to forty years old, it came into his heart to see how his brothers, the sons of Israel, were doing.  He saw someone being wronged, and came to the man's defence; he took revenge on behalf of the man who was being oppressed, by striking down the Egyptian.  He thought his kinsfolk would grasp the fact that God was sending him to their rescue, but they didn't. “The next day he showed up as two Hebrews were fighting, and he tried to bring them back together again. ‘Now then, you two,' he said, ‘you are brothers! Why are you wronging each other?'  But the man who was wronging the other wasn't having it.  ‘Who made you a ruler or judge over us?' he retorted, pushing him away.  ‘Do you want to kill me in the same way you killed the Egyptian yesterday?'  At that word, Moses ran away, and lived as a guest in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.” Yet another motif in the symphony, another recurring theme in the story.  Jesus wasn't the first of God's deliverers to be rejected by his own people.  The story highlights that this is sometimes how God works.  Now, there's no one-to-one equivalence between Moses and Jesus.  Moses was rejected because he wasn't ready yet.  He had a desire to see his people freed, but he hadn't yet been called by God to that mission, nor had he received instruction on how to do it God's way.  This way of telling the story, this way of looking back to the Old Testament is something we see all through the New Testament.  I think of the way Matthew regularly explains how something in the Jesus story “fulfils” this or that thing from the Old Testament.  And often we're left wondering how the connection works.  Thanks largely to the Church Fathers, we've been taught to see these connections as literal prophecies or as “types”, as spiritual shadows that prefigure Jesus and various events in his life.  That's kind of close, but it's not quite what Stephen (or Matthew) do.  When Matthew, for example says that in the birth of Jesus Isaiah's words about the virgin conceiving and bearing a child are fulfilled, we wonder how that works.  Isaiah was talking about a young woman in his own day bearing a child…and she wasn't a virgin.  What Matthew was doing was pointing back to an event in Israel's past, in Israel's story, where the birth of a child to a young woman—maybe a princess, maybe the Prophet's wife…it's not clear—but where the birth of this child signalled that God was about to act to deliver his people.  Matthew latched onto that.  This is how God works, but this time—in the birth of Jesus—it's not just a young woman, it's an actual virgin, and this time God's not just delivering his people from a foreign king; this time it's deliverance from sin and death.  Matthew recognised the motif in the music.  It was there in Isaiah's day, a lone violin telling a story that most people missed, but in the birth of Jesus that motif returned, and this time the whole symphony was playing it. Stephen's drawing on the story of Moses the same way.  Moses was rejected by his own people.  A repeating theme in the story that the Sanhedrin—people who know this story, know this symphony so well already—a theme they ought now to see plain as day in what happened to Jesus.  It should be obvious.  They were the ones playing the instruments this time, after all. And then, third, Stephen stresses how through Moses, the God of glory, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God Israel had known for two thousand years, had revealed himself in a new way that no one had expected.  Look at verse 30: “After another forty years, an angel appeared to him in the desert at Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush.  When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the vision.  But, as he came closer to see, there came the voice of the Lord: ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.'  Moses was very frightened, and didn't dare to look.  But the Lord said to him, ‘Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.  I have looked long and hard at the trouble my people are having in Egypt. I have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them.  So, come on now: I'm going to send you to Egypt.'” Stephen wants to be clear—and we see this all through early Christian preaching—the God revealed in Jesus the Messiah is not new.  He is the same God who has been directing this story, this symphony from the beginning.  This is the God of their fathers, the God who has been rescuing his people according to his promises for two thousand years.  The God they know.  The God whose character and ways they ought to have recognised in Jesus. Yes, Stephen's saying, Jesus was not what we expected.  In Jesus—and now in the Spirit—God is doing something amazing, something astounding, something new.  And that's why you rejected him.  But knowing the story, knowing the music, we should have expected God would do precisely this: something new, something wild, something we didn't expect.  Because the story is already full of episodes where God does just that.  No one, least of all Moses, exiled to the wilderness, tending his father-in-law's sheep—expected the burning bush.  And yet in that moment, heaven and earth came back together, God spoke, a man was called, and the world was never the same again. And Stephen's point is this: You can't predict the unexpected thing that God will do; but you can be sure—because the story is full of such moments—that God does act unexpectedly to do the things he's promised and that we expect, the very things in which we hope. Holy ground, for example, was something Stephen and his fellow Jews understood.  The temple was holy ground.  It was where heaven and earth met.  But it wasn't the end-all-be-all of holy grounds.  It began at Mt. Sinai—not in Isreal, but in the wilderness—where God met Moses in the burning bush, where the plan to rescue Isreal from her bondage began.  When the Israelites built the tabernacle and the cloud of God's glory descended to fill it, God upstaged what he'd done at the burning bush.  And then again, with the temple.  As if it were the strings playing the motif at the burning bush, and in Exodus 40 as God's glory fills the holy of holies, the woodwinds join them.  And the music was good and it was beautiful, but the Sanhedrin should now be hearing that same motif as, in Jesus and the Spirit the whole symphony comes together to play.  Stephen isn't disparaging Moses.  He's not blaspheming the law or the temple.  He's saying, “Can't you hear it?  Their beautiful theme is now being woven into something far grander and played by the whole symphony.  The motifs have been there all along, the story has always been told this way.  Don't plug your ears to this new thing.  Listen.  And hear how it's taken up all the old themes into something that is nothing short of glorifying to the conductor, to the God of glory. That's as far as we have time to go this morning.  Like I said, Acts 7 is long and there's a lot to unpack.  But I think the great take-away for us from this part—in addition to learning to hear the great story of God and his people—I think the most important thing here is to know that God really does do new and unexpected things.  As we get to know the story, we ought to expect for God to do the unexpected, for God to do new things that upstage what he's done in the past.  And yet, the story also emphatically tells us that as much as God does new things and upstages the things he's done before, those new things are always in keeping with what he's done before.  The past always points to the future and the future never undermines the past.  As the writer of Hebrews tells us, “God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever.”  We live in an age where too many people are ready to do something new themselves—something that breaks from what or how God has already revealed himself, something that breaks from or that disparages or that blasphemes God's past actions or his past instructions—they take this new human thing and declared that God is doing a new thing.  Andy Stanley saying we need to unhitch from the Old Testament so that God can do something new.  No!  Churches embracing sexual immorality and post-modern notions of identity and sexuality and family and marriage and then saying, “See, God is doing a new thing!”  A thousand times, no!  Brothers and Sisters, the theme of the story, the key of the symphony doesn't change.  God does new things, but those new things follow from what God's already done.  On the other hand—and I think it's mostly in response to all the proclamation of “new things” that aren't godly at all—on the other hand, we can become too fearful, too conservative and we can end up where the Pharisees and Sadducees and the Essenes were: locked down, afraid of the new, and turning away from burning bushes, and unwilling to go where God is actually leading. This why we need to steep ourselves in the story.  This why we need to immerse ourselves in the great symphony and to let the music wash over and through us.  Brothers and Sisters, we need to know the themes and the motifs, to learn the key in which God is playing, to be intimately familiar with how they interact, weaving around and through each other, so that as the story continues to unfold, as the symphony bursts into new movements, we can hear God bringing those old familiar themes to new heights, while also being able to recognise when a different story is being told, or a different symphony is being played.  I've said over and over, Brothers and Sisters: God's word is life.  Know, meditate on it, let it mould you, and then let it pour forth from you to give life to others. Let's pray: Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things:  Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Rove Adds Qantas Transfer Partner | 50% Transfer Bonus, Qantas Sweet Spots & July 2026 Rove Update Justin Vacula of the Hurdy Gurdy Travel Podcast welcomes Carissa Rawson from Rove to discuss Rove's July 2026 update, including the addition of Qantas Frequent Flyer as Rove's new transfer partner. Rove now offers 1:1 transfers to Qantas, along with a limited-time 50% transfer bonus through August 14, 2026. Carissa explains how Rove Miles work as a flexible travel rewards currency that does not require a credit card. She highlights Rove's hotel booking platform, high hotel earning multipliers, shopping portal, Chrome extension, 13,000+ online merchants, instant miles on prepaid and non-refundable hotel bookings, and ways to earn through Rove events and meetups. Justin and Carissa also discuss potential Qantas sweet spots, including distance-based award pricing, low-cost domestic U.S. awards, Caribbean and Central America options, Tahiti flights, and the possibility of booking Emirates First Class through Qantas, including important status-related restrictions and booking considerations. Timestamps 00:00 Podcast Intro Theme 00:32 Welcome And Guest Setup 01:08 Qantas Partner Bonus 01:36 What Is Rove? 02:33 Earning Miles And Meetups 03:26 Qantas Sweet Spots 04:39 Emirates First Class Access 06:53 Frontier And Other Partners 08:40 How Partnerships Happen 10:17 Uzbekistan Team Retreat 11:35 Sponsor Announcements Break 13:38 App And Status Roadmap 15:07 Popular Partners And Europe 16:53 Underused Award Search Tool 18:45 Beyond Points And Miles Crowd 20:24 Dave Ramsey Credit Debate 23:30 Where To Find Rove 24:38 Closing And Outro Theme —

This weeks show starts off with classics from Glen Washington, Tony Rebel, Luciano, Garnet Silk, Freddie McGregor, The Twinkle Brothers, Danny Red, Vivian Jones, Linval Thompson, Martin Campbell, Bob Marley, Jacob Miller & Prince Phillip, Barrington Levy, Dennis Brown, Junior Delgado, Johnny Osbourne, Sugar Minott, and Gregory Isaacs. New music this week comes from Stephen Marley, Marcus Gad, Lutan Fyah, Kamrun & Jesse Royal, Stinging Ray, Medisun, Zion Head, Nightshade & The 18th Parallel, Capleton, Vibronics with Professa Natti, Marcus I & Adubta, Inti Ayvar Waltz, Rude Link & Riff Raff, Ziggi Recado, Ginjah, Macka B, and Buju Banton. Also this week we remember Fantan Mojah who passed away this week in Jamaica with blocks of his music throughout the show.  Fantan Mojah - Hail The King - Hail The King - Greensleeves Glen Washington - Kings Of Kings - Jet Star Presents Reality Calling Vol. 1 - Jet Star Tony Rebel - Know Jah - Tony Rebel: Collectors Series Vol. 1 - Penthouse Records Luciano - Carry Jah Load - Messenger - Island Jamaica Garnet Silk - Lion Heart - Reggae Anthology: Music Is The Rod - VP Records Freddie McGregor & The Ruff Cut Band - Give Jah The Glory/Dub Jah Glory - Ruff Cut 7” Sly & Robbie - Frenchman In Kingston - Sly & Robbie Present: Stepper Takes The Taxi - Taxi Fantan Mojah - Rasta Got Soul - Soul Rasta - Young Veterans Music Fantan Mojah - Stronger - Stronger - Greensleeves Twinkle Brothers - Praises To The King/The King Dub - Praises To The King - Reggae On Top Danny Red - Be Grateful - Past & Present - Cousins Records Vivian Jones - Who's Gonna Get Caught - Virgo Stomach Linval Thompson - River Jordan/River Jordan Version - Roots From The Yard 7” Martin Campbell - Jah Love - Rootsman The Real Thing - Channel One UK Bob Marley & The Wailers - The Heathen - Exodus - Tuff Gong Jacob Miller - Iron Bird - Prince Philip Presents: Dubplates & Raw Rhythm From King Tubby's Studio 1973-1976 - DKR/Bond Export Jacob Miller - Zion City - Prince Philip Presents: Dubplates & Raw Rhythm From King Tubby's Studio 1973-1976 - DKR/Bond Export Prince Phillip - Zion City Dubwise - Prince Philip Presents: Dubplates & Raw Rhythm From King Tubby's Studio 1973-1976 - DKR/Bond Export Barrington Levy - Hammer (7 inch mix) - Prison Oval Rock (40th Anniversary Edition) - VP Records Dennis Brown - What About The Half - Sun Shot 7” Junior Delgado - Liberation - Jammys From The Roots 1977-1985 - Greensleeves Johnny Osbourne w/ The Roots Radics & Scientist - Love Is Universal/Dangerous Match One - Junjo Presents Wins The World Cup - Greensleeves Sugar Minott - Herb Man Hustling/ Herb Man Hustling Version - Jaguar 7” Gregory Isaacs feat. The Mighty Diamonds - Rough Neck (12” Street Mix) - Red Rose For Gregory - Ras Records Fantan Mojah - So Many Problems - Evidence Music Fantan Mojah - Hungry - Hail The King - Greensleeves Fantan Mojah - Thanks & Praise - Hail The King - Greensleeves Fantan Mojah - Roots & Culture - Soul Rasta - Young Veterans Music Stephen Marley - Hills Of St Ann - Ghetto Youths International Marcus Gad - Where Mi Come From - For All - Easy Star Records Lutan Fyah & Irie Yute - No ID - Irie Yute Tapes Kamrun feat. Jesse Royal - Herbs Man - Easy Star Records Stinging Ray & Irie Ites - Forbidden Herbz/Forbidden Dubz - The Man From Beijing - Irie Ites Records Medisun - Babylon Bomb - Mafia & Fluxy/DubShot Records Zion Head - This System - Mutiny - Z2diZ Music Production Nightshade & The 18th Parallel - Don't Tell Me To Smile - Fruits Records Horns Of Guiding Star Orchestra & The 18th Parallel - Bonanza Dub - Bonanza Charge - Fruits Records Capleton & Derrick Sound - Prayers Up - Heights Of Fire - Evidence Music Bandulu - Dis World - Flashover Riddim - Anaves Music Rico Banton - World Inna Turmoil - Flashover Riddim - Anaves Music Vania Colours - Principles & Orders - Flashover Riddim - Anaves Music Sabolious - Flashover Riddim - Flashover Riddim - Anaves Music Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown - King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown - Abraham/Clocktower The Revolutionaries - Kunta Kinte - Channel One 7” The Mighty Threes - Sata - Jah Fingers 12” Hornsman Coyote w/Matta Roots & Earth & Power - Horns Of The Free - Earth  & Power   The Disciples feat. Don Fe - Revelation/Revelation Dub Mix 3 - Jah Fingers 12” Indica Dubs feat. Morgana Souljah - Peace Must Prevail/Prevailing Dub - Indica Dubs Vibronics feat. Professa Natti - Vision From Jah/Vision Dub - Scoops Records Michael Prophet & Disciples - Everybody Get Ready/Everybody Get Dub - The Right Thing EP - 4 Weed 12” Wellette Seyon & Jonah Dan - Anywhere I Go/Rastafari Before I Dubwise - Roots Vibration 12” Hitman & Fiza Meets Queen Omega - Dem Wicked/Stiff Neck Dub - Tribe 84 Records 12” Fantan Mojah - Search - Hail The King - Greensleeves Fantan Mojah & Derrick Sound - Double Standard - Upliftment - Evidence Music Fantan Mojah feat. Jah Cure - Nuh Build Great Man - Hail The King - Greensleeves Fantan Mojah - Corruption - Hail The King - Greensleeves Marcus I Meets aDUBta & The Black Oak Roots All Stars - Mr. Bossman - Fullness - F-Spot Records Inti Ayvar Waltz - Boundaries - I Want Peace - Yutman Records Rude Link & Llamar “Riff Raff” Brown - Basket Caa Empty - Riff Raff/DubShot Records Ziggi Recado - One Step Forward - Elevation - Oneness Records Ginjah - Wata - Soul Connection - Tad's Records Macka B - Di Real Rock - Firehouse Crew Buju Banton - Butterflies - VP Records Buju Banton - Murderer - Til Shiloh - Island Records Tenor Saw - Pumpkin Belly -  Fever - Blue Mountain Wayne Smith - Under Me Sleng Teng - VP Records Super Cat - Trash & Ready - Cries From The Youth - VP Records John Wayne - Call The Police - King Jammys Selectors Choice - VP Records Ninja Man - Mad Again - Sleng Teng Resurection - VP Records Zamunda feat. Fantan Mojah - Roots Rock Reggae - Natures Way Entertianment

Busch Gardens Tampa is closing Kumba, one of the most beloved B&M sit-down coasters ever built and the fourth-oldest operating B&M in the world, on August 2nd. Mike and EB spend the first drop giving a 33-year-old classic its proper send-off — the terrain-hugging layout, the iconic photo op under the corkscrew, the fact that it opened the same year Mike graduated high school — before digging into what "Kumba's Revenge" and a $100 million investment might mean for the space it leaves behind. From there, the news gets genuinely interesting: a strong rumor that Disney World's Space Mountain could get fully gutted and rebuilt from the inside out (with the guys making the case for why the purists are wrong this time), a D23 session themed to the Carousel of Progress that's being hosted by none other than Coaster Radio's own announcer, Neil Patrick Harris, and a reveal date for Six Flags Great Adventure's mysterious Project Purple — teased via a barnacle-covered shipping container reading "GVV," which may or may not stand for a name neither host can bring themselves to like. After the break, EB dives into a genuinely enormous care package from a listener packed with park maps, hats, collectible coins, and ceramic bourbon poker chips, before the two get into the show's real centerpiece this week: BlooLoop's list of the 26 best theme park attractions in the world. It's a sprawling, hotly contested countdown spanning six continents' worth of dark rides, and Mike and EB don't hold back — disagreeing hard on Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, defending Pirates of the Caribbean's 60-year-old technology, and debating whether a ride that's been open for a matter of months deserves to be crowned the single best attraction on the planet.

Stewart Alsop sits down with investor and entrepreneur Adnan Hassan on the Crazy Wisdom Podcast to explore his thesis on creating a small state asset class, using evolutionary insights from asteroids, dinosaurs, and mycelium as a framework for understanding resilient systems. Hassan brings his background in Silicon Valley technology, New York and Washington finance, and sovereign funds—including senior leadership roles at the World Bank—to explain why 162 of the world's 200 states are actually small states with populations under 12 million, and why these distributed, autonomous entities might be best positioned to survive the coming global shocks from AI, currency disruption, and the wobbling international order. For more information about Hassan's work, visit www.sac-holding.com (SAC stands for Small State Asset Class), where you can find two-minute videos explaining his approach to building this new financial architecture.Timestamps00:00 Introduction and the asteroid, dinosaur, mycelium thesis as a framework for understanding evolutionary survival patterns across billions of years05:00 Global order institutions are wobbling while currency systems evolve and AI emerges, creating simultaneous shocks that favor adaptable networked systems over large centralized structures10:00 Small states defined as populations under 12 million represent 162 of 200 global economies, contradicting assumptions that most nations are large centralized powers15:00 States behave as selfish entities seeking regulatory control while individuals seek autonomy, creating tension as the Westphalian system undergoes fundamental transformation20:00 Cooperation versus competition in human systems, examining how KYC requirements and state surveillance are expanding globally including in America and Argentina25:00 Small states are most interested in rule-based global order because they need protection from larger powers, unlike powerful nations that prefer unconstrained action30:00 Of the twenty richest countries by per capita GDP, seventeen are small states, yet no small state asset class exists in financial markets35:00 Uncorrelated assets provide diversification protection for investors, while small states offer geographic distribution across Caribbean, Africa, Europe, Gulf, and Pacific regions40:00 Cross-border family business collaboration between small states will increase, leading to knowledge sharing and a proposed Davos for small states event45:00 The individual sits at the core of this framework, with AI enabling creative minds in small places to access world-class resources previously impossible50:00 Demonstration of accessible technology costing only ten dollars shows how AI removes barriers, allowing creativity to become the distinguishing factor for entrepreneurs globallyKey Insights1. Adnan Hassan presents a thesis grounded in billions of years of evolutionary data, arguing that systems which survive major shocks share common characteristics: they are autonomous, networked, cooperative, resilient, and lack single points of failure. He uses the asteroid strike that killed the dinosaurs as his central metaphor, noting that while massive dinosaurs went extinct, smaller organisms like mycelium, ants, bees, and marsupials survived because of their distributed and adaptable nature. Hassan believes we are currently experiencing a similar asteroid-level shock to our global systems through the simultaneous disruption of the rule-based global order, currency systems, and artificial intelligence, all happening at once over the next three to five years.2. Hassan identifies 162 out of 200 global states and economies as small states, defined as having populations under 12 million people. This number surprises most people, including sophisticated observers who typically guess around 60 or 70. Even more striking, 17 of the 20 richest countries by per capita GDP are small states, representing 85 percent of the wealthiest nations. These small states have disproportionate resources to deploy internationally and the greatest interest in maintaining a rule-based global order since they have the most to lose from chaos and cannot rely on size or military power for protection.3. The current global institutional framework established after World War Two, including the UN, IMF, World Bank, and WTO, is fundamentally wobbling and reaching the end of an era. Hassan argues that states are inherently selfish creatures addicted to regulatory sovereignty and control, but the systems designed to give these states structure and credibility are now failing. This represents the first major restructuring of the global order since the post-World War Two period, which itself followed 400 years of colonial systems. The transition period will be characterized by significant chaos and convulsions throughout the global system.4. Hassan advocates for creating a new small states asset class in financial markets, which does not currently exist despite small states representing the majority of countries and the wealthiest per capita economies. This asset class would provide large institutional investors like pension funds and sovereign wealth funds with globally diversified, potentially uncorrelated assets while simultaneously supporting political and economic structures that embody the evolutionary principles of survival through distributed, autonomous, networked cooperation. The small states asset class represents both sound evolutionary strategy and pragmatic investment opportunity.5. Technology without philosophy is efficiency without purpose, a concern Hassan raised as early as 1994 when he helped prototype the first electronic trading market on the internet. He witnessed the naive optimism of Silicon Valley technologists who believed simply throwing tools over the wall would create a better world, but this approach made both good and bad activities more efficient. Social media demonstrated this danger by efficiently creating disruption and loss of trust in political systems. Hassan warns that the same mistake is being made with AI, where powerful tools are being deployed without adequate philosophical framework or consideration of consequences.6. Small states and their leading families will find more common language and shared understanding with each other across geographic boundaries than with larger neighboring states. A family business in Montevideo has an easier conversation with counterparts in Singapore or New Zealand than with businesses in Sao Paulo because small state actors recognize each other's unique realities and circumstances. Hassan plans to create a Davos for small states in 2027 to facilitate this knowledge sharing among the mycelium colony, allowing different nodes to exchange innovations and strategies across the distributed global network of small state actors.7. The optimistic future involves unleashing individual creativity globally by giving people access to AI-enabled tools that provide world-class legal, financial, and consulting advice in their language of choice. The solopreneur can now become a conglomerate, with individuals no longer constrained by lack of access to execution machinery. Hassan envisions young people in places like Gabon, Swaziland, or Uruguay having the same access to sophisticated business infrastructure as those in traditional power centers, with the distinguishing factor being creativity of mind rather than geographic or institutional privilege. Small states can pivot faster on regulatory frameworks, sometimes achieving in a dinner meeting what takes large states three years of legislative, executive, and judicial wrangling.

Lawrence Boodasingh, MScFM, CFM, FMP, CIWFM, ProFM is Senior Facilities Manager at Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine, an all-accredited (AVMA & AAALAC) 60-acre internationally recognized American veterinary and veterinary research university located on Saint Kitts & Nevis in the north-eastern Caribbean where he is passionate about delivering CAPEX projects and developing diversified high-performing teams, embedding customer-focused cultures, strategic management, stakeholder engagement, and driving innovative FM strategies across complex built environments. Mike Petrusky asks Lawrence about his continuous professional development, upskilling, and credentialing which he believes has been essential for his successful journey in facility and asset management. He says that FM leaders should embrace technology, AI, CMMS platforms, and data-driven decision-making to optimize asset performance and plan for the future. Prioritizing people, customer service, and safe environments is fundamental in the FM profession, so Mike and Lawrence share real world stories and offer inspiration so you can be an Asset Champion in your organization! Connect with Lawrence on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrenceboodasingh/ Learn more about Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine: https://veterinary.rossu.edu/ Find out more about IFMA: https://www.ifma.org/ Explore Eptura™: https://eptura.com/ Discover free resources and explore past interviews at: https://eptura.com/discover-more/podcasts/asset-champion/ Connect with Mike on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikepetrusky/ Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSkmmkVFvM4H3pwnlU2AuqynuRDpvnh4J  

Marketing is different than it was five years ago, especially now that AI is firmly entrenched in so many communities. Kiera talks about how AI, online reviews, and local trust are more important than ever, and what you and your practice can do to keep patients coming your way. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript: Kiera Dent- Dental A Team (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera, and I hope you're having a great day. I am having a great day. I love being in office with offices. I love working with practices. I love being with our team. I love seeing my team elevate and grow. I love watching and seeing just wins. I love hearing how our clients are doing. I love to see the wins our clients are getting. Honestly, dentistry is so great and it's fun. It's fun to see the evolution of the Dental A Team. I remember when I started this, there is no way, shape, or form that I honestly thought.   That we would have this many clients that I get to celebrate and love on and just rally to see them hitting production goals that they never thought they'd do, having profitability, working through leadership team issues, ⁓ revamping what they believe is their why and their power. very invigorating to see offices wanting to possibly sell to a DSO and then finding other alternatives, having offices sell to DSOs, having offices bring on partners and associates. To me, that is one of the most like   rewarding parts of owning Dental A Team is to see so many people and to get to be friends with so many of you and to truly watch I would say like the good guys and girls win. And ⁓ my job and our company's mission is to truly like your success is our passion. So I'm excited. I hope that you're excited. I hope you remember the dentistry. We're so lucky to be a part of dentistry. We get the most incredible job and it's it's not just a job. I think it's a life changing experience we all get to be a part of. So today I just want to kind of like dive into like   AI reviews and ⁓ trust are genuinely kind of changing how patients choose their dentists. And I've been watching this and we've been talking about it within our private doctor communities and ⁓ just recognizing that the world's changing on how people are picking dentists now and how are they finding you? And this is a little ⁓ I feel local. So some areas are gonna have more AI influence versus other areas are possibly going to have less AI influence.   But I think for all of us to just kind of figure out like how are patients choosing to go to the dentist? How are patients coming and picking dentists? Cause I do believe that marketing and the AI, it's different than it was five years ago. So I'm also finding that patients truly have already figured out who they're probably gonna call before they even call you. So like they're gonna determine do they trust you or not before they even make that first phone call. And before I used to feel like we could win them over, and I still believe we absolutely can, but a lot of it's already coming. And so it's coming before they talk to you.   And it's more than just having a website. It's you gotta be able to build that trust online with your patients before they even walk through the door, before they even want to make a phone call with you. So I just want to talk about like how is AI changing behavior, why our reviews like genuinely matter, how things are changing over there, things are shifting. there's some new algorithms if you're not familiar with how Google is switching it up for us, and really just trying to give you guys some preps because I believe that there are maybe some possibly three areas for a practice to focus on to really like   be the choice of your community. So we're big on making sure that we work. We work across the globe. We work across the nation. So seeing practices and how patients are making decisions from small boutique country villages to very metropolitan cities to places where there's not even like more than like five team members to choose from, to little isolated islands out in the Caribbean, you name it, we've seen it all. And so just really trying to help offices ⁓   look at things differently and to be observant. And so I want you guys to to realize that there's still ways to stand out. I think there's still ways for us to make big influences. And right now, AI is so new that we don't know all the ways of how it's working. And so just giving some tips and ideas to kind of have that healthy conversation of what is the innovative way for practices as of today, knowing that it could shift and change. But I believe that when we're on the cutting edge and we're being attentive to this, we're trying to stay   as up to date as possible without like killing ourselves off, I think is very important and very astute as CEOs. they have the phrase innovate or die. And I believe the practices do need to innovate. We do need to be on top of this. Otherwise we will get ⁓ dated very quickly. So ⁓ I think what was happening is patients are they used to rely a lot on referrals and I still think that that is a piece of it. But I will say it's a referrals and then it's a verify.   So they're verifying referrals. They're looking to see, hey, my friend told me this dental office. I'm gonna go double check it. And the way I'm gonna double check it is I'm gonna go read the reviews. I'm gonna check their website. I'm gonna look at social media. I'm gonna search online. Do you how many people are looking? Like you guys, I just went on a trip. I asked Chat GPT. I said, build me out the best hotels, the best locations. So people are starting to use AI. It's not all algorithm from the reviews and different pieces. It's pulling from that, but it's also not there. So we're kind of all looking like AI tells me this and I'm gonna go check the reviews. So   We're starting to have a lot more pieces to that. And so I really do believe like your online presence is a lot of times the exact first impression. And we're looking at evaluating trust before they come in and they're going to like evaluate your treatment. So can I trust this? Do they have a good online presence? And I know that that's annoying because not all the best practices are the ones with the highest reviews. However, society and for years of training of five stars, we're starting to learn that that's what we trust.   So I believe that there can be two practices side by side, similar services. One has recent reviews and online engagement and like very clear online presence. The other one hasn't updated anything in years. Patients are gonna look at both of those side by side and they're most likely probably gonna choose the one with the great reviews. Even if they're identical practices, even if they do the great same dream, even if the one who doesn't have a strong online presence is better, people don't know that. And it like you have to be present, you have to be winning online in order for people to want to come and work with you. So   For me, it's you've got to make sure you're building that trust online. You've got places where people can see you. And we have to remember different types of buyers are going to look at this differently. So if your demographic and population is going to be a more senior patient base, you might still be newspaper flyers, ⁓ having webinars, CE, things like that, where you're in person with them more. If your demographic is anything of like 60 and younger, they're probably online. not all the 60, like from the 50 to 60 range, that's still variable.   But anyone pushing that 50, they are in that realm where they have been trained with reviews and looking online and things like that. So, and regardless if your patient base is older, you have to remember that next wave of patients coming that are probably going to be your patients long term. They are that younger generation. So people don't want just recommendations anymore. They want confirmation. Like I want to trust. I think that in the world of AI where people are really questioning what's real, what's not real.   We're asking for referrals. We're verifying online. We're trying to put all the pieces together because we're inundated with so much noise that people are really trying to sift through the noise to figure it out. So ⁓ I think if you one one call to action on that is like re review your online presence this week as if you're a brand new patient. What's our social media look like? What are our reviews saying? When was our most recent review? What's our worst review? It's okay to have a bad review. Like it truly is. How you respond to that bad review is actually going to weed out patients and it's also going to show people a lot about you.   It's okay to not have the best reviews. It's not okay to have a lot of bad reviews, but it is okay because guess what? Everybody goes on there and the first thing we do is we look for the newest and then we go for the worst. We want to see, we want to see what happened. That's what's also going to make you stand out is real. I don't want you having a lot of bad reviews, but it's okay if you do. It just depends on how you respond and also pay attention. Are there things that you can fix and change with those reviews? Sometimes even calling those patients can help with those reviews. But look at that, see, go ask people to like type into Chat GPT.   Go do it on your own. See if you pull up, see where things are at. Are you the most recommended dentist? Look at those items. If you're not pushing like five, six, seven, eight hundred reviews right now. A lot of people are going to gloss over because there are other dentists that are going to whoop you because they've got like they're going to beat you in the race because they have more reviews than you. So that leads into our second thing of reviews really are becoming word-of-mouth marketing. And they're not just nice to nice to have anymore. They truly are like part of the patient experience. And so   You've got to have consistent review generation. You've got to have reviews that are talking about patients' stories. You got to have team involvement asking for feedback. Now, a latest update with Google algorithm is if they have the team member's name in there, they're starting to like disqualify some of those. I did have a practice tell us that they lost like 15 reviews in one day. Now, this feels a little weird to me, and I hope Google's listening. Not that I think they care about Dental A Team podcast, but I hope they do. Because to me, I'm like, I actually want patients to talk about.   their team. I understand that there's ways that we can gamify the system and we can like have our team members try to get their names and reviews. However, a lot of people are going to talk great about it. So in our mastermind, we were talking, we do have a dentist who has over 1500 reviews and she said where she's actually getting the reviews is right at the end of the appointment when they're checking out. They are asking for reviews right then and there and the text message is going to that patient while they are still in the practice. And people are like, we don't want that. Like they're busy on that. And I was like, guys, she has 1500 reviews.   I think she's got something going really, really well for her. She's figured it out. She's doing an incredible job and they're going for it. So this is something where like mistakes on reviews are where we only ask occasionally. You've got to be very consistent. We've got to be asking every single time. ⁓ we don't want reviews to be an extra task. Like, we don't want to ask for reviews when there's a problem. We're like once in a blue moon. You've got to have a steady stream of consistent reviews coming through. I love Swell. Swell's been one of my best best.   Review generators across the board. I've tried tons of them. I personally love Swell. You guys can tell them Dental A Team sent you. We still get like OG back at the very beginning when Zeke and Kiera met when we were just babies building our businesses. And Zeke still honors that pricing over there. So definitely would recommend them. It's Swell ⁓ dot I think it's CX. It's been a while since I've said their website, Swell dot CX. sorry, Sw Swell CX.com, I believe is their website. And   Head on over there, the SwellCx.com, let them Dental A Team sent you. It is truly one of the absolute best review places, but putting it right then and there, asking for it, having them go through. Some people use their computer softwares. Regardless, you need to be attracting and getting reviews on a consistent basis. And I'm talking like one, two, three, four, five a day. Yes, I said a day, because think about it. If you have two hygienists, if you've got four hygienists, if you've got six hygienists,   We are seeing eight patients a day. So minimum you're probably seeing 16 patients a day on hygiene side. Doctor side's probably pulling in at least eight more. You're seeing like 30 to 50 patients per day on a low end, up to like 100, 150 on a high end, even up to 200. Pediatric, you're seeing a ton. So think about if we're only getting like even 5% of those patients are leaving a review. That's a very small amount that I believe that we can all get trickling in there. So reviews.   At scale, they are going to build trust. So think about it: the best restaurants, the best thing, but be a practice that's review-worthy. We've talked about this on so many other podcasts. We can link some of those for you. But make sure that your practice is doing an incredible experience because you want to have a consistent review process instead of hoping that reviews will happen naturally. You've got to be asking for it. And I know that that's annoying, I know it's awkward.   Do believe me. Do you think I like coming on here and be like, hey guys, leave us a review? So if you want to feel good about a review, go leave us a review. Give five stars on Dental A Team, give five stars on our podcast. It feels good to leave reviews. And so that way you can also feel good asking for it. And it's something where just like working out doesn't feel good at the beginning, but then it feels real good. This is just asking people to like share their great experience with the world about you. There is nothing wrong. If you've done a great service, ask those people to share about it. It's a great way for more patients like them to find you.   So that's gonna be like step two. And then step three around that is going to be like, I do believe that local trust is becoming a very big competitive advantage. So technology is growing, AI is growing, but I still believe that like trust still wins and having local people and consistent people like building that local trust. So having those reviews, having those referrals, having raving patients. I just came from an office. I'm so proud of them. They've grown from four ops into 15 ops, and now they're looking to add on to 25 ops. So   it's only been a couple of years. I think we've been together about four and a half years. So really fun. And to see them, they're getting patients looking at their reviews, having people tell them that they're a great dentist and they want to go. But it's just a consistent patient experience. It's community involvement, strong referrals, team consistency, follow-through. And I'll say just being good humans, like treating patients like humans. ⁓ patients, I believe they want confidence, they want connection, and they want credibility and they want to know that you're you're authentic.   Again, we talked about there's so much out there that's not authentic. We've got so many people and it's like, what's real? I went, I was doing a gym photo shoot and they're like, pick photos that you like. And I showed my trainer which ones and she's like, Kiera, you picked all AI photos. And I was like, Well, shoot, that's not even fun. Like, we don't even know what's real or not real. Things look so real and they're not. So people still want to know that it's real and authentic. And so having a great patient experience, having it where you're involved in the community, ⁓ being the dentist that the community chooses, being a part of things.   Being a human, having authentic connection to your patients, giving them confidence and having a team that really backs you is, I believe, a lot of great ways for you to still be competitive, even in spite of a world that's so, so advanced in technology. ⁓ and I really do believe that private practices have a huge competitive advantage of treating people like people. ⁓ I think it's like the Ritz-Carlton's tagline is ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen. Like, what if it was like,   Dental professionals serving, like human beings serving human beings. We're just here to serve them and to love them and help them have this amazing experience at a place where most people don't even enjoy being. So I believe that technology might help patients find you. I believe that trust, connection, consistency, continuity is what's going to help them continue to choose you long term. And I want you to remember that just because a patient's been seeing you forever doesn't mean that they're with you forever.   I do believe that every time they come to you, it is an opportunity to rewin their trust to bring them in, to help them, to help them see that this is ⁓ the the best decision that they could ever make. So really truly you've got to be visible because visibility gets attention, the trust, the connection, the community, it keeps the patients with you. So look at your practice and see like, what are we doing every week to build trust with our patients? How are we making sure that we're genuine and authentic? What is that our culture? Is that what we preach?   go read the reviews, see what people are saying about you, ⁓ look to see where people are referring and just be good humans. Like I I know that seems so silly, but be a great human goes a long way. I think it's starting to become the currency that people are looking for of being kind, being considerate, being connected, being authentic. ⁓ so again, remember patients are looking for that proof before they even make the phone call. So you've got to be visible, you've got to have reviews, you've got to have things out there. ⁓   Reviews are like your modern word of mouth. So they're gonna read, people are gonna look at it, they're going to see. And then having that local trust, that community connection can be a great differentiator. So that's a great way to stand out. It's a good way for people to talk. Have your care to share cards, give them to people. We had podcasts on that. Like remind people to share you with their friends and their family because I still believe that referrals are one of the fastest ways to grow your practice and be the dentist that people want to refer. I think that that's probably my like final line. Like   Be the dentist, be the dental practice that people want to refer to. And I think if that's your mantra, that's your mindset, you're gonna win every single day. I wanna be the dental consulting company that people refer to. I wanna be the consulting company that when you need help, you think about us. I wanna be your best friend in the industry. I wanna be the person that you can count on to always give you non-filtered advice to truly give you the best of the advice. I will constantly be elevating myself and I wanna be that person for you. I wanna be the dental consulting company that dentists choose and the teams choose, ⁓ that they trust that they know that are gonna take care of them.   And I hope that you want to be the dental practice that your community chooses. So go out because really you can continue to win patients over. AI is coming in, technology's coming in. You've got to be visible. It's non-negotiable. You have to do it. It's just what it is. You got to check yourself there. You've got to be present there first. And then you got to make sure that that what we say online is what we really do. And in person is actually better than out there. If we can help you guys, this is what we do. We improve patient experiences, we improve.   How to ask. We help get your teams on board to ask for those reviews. we help make it very fun for teams and for owners. So reach out. I'd love to help you out. As always, guys, don't fall behind. Innovate or die. Be the dentist that the community chooses. Be the dentist that you're proud of. Be the practice that you're proud of. ⁓ be authentic to you, but make sure that you're visible because I would hate for somebody who's not as great as you.   Just because they have a stronger online presence, patients are going to them when I know you're the better dentist. I know that you have the great hand skills. And I'm not here to pit dentists against each other. I'm here to say, I want the best dentist, which is you listening, to win. You're the best dentist, you get the best treatment. Patients only have 32 teeth, and most of the time they only have 28. And I want those 28 teeth to be taken care of for as long as possible from the best dentist. And that's you. So get yourself visible. You have an obligation to share yourself with other people because they deserve to have the best clinician. They deserve to have that.   Get the review so people know about you, post on social media, and then make sure that you've got a great connection and a great community. If we can help you out, reach out. I'd love to help you. Like I said, I want to be the dental consulting company that you choose, that you share with. And I believe that that's how most of our practices feel about us. So come be a part of it. I'd love to have you be a part of us. Hello@TheDentalATeam.com. And as always, thanks for listening. And I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team podcast.  

Retirement is about more than growing your nest egg; it's also about building friendships, finding purpose, and making informed financial decisions along the way. Join Wes Moss and Christa DiBiase on this episode of the Retire Sooner Podcast as they blend listener questions, new research, and practical conversations about retirement planning, retirement investing, and personal finance. • Hear an inspiring listener story about trading everyday life for a full-time adventure aboard a sailboat in the Caribbean. • Discover new research on how long it may take to build close friendships and why those relationships may matter throughout retirement. • Learn why making new friends often gets tougher with age—and what may help create more meaningful connections. • Explore how The Retire Sooner Method encourages balancing financial security with purpose, relationships, and the experiences often associated with making retirement meaningful. • Explore portfolio diversification, pensions, liquidity, and how stocks, bonds, and cash may work together in a retirement portfolio. • Compare working with a financial advisor versus DIY investing, including what research suggests about each approach. • Review how financial planning may extend beyond investing to include tax planning, estate planning, and family priorities. • Consider ways to balance retirement savings, mortgage payments, and emergency cash reserves when extra income comes your way. • Understand portfolio rebalancing during market volatility and what Treasury notes and yield to maturity mean for fixed-income investors. Whether you're counting down to retirement or already there, this episode offers thoughtful perspectives to help you navigate the road ahead. Listen and subscribe to the Retire Sooner Podcast for more conversations about retirement planning, investing, and living well in retirement. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Watch the show on television by downloading the SuperCrowd.tv Channel app to your Roku or Amazon Fire TV or e360tv channel app to your Roku, LG or Amazon Fire TV. You can also see it on YouTube.Devin: What is your superpower?David: Ability to easily explain complex topics to people and then get them to think bigger and believe that it's possible.Blue Mahoe Capital stands at the forefront of addressing Jamaica's affordable housing crisis, driven by a vision that unites purpose and profit. Led by Chairman and CEO David Mullings, the firm is poised to deliver quality, climate-resilient homes that meet the needs of families with modest incomes. In today's episode, David shared how this effort is as much about social impact as it is about creating financial returns.David explained how the government's National Housing Trust program provides an ideal foundation to address the urgent need for housing following a devastating hurricane in 2025. “Jamaica needs 150,000 houses, yet we're building less than 5,000 annually,” he said. Blue Mahoe Capital is stepping in to bridge this gap, building one- and two-bedroom starter homes—with space for expansion—tailored for first-time buyers. “It's a true starter home, giving people a climate-resilient house and an opportunity to build equity,” David explained.Blue Mahoe Capital brings a unique value proposition to investors. By focusing on affordable housing—an area often underserved—they are creating a high-impact portfolio opportunity. These homes are being built with sustainable materials and feature sloped roofs ready for solar panels. Beyond providing shelter, they aim to empower families with the ability to create generational wealth.David's background in private equity, hedge funds, and government service makes him uniquely suited for this mission. Blue Mahoe Capital doesn't just build houses—they forge partnerships with local developers who lack access to the patient capital required to construct affordable homes. “We want to meet people where they are and tackle the housing crisis while delivering returns,” David shared.Blue Mahoe Capital is currently raising funds through a regulated investment crowdfunding campaign on Silicon Prairie to expand its operations. This presents an opportunity for investors to align their money with their values, providing real returns while making a tangible difference in the lives of thousands of Caribbean families.David's vision is clear: to create meaningful socioeconomic impact while building a sustainable business model. That kind of leadership, rooted in purpose and action, is inspiring and essential to solving global challenges.tl;dr:This episode featured David Mullings, a leader addressing Jamaica's housing crisis through impact investing.Blue Mahoe Capital builds affordable, climate-resilient homes that align with Jamaica's National Housing Trust program.The firm provides investment opportunities via a crowdfunding campaign on Silicon Prairie, blending purpose and profit.David's background in finance helped him simplify challenges and deliver clear pathways for impactful solutions.His storytelling and strategic approach inspire action, from local communities to global investors.How to Develop Simplifying Complexity As a SuperpowerDavid's superpower is his ability to simplify complex concepts and inspire others to think bigger. In today's episode, he explained, “My superpower is the ability to easily explain complex topics to people and then get them to think bigger and believe that it's possible.” This skill enables him to connect with diverse audiences—from investors to community leaders—while transforming large-scale challenges into actionable solutions.David shared a childhood story that highlighted his ability to break down complex ideas. At ten years old, he explained to a friend why he always won at Monopoly: “They were rushing to buy properties and running out of funds to build houses. I waited for strategic properties, focused on steady income through rent, and built houses to limit their options.” By simplifying strategy into actionable steps, even as a child, David demonstrated a knack for teaching others how to approach challenges differently.Tips for Developing the Superpower:Study Role Models: Identify experts in the field you wish to master. Analyze their methods.Practice Storytelling: Learn frameworks like the hero's journey to share ideas effectively.Meet People Where They Are: Gauge your audience's knowledge and tailor explanations accordingly.Iterate and Refine: Test explanations, seek feedback, and adjust your approach when something doesn't resonate.By following David's example and advice, you can make simplifying complexity a skill. With practice and effort, you could make it a superpower that enables you to do more good in the world.Remember, however, that research into success suggests that building on your own superpowers is more important than creating new ones or overcoming weaknesses. You do you!Guest ProfileDavid Mullings (he/him):Chairman and CEO, Blue Mahoe CapitalAbout Blue Mahoe Capital: Impact investing firm focused on the Caribbean.Website: bluemahoecapital.comCompany Twitter Handle: @bluemahoecap Other URL: bluemahoe.sppx.ioBiographical Information: David P. A. Mullings is a Jamaican investor and philanthropist. He is the founder and Chair of Blue Mahoe Holdings Ltd, a private impact investment firm focused primarily on the Caribbean that is planning to list their core holding, Blue Mahoe Capital Caribbean, on the NASDAQ. David has made it his mission to unlock diaspora capital for the Caribbean. His journey is a powerful blend of entrepreneurial spirit, innovation, and commitment to shaping a legacy that transcends borders.LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/davidmullingsPersonal Facebook Profile: facebook.com/davidpmullingsInstagram Handle: @davidpmullings Personal Twitter Handle: @davidmullingsSupport Our SponsorsOur generous sponsors make our work possible, serving impact investors, social entrepreneurs, community builders and diverse founders. Today's advertisers include PurposeBuilt100™ Winners and Climatize. Learn more about advertising with us here.Max-Impact Members(We're grateful for every one of these community champions who make this work possible.)Brian Christie, Brainsy | Cameron Neil, Lend For Good | Carol Fineagan, Independent Consultant | Hiten Sonpal, RISE Robotics | John Berlet, CORE Tax Deeds, LLC. | Justin Starbird, The Aebli Group | Lory Moore, Lory Moore Law | Marcia Brinton, High Desert Gear | Mark Grimes, Networked Enterprise Development | Matthew Mead, Hempitecture | Michael Pratt, Qnetic | Mike Babbit | Coledger Solutions | Mike Green, Envirosult | Nick Degnan, Unlimit Ventures | Dr. Nicole Paulk, Siren Biotechnology | Paul Lovejoy, Stakeholder Enterprise | Pearl Wright, Global Changemaker | Scott Thorpe, Philanthropist | Sharon Samjitsingh, Health Care Originals | Add Your Name HereUpcoming SuperCrowd Event CalendarIf a location is not noted, the events below are virtual.Join the SuperCrowd Impact League! You can be recognized for making impact investments via Reg CF. See how your activity compares to your peers. It's free. Win valuable prizes. Start now!SuperCrowd Impact Member Networking Session: Impact (and, of course, Max-Impact) Members of the SuperCrowd are invited to a private networking session on July 14th at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT. Mark your calendar. We'll send private emails to Impact Members with registration details. Upgrade to Impact Membership today!SuperCrowdHour, July 15, 2026, at 12:00 PM Eastern. Devin Thorpe, CEO and Founder of The Super Crowd, Inc., will lead a session on “How to Make a Splash With Your Campaign Launch.” Drawing on his extensive experience helping entrepreneurs and impact-driven founders succeed in investment crowdfunding, Devin will share proven strategies for creating momentum and attracting attention when launching a crowdfunding campaign. In this session, he'll explore how founders can prepare for a successful launch, build excitement before going live, engage their networks effectively, and generate the early traction that often determines long-term campaign success. Attendees will learn practical tactics for storytelling, outreach, media engagement, and community building, along with common mistakes that can limit visibility and investor interest. Whether you're preparing for your first crowdfunding raise or looking to improve the performance of a future campaign, this SuperCrowdHour will provide actionable insights to help you launch with confidence and maximize your campaign's impact from day one. Register now!SuperCrowd26 featuring PurposeBuilt100™: This August 25–27, founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders will gather for a three-day, broadcast-quality global experience focused on disciplined capital formation, regulated investment crowdfunding, and purpose-driven growth. We're bringing together leading voices in impact investing, compliance, digital marketing, and circular economy innovation to deliver practical frameworks, real-world case studies, and actionable strategies. The event culminates in the PurposeBuilt100™ Showcase, recognizing 100 of the fastest-growing purpose-driven companies in the U.S. Register now to secure your seat and get all the details. August 25–27, streaming worldwide.SuperCrowd26 Live Pitch: Apply to pitch at SuperCrowd26 if you now have and anticipate having a live Reg CF offering on August 26, 2026. This is a completely free opportunity to expose your offering to a large audience.Community Event CalendarSuccessful Funding with Karl Dakin, Tuesdays at 10:00 AM ET - Click on Events.Register Now! October 20th and 21st will be the Crowdfunding Professional Association Regulated Investment Crowdfunding Summit for 2026. This is the event of the year for everyone in the crowdfunding ecosystem.If you would like to submit an event for us to share with the 10,000+ changemakers, investors and entrepreneurs who are members of the SuperCrowd, click here.Manage the volume of emails you receive from us by clicking here.We share educational information—not investment advice. Some links may generate compensation. See our full disclosure.We use AI to help us write compelling recaps of each episode. Get full access to Superpowers for Good at www.superpowers4good.com/subscribe

Most travelers see only a sliver of what the Caribbean actually has to offer. Beyond the beaches and duty-free shops lie hidden waterfalls, active volcanoes, centuries-old ruins, and cultures barely touched by tourism. Host Angie Orth sits down with Matt Meltzer, a Lowell Thomas Award-winning travel journalist and former Marine who writes about food and travel for Thrillist, Matador Network, and his own newsletter, The Leftovers Miami. Recorded at the Beach House Hilton in Fort Lauderdale, the conversation explores what separates an authentic travel experience from a manufactured one, and why the Caribbean has far more to offer than white sand beaches.You'll learn how to gauge a destination's real culture before you book, and why a cruise stop rarely gives you a true sense of a place. Matt also shares blunt, practical advice for travelers ready to move beyond the usual itineraries—and explains the mindset it takes to make those trips worth the extra effort.What You'll Learn:7:19 The unspoiled queen of the Caribbean12:44 The surprising history behind “Statia”17:01 A destination that rewards hikers who are willing to work 27:08 Savannas and jungles with anteaters, giant otters, and a Wild West spirit 34:18 Secluded beaches when you push past the tourist hot spots on a popular islandConnect with Matt Meltzer:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meltrez1/Which lesser-known Caribbean destination are you most excited to explore? Tell us in the comments! Connect with AAA:Book travel: https://aaa-text.co/travelingwithaaa Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/AAAAutoClubEnterprisesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AAAAutoClubEnterprisesPodcast: TravelingWithAAA.com

Two earthquakes of rare magnitude struck Venezuela on June 24, seconds apart. The state of La Guaira on the Caribbean coast was by far the hardest hit, with entire buildings collapsing there in seconds. Tens of thousands of people are still missing but help still has not arrived.

This week on Talking Shit About Nothing, Jimmy and Richie are joined by Helen Sheldon, Director of Strategic Partnerships at MSC Cruises, and Ruth Rudnick, owner of Travel Showcase, for a fun conversation all about travel. From unforgettable cruises and hidden destinations to planning stress free vacations, the group shares why working with an experienced travel advisor can completely change the way you see the world. Jimmy also tells stories from his own adventures, including Hawaii, Italy, and why he's already planning his next trip. Whether you're dreaming of Alaska, Japan, the Caribbean, or somewhere you've never considered, this episode is full of travel inspiration, laughs, and practical advice for your next getaway. Guests: -Helen Sheldon, MSC Cruises -Ruth Rudnick, Travel Showcase In this episode: -Why travel agents are making a comeback -Cruise myths vs. reality -Bucket list destinations around the world -Alaska, Italy, Turkey, France, Japan, and more -Family vacations and solo travel -Jimmy's unforgettable cruise stories -How to make travel easier and more affordable If this episode inspires your next adventure, be sure to like, subscribe, and let us know your dream destination in the comments!

Andy Strelcheck is the Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries' Southeast Regional Office, working with federal fisheries throughout the Gulf, South Atlantic, and U.S. Caribbean. I brought Andy back on the podcast to get a direct explanation of what happened when the proposed South Atlantic red snapper season was stopped less than a day before Florida's opening date. We break down exempted fishing permits, recreational catch surveys, discard mortality, descending devices, fish tagging, red snapper stock assessments, and the frustrating situation where fishermen can see more fish while receiving less access. Andy also explains why anglers should participate in fishing surveys, how missing information increases uncertainty, and why there is encouraging news for several grouper and snapper fisheries. If you liked this episode, share it with a friend, rate the show, and stay tuned for more unfiltered conversations.

Paul Puckett is an acclaimed sporting artist, illustrator, and lifelong angler whose work captures the beauty, adventure, and emotion of life on the water. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Puckett developed an early passion for fishing, art and music, spending countless summers on the bass lakes of East Texas with his father and grandfathers—experiences that continue to inspire his work today. He earned a degree in advertising design from the University of North Texas before embarking on a career that blended his artistic talents with his love of fly fishing. After working in fly shops in Dallas, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Atlanta, Puckett relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, where he committed himself full-time to creating fine sporting art. His paintings are recognized for their expressive brushwork, vibrant color, and remarkable ability to capture not only the likeness of fish and wildlife but also the memories and stories behind every catch. Puckett's signature "Catch and Release" paintings have become especially sought after by anglers. These highly personalized works often incorporate the fish, the fly used, the location, and handwritten notes that commemorate a memorable day on the water. In addition to fine art, he is widely known for his humorous fishing illustrations, editorial artwork, and graphic design, bringing personality and authenticity to the outdoor lifestyle. His artwork has appeared in leading angling publications, galleries, conservation organizations, and sporting events throughout the United States. One of his original works is part of the permanent collection of the American Museum of Fly Fishing, a testament to his enduring contribution to the sport and its artistic heritage. In 2025, Puckett was also the subject of the acclaimed short film Time Will Tell, directed by Hilton Graham. The film chronicles his journey as an artist and fly fisherman and, in 2025, Paul and Hilton Graham's Time Will Tell received an Emmy Award, further recognizing the impact of Puckett's story and creative legacy. An avid traveler and dedicated fly fisherman, Puckett has pursued fish across North and South America, the Caribbean, the Seychelles, and beyond, drawing inspiration from each destination and translating those experiences into paintings that resonate with anglers and art collectors alike. Today, Paul Puckett continues to paint from his studio in Charleston, creating original oils, watercolors, illustrations, and commissioned works that celebrate the enduring connection between anglers, wildlife, and the waters they cherish. His art reflects a simple philosophy: the greatest fishing stories are about far more than the fish—they are about the places, the people, and the memories that last a lifetime.

Alii Michelle sits down with Daniel Patiño of Food For The Poor to discuss the organization's mission, the fight against hunger, and how faith, compassion, and sustainable solutions are transforming lives across Latin America and the Caribbean. Learn how one act of generosity can make a lasting impact.Your generosity today can help us reach a child with life-saving food and sustainable nutrition. Will you help provide the next year of meals to children in desperate need?Today, countless children in poverty wake up not to a warm breakfast, but to hunger. Their day starts on empty stomachs, without the strength they need to learn, play, or even hope for a better future.JOIN FCB FAITH and Food For The Poor, and change that story. Your gift delivers life-saving food that restores their energy, dignity, and the promise of a New Day.And right now, thanks to a generous matching partner, every gift is doubled, but only through July 30. Your $80 gift will help feed one child for a year, and your impact will be doubled through a matching gift of $80 worth of food. Thank you for your compassion and support.https://bit.ly/fcbsm

Considering joining us on our Caribbean cruise scheduled for Feb-March, 2027? Here's a conversation between me and JJ Flizanes on what you can expect. We are packing the schedule full of educational presentations and demonstrations that well The New Body Blueprint, encouraging you to think a new way on how to shape your body while obtaining magnificent health. And you will also enjoy a total of 8 days on a beautiful MSC cruise ship with several Caribbean ports of call. Support the showYouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@WilliamDavisMDBlog: WilliamDavisMD.comMembership website for two-way Zoom group meetings: InnerCircle.DrDavisInfiniteHealth.comBooks:Super Gut: The 4-Week Plan to Reprogram Your Microbiome, Restore Health, and Lose WeightWheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight and Find Your Path Back to Health; revised & expanded ed

When British foreign correspondent Richard McColl purchased, on a whim, a ruined colonial building in the rural Colombian town of Mompós, he imagined a lifestyle of relaxation, with idle afternoons reading the works of Gabriel García Márquez, writing glib observations and enjoying the hypnotic momentum of a Caribbean tropical narrative, swaying in a hammock and the promise of an ice cold beer never far away. He was mistaken. His first restoration yields a hostel, which later becomes a hotel and then spirals into further projects including the restoration of three more colonial houses, experiencing challenges that make him reconsider his upbringing, education and outlook on how he fits into his adopted homeland. With two hotels in Mompós, he experiences the joy of new friendships and a despair over the predictability of guests. With a journalist's eye for a story, McColl navigates the history of Mompós and how its society is a microcosm of today's Colombia, with its feudal system still very much in place, inherent prejudices, stigma surrounding the politics, the people and the past, all coming to the fore.   Buy the book on Amazon: https://a.co/d/ezGbsP3 Or in selected bookshops in Bogota, Cartagena, Santa Marta, at Waterstones and Daunts in the UK. 

He bet his uncle he could beat him in a race, and that was the start of everything.Handal Roban grew up in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines playing cricket before a single track meet at age fifteen changed his trajectory.  When the cricket team pushed him out, he didn't look back. Instead, he chased the guys who beat him—literally moving to Jamaica to train at Jamaica College High School, one of the most decorated prep programs in the Caribbean. That decision, he says, taught him how to navigate being the underdog, how to thrive in discomfort, and how to carry the weight of a new culture in silence when no one could understand a word he said.At Penn State, Roban has quietly built one of the most decorated careers in school history: two Big Ten Freshman of the Year awards; multiple All-American honors; a trip to the Paris Olympics at 21 years of age; and a 1:42.87 at the 2025 NACAC Championships that left him thinking the clock was broken. That time made him the second-fastest 800m runner in NCAA history. He still can't fully believe it.But what defines Roban isn't the resume, it's the philosophy underneath it. Stop chasing times. Find your mantra. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Don't respect your competitors so much that you forget to race them. And when the butterflies show up before the gun, don't fight them, channel them.With one year of eligibility remaining and an NCAA title still on his list, Roban isn't close to done.Tap into the Handal Roban Special. If you enjoy the podcast, please consider following us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts and giving us a five-star review! I would also appreciate it if you share it with your friend who you think will benefit from it.S H O W  N O T E S   -The Run Down By The Running Effect (our new newsletter!): https://tinyurl.com/mr36s9rs-Our Website: https://therunningeffect.run  -THE PODCAST ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClLcLIDAqmJBTHeyWJx_wFQ-My Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/therunningeffect/?hl=en⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠-Take our podcast survey: https://tinyurl.com/3ua62ffzBehind the scenes of The Running Effect: https://youtube.com/@dominicschlueter?si=PM9FjPc92eFUFEZLuminaryThreads: luminarythreads.shop $20 off your next Attuned scan: https://attuned.health/discount/TRE20?ref=TRE20 Instagram: @handal.roban X (Twitter): @imhandalroban TikTok: @handal.rob

Today we head to Ann Arbor, Michigan to speak with Listener Kim about her trip with her family to both Disney's Polynesian Village Resort & Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort last January! We hear about how the trip came together, the anticipation in her house with her husband and two young kids, and the fun once they arrived! We discuss great meals at places like Topolino's Terrace, Cinderella's Royal Table, Space: 220, and more! Hear about how they nagivated the busy Martin Luther King, Jr holiday at the beginning of their trip as well! This and much more on today's show! We hope you can continue the conversation with us this week in the Be Our Guest Podcast Clubhouse at www.beourguestpodcast.com/clubhouse! Thank you so much for your support of our podcast! Become a Patron of the show at www.Patreon.com/BeOurGuestPodcast.  Also, please follow the show on Twitter @BeOurGuestMike and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/beourguestpodcast.   Thanks to our friends at The Magic For Less Travel for sponsoring today's podcast!

The US has once again imposed a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, designed to prevent any ships from leaving or entering Iranian ports. Also, following two powerful earthquakes that devastated Venezuela's Caribbean coast, anger is growing in some of the hardest-hit communities over unsafe public housing. And, a look at how India's caste system persists even in diaspora communities across the globe. Plus, a conversation with Cambodian singer Chhom Nimol on how she developed her unique voice. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Link to our Sandals Ochi VLOG: https://youtu.be/WI_u_ZioALQ✈️ For Travel Quotes:

Nina Alvarez joins Dr. Sandie Morgan to unpack a question raised after The New York Times published images from Figueroa Street: was legal consent enough to prevent harm? Together they explore the ethical duty of care journalists owe survivors, the lasting life of images, and why covering trafficking responsibly takes more than good intentions.Chapters(00:00) - Introduction: welcoming journalist Nina Alvarez (03:46) - What "ethical duty of care" means for journalists (06:00) - Consent, trauma, and the limits of a release form (16:42) - Why "rescue" is the wrong word for trafficking recovery (22:14) - What editors and organizations should ask before publishing (28:44) - Power, images, and protecting sources long after publication (38:03) - Media narratives, public misunderstanding, and what needs to change (43:14) - Closing thoughts and how to get involved About Nina AlvarezNina Alvarez is a journalist, documentarian, video photographer, and the CBS Assistant Professor of International Journalism at Columbia Journalism School. She has spent more than twenty-five years reporting breaking news, feature stories, radio reports, broadcast segments, and long-form documentaries around the world.Alvarez began her career at ABC News, working on the documentary series Turning Point before covering the southeast U.S. and Latin America from ABC's Miami Bureau and helping establish the network's Mexico City Bureau in 1997. Her work has aired on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Good Morning America, Nightline, and 20/20, earning three national Emmy Awards.Since 2001, she has reported and produced for Univision, NBC, CNN, NPR, MTV News, and Al Jazeera, with work spanning the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. She produced, directed, and photographed Very Young Girls, a Showtime documentary following New York City girls who had been sexually exploited and trafficked domestically, and was a producer on the Oscar-nominated Which Way Home.Key Points• Nina Alvarez explains that the ethical duty of care means weighing the lasting impact a story will have on the person in it, since a published story is permanent and the subject may not fully grasp what that means when they agree to participate.• Consent is not the same as a signed release form; Alvarez describes consent as an ongoing process that journalists have to revisit before, during, and after a story is published.• Alvarez points out that turning 18 makes someone legally able to consent, but it doesn't erase the effects of years of trauma, so journalists still have to weigh whether a survivor's "yes" is solid.• Morgan and Alvarez agree that "rescue" is the wrong frame for trafficking recovery, since most survivors leave and return to their situations multiple times before they're fully out.• Alvarez explains that rescue-centered narratives draw more funding and legislative attention toward policing, while recovery-centered approaches that give survivors housing and health resources get less support.• Alvarez says editors should be asking why minors' first names and identifying details were included in a story at all, and whether a survivor understood that their words to police would end up published nationally.• Alvarez encourages organizations to set ground rules with journalists, including reviewing the story and images in advance, and warns that survivors who depend on an organization for access may feel pressure to say yes.• Alvarez reflects that Very Young Girls, made in 2007, didn't anticipate how permanently images would circulate online, and the women in that documentary now say they can never fully escape those images.Resources• Figueroa Street and the Ethical Duty of Care (Columbia Journalism Review)• Very Young Girls (documentary)• GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services)• Humanitarian Initiative Bridges• Columbia Journalism School

Ever wondered which sleep habits mattress experts secretly break? Industry insider Kelly Christal spills the truth—and it's not what you think!This week on Her Story, Tara Kinsley sits down with Kelly Christal, 18-year mattress industry veteran and co-owner of Mattress Firm South Dakota. From recharging after long days in retail to the sleep rules even experts break, Kelly gets real about the myths and realities of sleep health.You'll learn:- Why “having it all” is a myth—and how gratitude can change your outlook instantly.- The surprising electronics habit even sleep industry leaders can't quit (yes, even with all their expertise!).- How Kelly navigated a male-dominated industry to become a successful owner, and the advice she'd give her younger self (hint: don't wait for a seat at the table—demand it).- The real value of women's voices in retail and why supporting each other is still a daily challenge.- Behind-the-scenes stories: growing a 6-store chain, what it's like to work with mentors, and the wild adventures of Kelly's family (including a DIY Caribbean sailor dad!).If you've ever felt stretched thin, wondered how top sleep retailers actually unwind, or struggled to advocate for your voice in business, you'll find actionable, relatable stories and practical wisdom here.Timestamps:00:00 – The gratitude hack for “having it all” in life and business 05:30 – The sleep habit industry experts secretly break every night 10:10 – Sailing the Caribbean without experience: Kelly's family story 15:00 – From design grad to mattress owner: Kelly's unconventional career path 18:20 – What women wish men knew about retail meetings 22:45 – The one piece of advice Kelly gives every young professional 27:00 – The moment she almost quit—and who convinced her to stay 31:00 – How a 25-store ownership group creates its own “mastermind” 35:00 – If women ran the mattress industry: what would change overnight? 40:30 – Real-life sleep routines (including the gadget Kelly swears by) 44:00 – Lightning round: espresso martinis, Rubik's Cubes & superpowers Connect with The FAM Podcast:

Send us Fan MailWhile Zeke is off living his best island life in the Caribbean (we're not jealous at all

Cuba's Grid Collapse and Caribbean Regional Integration. Evan Ellis. Cuba's recurring blackouts highlight a crumbling infrastructure and the failure of economic reforms to appease U.S. sanctions. While the U.S. applies individual sanctions on leaders, CARICOM is expanding its regional influence, recently bringing Martinique in as an associate member to bolster Caribbean governance and maritime security. (8)4

SCHEDULE THE JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW, 7-8-20261966 SWEDEN Chaos in the Strait of Hormuz and Global Alignments. Gordon Chang and Kamran Bokhari. The Strait of Hormuz memorandum of understanding has collapsed, leading the U.S. to end the ceasefire with Iran. Iran is attempting to divide international allies by courting India and Pakistan. Pakistan balances a mediating role against domestic economic instability, while India shifts toward a burden-sharing role in the Indo-Pacific. (1) Chinese Missile Provocations and the Undersea Power Struggle. Gordon Chang and Rebecca Grant. Chinalaunched a long-range missile over sovereign territories toward Fiji, an aggressive move coinciding with major NATO and RIMPAC events. The test signals China's intent to expand its nuclear triad despite its currently "noisy" submarine technology. The U.S. maintains its undersea dominance through advanced programs like the Columbia-class boomer and unmanned Orca systems. (2) Religious Persecution and the Rise of Underground Christianity in China. Gordon Chang and Piero Tozzi. Pastor Ezra Jin's release highlights the CCP's continued persecution of underground churches that refuse to answer to the state. Despite intense Sinicization and arrests of figures like Jimmy Lai, Christianity is flourishing in China as a witness for human dignity. Totalitarian control efforts have created an enemy in an underground congregation potentially numbering over 100 million. (3) PLA Purges and Xi Jinping's Power Consolidation. Gordon Chang and Piero Tozzi. Xi Jinping's provocative missile launches are linked to internal instability and purges within the Central Military Commission. By creating international tension, Xi forces competing party factions to rally behind his leadership. While he controls the propaganda and state security apparatus, his control over the People's Liberation Army remains incomplete. (4) Venezuela's Humanitarian Crisis and US Diplomatic Pragmatism. Evan Ellis. Twin earthquakes in Venezuelahave left thousands dead and missing, with the Maduro regime's response marked by corruption and inefficiency. The U.S. continues to work with regime "thugs" for stability and oil access while preventing the democratically elected leader, María Corina Machado, from returning to aid her country. (5) Electoral Shifts Toward U.S. Cooperation in Peru and Colombia. Evan Ellis. Keiko Fujimori in Peru and Abelardo de la Espriella in Colombia have secured victories, pledging to join U.S.-led regional security coalitions. Both leaders inherit nations plagued by record-high coca production and expanded criminal groups. Their success is viewed as critical for regional stability and counter-cartel efforts in the Americas. (6) Bolivia's Instability and US-Mexico Trade Leverage. Evan Ellis. Bolivia remains on "borrowed time" as Evo Morales leads blockades from his coca-growing stronghold. Simultaneously, the U.S. uses the USMCA's renewal uncertainty as leverage to ensure Mexico's cooperation on migration and drugs. This strategy risks long-term investment but forces immediate strategic compliance from the Mexican administration. (7) Cuba's Grid Collapse and Caribbean Regional Integration. Evan Ellis. Cuba's recurring blackouts highlight a crumbling infrastructure and the failure of economic reforms to appease U.S. sanctions. While the U.S. applies individual sanctions on leaders, CARICOM is expanding its regional influence, recently bringing Martinique in as an associate member to bolster Caribbean governance and maritime security. (8) Russia's Energy Chokepoint and the Shifting Global Oil Map. Michael Bernstam. Ukrainian drone strikes on major Russian refineries have triggered a severe fuel crisis, forcing export bans on diesel and gasoline. Meanwhile, Gulf states are building massive pipelines to bypass the Strait of Hormuz. These developments are neutralizing Iran's "golden weapon" and shifting global oil transit maps away from traditional naval chokepoints. (9) The Strategic Impact of the Drone War on Russia. Michael Bernstam. Ukrainian drones have achieved what sanctions could not, choking Russia's fuel supply and forcing it to sell oil at massive discounts to China and India. This new form of decentralized drone warfare has made fuel supplies the primary vulnerability of the Russianeconomy. Modern nations, including Taiwan, are now observing these lessons in resource warfare. (10) The Capitalism Model and Monetization of the Space Sector. Bob Zimmerman. Wall Street has embraced commercial space, with private companies like Catalyst performing satellite servicing missions once reserved for government agencies. The U.S. Space Force now buys rapid-launch capabilities from the private sector for orbital reconnaissance. India is also transitioning its space program toward this capitalist model to increase efficiency. (11) Asteroid Probes and Scientific Cosmological Anomalies. Bob Zimmerman. Missions are targeting asteroids like the potentially dangerous Apophis, with a fleet of probes planning a 2029 flyby. Meanwhile, the Euclid telescope has detected ancient quasars that challenge Big Bang timelines. Additional anomalies in Galaxy Centaurus A and unpredictable sunspot activity suggest current cosmological models remain incomplete. (12) European Heat Waves and Shifting Commodity Markets. Simon Constable. Extreme heat is becoming the norm in Europe, driving demand for air conditioning and pressuring electrical infrastructure. Commodity prices show mixed signals; oil and gas have risen due to Middle East tensions, while industrial metals like copper decline. In Britain, Andy Burnham is positioned as a likely future prime leader. (13) The Invisible Power of Global Data Centers. Simon Constable. Data centers represent the digital future, with Virginia housing the world's highest concentration for the federal government. Despite accounting for over 4% of U.S. electricity usage, a quiz reveals that a quarter of Americans know nothing about these facilities. The U.K.holds the second-highest number of data centers globally. (14) The Sino-American Lunar Race for Permanent Presence. Rick Fisher and Doug Messier. China aims for a permanent lunar presence at the South Pole to potentially deny access to other powers. NASA is countering with a civilian coalition of private partners like SpaceX to develop sustainable infrastructure for future Mars missions. China's architecture mimics Soviet systems, while NASA's Starship requires complex orbital refueling to reach the moon. (15) Risk Aversion and Logistical Timelines for Moon Landings. Rick Fisher and Doug Messier. The Chinesespace program is highly risk-averse to protect the Communist Party's legitimacy. While NASA is "game on," it faces challenges with the Starship lander, which reportedly requires at least 15 refueling launches per mission. China hopes for a manned landing by 2030, while NASA's 2028 timeline remains subject to potential delays. (16)

872 · Why Disney Changed the Rules… and a D23 Tease This week I am doing something I almost never do. I am taking a piece of my Wednesday night live show and turning it into an episode, because you have been asking me about it... a lot.There is a new Disney Springs transportation rule, and online, people are melting down. So let me pull up a chair and really talk with you about what changed, why I think it happened, and why so much of it comes back to the guest experience.And here is why I wanted to bring this to the podcast. What I share today is not just about this one rule. I think it applies to so many decisions Disney has made, and will make, and once you see it through that lens, a lot of things start to make more sense.Along the way I will also take us back to a place a lot of us still miss, the Adventurers Club, and why it really closed. I will share my thoughts on the new Pirates of the Caribbean animatronic, why a place like Level 99 made me so happy, a little bit on choosing the good... and yes, a tease about what is coming from WDW Radio at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event.