Podcasts about Chronicle

News Connect（ニュースコネクト）あなたと経済をつなぐ5分間1日1つ、5分間で、国際政治や海外のビジネスシーンを中心に、世界のメガトレンドがわかる重要ニュースを解説。朝の支度や散歩、通勤、家事の時間などにお聴きいただけるとうれしいです。▼出演：野村高文（Podcastプロデューサー／Podcast Studio Chronicle代表）https://x.com/nmrtkfm▼支援プログラム「Chronicleサポーター」については、こちらをご参照ください。https://chronicle-inc.net/supporthttps://note.com/t_nomura/n/n43e514e703b4▼参考ニュース：The US has stepped in to buy Japanese yen. Why?https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/02/business/us-buys-japan-yen-intl-hnkWhy has Trump stepped in to prop up Japan's currency?https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/03/trump-japan-currency-yen-explainerU.S. and Japan Coordinated to Help Stabilize the Yenhttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/business/us-japan-yen.htmlThe US-Japan yen intervention has traders glued to one tradehttps://www.businessinsider.com/yen-usd-us-dollar-japan-katayama-exchange-rate-jpy-intervention-2026-8Bessent's 'to do' list: buy $5-10 billion worth of Japanese yen, Reuters photo showshttps://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bessents-to-do-list-buy-5-10-billion-worth-japanese-yen-reuters-photo-shows-2026-07-31/Bessent ready to repeat joint yen intervention, urges bigger Fed backstophttps://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bessent-ready-repeat-joint-yen-intervention-urges-bigger-fed-backstop-2026-08-03/U.S. dollar falls sharply against Japanese yen after both countries confirm first joint intervention in 15 yearshttps://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/us-dollar-falls-sharply-japanese-yen-market-intervention-rcna590522高市首相の「円安、ほくほく」発言https://jp.reuters.com/economy/bank-of-japan/QEAIHMMRBRLMRNMF7MZMLZBJEE-2026-02-03/プラザ合意の舞台裏と教訓 「歴史は韻を踏む」のかhttps://www.nomura.co.jp/wealthstyle/article/0446/▼Podcast Studio Chronicle公式サイトhttps://chronicle-inc.net/

The Chronicle's Bruce Jenkins and Marty look thru the Windows of Baseball: Trade deadline talk, including Skubal heading to DodgersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Chronicle's Bruce Jenkins and Marty look thru the Windows of Baseball: Trade deadline talk, including Skubal heading to DodgersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

News Connect（ニュースコネクト）あなたと経済をつなぐ5分間1日1つ、5分間で、国際政治や海外のビジネスシーンを中心に、世界のメガトレンドがわかるニュースを解説。朝の支度や散歩、通勤、家事の時間などにお聴きいただけるとうれしいです。▼出演 佐々木真奈美（経済キャスター・スピークプラス代表）　https://x.com/manamisasaki▼話し方トータルサポートスクール「Speak +」https://speakplus-lesson.com/▼支援プログラム「Chronicleサポーター」については、こちらをご参照ください。https://chronicle-inc.net/support▼参考ニュースhttps://www.afpbb.com/articles/-/3646679https://jp.reuters.com/economy/4BIO72CRM5ODBJIS4CVMM5OZZE-2026-07-31/https://www.cnn.co.jp/world/35251174.htmlhttps://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOFL3109QTR30C26A7000000/

News Connect（ニュースコネクト）あなたと経済をつなぐ5分間1日1つ、国際政治や海外のビジネスシーンを中心に、世界のメガトレンドがわかる重要ニュースを解説。朝の支度や散歩、通勤、家事の時間などにお聴きいただけるとうれしいです。日曜は経営共創基盤 代表取締役CEOの塩野誠さんとともに、1週間のニュースを雑談も交えながら、振り返っていきます。＊編集上の都合により、一部音質が異なる箇所がございます。あらかじめご了承ください▼新著『プロ目線のPodcastのつくり方』の購入は⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠こちら⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠から！⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.asia/d/61gIBJF⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠▼「news23」野村出演回⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtu.be/A2giZkVi0RY?si=HeeoPK_A0qCPARR3⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠▼塩野さんの新刊共著『はじめての地経学』⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.asia/d/0fV1uwG1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠▼出演：野村高文（Podcastプロデューサー／Podcast Studio Chronicle代表）⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/nmrtkfm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠塩野誠（経営共創基盤 代表取締役CEO）⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/makoto_tokyo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠企業や政府機関にコンサルティングを行い、グローバルな企業投資の20年以上の経験を持つ。欧州VC NordicNinja を創業。地経学研究所ではテクノロジーと安全保障について研究。著書に『デジタルテクノロジーと国際政治の力学』など。ゴールドマン・サックス、ベイン&カンパニー等を経て現職。慶大法卒、ワシントン大学ロースクール法学修士▼News Connect 土曜版・日曜版 Spotifyプレイリストはこちら

Results season is in full swing, and it's been another bumper week – with the overwhelming majority positive. But there are always laggards, and this week's show dives into one of the FTSE 100's biggest fallers, Rentokil. The pest control business's shares plunged after its half-year figures. Julian Hofmann explains why.Then, we look overseas, with many of the big AI and semiconductor trades going into reverse over recent weeks, including memory-chip makers SK Hynix and Samsung. So what better time to discuss how to pick out the value shares in these global markets. Michael Fahy talks through his favourites. And finally, we look at the consequences of the SpaceX IPO for Britain's investors – not the losses on which they're sitting, but the possibility of it having tipped the first domino on access to US IPOs. Helen Kirrane explains what's going onTimestamps00:00 Introduction00:57 Rentokil10:54 Global value hunting22:33 US IPOsListen to more podcasts from Investors' Chronicle on Apple, Spotify and YouTubeInvestors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities. Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

「News Connect」土曜版。今回のゲストはコンサルタントの安川新一郎さん、そして特別ゲストとして経営共創基盤（IGPI）CEOの塩野誠さんをお迎えしました。テーマは「未来思考」。2045年に重なる3つの巨大な危機である、シンギュラリティ・戦後100年・氷河期世代の後期高齢者化を紐解きます。生成AI時代の知性の二極化やマニュアル人間の終焉、そして日本が目指すべき「テクノ民主主義」まで、20年先をサバイブするための思考法が詰まったインタビューです▼新著『プロ目線のPodcastのつくり方』の購入は⁠⁠⁠こちら⁠⁠⁠から！https://amzn.asia/d/5A0NQEj▼Podcast Studio Chronicle YouTubeチャンネル⁠https://www.youtube.com/@PodcastStudioChronicle▼出演：野村高文（Podcastプロデューサー／Podcast Studio Chronicle代表）⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/nmrtkfm【ゲストプロフィール】安川新一郎／コンサルタントマッキンゼー・アンド・カンパニー東京支社、シカゴ支社を経て、ソフトバンク（現ソフトバンクグループ）に社長室長として入社。ナスダック・ジャパン常勤監査役、アイ・ピー・レボルーション代表取締役社長、グローバルセンター・ジャパン取締役、現ソフトバンク執行役員本部長を歴任。2016年スタートアップへの投資/支援や未来の人材開発を推進するグレートジャーニー合同会社創業。東京都顧問兼都政改革本部特別参与、大阪府市特別参与、内閣官房政府CIO補佐官等として政府・自治体の課題解決にも取り組む。著書に『BRAIN WORKOUT人工知能（AI）と共存するための人間知性（HI）の鍛え方』があり、その探求実践プログラム「Brain Workout Journey 」を主宰。著書『未来思考2045 危機と分断、そしてAIは世界をどのように変えるのか？』https://amzn.asia/d/09TOGTL6塩野誠／経営共創基盤 代表取締役CEO企業や政府機関にコンサルティングを行い、グローバルな企業投資の20年以上の経験を持つ。欧州VC NordicNinja を創業。地経学研究所ではテクノロジーと安全保障について研究。著書に『デジタルテクノロジーと国際政治の力学』など。ゴールドマン・サックス、ベイン&カンパニー等を経て現職。慶大法卒、ワシントン大学ロースクール法学修士▼News Connect 土曜版・日曜版 Spotifyプレイリストはこちら

Bethel, Vermont is home to a rare geological treasure: a brilliant granite that's often described as the whitest in the world. The stone has been quarried there for generations and sent as far as Paris and Abu Dhabi. Two local residents want to know: Why is this stone found in Bethel, of all places? And is it found anywhere else?Thanks to Bennett Law and Owen Daniel-McCarter for the great questions. Click here for photos and a full episode transcript.For more on granite in Vermont, here are some suggested resources: Vermont Stones/Italian Bones (2016) by Bill Johansen, published by the Bethel Historical Society A three-part series about the Woodbury Granite Company by Paul Wood in The Chronicle of the Early American Industries Association, 2021 “How has the geology of Vermont affected its character?” (Brave Little State, 2017) “Meet Giuliano Cecchinelli, Barre's last Italian stone carver” (Vermont Public, 2023) This episode was reported by Sabine Poux. Editing and production from the rest of the BLS team: That's Burgess Brown and Josh Crane. Our intern is Sarah Bokelberg. Our executive producer is Angela Evancie. Theme music by Ty Gibbons; other music by Blue Dot Sessions.Special thanks to Gail Wiese, Timothy Rath, Laurie Grigg and Denise Guilmette.As always, our journalism is better when you're a part of it: Ask a question about Vermont Sign up for the BLS newsletter Say hi onInstagram and Reddit @bravestatevt Drop us an email: hello@bravelittlestate.org Make a gift to support people-powered journalism Tell your friends about the show! Brave Little State is a production of Vermont Public and a proud member of the NPR Network. 

News Connect 文化欄、麻布競馬場さんゲスト回の後編です。麻布競馬場さんは、いま広く使われる「言語化」という言葉への違和感があると語ります。文章を中心に表現する小説家だからこそ感じる、「言葉の限界」や「わかりやすさ」の功罪についてお聞きしました。さら、マーケティング的な視点から離れたところにある小説の価値についても語り合っています。▼ゲストプロフィール麻布競馬場1991年生まれ。2021年からXに小説を投稿し始め、「タワマン文学」として注目を集める。2022年、Xやnoteに発表してきた作品のうち、20作が収録された『この部屋から東京タワーは永遠に見えない』でデビュー。2024年『令和元年の人生ゲーム』が、第171回直木賞候補作となる。X：https://x.com/63cities▼MC岩井圭也（小説家）X：⁠⁠https://x.com/keiya_iwai⁠⁠▼News Connect Spotifyプレイリストはこちら

The news of Texas covered today includes:Our Lone Star story of the day: Showing just how embedded Marxist and racist activism of the Left is into public education, Texas has had to demand that the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards revise its materials. Read this Dallas Express story and be sure to read the short section of examples of what needs revision, the second section of the story. Just to be a certified teacher from this national group, you are supposed be engaged in indoctrinating students into Leftist political theory and turning them into Leftwing activists. This isn't made up stuff from conservatives, it is in the groups standards.Our Lone Star story of the day is sponsored by Allied Compliance Services providing the best service in DOT, business and personal drug and alcohol testing since 1995.Governor Abbott Reappoints Ten Judges To Texas Business Court. This is a very interesting story about the new business court system and how it works with the governor appointing and reappointing its judges.5th Circuit Court of Appeals uphold the age verification part of the Texas SCOPE Act but leaves on hold the requirement for companies to monitor and filter content for minors.Texas Judge Extends SCOTUS Admission Case to Municipal Contracts. More: Houston's minority business contracting program ruled unconstitutional. Be sure and note the last section of the Chronicle story.Federal judge declines to reinstate Muslim woman as Fort Worth ISD campus principal. She was never harmed and the district acted because of serious threats that could jeopardize the safety and operation of the school.Listen on the radio, or station stream, at 5pm Central. Click for our radio and streaming affiliates.www.PrattonTexas.com

News Connect（ニュースコネクト）あなたと経済をつなぐ5分間1日1つ、5分間で、国際政治や海外のビジネスシーンを中心に、世界のメガトレンドがわかるニュースを解説。朝の支度や散歩、通勤、家事の時間などにお聴きいただけるとうれしいです。▼出演 佐々木真奈美（経済キャスター・スピークプラス代表）　https://x.com/manamisasaki▼話し方トータルサポートスクール「Speak +」https://speakplus-lesson.com/▼支援プログラム「Chronicleサポーター」については、こちらをご参照ください。https://chronicle-inc.net/support▼参考ニュースhttps://jp.reuters.com/markets/japan/N56YJJOOBBIEPDYW5L3K4A2P5Y-2026-07-28/https://jp.reuters.com/markets/japan/EREQTFYFMJJJLAX3E3FAPBX3F4-2026-07-29/

There are roughly 100x more people who use code than who can write code. As code that “just works” becomes easier to generate, this group may be the biggest prize of all — if you can get the agentic interface right.A key trend we have been tracking over at AINews is the absolute explosion in Codex usage this year, with MAU now up >10x from Jan 2026. Less than two weeks after their July 9th launch, OpenAI said ChatGPT Work and Codex had reached 10M users combined (as we cover in the pod, Codex now powers ChatGPT Work, so all ChatGPT Work users are now users of the Codex harness, even if they aren't traditional engineers) — showing the early innings of what happens when you graduate from coding agents to knowledge work agents:We've been calling out how coding agents are “breaking containment” to do everything else this year to power every other part of knowledge work - and it started with the org chart, with a major reorg last month that amounted to two of Codex's most prominent leaders, Greg and Tibo, taking responsibility over product and ChatGPT specifically, completing a “Superapp” consolidation cycle first discussed in March.With these updates Codex is no longer just a coding tool. In June, OpenAI said knowledge workers already accounting for roughly 20% of Codex's user base and growing more than 3x as quickly as developers. A product dedicated for knowledge workers was being pulled out of the Codex team.However, knowledge work has a different set of problems and environments than coding. For decades, knowledge work has been scattered across different primitives like documents for writing, spreadsheets for analysis, slide decks for communication, and specialized applications for everything else. ChatGPT Work now enables users to work across every primitive with agents. Instead of opening an application and manually operating its features, the user can describe an outcome and collaborates with an agent that can assemble the tools, context, and artifact needed to reach it.From building no-code products at Airtable to leading Productivity Engineering at OpenAI, Akshay Nathan has spent much of his career trying to make the power of software accessible to people who do not write code. In this episode, Akshay joins swyx and Vibhu to unpack the launch of ChatGPT Work, why Codex unexpectedly took off among non-developers inside OpenAI, and the company's broader plan to bring useful agents from software engineers to knowledge workers and eventually everyone.We go deep on the shared agent harness behind Codex and ChatGPT Work, why OpenAI brought the experiences together without making them identical, and how persistent computers, artifacts, Sites, plugins, memory, and sub-agents are changing what people can delegate to AI. Akshay explains why some teams are replacing decks and spreadsheets with interactive websites, how agents can gather context across code, Slack, documents, and local files, and what OpenAI learned from personal-agent products like OpenClaw.Side note: also don't miss Abhihek's sandbox track keynote at AIE, which now powers a lot of the sandboxing for ChatGPT Work… and yes was also broken by an unreleased OpenAI model in the recent HuggingFace incident.Akshay also reflects on how AI is transforming product development itself: why more people will become generalists with a specialty, why ideas and taste become the bottlenecks when almost anyone can build, why LLMs still struggle to generate genuinely grounded new ideas, and why teams must distinguish increased motion from actual progress.We discuss:* Why Codex unexpectedly took off among non-developers inside OpenAI* Why employees felt like using Codex gave them a new superpower* The product insight that led OpenAI to build ChatGPT Work* Why Codex and ChatGPT Work share the same underlying agent harness* How their UX, Git visibility, artifacts, and sandboxing defaults differ* Why OpenAI merged its agent experiences instead of building separate products* How AI is blurring the boundaries between engineering, design, strategy, and operations* Why OpenAI wants the default model configuration to work for most users* When power users should use deeper reasoning, Ultra, or multi-agent modes* Artifacts, agentic spreadsheets, and creating high-fidelity work products* Why interactive Sites may replace decks and spreadsheets* The challenge of designing a simple interface for an agent that can build almost anything* Why users should retry tasks that models could not handle three or six months ago* How AI can gather context for performance reviews without replacing human judgment* The OpenAI automation that turns internal Slack and document activity into memes* What reaching ten million ChatGPT Work and Codex users means for the product* How OpenClaw inspired persistent environments, scheduled tasks, and personal agents* Using ChatGPT for financial planning, budgeting, workouts, meals, and household management* The design tradeoffs behind sub-agents and how much of their work users should see* ChatGPT memory, Chronicle, and long-term context* Why AI may make more people generalists with deep specialties* Why ideas and taste become more important when almost anyone can build* Why LLMs still struggle with the instruction “bring me new ideas”* Measuring productivity through quality at-bats instead of commits, tokens, or pull requests* The critical difference between AI-generated motion and meaningful progressAkshay Nathan* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshaynathan/* X: https://x.com/akshaynathan_Timestamps00:00:00 Introduction and Bringing the Power of Code to Everyone00:01:33 Joining OpenAI and Preserving a Startup Culture00:02:40 What OpenAI Learned from Enterprise AI Adoption00:05:28 Why OpenAI Built ChatGPT Work00:07:17 Codex vs. ChatGPT Work and the Shared Agent Harness00:12:07 Why OpenAI Merged Its Agent Experiences00:16:24 Models, Reasoning Levels, and Choosing the Right Default00:20:26 Artifacts, Agentic Spreadsheets, and Model–Product Collaboration00:24:22 Why Sites Could Replace Decks and Spreadsheets00:30:08 Designing an Agent That Can Build Almost Anything00:34:28 From Developer Agents to Knowledge Work—and Everyone00:36:07 Power-User Advice and AI-Assisted Performance Reviews00:40:41 OpenAI's Internal AI Memes and the Ten-Million-User Launch00:44:39 OpenClaw, Personal Agents, and ChatGPT as an Operating System00:50:24 Sub-Agents, Ultra Mode, and How Much Control Users Need00:54:39 ChatGPT Memory, Personalization, and Chronicle01:00:19 How AI Is Reshaping Product Development and Tech Roles01:03:15 Ideas, Taste, and Why LLMs Struggle to Generate New Ideas01:04:42 Measuring Productivity, Quality At-Bats, and Motion vs. ProgressTranscriptIntroduction: Akshay Nathan, ChatGPT Work, and the No-Code ArcSwyx [00:00:00]: We're here in the studio with Akshay from OpenAI. Welcome.Akshay Nathan [00:00:07]: Thank you.Swyx [00:00:08]: And with our trusty co-host, Vibhu. So you recently launched ChatGPT Work. You lead Core Product Engineering. It's been a long journey, into all this. I find it very interesting that you started with no code or low code, with Walrus and Airtable. And to some extent, ChatGPT Work is like the super app of super apps of, well, here is the ultimate no code. You just write a prompt.Akshay Nathan [00:00:32]: Yeah. It's funny how things come, full circle. I think for a long time in my career, I started my career working consumer fintech, but then after that, like, there's this hypothesis that, the things that we were able to do with code, like, as engineers, like, if we could bring that to many more people in a more, accessible way, then that would be truly magical. We were working on a startup. It's funny, like, before LLMs, before vision LLMs, on how to do automated testing with AI. It was just kinda jank, back then, but doing what we can, and then worked at Airtable for a while on the same thesis that, like, if we can bring a database or the primitives behind a database to people, that'd be really useful to them. But once LLMs came onto the scene, it became clear that, this was the missing piece, like, the missing technology required to, like, bring the magic of code to everyone without them having to know what's going on underneath the hood. And so, like, I think this launch and a lot of the stuff that we've been up to is, like, the manifestation of that.From Walrus and Airtable to OpenAIVibhu [00:01:33]: How was stuff when you joined? So you joined OpenAI 2023. Now we've got, so much more stuff, so ChatGPT, Codex app, ChatGPT Work. Have things changed?Joining OpenAI and What Hasn't ChangedAkshay Nathan [00:01:44]: I think the more interesting thing is how things haven't changed. Like, one, I joined I remember when I joined, it was, like, five hundred people. One thing I was worried about was, like, I was looking for something, more early stage and, like, was it gonna feel startup enough? And I joined, and I was like, “This feels even more startup-y than I could ever imagine.” And, like, that really hasn't changed even till now. I think the, like, level of, like, bottoms-up ambition and, like, the ability of anyone to, like, do anything or have an idea and ship it is really cool. But on the, like, mission side, I think what was really compelling to me is this mission of, bringing frontier intelligence to everyone. Like, building AGI and then bringing it to everyone. And, I think acknowledging back then that, like, that vision is gonna, not be a linear progression. Like, we're probably gonna, like, try different products and have different things that succeed and don't. But the vision has stayed the same, and the mission has stayed the same, and we're starting to see the pieces, fall together, and that's really cool.Enterprise Lessons: No One-Size-Fits-All AISwyx [00:02:40]: You worked on Enterprise. What A lot of people never touch ChatGPT Enterprise. What is something that you learned from there that you're bringing into your work now?Akshay Nathan [00:02:52]: I think how there's no one-size-fits-all solution in Enterprise. I remember in the early days of ChatGPT Enterprise, like, when we talked to customers and, like, everyone. That was, like, when I think it was a year after ChatGPT was released, and everyone was so excited to bring, AI into their enterprise. And, there were all these teams being stood up. It was, like, the AI deployment team with, like, these enormous budgets. And if you asked anyone, like, what were they excited about? Like, what were they excited about solving? Like, at first, you'd get, like, kinda like the baseline answers of, like, “Yeah, we have all this context and data and all this stuff.” But then if you ask them, like, “What was, like, a discrete use case that, like, they want AI to enable in their workplace?” You get such a different, like, variance, like, explosion of, different types of answers. And it's interesting, like, you using, like, these models and these products, you have this box, and you can say anything to it, which is the magic. But it'on the flip side, it also means that, like, you don't know what to do with it. And in Enterprise, I think a big part of that is, like, meeting the users where they are, like, what use case were they trying to solve, and then teaching them how they can use AI to, like, gain leverage there.Swyx [00:03:56]: Do you meaningfully differentiate that from forward-deployed engineering?Akshay Nathan [00:04:01]: I think there is the go-to-market side of it and then there is the product side of it. I think you need someone on the product side. And I think, like, however good we get at FDE motion, like, I think at the end of the day, if we have a user who's, like, looking at their computer or looking at their phone, like, it's our job in the product to, like, be enabling them and showing them where to go. So we're really excited about that.Vibhu [00:04:24]: Do you think there's been changes, over the past three years of adoption? So there have been, step function changes. You have reasoning models and whatnot. Is there still the same problems of Enterprise has black box, don't know what to do with it, or have things changed?Adoption, Agents, and the Next 10x MarketAkshay Nathan [00:04:39]: We're seeing now that, like, there's this huge uptake, right? Everyone is extremely excited about it. It feels like, many people are, millions, hundreds of millions of people are using ChatGPT. They understand, like, how generally to work with AI. But then, like, every time, like, a new capability gets unlocked, so now, like, we're seeing with agents, like, there is probably a contingent of, like, early adopters still who, truly get it, who are like, “ we you can do anything. You just have to make sure the right context is there, it's connected to the right tools, and that you are supervising it, but, like, anything is possible.” But then there's, like, this, like, 10x or 100x bigger market where, like, they don't yet get that, or they don't yet see that. And so I think that's the next stage here. So to answer your question, like, I think the adoption is there and growing fast, but I think the opportunity is, like, far bigger than that. That's where we wanna play, especially with ChatGPT Work.ChatGPT Work, Codex, and the Super App MergeSwyx [00:05:27]: Yeah. well, let's, let's skip ahead to ChatGPT Work. only, like, a month ago or so, announced. what was the decision process that led into it? there was this, overall merging of the super app. Is that what we're officially calling it? you deprecated the browser as well. Just, summarize your last, like, couple months of working on this thing.Akshay Nathan [00:05:50]: Yeah. It feels like forever now, but it's only been a few months. I think maybe the one, impetus that, like- Is most salient is when we release Codex, or even internally had Codex, like, it was really surprising to us, I think we recently put out some stats on this, that there was this, like, real inflection of, like, adoption among non-developers at OpenAI. And, I, through this product development process, like, would go to, like, these UXR sessions to talk to people internally. And the thing that stuck out to me is, like, one, like, you go talk to, like, strategic finance or marketing or whatever, and they're all using Codex for, their use cases. That part's cool, but the thing that really stuck out to me is how proud people were that they were using Codex. Like, how, likeSwyx [00:06:34]: It's like, “I'm not supposed to be using it, but I am.”Akshay Nathan [00:06:36]: It was that. It was, like, that they were, early to this, like, new thing, but it was also this thing of, like, they felt like they had a superpower, right? And, what we recognized then is that, like, the power of Codex, the power of agents, like, we already had this massive distribution base of people who have, come to know and love ChatGPT. Like, how do we show that to them? Like, how do we bring it to them? Which is, like, a hard product problem, and it's, like, a tricky thing, right? There's many ways you can go about it. And so that's what we called the Merge and the Super App over time, and ultimately launched it in ChatGPT Work, is how do we do that? But it came from that initial realization that, like, the power was not only for developers, like, much earlier than probably even we thought. Like, it could be extended to everyone.Swyx [00:07:17]: How do you see the products differently? So, like, who is it for, right? So Codex started out even CLI, then app. Now there's a merge of ChatGPT Codex and ChatGPT Work, so is it the opening for the average user, for enterprise, for work? How do you position it?Akshay Nathan [00:07:36]: I think we want to get it to position it for if you're doing work-related things, for lack of a better word, right?Who ChatGPT Work Is ForAkshay Nathan [00:07:42]: I think productivity is what, like, the pillar that I support. Like, that's the name of the team. And the reason for that, the reason we call it productivity and not, like, enterprise or, like, work or something like that, is because there's also personal productivity, right? And, like, I think ChatGPT Work is I've seen people do things in their personal lives that you wouldn't classify as, like, work technically, but, like, these agents are, super capable for. Like, one recent example that someone posted about, on our Slack is, like, someone had, like, a missed package, like they didn't receive it, and then they got, like, the picture of it, from Amazon or whoever the courier was, and they, like, asked ChatGPT Work to, like, find out where that package is. And, like, the agent, is extremely tenacious and, like, took the image and, like, looked at a bunch of, like, listings around their neighborhood and figured out exactly the apartment complex in which the package was, like, gave them some information. And so, like, I think there's all these things that, like, you, work-related or productivity-related things, I think that's what we want the product to be. You asked about Codex. I think we think Codex is, a durable brand, but we have a principle that, like, the user we don't want a user to get stuck in a tab or an experience where they don't get the power of the product. And so, like, everything that you can do, in the Codex portion of the product on desktop, you can do in ChatGPT Work and vice versa. But we made some opinionated product decisions on, like, how much of the Git state, if you're in a Git repo, do we wanna expose to the end user? Or how much do we wanna make the experience of seeing the agents thinking, like, diff forward so that you get exposed to the diffs out of the box. And then, like, on the safety side, like, how do we wanna think about, like, sandboxing and making sure that we have the right defaults in one state versus the other? So, there's, like, some opinions that go behind that, but we do want We don't want the user to need to choose which experience they're in.Swyx [00:09:26]: That is a good goal for AGI, right? Like, people don't want, like, to hide to choose what version of AGI they want. They just want the AGI to decide for them. can I get an answer or, like It's not super clear to me. Is the Codex harness and the ChatGPT Work harness the same? Is it just UI affordances, or are there prompt level or even deeper differences?Shared Harness, Different UX: Codex vs. WorkAkshay Nathan [00:09:49]: So the harness is the same. The harness is shared. on In both of the products, we made improvements to the harness to make it good for knowledge work, especially as it relates to plug-ins or computer use or artifacts. You get that power regardless of which experience you're in. On the UX side, there's opinionated takes that we have when you're in Codex mode, what the UX should be how the UX should behave, and some stuff around the sandbox like I mentioned, but the underlying harness and capabilities should be the same.Swyx [00:10:16]: I'm just kinda curious. Maybe we can, -- Is there a query that we can run that would look different in the two modes?Akshay Nathan [00:10:23]: Yeah. I tried to create, like ask it to create, like, a retirement calculator spreadsheet or something, in both modes. And then in Codex mode, you might have to be in a repo for this, but you'll see, like, the diffs of, like, the sheet that it's creating and stuff like that, and the file edits. But in Work you won't be able to see that.Swyx [00:10:42]: I think that's, that's super clear. And then also the other thing I wanted to dive into was your, the productivity team. what else is there? first of all, what are the top-level teams other than productivity? Isn't productivity everything?Productivity Teams and Core ChatAkshay Nathan [00:10:55]: SoSwyx [00:10:55]: Science?Akshay Nathan [00:10:55]: We have a team focused on ChatGPT. Like, the core chat experience, for consumer, which is like, not, I think all productivity. Like, there'People are using ChatGPT every day for search to, figure out how to write messages to loved ones, to think about, how to, like, learn a new topic, et cetera. And so there's so much more inside to create images. And there's so much more in chat that, the hundreds of millions of users are using that warrants, like, a very dedicated effort. And there's teams focused on enterprise and infrastructure and API and stuff like that, so.Swyx [00:11:33]: I will bring it up.Retirement Calculator Demo and Git-First UXSwyx [00:11:34]: Yeah. So I have them both running. This is ChatGPT Work. There's a Codex version here. I picked “Five Little Ducks” song, so this will take a while.Akshay Nathan [00:11:43]: Huh.Swyx [00:11:43]: I think we'll just keep it in the background and, as they finish, we'll look into some of the differences.Akshay Nathan [00:11:48]: Yeah. But immediately, I think if you flip back to the Codex version you'll see that,Swyx [00:11:53]: That it assumesAkshay Nathan [00:11:54]: Like theSwyx [00:11:54]: It assumes Git. Yeah. Yeah.Akshay Nathan [00:11:56]: The, like, dynamic island assumes that you're in a Git repo. And you might miss some stuff because some of it is, like, in the actual chain of thought with those changes and how we display that, but yeah.Swyx [00:12:07]: Is there an unintuitive like, is there a thing that you wanted to ship and then you got feedback, and you were like, “No, let's not do it?” Like, what's the thinking behind that?Why Merge the ExperiencesAkshay Nathan [00:12:14]: In, ChatGPT Work?Akshay Nathan [00:12:17]: I think one direction we could have gone with this is, like, keeping the experiences, like, completely separate. So it's like, whySwyx [00:12:22]: Different apps.Akshay Nathan [00:12:23]: Exactly, like different apps or even in the same app, like different, completely different experiences. Like, why merge it all? Like, what is. Codex, people love. Like, why bring these products together? And I think the intuition here is that, like, all of our jobs are, like, changing dramatically with AI. Like, for, like, every few months, like, I feel like I wake up, and I'm, like, doing a completely different thing than I was doing a few months ago. And my hypothesis here is that, or I should say our hypothesis is that, like, part of what we're, we're building, this technology is giving people leverage. Like, the things, maybe it's the more mundane parts of your job or parts that, like, if you were able to automate, you'd be able to share more ideas faster or whatever, like, you're able to do now. And because of that, like, that might blur the lines between someone who's, like, only writing code or creating strategy docs or, planning events or, helping with marketing or doing podcasts or whatever, right? And so, like, these things are gonna get blurred over time. And so, like, trying to draw a hard boundary based on, like, the who you are is gonna be, is gonna be tough. And, like, we should enable users to choose, but we shouldn't box them in. And so a lot of the work that went in here, like, keeping the primitives the same, like for example, plugins are, like, unified across, this product and ChatGPT and the cloud, was because of that. It's this thesis that, like, eventually things are gonna come together and we don't wanna be Like, we wanna be prescriptive about when to be in either experience, but we don't want to box anyone in.Swyx [00:13:45]: I wonder if there's users who are very tuned to the old ChatGPT harness that is effectively now replaced by the Codex harness. I can't imagine what that was, but maybe they're more the more conversational side. Can you compare and contrast the two harnesses? ‘Cause only you've seen it.Akshay Nathan [00:14:02]: Yeah. I think ChatGPT, the existing harness, like, still exists today. Like, it exists in this app,Harness Engineering: ChatGPT vs. CodexSwyx [00:14:08]: The classic, right?Akshay Nathan [00:14:09]: TheVibhu [00:14:09]: You just start a new chat, and you don't go under Work, right?Akshay Nathan [00:14:13]: Yeah. If you startVibhu [00:14:13]: SoAkshay Nathan [00:14:14]: A new chat and go to chat, then you're, you're talking to ChatGPT with the instant model.Vibhu [00:14:16]: Oh, we can technically do another. But on instant.Swyx [00:14:21]: Yeah. So this one's not gonna code or it's gonna be in line. It's on a in line in a sandbox.Akshay Nathan [00:14:26]: It'llVibhu [00:14:27]: Oh, that's coolAkshay Nathan [00:14:27]: We try to push you to go to Work if you're creating a spreadsheet. Yeah, but this isSwyx [00:14:30]: And this is a router decision? Sorry. Is it a router decision?Akshay Nathan [00:14:34]: This is the decision that, the model is making, and then, like it sees that you're able to. or you're trying to do something that would be better served in Work mode. But I think your question was like, what are the advantages of, like, the chat, like ChatGPT chat harness?Swyx [00:14:48]: It's more broadly, like, I wanna, do an oral history of harness engineering. Right? the ChatGPT harness lasted us from, let's call it the ‘01 era, until now, and now it's being replaced by the Codex harness effectively. And they're, they're overlapping somewhat, but I'm curious what changed if there is.Akshay Nathan [00:15:10]: My perspective on this is, like, there's, there's, there's there's like a constant process of, like, divergence, convergence, divergence, convergence. And in chat, like, many of the use cases I was talking about before, like, search or learning, I think we're, we're really optimizing for latency and optimizing for personality and, like, different things that, over time, like the product The reason people love ChatGPT is because we've been optimizing for those things and working on them for so long. Codex, what we learned was that, like, if you give the agent access to this infinitely flexible environment as a computer, it can do really powerful things. And so when we think about, like, okay, well, for knowledge work, like, what is which mode should we choose? It was like it felt more natural to us to bring that to this, like, computer environment and, maybe abstract some of the details of this computer away from users who might not be used to that, but, like, give them that same power. But ultimately, I think that we want the power in all places, right? We wanna meet people where they are. So I'm sure there'll be work down the road in order to get things to be, equivalently capable in all scenarios. But it's just a question of, like, what we've been focusing on the product on historically and what we're focusing on now.Models, Defaults, and the Reasoning SliderVibhu [00:16:24]: I think alongside that, outside of just harness and when to use Codex, ChatGPT, or Work, there's also the new models you've released, right? any guidance there? So people love to min-max what to use, like only use Terra on high reasoning versus, for this, you wanna use Sol here, ignore all theseAkshay Nathan [00:16:44]: There's 32 options.Vibhu [00:16:46]: But, that being said, for people that are expanding, so, productivity trying stuff for work that don't have the breakdown of what all this is what's, what's the advice, right?Akshay Nathan [00:16:59]: Well, I think before the advice, like the first thing is, like, none of this would be possible without these models. Like, the, I think you asked earlier, like, what was, like, the inspiration for work and, like, early on, like I mentioned, like, what we were seeing with Codex, but that was also because the models were getting infinitely more capable. That's happening again. I think it's like another step function jump now. And to answer the question on advice, like we want this default to be the best possible. Like, we wanna be opinionated about the default, and so we've we've chosen a default that we think is gonna be the best for everyone. And, we have for power users options under the hood. We could One could argue that there might be too many right now, and we're, working on simplifying it. But you can extend, the reasoning level, and you can change between the different model classes if you need to, but the default should be the best for most use cases. So my advice to most people would be to stick to that. And then, if you reach a situation in which you think that you could, you wanna try, a different configuration, if you're not seeing either the efficiency on the cost side or the quality on the intelligence side, then you can change the defaults and see if you can get something better. But we think that the default should be good enough.Swyx [00:18:09]: I have, I'm just gonna run something by you since you have way more experience than me. I've recently been doing Sol Lite but with goal, with the idea that the goal augments the reasoning effort, but with more terminations and turns.Swyx [00:18:24]: Is that a good way to think about it as opposed to Sol Ultra or Sol, Extra High?Akshay Nathan [00:18:29]: Yeah. It's hard to say becauseSwyx [00:18:31]: Yeah. It's like an interaction effect.Akshay Nathan [00:18:33]: exactly. It's like there's a preference on, for you as an individual, like how do you like to collaborate with the models? Like how many of those like terminations, as you call them, do you want where, you can steer or make sure that it's doing the right thing?Akshay Nathan [00:18:46]: I think generally people should try whatever works for them. I think that like using Ultra or the like multi-agent setups are best for like when you have like tasks that are either incredibly complicated, like open explorations or very paralyzable. I think even for tasks using goal, I think is best for tasks that you'll be able to make consistent progress in a way that's verifiable over time. But I think for most tasks, they don't fall into either of those buckets. And so like at least when they're starting, and so that's why I think the best first step is like trying it with the default configuration and then seeing like where you wanna go from there.Swyx [00:19:29]: Right. You guys worked on a slider, which is super helpful for reducing the amount of panic.Vibhu [00:19:36]: It's nice on mobile at least. There's a nice slider there.Swyx [00:19:38]: It's nicer.Vibhu [00:19:39]: I haven't tried it.Swyx [00:19:40]: So you have the advanced view there, but if you click advanced view. Yeah.Vibhu [00:19:44]: Ooh, it's just a nice slider. Yeah.Swyx [00:19:46]: Very pretty, very colorful.Akshay Nathan [00:19:48]: Yeah. The idea was here was like reduce it to like one dimension even though there's multiple dimensions, right? Try to project it onto a single dimension for the user. Like, something from that represents like, speed and efficiency on one side and then like quality and thoroughness on the other side.Artifacts, Spreadsheets, and the Work LaunchSwyx [00:20:04]: I am just puzzled that it uses Sol so much, like the lowerVibhu [00:20:07]: NoSwyx [00:20:07]: Grounds I would've usedVibhu [00:20:08]: I think the slider, if I'm not mistaken, isSwyx [00:20:09]: Terra.Vibhu [00:20:10]: Oh, it is.Swyx [00:20:11]: Yeah. See? So they preset Terra to only be the light one. But like I think a lot of people would more people should use Terra. One, because Sol keeps running out of capacity.Vibhu [00:20:22]: I'm the reason. Here's ten minutes of ourSwyx [00:20:24]: There you goVibhu [00:20:25]: Retirement calculator.Swyx [00:20:26]: Oh, that's the Excel thing working for you.Vibhu [00:20:28]: This is,Swyx [00:20:28]: Oh my God. Look at thatVibhu [00:20:28]: This is work, and then Codex is still cooking, so we'll get back into it. I think it'll be interesting to see the thought process, the reasoning, and also, this is eight minutes on work. Codex is still cooking.Swyx [00:20:41]: Yeah. And by the way, so I've, do Gabriel Chua? He's part of the OpenAI Singapore team. He showed me this, and I was like pretty shocked that this looks like Excel. It edits Excel files. You never paid an Excel license, right? Like, but somehow this is like workable and it's agentic Excel.Akshay Nathan [00:21:01]: Yeah. one of the big like pushes that we made for this launch was like artifacts, right?Akshay Nathan [00:21:05]: Like both on the model side, like I think if you compare this with GPT-5.5 and GPT-5.4 before that, you'll see that there's been pretty dramatic improvements in the quality of these artifacts and then also on the product side.Vibhu [00:21:16]: The UX side is also crazy, like hosted sites and whatnot. No longer needing to host your own little webpage, like itSwyx [00:21:23]: Oh, I have a story about that. I can do, a separate thing. I'll need to take the visuals here, but we-we'll, we'll cut to that later. Was there co-training, because you were moving making this big move and you launched GPT-5.6 on the same day as ChatGPT Work? Was there influence between the model training teams and the harness teams, or did they did the launch dates just happen to line up the same day?Akshay Nathan [00:21:46]: I think the we collaborate heavily with the research teams, and I think that's like one of the most magical parts of the job, like the most fun parts of the job. But yeah, just using artifacts as an example. Like, a lot of what you're seeing, like underneath the hood, there's a lot of work that went into making sure that like, we had the right infra to be able to train the models to get better at this. And then on the product side, like had the right experience for users to be able to collaborate with the model on an artifact like this. In fact, like this whole viewer, like the intuition here is that like, it's not necessarily that you wouldn't need an Excel license. This is stage one, right? Like, this is probably not what you meant when you're like making a retirement calculator.Vibhu [00:22:24]: Yeah, you can iterate very easily. Yeah.Akshay Nathan [00:22:24]: You wanna iterate and like when you're seeing it, and if this thing is high fidelity to like what you would see in or what your coworkers would see if you were to send this to Sean, like that I think makes it so easier and makes you trust the product in terms of iteration.Vibhu [00:22:39]: When you say coworkers would see, do you see a multiplayer, multi-team collaboration with artifacts? Any things you guys think about that?Multiplayer Artifacts and CollaborationSwyx [00:22:46]: You can already share it, right?Akshay Nathan [00:22:48]: Yeah. It's inter It's something that, we're actively thinking about. one thing that, we've noticed internally without talking too much about the roadmap is that like there's many times when someone will ping me about something, and I will ask ChatGPT Work the question, and then I'll ping them back the answer.Akshay Nathan [00:23:04]: And then I'll be thinking likeVibhu [00:23:04]: Like the simplest would be, the three of us are just all on one hosted.Akshay Nathan [00:23:07]: Exactly. And I'll think about like was I required in this loop or and then maybe it was, rephrase like what they were asking or pulled from certain context or whatever. But like, when I gave them back the answer, that process was also lossy, right? Like I gave them just like my interpretation of what ChatGPT Work cooked up. But like underneath the hood, there's so much context like in the rollout and stuff that could be interesting.Vibhu [00:23:28]: Yeah, it'sSwyx [00:23:28]: So like the answer was preemptively respond to every inbound request?Akshay Nathan [00:23:33]: No, it was just like literally like this is what I do sometimes as my job.Swyx [00:23:36]: I know you copy-paste and then you're just a message forwarding serviceAkshay Nathan [00:23:39]: Yeah. Yeah, exactlySwyx [00:23:39]: From AI to AI.Vibhu [00:23:40]: But I think it's interesting, right? It helps people understand the capability of what you can ask and delegate that oftentimes people don't realize until they try or someone shows you, and then you're like, “Oh, okay. Okay, I see.”Swyx [00:23:52]: I think it's als there's also like a, light security issue, where like you're the permissions layer. Like yes, I could query everything that you query, and I could get an automated response, but maybe I'm not supposed to see it. And that there's no way I would know because I'm not supposed to know what I don't know.Akshay Nathan [00:24:07]: Especially as like, with ChatGPT Work, we're, we're asking you to connect your plug-ins and, it's pulling from your local files and stuff like that. Like the amount of context that the agent has access to is like- Deeply personal and like that's something I think we need to preserve, so that'll be definitely a challenge.Swyx [00:24:22]: There's Excel, there's PowerPoint, there's Docs, the, grand trio of work. What other formats of work do you think about? like you worked on Airtable. Is there a future where there's like OpenAI Airtable? Like what does that look like if you ever ended up doing it?Akshay Nathan [00:24:41]: It's a really good question. I think,Formats of Work: Sites as Knowledge ArtifactsAkshay Nathan [00:24:43]: one that you didn't bring up was Sites, and I think that wasSwyx [00:24:46]: SitesAkshay Nathan [00:24:46]: A core part of this launch. There's one side of Sites that I think people commonly talk about, especially on Twitter and stuff or X, of like, this like prototyping tool. And like we saw that happen with this launch even. The model slider that you guys were referencing earlier, like that was developed almost fully in a Site. Like, the collaboration between design and engineering and product on that was like on a site where we play with, the affordance and figure out how it feels and all of that. But the other aspect that I think is a little bit less talked about is like Sites as like an artifact for knowledge work. I was talking to someone the other day who's on like our corporate finance team, and like we were mentioning how like now when they have these reports that they're, they're working on as a team month to month, historically those things were in slide decks and in spreadsheets, and now they're just in Sites. And like Sites is the mechanism that they collaborate across the team. And the reason is ‘cause it's like, it's like somewhat higher bandwidth. Like, at these tools like PowerPoint and Excel are like infinitely flexible, but at some point you reach the boundary of like either as a human you may not know how to use some feature or something, or the product itself doesn't support it. But with a site you can do anything. You ask for anything and you can get that. once people see that magic, I think it's been really valuable.Swyx [00:26:02]: Yeah, let me show you my case study. this involves all the hot topics including ChatGPT Work, but also GPT-5.6 token billionaires and token maxing and Sites and auto research. I'm a fan of this game called Strata. It's, it's like a little board game that youSites, Auto Research, and Research DashboardsSwyx [00:26:17]: That you play with, physical blocks, that come on top of it like that. So over the weekend I took like thirty photos and just threw into ChatGPT. one point seven billion tokens later, out comes this site with a fully playable thingAkshay Nathan [00:26:32]: WowSwyx [00:26:32]: With 3D, block placement and everything. Because it requires physical blocks and I needed friends to train on it so they can get better, so I can play against them. But also, I could also, do things like train an AI on it and that's, thatAkshay Nathan [00:26:45]: That's your auto researchSwyx [00:26:46]: That gets into auto research. So, you want to train your own AIs, and then make sure they self-play against, each other. I need to set both AIs. So this is AI versus AI, and they're, they're gonna self-play. the AIs start out bad and then you want to define a loss function and get good. I wasn't gonna supervise all this. I was at, I was down in San Mateo, attending a conference. What I ended up doing was, auto researching and on this and creating benchmarks and that there was just way too many parameters for me to read. So I started asking it for a site, and it's created this lab, panel. Where is there a, is there a shortcut for a site that is created?Akshay Nathan [00:27:28]: You should be able to go in the sidebar to Sites, top of the sidebar. The left sidebar.Swyx [00:27:33]: This one? Oh, left?Akshay Nathan [00:27:35]: Yeah. Just scroll all the way to the top.Swyx [00:27:36]: Oh. Oh, it says Sites. Oh, there you go. Yeah.Akshay Nathan [00:27:39]: Ooh.Swyx [00:27:40]: So it create, it creates the sites. I don't, I don't think this is, it is exactly what I wanted, but let me show you what it popped up, right? Like I think as a research artifact, it is very important to communicate, exactly, what is being done. Outputs this thing which I eventually started publishing. So I moved it off of Sites because I wanted more, database and infrastructure than Sites afforded me. But this is like a research output that you can start to mess with and like try to think about like what hyperparameters are you tuning for training AIs. And like I was trying to make like scaling laws and everything and doing all sorts of like game optimization stuff. And the fact that you can just throw this up as a research artifact, like I no longer need to read ChatGPT output. I read Site output. But then there's also a huge sprawl. Like look at how long this thing is. There's so many numbers. It is pretty overwhelming, so then I have to start pruning it from there. But, it's an interesting transition from Markdown effectively that you're putting out to, you're putting out a whole functional site.Akshay Nathan [00:28:41]: I think Markdown just isn't that optimal for people to read, right? Might as well just write HTML website and I don't know. I think you can do a lot with customizing this, right? You have your skills that explain what you want. Like I noticed they're quite verbose. I don't need a lot of this information.Swyx [00:28:57]: It's very verbose.Akshay Nathan [00:28:58]: So and then the nice thing of having a site side by side is, you just iterate on what you want and what you don't, right?Swyx [00:29:05]: Yeah. I don't know if, any that triggers any stories for you of how it's run internally. Am I doing this right?Akshay Nathan [00:29:11]: Yeah. I think that this is like a workflow that we're seeing like all different types of teams use, where like the canonical artifact that was previously a deck or something is now becoming a site. And like with a site you, because it's just HTML, you can like. It's infinitely flexible. And so, if you want to give more prominence to a certain thing that like in a slide deck would, feel like it was buried, like you can do that. You can have it be like the hero image, right? And so I think that like, people are starting to see that. There's more work to be done to make these things like much more easier, easy to collaborate on. You mentioned that they're very, they're long and verbose, could be broken up. I'm sure that there's still something to do there.Swyx [00:29:53]: They're super long. Yeah.Akshay Nathan [00:29:54]: Yeah. But I think we're starting to see that like there is this aspect of this is a really interesting, format, for people to use, that's like much more flexible than what they ever had before.Swyx [00:30:07]: I think your job also comes becomes meta. You're not designing the products. You're designing a product to make products, and I'm curious how you manage that.Designing a Product That Makes ProductsAkshay Nathan [00:30:18]: I think one thing that we've been Like when we look at the UX, like that we've been thinking a lot about is how can we balance like simplicity with capability? Like if we're designing a product, like you said, that like is made to make up build other things, right? You can build so many different things. But we can't put that all in front of you because you'll get overwhelmed.Vibhu [00:30:41]: Yes.Akshay Nathan [00:30:41]: And so we had similar problem or similar challenges even Chat-with ChatGPT, but especially now, like when there's so much that can be done, I think the balance that we're constantly trying to strike is like, how can we give the user enough of a UI surface where, they can be expressive, they can tell the agent what they need, they can verify that it's using the right tools, it's pulling from the right sources, et cetera, but then it gets out of the way. And then how can we build the right system such that we can show them instead of telling them what can be done? Because so much of this is gonna be like, how do they discover the next use case and the next one after that if they really want to be super powered by the AI.Games, Private Evals, and Show-Don'TellVibhu [00:31:19]: Yeah. It's interesting. I feel like everyone also just has a different way to do it, right? I made a similar version of this same game. I didn't take any pictures of board or rule game. I threw in at goal eighteen minutes, fifty-three seconds later, a lot of tokens later, I've got a similar version. not with all the auto research and whatnot, butAkshay Nathan [00:31:39]: You gotta do all the latest trends.Vibhu [00:31:40]: And yeah, I did it with, did it with Codex, not Work, but it's interesting, right?Akshay Nathan [00:31:45]: Yeah. And this is GPT Image generating the pro avatars. Very good for game design. LikeVibhu [00:31:51]: AndAkshay Nathan [00:31:52]: A lot of game designers were like really into GPT Image for assets.Vibhu [00:31:54]: I will say like the broader takeaway probably is the reason that we do this is more so just to test the tools, right? Like, this was also a test for GPT-5.6 came out. I had done the game on GPT-5.5, right? The ability for me to no longer need it to. I had to feed it the rules. It's, it's a pretty niche game. It couldn't find how to do this on its own.Akshay Nathan [00:32:15]: Oh, yeah.Vibhu [00:32:15]: GPT-5.6Akshay Nathan [00:32:16]: It is out-of-distribution, which is why I was also very keen on testing the GPT-5.6 capability.Vibhu [00:32:21]: But, this is just as work comes out, as new things come out, these are just our side ways to test things, right?Akshay Nathan [00:32:27]: Yeah. It's some private eval. That is not this private.Vibhu [00:32:31]: But also valuable because now you can send this to your friends and I learned about this game through seeing this.Akshay Nathan [00:32:36]: It's a hard game. He's very good.Vibhu [00:32:39]: It's good to when no one is competing with you. But yes, it's a classic RL problem of like self-play, bootstrapping your game AI. yeah, you see how easily work becomes personal and personal becomes work because the thing I do for personal, it directly informs people I work with because I showed it to them. They were like, “Oh, you can do that with GPT?” Which like I imagine is the growth strategy.Akshay Nathan [00:33:02]: Yeah. The show not tell is a big piece that, I think we've we're not still not fully cracked of like, showing people all the things that they can do with the product versus like trying to teach that to them through like, articles or onboarding or whatever.Akshay Nathan [00:33:18]: So meeting them in the moment.Vibhu [00:33:19]: It's a career risk for me, because I used to be in developer relations, right? Where your job is to show, and then you're like, “What do you mean? You don't, you don't need.” your job is to tell. And then. But the product people are like, “Well, we don't need you if our product is intuitive enough.” SoAkshay Nathan [00:33:37]: Yeah. that's the magic of the models. So you can tailor the telling or the showing to like specifically what the user needs, like what they care about, what they've done in the past, exactly where they are on the adoption journey. So I think that's like gonna be a super big opportunity.Vibhu [00:33:50]: Seems easier and easier now to tailor custom showing, right? People have different use cases. As much as you said you don't wanna segment different people into different buckets, right? It's also not that hard to for people that are in different categories. But the question, is you said your team is more broadly on. What was the term you used? Productivity?From Developers to Knowledge Work to EveryoneAkshay Nathan [00:34:12]: Productivity.Vibhu [00:34:12]: Productivity. So howAkshay Nathan [00:34:12]: Which is now work.Vibhu [00:34:14]: Is it work? Is there another distribution that we're not hitting? Is there a group of people that will have something different than ChatGPT, Codex or Work? Is there more that the mass isn't targeting?Akshay Nathan [00:34:28]: I see it as like a sequencing, like. The vision is like bring useful agents to everyone. We started with like developers. Like developers historically are like early adopters that are willing to put up with more friction, set things up, et cetera. Like that's where, Codex started. I think the next opportunity is like what we call general knowledge work, all the other functions around developers. I think when you go from developers to this segment, like there's inherent challenges with like, this show not tell thing that we're talking about, making the product more understandable, bringing in new capabilities that matter more for this cohort than matter for developers, things like artifacts, things like computer use, et cetera. And then I think like the same learnings, like similarly how we took the learnings from developers and brought it to, general knowledge work, the next stage will be like taking the learnings from general knowledge work and bringing it to everyone no matter what they're doing in their lives. And we're already seeing that a little bit. Like this game example that you have is, something that's like on the border of like fun and personal life to, your professional life. I use ChatGPT Work full-time at home for everything, like for whatever I'm doing. I used it the other day to come up with a meal plan and like, save that on the like computer environment that it has and something that I can continue going back to. Like is everyone doing that yet? Probably not because the thing says work on it, but eventually, we wanna get people there.Vibhu [00:35:51]: ChatGPT life.Akshay Nathan [00:35:52]: Yeah, exactly. ChatGPT cooking. But I think there's a lot of, there's a lot of opportunity there, but I see it as like, we're, we're built we built a foundation in software engineering, and we're gonna take the same learnings that we take from software engineering to knowledge work to everyone.Vibhu [00:36:07]: Do you have any power user advice? I feel like, there's a group of people that will live it, use it for everything, stay on it twenty four-seven. And then there's a bit of a gap between that crew and people that, okay, I use it for work. I use it occasionally. Sometimes I type questions. any advice, any learnings, anything you recommend or just, takeaways that you've found that help bridge that gap?Power User Advice: Push the Frontier of ImaginationAkshay Nathan [00:36:30]: I think a couple things that I've seen is like, one, that it really helps to broaden your imagination of what's possible, and this has been a learning even for me. Like, the technology has progressed so fast that, something that, like, even three months ago, like, no way the models can do this. Like, now it's like, wow, it's like it can. Like,Swyx [00:36:52]: Give an exampleAkshay Nathan [00:36:52]: We're going through right now our, like, review cycle internally, and, people always talked about this as, like, a thing that the models are good at and like, there's a cliché of like: Okay, like, no one wants to be writing reviews and, like, we just use AI to do it. But in all seriousnessSwyx [00:37:09]: And it can evaluate it as well.Akshay Nathan [00:37:10]: Yeah, exactly. In all seriousness, before it was, like, just, like, slop and, like, I think it was helpful, but, not super productive. Now I've found that, like, the model can do a much better job than me, especially in this environment of, like, pulling context on, like, what people are up to, how they've like the things that they've done to make a difference, highlighting like, wins that they've had that, like, I might may not even have seen. It has access to, like, everything, right? Like the code, like, things that they've caught, reviews, Slack, everything. And so it's, like, incredibly powerful in that domain and, like, just like six months ago, the last time we did this cycle, like, I didn't even I tried using it, but it was not at all helpful. And this time it's been, like, incredibly helpful and, like, so I think continuing to push the frontier of imagination of what's possible, even if you tried something before, I think is maybe the my biggest piece of advice. The other, thing is, like, the more you put in, especially in this environment where, like, the model has access to everything on your computer or in ChatGPT Work, like you can create, artifacts over time and save them in your library and, like, the model will continue having access to those. Like, the more information you give it about whatever domain you're in, whether it's your life or your work, the more valuable it becomes, and it'll become valuable in, like, ways that might surprise you. Like, it might pull from context in a way that, may be proactive and that you might not even have thought about. But it needs to have access to those, to that those tools or that context first.Reviews, Agentic Search, and Context GatheringSwyx [00:38:27]: One thing I just wanna talk about the review stuff because I'm still that's a very sensitive thing and you're, you're a founder, you've managed people, you've hired people. As manager myself, I'm very reticent to put out any LLM-generated things especially when it comes to people, ‘cause it feels like you don't care.Swyx [00:38:46]: Presumably at OpenAI, people are more open to being eval rated by GPT. But are there any unofficial rules around this? Like, what's the etiquette?Akshay Nathan [00:38:57]: Oh, I think the etiquette is that, like, I would never write something via, like, well, solely via AI and, like, present it as, like, a review for someone. What I was talking about is more, like, gathering context. That's the place where it's incredibly helpful.Swyx [00:39:08]: So it's just search.Akshay Nathan [00:39:09]: Yeah, exactly.Swyx [00:39:09]: It's agentic search. Yeah.Akshay Nathan [00:39:10]: It's like agentic search, but, that you can tailor and steer much more capably than you could before, ‘cause, like, the thing is it's all there's a flywheel happening, right? Because of Codex, people are able to do, and because of ChatGPT, people are able to do so much more now than ever before. And if you're able to do so much more, it's easy to miss things as well. And so, like, I think we need to use these same tools to keep up with all the impact that people are having and understand, where we can be helpful.Swyx [00:39:39]: I think the thing, like, I run a small company, so easy to search, but at the scale of OpenAI with the amount of messages that you guys put in Slack, do you think that it misses things?Remembering What Humans MissAkshay Nathan [00:39:50]: Probably, but I think that I also miss things.Swyx [00:39:52]: Like, it doesn't matter, right?Vibhu [00:39:53]: I think sometimes it'sSwyx [00:39:53]: Like it's, as it needs to be human-levelAkshay Nathan [00:39:54]: It's all relative, right? Yeah.Vibhu [00:39:56]: Sometimes it's nice when it finds things you wouldn't, right? Like right now, my Codex system prompts, they're set up in such a way that every project I have has a secret- separate, notes MD, and it just writes learnings to there. And then the global one can pull from all these. So sometimes it'll be like: Oh, there's this project you did like four months ago. Here's a note that we had, and it randomly pulls it back into context that I would never do, I haven't thought about.Vibhu [00:40:20]: And I'm like, okay, this is quite superhuman, right? Like, stuff that would. And, it'll save like hours on chunking of stuff or find something that's already been done. I'm like, as much as it might miss stuff, I would too, but it's very useful when it finds stuff. And I have like a very, non-super engineered solution to this. It's just marked down files that get pulled whenever they want.Akshay Nathan [00:40:41]: Yeah. I have a funny anecdote about this. Like, recently gearing up to this launch, the team has been, really cooking on it for a couple months, and over that time, like there's so much conversation and chatter going on in Slack and Docs and elsewhere. And, one of the members of the team set up this, scheduled tasks, like automation to like look at everything that's going on and, like, come up with the best memes and then post it in one of our shared channels. And like, there are two cool things about this. Like, the first is, like, I think the models are, over time, like starting to become like funny.Swyx [00:41:13]: Funny. Nice.Akshay Nathan [00:41:13]: Whereas like, a year ago, like that was not at all the case. The second is, it was what you were saying, like they find things that in surprising ways that you may not have thought of and like create connections that you may not have thought of. And that really helps with like the meme generation because then you can see something that, genuinely surprises you and, is funny in that way. So yeah, that's like not like the most productive, use of this the technology, but it does it does uncover this, like this capability that's emerging, which is just like to find information that you otherwise would not know of.Launch Momentum and the 10 Million User MilestoneSwyx [00:41:43]: Talking about the launch, I think, I have pretty much said this is the most successful launch in a long time. I think even more successful personally than 5.0, and they're announcing ten million users. Does it feel different? You've been through a lot of launches.Akshay Nathan [00:41:58]: I think it feels like a culmination. Well, I think two things. One, it feels like a culmination, like I was mentioning earlier, like this like vision mission that we've been on for a long time. Like I said, we saw the magic of Codex internally, and then we're like extremely excited to bring this to many more people and to see it working, to like see us reach, the distribution goal, numbers that you mentioned, like I think that's like huge and super exciting. The flip side of that is like, there's so much more to do too. Like, that's also really exciting. Like, ChatGPT as a whole, like the this product that, everyone almost equates to AI and like loves, has hundreds of millions of users. And so like ten million is really cool, but like we need to get this to everyone. Like, we need everyone to feel this magic. And so that's the next step from here. But yeah, I think extremely pumped about how it's going so far and the opportunities.Swyx [00:42:46]: Awesome. I did want to also Because I've, I've, I've been tracking the number closely, it transitioned at some point from just Codex users to Codex plus ChatGPT Work, because they're same harness. The whole point is that you don't, you can't, count them separately. Do you have roughly a billion, ChatGPT users? Why did it just jump to one billion right away? Like, isn't that the default on ChatGPT or no?Codex, ChatGPT Work, and the Developer BrandAkshay Nathan [00:43:11]: We don't default you into ChatGPT Work if you're on ChatGPTSwyx [00:43:14]: If you're free. YeahAkshay Nathan [00:43:15]: It's also only available to paid users right now. And I think there's like a process of, educating users of what is the value of this product, having them try it, learning from their feedback, and making it better over time. But the goal is to, get as many of the people who love ChatGPT today to like feel the power of ChatGPT Work. But I think it'll be a journey.Swyx [00:43:36]: Yeah. And Codex will still be alive as a brand for the foreseeable future. And we'll just toggle between them as needed for UI stuff.Akshay Nathan [00:43:44]: Yeah, I think it's even stronger point than that. Like, I think we fully intend to like, treat developer. Like, developers have been, a core market for us for so long, and like there's, there's so much more that we can do to make Codex great specifically for, software development, and we'll continue to do that. This doesn't take away from that at all. If anything, it should increase the utility of something like Codex, because now you can move seamlessly between writing a diff to creating an artifact or, doing a search over your factor.Swyx [00:44:11]: I do wonder how much this terminology leaks to the non-technical user. Like, do they have to learn to say artifact if I want artifact? Or.Akshay Nathan [00:44:20]: It's funny, like we call it artifacts internally ‘cause that's what the teams call it.Swyx [00:44:23]: It's nice. Yeah.Akshay Nathan [00:44:23]: But like externally, like no one says that, no one calls it an artifact. But I think that people like often, like describe things, whatever they're used to, right? So if, ChatGPT Work is good at creating slides, they'll say ChatGPT Work is good at creating slides, and that's what we want.OpenClaw, Personal OS, and Persistent ComputersSwyx [00:44:38]: One big Another, it's July of twenty-six. One big thing that also happens in, for OpenAI was OpenClaw, and that's I think a lot of people's first time really maxing a agent for personal stuff, but also crossing over to work in essence same way. As far as I understand, OpenClaw is still independent, but did you go through your own OpenClaw moments? Were there any lessons you took from OpenClaw to Codex or back? Whatever.Akshay Nathan [00:45:06]: I think there's a lot of inspiration. I did go through my own OpenClaw moment. I,Swyx [00:45:10]: Yeah, tell the storyAkshay Nathan [00:45:10]: Me and my wife like set up an OpenClaw to like try to manage everything in our house. Not that there's like a ton, but it was like quite useful. We gave it a calendar. It started, creating events for us and stuff. At some point, the laptop that we were running on, it died and never got a chance to pick it back up. But there was a lot of inspiration there, like, in ChatGPT Work, in web and mobile, like you get access to this like persistent computer environment where, you can store files, and those files stay around between sessions. And the idea is to be able to enable use cases like this. one of the members of our team uses ChatGPT Work for what they used OpenClaw from before, and then feel like it has like completely transitioned, which is like, workout planning and like meal tracking. which again, it's like a work-related thing, right? It's like not work necessarily, but it's like in personal productivity space. But it has all the same primitives. So it has scheduled tasks. It has the ability to store files on a file system. It has the ability to like reference those things over time. And so you start to see the same types of use cases emerge, which has been really cool.Swyx [00:46:14]: Is there a point that ChatGPT Work completely replaces OpenClaw? they're independent, so.Akshay Nathan [00:46:20]: Yeah, I'm, I'm not close to it, so I can't speak to the OpenClaw roadmap, but I don't think so. I think that there's gonna be, there's always a need for like this like incredible, like open source technology that team has built. And I think that we can draw inspiration, in the product and, ChatGPT, I think many more people have like heard about and used ChatGPT than have used OpenClaw. And if we can take the magic from OpenClaw and bring it to them, I think that'll be a success. I think that like one thing on the ChatGPT Work side that we feel strongly about is that like the core experience is that you come to this product and you have a conversation, start a session, whatever you wanna call it, with this agent. And the magic of the product is that you can do anything in that moment. And we would like to create a product where you don't have to click a button or to go to a different place, whatever, and you can get whatever functionality exists in, your finances app or where or any other product like in this one place. And so that's the goal. It's like it we want an extensible system with plugins where you can connect to the tools that you need in order to be able to accomplish like a financial task, where you can, if you're doing like science work, like we have an ability to like extend the system in such that you can like write the tech and it performs well. There'll always be like products that we support that are best in class at those things, but we want as much of the magic as possible in that core experience.Swyx [00:47:45]: Yeah. Do you think that you can do everything you used to do with Wealthfront in ChatGPT Finance?Finance, Data Access, and Centralized ContextAkshay Nathan [00:47:50]: I tried it. like ChatGPT doesn't yet custody, cash and assets for me. So that part, no, not yet. But I, there was like a whole component of like retirement planning and, like financial planning and budgeting and stuff that, we were looking into when I was there. And like with the finances plugin, like that's all possible with ChatGPT today. So, I feel

Hello Adventurers! This past weekend was the 2026 Berlin FanFest and, of course, there was a ton of announcements. So what is a podcast about Final Fantasy XIV to do? Well clearly, we gotta podcast about it! So we did. We talk about the latest job, Bastion. It's a tank with couple of huge shields with guns attached for good measure. Then some wild speculations upon what the Ranged DPS job could possibly be! After that, we roam around our mind palaces to gaze upon the wonders of the new realmships we'll get to traverse next year. Plus, we got fresh details all about the various raid series… And a Gold Sauce update no one saw coming.  The Spoiler Food is: Stuffed Highland Cabbage “This traditional dish of minced meat seasoned and packed inside leafy highland cabbage, then stewed in a light broth, is sure to warm you up on the coldest of nights.” Once again, a nice warm meal to keep up going for all these ice cold details all about Evercold! Spoilers ahoy! OSMnotes From what we hear, the Berlin FanFest was just as exciting as the one in Anaheim! And Evercold keeps delivering all the news fit to print, er, podcast about! You want a new teaser trailer, all updated and fancy? Here it is! Also! Patch 7.55 is here and so are the patch notes. Also Anna accidentally obtained the gift of prophecy and, uh, the Yo-Kai Watch Event is back!?  But now? Time Cues! 00:00:00 – We Start The Carbuncle Chronicling 00:00:45 – Intro and General Gabbing 00:01:54 – Basil Designed the Otakon x FFXIV Badges?! 00:05:41 – OSMPlugs (Discord, Patreon) 00:08:11 – The 2026 Berlin FanFest Announcements! 00:08:16 – Overall Thoughts 00:09:45 – The New Main Tank on the Block, Bastion 00:17:42 – Wild Speculation About the New DPS 00:23:30 – Realmships or The Five Firmaments called Fimhimnar 00:30:20 – Main Scenario, Field and Game System Updates 00:33:35 – Character Action Skins 00:38:24 – More Character Creator Options 00:41:47 – Ever-Evolving Content: “World Raid”, the “New” Raid Difficulty, and Auto-Moving 00:50:05 – Cross Region Duty & Party Finder Update 00:50:58 – Chocobo Companion Overhaul 00:56:04 – New 24-person raid: Evangelion: Ghosts of Desire 00:59:59 – New 8-person raid: Beyond the Lifestream, Featuring Final Fantasy VII and Friends 01:09:31 – Keybound Brawler 01:15:33 – Switch 2 Version Update 01:16:23 – Collector's Edition Details 01:22:03 – What Are We Looking Forward To the Most? Music is this episode features from Masayoshi Soken and his sound team, from on the new area trailers showcased at the Berlin FanFest Keynote! They are “FINAL FANTASY XIV: Evercold – New Area: Naglfar, Realmship of Water,” “FINAL FANTASY XIV: Evercold – New City: Fargarth,” and “FINAL FANTASY XIV: Evercold – New Area: Hringhorni, Realmship of Fire.“  We also have YouTube Channels! Both for OSMcast proper and The Carbuncle Chronicle! Please subscribe, hit the bell, and share amongst your friends.  And as always, feel free to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts! Oh, and if you still use Spotify, go ahead and get on that mobile device and throw us some five stars there too. Tell your friends! As well, just like we mentioned when we do the OSMplugs, you can also join the Discord and support us on Patreon! PS If you have ever wanted some OSMmerch, feel free to check out our TeePublic page! PPS We appreciate you.

Seraphim Space (SSIT) has been one of the best performing investment trusts in the past year. Helped by the enthusiasm for the sector generated by SpaceX, the £400mn trust pulled off a rare fundraising and now has a pile of cash to deploy.Val Cipriani sits down with chief executive Mark Boggett, who discusses opportunities and volatility in space, why he isn't afraid of concentration, and how space technology could prove as revolutionary as the internet or AI.You can listen to the interview, alongside all of our other podcasts, on Acast, Apple, Spotify or YouTube.Investors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities. Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

News Connect（ニュースコネクト）あなたと経済をつなぐ5分間1日1つ、5分間で、国際政治や海外のビジネスシーンを中心に、世界のメガトレンドがわかる重要ニュースを解説。朝の支度や散歩、通勤、家事の時間などにお聴きいただけるとうれしいです。▼出演：野村高文（Podcastプロデューサー／Podcast Studio Chronicle代表）https://x.com/nmrtkfm▼支援プログラム「Chronicleサポーター」については、こちらをご参照ください。https://chronicle-inc.net/supporthttps://note.com/t_nomura/n/n43e514e703b4▼参考ニュース：Ukraine's Black Sea ports lose a third of grain export capacity, farmers' union sayshttps://www.reuters.com/world/ukraines-black-sea-ports-lose-third-grain-export-capacity-farmers-union-says-2026-07-15/Russia and Ukraine strike vessels in Black Sea, wheat prices jumphttps://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/russia-says-it-hits-military-targets-kyiv-ukrainian-ports-2026-07-16/Ukraine targets key Russian shipping routeshttps://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-targets-key-russian-shipping-routes/video-78137006Black Sea grain trapped as Russia, Ukraine attacks continuehttps://www.world-grain.com/articles/23027-black-sea-grain-trapped-as-russia-ukraine-attacks-continueWheat prices hit 2-year high amid Russia-Ukraine tensions, drought concernshttps://www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/wheat-prices-hit-2-year-high-amid-russia-ukraine-tensions-drought-concerns/4007085Grain prices approach projected 2026 peakshttps://www.farmprogress.com/marketing/decide-now-grain-prices-approach-projected-2026-peaksロシアのウクライナ侵攻と世界の穀物需給https://www.maff.go.jp/primaff/kanko/review/attach/pdf/221130_pr110_03.pdfThe Russia-Ukraine War and Global Food Security: Impacts Four Years Laterhttps://www.csis.org/analysis/war-ukraine-and-global-food-security-impacts-four-years-later消費者物価指数　全国　2026年（令和8年）6月分（2026年7月24日公表）https://www.stat.go.jp/data/cpi/sokuhou/tsuki/index-z.html▼Podcast Studio Chronicle公式サイトhttps://chronicle-inc.net/

News Connect 国際欄、今回のゲストは一般社団法人SPACETIDE代表の石田真康さんです。7月上旬に開催された国際宇宙ビジネスカンファレンス「SPACETIDE 2026」で見えてきた最新動向も交えながら、日本や海外の宇宙ビジネスの今について伺いました。宇宙はもはや一部の専門家だけの領域ではなく、身近な産業へと変わりつつあります。その背景や、宇宙ビジネスのトレンドを深堀しました。▼ゲストプロフィール石田真康（一般社団法人SPACETIDE代表）2003年東京大学工学部卒。2015年SPACETIDEを創設し、新たな民間宇宙ビジネス振興を目的に、様々な業界横断活動を推進。また、A.T. Kearneyで約20年経営コンサルタントとして宇宙業界の政府機関や企業を支援。日本政府の宇宙戦略基金プログラムディレクター。内閣府 宇宙政策委員会 基本政策部会委員。著書に『宇宙ビジネス入門 Newspace革命の全貌』（日経BP社）。X：https://x.com/masayasu_ishidaSPACETIDE：https://spacetide.jp/▼MC佐々木真奈美（経済キャスター）X：⁠⁠https://x.com/manamisasaki⁠⁠▼News Connect Spotifyプレイリストはこちら

This episode is rated a 5 (on my Campus Crime Scale).When 19-year-old college sophomore Christa Sallani failed to show up for her evening shift at a convenience store in Sheridan, Wyoming, her friends and family immediately knew something was wrong. Christa was responsible and dependable. Being a no-call, no-show simply wasn't like her.What followed was a missing-person investigation, a mysterious phone call, and two primary suspects — until police finally uncovered the truth about what happened to Christa Sallani.Listen now to hear the full story. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

News Connect（ニュースコネクト）あなたと経済をつなぐ5分間1日1つ、5分間で、国際政治や海外のビジネスシーンを中心に、世界のメガトレンドがわかる重要ニュースを解説。朝の支度や散歩、通勤、家事の時間などにお聴きいただけるとうれしいです。▼出演：野村高文（Podcastプロデューサー／Podcast Studio Chronicle代表）https://x.com/nmrtkfm▼支援プログラム「Chronicleサポーター」については、こちらをご参照ください。https://chronicle-inc.net/supporthttps://note.com/t_nomura/n/n43e514e703b4▼参考ニュース：Trump Holds Off on Major Escalation Against Iran as Advisers Raise Concernshttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/25/us/politics/trump-iran-military.htmlIran says it will halt strikes as long as US bombing pause holdshttps://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/iran-will-halt-attacks-long-us-maintains-pause-iranian-source-says-after-trump-2026-07-26/Trump paused attacks on Iran to make space for talks, US ambassador sayshttps://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5y45kdkynpoVance, Caine raised concerns about escalating war in Iran, sources say as US pauses consecutive nights of strikeshttps://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/25/politics/us-iran-strikes-operationTop U.S. military commander in Middle East advised halting Hormuz bombinghttps://www.axios.com/2026/07/26/hormuz-bombing-pause-trump-iranIt is time to reconsider the costs of new energetichttps://breakingdefense.com/2026/07/it-is-time-to-reconsider-the-costs-of-new-energetics/JUST IN: Munitions, Rare Earth Production Hampered by Slow Systems, Experts Sayhttps://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2026/7/15/just-in-us-munitions-stockpiles-rare-earths-shortages-not-new-amid-increasing-awareness-experts-sayLast Rounds? Status of Key Munitions at the Iran War Ceasefirehttps://www.csis.org/analysis/last-rounds-status-key-munitions-iran-war-ceasefire

News Connect（ニュースコネクト）あなたと経済をつなぐ5分間1日1つ、5分間で、国際政治や海外のビジネスシーンを中心に、世界のメガトレンドがわかるニュースを解説。朝の支度や散歩、通勤、家事の時間などにお聴きいただけるとうれしいです。▼出演 佐々木真奈美（経済キャスター・スピークプラス代表）　https://x.com/manamisasaki▼話し方トータルサポートスクール「Speak +」https://speakplus-lesson.com/▼支援プログラム「Chronicleサポーター」については、こちらをご参照ください。https://chronicle-inc.net/support▼参考ニュースhttps://www.afpbb.com/articles/-/3645588https://jp.reuters.com/video/watch/idOWjpvC1UWSBZKR3N5BRZBZ7DZK7YE3G/https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOCB2891L0Y6A520C2000000/bloomberg.com/jp/news/articles/2026-07-24/TIOG29T96OSG00?srnd=jp-homepage

News Connect（ニュースコネクト）あなたと経済をつなぐ5分間1日1つ、国際政治や海外のビジネスシーンを中心に、世界のメガトレンドがわかる重要ニュースを解説。朝の支度や散歩、通勤、家事の時間などにお聴きいただけるとうれしいです。日曜は経営共創基盤 代表取締役CEOの塩野誠さんとともに、1週間のニュースを雑談も交えながら、振り返っていきます。▼新著『プロ目線のPodcastのつくり方』の購入は⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠こちら⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠から！⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.asia/d/61gIBJF⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠▼「news23」野村出演回⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtu.be/A2giZkVi0RY?si=HeeoPK_A0qCPARR3⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠▼塩野さんの新刊共著『はじめての地経学』⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://amzn.asia/d/0fV1uwG1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠▼出演：野村高文（Podcastプロデューサー／Podcast Studio Chronicle代表）⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/nmrtkfm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠塩野誠（経営共創基盤 代表取締役CEO）⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/makoto_tokyo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠企業や政府機関にコンサルティングを行い、グローバルな企業投資の20年以上の経験を持つ。欧州VC NordicNinja を創業。地経学研究所ではテクノロジーと安全保障について研究。著書に『デジタルテクノロジーと国際政治の力学』など。ゴールドマン・サックス、ベイン&カンパニー等を経て現職。慶大法卒、ワシントン大学ロースクール法学修士▼News Connect 土曜版・日曜版 Spotifyプレイリストはこちら

As the half-year results season falls upon us, a smorgasbord of companies are reporting over the next few weeks. But today's episode focuses on two whose outlooks are already in.Hugh Moorhead looks at contractor Morgan Sindall, which reported ahead of this episode's recording on Thursday. This is followed by Mark Robinson, who talks through comparison website Mony, better known as MoneySuperMarket. Hugh discusses Sindall's merits, while Mark weighs up Mony's valuation. But before diving into results, we must cast our ears to what is arguably the biggest funds story of 2026. Terry Smith, of Fundsmith, decided to abandon his longstanding ‘do nothing' approach in favour of a momentum strategy, overhauling more than half his portfolio in six months. Funds editor Val Cipriani unpacks what's going on and explores whether or not investors should throw in the towel.Timestamps00:00 Intro01:50 Terry Smith20:12 Morgan Sindall31:50 Mony GroupListen to more podcasts from Investors' Chronicle on Apple, Spotify and YouTubeInvestors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities. Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ann Larson is the author of Cleanup on Aisle Five: Essential Work, Poverty Wages, and the View from Behind the Supermarket Register. Her writing on education, debt, and low-wage work has appeared in The New Republic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Fast Company, and The Nation, among other publications. She is coauthor of Can't Pay Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition and is a fellow with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.  --- What do you find Weirdly Helpful? Call me at 844-935-2378 ⁠⁠THE WEIRDLY HELPFUL MERCH STORE!!!!⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Become a WH Patron and listen to the show ad-free. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tobin and Leroy kick things off with trying to figure out what is going on with the Marlins as they have entered a losing streak. Tobs begins to reminisce on the good old days of baseball and the tomfoolery that is the Hall Of Fame selections. Tobin pokes some fun at the Cleveland fans for being stressed at getting Lebron.

Nicki and Merv chat away with their partner in crime, artist extraordinaire Jordan Steele, aka Flash Jordan, about their fortuitous trip to Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Matthew Kirschenbaum delivered Rare Book School's 2026 Sol M. and Mary Ann O'Brian Malkin Endowed Lecture, "From text to .txt: Making Material Messes in a Sloppy World," on 6 July 2026. About the Talk: By the turn of the millennium, the word “text” had become a verb. Three-and-a-half years ago, ChatGPT was released into the wild, decisively severing the link between writing and human expression. In 2025, Merriam-Webster's word of the year was “slop.” This talk will offer an attenuated archaeology of what someone we know once called the textual condition. And not to give away the game, but that condition is not good: today, text functions as something much more like a fossil fuel or other extractable resource than a medium for communication and expression. Nonetheless, the talk also asks how we can still make some good old fashioned material messes in a world of slop. Examples will be provided. Refreshments will be served. There may even be a book or two. About the Speaker: Matthew Kirschenbaum rejoined UVA in 2025 as Commonwealth Professor of Artificial Intelligence and English after 25 years at the University of Maryland, where he finished as a Distinguished University Professor. He considers himself a student of texts and textual technologies in all their social and material forms, and his scholarship and teaching have explored literary intersects with printing and bookmaking, archival science, media archaeology, digital humanities, and now artificial intelligence. He is the author of three books, most recently Bitstreams: The Future of Digital Literary Heritage from the University of Pennsylvania Press (2021). His first book, Mechanisms: New Media and the Forensic Imagination (2008) was the winner of multiple awards, including the MLA Prize for a First Book. Track Changes: A Literary History of Word Processing (2016) enjoyed widespread public media attention. Recent articles have appeared in PMLA, Critical Inquiry, and ELH; and he frequently writes for popular outlets, which have included the Atlantic, the Washington Post, Slate, Los Angeles Review of Books, Public Books, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Kirschenbaum is an active member of the Modern Language Association's task force on AI in Research and Teaching, and a member of the teaching faculty at Rare Book School. He has been a Guggenheim and an NEH Fellow, and is a practicing letterpress printer. Current projects includes two books, the first on the political economy of text in the present moment and the second on the weaponization of AI in what some have called a full-blown epistemic crisis. You can find him on Bluesky at @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social.

Air Chathams reinstates flights to Auckland, as the Whanganui District Council faces lower than average earnings and an aging population. Zaryd also discusses safety issues have extended the temporary closure of the Durie Hill Elevator and Whanganui likely to delay submitting amalgamation plans.

David Jesse from Chronicle.com joined us to fill us in on everything he knows about Warde Manuel stepping down at the end of the year. He and Huge talked about what led to this, gave their thoughts on who a good replacement could be, gave their thoughts on when Michigan will get a President in place, and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today on the show, we're talking about Michigan and Michigan State Athletics, the World Cup, Detroit Tigers, and more as we were joined by some of our great guests. We kicked off the show talking with Anthony Broome from theWolverine.com about news out of Ann Arbor in regards to Warde Manuel stepping down at the end of the year. He filled us in on what led to this, gave his opinion on it, talked about what the future holds, and more. Chris Balas from theWolverine.com then joined us to give his thoughts on Warde Manuel. He and Huge gave their opinion on the situation, talked about what a good fit would be for Michigan's next AD, and more. Clayton Sayfie from theWolverine.com then joined us. He gave us his thoughts on Warde Manuel stepping down at the end of the year, gave his thoughts on what impact that has on Michigan Athletics, if any, and more. In our second hour, David Jesse from Chronicle.com joined us to fill us in on everything he knows about Warde Manuel stepping down at the end of the year. He and Huge talked about what led to this, gave their thoughts on who a good replacement could be, gave their thoughts on when Michigan will get a President in place, and more. Jim Comparoni from SpartanMag.com then joined us. He and Huge talked about Kevin Guskiewicz staying at Michigan, Comp updated us on when MSU will get a new Athletic Director in place, and more. John gave us his thoughts on Warde's time at Michigan, talked about him stepping down, and more. We wrapped up the show talking with Mike Pung, who is the father of Kali Pung. Huge and Mike talked about Kali's Cure and how it all got started, talked about all of the fundraising they've done in the past 20 years, told us about how they've partnered with the DNR in order to help people with spinal cord issues get around in our great Michigan parks, and more. If you want to donate or get involved - go to KalisCure.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In our second hour, David Jesse from Chronicle.com joined us to fill us in on everything he knows about Warde Manuel stepping down at the end of the year. He and Huge talked about what led to this, gave their thoughts on who a good replacement could be, gave their thoughts on when Michigan will get a President in place, and more. Jim Comparoni from SpartanMag.com then joined us. He and Huge talked about Kevin Guskiewicz staying at Michigan, Comp updated us on when MSU will get a new Athletic Director in place, and more. John gave us his thoughts on Warde's time at Michigan, talked about him stepping down, and more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Most times, we end up fighting our own battles. But sometimes, the opposition is just – well, it's overwhelming. Then what? Well that's when we can discover that the battle, belongs to the Lord.   I Can Do Anything I Want In this day and age one of the things that they teach us is to be self reliant. To have confidence in our own abilities. You can do anything you set your mind to they tell us. You can make it, it's all up to you. That's ok to a point I guess. It's a good thing to have some confidence in who we are that God made us to be. But you can take this idea too far and it will bring you undone. The positive turns into a terrible negative. See what happens, when the situation we're in or the circumstances that we're facing are so far beyond our ability to deal with them, that any idea of self reliance is completely ridiculous. What happens when the problem confronting us requires skills and abilities that we don't have. What happens when the career we've chosen just doesn't fit who we are? What happens when the one we love, our wife or our husband or one of our children is going through some tough times. Something that as much as we love them, we can't seem to be able to help them through. An illness, a depression, a crisis. And nothing we can say or nothing we can do seems to make any difference. Well, then what? What happens when a tsunami hits our lives? What do we do when the enemy that gathers around us completely outnumbers and outguns us? Come on. Then what do we do? And this isn't some theoretical exercise. This is life. It's my life and it's your life. Because this happens. It's real. There are times in our lives when the enemy whoever or whatever that is, when the enemy is so much bigger than our ability to survive. It happens in families. It happens in work places. And it happens in our hearts. When sickness hits for no good reason. When a loved one is taken in their prime and the grief overwhelms us. When a marriage falls apart. It happens when retrenchment hits. When the economy takes a nose-dive. When their isn't enough food to feed the family. When people betray us. This is life. It's real life. Let me ask you something. When the enemy is so much bigger and so much stronger than anything that you or I could ever handle, what do we do? Some people panic and they run around in ever decreasing circles wasting their precious energy on panicking. You've seen it I've seen it. You know we've both probably been their too. Some people pull over and stop because they're immobilised by fear. That's what happens you know. But neither of those things cut the mustard. Neither of them help. Running around like a headless chook. It's exhausting. Wallowing in self pity is destructive. What do we do? See I'm a pretty self-reliant kind of guy. I like to think that I can handle most things. BUT – there are times when things happen that are completely and utterly beyond anything I can handle. And in those times to hang on to this notion of self-reliance, this delusion of "I can do anything", that will only make it worse. It's OK to believe in ourselves but the reality is that sometimes, maybe this time, we can't swim against this tsunami. It's too big. It's too scary. I was talking the other day with a young woman. She's extremely competent and confident in her field. Professionally she's a class act in every way that you can imagine. We got onto the fact that she had a couple of young kids. And her demeanour changed. See, as someone who's got kids and now they're all grown up, I'm well and truly past the stresses and the strains of bringing up young children. I love telling parents, "Don't worry it's the first 25 years that are the hardest. After that it's a piece of baklava!" It's my, I guess it's my gift of encouragement. Right?" But like any young mother, this motherhood thing was a struggle for this competent, professional woman. It's so tiring. There is so much that is new and is challenging. There's so much in bringing up kids. It's beyond our control. That's the key isn't it. When we're dealing with things that are under our control and we happen to have the skills and the ability and the inclination to control them, well, it's all good isn't it. But the further things are out of our control the more they look like that tsunami and that wave that we can't ride. Then, then it gets scary. I want to introduce you today to one of the kings in Israel's history. Actually he's the king of a couple of the tribes of Israel, Judah and Benjamin. His name was Jehoshaphat. Ok it's a long name. We don't use that kind of name these days. But he was definitely one of the good guys. And there was a time when he was confronted with an enemy that was way, way, way beyond his ability to fight and defeat. Let's pick up the story in 2nd Chronicles Chapter 20 verse 1. After this the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunites, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Messengers came and told Jehoshaphat, "A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; already they are at Engedi. Jehoshaphat was afraid; See this was an army much bigger than his own. The odds were completely overwhelming and Jehoshaphat were facing absolutely certain defeat. To the king that meant death for his people it meant death or slavery or loss of all their possessions and land. Probably rape for the woman. The higher the stakes are the scarier it gets, doesn't it? And for Jehoshaphat the stakes couldn't have been higher. He was in that place well and truly that you and I find ourselves in for time to time. I just want to establish here that old king Jehoshaphat, well he was human like you and me. He's not some super-human king. There were armies coming in against him. He was completely outnumbered and outgunned. This was a life and death situation and it says Jehoshaphat was afraid. Jehoshaphat is just one of us. I remember as a young boy going to the dentist. I'd walk in the front door and there was this staircase leading up to the dentist. And the smell of the dental surgery the moment you walked in the door. And their was a knot in my stomach sitting in the waiting room. Fear is something that disables us. It's not good for anyone when we're disabled by fear. It's not good for ourselves, it's not good for God. It's not good for those who need our help. Jehoshaphat was afraid. But it's what he did in his fear that made all the difference and we're going to take a look at that in just a moment   What Happens When I Can't? Well let's get back into God's word and take a look at what happened king Jehoshaphat. What he was facing in this completely overwhelming odds. Have a listen. We're starting, if you have a bible grab it, in 2 Chronicles chapter 20 beginning at verse 3: Jehoshaphat was afraid; he set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. Judah assembled to seek help from the LORD; from all the towns of Judah they came to seek the LORD. Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, and said, "O LORD, God of our ancestors, are you not God in heaven? Do you not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In your hand are power and might, so that no one is able to withstand you. Did you not, O our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of your friend Abraham? They have lived in it, and in it have built you a sanctuary for your name, saying, 'If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and before you, for your name is in this house, and cry to you in our distress, and you will hear and save.' See now, the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy— they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession that you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment upon them? For we are powerless against this great multitude that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you." Meanwhile all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. See Jehoshaphat didn't let his fear immobilise him. He didn't get into a flap or into a panic in the face of overwhelming odds he turned to God. Sometimes that's the only way that God gets our attention. I'd like to be able to tell you that I first turned to God because I was wise and loving and understood that Jesus is the Son of God. But if I told you that I would be lying. I needed to be hit across the back of the head with a lump of four by two for God to get my attention. Overwhelming odds. That's what did it for me. I turned to God in the middle of fear. And for me it was the last resort but for Jehoshaphat God was his first port of call. Now a king is supposed to have all the answers. A King like Jehoshaphat should have a powerful army and contingency plans based on a comprehensive threat assessment. He should be self-reliant. A man for the people to respect and to follow and to trust for their safety and their future, but listen again to what Jehoshaphat says when he's praying to God in 2nd Chronicles Chapter 20 verse 12: O our God, will you not execute judgment upon them? For we are powerless against this great multitude that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. I relate to this. When I stepped out of the secure, well-paid job as a consultant into full time ministry, that was a step of faith. Leaving security behind to serve God and I can't begin to tell you how many times since then I have been in that place that Jehoshaphat and his people were in. See I started out with this naive notion that if I was going to be about God's work, well lit should be easy. And yet so many times people and circumstances have conspired to be against God's work. Every couple of years our board gets together to do some strategic planning. That's important and the strategic plan always looks good on paper. Gives us a sense of what direction we think that God wants us to head in. And then invariably all hell breaks loose because the enemy wants to overwhelm us. He doesn't want to see God's will done here on earth as it is in heaven. And that's what's going on with Jehoshaphat and Judah. Remember these are God's chosen people. The king honoured God and by all accounts and by all accounts he was wise and competent. But in the face of overwhelming odds he admitted to God, "We do know what to do." So was the solution How did he cope with this? And the same sentence, the same breath, he says "but our eyes are on You." I wonder sometimes when I see people who profess to believe in Jesus running around in panic wasting so much of their energy complaining and worrying and being afraid. See, it takes a lot of energy to be afraid, you realise. I wonder if they spent even half that amount of their energy having their eyes on God, how much better off they'd be. You and I, we can't help but be afraid. Jehoshaphat was afraid. It's a natural human, reaction. I'm not here to tell you somehow to pretend that you're not afraid when fear is rocking you to the very core. That's ridiculous. But it's what we do when fear strikes that makes all the difference. When we panic we burn energy, when we frozen and immobilised that's probably the end of us. That's what fear does. Stop's us dead in our tracks. We go nowhere. Had Jehoshaphat done that, he and all his people would have been dead literally. Or we can just turn and look at God. "You know something Lord, this is so huge, I just know what to do but my eyes, my eyes are on you. I'm just going to wait on you. I don't know what you are going to do, I don't even know if you are going to show up, but no matter what, my eyes are on you." And here's the bit that blows me away about this story. It's this. That God wasn't Jehoshaphat's last resort. God was his first port of call. He trusted in the sovereign grace of God. Jehoshaphat was afraid, but he set himself to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. I wonder how different if things would be amidst our fear, if instead of running around and spending all that energy on panic or instead of running to the phone to talk to a friend, if we first ran to God. If the very first thing we did was to take stock and in our hearts, deep inside somewhere – decided to set ourselves to seek the Lord? God, the first point of call, rather than the last resort!   A Powerful Outcome So how did it end? Was Jehoshaphat's trust misplaced or well placed? Let's take a look. 2 Chronicle 20 beginning at verse 14: Then the spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the middle of the assembly. He said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the LORD to you: 'Do not fear or be dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours but God's. Tomorrow go down against them; they will come up by the ascent of Ziz; you will find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. This battle is not for you to fight; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.' Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you." Then Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the LORD, worshiping the LORD. And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. They rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Listen to me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God and you will be established; believe his prophets." When he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy splendor, as they went before the army, saying, "Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever." As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the Ammonites, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the Ammonites and Moab attacked the inhabitants of Mount Seir, destroying them utterly; and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude; they were corpses lying on the ground; no one had escaped. When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the booty from them, they found livestock in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They spent three days taking the booty, because of its abundance. Unbelievable I hear you say. How could this possibly happen?? I'll tell you how. Because Jehoshaphat decided that he would stand and wait on God - no matter what the outcome! That's the key. That's the faith that God was looking for. No matter what the outcome. Let's take another look. 2 Chronicles 20:9-12: If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house, and before you, for your name is in this house, and cry to you in our distress, and you will hear and save. See now, the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy – they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession that you have given us to inherit. O our God, will you not execute judgment upon them? For we are powerless against this great multitude that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you. This is the do or die faith that God is looking for. When we place our faith in God in this way – for things that are completely out of our control – right when that tsunami hits His Spirit and His Word come along and witness His truth to us: This battle is not for you to fight; take your position, stand still, and see the victory of the LORD on your behalf.' Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, and the LORD will be with you." (2 Chronicles 20:17) Listen to me. Have you put your trust in Jesus Christ? Have you? Then those times of fear are times when we discover what a beautiful thing it is to trust in the Lord, no matter what is coming against us. No matter what the world throws at us. No matter how overwhelming the odds might be. Those times are the times that we get to stand still and discover in our very own experience that the battle isn't our it's not ours at all. But the battle belongs to the Lord. Can I encourage you that if you feel right now that you're on death row, as though there is no tomorrow, to listen to the words of apostle Paul from his dungeon as he writes in Philippians Chapter 4 beginning at verse 6: Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you. See that's the word of the Lord for us today. Jehoshaphat knew it and learned it again in his experience. The people of Judah learned it again under the leadership of Jehoshaphat. This overwhelming army came against them. They couldn't win. It was a no win situation. And they discovered afresh and anew the battle was not theirs but the battle belonged to the Lord. And they listened to God through His prophets when he said, "Stand still to see and to watch what the Lord would do for you." Can I encourage you today to remember the battle is not yours. The battle belongs to the Lord. Stand still and watch to see what the Lord will do for you.

This week begins with how booming demand for AI infrastructure is driving a sharp increase in the price of memory chips. Erin Withey is in the studio to explain what this means for supply chains, which companies are winning as a result, and whether the squeeze is here to stay. Casting our ears abroad, we move to India, where a recent rally in the country's equity funds has sparked investor interest. Helen Kirrane unpacks the reasons why lower oil prices and attractive valuations are boosting sentiment, and which funds are at the forefront of the recovery. More updates on that hereFinally, Michael Fahy talks through defence contractor Cohort, after it reported another year of strong growth. Mike discusses how a rising demand for its electronic warfare systems is fuelling its healthy order book and filling its pockets.Timestamps:00:00 Intro03:42 AI inflation11:58 India funds17:24 Cohort resultsListen to more podcasts from Investors' Chronicle on Apple, Spotify and YouTubeInvestors' Chronicle has supported private investors in the UK for over 160 years by highlighting rewarding investment opportunities. Investors' Chronicle is a service by the Financial Times. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Christina Hello, everyone, I'm Christina Darnell, the managing editor of MinistryWatch. Welcome to the MinistryWatch podcast. In today's extra episode, I talk with Warren Smith about some news items that are slightly (even significantly) outside of our normal charity and philanthropy “beat.” So, Warren, what's up first? Warren The San Francisco Chronicle has yet another article about the so-called Great Wealth Transfer. According to the article, the “term [was] popularized by a 2024 report from market research firm Cerulli Associates. The broad idea is that, over the next two decades, as baby boomers journey to the great postwar subdivision in the sky, they will bequeath $124 trillion in assets — leaving $105 trillion to their children and $18 trillion to charities.” Christina You said this was “yet” another article. Do you think this story is overblown? Warren If you detect a bit of weariness in my tone, it is not because I don't believe in the Great Wealth Transfer. It is coming, but it is always coming. It is not an event. It's a process. A generation doesn't die in a day, or a year. It dies over the course of a generation, and as long as the population and the economy keep growing, EVERY generation's wealth will be greater than the previous generation. That's the simple logic of the situation, but journalists breathlessly try to turn the Great Wealth Transfer into news every few months. Christina That said, you are here promoting the story and the idea yourself. Warren Touche! The Chronicle article is interesting, and I recommend it. And to all our readers: make sure you take our Philanthropy Assessment. It will give you some simple, actionable steps to make sure that your wealth ends up where you want it to go. Christina Warren, you've said that one of the most persistent myths in Christian world is the myth that the ranks of the Catholic Church is swelling with ex-evangelicals. Warren It's not happening. Data guru Ryan Burge has pointed out that when there's movement, it's more often from Catholic to evangelical. Burge this week published a treasure trove of data from Detroit Catholics that further documents the decline of Catholicism in the U.S. Among his observations: “In 2011, the average weekend Mass attendance in the archdiocese was about 231,000 people. That dropped below 200,000 by 2015, it declined to 163,000 by 2019. The most recent data that these workbooks provide is from 2024, when Mass attendance was just under 140,000. According to their own reports, the Catholic Church in Detroit is recording an attendance decline of 4% per year.” Christina A lot of folks might say that Detroit is an anomaly. It's been a city in decline. Warren That's a myth, too. And if you are thinking, “Yeah, well, that's Detroit. The city is dying.” Burge says that's an old narrative. The population of Detroit rose during that same period. Christina A headline in The Jerusalem Post grabbed your attention this week. Warren It did. That headline is: “Why 800 million Evangelical Christians stand with Israel in an age of rising antisemitism.” It grabbed me because there are nowhere near 800 million evangelicals in the world. The most respected source for global Christian demographics is the Center for the Study of Global Christianity. It puts the number at around 400 million. Christina Well, maybe that headline was the product of an over-zealous headline writer. Warren I thought that too. Then I read the first line of the editorial, by Greg Denham, pastor of Rise Church in San Marcos, California and the founder of the Pastors Alliance for Israel. The headline merely echoed the first sentence in his essay: “At a time of rising anti-Israel sentiment, anti-Zionism, and antisemitism, it is worth asking why nearly 800 million Evangelical Christians continue to stand firmly with the nation of Israel.” It is a good question. It would be a better question if he got his facts right. That might cause readers to care more about his answer. Christina While we're on the subject, a new survey indicates Americans are souring on Israel. Warren The most recent of Pew Research survey, unveiled on Thursday, July 9, found that most U.S. adults – 62 percent — now view the Israeli government unfavorably, a nearly 20-point shift from 2022, when only 43 percent said the same. By the way, I'm a big supporter of Israel. I've visited there twice. But if you don't think recent events in the Middle East aren't having a major impact on the world's opinion of Israel, you're not paying attention. Christina Warren, I know you're a history buff, and you noted in your “Signs and Wonders” column this week that last week was John Calvin's birthday. He was born on July 9, 1509. Warren He wrote the first draft of his book Institutes of the Christian Religion when he was 26 years old. Many people marvel that he wrote a book that helped change the course of history at such a young age. But he revised it regularly over the years, and the version we read today is a version he published at age 50. This work was significant in shaping Protestant theology and was initially published in Latin while he was in exile in Basel, Switzerland. Christina Warren, let's close today with a recent column by Aaron Renn about the Boy Scouts of America. Warren The Boy Scouts of America, one of the great institutions of civil society in the history of this country, is now a shell of its former self, and its prospects are not bright. For an up-to-date assessment of what is happening with what is now called Scouting America, I recommend Aaron Renn's recent column, which you can find here. A preview: “The Scouts have responded by doing basically what mainline Protestantism and any number of other institutions did. It evacuated its traditional religious core, adopted standard issue liberal positions du jour, and started allowing girls to join (in the way the mainlines allowed female clergy). This isn't likely to work out any better for them than it did for the mainline churches.” Christina Any closing thoughts before we go? Warren If you have not discovered our YouTube channel, check it out here. We now have 200 videos there, and they have attracted tens of thousands of views. Subscribe, like, and share to spread the word about our work. Christina The producer for today's program is Jeff McIntosh. I'm Christina Darnell, along with Warren Smith. Until next time, may God bless you.

This episode we are taking a quick break from our overall story of Uno no Sarara (aka Jito Tenno) and we are focusing on Ise Shrine and Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. There is a lot, for a bit more, check out our podcast blogpost at:  https://sengokudaimyo.com/podcast/episode-153   Rough Transcript Welcome to Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.  My name is Joshua, and this is Episode 153:  Ise and the Sun Goddess.   In the newly built hall of the Fujiwara Palace, the nobles of the court were gathered for a grand banquet.  Snow-white walls were off-set by bright crimson pillars and trim, highlighted by bright green windows.   The nobles themselves were a rainbow of colors, arranged as they were by rank.   At the head of it all, on a dais, sat the Queen herself, Uno no Sarara.  However, the attention was no longer on her.  Instead, it was on another figure, standing in front of the assembled audience.  A quiet spread throughout the hall, the court listening as Hieda no Are began to tell the story of the Sun Goddess in the Plain of High Heaven.  They listened to the story of her and Susano'o, and of the backward flayed horse.  They heard the tale of the Heavenly Rock Cave, and of all that came after, including the sending of the August Grandchild, Ninigi.  They listened to the story—the story of Yamato.   Last episode, we talked in more detail about Uno No Sarara—starting from her early years as the daughter of Naka no Ohoe, granddaughter of Soga no Kurayamada, and child-bride to her uncle, Ohoama.  I'll admit we didn't look too hard at that last bit, and I don't have enough information to confirm what exactly "marriage" entailed in that context, but it is still something that I find tremendously creepy and, unfortunately, anything but unique.  So I'm not going to dive too much further into it right now but… ew. We talked about how she gave birth to her son, Kusakabe, in Kyushu, during the war on the continent, and how she eventually left for Yoshino with her husband when he retired from court, presumably to outsmart his court rivals, who were positioning him to be taken out.  She also is said to have played a part in the planning and execution of the resulting Jinshin no Ran, later helping her husband govern the realm.  And now, she was on the throne, overseeing the completion of many of the projects started in the reign of her husband.  This included the completion of the Kiyomihara code, the Fujiwara palace, and the support given to the institution of Ise Grand Shrine. This episode, I want to dive into that last topic: the emphasis in Uno no Sarara's reign on  Ise Shrine and its focus, the Great God, Amaterasu no Ohokami.  Although the Chronicles talk about Amaterasu as one of the founding deities of the Yamato royal line, there is plenty of evidence that this story was grafted into the tales at a later date, and that worship of Amaterasu, at least as anything more than a minor deity, likely also started relatively late.  Some have even suggested that Ise Shrine itself wasn't even built until the late 7th century.  So, all of this focus on Ise and Amaterasu appears to be part of the larger effort to structure the physical, cultural, and spiritual landscape of the new Yamato state. Last episode we mentioned how, according to the Nihon Shoki,   Ohoama turned to worship towards Ise.  Well, specifically, he worshipped Amaterasu Ohokami.  So let's take a moment and talk about what we know of the history of this Great God of Heavenly Brightness. Unfortunately, most of that history is based on what we know of the kami from works like the Nihon Shoki, the Kojiki, and the Sendai Kuji Hongi, all of which came out in the 8th century or so.  As such, it can be hard to know what things were actually like, earlier on, as opposed to what was added or removed later. Much of what I'm going to be talking about, today, I'm going to be pulling from a book written in 2017 by Mark Teeuvwen [Tayvin?] and John Breen titled "A Social History of the Ise Shrines", as well as Michael Como's work "Weaving and Binding: Immigrant Gods and Female Immortals in Ancient Japan", published in 2009, along with other sources.  In their book, Breen and Teeuwen point out that for those who do not take the events of the Nihon Shoki and Kojiki at face value, there are two primary theories for the origin of the worship of Amaterasu: an early theory and  a late theory.  The early theory places the development of the worship of Amaterasu in the 5th and 6th centuries, during the reigns of such figures as Wakatakeru no Ohokimi, aka Yuuryaku Tennou.  The Late Theory places the development in the 7th century, largely at the feet of such figures as Ohoama and Uno no Sarara herself.  We'll take a look at the evidence and see what it says. I would note that compared to the official history, both of these would be very late theories.  According to Ise Grand Shrine even today, Amaterasu arrived in Ise in the 26th year of Ikume Iribiko, aka Suinin Tennou, as stated in the Nihon Shoki, which corresponds to 4 BCE if you take the dating of the Nihon Shoki to be accurate. Of course, we've already spent plenty of time talking about the problems with the Nihon Shoki prior to the 6th century CE, as well as how the political nature of the text affected what it contained. So to kick things off, let's address the biggest question of all: why don't we believe that Amaterasu no Ohokami was always the primary deity of the pantheon of Yamato, at the very least, if not all of the Wa people of the archipelago?  After all, isn't she a sun goddess, and isn't sun worship fairly well documented among the ancient Japanese?  Just take a look at words like "Hiko" and "Hime", referring to rulers as sun man and sun woman.  Also note that early on, worship seems to have centered around places such as mountaintops, which focused worship towards the sky and the highest point.  In fact, as wet rice paddy agriculture became the dominant economic factor driving the engine of the archipelago in the Yayoi and early kofun period, early shrines were very likely about bringing the spirit of the mountain from the mountaintop and giving them a home amongst the rice fields.. And then we have the stories.  Don't the ancient stories all tell about Amaterasu as the ruler of Takama no Hara, the Heavenly Plain?  And isn't it her grandchild that then descends to the earth to pacify the Land of the Reed Plains—aka the Japanese archipelago? Well let's take a look at those same stories, which we've covered in earlier episodes of the podcast.  The first deities mentioned in the Chronicles are deities like Ama no Minaka Nushi, Lord of the August Middle of Heaven; Takami Musubi, High August Growth; and Kami Musubi, Divine August Growth.  There are other deities, like Kuni Toko Tachi, but they are barely mentioned again. Later we get Izanagi and Izanami, the masculine and feminine, who create the world and give birth to numerous deities from that point on.  Among the children of Izanagi are said to be Amaterasu, Tsukiyomi, and Susano'o.  Amaterasu, Heaven's Brightness, represents the sun while Tsukiyomi represents the dark of the moon.  Susano'o is then the god of the storms and seas, and was sent to the Nether Land, the Ne no Kuni. Right away we see that there are numerous different stories listed in the Nihon Shoki for just about everything.  Only the Kojiki gives everything as a single, coherent narrative, but surely the readers in the 8th century would have known some of these other stories, and thus the Nihon Shoki gives the alternates as well. Now the main narrative of the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki tells us that Ama-terasu no Oho-kami was born to rule over everything.  In the Nihon Shoki, Izanagi and Izanami specifically mention that divine destiny in Amaterasu's creation—although actually, in that part of the text, the deity they are creating is named Oho-hiru-me no Muchi; the Great Sun Female Holder.  And in the next entry they call Amaterasu: Ama-terasu Oho-hiru-me.  Tsukiyomi, the deity of the moon, is made to be her consort, and they are supposedly sent to rule the plain of Heaven, Takama no Hara. The problem is that there are other entries that suggest that Takama no Hara already had a ruler:  Taka-mi-Musubi.  Reading the sections on Taka-mi-Musubi, we see a deity who is said to have produced 1500 children, himself—no mention of Izanagi and Izanami.  Some of his children are mentioned as Omohi-kane:  the Thought-Combining deity, and Sukuna-bikona: the Little-Prince-Named deity. Amatsu Hiko Hiko Ho Ninigi no Mikoto, the August Heavenly Prince, Prince Ho-ninigi, is not just a grandson of Amaterasu no Ohokami, but also a grandchild of Taka-mi Musubi.  In at least one story, Takami Musubi is the one who wants Ninigi no Mikoto to become the ruler of the Central Land of the Reed Plains.  Towards that end, he gathers the various kami and chooses someone to go down and prepare the way—Ama-ho-hi no Mikoto—who was to quote-unquote "expel and subdue" the evil gods of that land.  We covered this story in episode 21 and 22.  When that doesn't work, he gathers them again, sending others to try and do the same.  Eventually he sends Takemikazuchi and Futsunushi down.  All of this sounds like Taka-mi Musubi, whose name appears to refer to being the "high" deity, was the one in charge. In addition, we have the court ritual from sources like the Engi Shiki, which illustrates the deities that were invoked for the protection of the palace and the royal family.  These were:  Kami-musubi, Takami-musubi, Iku-musubi, Taru-musubi, Tamatsume-musubi, Oomiya-no-me, Oomiketsu-no-kami and Kotoshironushi.  One might notice a lot of the "musubi" names among the deities, and a distinct lack of appeal to Amaterasu.  If Amaterasu were the central deity and ancestral deity of the royal family, why is she not invoked in the rituals of the court itself? The thought, here, is that these rituals are likely much older than the worship of Amaterasu, and while Amaterasu would come to prominence in the stories that the court would tell, it was much more difficult for them to rearrange the traditional rituals to put her front and center.  Those rituals were maintained by ritualist families like the Nakatomi, and they weren't likely to change the rituals willy-nilly, even for a sovereign.  That was playing with supernatural fire, after all—if you changed the rituals, would they still even be effective?  Granted, rituals do change, so it isn't a perfect argument; perhaps it was just not considered to be important enough to make the change since it was not something that anyone except the court ritualists needed to worry themselves over.  Either way, it appears that we do have a list of deities that may have been the deities of the ruling elite prior to the rise of Amaterasu and Ise shrine more generally. We have a few other clues of what was going on in the narrative.  For instance, we see the story from the reign of Mimaki Iribiko, aka Sujin Tennou, also called the First Sovereign of Yamato, despite the legendary figures inserted prior to his reign.  It is in this chapter that we see a note that Ama-terasu no Oho-kami and Yamato no Oho-kuni-dama, which is to say the Spirit of the Country of Yamato, were both worshipped together in the hall—that is in the royal palace itself.  And yet apparently Mimaki Iribiko feared these deities residing with him in the palace, and he had their worship moved to locations outside of the palace.  Amaterasu's worship was given to Toyosuki-iri-bime, one of Mimaki Iribiko's daughters, and established in the district of Shiki, in Yamato.  Yamato no Ohokunidama, on the other hand, was given over to Nunaki-iri-bime no Mikoto, another daughter through a different wife. but we are told that she was lean, and her hair was falling out, and so she couldn't perform the rites.  Turning our attention back to Ama-terasu—in the reign of Ikume-Iribiko, aka Suinin Tennou, son and heir of Mimaki Iribiko, the worship of Ama-terasu would pass from Mimaki Iribiko's daughter, Nunaki Iri Bime to Ikume Iribiko's daughter, Yamato Hime.  She would move the worship site from Shiki to Uda, in the shadow of Mt. Miwa, and then proceed over to the upper banks, or Kawakami, of Isuzu, in the district of Watarai.  Here, in one of the alternate stories about this episode, we get the Great God of Yamato—Ohoyamato no Ohokami—speaking through a medium to warn the sovereign that he had better be careful.  Mimaki Iribiko had not been quite thorough enough in his worship, so he had not had a long life, and if Ikume Iribiko didn't do the same, he would suffer a similar fate. And so, in a record eerily similar to what we see in the previous reign, the worship of the "Great God of Yamato", the Oho-Yamato no Oho-kami, is given to Nunaki-waka-hime—as opposed to Nunaki-Iri-bime—who also fails in the task because of her emaciated body.  This also introduces Fukayu nushi, an ancestor of the Nakatomi, who was the one who divined what should be done. There is so much to unpack in these stories.  For one, the kami bring power, but also danger.  One can try to placate the kami, but it isn't like a ritual will always work, and the story is of the sovereign being actively afraid of what they might do, so they were removed from the palace.  Then there is the fact that we see two seemingly similar names—Ohoyamato no Ohokami and Yamato no Kunidama both seem like we are talking about the same spirit of Yamato, though some would point out that one is the spirit of the country and one is the great kami of the country, so, clearly different. Both are also being given to someone named "Nunaki—something-something—Hime", and in both cases Nunaki seems to fail in her task because she is apparently not hot enough for the kami.  She's described as too thin and emaciated or balding.  We aren't given the lineage of Nunaki Waka Hime, but Nunaki Iri Bime is connected with the land of Owari.  Nunaki Iri-bime is said to be the daughter of Mimaki Iribiko and Ohoama Hime, ancestor of the Owari no Muraji.  Owari was the land that supported Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran. Finally, in both cases, we see the worship of the spirit of Yamato being given over to someone name "Nagochi", later identified as Nagochi no Sukune, ancestor of the Yamato no Atahe. One more note—closely on the heels of moving these two kami out of the palace, we see that the court brings in the worship of Oho-mono-nushi, the god of Mt. Miwa, under Ohotataneko, the ancestor of the Miwa clan. So the stories here account for Ama-terasu being moved to Watarai and why she isn't worshipped in the palace.  It also places Oho-mono-nushi at the center of worship in Yamato.  Oho-mono-nushi and Miwa continue to dominate the narrative from here on out, with a few notable exceptions, such as with Okinaga Tarashi Hime, aka Jingu Tennou and her mythical conquest of the Korean peninsula.  I'm sure that had no political implications at all given everything that had happened with Baekje, Silla, and the Tang dynasty in the latter half of the 7th century.  Other than scenes like that, however, the Miwa clan and worship of the Miwa deity appear frequently in the narrative.  It is clear that Mt. Miwa, and its deity, were important, and when Breen and Teeuwen hypothesize that when Naka no Ohoe, which is to say Tenji Tennou, took the drastic step of moving the capital up to Ohotsu, in the land of Afumi, he also brought the Miwa deity with him.  Those Afumi court rituals were conducted under the auspices of the Nakatomi, and particularly the auspices of Nakatomi no Kane, who would become one of the chief opponents of Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran in 672.  After that conflict, Ohoama and his wife, Uno no Sarara, were building new traditions using Ise and constructing new legends.  Legends that would be under their control and influence and which would further bolster their rule from the city that they had designed to fit inside of this newly constructed cosmological framework. And yet this also brings up what seems like an obvious question.  If Ise Shrine and the worship of Amaterasu were so central to Ohoama and Uno's plans, then why would they put it so far away?  Proponents of the "early" theory of the development of Amaterasu and Ise Shrine suggest that the answer lies in the text of the Chronicles.  That there is some truth to the idea that there was worship in Yamato and that, for various reasons, it moved out to Watarai district early on and developed into Ise Shrine.  Those who hold to the "late" theory of development see all of those stories as later inserts meant to explain away why Ise Shrine was so far away—and perhaps why Amaterasu was not included in the cool-kami club of court ritual.   Teeuwen and Breen mention a few of the theories, from Naoki Koujiro stressing Ise as a strategic gateway between Yamato and Eastern Japan to Tanaka Takashi proposing that the movement of Amaterasu to Ise is actually a stand-in for one or more military campaigns to that area to bring it under Yamato control. And before we move too much further in the narrative, let's talk about how Ise is physically and geographically situated.  Ise is part of modern Mie prefecture, on the eastern edge of the Ki peninsula.  It is at the southern end of a series of adjoining alluvial plains that follow the coastline north to the modern prefectures of Aichi and Gifu—the ancient provinces of Owari and Mino.  The capital of Ise Province used to be in Suzuka, near the the two Tsubaki shrines which both lay claim to the title of Ise no Ichinomiya, the First shrine of the land of Ise, and the pass that served as one of three major routes from eastern Japan into the Home Provinces and beyond.  This puts Ise about as far away as you can get from the capital of the province without going over the mountains, themselves.  It also puts it a good deal south of most major travel routes.  If you are going to Ise shrine then it is pretty clear you were going to Ise shrine, as there isn't a lot of evidence for anything else in the area. The Shrine itself is actually made up of two primary shrine complexes.  There is the Naiku, the inner shrine, and the Geku, or outer shrine.  The Naiku, or inner shrine, is probably the area most people think about.  It is at the foot of the mountains where the Shimamichi River joins the Isuzu River and both flow out of the mountains.  The Naiku contains the shrine to Amaterasu no Ohokami, and is famous for its layout, where there are actually two shrine enclosures, one next to the other.  The main shrine is then rebuilt in the empty enclosure every 20 years, at which point the worship is moved to the new shrine, the old shrine is torn down, and the cycle is started once again. The Outer Shrine, or Geku, is further north, and probably not as well known to foreigners.  The Geku is said to enshrine the spirit of Toyouke-bime, a kami dedicated to food.  According to the traditions of the Geku itself, Toyouke-bime was enshrined in the Geku at the command of Wakatakiru no Ohokimi, aka Yuuryaku Tennou, based on a dream. Regarding the history of why the Shrines—both Inner and Outer—are located here, archaeological evidence doesn't give us a lot to suggest that these might be the case.  Despite the presence of the Miya River near Ise Shrine, we haven't found evidence of a large harbor or port, like we might expect if it was the jumping off point for crossing Ise Bay—or even the center of another large polity.  Instead, the areas to the north—around Fujikata and Matokata inlets, for instance—show much more evidence of occupation and, presumably, use.  Heck, the modern district of Fujikata is in the town of "Tsu", which literally means "port".  And the capital area of Suzuaka and the Ichinomiya of Tsubaki Grand Shrine is even farther north, still.  So who, if anybody, was living down in the area of Ise Shrine?  If we look at the progression of tomb mounds in the area in previous centuries, we see that they start in the Matokata region in the 5th century and work their way down towards the south, with late 5th century tombs found in the district of Taki, the district bordering on Watarai and modern Ise City to the northwest.  It is also where you can find the Saikuu, the site of the old purification palace for the Shrine Princesses.  Grave goods seem to show close ties with Yamato, in the Nara basin.  While the tombs expanded to the south through the 5th century, they appear to have stopped altogether in the 6th century—or at least we haven't found any.  This may indicate that the political situation had changed and there was no group in the area that could organize the labor for such an undertaking.  Whether that was because Yamato was taking it as corvee labor or just that population had dwindled due to war, famine, or something else, I don't know that we could say. Around the year 600, at the opening of the 7th century, we do see a large grave mound erected in the core area of what would later become Ise Shrine, on the east side of the Miya River, overlooking what would become the Geku, the Outer Shrine of the Ise complex.  For those who aren't aware, Ise Grand Shrine is a large complex of shrines, and it is divided into two main areas.  The "inner shrine", or Naiku, is where most people go, and it is the site of the famous shrine building that is supposed to be rebuilt every 20 years.  The Geku is the "outer shrine" complex, technically dedicated to Toyouke hime, a kami of agriculture.  The kofun overlooking the outer shrine is known as the Takakurayama kofun.  This is a round kofun, about 35 to 40 meters in diameter, with a horizontal stone chamber.  It is the largest in the Ise region.  It has been mentioned in records going back to at least the Kamakura era, and even though most of the grave goods are gone, there is evidence that it was richly appointed.  Given its shape and location, there were even those in later centuries who connected it with the Heavenly Rock Cave in which Amaterasu hid according to the ancient stories. The fact that there was nothing around this area and suddenly we see a giant tomb mound is pretty puzzling.  Why was it built here?  Is it connected to the founding of the Outer Shrine in some way, or is that just coincidental?  Teeuwen and Breen point out that it is pretty rare for a large tomb mound to be build in the precincts of an active shrine, which suggests that whatever was happening there, that area was not part of the shrine grounds.  That said, I have to wonder if the ritual worship at the kofun might not have later been transformed or coopted into something else.  There also is no other indication that the Outer Shrine area was used for ritual purposes any earlier than the kofun would have been built.  In contrast, around the Inner Shrine area, several kilometers away, there are caches of beads dated to the 5th, 6th, and 7th centuries in a small valley where a brook runs down from Mt. Asama, not too far from the current shrine complex.  Teeuwen and Breen suggest that this may relate to the "upper reaches of the Isuzu River", mentioned in the Chronicles, and that it may have had to do with rituals related to water supply—hence being found at the point where the water was coming down from the mountains.  And yet, despite these finds, there really aren't any large scale archaeological remains that have been discovered east of the Miya river, though there are modest signs of dwelling and habitation, and some minor burials mounds. Compare this to Tsubaki shrine, the home of Saruta Hiko no Kami, and the main shrine of Ise, situated in the ancient capital of Ise no Kuni.  Downstream from there are numerous tomb mounds and indications of habitation.  So this was probably the center for early sun worship in the region. Teeuwen and Breen conclude that all of this indicates that the region of Taki and areas east of the Miya river were probably more of an outpost—no major powerful chieftains or large polity had set up in the region.  In the late 6th century, some power had to move in to build Takakurayama kofun, but that was an outlier.  Maybe this area just largely fell under Yamato hegemony.  And perhaps that was the key.  Perhaps initially this wasn't a place to center power and authority, but rather it was more like a prison.  It was a place far away from the court, where a deity that was more of a threat could be kept away from the palace and the sovereign.  Perhaps Amaterasu, or whoever the kami was at the time, was placed out here because of the threat they posed, much as the Chronicle seems to suggest—just not necessarily at the time that is suggested. One of the aspects of the mythmaking that we see in the Chronicles appears to be the stress on the Amatsu kami and Kunitsu Kami—the Heavenly deities and the Earthly deities.  The Heavenly deities are those in Takama no Hara, and they are the progenitors of the royal line.  On the other hand are the earthly kami, the Kunitsu Kami, those dwelling on the earthly plane.  In the stories that were recorded in the Nihon Shoki, before the August Grandchild of Takami Musubi and Ama Terasu descended to take control of the Central Land of the Reed Plain, they sent down heavenly kami as warriors to subdue the earthly kami.  On the one hand, this may have been driven by some kind of deep memory of early conquests of the archipelago by various forces.  However, these legends also served another purpose, in that they set up the royal family's right to rule, and appear to establish a de facto hierarchy between those families descended from the Heavenly Kami and those descended from the earthly Kami. Another thing that Teeuwen and Breen point out and that is that Amaterasu is not necessarily a female deity, to start with.  In fact, Amaterasu was probably easily overlain atop the worship of Oho-mono-nushi of Mt. Miwa, at least early on.  To that point, they note stories where Oho-mono-nushi and other deities were commonly depicted as arrows, snakes, or similarly phallic imagery finding or even penetrating women who were thought to have a connection with them.   This suggests a context of these priestesses being married to the kami, and even fits in with early descriptions of individuals like the famous Queen Himiko being a spiritual leader as well as a political one.  If the original Amaterasu was conceived of as a male deity, then this could also explain the tradition of the Saigu, the consecrated shrine princess.  We only see a few royal princesses designated to the position up to this point in the narrative, and, beyond Tokosuki Iri bime and Yamato hime, we don't necessarily learn much more.  One wonders if there weren't other royal princesses likewise sent elsewhere to serve other deities.  We know about Nunaki Iri Hime, and presumably Nunaki Waka Hime.  There was also Yamato Totohi Momoso Hime, who was married to Oho-mono-nushi.  Presumably there were others who just never ended up in the stories that were passed down. The idea of a kami taking a "wife" and connecting that to the idea of women holding these priestly positions seems to fall in line with much of what we see, though, as I said, we only hear occasionally about the appointment of royal princesses to the position until the reign of Ohoama.  That's when we see specifics about appointments, the purification palace in Hase, and other arrangements.  It makes you wonder more than a little bit if Royal Princess Ohoku was, perhaps, the first royal princess to actually be appointed.  It would have been easy enough to add in previous "shrine princesses" into the lineage, especially far enough back that nobody could really fact check it.  We also see Royal Princess Taki journey to Ise with her companions, Princess Yamashiro no Hime and Lady Ishikawa. It is intriguing that this practice was temporarily interrupted during the reign of Uno no Sarara, as I mentioned last episode.  Could this have something to do with a female ruler on the throne and a corresponding lack of urgency about having a female representative at Ise? And in stories about Amaterasu, she is frequently shown with certain masculine qualities.  When she confronts her younger brother, Susano'wo, she is concerned that he might try to take her authority from her, so she meets him decked out in armor, her hair tied up in a typical male fashion, with a bow, ready for a fight.  It would be just as easy to imagine that Amaterasu and Susano'wo were brothers, contending over rulership.  Add to all of that the idea that kami were often personifications of various natural phenomena or ideas, and Japanese is not a naturally gendered language, and there are those that believe that the stories of Amaterasu were not necessarily about a female deity in the beginning, but a male deity, similar to Ohomono Nushi and others, who then took on a feminine persona.  On the other hand there are passages in the old stories recounted in the Chronicles that clearly make Amaterasu out to be a woman. To start with the activities she is associated with, such as weaving, are often associated with women as something they do in the home.  This is a tradition carried over from the continent, along with silk and the techniques to weave it.  In the lands where silk production started, there are silkworm goddesses and the gendered nature of silk production and weaving appears to have come over to Japan as well.  There is also the fact that Amaterasu is said to have another name:  Oho-hiru-me no muchi.  In this case, it would seem to mean something like Great Noontime Female Possessor.  And in the weaving hall it is sometimes Amaterasu that is weaving and sometimes Waka Hirume.  "Hirume" certainly feels like a feminine name. There is the distinct possibility that the stories of Amaterasu as recorded were actually about two or more different kami, so Amaterasu and Ohohirume could have been separate deities having to do with the sun that were rolled into a single kami.  As mentioned before, it is also possible that Amaterasu ended up with some stolen valor taken from the other Ise deity worshiped at Tsubaki, Saruta-hiko no Kami.   Teeuwen and Breen also note that the name "Amaterasu" is hardly unique, noting at least ten other shrines with a kami called "Amateru" or "Amaterasu", mostly in Yamato, but some as far away as Kyushu and Tsushima.  Nine of those shrines were dedicated to Ame no Hoakari, an ancestor deity of the Owari lineage who was also closely tied to metalworking.  It is worth remembering that it was Owari who helped support Ohoama during the Jinshin no Ran, and who may have even fostered Ohoama for a while when he was just a young prince.  All that to say there may have been several different traditions that were all contributing different elements to the story. And then there is the connection between Amaterasu and Uno no Sarara. Herman Ooms, in his book: "Imperial Politics and Sybmolics in Ancient Japan", notes the similarities between Amaterasu and Uno no Sarara, talking about the differences between the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki, both of which had events that mirrored Uno no Sarara's own life.  According to Ooms, "The Kojiki's Amaterasu is a transparent double of the female tennou Jitou".  He points out that Uno no Sarara, besides her posthumous title of Jitou Tennou, also had a title making reference to Takamanohara:  Takama no Hara Hirono no Hime—the Princess High-Heaven-Plain.  But beyond that, we also see other linkages between the stories.  For instance, it isn't Amaterasu's son, Ame no Oshihomimi who is given the realm, but rather her grandchild, Ninigi.  This parallels the way that Uno no Sarara's son, Kusakabe, didn't ascend to the throne, but instead Uno no Sarara was holding the seat for his son, her grandson.  So one sees how Uno no Sarara could be seen as Amaterasu, and her grandson, Prince Karu, could be seen as Ninigi, the August grandchild.  Teeuwen and Breen also note that during this same time, we see the rise of a new institution: the Jingikan.  Again, we touched on this last episode, so just a quick recap:  The Jingikan was a government organization set up specifically to oversee the shrines, rituals, ceremonies, and other such things pertaining to the kami matters.  It does not appear in the initial stand-up of the new, bureaucratic government, wherein is created the bureaus, ministries, or departments, depending on your chosen vernacular, which make up the Dajokan, the Great Council of State.  Instead, the Jingikan is a separate organization, specifically organized around kami matters. The term "Jingi" is also a shorthand for "Ama-tsu-kami, Kuni-tsu-kami", or the kami of Heaven and the Kami of the earth.  "Ama-tsu-kami", meaning Kami of Heaven, was written with two characters meaning "Heaven" and "Kami", pronounced "Tenjin".  "Kuni-tsu-kami", or the Kami of the Earth, was written as "Earth" and "Earth Spirit", which was then pronounced "Chigi".  By taking the last character of each compound Tenjin-Chigi becomes just Jingi, for short.  Throughout the Chronicles, this term, "Jingi" is thrown around when they want to quickly note all the kami, together, though sometimes it is fully written out as "Tenjin Chigi", as well.  Interestingly, "Tenjin" or "Ama tsu Kami", sometimes appears alone, especially in the chapters on the Age of the Gods.  However, "Chigi" seems to only be used in the whole phrase.  There are a few instances, however, of "Chijin" being used, but they are few. That said, the term "Jingikan", also read as "Kami Tsukasa" or even "Kan Zukasa",  doesn't appear until 690, in the reign of Uno no Sarara.  This probably means that it was part of the reforms encompassed by the Kiyomihara codes.  The head of the Jingikan is known as the Jingihaku or "Kan-zukasa no Kami".  This term actually shows up well in advance of the Jingikan itself, initially referring to an unnamed official or officials in charge of kami worship at the court.  Nakatomi no Kamatari is said to have been offered the position in the first reign of Takara, aka Kougyoku Tennou, though the first confirmed individual appears to be Nakatomi no Ohoshima, during the reign of Uno no Sarara. This appears to be a distinctly Yamato invention in the bureaucratic system.  It leverages the language and structure of the Tang dynasty, but in its own way.  There was a Tang department of shrines, but it was described differently, as befits a different spiritual environment focused on ancestor worship and Confucian and Taoist ideas.  The Jingikan system  seems to have been a deliberate re-organization of the indigenous kami worship, incorporating what was probably traditional roles into the new bureaucratic system.  In so doing, however, it also gave the court greater control, and given that this was happening at the same time as the establishment of various stories and myths around Ise and the foundation more generally, it appears to be part of a concerted and deliberate effort to construct a new narrative. All of this points to them architecting much of what was going on, from the stories to the landscape.  Ohoama likely built the inner shrine as we know it.  If it really was an obscure, out-of-the-way shrine, perhaps that also meant that there weren't any other powerful court factions that were enhanced by it.  And then, over time, the Ise shrine and the deity there could be better incorporated into the overall myths and stories that surrounded the formation of Yamato.  A new Yamato, one that would soon enough be referring to itself as the origin of the Sun:  Nippon, a name often attributed to Ohoama and Uno no Sarara, though not found in the record of their reigns in the Chronicles. Another aspect to all of this, however, is what happened immediately after Uno no Sarara's reign, and into the 8th and early 9th centuries.  In the 8th century—the Nara period—Buddhism started to merge with a lot of the local practices.  This was not uncommon.  Buddhism had been born in a land with myriad deities and styles of worship, and it had the means to incorporate local deities into its cosmological worldview.  Kami were just other beings, stuck in the cycle of rebirth, who, as sentient beings, could equally benefit from the Buddha's teachings.  They became guardians of Buddhist institutions, and the lines between shrines and temples were often blurred.  At the same time, kami worship was also taking on various concepts from continental worship, such that even today we find a lot of what we might consider Taoist practices influencing Shinto worship. Had this continued, worship of the kami may have been completely subsumed into the Buddhist ritual practices, but there were areas where kami worship remained distinct.  One of these was at Ise. Early on, there was an attempt to build a temple at Ise, but it didn't last long.  The temple was eventually moved out of the shrine complex, and then eventually it was removed altogether.  Later writings from the Shrine would include certain Buddhist terms among the things that were taboo within the shrine grounds, considering Buddhism as something of a corrupting or polluting influence.  Shrine Princeses, during their tenure, had to devote themselves to the kami, and though they might retire as nuns, later in life, during their appointment they were to be free of any Buddhist influences.  In many ways this would make Ise a prime example of what would eventually be termed "Shinto", which gave it, and the worship of Amaterasu, a certain pride of place.  Of course, it didn't hurt that it was also intertwined with the State and the founding myths of the nation.  As such, Ise Shrine and its worship would become a template for many others to follow, helping to shape what we know as "Shinto" today. There are still a lot of questions.  We don't exactly know what Uno no Sarara did on her trip to Ise Shrine, and we don't know how things surrounding the worship at Ise and of Amaterasu herself changed in the intervening years between when these events happened and when, about two to three decades later, the Chronicles were finalized and published.  Certainly some of this seems tied to the Fujiwara capital, which was no longer populated at that point, the move to Heijo-kyo, in Nara, occurring between 708 and 710, two years before the Kojiki and a decade before the Nihon Shoki would come out.  And yet, the three sacred mountains that were incorporated into the plan of the Fujiwara Capital, Mt. Kagu, Mt. Miminashi, and Mt. Unebi, seem to continue to be important.  This is especially true of  Mt. Kagu, whose heavenly counterpart, Ame no Kaguyama—literally Heavenly Mt. Kagu— continues to play a major role in the stories surrounding Amaterasu and the Heavenly Rock Cave.  In addition,Mt. Unebi is closely tied to the story of Iware-biko, aka Jimmu, conquering and settling the land—perhaps to draw attention away from the stories about Mimaki and Ikume iribiko, aka Sujin and Suinin, who were both associated more with Mt. Mimoro, aka Mt. Miwa.  So even though the physical presence was moved, by that point we know that foundation of many of these stories were likely laid down around the time that the Fujiwara capital was in operation.  What does seem clear is that, just as there were clear efforts to set up the new State government, including the new capital, the court were also taking control of other levers of power and influence.  We previously talked about how they had created National Temples and included government positions to oversee Buddhist affairs more generally.  With Ise and the creation of the Jingikan, it appears as though that trend continued with the traditional kami worship. Many of the elite families still had connections to their own shrines, with their own kami.  Through the stories collected and written down—with a few editorial additions to help place them in an approved context—they were able to construct a narrative from separate or divergent traditions.  These traditions had already accreted to themselves various stories and culture-ways, some of them with clear links to the continent and others with overlapping portfolios.  The kami, and the ability to intercede with them for their blessings or to avert their wrath, were a form of power that was being structured for the purpose of supporting the new State.  A state now under the control of one Uno no Sarara. And we don't exactly have to wonder about this… the preface of the Kojiki all but says it.  They put the words in the mouth of Ohoama, or, as they call him, the Sovereign of the Kiyomihara Palace.  But the words are pretty clear: "I hear that the Imperial Records and Ancient Writing handed down by the various houses have come to differ from the truth and that many false hoods have been added to them. If these errors are not remedied at this time, their meaning will be lost before many years have passed. This is the framework of the state, the great foundation of the imperial influence. Therefore, recording the Imperial Records and examining the Old Writings, discarding the mistaken and establishing the true, I desire to hand them on to later generations." With that, 28 year old Hieda no Are was given the command to learn all the stories and presumably to recite them for the court.  And several decades later, Oho no Yasumaro was given the task to take Are's stories and write them down.  I imagine that Hieda no Are, or perhaps someone else who had learned the stories well enough, would be called into court or banquets to present some of the stories, or would be asked questions if there was any need for precedence.  Thus creating a single source for truth, according to the administration.  At the same time, the court had a problem.  They couldn't control all of the sources of written material, with all of the various contradictions, so we also would eventually get the more comprehensive—but also less narratively direct—Nihon Shoki as well.  After all, the game of propaganda was being played at many levels, and while the royal household had their motivations—primarily to support the legitimacy of their claim to power and the system within which that claim was validated— other families wanted to ensure that they were properly recorded as having connections to traditional nexuses of power—be that the ancient kami of Heaven or Earth, or their relationship to the royal family.  This is because precedence was important, even as new traditions were being created.  Like the way that the Mononobe and the Nakatomi played important roles in Uno no Sarara's ascension ceremony despite the actual individuals using new or different names, like Isonokami or Fujiwara.  See Episode 151 for the explanation, there.  And new traditions were much easier to justify if you could connect them with older traditions—whether those older traditions were truly ancient or newly made inventions. And all of this suggests that this was not an accident and it wasn't simply being imposed from the top down.  One could be charitable and suggest that those involved felt that this got them closest to what the truth actually was, given that they had now been inculcated in a new worldview and they were trying to view the ancient stories through the interpretive lens of that worldview.  On the other hand, they were ultimately doing it to structure power and authority that favored them and the government they had created.  A government that they hoped would outlast them, and be passed on to their descendants. Next episode, we will continue our discussion of Uno no Sarara's life and reign and the incredible steps she took to ensure that her line would continue to rule Yamato for decades. Until then if you like what we are doing, please tell your friends and feel free to rate us wherever you listen to podcasts.  If you feel the need to do more, and want to help us keep this going, we have information about how you can donate on Patreon or through our KoFi site, ko-fi.com/sengokudaimyo, or find the links over at our main website,  SengokuDaimyo.com/Podcast, where we will have some more discussion on topics from this episode. Also, feel free to reach out to our Sengoku Daimyo Facebook page.  You can also email us at the.sengoku.daimyo@gmail.com.  Thank you, also, to Ellen for their work editing the podcast. And that's all for now.  Thank you again, and I'll see you next episode on Sengoku Daimyo's Chronicles of Japan.

In this episode you will hear: Carter and Mark take a question from Ben, a 10th grader in Texas. Ben wants to know how he can get a spike so he can be competitive in the most selective colleges? Mark reads an article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed about the "Higher Ed Budget Crunch" Mark interviews Owen Blight, Dean of Admissions and Acting Associate VP of Enrolment at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island Mark shares some perceptions his students have had about Providence College, and Owen elaborates on the student perceptions Recommended Resources JG Talks: Helping prospective and current college students achieve success Colleges that allow self reporting of test scores Colleges that Allow Self-Reporting of SAT and ACT Scores Great source for questions about finances and college Edvisors: Financial Aid, Student Loans, Scholarships and Money Management FAFSA Walkthroughs Mark recommends Complete FAFSA 2026‑2027 Walkthrough | From Start to Submit 2023-2024 FAFSA Walkthrough Video English CSS PROFILE Walkthroughs CSS Profile Walkthrough MEFA Institute: A Deep Dive into the CSS Profile Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe. Unfortunately, we will NOT answer questions on the podcast anymore that are emailed in. If you want us to answer a question on the podcast, please use speakpipe.com/YCBK. We feel hearing from our listeners in their own voices adds to the community feel of our podcast. You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day. To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup. We will include many of the hot topics being discussed on college campuses. Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/blog/ 1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK. Please follow our podcast. It really helps us move up in Spotify and Apple's search feature so others can find our podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful! If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live. Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend, we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCauBgityVXVHRQUjvlIRfYrMWWdHarB9DMQGYL0472bNxrw/viewform If you want a college consultation with Mark just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email at mark@schoolmatch4u.com. All we ask is that you review their services and pricing on their website before the complimentary session; here is link to their services with transparent pricing: https://schoolmatch4u.com/services/compare-packages/

The Summer Series continues as Laramy Wells is joined by Justin Baker and Blake Fowler to discuss Chronicle (2012), the found-footage superhero thriller that asks a simple question: what would really happen if three teenagers suddenly gained incredible powers?As part of our series on movies inspired by comic books, we explore why Chronicle feels so much like an X-Men story despite not being based on any comic, discuss Andrew Detmer's tragic transformation, debate the strengths and weaknesses of the film's found-footage approach, and even answer the question of what we'd do if we woke up with telekinesis tomorrow.Plus, we talk about the performances of Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, and Michael B. Jordan, examine the movie's lasting influence on superhero storytelling, and recommend a comic that takes Chronicle's central ideas to an even darker place.Is Chronicle a hidden superhero classic or does it fall just short of greatness? Listen and find out.

Niklas Kunkel maps where the RWA market is heading next, from Centrifuge and Apollo's CLOs to Galaxy's first tokenized credit product, then turns to a cautionary tale: some SpaceX pre-IPO token buyers never actually owned the shares they thought they had. Host: Steven Ehrlich - Host of Bits + Bips and Head of Research at Sharplink Guest: Niklas Kunkel - Founder and CEO of Chronicle Labs This clip is from a longer conversation on crypto oracles, tokenized real-world assets, and Chronicle Labs' work verifying them. Full episode here: https://youtu.be/HW9Cu_E8DnU  We go live every week - subscribe to catch it live. Cape: Your biggest crypto vulnerability isn't your wallet, it's your phone number. Cape is America's privacy-first mobile carrier that rotates your SIM identity daily and blocks SIM swaps before they happen. Get 33% off your first six months at https://cape.co/unchained (use code: UNCHAINED). Chapters

The Cheat Sheet is The Murder Sheet's segment breaking down weekly news and updates in some of the murder cases we cover. In this episode, we'll talk about cases from New York, Washington, Missouri, Wisconsin, and New Zealand.The Democrat and Chronicle's report on the murder of Sam Nordquist and the guilty plea of ringleader Precious Arzuaga: https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2026/06/26/precious-arzuaga-pleads-guilty-sam-nordquist-murder/90709469007/The Santa Fe New Mexican's report on the competency hearing for Christopher Leahy in the murder of Juniper Blessing: https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/competency-evaluation-ordered-for-suspect-in-juniper-blessings-death/article_6afee9e8-7b24-486c-8693-b8305e725c5c.htmlThe Santa Fe New Mexican's report on Christopher Leahy and the murder of Juniper Blessing: https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/seattle-police-allege-suspect-in-juniper-blessings-death-stalked-2nd-woman/article_a30faea9-3629-4779-a996-328466e4ba06.htmlKUOW's report on Christopher Leahy and the murder of Juniper Blessing: https://www.kuow.org/stories/bellevue-man-charged-with-murder-in-stabbing-death-of-uw-studentRead the opinion on the case of Scarlett Pavlovich and Neil Gaiman from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals at https://ecf.ca7.uscourts.gov/n/beam/servlet/TransportRoomABC News's report on a 10-year-old boy charged with murder in Missouri: https://abcnews.com/US/10-year-charged-murder-shooting-infant-niece/story?id=134380853Check out our upcoming book events and get links to buy tickets here: https://murdersheetpodcast.com/eventsPre-order our book on Delphi here: https://bookshop.org/p/books/shadow-of-the-bridge-the-delphi-murders-and-the-dark-side-of-the-american-heartland-aine-cain/21866881?ean=9781639369232Or here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Shadow-of-the-Bridge/Aine-Cain/9781639369232Or here: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Bridge-Murders-American-Heartland/dp/1639369236Join our Patreon here! https://www.patreon.com/c/murdersheetSupport The Murder Sheet by buying a t-shirt here: https://www.murdersheetshop.com/Check out more inclusive sizing and t-shirt and merchandising options here: https://themurdersheet.dashery.com/Send tips to murdersheet@gmail.com.The Murder Sheet is a production of Mystery Sheet LLC.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode you will hear: (03:06) Mark answers a question from a listener about, how to know if your test scores are good enough? (21:48) Hilary and Mark take a second question from a listener about whether a poor grade can be dropped from a transcript Mark reads an article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed about the "Higher Ed Budget Crunch" (35:08) Mark interviews Owen Blight, Dean of Admissions and Acting Associate VP of Enrolment at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island Recommended Resources JG Talks: Helping prospective and current college students achieve success Colleges that allow self reporting of test scores Colleges that Allow Self-Reporting of SAT and ACT Scores Great source for questions about finances and college Edvisors: Financial Aid, Student Loans, Scholarships and Money Management FAFSA Walkthroughs Mark recommends Complete FAFSA 2026‑2027 Walkthrough | From Start to Submit 2023-2024 FAFSA Walkthrough Video English CSS PROFILE Walkthroughs CSS Profile Walkthrough MEFA Institute: A Deep Dive into the CSS Profile Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe. Unfortunately, we will NOT answer questions on the podcast anymore that are emailed in. If you want us to answer a question on the podcast, please use speakpipe.com/YCBK. We feel hearing from our listeners in their own voices adds to the community feel of our podcast. You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day. To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup. We will include many of the hot topics being discussed on college campuses. Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/blog/ 1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK. Please follow our podcast. It really helps us move up in Spotify and Apple's search feature so others can find our podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful! If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live. Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend, we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCauBgityVXVHRQUjvlIRfYrMWWdHarB9DMQGYL0472bNxrw/viewform If you want a college consultation with Mark just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email at mark@schoolmatch4u.com. All we ask is that you review their services and pricing on their website before the complimentary session; here is link to their services with transparent pricing: https://schoolmatch4u.com/services/compare-packages/

Niklas Kunkel breaks down the strange divergence between record institutional bullishness on digital assets and the apathy in digital asset-native circles. He also details Chronicle's path to becoming the leading oracle, the mechanics of an upcoming token, and why the next phase of tokenization is just beginning.Niklas Kunkel is the Founder and CEO of Chronicle Labs, the oracle infrastructure that spun out of MakerDAO and now secures over $16 billion in onchain assets for institutions including BlackRock and BNY.The Rollup is where the leaders of digital assets and finance converge. Live from the financial capital of the world.Timestamps00:00 Chronicle's Origin Story01:12 Institutions Bullish03:28 Institutional Driven Market Cycle06:18 What Institutions Want Now09:04 Utility Vs Distribution Problem11:12 Redefining Proof Of Reserves16:14 Why Trust Chronicle19:35 DeFi's $150B Ceiling21:08 The $2 Trillion Opportunity25:39 Who's Winning RWA Race30:57 How To Get Exposure34:07 Hyperliquid Sets The Standard41:32 Chronicle's Institutional Partnerships50:13 Institutional Compliance Explained55:48 Chronicle Is Launching A TokenGuest Socials:Niklas Kunkel X: https://x.com/nomos_paradoxChronicle X: https://x.com/ChronicleLabs Chronicle Website: https://chroniclelabs.org/Partners: Better than Banks. Transparent capital efficiency earning the highest yields in DeFi. Learn more here: https://infinifi.xyz/---Dinari - Over 230 1:1 backed tokenized stocks, ETFs & more with dividends. US-based SEC transfer agent. Available on 5+ chains & via API. https://dinari.com/---Relay is the fastest and most reliable way to swap any token on any chain. Learn more here: https://relay.link/bridge---Zama is an open source cryptography company that builds state-of-the-art Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) solutions for blockchain.Learn more here: https://www.zama.org/---Trezor is the creator of the first-ever hardware wallet. Securing crypto for 2M+ users worldwide. 100% open source. Learn more here: https://affil.trezor.io/aff_c?offer_i...---

Nicki and Merv chat away with their partner in crime, artist extraordinaire Jordan Steele, aka Flash Jordan, about their fortuitous trip to Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina.

In this episode you will hear: Updates on our YouTube Channel Christina Lopez discuss "double deposits", what are they, whey they occur and are they wrong? Mark reads an article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed about the "Higher Ed Budget Crunch" Mark and Christina discuss what is keeping chief enrollment officers up at night. They discuss how the Supreme Court's affirmative action decision has impacted college admissions. Recommended Resources JG Talks: Helping prospective and current college students achieve success Colleges that allow self reporting of test scores Colleges that Allow Self-Reporting of SAT and ACT Scores Great source for questions about finances and college Edvisors: Financial Aid, Student Loans, Scholarships and Money Management FAFSA Walkthroughs Mark recommends Complete FAFSA 2026‑2027 Walkthrough | From Start to Submit 2023-2024 FAFSA Walkthrough Video English CSS PROFILE Walkthroughs CSS Profile Walkthrough MEFA Institute: A Deep Dive into the CSS Profile Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe. Unfortunately, we will NOT answer questions on the podcast anymore that are emailed in. If you want us to answer a question on the podcast, please use speakpipe.com/YCBK. We feel hearing from our listeners in their own voices adds to the community feel of our podcast. You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day. To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup. We will include many of the hot topics being discussed on college campuses. Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/blog/ 1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK. Please follow our podcast. It really helps us move up in Spotify and Apple's search feature so others can find our podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful! If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live. Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend, we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCauBgityVXVHRQUjvlIRfYrMWWdHarB9DMQGYL0472bNxrw/viewform If you want a college consultation with Mark just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email at mark@schoolmatch4u.com. All we ask is that you review their services and pricing on their website before the complimentary session; here is link to their services with transparent pricing: https://schoolmatch4u.com/services/compare-packages/

In this episode you will hear: (07:42) Mark and and Chris answer a question from Dave about whether to submit your test scores to a selective test-optional college Mark reads an article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed about the "Higher Ed Budget Crunch" (33:24) Mark and Christina discuss a question about the changes to the Parent PLUS loan Recommended Resources JG Talks: Helping prospective and current college students achieve success Colleges that allow self reporting of test scores Colleges that Allow Self-Reporting of SAT and ACT Scores Great source for questions about finances and college Edvisors: Financial Aid, Student Loans, Scholarships and Money Management FAFSA Walkthroughs Mark recommends Complete FAFSA 2026‑2027 Walkthrough | From Start to Submit 2023-2024 FAFSA Walkthrough Video English CSS PROFILE Walkthroughs CSS Profile Walkthrough MEFA Institute: A Deep Dive into the CSS Profile Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe. Unfortunately, we will NOT answer questions on the podcast anymore that are emailed in. If you want us to answer a question on the podcast, please use speakpipe.com/YCBK. We feel hearing from our listeners in their own voices adds to the community feel of our podcast. You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day. To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup. We will include many of the hot topics being discussed on college campuses. Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/blog/ 1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK. Please follow our podcast. It really helps us move up in Spotify and Apple's search feature so others can find our podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful! If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live. Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend, we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCauBgityVXVHRQUjvlIRfYrMWWdHarB9DMQGYL0472bNxrw/viewform If you want a college consultation with Mark just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email at mark@schoolmatch4u.com. All we ask is that you review their services and pricing on their website before the complimentary session; here is link to their services with transparent pricing: https://schoolmatch4u.com/services/compare-packages/

Send us Fan MailFor many people, mental health is difficult to talk about. Too often, the struggles remain hidden behind successful careers, busy lives, and smiling faces.On this episode, Enrique Cerna is joined by two longtime friends and respected journalists—Roberta Romero, executive producer of KING 5 News' Facing Race unit, and Randy Eng, producer, photographer, and editor with the Seattle Channel—for an honest and deeply personal conversation about their mental health journeys.Together, they talk about their experiences with depression, anxiety, grief, and the challenges of asking for help.  They also talk about the importance of therapy, support from family and friends, and why breaking the stigma surrounding mental illness matters now more than ever.This is a conversation about vulnerability, resilience, hope, and the reminder that no one has to face mental health challenges alone.If you or someone you know is struggling, we hope this discussion encourages you to reach out, seek support, and know that help is available.Read: https://southseattleemerald.org/voices/2025/07/22/masked-men-are-detaining-people-when-will-washingtons-leaders-protect-usRead: https://nieman.harvard.edu/mark-trahant-wins-the-2025-i-f-stone-medal-for-journalistic-independence/Read: https://www.24thstreet.org/blog/2025/1/17/letting-goRead:https://www.amazon.com/Harbingers-January-Charlottesville-American-Democracy/dp/1586424017Read: https://www.mapresearch.org/2024-dei-report "Dismantling DEI: A Coordinated Attack on American Values"https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2025/01/07/these-companies-have-rolled-back-dei-policies-mcdonalds-is-latest-to-abandon-diversity-standards/https://www.chronicle.com/package/the-assault-on-dei  Chronicle of Higher Education https://www.courts.wa.gov/appellate_trial_courts/supreme/bios/?fa=scbios.display_file&fileID=gonzalezRead: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/obituaries/chinatown-international-district-activist-matt-chan-dead-at-71/Hear Rick Shenkman on the BBC Radio Program Sideways:https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001xdg0Read: https://www.thedailybeast.com/i-stuck-with-nixon-heres-why-science-said-i-did-itRead: https://www.washcog.org/in-the-news/your-right-to-knowRead: https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/the-legislatures-sunshine-committee-has-fallen-into-darkness/Read: https://www.cascadiadaily.com/2024/feb/2...

In this episode you will hear: Mark shares an important video he will be adding to the Your College-bound Kid YouTube channel in the next few months. Mark reads an article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed about the "Higher Ed Budget Crunch" (05:25) Mark interviews Micki Meyer, the Assistant VP for Student Affairs-3 of 3 § Micki gives us her six C framework for helping your kid to transition to college § Mark shares what helped him to transition to college and he asks Micki for her thoughts on a few other things that can help a student to transition to college § Micki talks about roommate conflicts, and she talks about when things can be worked through and when you need to reach out for help because it is irreconcilable § Micki also talks about when a student should stay at a college or whether it is time to leave the institution § Micki goes on the hotseat, and she drops some real pears for us (36:10) Lisa Rouff and Lynda Doepker do a College Spotlight on The University of Chicago-Part 2 of 2 Recommended Resources JG Talks: Helping prospective and current college students achieve success Colleges that allow self reporting of test scores Colleges that Allow Self-Reporting of SAT and ACT Scores Great source for questions about finances and college Edvisors: Financial Aid, Student Loans, Scholarships and Money Management FAFSA Walkthroughs Mark recommends Complete FAFSA 2026‑2027 Walkthrough | From Start to Submit 2023-2024 FAFSA Walkthrough Video English CSS PROFILE Walkthroughs CSS Profile Walkthrough MEFA Institute: A Deep Dive into the CSS Profile Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe. Unfortunately, we will NOT answer questions on the podcast anymore that are emailed in. If you want us to answer a question on the podcast, please use speakpipe.com/YCBK. We feel hearing from our listeners in their own voices adds to the community feel of our podcast. You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day. To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup. We will include many of the hot topics being discussed on college campuses. Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/blog/ 1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK. Please follow our podcast. It really helps us move up in Spotify and Apple's search feature so others can find our podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful! If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live. Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend, we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCauBgityVXVHRQUjvlIRfYrMWWdHarB9DMQGYL0472bNxrw/viewform If you want a college consultation with Mark just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email at mark@schoolmatch4u.com. All we ask is that you review their services and pricing on their website before the complimentary session; here is link to their services with transparent pricing: https://schoolmatch4u.com/services/compare-packages/

The Washington Roundtable is joined by Jeff Stein, the veteran political reporter and founding editor of the newsletter “Spytalk,” to examine Donald Trump's appointment of Bill Pulte as the new acting Director of National Intelligence, a position that, in theory, oversees the C.I.A., N.S.A., F.B.I., and fifteen other agencies. Pulte has no intelligence background and no national-security experience, but does have a track record of going after the President's perceived enemies. Plus, the panel discusses a recent Washington Post investigation that raised new questions about the outgoing director, Tulsi Gabbard, and her alleged ties to a religious cult.This week's reading:“Everyone Wants to Touch the Blue Coating in the Reflecting Pool,” by Jesús Rodríguez“Chronicle of a Disaster Foretold,” by David Remnick“The Difference Between the Knicks and the White House Cage Fight,” by Adam Gopnik“How the Trump Administration Pushed Judges to Deport Children,” by E. Tammy Kim“Do Netanyahu's Domestic Opponents Offer a Real Alternative?” by Isaac ChotinerThe Political Scene draws on the reporting and analysis found in The New Yorker for lively conversations about the big questions in American politics. Join the magazine's writers and editors as they put into context the latest news—about elections, the economy, the White House, the Supreme Court, and much more. New episodes are available three times a week. Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Send us Fan MailAmy Dragoo has been shooting the Kentucky Three-Day Event for over 24 years, and she's been a photographer for Practical Horseman for more than 30 years. If you've ever opened a copy of Practical Horseman, Dressage Today, or the Chronicle of the Horse, you've almost certainly seen her work. Based in the Philadelphia area, Amy is an internationally recognized commercial and editorial photographer serving magazine and website publishers, equestrian sport sponsors, and stock agencies across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Known for her creative angles, stunning backgrounds, and images that tell a story.She is a storyteller, a student of the sport, and one of the most passionate advocates for equestrian media working today.theplaidhorse.comThank you so much for joining us today on the Plaidcast. This podcast is a labor of love, and every single episode exists because of this incredible community of riders, trainers, barn managers, parents, and horse lovers who show up in the barn, in the ring, and right here with us.At The Plaid Horse, our commitment goes far beyond the show ring. We believe deeply in the power of literacy and education and that every rider, at every level, deserves access to knowledge, stories, and ideas that make them a better horseperson and a better human being. Reading matters. Learning matters. And the stories we tell each other in this sport matter more than we sometimes realize.Whether you are a junior rider picking up your first copy of The Plaid Horse  Magazine, a professional trainer looking for inspiration, or someone who simply loves horses and everything this world stands for then this community is for you. You belong here.We build this together. Every article, every episode, every conversation is an opportunity to learn something new, to feel less alone in the challenges of this sport, and to be reminded of why we fell in love with horses in the first place.Until next time, keep reading, keep learning, keep riding, and remember that the horse world is better when we build it together. I will see you at the ring!

In this episode you will hear: Mark gives an update on Your College-Bound Kid, YouTube Mark reads an article from the Chronicle of Higher Ed about the "Higher Ed Budget Crunch" (18:38) Carter Delloro joins Mark to answer a question from a listener about what an 8th grader can do now (39:37) Mark interviews Micki Meyer, the Assistant VP for Student Affairs-2 of 3 § Micki, gives advice her advice for a student who is not excited about going to college § Micki gives advice as to how much a parent should be involved when a student leaves for college, how much involvement is appropriate § What can a student do to know all of the supports that are available during the first six weeks § Micki talks about the changes in parents over the years § Micki talks about the role of affinity groups in transitioning to college § Micki talks about the Embark program that Rollins has on their campus § Micki talks about what a parent who has a middle school student can do to help them begin to build skills now that will aid their transition to college (01:05:27) Lisa Rouff and Lynda Doepker do a College Spotlight on The University of Chicago-Part 1 of 2 Recommended Resources JG Talks: Helping prospective and current college students achieve success Colleges that allow self reporting of test scores Colleges that Allow Self-Reporting of SAT and ACT Scores Great source for questions about finances and college Edvisors: Financial Aid, Student Loans, Scholarships and Money Management FAFSA Walkthroughs Mark recommends Complete FAFSA 2026‑2027 Walkthrough | From Start to Submit 2023-2024 FAFSA Walkthrough Video English CSS PROFILE Walkthroughs CSS Profile Walkthrough MEFA Institute: A Deep Dive into the CSS Profile Speakpipe.com/YCBK is our method if you want to ask a question and we will be prioritizing all questions sent in via Speakpipe. Unfortunately, we will NOT answer questions on the podcast anymore that are emailed in. If you want us to answer a question on the podcast, please use speakpipe.com/YCBK. We feel hearing from our listeners in their own voices adds to the community feel of our podcast. You can also use this for many other purposes: 1) Send us constructive criticism about how we can improve our podcast 2) Share an encouraging word about something you like about an episode or the podcast in general 3) Share a topic or an article you would like us to address 4) Share a speaker you want us to interview 5) Leave positive feedback for one of our interviewees. We will send your verbal feedback directly to them and I can almost assure you, your positive feedback will make their day. To sign up to receive Your College-Bound Kid PLUS, our new monthly admissions newsletter, delivered directly to your email once a month, just go to yourcollegeboundkid.com, and you will see the sign-up popup. We will include many of the hot topics being discussed on college campuses. Check out our new blog. We write timely and insightful articles on college admissions: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/blog/ 1. To access our transcripts, click: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/category/transcripts/ 2. Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link 3. Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it 4. Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans 5. Every word in that episode when the words loans are used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps 6. Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point 7. You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript We would be honored if you will pass this podcast episode on to others who you feel will benefit from the content in YCBK. Please follow our podcast. It really helps us move up in Spotify and Apple's search feature so others can find our podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful! If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you follow our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live. Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-books/ Check out the college websites Mark recommends: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/recommended-websites/ If you want to have some input about what you like and what you recommend, we change about our podcast, please complete our Podcast survey; here is the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCauBgityVXVHRQUjvlIRfYrMWWdHarB9DMQGYL0472bNxrw/viewform If you want a college consultation with Mark just text Mark at 404-664-4340 or email at mark@schoolmatch4u.com. All we ask is that you review their services and pricing on their website before the complimentary session; here is link to their services with transparent pricing: https://schoolmatch4u.com/services/compare-packages/

The comedian and actor Robby Hoffman, known for her role on the HBO show “Hacks” and her début Netflix comedy special, “Wake Up,” joins Tyler Foggatt at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival, in Seattle, for a conversation about social class and politics. Growing up as one of ten kids, Hoffman developed a world view that has never fit neatly into the left-vs.-right political dichotomy, and instead focusses her comedy on what she believes is the real defining divide in America: the rich versus the poor. “Classism is the conversation. The haves versus the have nots is the conversation. How much worse does it need to get for you to realize that's what it's all been about?” Hoffman says. She and Foggatt also discuss why Hoffman thinks Republicans and Democrats are often more alike than different, and why Donald Trump's form of humor has given him a political advantage.This week's reading: “Chronicle of a Disaster Foretold,” by David Remnick “The Torture Chamber of British Politics Crushes Its Latest Prime Minister,” by Sam Knight “How the Trump Administration Pushed Judges to Deport Children,” by E. Tammy Kim “Who Is the Real Kevin Warsh?,” by John Cassidy “The Teen Believers in a Christian America,” by Eliza Griswold “J. D. Vance's Contemptuous Conversion Memoir,” by Jessica Winter Tune in to The Political Scene wherever you get your podcasts. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

In the early 20th century, Neal's company Force of Life was investigated for fraud. But somehow, Neal managed to get through the scandal and went on to found a cosmetics company that became very successful. Research: “Can’t Find E. Virgil Neal.” New York Times. January 15, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/01/15/100496816.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 “Claimed to Raise the Dead.” Kansas City Star. Jan. 13, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/653825670/?match=1&terms=%22Claimed%20to%20raise%20the%20dead%22 Conroy, Mary Schaeffer. “The Cosmetics Baron You’ve Never Heard Of: E. Virgil Neal and Tokalon.” Third Edition. Altus History Publishing. 2014. “E. Virgil Neal Passes Away at Geneva June 30.” The Sedalia Democrat. July 3, 1949. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sedalia-democrat-e-virgil-neal-obit/185827307/ “False Advertising Chief ‘Stimulant’ in Nixated Iron.” New York Tribune. Dec. 16,1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/894241833/?terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22 “Force of Life Charges Dismissed.” Buffalo News. April 24, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/329115069/ “FORCE OF LIFE'S WIND-UP.; E. Virgil Neal Still Missing, but Offices Are Being Dismantled.” New York Times. Jan. 17, 1906. https://www.nytimes.com/1906/01/17/archives/force-of-lifes-windup-e-virgil-neal-still-missing-but-offices-are.html “Force of Lifers Sent Many Decoy Letters.” New York Times. February 7, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/02/07/101765677.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 “Here’s a Hyopnotic Bank.” New York Sun. March 3, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/image/207217198/?match=1&terms=Columbia%20Scientific%20academy “How Force of Lifers Did a Rush Business.” New York Times. Jan. 15, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/01/15/100496815.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 “James R. O’Beirne.” Fordham University. Office of the President. https://www.fordham.edu/about/leadership-and-administration/administrative-offices/office-of-the-president/about/hall-of-honor/james-r-obeirne/ “Jury Disagrees Cartilage Case.” Buffalo Courier Express. May 5, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/352806300/?match=1&terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22 “Medical Mail-order Frauds.” American Medical Association. 1915. Accessed online: https://books.google.com/books?id=Cyq6AAAAIAAJ&vq=neal&source=gbs_navlinks_s “Medicine: From Sedalia.” Time Magazine. Dec. 25, 1933. https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,746617-1,00.html “A Message to the Sick.” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Feb. 9, 1900. https://www.newspapers.com/image/135238292/?match=1&terms=vitaopathy “Most Beautiful Woman in Paris.” The Times-Union. October 6, 1909. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1278623430/?match=6&terms=To-Kalon Neal, E. Virgil and John H. Moore. “Modern Illustrative Banking.” American Book Company. 1904. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/modernillustrati00neal/modernillustrati00neal/ Neal, E. Virgil and C.T. Craig. “Modern Illustrative Bookkeeping.” American Book Company 1901. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/illustratimodern00nealrich/page/16/mode/2up “Neal, of ‘Nuxated Iron’ Fame, Held on Fraud Charge.” Times-Transcript. April 15, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1106273916/?match=1&terms=%22Neal%20of%20Nuxated%20Iron%22 “Neal Returns for Business.” Post-Standard. April 30, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1091107180/ Bennet, James. “Tokalon.” Cosmetics and Skin. Jan. 26, 2025. https://cosmeticsandskin.com/companies/tokalon.php “Gigantic Swindle Probably Bared.” Nebraska City Weekly. Jan. 16, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/728074626 “In Force of Life Case.” Houston Post. Jan 13, 1907. https://www.newspapers.com/image/94975109 “Nuxated Iron Sellers in Libel Suit.” The Times-Transcript. June 10, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1106285753/?match=1&terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22 “Part I: The 1906 Food and Drugs Act and Its Enforcement.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/changes-science-law-and-regulatory-authorities/part-i-1906-food-and-drugs-act-and-its-enforcement “Personal Magnetism.” San Francisco Examiner. March 8, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/image/457762995/?match=1&terms=Columbia%20Scientific%20academy “Pope Receives O’Beirne.” New York Times. Sept 25, 1910. https://www.newspapers.com/image/20505640/?match=1&terms=%22pope%20receives%20o%27beirne%22 Schwarcz, Joe, PhD. “The Prince of Quackery.” McGill Office for Science and Society. July 16, 2025. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/pseudoscience-history/prince-quackery “Thought Waves Between ‘Em.” New York Sun. April 12, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-herald-e-virgil-neal-and-the-a/185828789/ “Tribune’s Answer in Libel Suit Calls E. Virgil Neal a Quck.” New York Tribune. June 23, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/469171423/?match=1&terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22 “Vain Search for Neal.” New York Times. January 16, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/01/16/101763032.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 “WORRIED ABOUT NEAL & CO.: Depositors, You See, Don’t Like Hypnotism in Banking.” New York Sun. March 4, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-herald-e-virgil-neal-hypnotic/176427712/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

E. Virgil Neal’s career started out with writing successful textbooks, but then took a turn into being a stage hypnotist and then a series of dicey mail-order businesses. Research: “Can’t Find E. Virgil Neal.” New York Times. January 15, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/01/15/100496816.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 “Claimed to Raise the Dead.” Kansas City Star. Jan. 13, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/653825670/?match=1&terms=%22Claimed%20to%20raise%20the%20dead%22 Conroy, Mary Schaeffer. “The Cosmetics Baron You’ve Never Heard Of: E. Virgil Neal and Tokalon.” Third Edition. Altus History Publishing. 2014. “E. Virgil Neal Passes Away at Geneva June 30.” The Sedalia Democrat. July 3, 1949. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sedalia-democrat-e-virgil-neal-obit/185827307/ “False Advertising Chief ‘Stimulant’ in Nixated Iron.” New York Tribune. Dec. 16,1917. https://www.newspapers.com/image/894241833/?terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22 “Force of Life Charges Dismissed.” Buffalo News. April 24, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/329115069/ “FORCE OF LIFE'S WIND-UP.; E. Virgil Neal Still Missing, but Offices Are Being Dismantled.” New York Times. Jan. 17, 1906. https://www.nytimes.com/1906/01/17/archives/force-of-lifes-windup-e-virgil-neal-still-missing-but-offices-are.html “Force of Lifers Sent Many Decoy Letters.” New York Times. February 7, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/02/07/101765677.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 “Here’s a Hyopnotic Bank.” New York Sun. March 3, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/image/207217198/?match=1&terms=Columbia%20Scientific%20academy “How Force of Lifers Did a Rush Business.” New York Times. Jan. 15, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/01/15/100496815.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 “James R. O’Beirne.” Fordham University. Office of the President. https://www.fordham.edu/about/leadership-and-administration/administrative-offices/office-of-the-president/about/hall-of-honor/james-r-obeirne/ “Jury Disagrees Cartilage Case.” Buffalo Courier Express. May 5, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/352806300/?match=1&terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22 “Medical Mail-order Frauds.” American Medical Association. 1915. Accessed online: https://books.google.com/books?id=Cyq6AAAAIAAJ&vq=neal&source=gbs_navlinks_s “Medicine: From Sedalia.” Time Magazine. Dec. 25, 1933. https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,746617-1,00.html “A Message to the Sick.” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Feb. 9, 1900. https://www.newspapers.com/image/135238292/?match=1&terms=vitaopathy “Most Beautiful Woman in Paris.” The Times-Union. October 6, 1909. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1278623430/?match=6&terms=To-Kalon Neal, E. Virgil and John H. Moore. “Modern Illustrative Banking.” American Book Company. 1904. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/modernillustrati00neal/modernillustrati00neal/ Neal, E. Virgil and C.T. Craig. “Modern Illustrative Bookkeeping.” American Book Company 1901. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/illustratimodern00nealrich/page/16/mode/2up “Neal, of ‘Nuxated Iron’ Fame, Held on Fraud Charge.” Times-Transcript. April 15, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1106273916/?match=1&terms=%22Neal%20of%20Nuxated%20Iron%22 “Neal Returns for Business.” Post-Standard. April 30, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1091107180/ Bennet, James. “Tokalon.” Cosmetics and Skin. Jan. 26, 2025. https://cosmeticsandskin.com/companies/tokalon.php “Gigantic Swindle Probably Bared.” Nebraska City Weekly. Jan. 16, 1906. https://www.newspapers.com/image/728074626 “In Force of Life Case.” Houston Post. Jan 13, 1907. https://www.newspapers.com/image/94975109 “Nuxated Iron Sellers in Libel Suit.” The Times-Transcript. June 10, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1106285753/?match=1&terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22 “Part I: The 1906 Food and Drugs Act and Its Enforcement.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/changes-science-law-and-regulatory-authorities/part-i-1906-food-and-drugs-act-and-its-enforcement “Personal Magnetism.” San Francisco Examiner. March 8, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/image/457762995/?match=1&terms=Columbia%20Scientific%20academy “Pope Receives O’Beirne.” New York Times. Sept 25, 1910. https://www.newspapers.com/image/20505640/?match=1&terms=%22pope%20receives%20o%27beirne%22 Schwarcz, Joe, PhD. “The Prince of Quackery.” McGill Office for Science and Society. July 16, 2025. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/pseudoscience-history/prince-quackery “Thought Waves Between ‘Em.” New York Sun. April 12, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-herald-e-virgil-neal-and-the-a/185828789/ “Tribune’s Answer in Libel Suit Calls E. Virgil Neal a Quck.” New York Tribune. June 23, 1918. https://www.newspapers.com/image/469171423/?match=1&terms=%22e.%20virgil%20neal%22 “Vain Search for Neal.” New York Times. January 16, 1906. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/01/16/101763032.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0 “WORRIED ABOUT NEAL & CO.: Depositors, You See, Don’t Like Hypnotism in Banking.” New York Sun. March 4, 1903. https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-herald-e-virgil-neal-hypnotic/176427712/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.