Podcasts about christmas day

One of the biggest events in the international bloodstock calendar is almost here. Emmet Kennedy is joined by Tattersalls Director of Marketing Jason Singh for a special Final Furlong Podcast preview of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1, taking place at Park Paddocks in Newmarket from October 6th–8th.

On Christmas Day in 2021, 18-year-old Ariana Ptarcinski suffered a fatal stab wound at her family's home in Spring Hill, Florida. She died the following day. Her death was ruled a homicide, but in August 2023, prosecutors declined to file criminal charges, citing what they described as insufficient evidence of criminal intent.  For this bonus episode of Voices for Justice, I'm joined by Aaron from the Generation Why podcast. Aaron has been speaking with Ariana's father, Ed, and takes the lead as we discuss the circumstances surrounding her death, the questions her family has raised about the investigation, and their efforts to get justice. Ariana was a talented artist, a recent high school graduate, and a young woman making plans for her future. Her story deserves to be heard, and her family shouldn't have to fight for answers alone.  Please share this episode to help raise awareness. You can learn more about Ariana, follow updates about her case, and find ways to support the call for justice through the links below. If you have any information about Ariana Ptarcinski's death, please contact the Hernando County Sheriff's Office at 352-754-6830, or submit an anonymous tip through Hernando County Crime Stoppers at 1-866-990-8477. Listen to Generation Why Official website | Apple Podcasts | Spotify Generation Why Podcast Remember Ariana and follow her case Justice for Ariana Ptarcinski on Facebook An advocacy page dedicated to raising awareness about Ariana's case and seeking justice for her and her family. Hernando Sun Community petition: “We want justice for Ariana Ptarcinski” A petition asking Florida authorities to pursue charges in Ariana's death. Change.org Ariana's obituary and tribute wall For more information about the podcast and the cases discussed, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠VoicesforJusticePodcast.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   For even more content or to further support the show, join the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Voices for Justice Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on social media: Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@VFJPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@VoicesforJusticePodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@VoicesforJusticePodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@VoicesforJusticePodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   Voices for Justice is hosted by Sarah Turney Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SarahETurney⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SarahETurney⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TikTok: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SarahETurney⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SarahETurney⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SarahTurney⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   The introduction music used in Voices for Justice is Thread of Clouds by Blue Dot Sessions. Outro music is Melancholic Ending by Soft and Furious. The track used for ad transitions is Pinky by Blue Dot Sessions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Eugene contacted the show because the booked a flight to Vietnam on Christmas Day leaving Dublin Airport with China Air through trip.com then the penny dropped that Irish airports don't open. China Air customer service says their information is Dublin opens! What to do? Eoghan Corry gives some advice for Eugene to PJ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I can't remember a day I didn't think about my weight.” — Kassidy CoulterThere's a kind of honesty that takes an entire year to work up the courage to say out loud. This week on Her Story Unscripted, singer/songwriter Kassidy Coulter shares the story behind the song she almost didn't release — and what it took to finally let it go.Kassidy grew up in Sonoma County and now lives in Nashville, building an independent music career one honest song at a time. In this conversation, she opens up about writing "Body Image" after a year of picking herself apart in her sister's wedding photos, the Christmas Day she played it for her mom and sister for the first time, and the stage fright she's carried since she was a little girl. We talk about authentic storytelling, self-discovery, and what it really looks like for a woman to build something from scratch while still learning to be kind to herself along the way.If you've ever looked at a photo of yourself and gone straight to the parts you don't like, this conversation will feel like sitting with a friend who gets it. New episodes every Thursday on all major podcast platforms.Connect with Heather: WebsiteFacebookInstagramLinkedInYouTubeTimestamps00:00 - Introduction — Heather welcomes Kassidy Coulter02:34 - Growing up in Sonoma County and finding her way to music04:17 - The stage fright she's carried since childhood — and the exercise that helped14:05 - The year of chasing a number on the scale before her sister's wedding17:39 - The Christmas Day she played “Body Image” for her family for the first time21:27 - Building an independent music career, one song at a timeAbout KassidyKassidy Coulter is a country-pop singer/songwriter based in Nashville, originally from California. She's been writing songs since she was a little girl, turning the things she's most afraid to say into music that feels less like someone else's story and more like your own thoughts, played back to you. Her songs — including "Body Image," "That Guy You Hate," and "Twenty Something" — blend vulnerable storytelling with conversational lyrics and pop-leaning country melodies. Beyond her music, Kassidy brings that same openness to social media, where she shares unreleased songs, acoustic performances, and the stories behind her writing.Connect with KassidyWebsiteInstagramSpotifyApple MusicAmazon MusicYouTubeTikTokFacebookSupport the show

Interview with Chris Stamey !   Chris has a new album out called Modernism.    It features new versions of classic songs such as the Beatles' “Hey Bulldog” (with Big Star's Jody Stephens on drums), the Kinks' “Waterloo Sunset” (with the dB's), and Sly and the Family Stone's “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” (featuring the Uptown Horns, Brian Dennis [DAG], and Jon Wurster [Mountain Goats, Superchunk]). Deep cuts are also in evidence, including “Shadows Breaking Over My Head” by the Left Banke (with Brian Wilson Band alums Probyn Gregory and Nelson Bragg), “Hernando's Hideaway” (from The Pajama Game, and a 1954 hit for Everly Bros. producer Archie Bleyer), “At Last” (by Harry Warren), as well as three new interpretations of his own earlier tunes. There's also a closer of the Rolling Stones' “Ruby Tuesday,” a version produced by Alex Chilton in 1977. The original mix is now lost, but a charming instrumental rough mix on an old reel-to-reel analog tape (Alex on drums and guitar) was recently discovered, and Chris and Pat Sansone (Wilco, Autumn Defense) were able to replace the missing vocals and (with Don Dixon's bowed bass and Rachel Kiel's alto recorder) bring the track to life.   Chris Stamey began writing and playing music in grade school in Winston-Salem, NC, in the mid 1960s, in what is known now as the Combo Corner scene. In 1976, while studying music composition at UNC-Chapel Hill, he self-released Sneakers, one of the very first American “indie” records. The following year, he relocated to Manhattan to play and record with Alex Chilton in the burgeoning CBGB rock scene, then formed The dB's with fellow Carolinians Will Rigby, Gene Holder, and Peter Holsapple, with whom he made several acclaimed records of original material, including Stands for deciBels (self-produced with Alan Betrock) and Repercussion (produced by Scott Litt).   During the next decade and a half in New York, Stamey worked with a wide variety of musicians. He recorded well-received solo records for A&M and Warners and was a part of Anton Fier's Golden Palominos project, alongside an international touring cast that included Michael Stipe (R.E.M.), Jack Bruce (Cream), Carla Bley, and Bernie Worrell (Talking Heads, George Clinton). He continued recording and producing upon returning to NC in 1993.   His recent releases include The Great Escape, Lovesick Blues and Euphoria, as well as Falling Off the Sky with The dB's and A Brand-New Shade of Blue with the Fellow Travelers. As a producer and a featured singer/songwriter with the Paris-based Salt Collective project, he collaborated with Matthew Caws (Nada Surf), Juliana Hatfield, Richard Lloyd (Television), Matthew Sweet, Aimee Mann, Andy Partridge, The Lemon Twigs, Mike Mills, and Lynn Blakey, among others. As a producer, arranger, and mixer, he has worked with over a hundred artists, including Alejandro Escovedo, Kronos Quartet, Flat Duo Jets, Skylar Gudasz, Branford Marsalis, Tift Merritt, Le Tigre, Those Pretty Wrongs, Ryan Adams, and Yo La Tengo.   From 2010-2018, Stamey was orchestrator and musical director for an international series of concert performances of Big Star's classic album Third, alongside Big Star's Jody Stephens, Ray Davies, members of the Posies, R.E.M., Teenage Fanclub, Wilco, Kronos Quartet and Yo La Tengo; Thank You, Friends, a concert film of these arrangements, was released by Concord in March 2017. He currently tours as a member of Jody Stephens's Big Star Quintet, whose line-up includes Mike Mills (R.E.M), Pat Sansone (Wilco), and Jon Auer (Posies). His original radio musical about the early '60s in Manhattan, Occasional Shivers, premiered nationwide on Christmas Day 2016. A “songwriting memoir,” A Spy in the House of Loud (Univ. of Texas Press), was published in 2018, followed in 2019 by his first printed collection, New Songs for the 20th Century, with a companion two-disc CD (Omnivore Recordings).   open.spotify.com/artist/1i7YYagcULgnW5Qilsto1d music.apple.com/us/artist/chris-stamey/4034250 youtube.com/channel/UCG3O3S8Zg_WJoz2uTt_duig# instagram.com/mrstamey/?hl=en facebook.com/chrisstameymusic/ twitter.com/chrisstamey songkick.com/artists/186319-chris-stamey bandsintown.com/a/78299-chris-stamey deezer.com/us/artist/1279457 tidal.com/browse/artist/3611403 qobuz.com/us-en/interpreter/chris-stamey/515742 audiomack.com/chris-stamey music.amazon.com/artists/B008LPNC4M @chris-stamey.bsky.social chrisstamey.bandcamp.com/

Episode 189: The Story of Charlemagne (a special episode for Ben)  Travel back more than 1,200 years to the Middle Ages and meet one of the most powerful rulers in European history—Charlemagne! In Episode 189 of Real Cool History for Kids, we are telling this incredible story for Ben. Charlemagne, whose name means "Charles the Great," became king of the Franks and eventually ruled an enormous empire that stretched across much of western and central Europe. But Charlemagne's story is about much more than battles and kingdoms. Kids will discover his surprising love of swimming, his efforts to continue learning as an adult, and his determination to encourage schools, scholars, and the careful copying of books. We will also travel to Rome on Christmas Day in the year 800, when Pope Leo III placed a crown on Charlemagne's head and proclaimed him emperor. We will also look honestly at the difficult parts of Charlemagne's reign, including his long wars against the Saxons and his attempts to force conquered people to accept Christianity. Charlemagne's complicated story gives us an important opportunity to practice looking carefully at history—recognizing accomplishments, learning from mistakes, and remembering that historical figures were real people who made real choices. • Take your exploration further with the printable activity packet available on our Patreon Platform!  • Would you like the chance to be part of the Real Cool History for Kids podcast? Send your audio-request for a special episode HERE!   • Tell us what you think of the Real Cool History for Kids podcast (or Angela's other work) by leaving an audio-review HERE! Your review may be chosen to be included in an episode! 

Donald R. Erickson Jr. has spent his life learning how to get back up. On this episode of The Suffering Podcast, Donald shares his journey from a difficult childhood marked by poverty, an abusive father, childhood sexual abuse, medical struggles, and being raised alongside four siblings by a single mother, to discovering purpose in the restaurant industry at just 13 years old. What began as a dishwashing job became a lifelong career as a chef, teaching him discipline, leadership, resilience, and the power of giving people an opportunity. Donald's greatest lessons, however, came through loss. He returned to New Jersey after his mother was diagnosed with cancer, eventually losing her when she was only 60. Years later, his brother Brian—a military veteran who struggled with addiction—died by suicide. At nearly the same time, Donald was enduring the collapse of his marriage, allegations of physical and emotional abuse, separation from his home and family, and a period of living out of his truck. Yet through childhood trauma, grief, suicide loss, addiction, and personal devastation, Donald continued returning to the philosophy that has shaped his life: it's not about how hard you fall—it's about how you get up. Today, Donald runs the large-scale operation at Stage House Tavern in Somerset, New Jersey, where he leads approximately 100 employees with a philosophy centered on kindness, respect, accountability, and second chances. Alongside his sister Karin, he has turned that philosophy into community action—feeding people experiencing homelessness, supporting families in crisis, helping veterans and first responders, providing meals and gifts to approximately 800 people on Christmas Day, and developing 21 Scoops, an ice cream shop intended to create opportunities for members of the special-needs community after age 21. This is a conversation about childhood trauma, abuse, addiction, suicide loss, grief, leadership, faith, resilience, community service, second chances, and turning suffering into purpose. Donald's story reminds us that surviving isn't simply about what you've endured—it's about what you choose to build from it and who you decide to help along the way. This is gonna hurt. It's time for The Suffering Podcast. Find The Suffering Podcast  The Suffering Podcast Website  The Suffering Podcast Instagram  Kevin Donaldson Instagram  Apple Podcast  Spotify Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Marine Staff Sergeant Tony Storey served 21 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, including combat deployments to Somalia and Iraq. At just 21 years old, he led Marines into Somalia during Operation Restore Hope, survived a bullet striking the sandbag beside his head, and later endured a monsoon that flooded his fighting position with human remains.In this episode, of Urban Valor, Tony shares what it was like entering Mogadishu, serving as an 0311 Rifleman, training Iraqi security forces, and carrying the memories of combat long after coming home. 

This week on Australia's ONLY Christmas Podcast we ask the question is it acceptable to ask your guests to chip in and help pay for the Christmas Day lunch YOU are providing. We discuss why there needs to be more home made DIY Christmas decorations this year, the benefits are huge. Plus We uncover why Christmas Music is regarded as the best genre of music of all time. You wont believe why. With your Aussie Hosts Liam Renton and Ness Gibson talking all things Christmas all year round on Christmas Podding.

What if moving on was never the goal?On this episode of Groove with Portia, I sit down with Kelly Edmondson, founder of Timely Presence and mother of Darius, for an intimate conversation about child loss, continuing bonds and what it really means to keep living when someone you love is no longer physically here.Darius was Kelly's oldest child, born on Christmas Day, and someone she describes as magnetic, determined and a gift to the world. He died at 28, but Kelly doesn't believe her relationship with her son ended with his death. She shares how she continues to mother him, the special place she created to feel connected to him and why hearing other people tell stories about Darius gives her new experiences of her son even after his death.We also challenge the language of “moving on.” Kelly says she will never stop being Darius's mother. Instead of leaving him behind, she has learned how to integrate his loss into her life while continuing to live, love and carry his memory forward.As a former trauma ICU nurse, Kelly had been present for hundreds of people at the end of life. But losing her own son taught her something her professional experience couldn't: the pain experienced at the moment of death isn't the entirety of grief. Sometimes grief reveals itself months later, when you reach for the phone, encounter a milestone or suddenly realize what that person's absence means in your everyday life.That realization eventually became part of the heart behind Timely Presence. The company helps people show up for grieving loved ones throughout the first year by sending gifts around birthdays, anniversaries, Mother's Day, holidays and other predictable emotional milestones. As Kelly puts it, “flowers die and grief doesn't.”This isn't a conversation about leaving our loved ones behind. It's about learning how grief and joy can coexist, continuing the bonds that death cannot erase and giving ourselves permission to stay present while carrying the people we love with us.Connect with Kelly and learn more about Timely Presence: thetimelypresence.com

Movie of the Year: 2006Children of MenThe Children of Men Podcast from Movie of the YearThe Children of Men podcast episode of Movie of the Year takes the Taste Buds to the end of the world. Ryan, Mike, and Greg dive into Alfonso Cuarón's 2006 dystopian thriller. The film imagines a Britain where no child has been born in eighteen years. Furthermore, it turns that bleak premise into one of the most gripping chase movies of the decade. This week, the panel breaks down Cuarón's camerawork and the uneasy bond between Theo and Nigel. Meanwhile, they ask how close the film's future really feels. Additionally, the episode brings two games to the table. Notably, this entry in the 2006 bracket packs plenty of argument into one grim, gorgeous movie.What's in This EpisodeAbout Children of Men (2006)Cuarón and CameraworkTheo and NigelThe Future Is NowI Never Metacritic I Didn't LikeDream Blunt RotationWhy Children of Men Still MattersRelated EpisodesFAQAbout Children of Men (2006)Children of Men is a 2006 dystopian thriller co-written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón. The screenplay adapts P. D. James's 1992 novel The Children of Men. The story unfolds in 2027, after nearly two decades of global infertility. Clive Owen stars as Theo Faron, a burned-out former activist who now works a government desk job. His ex-wife Julian, played by Julianne Moore, pulls him into a dangerous mission. Specifically, she needs transit papers for Kee, a young refugee with a secret. Kee is pregnant, and nobody has seen a pregnancy in years. Theo must escort her across a collapsing Britain to a mysterious group called the Human Project.The supporting cast includes Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Pam Ferris, Charlie Hunnam, Danny Huston, and Peter Mullan. Universal released the film in the UK in September 2006 and in the US on Christmas Day. However, it failed to earn back its reported $76 million budget at the box office. Critics responded far more warmly. Roger Ebert gave it a four-star review and praised its convincing performances. Moreover, the film earned three Academy Award nominations, for Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, and Film Editing. You can explore the full cast and crew on IMDb.Cuarón and Camerawork: The Children of Men Podcast Goes LongFew films of 2006 look anything like Children of Men. Cuarón and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki built the movie around long, unbroken takes. As a result, the camera rarely lets the audience look away. The Taste Buds start with the famous car ambush. That sequence plays out almost entirely inside a moving vehicle as attackers swarm the road. Notably, the crew used a custom Doggicam rig built into a modified Fiat Multipla. The camera could glide between passengers while a stunt driver steered from a hidden position. In practice, visual effects artists stitched several takes into what looks like one seamless shot.Then comes the battle in the Bexhill refugee camp. Theo runs through gunfire, rubble, and tanks while the camera stays glued to him. At one point, fake blood splatters across the lens. Cuarón reportedly called cut, but the chaos drowned him out. Consequently, the take continued, and the accidental blood stayed in the film. In this Children of Men podcast conversation, the panel asks a key question. Do these long takes deepen the story, or do they show off? Furthermore, we discuss how this style carried into Lubezki's later work on Gravity and The Revenant. Ultimately, the camerawork makes 2027 feel like live news footage.Theo and Nigel: Two Cousins at the End of the WorldTheo and Nigel share one short scene, yet it lingers long after the credits. Desperate for transit papers, Theo visits his powerful cousin. Danny Huston plays Nigel, a government official who runs the Ark of the Arts. The program collects the world's masterpieces while the rest of civilization burns. For instance, Michelangelo's David stands inside, and Picasso's Guernica hangs beside the dining table. Meanwhile, an inflatable pig floats above Battersea Power Station outside, a nod to Pink Floyd's Animals.The Taste Buds dig into what separates these two men. Everyone in this world has reasons to give up. Theo lost his young son Dylan to a flu pandemic, and grief hollowed him out. By contrast, Nigel copes by hoarding beauty behind locked doors. His teenage son sits at the table, absorbed in a handheld device and barely present. Theo asks his cousin how he keeps going when no one will be left to see the art. Nigel's answer amounts to a shrug. Therefore, the scene frames a central debate. Is Nigel's shelter for culture an act of hope or pure denial? Additionally, we ask whether Theo's real journey starts at that table. Above all, this pairing shows two ways to face the end: comfort or courage.The Future Is Now: A Children of Men 2006 Podcast Look at 2027Here is a sobering detail. Children of Men takes place in November 2027, which now sits barely a year away. When the film premiered in 2006, that date felt comfortably distant. However, the film turned twenty this month, and its future has nearly arrived. The Taste Buds take stock of what Cuarón imagined and what the real world delivered.The film's Britain is a police state built on fear. Soldiers round up refugees and hold them in cages. Public screens urge citizens to report illegal immigrants. Additionally, a bomb tears through a London coffee shop in the opening scene. News reports claim that every other nation has collapsed. Cuarón deliberately avoided sleek, futuristic design. Instead, he filled 2027 with worn-out cars, aging billboards, and familiar technology. As a result, the world feels less like science fiction and more like next week.Critics have tied the film to real events for two decades. Specifically, writers have linked it to refugee crises, border debates, and falling birth rates. Meanwhile, the panel weighs which predictions landed and which missed the mark. We also compare it to earlier screen dystopias, including the one in our A Clockwork Orange episode from the 1971 season. Ultimately, this segment asks why a twenty-year-old movie still feels like a warning.I Never Metacritic I Didn't LikeOur recurring game returns for another round of arguing with the critics. In I Never Metacritic I Didn't Like, the Taste Buds pull up a film's critical profile on Metacritic. Then we put that consensus on trial against our own reactions. Children of Men arrived with strong reviews and plenty of year-end praise. Notably, a few critics still found its politics underdeveloped. So the panel tests whether those high marks hold up twenty years later. Listen to the episode to hear how the critical record fares under Taste Buds cross-examination.Dream Blunt Rotation: Who Would You Party With from Children of Men?Dream Blunt Rotation asks a simple question. Which...

Alan and Chris are back (finally, and a little behind schedule) with a review of The Sun Never Sets, the new film from writer-director Joe Swanberg starring Dakota Fanning, Jake Johnson, and Corey Michael Smith. Set against the Alaskan landscape, it follows a woman whose relationship with her older, divorced boyfriend hits a rough patch just as an old flame reappears in her life. The guys dig into the film, then flag a clearly marked spoiler section at the end if you'd rather wait. In the second half, three upcoming films get the trailer treatment. Artificial, Luca Guadagnino's OpenAI drama with Andrew Garfield as Sam Altman — dropped by Amazon, rescued by NEON, and arriving Christmas Day. Remain, the unlikely M. Night Shyamalan–Nicholas Sparks collaboration starring Jake Gyllenhaal, now repositioned from spooky October to Valentine's Day 2027. And You Can See Everything, the secretly shot, nearly three-hour Elizabeth Holmes documentary from Lance Oppenheim and Nathan Fielder that surprise-premiered at Telluride — and whose cast list raises some very interesting questions. Chris closes with his recommendation of the week: Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere on Netflix. Plus a reminder that the Footcandle Film Festival runs September 18–27 in Western North Carolina.

Last time we spoke about the fall of Hong Kong. As dawn broke on December 20, 1941, Japanese battalions tightened their grip on Hong Kong Island. While the defenders fought desperately at Repulse Bay Hotel, Wongneichong Gap, and the heights around Mount Nicholson and Mount Cameron, piecemeal counter-attacks by exhausted Canadians, Royal Scots, Rajputs, and Hong Kong Volunteers were shattered by rain, darkness, and poor coordination.Resistance stiffened at Stanley Peninsula, but ammunition ran low and hope faded. On Christmas Eve, the Japanese stormed St Stephen's College hospital. They bayoneted wounded soldiers in their beds, murdered doctors, and raped nurses in an orgy of horror that became known as the St Stephen's Massacre.On Christmas morning—forever "Black Christmas"—Governor Young surrendered the colony after seventeen days of fighting. As white flags rose, Rear-Admiral Chan Chak and a small party made a daring escape by sea under fire, eventually rescued by Chinese Communist guerrillas of the East River Column who would save hundreds more lives in the months ahead.   #219 The Malayan Campaign Part 1: Bicycle Blitzkrieg   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Now in the last episode we spoke about the battle of Hong Kong, which of course was fought on Chinese territory and did involve Chinese participation. I took some time to think about what aspects of the early Pacific War should be covered in depth here, ie: what pertains the most to the Chinese experience. We are not going to talk about the Philippines or Dutch East Indies, but the Malayan campaign and fall of Singapore I would argue need to be dived into. There was a lot of ethnic Chinese participation in this campaign. No worries after this brief series on the Malayan Campaign we will be jumping back to China. Following World War One, Britain sought to counter growing Japanese ambitions by establishing a major naval base in Singapore during the 1920s. The location offered strategic advantages, particularly its exemption from the Washington Naval Treaty's non-fortification clause, making it ideal for housing a powerful deterrent fleet. The plan was straightforward: maintain overwhelming naval superiority to discourage Japanese expansion. Yet this calculation proved dangerously optimistic. Japanese aggression accelerated throughout the 1930s, while the European war's outbreak in 1939 drained Britain's resources, leaving its Far Eastern colonies—Malaya, Burma, and Hong Kong—dangerously exposed. Churchill remained convinced that Japan would not strike in 1941, prompting him to channel reinforcements toward the Mediterranean theater. The defensive strategy hinged on buying time; should Japan attack, British forces would delay the enemy while holding Singapore as a fortress until relief arrived. This plan contained a fatal flaw: Britain lacked the capacity to actually send reinforcements to the region. Commander-in-Chief Robert Brooke-Popham led Britain's Far Eastern Command from Malaysia, acutely aware of the challenge ahead. Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival commanded ground forces comprising 31 poorly trained infantry battalions—approximately 88,600 personnel total—largely untrained for jungle warfare. These troops were distributed across three divisions. Air defense proved equally problematic. With only fourteen squadrons flying outdated aircraft, the RAF faced a critical shortfall. Squadrons were scattered across multiple airfields: Vickers Vildebeest and PBY Catalina aircraft at Seletar; Bristol Blenheims at Tengah; Brewster Buffalos at Sembawang and Kallang; further Buffalos and Blenheims at Sungei Patani; Lockheed Hudsons at Kota Bharu; and additional Blenheims at Kuantan and Alor Setar. Allied units occupied three strategic zones. The Indian 11th Infantry Division under Major General David Murray-Lyon held northern Malaya, defending airfields and the Thai frontier from positions near Kota Bharu, Jitra, and Alor Setar. These installations remained lightly garrisoned and vulnerable. The Indian 9th Infantry Division occupied central Malaya, tasked with holding delaying positions at Jitra and Gurun—positions themselves poorly constructed and uncoordinated. Australia's 8th Division under Gordon Bennett anchored the south near Mersing and Johor, forming the last line before Singapore's fortress. Singapore itself bristled with coastal defenses and commanded a substantial naval garrison, expected to repel any Japanese approach. A week before Japan's offensive erupted, Churchill sent Force Z to Singapore—the battleship Prince of Wales, battlecruiser Repulse, and four destroyers. Despite vigorous objections from admirals, particularly Captain William Davis, who warned the Prince of Wales without air cover would be "a hostage to fortune," Churchill overruled them, seeking to project confidence and maintain American goodwill. Admiral Sir Tom Phillips commanded Force Z. Known as "Tom Thumb" for his diminutive stature, Phillips sparked controversy—critics labeled him a "desk admiral"—yet Field Marshal Smuts called him "an admirable choice" and American Admiral Thomas Hart praised his administrative acumen. Phillips' record was mixed. He advocated astutely for tank deployment in Malaya and correctly questioned the Brewster Buffalo's effectiveness, urging Hurricanes instead. Yet he fatally underestimated the threat aircraft posed to capital ships, believing the Prince of Wales' anti-aircraft batteries could defend a maneuvering vessel. An unnoticed handicap compounded this: tropical humidity had disabled the Prince of Wales' fire-control computer before she ever fired. Force Z reached Singapore on December 2, 1941, amid misplaced confidence. Nineteen-year-old Richard Smith recalled: "Everyone believed the Japanese fleet was made of rice paper and string. We assumed we would crush them effortlessly." Churchill's public declaration seemed to goad Japan into action. Admiral Yamamoto responded decisively, dispatching thirty-six Mitsubishi bombers to reinforce existing aircraft and ordering intensive training for "ship-killing"—specialized torpedo and bombing attacks. Three air groups, led by Miyauchi, Nakanishi, and Shoji, trained relentlessly in low-level runs and ocean navigation. Phillips, stripped of air cover, commanded only aging destroyers alongside his capital ships. The stage was set for disaster. In November 1940, the German raider Atlantis captured the British steamer Automedon in the Indian Ocean, seizing documents destined for Air Marshal Brooke-Popham that exposed Singapore's vulnerabilities. The Germans shared this intelligence with Japan in December. By January 1941, the Japanese had also broken British Army codes, revealing the weakness of Singapore's defenses and enabling them to plan an invasion accordingly. The invasion of Malaya followed an audacious strategy devised by Colonel Tsuji Masanobu. Japanese forces would conduct amphibious landings in southern Thailand and northern Malaya, then push 400 miles through jungle terrain toward Singapore. The 25th Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Yamashita Tomoyuki and initially comprising two divisions, led this operation, supported by Admiral Kondō Nobutake's 2nd Fleet, which provided convoy escort. Thailand's strategic position was crucial; the British could not defend it, offering Japan a favorable staging ground. Marshal Plaek Phibun, Thailand's leader, had informally agreed to allow Japanese passage but simultaneously negotiated with British and American diplomats, creating uncertainty. A second force, the 15th Army under Lieutenant-General Iida Shōjirō, was preparing to invade Burma through Thailand. If the Thai withheld passage by December 7, these forces would advance directly from Indochina. Brooke-Popham devised Operation Matador to counter the Japanese threat. This ambitious plan called for the 11th Indian Division to preemptively seize Singora and Patani—critical Thai ports essential to Japanese invasion plans. The operation's centerpiece was capturing the Ledge, a key terrain feature south of Patani. Control of the Ledge would allow British forces to block roads from Patani, securing retreat routes for the 11th Division and denying the Japanese access to rear areas. Failure would expose the British to encirclement and force withdrawal from Perak and Kedah. However, Matador faced insurmountable obstacles. Britain was uncertain whether Thailand would resist or accommodate Japan, and invading neutral Thai territory risked driving the Thai government into Japanese arms. Command hesitation, combined with poor intelligence, created fatal delays. Matador was never approved. Instead, authorities authorized Operation Krohcol, a scaled-down alternative named after the town of Kroh. This operation tasked a small British-Indian force with advancing into southern Thailand to capture the Ledge, destroy bridges and roads, and delay Japanese movements. Though far less ambitious than Matador, Krohcol represented Britain's final attempt at preemptive action. It would be activated only after Japan opened hostilities, but by then, opportunity had already slipped away.   On December 4, Japanese transport ships escorted by Admiral Kondō's fleet departed Hainan Island toward their objectives. Two days later, British reconnaissance spotted the fleet, but Brooke-Popham lacked authorization to intervene—he could only alert his forces. At 23:00 on December 7, Japan issued an ultimatum to Thailand, demanding passage and giving a two-hour response window. Unable to locate Prime Minister Phibun until late morning, Thailand was invaded hours later. From Indochina, Japanese Imperial Guards and the 55th Division landed at Phra Tabong and pushed northwest toward Aranyaprathet. The 5th Division's regiment landed at Patani while the division's main force seized Singora, quickly overwhelming Thai defenders. From Saigon, elements of the 15th Army conducted additional naval landings across Thailand but encountered unexpectedly fierce Thai resistance that stalled their progress. Just before Pearl Harbor came under attack, the Japanese 18th Division landed at Kota Bharu. The defenders—the 8th Indian Infantry Brigade under Brigadier B.W. Key, supported by artillery from the 21st Mountain Battery and the 73rd Field Battery—faced a daunting task. The 3/17th Dogra Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel G.A. Preston, held a 10-mile coastal stretch fortified with mines, barbed wire, and pillboxes overlooking the narrow beaches of Badang and Sabak, separated by estuaries and surrounded by creeks, lagoons, and swamp islands. The Dogras unleashed devastating fire as Japanese landing craft approached at midnight. Colonel Masanobu Tsuji observed that enemy pillboxes "responded with such overwhelming force that our men lying on the beach, partially submerged in water, could not lift their heads." The first waves were pinned down, with casualties mounting from artillery, machine gun fire, and Allied aircraft from nearby airfields. British Hudsons bombed the invasion fleet and stranded soldiers, sinking one Japanese transport and destroying seven of their own aircraft in the process. The defenders inflicted heavy casualties, but intense hand-to-hand combat eventually breached the line's center by 03:45, threatening the nearby airfield. Simultaneously, 17 Japanese bombers attacked Singapore with minimal damage and 61 casualties, surprising the British with evidence of enemy long-range aircraft. Japanese fighters and bombers dominated the skies over Kota Bharu and northern Malaysian airfields, demonstrating clear air superiority. Amid the chaos, counterattacks by Malayan battalions failed, forcing the British to destroy northern airfields to prevent capture. The defenders retreated from the beaches to Kota Bharu itself that night. As confusion engulfed British headquarters, Operation Krohcol commenced at 15:00. This scaled-down preemptive operation aimed to delay the Japanese invasion by securing and destroying the Ledge—a six-mile road carved through steep hillside with a sheer drop into a river. Blowing this section would severely impede enemy advance. The force consisted primarily of the 3/16th Punjab Regiment under Lieutenant Colonel Henry Moorhead, supplemented by engineers, traveling in Marmon-Herrington trucks provided by the Australian Motor Transport Company. Krohcol was undermanned from the start; the 5/14th Punjab Regiment and artillery battery failed to arrive on schedule, forcing the column to proceed without them. Crossing the border at Kroh, Indian troops encountered determined resistance from Thai police under Major Prayoon Rattanakit in Betong. These roadblocks delayed the Indian advance for two full days while Prayoon's officers simultaneously engaged Japanese forces at Patani. After several hours of combat, Japan and Thailand reached an armistice by midday, with Phibun granting Japan passage, though Thai forces remained neutral. Japanese forces at Patani, navigating poor roads but facing no opposition, began their advance toward the Ledge—approximately 60 miles distant—initiating a critical race against Krohcol to determine who would occupy this vital position first. Meanwhile, renewed fighting erupted at Kota Bharu as Japanese forces infiltrated around British strongpoints, causing alarm among commanders. By December 10, with the situation deteriorating, defenders received authorization to abandon Kota Bharu and withdraw south to Machang.   Just hours after the Pearl Harbor attack, Admiral Phillips ordered Force Z to intercept Japanese invasion forces in the South China Sea without air support. Phillips believed he could "finish quickly and escape to the east before the Japanese could organize a significant attack." Ten Brewster Buffaloes were assigned to support the fleet, but he departed without requesting their cover. Force Z failed to locate the Japanese fleet, which had moved northwest into the Gulf of Siam. By afternoon on December 9, Japanese submarine I-65 detected Force Z, followed by reconnaissance aircraft. When Phillips altered course toward Kuantan, crews grew complacent. Bert Wynn recalled shipboard conversation centered on sinking Japanese warships. A flag officer remarked to CBS correspondent Cecil Brown, "Oh, but they are Japanese. There's nothing to worry about." That evening, Brown questioned whether the British were overconfident given Pearl Harbor. Officers conceded theoretically but remained dismissive. One replied, "We just don't think the enemy is much good. They could not beat China for five years." At 11:00 AM on December 10, Japanese aircraft struck. Three waves of Nell and Betty bombers from Indochina, after more than five hours aloft, approached from the horizon. With no air support—Phillips had maintained radio silence—defense rested entirely on anti-aircraft batteries. Nells attacked at 12,000 feet, dropping 250 kg bombs. Repulse twisted violently, evading most, but one struck her seaplane deck, killing two dozen men instantly. At 11:30, seventeen Nells attacked at wave-top level, focusing on Prince of Wales. Nine aircraft divided their approach, flying below 100 feet from both bows. The ship's inexperienced anti-aircraft crews, hampered by inoperable radar from tropical humidity, struggled to track targets. Once torpedoes were released, the planes sped away, losing only one aircraft.   A single torpedo struck Prince of Wales near the outer propeller shaft. When restarted, water flooded engine room B. Auxiliary power failed, halting drainage and causing an 11.5-degree list to port. Her 5-inch guns became powerless; she slowed to 15 knots, severely crippled. At 12:20, twenty-six Bettys attacked in coordinated "anvil" assaults with simultaneous torpedo drops on both bows. Repulse evaded initially but two or three torpedoes found their mark. One crew member recalled, "Suddenly there was a massive explosion. I immediately knew we'd lost Repulse, for within seconds she took on a frightening list to port, so rapid no amount of counter flooding would save her." Captain's last order: "You've put up a good show, now save yourselves." At 12:23 PM, Repulse rolled over and sank stern-first, her enormous hull protruding vertically from the water. Men jumped into oil-blackened water; many drowned during hours of waiting while destroyer escorts frantically retrieved survivors. Cecil Brown described it as "a confusing, macabre game"—orange flames, white tracers, and gray aircraft "astonishingly close, like butterflies pinned on blue cardboard." With Repulse gone, bombers concentrated on the damaged Prince of Wales. At 12:44, a 500 kg bomb struck between her stacks where wounded crew sheltered, causing devastating casualties. Men ordered to abandon ship faced drowning if trapped below deck. Destroyers rushed in to save swimmers, though HMS Express nearly capsized in rescue efforts. Ten Buffaloes arrived as Prince of Wales sank—too late. One pilot recalled, "After an hour, lack of petrol forced me to leave, but during that hour I had seen many men in dire danger waving, cheering and joking, as if they were holiday-makers waving at a low-flying aircraft. It shook me, for here was something above human nature." In just over an hour, the battleship era ended: 47 British officers and 793 men perished, including Admiral Phillips. Repulse's captain later acknowledged, "The enemy's attacks were undoubtedly carried out magnificently and pressed home effectively. The high-level bombers maintained tight formation and did not veer off course." By December 10, Krohcol reached Betong, just 26 miles from the Ledge. However, a Japanese ambush caught them off-guard near the target, forcing retreat when they were only a mile away. The 5th Division's regiment reached the Ledge by midday, dealing the Indians significant casualties. By December 13, Krohcol was pushed back to Kroh, the operation failed. Meanwhile, the 5th Division advanced south from Singora toward Jitra. Major-General David Murray-Lyon commanded the 11th Indian Division's weak defensive positions at Jitra's road junction, unaware that the critical Alor Setar airfield had already been abandoned. His forces—6th Indian Brigade holding a 10-mile coastal sector, 15th Brigade covering the road, and 28th Brigade in reserve—had sent two delaying detachments on December 9. On December 11, Japanese tanks overwhelmed these covering battalions, inflicting heavy casualties. Murray-Lyon committed his reserves prematurely, leaving Alor Setar lightly defended. That night, Japanese tanks reached the main position north of Jitra, with the 5th Division following. Heavy fighting ensued between Japanese armor and demoralized Indian troops. British defenses penetrated around 06:00, forcing successive Indian units to be overrun. Murray-Lyon repeatedly requested withdrawal permission. At 19:30 on December 12, General Percival finally approved. Due to poor communication and confusion, the 11th Indian Division suffered heavy casualties but disengaged by December 13, withdrawing to Gurun. The primary British defenses in northern Malaya had been breached, the 11th Division severely weakened, and the Japanese advance down the peninsula had begun unstoppably. Percival's first significant defense occurred at Jitra on December 11th, intended to push the Japanese as far north as possible and protect remaining Allied airfields. The Japanese quickly overwhelmed the Indian defenders, and Colonel Tsuji observed the engagement firsthand: "Our tanks were ready on the road, and the twenty or so enemy armored cars ahead were literally trampled underfoot. The enemy armored cars could not escape by running away, and were sandwiched between our medium tanks. It was speed and weight of armor that decided the issue." Major General Murray-Lyon commanded the 11th Indian Division. A World War I veteran, he had served with distinction in the Highland Light Infantry, earning the Military Cross for bravery in Flanders and the Distinguished Service Order for his actions at Moeuvres. The citation stated: "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. When the enemy attacked and penetrated the line after intense fighting and continual bombing attacks, by his courage and personal example he succeeded in driving them out and held his position against further heavy attacks with splendid coolness and determination." This was no desk officer, but a frontline commander faced with an impossible task. Murray-Lyon's division appeared formidable on paper but was severely compromised. It contained only two regular British battalions—the Leicestershire and East Surrey Regiments—with the remainder consisting of four newly raised Indian Army battalions and three inexperienced Gurkha battalions. The Gurkhas, though renowned as elite soldiers, were primarily composed of 18-year-old recruits fresh from deployment. Like all Allied forces in Malaya, the division lacked tanks while facing an enemy flush with armor. After only days of intense combat, Murray-Lyon sought permission to withdraw, convinced the Japanese forces greatly outnumbered him. Ironically, Yamashita's army was outnumbered two to one. The Japanese commander employed Blitzkrieg tactics inspired by his time as a military attaché in Berlin, coordinating air and ground forces with remarkable precision. His approach involved fast-moving tanks, bomber aircraft deployed as mobile artillery, and—most unusually—bicycle-mounted infantry. Prior to the invasion, Japanese planners decided bicycles were ideal for the tropical jungle terrain. Rather than shipping thousands, they seized bicycles from the local population. The offensive typically began with bombing raids on Allied defensive positions, followed by tanks smashing through. As defenders retreated, bicycle infantry continuously harassed and attacked, while coastal amphibious assaults flanked positions along the shore. Colonel Alfred Harrison of the 11th Indian Division reflected on the psychological toll: "Fatigue had stretched the men's mind to the limit and the moral ascendancy which the Japanese achieved in these few weeks included a psychic side. The troops were beginning to attribute almost supernatural powers to the Japanese." Yamashita had rehearsed these tactics extensively on Hainan Island, conducting exercises in amphibious landings, bridge destruction and repair, and jungle operations. The bicycle innovation proved revolutionary—troops covered greater distances more quickly with less fatigue, repeatedly outflanking British forces who found themselves pushed off roads and encircled. The rapid movements created a psychological multiplier effect; British commanders, mistaken about enemy numbers, believed they faced far larger forces than actually present. This "Bicycle Blitzkrieg," as it became known, echoed Mongol tactics—a single swift force striking multiple targets so quickly that enemies believed they faced several armies. Tanks were crucial to this success. The British had deployed no tanks to Malaya before the war, a fatal omission. Combined with bicycle infantry, Japanese armor allowed them to engage British forces before defensive positions could be established. Percival authorized withdrawal from Jitra, directing troops south to Gurun, but those defenses remained unfinished and the Japanese advance was too rapid. Percival later reflected in his memoir, War in Malaya: "This withdrawal would have been difficult under the most favorable conditions. With the troops tired, units mixed as the result of the fighting, communications broken and the night dark, it was inevitable that orders should be delayed and that in some cases they should never reach the addressees. This is what in fact occurred. The withdrawal, necessary as it may have been, was too fast and too complicated for disorganized and exhausted troops, whose disorganization and exhaustion it only increased." From the start, British forces stretched too thinly across a 14-mile front in challenging terrain—dense jungle on the right flank, monsoon-soaked rice fields and rubber plantations in the center, mangrove swamps to the left. Yamashita's concentrated attacks breached the line. Repeated retreats cost both personnel and equipment, as overrun positions offered no opportunity for evacuation and bicycle infantry prevented orderly withdrawal. The Jitra defeat exposed a fundamental strategic error: deploying under-resourced troops across Malaya's entire breadth rather than establishing a shorter, more defensible line further south, which could have shortened British supply lines while lengthening Japan's—a disadvantage the Japanese could not exploit. The Allied retreat continued southward to the Gurun area, though the chaotic withdrawal from Jitra itself inflicted more casualties than the fighting had—many frontline units never received withdrawal orders, while others became lost crossing the Bata River. Murray eventually fell back to the Muda River, establishing defensive positions along the Krian River some thirty miles south. Percival, increasingly desperate, realized his entire strategy had depended on holding the Japanese as far north as possible to minimize air threats to Singapore. The rapid Japanese advance made this impossible. Reluctantly, he ordered a general withdrawal south of the Perak River, while his field commanders pleaded for reinforcements they would never receive. Though Percival had an Australian division in Johor, he refused to commit them north, fearing a Japanese naval invasion further south could threaten Singapore itself.   As Yamashita's 25th Army advanced westward toward Penang, Japanese bombers subjected the island to daily raids. British command, recognizing the island as indefensible, evacuated European residents on December 17th—leaving the local Malay population to face the Japanese. Mrs Muriel Reilly's recollection captures the moment's bitter legacy: "it still hurts to think how the white race 'let down hundreds of similarly faithful servants who trusted in us, and looked to us for protection from the hated Japanese." The abandonment had strategic consequences. In their haste, the British left massive stockpiles of arms and supplies in Penang that fell directly into Yamashita's hands. More profoundly, local Malays turned against their former colonial rulers. Some historians now argue "the moral collapse of British rule in Southeast Asia occurred not at Singapore, but at Penang." Under subsequent Japanese occupation, Penang endured three years and eight months of hardship—food shortages, rampant hyperinflation from the "banana dollar," and systematic repression including comfort women camps and the Sook Ching massacres targeting Chinese communities the Japanese feared might become guerrillas.  The Japanese occupiers' fears about Chinese resistance were prescient. Among the Chinese communities of Malaya and Singapore, anti-Japanese sentiment had been building for over a decade. Since Japan's 1937 invasion of China, ethnic Chinese populations had viewed Tokyo with deep hostility. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, followed by the escalating horrors of the Second Sino-Japanese War, had created a reservoir of determination to resist Japanese expansion wherever it might emerge. As British colonial authority crumbled, this sentiment transformed from passive resentment into active organization. The Battle of Jitra exposed a fundamental miscalculation: attempting to defend all of Malaya with an undersized army. A more strategic withdrawal to Johore would have shortened British supply lines while extending Japan's. As December ended, Murray-Lyon was dismissed from command—a casualty of circumstance. He had spent weeks preparing for the cancelled Operation Matador while neglecting proper defenses at Jitra and Gurun. At fifty-one, this decorated soldier, who had earned the Military Cross and Distinguished Service Order in the Great War, became a civilian during Britain's darkest hour. He was replaced by Brigadier Archibald Paris, equally inexperienced in jungle warfare, who paradoxically proved more effective by facilitating the retreat of Murray's division while inflicting unexpected casualties on overconfident Japanese units. By December 26th, the Japanese 5th Division and 4th Guards Regiment crossed the Perak River, preparing an assault on Kampar. This position was crucial—located halfway between Penang and Kuala Lumpur, its terrain was unsuitable for tanks and difficult to outflank, offering a rare opportunity to make a stand. Paris gathered infantry battalions, many composed of Jitra and Gurun survivors: British battalions from the Leicesters and East Surreys, along with Jat and Punjabi units including Sikhs. The 12th Brigade hastily dug trenches, strung wire, and cleared fields around Kampar's ridges to improve visibility. After three weeks of continuous fighting and retreat, the defenders' morale had collapsed. Colonel Alfred Harrison observed on Christmas Day: "fatigue had stretched the men's mind to the limit and the moral ascendancy which the Japanese had achieved in these few weeks included a 'psychic' side. The troops were beginning to attribute almost supernatural powers to the Japanese." The Japanese, by contrast, had grown accustomed to victory and approached each engagement with unshakeable confidence. Yamashita employed German-inspired tactics using aircraft as mobile artillery—vital in terrain where conventional gun placement was impossible. Engagements began with bombing raids on Allied positions, followed by frontal assaults to establish a line, then flanking maneuvers through jungle to encircle defenders. When the assault came from the western coastal roads, Japanese tanks struck the 12th Brigade along a three-mile rural stretch near Gopeng. Small arms and heavy machine gun fire erupted as infantry dismounted from trucks and spread into the brush. Some tanks advanced alone onto a bridge near Dipang, where they encountered defenders with Lanchester submachine guns and Bren gun carriers equipped with anti-tank rifles. Lt Colonel Ian Stewart noted the grim reality: "the anti-tank rifle made no impression against the Jap mediums, while their 37 mm guns went through our armour like paper." The Japanese tankers, closing their hatches in the oppressive subtropical heat—what they described as a "Turkish bath"—approached cautiously, aware of potential counterattacks. British defenders fired desperately at vision slits, their bullets ricocheting uselessly. A 2-pounder anti-tank gun destroyed a single tank, prompting Japanese armor to withdraw and wait for infantry support. Meanwhile, two hundred defenders on the opposite side prepared to destroy the bridge. Fortunately, Kampar's shallow water allowed most to wade across a mile downstream. Stewart's 12th Brigade had purchased time. The British established a strong perimeter around Kampar Hill, resembling a "goose egg" on the map. Their artillery, better supplied than the Japanese equivalent, was concealed in the jungle with two hundred rounds stacked beside each gun. The 15th/6th Brigades occupied the low ground where the road and railway ran through town. Unlike earlier battles where Japanese forces kept defenders pinned with close contact, Kampar's expansive fields of fire and terrain offered space to maneuver—a rare advantage the British would finally exploit. Major General Saburo Kawamura led the attack on Kampar with his 9th Brigade. On December 31st, he probed the 28th Gurkha Brigade entrenched on the hill. Japanese howitzer fire drew return artillery that effectively repelled their advances. At midnight on New Year's Eve, Lt. Colonel Augustus Murdoch ordered a 12-gun salute fired at the Japanese—perhaps a cheeky gesture. Seven hours later, Kawamura launched his main assault on the western side targeting the trunk road. The brunt fell on a newly formed British battalion, the Leicesters and East Surreys, under Lt. Colonel Esmond Morrison. The 48-year-old, though some dismissed him as a "polo-playing playboy," proved a serious soldier despite his peacetime reputation, frequently sharing front-line dangers with his men. Japanese infantry emerged from the mist carrying mortars. Mortar fire became intense—one casualty was a company commander whose jaw was shattered by a splinter. However, observation officers from the 88th Field Regiment pinpointed Japanese advances, unleashing devastating artillery fire. Colonel Masanobu Tsuji observed "a continuous stream of casualties coming back down the hill to safety, either carried on stretchers or supported on the shoulders of comrades who were themselves wounded." Japanese artillery pieces were covertly moved through secondary jungle to hide their positions. During the fighting, one of Morrison's lieutenants encountered Japanese soldiers in a trench, fired his revolver, and retreated. A gunnery driver named Walker, noticing a nearby Bren position overrun, exited his vehicle armed with a Thompson submachine gun and launched a surprise attack, forcing the Japanese to retreat—earning him a medal. Troop Sergeant Major Hugill, commanding an outlying observation post connected by field telephone, received a distinguished conduct medal for calmly calling in protective artillery fire while cut off. When the attack subsided, he encountered isolated Japanese soldiers who had captured a Vickers-Berthier machine gun. Hugill gathered five infantrymen and led a bayonet charge to reclaim it. Emergency commissioned officer Lt. Edgar Newland commanded a platoon of 30 men in one of the most forward positions. His platoon was surrounded for much of the battle yet successfully repelled numerous assaults over two consecutive days. General Percival specifically praised Newland and his men. Newland received a Military Cross; his platoon sergeant, Euan McDonald, received a distinguished conduct medal. After two days, Japanese forces captured part of Thompson's Ridge. Morrison ordered two platoons of Sikhs and Gujars to bayonet charge under mortar fire. Tragically, 34 soldiers died, including their 21-year-old commander, Charles Lamb, killed in the initial charge. Captain John Graham lost both legs to a grenade but continued encouraging his men, throwing grenades at Japanese trenches before bleeding to death—but they had retaken the position. Courage, artillery, and terrain proved insufficient. Yamashita decided to outflank Percival with seaborne landings on the Malayan west coast. He transported 40 small craft by rail to Alor Star and ordered landings near Telok Anson, 30 miles southeast of Kampar. If successful, he would cut off Percival's 11th Indian Division defending Kampar. Yamashita devised a three-pronged attack: the Imperial Guards Division would paddle down the Perak River into town; another force would approach from the west on landing craft entering from the opposite direction; a third would move up the Bernam River and march north toward Telok Anson. Lt. General Takuro Matsui commanded the landings. While Kampar held, 1,500 of Matsui's men crowded onto landing craft. One steamer towing ten craft went too far south, attempting the Selangor River defended by a Jat battalion with artillery. The Japanese were repelled, losing one to three craft before moving north. In Perak, four landing rafts ran aground on a sandbar and required rescue. A British patrol boat spotted them but left to report—no action followed. Percival later remarked: "unfortunately neither the navy nor the air force were able to take advantage of this unique opportunity." Despite setbacks, Japanese forces landed and advanced on Telok Anson. On January 2nd, they encountered the 3rd Indian Cavalry and 1st Independent Company under Stewart, equipped with armored cars and Thompson and Bren guns. They inflicted significant casualties but with only 250 men couldn't hold. Stewart ordered delaying actions instead. Telok Anson fell, leaving Kampar defenders at risk of encirclement. Although Kawamura's forces showed no signs of breaking after four days of fighting, Paris feared his main supply route had been cut. He requested permission from Percival to withdraw to the Slim River defensive line. Paris prioritized preserving troops over territory: "With no reserves in hand, we were still in a position of being unable to accept major losses." The 12th Brigade held while Paris organized the division's withdrawal. An unusual discovery emerged during delaying actions: Brigadier Stewart found the body of a dead European cyclist in British uniform. Earlier, a Punjabi sentry had shot a man on a bridge attempting to grab his Thompson. Both were likely German deserters from Vichy Indo-China's Foreign Legion, in contact with the Nazi embassy. The British Legation in Bangkok had warned of such infiltrators offering sabotage and espionage assistance. Percival was particularly struck by the German who tried single-handedly to disarm a sentry and seize a bridge. The 12th Brigade discovered another European body—a German political refugee and former mining engineer who had disappeared weeks earlier. Exhausted after three weeks of near-constant combat, the 12th Brigade continued delaying actions. Japanese air forces wreaked havoc on vehicles; Stewart estimated half his casualties—around 90 killed and wounded from 4,000 troops—resulted from aerial attacks. Stewart expressed satisfaction: "It had been an eminently successful battle," though it was more a series of brief skirmishes than traditional battle. Kampar fell when Telok Anson was captured. Percival might have committed Australian brigades from Johore or garrison battalions from Singapore, but concentrating forces at Kampar risked prompting Yamashita to attack elsewhere. The Kampar defenders retreated 30 miles to the Slim River. Tsuji reluctantly acknowledged Yamashita's breakthrough was impressive, if risky. On the east coast, defenders faced more resistance at Kuantan. Percival clung to the airfield, determined to deny the Japanese RAF facilities and limit their ability to strike at reinforcement convoys approaching Singapore. The first convoy from Bombay, carrying the half-trained 45th Brigade under Brigadier Horatio Duncan, was 24 hours away. The 22nd Indian Brigade, led by Brigadier George Painter, defended Kuantan against the Takumi detachment of the 18th Division. One battalion, commanded by a veteran of Kota Bharu, fortified the airfield with barbed wire and trenches. When Takumi's forces approached, the Japanese encountered 4.5-inch howitzer fire inflicting significant casualties. The defenders fought fiercely, each equipped with six grenades instead of two, creating deadly chaos. Tsuji noted the airfield "was obstinately defended," particularly at night when grenades rolled into confined trenches with devastating effect. Word reached the defenders that General Barstow's entire 9th Indian Division was retreating through Kuala Lipis-Jerantut-Raub. The 22nd Brigade demolished installations and prepared to withdraw, though their rearguard risked encirclement. One night, investigating his southern flank with Captain Ian Grimwood, battalion commander Cumming spotted Japanese soldiers climbing barbed wire meters away. Armed with a .455 Webley revolver, Cumming and Grimwood faced seven Japanese soldiers charging with bayonets. They fired as they were knocked down, killing all attackers, but Cumming suffered two bayonet wounds to his stomach. Grimwood dragged him to battalion HQ for first aid. As the airfield was overrun, Cumming ordered withdrawal. A grenade or mortar round knocked him unconscious. He regained consciousness in a vehicle where Private Albel Singh reported a Japanese roadblock ahead. Spotting a fallen tree creating passage, Cumming ordered Singh to charge through. Machine gun fire rained down; Cumming was hit again with a shattered arm, possibly from an anti-personnel mine, while Singh endured a .256 armor-piercing bullet through both thighs yet maintained control, driving 30 miles per hour. The vehicle arrived at brigade HQ covered in blood from six occupants. Cumming would receive the Victoria Cross for his heroism. Painter held the airfield long enough for reinforcements to approach, though it cost much of one of the best Indian battalions. Painter, fixated on flanking fears, believed it "better to lose half a battalion than an entire brigade." The 22nd Indian Brigade lost a third of its strength but retreated by January 3rd. While this unfolded eastward, Yamashita's forces advanced south. Defenders prepared a new defensive line at Trolak, five miles north of Slim River. Reinforcements had arrived; the 45th Brigade was immediately dispatched to repel the enemy's advance on Kuala Selangor, which held another crucial airfield. Whether defenders could withstand Yamashita's onslaught remained to be seen.   While British forces retreated in disarray toward Singapore, another chapter was quietly beginning in the shadows of the collapsing colonial order. On December 25, 1941—Christmas morning, even as Governor Young raised the white flag over Hong Kong—Chinese volunteers in Singapore formalized their resistance. That day, the Singapore Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army, officially known as Dalforce, was established under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Dalley. Dalforce emerged from urgent necessity. As the Japanese invasion accelerated and British defenses crumbled, recruitment of local Chinese volunteers escalated dramatically. What had begun as an informal volunteer effort in 1939 now crystallized into organized military structure. The initial cadre of 200 volunteers swelled to 4,000 members as the invasion reached Singapore's doorstep. These were not professional soldiers—Dalforce members came from the Chinese civilian population, motivated by the knowledge that Japanese occupation would target them specifically. Many lacked military training; some were armed only with sporting firearms due to critical shortages of military weapons. Supply ships intended for Dalforce, such as the SS Empress of Asia, were sunk before their cargo could reach Singapore. Yet the volunteers pressed forward, organizing themselves despite severe handicaps: makeshift uniforms, inadequate equipment, and internal divisions between Communist and Kuomintang factions, each trained separately by British officers. Dalforce would soon earn the nickname "Dalley's Desperadoes" from British forces—a name reflecting both affection for their fierce combat effectiveness and incredulity that such a hastily assembled, poorly equipped force could fight with such determination. Unlike the demoralized British and Indian troops retreating southward, these Chinese volunteers were not defending a colonial order they had experienced as oppressive. They were fighting for their homes, their families, and their survival against an enemy they had every reason to fear and oppose. As the Malayan Campaign entered its final phase and the focus shifted to Singapore itself, Dalforce would play a role that British military historians had largely overlooked but that Chinese participants would never forget. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.   In December 1941, Japan invaded Malaya. British commanders placed their faith in "impregnable" Singapore, but disaster struck immediately. On December 10, Japanese bombers sank Force Z—battleships Prince of Wales and Repulse—in a stunning air attack.Using tanks and bicycles in a lightning "Bicycle Blitzkrieg," Japanese troops shattered Allied lines at Kota Bharu and Jitra, sending exhausted British, Indian, and Australian forces reeling southward in chaos.  

Christmas Day. A beautiful family home. Presents under the tree. And a six-year-old beauty queen who has no idea that this will be her final Christmas.In December 1996, JonBenét Ramsey was murdered inside her family home in Boulder, Colorado. By the following morning, her mother had discovered a bizarre ransom note claiming that JonBenét had been kidnapped — and the police were called.But there was a problem.JonBenét was never taken from the house.Her body would be discovered hours later in the basement.In Part 1 of our four-part JonBenét Ramsey deep dive, Nikki and Cheryl take you back to Christmas 1996 and examine the night JonBenét was murdered, the shocking ransom note, the 911 call, the discovery of her body and the chaotic first hours of the police investigation.How did a kidnapping turn into a murder inside the Ramsey family home? Why was there a ransom note demanding $118,000? And how did the initial investigation become so complicated so quickly?And perhaps most importantly… was JonBenét really ever taken from the house at all?This is one of the most infamous and controversial unsolved murder cases in true crime history — and we're going right back to the beginning.⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses the murder of a child, injury detail and potential sexual abuse injuries. Please proceed with caution.This is Part 1 of 4 in our JonBenét Ramsey series. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss Parts 2, 3 and 4, where we dig deeper into the Ramsey family, the forensic evidence, the police investigation, the suspects and where the case stands today.Watch the full video episode on YouTube and join the conversation in the comments with your theories.⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses the murder of a child, graphic injuries and potential sexual abuse. Listener discretion is strongly advised.COME AND SEE US ON TOUR THIS OCTOBER!8th October- The Bedford - London15th October - The Monkey Barrel - Edinburgh28th October - Komedia - Brightonhttps://www.cheerfulearful.co.uk/

Happy Mindset Monday!What do you do when life changes in a way you never could have prepared for?That is the question underneath this conversation with Wes Bruns.On Christmas Day in 1992, Wes survived a carbon monoxide poisoning that took the lives of his mother, stepfather, and two older brothers and left him in a coma for five days. He later learned that his survival itself was extraordinary. What interested me most was not only how Wes survived that night, but how he has lived since.For more than three decades, he has coached young people, built a family he is deeply grateful for, carried forward the influence of his father, and continued finding ways to turn some of the hardest chapters of his life into something that might help somebody else.That eventually became his book, When Life Changes the Game: A Story of Survival, Second Chances, and the Power of Perseverance. Wes and I talked about grief and gratitude, taking care of ourselves for the people we love, the relationships that shape us, the responsibility coaches have in young people's lives, and the strange way that some of our hardest experiences make us recognize what matters most.We also talked about those little nudges we sometimes feel to call someone, text someone, say goodbye, say “I love you,” or simply show up.I have learned to pay attention to those.Because we spend a lot of time assuming there will be another opportunity.Sometimes there is.Sometimes there is not.One of the things my best friend told me after my own car accident was:“God's not done with you yet. Don't waste it.”Listening to Wes, I kept thinking about that line.His story is heartbreaking, but this episode is not about staying inside the heartbreak.It is about what you do next.It is about the people you love.It is about the life you still have.And maybe it is about recognizing that your moment of impact does not have to be the end of the story.It might be the beginning of what you are meant to do with it.Listen to the full conversation and then ask yourself:What am I going to do with the life and the people I still have in front of me?Website:https://wes-bruns.com/About Wes:https://wes-bruns.com/aboutBook:https://www.amazon.com/dp/9798891654358Website:https://tjsweet.comInstagram:@thetjsweetLinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/thetjsweet/YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/@thetjsweetConnect with WesConnect with TJ

Planning to fly for Christmas? The timing of both your booking and your travel dates can have a big impact on airfare. In this episode, Art shares practical guidance on when to book domestic and international Christmas flights, which holiday travel days tend to be the most expensive, and why flying on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day could potentially save you money. You'll also hear tips for comparing nearby airports, using price alerts, considering one-way tickets, weighing nonstop flights against connections, and finding what Art calls the “cheapest acceptable itinerary” when holiday fares start climbing. ❤️ Support the Show If this episode helped you stay travel-smart, please leave us a review—it helps more travelers discover the show! The Places Where We Go Resources PODCAST: Released every other week in your favorite podcast app WEBSITE & BLOG www.theplaceswherewego.com

The Nashville Zoo announced its annual Zoolumination event, which lights up the property each night during holiday season with more than 1,000 silk lanterns, has been canceled this year. Host Rachel Iacovone is joined by creative producer Marie Cecile Anderson and newsletter editor Margaret Kingsbury to talk about the visa issues facing the Zoo's hired artisans from China, the nationwide closing of Nashville-founded chain O'Charley's, and the mess at Metro Water that has overflowed into a federal investigation. Plus, don't miss our members-only segment, Hell Naw, where this week's rant is about the recent renderings of what a redeveloped Second Avenue might look like, six years after the Christmas Day bombing. (It's giving The Gulch…) Learn more about the sponsors of this September 11th episode:  Nashville Shakespeare Fest Hoffmann Brothers Centennial Park Conservancy Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce Get more from City Cast Nashville when you become a City Cast Nashville Neighbor. You'll enjoy perks like ad-free listening, invitations to members only events and more. Join now at membership.citycast.fm/nashville Want some more City Cast Nashville news? Then make sure to sign up for our City Cast Nashville newsletter.  Follow us @citycastnashville You can also text us or leave a voicemail at: 615-200-6392 Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE.

Join Ross Brierley, Racing Post tipster Robbie Wilders and Assistant Betting Editor Graeme Rodway as they look ahead to one of the biggest weekends of the Flat racing season, featuring the final Classic of the year at Doncaster and the spectacular Irish Champions Festival.The Betfred St Leger headlines Saturday's action at Doncaster, with Christmas Day bidding to complete the Derby-St Leger double. The team assess the leading contenders, key dangers and best betting opportunities in the final Classic of the season.Across the Irish Sea, the Irish Champions Festival takes centre stage at Leopardstown and the Curragh, with the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes providing another major Group 1 highlight.There's plenty more top-level action to look forward to, including the Matron Stakes, Golden Fleece Stakes, Moyglare Stud Stakes, Flying Five Stakes, Irish St Leger and National Stakes.Tune in as Ross, Robbie and Graeme reveal their best bets, value selections and verdicts ahead of a huge weekend of Flat racing.

Well, well, well… fancy seeing you here. Welcome back to The Briefing: Our Take, our weekend hang-out where we loosen our ties and kick off our shoes to take you behind the scenes of the week that was, and what you (and we) made of it. This week Chris and Sach get into HBO's new Harry Potter series dropping on Christmas Day. They react to the latest trailer, dig through your comments on it, and discuss whether they’re going to watch it. They're also joined in studio by 2DayFM's very own Emma Chow, who steps up to The Weekend Quiz but somehow manages to get them talking about Tipping Point and Sach’s days as a court reporter. They also discuss Emma’s very exciting news she received this week! The Weekend Quiz (just questions, no answers): The government this week proposed new laws that could give us the power to opt out of, or switch off, the algorithm on socials. What's it called? Pauline Hanson was on ABC News24 this week and got into a bit of argy-bargy with Chris Kenny. What were they arguing over? We spoke to Greens Senator David Shoebridge on the pod this week. He was appointed the party's first-ever spokesperson for what? A Melbourne council this week announced it would be banning what from public pools and playgrounds? What subject did Chris and Sach admit on the podcast they cared the least about in school? The Weekend List: To watch: New Zealand Spy on ABC iview (thanks to listener Jay) To listen to: Harry Potter audiobook for free on Spotify Follow The Briefing: TikTok: @thebriefingpod Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

*This episode contains content that may be triggering for some listeners.* This week, as the country remembers the twenty-fifth anniversary of 9/11, we’re talking with Darin Kinder, a retired Secret Service agent who survived the September 11th attacks and was later awarded a Medal of Valor for his actions that day. Kinder recounts the chaos of that morning, from treating the wounded on the street to making the choice to go back into a collapsing tower to help others get out. Later in the episode, we feature Sam Eaton. After enduring years of severe depression, the former music teacher had made plans to take his own life on Christmas Day in 2011. However, a single pivotal question intervened at the final second, steering him toward a new direction and a mission to support others through their own darkest trials. Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview: Jay Lowder Upcoming interview: David Pollack Jesus Listens: Prayers for Every Season Darin Kinder World Trade Center complex www.DarinKinder.com Bury Me in a Dirty Suit Sam Eaton Recklessly Alive You Can Do This Interview Quotes: “The 343 New York City Firefighters who died [on 9/11] answering the call, running to the threat so that others may live, embraced the embodiment of what we all must be as ambassadors of Christ.” - Darin Kinder “We are called to be that man, that woman, standing in the alley, pointing people to the light of life. ‘Those who follow Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life,’ said Jesus. And that’s our mission as witnesses of Christ, as ambassadors representing Christ—to be the man, to be a woman standing in the alley, pointing people to the light of the world.” - Darin Kinder “Sometimes God creates miracles, but most of the time He creates people. This world is full of problems, and you and I were created to be part of the solution for at least one.” - Darin Kinder “I want to encourage people to get outside of the walls of their church and engage humanity, engage the problem. Bring the love of Christ, bring the light of Christ into the dark places.” - Darin Kinder “I was so angry because so much of the messaging I had heard in my Christian journey was ,’God has great plans for your life.’ We hear that so often. And of course, I believe that. But in moments of extreme pain, when you can’t see hope, I was like, ‘Oh God, wow, if these are the great plans that you have for our lives--so much pain that I’m not even sure I want to be alive--how can you be a good God?’” - Sam Eaton “Have you really given life everything you’ve got? Because I think that’s the life that Jesus calls us to: to be brave and courageous and to give it what we’ve got, no matter how hopeless we might feel.” - Sam Eaton “I was made on purpose for a purpose, and there’s been this good God who’s been this quiet and gentle voice that’s willing to meet us when we make a little time for Him.” - Sam Eaton “We lose almost 50,000 people a year to suicide in the U.S. We just have to be willing to talk about it, to have these hard conversations, and to encourage people to seek the medical help that can help them like it has helped me create a life that they want to live and that they can love.” - Sam Eaton ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel! Audio Interviews: https://bit.ly/3zvjbK7 Video Interviews: https://bit.ly/4f79RAW Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer: https://bit.ly/4q5iTCx Scripture Series: https://bit.ly/4wAVGKU Celebrity Readings: https://bit.ly/4bIS5BJ Video Devotionals: https://bit.ly/4fG1kFb Sleep Meditations: https://bit.ly/4w0xu37 Shorts: https://bit.ly/3RHFubh ________________________ Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Website TikTok Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Emmet Kennedy is joined by Andy Newton, George Gorman, Jaime Wrenn and Peter Michael for a huge Super Saturday Betting Guide, covering the Irish Champions Festival at Leopardstown and the St Leger Festival at Doncaster.

For her 2025 release pick, Rita selected a film with loads of local Milwaukee flair. Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson play Mike and Claire Sardina, a real-life Neil Diamond tribute duo known as Lightning & Thunder. Documentary filmmaker Greg Kohs captured the couple's attempted comeback in a 2008 festival favorite, where Hustle & Flow director Craig Brewer first encountered their story. Brewer spent years trying to turn this small-scale Midwestern saga into a big-screen musical drama about love, loss, and the extraordinary dreams of ordinary performers. Released on Christmas Day, the film arrived with a marketing campaign that included Jackman and Hudson performing Neil Diamond songs live at Radio City Music Hall. The film played well and scored multiple award nods for Hudson, but will this musical biopic make a beautiful noise, or leave us singing the blues? Tune your guitar, grab a corn dog, and cue the lift, because this week we're reviewing Song Sung Blue.   For more geeky podcasts visit GonnaGeek.com    You can find us on iTunes under ''Legends Podcast''. Please subscribe and give us a positive review. You can also follow us on Twitter @LegendsPodcast or even better, send us an e-mail: LegendsPodcastS@gmail.com    You can write to Rum Daddy directly: rumdaddylegends@gmail.com    You can find all our contact information here on the Network page of GonnaGeek.com Our complete archive is always available at www.legendspodcast.com, www.legendspodcast.libsyn.com    Show Music:Danger Storm by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/  

Headlines and 12th Man News with GREGG BELL Ty Okada is out for tonight's game so what does that mean for this safety group? We saw a swap on the running back depth chart- Emanuel Wilson moved up to 2nd and George Holani moves to 3rd string. What's Gregg's key to the game for the Seahawks tonight? :30- ABCs of the Mariners - D is for Deep: Laz Montes went DEEP last night- 471 ft. It was incredible. - E is for Eduard Bazardo: we keep putting him out there and he keeps giving up runs. Let's play Fact or Fiction and it's Chuck's pick today! :45- Reckless at Breakfast- Chuck is getting Reckless with the Rams and Seahawks who won't face off until Christmas Day! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last time we spoke about the battle of Hong Kong. On the night of December 18th, six Japanese battalions crossed Hong Kong harbour under cover of darkness and burning oil tanks. The Rajputs fought stubbornly but were overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Maltby fatally underestimated the assault, holding reserves against a frontal attack that never came. The breakthrough sparked a cascade of disasters. Elderly British businessmen and World War I veterans—the Hughsiliers—heroically held the North Point power station for 18 hours, delaying the entire Japanese advance. Private Geoghan, wounded but undeterred, charged a Japanese officer and killed him, incredibly surviving. The battle's focal point became Wongneichong Gap, where Brigadier Lawson died defending his headquarters. Desperate, piecemeal counter-attacks by Canadians and Scots failed amid chaos and poor coordination. Finally, a single Canadian company under Lieutenant Blackwood held the position for four days against overwhelming odds, killing over 200 enemy soldiers before surrendering. The Japanese suffered 800 casualties but seized the island's strategic heart.   #218 The Battle of Hong Kong Part 3: Black Christmas Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. By dawn on December 20, the Japanese Army had consolidated its position across Hong Kong Island. The 1/229th and 2/228th prepared to sweep southeastward from Taitam and Saiwan toward Stanley. The 2/229th and 3/229th, positioned near Stanley Gap, readied themselves to advance toward Repulse Bay. East of Wongneichong Gap, the 1/228th poised for the push toward Deep Water Bay, while the 3/228th, one of the original reserve battalions, had just arrived on the northern shore. On Jardine's Lookout, two fresh battalions—the 1/230th and 2/230th—prepared to advance westward across the gap. The West Brigade, meanwhile, held a fragile, ill-defined line: Z Company of the 1st Middlesex and Rajput survivors at Leighton Hill in the north, the 2 Royal Scots on the northern slopes of Mount Nicholson, and the Winnipeg Grenadiers, minus D Company, still clinging to pillboxes at Wongneichong Gap. The 228th Regiment moved first, tasked with clearing Postbridge House of its remaining defenders. Simultaneously, the 229th dispatched reconnaissance teams past Violet Hill toward the cliffs overlooking Repulse Bay Hotel—that opulent five-star resort now transformed into an impromptu fortress sheltering evacuees, soldiers, and sailors. What awaited was an epic three-day siege. Despite their gains, the Japanese later confessed that British resistance proved far stiffer than anticipated. They spent much of the 20th consolidating positions and bringing up supplies rather than pressing forward. Maltby, determined not to cede the initiative, dispatched a Royal Rifles company and two HKVDC platoons to the hotel with orders to attack the Gap from the south via Violet Hill. They recaptured the garages and outhouses but lacked the artillery support necessary to advance further. Growing anxious, Maltby sent a desperately weak platoon of the 2/14 Punjab—only 25 men—to reinforce them and push along the southern coast. Colonel Kidd, commanding the Punjab regiment, personally led an assault on Shouson Hill to link up with besieged sailors. He was killed in the attempt, and the mixed force of sailors and Punjabis fell back with severe losses. By the 22nd, after pressing forward from Shouson Hill, the Japanese seized Brick Hill and systematically beheaded all survivors. Yet the Japanese conquest contained stubborn pockets that refused to crumble. The HKSRA gunners held one end of Brick Hill. A ragtag force of HKVDC, naval personnel, Canadians, and Middlesex under Major Dewar maintained Little Hong Kong's ammunition store. HMS Cicala, providing artillery support from Deep Water Bay, was struck from the air and scuttled, eventually sinking in the Lamma Channel. Colonel H. B. Rose, the HKVDC commander, assumed control of the West Brigade following Brigadier Lawson's death. He spent much of the 20th preparing an ambitious counter-attack: the 2 Royal Scots and Winnipeg Grenadiers would drive toward the Gap from the west, supported by B Company of the Grenadiers, brought up from Pokfulam on the island's western coast. The operation commenced poorly. B Company arrived late to find that the Royal Scots had already departed Mount Nicholson's eastern slopes for reasons no one could later explain. The Grenadiers attacked alone through pitch darkness and torrential rain, splitting into two groups that circled Mount Nicholson from opposite directions, meeting above the Gap at dawn. Colonel Doi's tactical instinct struck again. Observing the undefended summit of Mount Nicholson—lost through British inattention—he seized the moment. That afternoon, under cover of heavy rain, he ordered the 1/228th in a three-company formation to take the position without opposition. When B Company blundered into the Japanese, a savage close-quarters battle erupted that cost the Grenadiers all their officers, seven NCOs, and 29 men. Overwhelmed, B Company retreated to Mount Nicholson's western slope as Doi prepared to exploit his success and assault Mount Cameron. At dawn on the 21st, Wallis proposed a new coordinated attack on the Gap. Major T. G. MacAuley of the Royal Rifles led a combined force of Canadian and HKVDC troops from Stanley Mount at 0915 hours. Accurate mortar fire from Red Hill met them immediately. Hand-to-hand combat erupted at Bridge Hill and Notting Hill before the force could push toward the Gap via Violet Hill. By 1700 hours, MacAuley and all HKVDC officers were wounded. Wallis ordered withdrawal. That same morning at 1030 hours, the Japanese launched a second amphibious assault, driving toward Victoria City itself and reaching the east side of what is now Victoria Park. The anti-aircraft gun at Watson's factory in Causeway Bay was silenced. The naval yard suffered devastating mortar bombardment; all its guns fell silent. Major C. R. Templer, assigned to command at Repulse Bay, had successfully repulsed numerous probing attacks. When ordered to assault the Gap with two platoons of Canadian infantry and two HKVDC machine-gun sections, he encountered such overwhelming Japanese force that he abandoned the operation and withdrew beyond Middle Ridge. By dawn on the 22nd, the Japanese finally established heavy artillery on Hong Kong Island. Two battalions of the 229th concentrated on Repulse Bay Hotel. The divisional reserves—1/229th and 1/230th—deployed against the East Brigade as it fell back to its last bastion: Stanley Peninsula. Stanley's defenses were organized in three concentric zones. The forward area, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Home, comprised elements of the 1st Middlesex, Royal Rifles companies, and HKVDC troops, supported by a single 2-pounder gun. Stanley village, under Lieutenant Colonel Wilcox, held the second line with artillery pieces and mixed infantry. A final reserve at Stanley Hill and Fort, under Lieutenant Colonel Shaw, contained the last of the artillery and the 1st and 2nd HKVDC batteries. To the west, British forces barely held their positions. The 2/14 Punjab, 1st Middlesex, 4/7 Rajputs, Royal Scots, and Winnipeg Grenadiers stretched along Mount Cameron and the northern heights—a thin, exhausted line facing Japanese battalions concentrated along a kilometer-long front. At noon on the 22nd, Japanese forces attacked Stanley Mound and Sugarloaf, held by B Company of the Royal Rifles augmented with platoons from HQ and D Companies. Despite multiple repulses, ammunition shortages forced the Canadians to retire to the southern slopes. The situation at Repulse Bay Hotel deteriorated daily, yet Major Templer continued to hold against repeated assaults. As Christmas Eve dawned, all defenders faced grim circumstances. The Royal Rifles of Canada, shattered from bearing the brunt of Japanese attacks, withdrew into Stanley Fort—but not before a heated confrontation between Lieutenant Colonel Home and Brigadier Wallis in which the Canadians bitterly accused their comrades of not "pulling their weight." In the evening of december 21st, Lt Colonel Home, now the senior surviving Canadian officer, spoke to Lt Colonel Sutcliffe, learning about the plight of the Winnipeg grenadiers trying to hold the crest of Mount Cameron. Sutcliffe reported that "his battalion was decimated and yet the high command was ordering his men to make counter attacks. So he asked Home if he could not do something to stop what he considered a useless waste of lives." Home took this to heart and began to inform Brigadier Wallis that he wanted to see the Governor. He said to Wallis "his battalion was exhausted; further resistance would only result in the waste of valuable Canadian lives; as senior Canadian officer he felt a grave responsibility" Wallis persuaded Home to wait until morning. Home the next morning was more than ever convinced of the futility of resistance. Its important to note the relationship between senior Canadians and British officers were all but poisoned in Hong Kong, let alone imagine how the Indian or Chinese volunteer forces felt. The Canadians distrusted the British commanders who for the most part got everything wrong in the whole damn operation. Home was threatening a separate Canadian surrender as they had lost confidence in Brigadier Wallis of the east brigade, Maltby and other British staff officers. It seemed to the Canadians they were being sacrificed to ensure the honor of the garrison. As Royal Rifles Major John H price put it  " There were plenty of Canadian officers who had battle experience in the first war who were competent to judge as to the possibility of a successful outcome of the defence of the island. Consider the facts - The Island had been split in two by vastly superior Japanese forces. On the eastern brigade front, which included the Stanley Peninsula, the Royal Rifles and one company of the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Force were the only troops who had fought continuously day and night, without rest, since the landing on the 17th and were still carrying all the fighting. By the 21st they had been greatly reduced in fighting strength and by the 23rd to a strength of around 500 all ranks. (It might be interesting to note that when troops in this sector were marched out of Stanley fort as Prisoners of War, they numbered over 2000). It required no great military genius to predict the outcome of the battle once the Japanese had landed on the island with their control of sea and air and great superiority in weapons and men. He felt, I think rightly, that he would be derelict in his duty to his men and to the Canadian Government if he did not communicate his conclusions to the highest authority. Also neither Home nor his officers had any faith in Brig. Wallis' judgement or in his conduct of operations. And who had better right than he had? He and his men were bearing the brunt of the fighting and knew from first hand knowledge the strength and armament of the forces against them. The Higher Command had consistently shown an inability to grasp realities of the situation and to pursue tactics which might have prolonged the struggle but could not have altered the final result."  Stanley's defenses were reorganized into multiple lines. HKVDC companies held scattered positions at Chung Honkok, near the police station, and throughout the village. The 1st Middlesex manned pillboxes with medium machine guns. The second defensive line crossed Stanley Peninsula near St Stephen's College, defended by British, Chinese, and Indian policemen alongside HKVDC troops under Corporal E. C. Drown—all senior officers and NCOs having fallen. The final reserve stretched across St Stephen's Prep School north of the prison, held by Sergeant Murphy's HKVDC section and Captain F. G. Rees's 1st Battery HKVDC. By this stage, prison staff, wardens, and inmates had been pressed into the HKVDC. Among them was "Crumb" Chattey, a former captain of the 1st Middlesex serving a court-martial sentence for homosexual offences under the law of the time. Chattey assumed command of forty jailers and assorted men, including the colony executioner, who mounted a spirited defense. Japanese forces massed on Taitam Road with obvious intent to crush Stanley's remaining defense. Their first assault failed but destroyed two 18-pounders and two 2-pounder guns. Shortly before 2100 hours, a second attack commenced, this time supported by three tankettes. Two were destroyed by 2-pounders, yet No. 2 HKVDC Company was forced back to Stanley village with most of its men lost. Major H. R. Forsyth, the company commander, was recommended for a Victoria Cross for his stubborn defense against overwhelming odds. After midnight, a pillbox manned by C Company of the 1st Middlesex was overrun; Sergeant Sheehan and most of his crew were killed. The HKVDC line fractured. During all of this chaos, at midnight of the the Japanese made it to the field hospital at St Stephens College and this is where our story is going to take one of its darkest turns. In the early hours of Christmas day, the Japanese approached St Stephen's hospital which held approximately 96 wounded soldiers. Doctors and nurses stepped forward to surrender. Two doctors in charge, Lt Dr Colonel Black and his second in command Captain Dr Witney Barred the front door and Black called out 'You can't come in here' 'this is a hospital'. With deliberate aim, one of the Japanese soldiers raised his rifle and shot the doctor through the head.The Japanese mob then surged into the hospital ward, the body of Dr Black was repeatedly bayoneted as he lay at the door. The Japanese proceeded to enter the building and a massacre of unprecedented ferocity took place. The Japanese ripped the bandages off the wounded patients and plunged their bayonets into the amputated arms and legs before finishing them off with a bullet. In half an hour fifty-six wounded soldiers had been massacred while the nursing staff looked on helplessly.  They cut off ears, gouged out eyes, beat and raped the nurses. I want to read to you some testimony made by Sister Miss Amelia Fleming Gordon who witnessed what we now call the St Stephens College Massacre, something probably unknown to many outside Canada or Hong Kong. "Just before dawn there was a terrific howl and shortly afterwards Japanese arrived in large numbers at the front entrance. Captain Scotcher was pulled out and shortly afterwards he instructed me to come out and put my hands above my head. They took my steel helmet and cracked me over the head with it, searched my pockets, took off my red cross band and removed my watch that I had. They shouted for everyone to come out and everyone did except Sgt Parkin, who attempted to run past but was shot dead. We were marched single file into one of the adjacent classrooms, the patients also being brought in. Here we remained for about an hour or two, crowded and huddled together with no room to lie or sit down. Several of our patients between 50 to 60 I imagine were killed during the day. After 2 hours we were marched in single file upstairs and saw dead bodies and blood covering the stairs. We were then put into different classrooms, I went into a small room with four VADS (Mrs smith, Mrs Begg, Mrs Buxton and Mrs Simmons) where there were 5 chinese women. At 4:30m some Japanese soldiers came in and removed Mrs Smith, Begg and Buxton, I never saw them again. One of the Chinese girls told Mrs Simmons they had taken out the 3 women to kill them and would return for us. We were later ordered to bandage wounded Japanese soldiers. They took us to another room overlooking the tennis court, where there were five dead bodies of Red Cross personnel. We were made to sit on these dead bodies. I and Mrs Fideo were taken to other rooms. In my room there were two dead bodies, and I was made to take off all my clothes whilst they removed theirs. Before touching me they apparently became afraid someone was coming and made me put my clothes on again and I was returned to the room where Mrs Simmons and Mrs Andrews-Levinge still were. Mrs Fideo joined us almost immediately in a weeping state and told us she had been raped. We were left in peace for a short time only, 3 soldiers came in and took me in a small adjacent bathroom, knocked me down and all raped me one after the other, and then let me return. Mrs Fideo was then taken and underwent a similar experience. Both Mrs Fideo and I were then taken out a second time and raped as before Mrs Simmons and Mrs Andrews-levigne remained untouched. We were all now desperate and discovering there was a Yale lock on the door we pulled it locking ourselves in. They returned several times during the night but did not force an entrance."   Rifle man Sydney Skelton of "D" company of the Royal Rifles had this to say. ""The Japs stormed the hospital throwing grenades and bayoneting the wounded. I had rolled under a bed and lay as still as I could. A Jap turned me over, kicked me in the face, and tore off my bandages. I didn't move, or make a sound. The guy must have thought I was dead and took off. I heard screams coming from outside, terrible screams I can still hear in my head twenty years later. I saw a Jap coming into the hospital and take men outside at random. One of the wounded they dragged from his bed, cut off his ears, and ripped out his tongue. Then they took him outside and shot him. There was a lull in the din and he heard a British officer shout: "If you can walk or crawl to the door you may be allowed to live."  At this point Skelton tried to crawl to the door: "I was really confused from the anesthetic and I started to crawl, dragging my blanket, towards the door. A guy just ahead of me, a Hong Kong Volunteer, with a clasp knife in his belt, but his hands raised, was bayoneted as soon as he went out the door. The Padre grabbed me and slapped me to my senses. I'm alive today, thanks to him." A Japanese officer entered the hospital, saw Skelton with his wounds bleeding. He tore off Skelton's watch, hit him with the flat side of his sword and ordered him to go upstairs. Though badly wounded, Skelton crawled up the stairs and into a room that would be his prison for the next two days. Skelton spent nearly four years as a captive, first in Hong Kong and later in Japan where he worked as a slave labourer in a coal mine. Somehow, he made it home, where he lived in Scarsboro, Ontario. In a 1961 interview, he said: "Twenty years have passed, but I can never forget Christmas, 1941." On Christmas morning, Brigadier Wallis ordered C Company of the Royal Rifles of Canada to lead a counter-attack retaking the bungalows on Stanley village's ridge. Lieutenant Colonel Home refused. Wallis deployed D Company of the Winnipeg Grenadiers under Major Parker instead. At 1300 hours, the attack went in without artillery support. The 18th Platoon under Sergeant McDonnell penetrated to Stanley village, inflicting heavy casualties in savage hand-to-hand combat, but was eventually driven back to the fort. Of 148 men who attacked, only 44 answered roll call at day's end. Urban defense collapsed in stages. Using mines and a Bofors 40-millimeter gun in an anti-personnel role, the 230th Regiment pushed into Wanchai, held up briefly at the China Fleet Club. At Wanchai Market, an 18-pounder was destroyed. Japanese forces reached the Naval Dockyard's western boundary. The Rajputs fell back west of the racecourse. Mount Parish fell, opening the final approach to Victoria City. Back on December 21st, General Maltby sent a communique to the war office indicated that resistance was almost at an end. According to Sir John Kennedy, the director of Military operations in London "We had to decide whether to order the troops to fight it out or give the Governor permission to surrender as he wished to do... the psychological aspect was of overriding importance, particularly with an Oriental enemy. If we fought to the last round and the last man at Hong Kong, we should gain an indirect military advantage, in that the Japanese would judge our powers of resistance elsewhere by the same standard. Therefore my opinion was that, although it was an unpleasant decision, the garrison should be told to fight it out.". When Prime Minister Churchill was informed he sent a typical churchillian message "there must be no thought of surrender..the enemy must be compelled to expend the utmost life and equipment. There must be vigorous fighting in the inner defenses, and, if need be, from house to house. Every day that you are able to maintain your resistance will help the allied cause". Both the Governor and General had little choice but to agree, on Christmas the governors message was "fight on. Hold fast for king and empire".  By the afternoon it was clear further resistance was futile. At 1530 hours on December 25, Governor Young officially surrendered. A white flag rose over the colony. Young and Major General Maltby crossed Victoria Harbour from Queen's Pier to meet General Sakai at the Peninsula Hotel, renamed "Toa" by its new occupants. It was the first occasion on which a British Crown Colony had surrendered to an invading force. The garrison had held out for 17 days, the day is known in Hong Kong as "black christmas". Lieutenant Colonel R. G. Lamb and Lieutenant J. T. Prior descended from Fortress Headquarters to Stanley to order Brigadier Wallis to lay down arms. Wallis refused without written confirmation. When Major Harland arrived with official orders, Wallis finally capitulated. At 0230 hours on December 26, 1941, he and 2,000 men crossed the lines in surrender. Two days later, on the 28th, the Japanese staged a 2,000-man victory parade led by Lieutenant General Sano on a white horse. While the general paraded, his troops—officially granted three days of "rest and recreation"—embarked on systematic rape and pillage across the fallen colony. Rear-Admiral Chan Chak arrived in Hong Kong in 1938 as an unlikely businessman—General Manager of a stockbroker's firm—but his true role was far more consequential. The one-legged Chinese admiral commanded the Military Mission tasked with coordinating China's war effort with British operations. Working seamlessly with the police special branch and intelligence services, Chan orchestrated a shadow campaign against Japanese sympathizers and traitors, drawing on a network of Nationalist agents, many of whom carried Triad connections. His inner circle included Col. Yee Shiu Kee of Chinese intelligence (posing as an insurance salesman), Lt. Cdr. Henry Hsu as aide-de-camp, and Coxswain Yeung Chuen as bodyguard. As Governor Young prepared to sign the unconditional surrender on Christmas afternoon 1941, Chan received permission to lead an escape attempt. The 2nd MTB Flotilla—vessels MTBs 7, 9, 10, 11 and 27—waited in hiding near Aberdeen Island, but Chan's perilous journey through Victoria's ruins delayed his arrival. Finding the MTBs absent, he boarded HMS Cornflower II instead, only to come under withering machine-gun fire as the launch attempted to reach open water. Abandon ship was called. Chan removed his wooden leg and surrendered his lifebuoy to his non-swimming bodyguard, diving into the chaos with Lt. Cdr. Hsu. Almost immediately, a Japanese bullet tore through Chan's wrist—a crippling wound for a one-armed, one-legged swimmer fighting through hostile fire. The Japanese, sensing they had their quarry, ignited the hillside grass with tracer rounds to drive the men back into the sea. Col. Yee remained aboard the bullet-riddled vessel and was last seen attempting to hide; he would eventually make his way to unoccupied China after several harrowing days. The other escapees scattered across Aberdeen Island in desperation. Hearing the gunfire from their concealment on the far side of the island, the MTBs approached cautiously, rescuing survivors as they went. By 2130 hours on Christmas Day, sixty-eight survivors were racing toward Mirs Bay to rendezvous with Communist guerrillas. There the MTBs were scuttled after valuables were salvaged, and the escape party was welcomed as heroes and guided safely to Huizhou in unoccupied China. This dramatic flight marked the first of many escapes and signaled the beginning of Allied cooperation with the Chinese Communist forces. As British forces withdrew from Kowloon, a new force emerged from the shadows. The Guangdong People's Anti-Japanese Guerrillas East River Column (ERC)—a battle-hardened Communist organization founded in 1938—took up the struggle against the Japanese invaders. The ERC had consolidated various local anti-Japanese forces that sprang up after Guangzhou fell to Japan, anchoring itself on two formidable core units: Zeng Sheng's Baoan People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla Main Force and Wang Zuorao's East Baoan regiment. By the eve of Hong Kong's invasion, the Third and Fifth Column fielded fifteen hundred fighters—seasoned veterans who had waged three years of resistance across Guangdong Province. Even as the British capitulated, Chinese Hongkongers—farmers and fishermen mostly—took up arms alongside their Communist allies. By year's end, over one hundred ERC members operated clandestinely in Hong Kong. In February 1942, to better organize this growing force, the HKKIB was formally established under Cai Guoliang's command, with Political Commissar Chen Daming answering to Zeng Sheng as overall commander of the ERC. The ERC's first mission was audacious in scope: rescue prominent Chinese and foreign VIPs trapped in Hong Kong. While China burned, the colony had remained a haven for industrialists, politicians, authors and dignitaries fleeing the war—now all vulnerable to Japanese occupation. Between December 1941 and June 1942, the ERC spirited over eight hundred key figures past Japanese lines to safety, while simultaneously escorting more than two thousand overseas Chinese volunteers eager to join the anti-Japanese war effort. The guerrillas also became architects of POW liberation. In March 1942, when British prisoners were forced to labor at Kai Tak Airport, the ERC deployed English-speaking operatives disguised as street vendors to infiltrate the airfield and extract Captain Thompson and four comrades through the rainwater culvert system. Among notable rescues were Lt. Col. Ride of the HKVDC (who would establish the British Army Aid Group), naval officers including Lt. J. W. Hurston of the Royal Navy, artillery officer Lt. G. D. Clagne, Indian soldiers such as Lashkar Singh and Mehnga Singh, and key civilians: the HSBC banker T. J. J. Fenwick, Police Superintendent W. P. Thompson, and foreign nationals—Russians, Danes, Norwegians—who found sanctuary in the unoccupied interior. Most were escorted to safety in China, but two Royal Scots soldiers—Joseph Gallaher and Daniel Hodges—remained with the ERC for six weeks, training guerrilla fighters in the use of British weapons and medium machine guns. These two Scottish soldiers became among the few Westerners to fight alongside Chinese Communist forces, a testament to the bonds forged in shared struggle against the Japanese occupier.   The casualty figures for Hong Kong remain contested. General Maltby's immediate post-war reports claimed 2,123 defenders dead or missing with 1,332 wounded, but these were later deemed inflated. The Chief Signal Officer, imprisoned after the surrender, compiled a more credible tally: 2,721 dead and missing. Modern estimates place military casualties around 1,600, including medical personnel from St John Ambulance. Civilian losses proved far grimmer—estimates suggest approximately 7,000 killed. Japanese records tell a different story. The Defence Agency historical section documented 1,720 Japanese deaths, while the Japanese occupation authority's own newspaper, Hong Kong News, reported 1,966 dead and 6,000 wounded on 29 December 1941. On 20 February 1942, Major-General Isogai Rensuke took office as Governor, commanding occupation forces under Brigadier Okada Umekichi. Three independent infantry regiments and supporting artillery maintained control of the colony. The occupiers' brutality would not escape Allied judgment. Major-General Ito, commander of the division's infantry, faced war crimes convictions. More prominently, Lieutenant-General Sakai, the 38th Army's commander and temporary governor, was tried, convicted, and executed by firing squad in 1946. Major-General Isogai received life imprisonment for war crimes but was released in 1967. Lieutenant-General Tanaka, final Japanese Governor and commander of the 23rd Army, was executed in 1947. Of the senior commanders, only Vice-Admiral Niimi survived the war, living to age 106.  General Maltby endured captivity throughout the East, moving from Hong Kong to Shanghai and Taiwan, finally reaching a camp near the Chinese-Mongolian border before repatriation from Shenyang (Mukden). His tenure received no official recognition despite the stubborn defense he had mounted. Lieutenant-Colonel White of the 2 Royal Scots survived internment but died shortly after returning to Britain, his health shattered by cancer. Governor Young resumed office in late 1946, attributing the colony's rapid loss to insufficient Chinese support for the British war effort. His attempts to introduce representative government alarmed London, which promptly replaced him with Sir Robert Black. Young retired in 1947. Maltby, too, retired from the Army soon afterward, also without honor. Not all were forgotten. Rear-Admiral Chan received an honorary KBE from British Ambassador Sir Horace Seymour. Colonel Yee was granted an honorary CBE, and Lieutenant-Commander Henry Hsu an honorary OBE. Hsu, a gifted athlete, became a member of the International Olympic Committee representing Chinese Taipei. Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart of 1 Middlesex died from illness in 1942. Three HKRNVR men—Petty Officer J. W. Fallace, W. C. Johnstone, and civilian Arthur Evans—escaped from the Lisbon Maru and reached Chongqing (Chunking). Of 1,834 POWs aboard that transport, only 716 returned home. Lieutenant Walda, responsible for brutal treatment of prisoners, died before sentencing; Captain Koyda, the Lisbon Maru's commander, received seven years' imprisonment. The British authorities formally acknowledged the East River Column's role—without its aid, no escapee would have survived the treacherous journey to freedom. When future Prime Minister James Callaghan raised questions in Parliament, the government responded with generous monetary awards, free medical care, and employment opportunities for survivors and their families. Many settled in the United Kingdom; others remained to serve in public and private sectors until Hong Kong's return to China in 1997, when the ERC liaison office became the local branch of the New China News Agency. Zeng Sheng, the ERC commander, rose to become Deputy Chief of Staff of the South China Military Region, then Deputy Provincial Governor and Mayor of Guangzhou. Purged during the Cultural Revolution, he was rehabilitated and became Minister of Communication in 1979. He died in Guangzhou in November 1995. One hundred twenty-eight HKVDC members, forty-nine soldiers of the British Army, and fifty personnel from transport and civil defense units escaped to Free China. The RAF transported them to Assam, then Calcutta, via the British Army Aid Group. The first groups joined the 9th Battalion of the Border Regiment at Fort William; the third and fourth joined the 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment. Initially relegated to non-combatant roles, their fortunes changed when Brigadier Michael Calvert—who had served in pre-war Hong Kong commanding the Chinese Sappers—called for volunteers to fight the Japanese in Burma. All stepped forward. After months of intensive training, they were formally enrolled on 14 February 1943 as the Hong Kong Volunteer Company, integrated into Wingate's legendary Chindits, where they would see action deep behind Japanese lines in the jungles of Burma. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.   During Hong Kong's 1941 Christmas invasion, Japanese forces committed atrocities against wounded soldiers and nurses. After seventeen days of brutal resistance, Governor Young surrendered on December 25th. Rear-Admiral Chan Chak escaped through machine-gun fire, while the East River Column guerrillas conducted daring rescues, extracting over 800 VIPs and 2,000 volunteers to safety in unoccupied China.          

Something a little bit different this week: it's the first chapter of the nuclear war novel I'm writing. I'll be releasing the subsequent chapters in podcast form over on my Patreon page where you get your own private podcast feed, so if you want to hear more, and get ad-free listening, visit www.patreon.com/atomichoboI hope you like it.Julie Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coming up on Australia's ONLY Christmas Podcast we pay tribute to the Queen of Christmas Dolly Parton. And find out why she was actually the best ambassador Christmas has ever had. We have a whole heap of Gift ideas for Festive Procrastinators. What to buy when you leave it to the last minute. Plus We uncover the top Christmas disasters of all time. Why small mishaps are amplified, exaggerated, over egged and embellished on Christmas Day and made to see way worse than they really are. With your Aussie Hosts Liam Renton and Vanessa Gibson talking all things Christmas all year round, on Christmas Podding

We're back. Life lifed harder than expected this summer, but we are in the chair, and we have someone worth coming back for.Neil is 44, Canadian, and has never once in his life chosen flight.When his first wife cheated — he fought. When his second wife gaslit him — he fought. When the third relationship dismantled him piece by piece over three years of hot and cold cycles, silent treatments, and one-line breakup texts that arrived out of nowhere — he fought that too. White-knuckling every relationship, dancing harder for approval the more it was withheld, showing up with more love the worse he was treated.He had no idea that the pattern started when he was four years old, on a front porch, with his bags packed.Neil joins Behk & LAH as one of the rare male guests on the show — and he came to talk about all of it. The first wife who cheated through college and kept cheating after the kids came. The second who looked like she walked off a magazine page and used their son as a guillotine. The third — the one who ended it six times in a year by text, made dating profiles on Christmas Day while her kids played Lego, and smirked at him when he was falling apart. And the mother whose voice became his inner voice — the one that said not good enough before he could say anything else.He also came to talk about what happened when he hit the bottom. And what pulled him back.Neil's story doesn't end in darkness. Something shifted — and that shift led him to an alternative treatment that he credits with saving his life. We'll get into that more in Part II. But this episode is where it starts: one man finally telling the truth about what it costs to never stop fighting, and what it took to finally put it down.Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of narcissistic abuse, infidelity, emotional manipulation, abandonment trauma, childhood trauma, suicidal ideation, a suicide attempt, substance use, and coercive control. Listener discretion is advised.If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out:Canada: Crisis Services Canada — call or text 988United States: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988Narcissists, Gaslighters, & Cheaters, Oh My! — real folks, real stories, survival & healing.Behk and LAH are not doctors or therapists. Nothing shared on this podcast should be taken as medical or professional advice.Have a story you'd like to share? We'd love to hear it. Submit yours here.If this show has meant something to you, consider supporting us on Patreon for exclusive content — every bit helps us keep the curtain rising.Hosts: Behk & LAHFollow us on Instagram + Facebook @ngcompodProduction & Design: LAHardenMusic: No Reason Why by Anchor Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

0:00 ... Ross hello and welcome ... introduces the panel and dedicates show #264 to Lakers legend Elgin Baylor, the first NBA player to score 64 points in a game. 1:05 ... Giannis Antetokounmpo has a new Heat teammate in future Hall of Famer Klay Thompson.  The guys discuss this very important pickup and how he brings a winning mentality and still effective three point shooting to the table in Miami. 7:29 ... Jonathan Kuminga is the newest member of the Timberwolves and it's a huge opportunity for the "soon to be" 24 year old to finally reach his potential after years of frustration in Golden State and a short stint in Atlanta. 13:05 ... The New Orleans Pelicans have signed Bennedict Mathurin, the former Pacer and Clipper.  It's a team friendly deal that gives this "bucket getter" a chance to increase his value and hopefully cash in after one season in NOLA.  He'll need to improve his defense and passing but it's a reasonable gamble for GM Joe Dumars to take. 17:46 ... The guys all have three regular season games circled that they're looking forward to seeing.  Bruce starts us off with last season's Western Conference finals rematch on opening night (Thunder vs Spurs). 18:46 ... Next up is World B with Nuggets vs Thunder 20:22 ... Ross's first choice is Timberwolves vs Heat in both team's opener 20:49 ... Bruce is looking forward to Jaylen Brown's return to Boston with his 76ers in late January. 21:33 ... World B likes the first Pistons/Knicks matchup and reminds everyone that Detroit dominated the Knicks last season. 22:57 ... Ross can't wait to see LeBron James and the 76ers on their first visit to the LA for a Christmas Day game against the Lakers. 23:23 ... Bruce looks forward or the first head to head matchup between the last two number one overall picks (Cooper Flagg and AJ Dybantsa) when the Mavericks host the Wizards in March. 24:14 ... World B likes the Lakers and Timberwolves as Luka Doncic and Anthony Edwards face off on December 16th. 25:23 .... Word Association ... Dennis Schroeder 26:42 .... Moussa Diabate 27:53 ... Pat Riley 28:32 ... Andre Drummond 29:41 ... Draymond Green 30:25 ... Luka Doncic 31:46 ... Alperen Sengun 33:06 ... James Harden 35:37 ... Bobby Portis 36:31 ... Wilt Chamberlain 38:14 ... Mat Ishbia (Suns Owner) 39:43 ... Karl-Anthony Towns 40:53 ... Bruce's Classic Card Challenge puts Ross and World B on the spot as he asks for them to say something meaningful about random players when he shows them their card.  First up is Shawn Marion for Ross. 41:55 ... Allan Houston 43:15 ... Dwyane Wade 44:40 ... Rasheed Wallace 45:58 ... Jalen Rose 46:54 ... Tony Parker 47:51 ... Hakeem Olajuwon 48:46 ... Anfernee Hardaway 49:54 ... Tim Duncan 51:06 ... Latrell Sprewell 52:33 ... Final Thoughts .... Bruce pays tribute to Russell Westbrook, who recently retired after 18 NBA seasons and was one of the fiercest competitors in NBA history. 54:53 ... Ross wraps it up and says goodbye TRT 55:08 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You think you know what matters until the phone rings at 2am, until the monitors start beeping faster, until a doctor looks at you and says we need to move now. But what happens after the immediate crisis is over? Survival doesn't always mean everything suddenly feels okay. Reasa Selph, a Texas marketing strategist and patient advocate whose son Nicholas nearly died from septic shock in December 2023, joins host Swati to talk about the 34 days that followed, the emotional toll that surfaced only after coming home, and how the experience turned into advocacy work aimed at protecting other families from the same outcome. About the Guest: Reasa Selph is a Texas-based marketing strategist, patient advocate, and podcaster, and the founder of Reasa's Pieces. After her son Nicholas was twice sent home from an emergency room before going into septic shock on Christmas Day 2023 and spending 34 days in intensive care, she became a vocal advocate for pediatric patient safety, supporting proposed Texas legislation, known as Nicholas' Law, requiring hospitals to disclose their pediatric emergency care capabilities to parents. Key Takeaways: Leaving the hospital doesn't mean the hard part is over, aftercare, second opinions, and emotional recovery often bring a whole new kind of work. Trusting your instincts as a parent matters, if something doesn't add up, it's okay to ask for the records, ask questions, or seek another opinion. The toll of survival mode is often invisible until afterward, both Reasa and her son needed therapy to process what they'd been through. Advocacy doesn't require expertise, it can start with writing things down, asking to see test results, and speaking up when something feels off. Healing doesn't mean the fear disappears completely, it means learning to meet it differently when it resurfaces. Connect With the Guest: Website: https://reasaspieces.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rdselph/ Episode Chapters: [00:00] What Happens After the Crisis Ends — the real question behind this episode [01:41] Coming Home After 34 Days: Aftercare and a House Frozen in Time [06:36] How a Mother's Instinct Became a Turning Point [11:10] What Fear Looks Like When You're Not Being Heard by Doctors [15:06] Small Things That Helped Her Feel Grounded Amid the Chaos [20:44] Turning Pain Into Advocacy: Pushing for Legislative Change in Texas [26:29] Supporting Her Son's Ongoing Recovery and Living Moment by Moment (approx.)   Want to be a guest on Healthy Mind, Healthy Life? DM on PM - Send me a message on PodMatch DM Me Here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/avik Disclaimer: This episode is produced for educational and informational purposes only. All views expressed by the guest are their personal opinions alone and do not represent the views of the host or Healthy Mind by Avik™. The Network does not verify, endorse, or assume responsibility for any guest statements. Nothing in this episode constitutes medical, legal, financial, or professional advice, please consult a qualified professional before making any decisions. Listeners are encouraged to engage critically and independently with all content do not consume blindly. Use this content as a starting point for your own reflection and research, not as a substitute for professional guidance. Third-party content is referenced under fair use for informational purposes only. Guest speakers are solely responsible for their own statements. If you have concerns about any content, please contact us here By listening, you acknowledge and accept this disclaimer in full. Read detailed disclaimer here. Healthy Mind By Avik™️is a global platform redefining mental health as a necessity, not a luxury. Born during the pandemic, it's become a sanctuary for healing, growth, and mindful living. Hosted by Avik Chakraborty, storyteller, survivor, and wellness advocate. With over 6500+ episodes and 200K+ global listeners, we unite voices, break stigma, and build a world where every story matters.

Hour 2 of The Drive dives into a packed day of Chicago and St. Louis sports. The Cardinals and Cubs are both struggling at the worst possible time, leading to a discussion about whether either team can turn things around and make a late-season push. The show then shifts to the Chicago Bears, including the latest injury updates heading into the regular season. Plus, the Bears have unveiled their new 2026 Rivalries uniforms, which they will wear on Christmas Day against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field. The uniforms draw inspiration from several eras of Bears history, including the Monsters of the Midway look. Finally, it's time to crown the winner of Tuesday's Draft: Biggest Sports Scandals. The guys revisit the entries and determine which scandal takes the top spot.

The Buffalo Bills' new uniform combination for Christmas Day sparks excitement, featuring red helmets and white jerseys. Discussion turns to Josh Allen's new endorsement deal with Pizza Hut and a debate over whether the quarterback will make a movie appearance before his playing career ends. They also address rumors surrounding goalie Connor Hellebuyck and the New Jersey Devils' analytical approach under Sunny Mehta. 01:00 - Bills Christmas Uniforms 02:16 - YouTube Chat Rules 04:43 - Hellebuyck Trade Speculation 07:21 - Josh Allen Pizza Endorsement 09:11 - NFL Players In Movies

In December 2010, 25-year-old landscape architect Joanna Yeates vanished after a night out in Clifton, Bristol. CCTV showed her buying a Tesco pizza on the way home but when detectives searched her flat, the pizza, its wrapping, and even the box were gone.Her body was found on Christmas Day. The case initially fixated on her landlord, Christopher Jefferies, who was later cleared and formally acknowledged by police as completely innocent.The real killer was Yeates's next-door neighbour, Dutch engineer Vincent Tabak. Forensic evidence linked him to Joanna's body, and prosecutors said he strangled her shortly after she arrived home before concealing and disposing of her body. He was convicted of murder in 2011 and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years.

A woman from Cleveland moved to Wisconsin, took the surname of Watts – a man serving five life sentences for killing his entire family – and filed to marry him. Women have been doing this for well over a century, and the ones who later walked away have almost never been asked why.BOOK: “They Told Me My Newborn Died – They Lied” by Darren Marlar: https://amzn.to/4ihvu3kEPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/wattsandlizzieREAD or DOWNLOAD the full transcript of this episode: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/yzmw3jdnThis episode includes references to suicide and to the deaths of children. If you are struggling, you are not alone, and help is available. https://WeirdDarkness.com/HOPE is a free directory of mental health resources, organized by country, for anyone anywhere in the world who needs somebody to talk to. And if you're in the United States or Canada, you can get immediate help over the phone by dialing 988.FEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Eight years after Chris Watts strangled his pregnant wife and smothered their two daughters, a woman from Cleveland has moved to Wisconsin, started signing his surname, and filed paperwork that now sits on a prison warden's desk. And Chris Watts is not the only man in permanent lockup who is seeking matrimony. Later, we'll look at the women who build relationships with men who will die behind bars, and what draws them in.CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:01:51.635 = Show Open00:03:19.353 = Ten Seconds At Dodge Correctional00:20:26.768 = Shannan, Bella, Celeste and Nico ***00:48:21.294 = He Will Write Back ***01:04:25.333 = Dead In All Respects ***01:24:35.204 = Nobody Counts Any Of This ***01:29:55.177 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: August 19, 2026This episode of Weird Darkness covers the marriage application Chris Watts filed from a Wisconsin prison eight years after murdering his pregnant wife and their two young daughters, and the long record of women who write to, visit and marry men who will never get out.It opens at Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun, Wisconsin, where an inmate may touch a visitor twice, once at the start of a visit and once at the end, an embrace reporting puts at roughly ten seconds. On August 12th, 2026 the Daily Mail reported that Chris Watts, 41, and a 39-year-old Cleveland realtor named Lizzie Henderson had applied to marry inside the Wisconsin prison system. Lizzie had moved from Ohio to Wisconsin with her mother, filed a sealed petition for a confidential name change on September 12th, 2025, and appeared in prison visitor logs roughly twenty times during 2025, plus a visit on Christmas Day of 2024. Wisconsin handles these requests under policy 309.00.06, PIOC Marriages, which routes the application through a marriage coordinator and leaves the decision with the warden. No ceremony or license has been documented, and Watts has no projected release date.From there the episode goes back to the family. The Watts family doorbell camera recorded Shanann Watts arriving home at 1:48 in the morning on August 13th, 2018 at 2825 Saratoga Trail in Frederick, Colorado. She was 34 and fifteen weeks pregnant with a son the couple had named Nico, raising daughters Bella, four, and Celeste, three, and selling Thrive for Le-Vel while her husband worked for Anadarko Petroleum and carried on an affair with co-worker Nichol Kessinger. Watts failed a polygraph administered by Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent Tammy Lee, blamed Shanann for the girls' deaths, then retracted it. A drone over an Anadarko site called CERVI 319 found Shanann in a shallow grave and both girls submerged in crude oil inside storage tanks with eight-inch hatches. Judge Marcelo Kopcow sentenced him on November 19th, 2018 to five life sentences plus 84 years. In a February 2019 interview at Waupun, Watts described smothering Celeste in his truck while Bella sat beside her, and hearing Bella's last two words, "Daddy, no!", every time he closes his eyes.The second half opens in the autumn of 1921, when French railways ran extra trains to Versailles for the trial of Henri Désiré Landru, a furniture dealer who placed lonely-hearts advertisements in Paris newspapers and murdered eleven people. Women mailed him proposals of marriage while he awaited the guillotine. The modern version runs through Meet-An-Inmate, launched in 1998, and WriteAPrisoner, founded by Adam Lovell in 2000, which post profiles written on paper because American prisons allow no internet access; Susan Smith drew more than six thousand letters before pulling her listing in 2003. Hybristophilia, the term journalists reach for, was coined by sexologist John Money in 1986 and has never appeared in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. Sheila Isenberg's Women Who Love Men Who Kill, forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland's "perfect boyfriend" model, and sociologist Megan Comfort's San Quentin fieldwork in Doing Time Together supply what the women themselves say they are getting.Two 2025 studies found that actively seeking out romanticizing TikTok content correlated with attraction while passive exposure predicted nothing. The risk is documented in the killings of Regina Capobianco and John Mann by her pen pal Thomas Knuff in Parma Heights, Ohio, and in the strangling deaths of Stephanie Dowells and Tania Thomas during family visits at Mule Creek State Prison. The marriages run from Nina Van Zandt, who married Haymarket defendant August Spies by proxy in 1887 and may have married an innocent man, through Ted Bundy and Carole Ann Boone, Doreen Lioy and Richard Ramirez at San Quentin, the Twinkie that served as Erik Menendez and Tammi Saccoman's wedding cake, and James Whitehouse, who wrote to Susan Atkins in 1985 and went on to Harvard Law School to serve as her attorney. All of it rests on Turner v. Safley, the 1987 Supreme Court decision in which Justice Sandra Day O'Connor noted that most inmates are eventually released, leaving the man who never will be an untested case. Rhode Island's 1909 civil death statute declared lifers "dead in all respects", and Britain barred whole-life prisoners from marrying in 2024 after Milly Dowler's murderer Levi Bellfield was granted permission.The episode closes on the women who leave, absent from every study in the field. Lynn Hartman ended her engagement to Steven Avery in October of 2016 and wrote that she had been fooled by the Netflix documentary. Paula Williamson married Charles Bronson at HMP Wakefield in November of 2017, had it annulled in 2019, and died that July at thirty-eight. Anna Eriksson divorced Lyle Menendez in 2001 and still argues for his release. No agency counts prison marriages, and every figure circulating online is unsourced. Chris Watts belongs to a long file rather than a new one, having received his first letters from strangers within weeks of his December 2018 sentencing, before he had written a word to any of them.LIKE WHAT YOU'RE HEARING? WEIRD DARKNESS has new episodes 7 DAYS A WEEK! Listen FREE wherever you get podcasts or visit WeirdDarkness.com/Listen • Paranormal • True Crime • Ghosts • UFOs • Cryptids • Unexplained • Want even more? Become an OFFICIAL WEIRDO for commercial-free episodes, bonus episodes, weeknight live chats, audiobooks & more at WeirdDarkness.com/OFFICIAL

George Michael wrote Careless Whisper, one of the biggest pop songs of our age, in an hour in his childhood bedroom. Alongside his childhood best friend Andrew Ridgeley he founded Wham!, a revolutionary pop group which became one of the defining bands of the 1980s, selling over 30 million records. Yet behind the genius of George Michael was the complex personal story of Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou who grew up in a conservative Greek-Cypriot immigrant family and had a life shaped by shame, addiction, homophobia, tabloid scrutiny and extraordinary creative flair. Ten years on since his tragic death on Christmas Day in 2016, George Michael's cultural legacy is as strong as ever, with his unforgettable hit song Last Christmas still playing on playlists and radio stations every December. In June 2026, Sathnam Sanghera, an award-winning journalist who has long written about immigrant communities in Britain and the legacy of empire, joined us live at Union Chapel to discuss his new book, Tonight the Music Seems So Loud, and to explore the life, music and contradictions of the man behind the legend. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nick Luck joined on course by David Yates ahead of the Ebor Festival at York Racecourse this morning ahead of a cracking day of racing and they begin by previewing this afternoon's Juddmonte International, with the help of Timeform's Kieran Clarke. Then Sam Haggas is along to share why he thinks Maltese Cross could turn around the form with Derby winner Christmas Day in the Voltigeur. Trainers Tom Clover and Hugo Palmer look ahead to their best chances on the Knavesmire this week, with appearances via FaceTime and finally the Tote's Alex Frost looks forward to the next four days from a World Pool perspective.

George Michael wrote Careless Whisper, one of the biggest pop songs of our age, in an hour in his childhood bedroom. Alongside his childhood best friend Andrew Ridgeley he founded Wham!, a revolutionary pop group which became one of the defining bands of the 1980s, selling over 30 million records. Yet behind the genius of George Michael was the complex personal story of Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou who grew up in a conservative Greek-Cypriot immigrant family and had a life shaped by shame, addiction, homophobia, tabloid scrutiny and extraordinary creative flair. Ten years on since his tragic death on Christmas Day in 2016, George Michael's cultural legacy is as strong as ever, with his unforgettable hit song Last Christmas still playing on playlists and radio stations every December. In June 2026, Sathnam Sanghera, an award-winning journalist who has long written about immigrant communities in Britain and the legacy of empire, joined us live at Union Chapel to discuss his new book, Tonight the Music Seems So Loud, and to explore the life, music and contradictions of the man behind the legend. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Karen Riley paid a psychic to find her daughter. Not because she believed in psychics. Because after fourteen years, the psychic was the only one who would pick up the phone.Gabrielle Amarando disappeared from Philadelphia in September 2012. She was 22. Amy McHale vanished in 2016 after leaving a voicemail saying she was fine. Maribel Fresses in 2018. Blair Tonzelli in 2023. Four women, eleven years, one address in Olney, and not one of them got a task force.Here's what finally moved the Philadelphia Police Department: on June 19, 2026, a park ranger noticed a BMW parked where it shouldn't be.This episode is what was inside that car, what came out of that house, and the fifty-year career of the published pornographer who spent his life making sure nobody could ever tell what was real. That last part isn't background. It may be the reason nobody is ever convicted.Eugene Horsch is charged with guns and fake federal credentials. He has not been charged in connection with any missing woman. We explain why that gap matters more than anyone covering this case wants to admit.TIMELINESept 2012 — Gabrielle Amarando, 22, reported missing. Her mother's last contact is a Christmas Day call from a Philadelphia prison.June 2016 — Amy McHale leaves her daughter a voicemail saying she is at Ray Horsch's house and is okay. It's the last anyone hears from her.Feb 2018 — Maribel "Bella" Fresses, 27, reported missing after her father goes to Kensington to check on her.2023 — Blair Tonzelli, 35, disappears from Kensington. Last seen at the Olney house, where she had worked as a home health aide for Raymond Horsch.May 2025 — Raymond "R.C." Horsch dies of a lung condition at 82.Nov 2025 — Eugene Horsch convicted of possession with intent to distribute.June 19, 2026 — Park ranger stops a BMW on the 600 block of Market Street. Eugene Horsch arrested.June 25, 2026 — Search of 417 West Chew Avenue begins. It lasts days.June 30, 2026 — Horsch held in federal custody after initial appearance.July 9, 2026 — Federal grand jury indicts on firearms and false credentials.July 22, 2026 — Police, FBI, and the Water Department excavate the sewer line and front yard. Nothing substantial recovered.Aug 6, 2026 — Philadelphia withdraws all five state charges. Federal case proceeds.Aug 12, 2026 — Police announce footage on one hard drive appears to show Gabrielle Amarando and Maribel Fresses dead inside the house.Sept 8, 2026 — Federal trial date. Guns and badges only.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/we-saw-the-devil-unfiltered-political-analysis--4433638/support.Website: http://www.wesawthedevil.comPatreon: http://www.patreon.com/wesawthedevilRobin's Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/robin_wstdTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/WeSawtheDevilInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/wesawthedevilpodcast.TikTok: tiktok.com/@wesawthedevilpolitics

Mark Willard and Ephraim Salaam open the show discussing NFL preseason and how we are so close to the NFL season (4 weeks away). The guys recap all of the weekend's games including De'Zhaun Stribling's monster performance for the 49ers on Thursday night. Ephraim gives his thoughts on the Giants performance over the weekend and how Jaxson Dart looked, and then the guys discuss whether or not the Dodgers are in trouble following a series loss to the Brewers at home. Next, Mark and Ephraim debate whether or not the Chargers are serious Super Bowl Contenders, and if Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert have it in them to even win a playoff game. Mark and Ephraim discuss Tyrese Haliburton's comments about the Pacers not getting a Christmas Day game and why it will fuel the team this season. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stadium and Gale: your weekly Florida Gators show.Three uniform reveals in six days. One quarterback job still wide open. And zero answers out of Jon Sumrall.Florida held its first fall scrimmage of camp this week and we're no closer to knowing who takes the first snap on Sept. 5. Aaron Philo or Tramell Jones Jr.? Sumrall isn't telling — and he's said out loud he might not tell anyone until five minutes before kickoff.Joining us this week: former Florida Gators tight end C'yontai Lewis.From Eutaw, Alabama — one of the poorest counties in the state — to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Four years in the SEC under Jim McElwain and Dan Mullen. A suspension, two injuries, and a career that never quite broke through. Then draft weekend 2019 and a phone that never rang, followed by a tryout invite from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Today he's the tight ends coach at Miles College, telling a room full of young men exactly what nobody told him.We get into what really changes for a player when the whole staff turns over, what he'd say to his 19-year-old self, why he chose an HBCU over chasing a Power Four job, and what he tells kids who'll never see a dime of NIL money.Plus, the week in Gators sports (Aug. 10–16):

St. Stephen of Hungary knelt among the poor as a king long before Rome ever sent him a crown. Meet St. Stephen of Hungary, the young Magyar chieftain crowned the first King of Hungary by Pope Sylvester II on Christmas Day, the year 1000. Stephen built churches and monasteries across his kingdom, and alongside his wife Gisela — a true sacramental partnership — helped plant the Catholic faith in a still-pagan land. He even disguised himself as a poor man to hand out alms with his own hands. "A king who let himself be knocked down in a dark street for love of Christ." ⭐Want to keep living St. Stephen's story after the episode ends?  Grab our free Every Day's a Feast Day calendar and get every saint and every challenge delivered, so your family can follow along together: https://shop.catholicsprouts.com/pages/every-days-a-feast-day-follow-along 

Episode 647 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features a roundtable with Jon Lewis, editor and founder of Sports Media Watch, Chad Finn, sports media columnist for the Boston Globe and a surprise appearance from Jimmy Traina, who is leaving SI after 20 years for a sports media startup. In this podcast, we examine CBS Sports president David Berson's comments about Tony Romo during CBS Sports' NFL Media Day; how we saw Berson's specific use of the words image and brand; whether CBS and Romo would engage in buyout talks; how J.J. Watt might do with Jim Nantz; the promotion of Ross Tucker to the Ian Eagle team; Traina's decision to leave Sports Illustrated; what he will do next; ESPN parting with Damien Woody; Fox's NFL announcing teams and what we think of them; why Greg Olson might be Fox's biggest NFL story this year; NBCUniversal carrying a tripleheader on NBA Opening Day October 20; the NBA's Christmas Day lineup; why the NBA decided to do Knicks-Spurs so early on Christmas Day; the Field Of Dreams game versus an NFL preseason game on NFL Network, and more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and more.

The NBA has finally released the schedule for the 2026-27 season, and Verno and Jacoby react by discussing the Christmas Day games, which team has a surprising amount of national TV games, debate who'll get booed when returning to their former team, and more. Also, the guys share some of their fond memories of Russell Westbrook after he announced his retirement. (00:00) Welcome to The Mismatch! (00:23) NBA releases the full 2026-27 schedule (3:41) Opening Day schedule (10:51) Christmas Day schedule (17:06) Nationally televised games (32:13) Homecoming games (39:02) Trying to make sense of the Lakers getting flipped by Mark Walter (44:21) Can't-miss games of the season (55:40) Happy retirement, Russell Westbrook Leave us a message on our Mismatch Voicemail line! (323) 389-5091 Hosts: Chris Vernon and David Jacoby Producers: Jessie Lopez, Stefan Anderson, and Jeff Shearin Social: Keith Fujimoto Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The guys question the coaching strategy in Teen Wolf, revisit the theory that Earth will lose gravity for seven seconds, discuss the Wolves' Christmas Day game and the Lynx, and Ben Leber joins to react to the Vikings' quarterback decision.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The guys question the coaching strategy in Teen Wolf, revisit the theory that Earth will lose gravity for seven seconds, discuss the Wolves' Christmas Day game and the Lynx, and Ben Leber joins to react to the Vikings' quarterback decision.

The RealGM Radio crew is together for a Summer Roundtable! Wes Goldberg is joined by Mo Dakhil and Jared Dubin of Double Dribble and Basketball Poetry's Mike Shearer to react to another stunning Lakers ownership change, break down the NBA's newly announced schedule and battle through a tiered fantasy draft. First, the Lakers are reportedly being sold for $12 billion to Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner—just 18 months after Mark Walter purchased the franchise. What could another massive valuation mean for NBA expansion in Las Vegas and Seattle? And somehow, Luka Doncic could already be playing for his third majority owner. Then, the guys grade the NBA's Christmas Day slate and opening week schedule before things get competitive. Using The Ringer's player rankings, Wes, Mo, Jared and Mike snake-draft seven-man rosters—with a catch: Each round is limited to a different 10-player tier, and once that round ends, every undrafted player from that tier disappears. Who can build the best team without immediately regretting their picks? RealGM Radio is your top spot for the best weekly NBA coverage. Subscribe to get RealGM Radio with Wes Goldberg, the Double Dribble and Good Take every week. Monday: Double Dribble with Jared Dubin and Mo Dakhil Tuesday: RealGM Radio with Wes Goldberg Wednesday: Double Dribble with Jared Dubin and Mo Dakhil Thursday: Good Take with Wes Goldberg and Mike Shearer Subscribe to watch more RealGM Radio videos: youtube.com/@RealGMRadio FOLLOW REALGM ON SOCIAL RealGM on X/Twitter https://x.com/RealGM RealGM on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/realgmnba/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

"You didn't wanna say, 'Let's transition?'" The Browns QB battle is legitimately hilarious, and it has led Todd Monken to deliver some amazing quotes. Then, Greg and Jeremy were not in for yesterday's conversation about Enes Kanter Freedom, Royce White, Sophie Cunningham, trans athletes, and the WNBA, and they have thoughts. Plus, the Miami Heat are back in action on Christmas, and it has the entire crew fired up about the December 25 sports schedule. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

(0:00) NBA Opening Night & Christmas Day schedules revealed (26:30) Did the Cowboys take shots at Micah Parsons? (41:20) Will this be Nikola Jokic's last year in the NBA? (47:17) Mahomes Mountain (01:08:00) Are the Rams overrated? (01:16:06) Jake Butt joins (01:26:03) Top 10 Players Most Excited To Watch This Season (01:50:02) Kyler Murray named starting QB, What does the future hold for J.J. McCarthy? (01:58:26) Expectations for Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel? (02:08:13) Jaxson Dart praised for sliding at practice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Geno Smith's nightmare joint practice against Tampa Bay immediately raises every concern about the Jets quarterback situation. After three early interceptions, Shaun Morash and Tiki Barber question Smith's decision-making, revisit Aaron Glenn's infamous “promised land” declaration and explain why the Jets could be setting themselves up for immense failure. Shaun Morash is in for Evan Roberts alongside Tiki Barber. The Giants inspire far more optimism as Jaxson Dart enters Year 2 under John Harbaugh, leading to a wild New York sports debate: who will ultimately leave the greater legacy, Dart or Yankees phenom George Lombard Jr.? Plus, the Knicks' newly revealed schedule puts LeBron James in Madison Square Garden for their banner celebration, sparks debate over the NBA's Christmas Day strategy, and creates the possibility of a massive Knicks-Yankees conflict on October 20.

The Knicks will raise their championship banner against LeBron James and the 76ers, and Shaun Morash and Tiki Barber debate whether the NBA is hijacking New York's moment or simply making the smartest national television matchup. They also explain why Knicks fans should embrace the spotlight instead of resenting LeBron's presence. Shaun Morash is in for Evan Roberts alongside Tiki Barber. Christmas Day brings another scheduling fight, with the Knicks-Spurs matchup facing heavy NFL competition as football continues to take over the holiday. Plus, October 20 could become a massive New York sports night if Knicks opening night lands opposite a potential Yankees Game 7 in the ALCS, while callers help workshop nicknames for George Lombard Jr.