Podcasts about collectively

Welcome to the Celestial Insights Podcast, the show that brings the stars down to Earth! Each week, astrologer, coach, and intuitive Celeste Brooks of Astrology by Celeste will be your guide. Her website is astrologybyceleste.com.  

What happens when two wheelchair users fall in love, get married, build careers, travel the world and navigate life together? Apparently, people have questions. After sharing more of their life as a disabled couple online and seeing an overwhelming response, Alycia Anderson brings her husband, Marty Anderson, back to Pushing Forward with Alycia for a lighter, candid and often hilarious Q&A about their nearly 15 years of marriage. Who is more stubborn? Who notices an accessibility problem first? Who takes longer to get ready? Who carries more disability-related gear? And when the world is not designed for two wheelchair users, how do they figure it out? As Alycia and Marty quickly discover, the answers lead to much bigger conversations about disabled relationships, wheelchair accessibility, accessible travel, independence, interdependence, ableism and belonging. Two Disabled People. One Very Normal Marriage. One of the biggest misconceptions Alycia and Marty encounter is the assumption that when disability exists in a relationship, one person must automatically become the caregiver. Their reality is much different. They help each other. Sometimes that means Marty holding Alycia's wheelchair during a transfer or Alycia grabbing onto Marty's chair for a tow. Sometimes it means reviewing an email, figuring out a business decision or helping each other navigate a difficult moment. And sometimes it simply means knowing somebody is standing beside you. As Alycia puts it, having Marty on her team makes her feel braver in the actions she takes in her life. Their partnership illustrates something much bigger: support in a relationship does not always move in one direction. When Accessibility Assumes Disabled People Are Alone Some of the funniest stories in the episode expose something decidedly less funny: much of the world is still designed around the assumption that a wheelchair user will be accompanied by a nondisabled caregiver. Movie theaters may provide one wheelchair space and one companion chair. Venues may offer accessible seating without considering that two wheelchair users might actually want to sit beside each other. Transportation systems may have accessibility policies but still create frustrating or alienating customer experiences. Hotels may technically meet accessibility standards while still making everyday tasks difficult. Alycia and Marty have spent years navigating those gaps together. Their solution is often the same: Figure it out. For Alycia, that mindset is deeply connected to disability itself. When the world is not designed for you, creativity and adaptation become part of everyday life. The Airport Shuttle Stress Is Real Accessible travel gets its own unofficial therapy session in this episode. Alycia and Marty talk about one of their biggest travel stressors: getting from the airport to the rental car facility. Wheelchair-accessible shuttle experiences can be unpredictable. Ramps may not work. Drivers may approach wheelchair passengers differently. Other travelers may board while wheelchair users are still waiting. Policies can sometimes override a simple conversation about what actually works best for the individual passenger. The frustration is not always about the equipment. It is about the experience. Marty describes accessibility as something that should create a feeling of being invited rather than treated like an exception. That distinction between technical access and true belonging sits at the center of much of Alycia's work. Accessible Parking Is More Complicated Than It Looks Alycia and Marty also tackle one of disability culture's perennial hot topics: accessible parking. They are quick to point out that disability does not have one appearance. Someone using an accessible parking space may have a completely legitimate non-apparent disability. But they also raise an important distinction around van-accessible spaces and access aisles. Those striped areas next to certain spaces are not extra parking. They provide the room someone may need to deploy a wheelchair ramp, transfer from a vehicle, use a walker or maneuver mobility equipment. It is another example of how accessibility education can make systems work better for everyone. What Do Nondisabled Couples Take for Granted? Their answer? Sometimes, spontaneity. Traveling without researching accessibility. Accepting an invitation to someone's house without wondering whether you can enter. Booking a rideshare without thinking about whether a wheelchair will fit or whether the driver will refuse the trip. Checking into a hotel without wondering whether the mirror can actually be seen from a wheelchair. These may seem like tiny details individually. Collectively, they shape whether people can participate fully and independently in everyday life. Disabled Relationship Myth Busting Perhaps the biggest misconception Alycia and Marty challenge is the belief that two disabled people somehow live a fundamentally different kind of relationship. Their marriage has accessibility logistics and mobility adaptations, yes. It also has careers. Finances. Intimacy. Arguments. Love. Partnership. Medical challenges. Travel. Laughter. And almost fifteen years of figuring life out together. Disability is part of their relationship. It is not the entirety of it. Marriage Is Still Marriage Near the end of the episode, Marty asks Alycia what nearly fifteen years together has taught her that has nothing to do with disability. Her answer becomes one of the episode's most beautiful moments. Marriage, she says, is one of the hardest things she has ever committed to, but also one of the very best. Creating a life with another person remains one of the accomplishments she treasures most. And after several heavy weeks for the Anderson household, their final Pushing Forward Moments are wonderfully simple. Marty's: Take life a little lighter. Have some fun. Everything does not have to be serious. Alycia's: All you need is love. Sometimes pushing forward means solving the accessibility problem. Sometimes it means advocating for change. And sometimes it means laughing with the person sitting beside you while you figure everything else out. IN THIS EPISODE Alycia and Marty discuss: What life is actually like for two married wheelchair users Who is more stubborn about asking for help Why asking for help can be difficult when independence has been ingrained in you Who notices accessibility barriers first Wheelchair travel and airport shuttle frustrations Accessibility versus genuine hospitality and belonging Why Alycia carries more disability-related supplies while traveling When they speak up about inaccessible environments How two disabled partners physically and emotionally support each other The assumption that every disabled person has a nondisabled caregiver Why theaters and entertainment venues often fail wheelchair-using couples Disability, marriage and intimacy Accessible parking and non-apparent disabilities Why van-accessible spaces serve a specific purpose Rideshare and transportation discrimination Why accessible hotel rooms should not have thick carpet How disability creates everyday problem-solving skills Automatic doors and universal access Spontaneity and the hidden planning involved in disability What nearly fifteen years of marriage has taught them Finding more fun, light and love in everyday life KEY THEMES

London's better in a black cab. Get the https://blackcab.com app on Apple or Google Play. No surge pricing. Regulated fares. Professional drivers. Get 15% off your eSIM today—download the Saily app or visit https://saily.com/lwos and use code LWOS at checkout. With Tottenham set to have a very interesting season under Roberto De Zerbi, make sure you never miss an update with our brand new Substack. Download the Substack app for exclusive coverage of Last Word On Spurs: https://lastwordonspurs.substack.com/ Please also help grow our community and join us on Roundtable as we bring you all the latest Tottenham Hotspur news in written format over at: https://roundtable.io/sports/soccer/premier-league/tottenham Last Word On Spurs, WeRTottenhamTV and Echo Of Glory come together for a brand-new weekly podcast, titled 'Collectively COYS', bringing together a host from each respective Tottenham Hotspur channel to debate the biggest talking points surrounding the club in the present moment. New manager, north of £200M spent this summer, and we were second best in every single area of that pitch. 3.96 xG to 0.47. Nobody is talking us into a good week. So here is how this works. Every Tuesday, Jonny from An Echo of Glory, Ben from We Are Tottenham TV and Billie from Last Word on Spurs each bring one hot take about Tottenham. One each. None of them has heard the other two before the cameras roll. Then they argue about it. This week all three have come out of the Brentford defeat, and none of them are the take you think they are going to be. One of them goes after a decision most fans have already accepted without questioning it. One of them says the damage was done weeks before a ball was kicked. And one of them is going to start a row in the comments, which is exactly the point. Everything else is on the table too. The two goals Kinsky will want back. Archie Gray captaining the side, the youngest to do it since Steve Perryman. Tonali skying one from 18 yards. Savinho agreed at £85m, Marmoush in the post, and whether any of it fixes what we watched on Saturday. Charlton in the cup, then Newcastle at home. It cannot look like that again. Tell us who won the argument in the comments. And bring your own hot take, the best ones get read out next week. Collectively COYS is the weekly Spurs show from An Echo of Glory, Last Word on Spurs and We Are Tottenham TV. Three channels, three takes, one panel, no agenda beyond arguing about our football club. Three different podcast voices. Three different perspectives. One club. Independent Multi-Award Winning Tottenham Hotspur Fan Channel (Podcast) providing instant post-match analysis and previews to every single Spurs match along with a range of former players, managers & special guests. WEBSITE: www.lastwordonspurs.com #THFC #TOTTENHAM #SPURS Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Celestial Insights Podcast, the show that brings the stars down to Earth! Each week, astrologer, coach, and intuitive Celeste Brooks of Astrology by Celeste will be your guide. Her website is astrologybyceleste.com.  

There has never been a more promising time for genocide prevention. More resources and research are being focused on prevention than ever before. Yet we still lack vital knowledge as to the most effective ways to stabilise and reduce the risk of genocide in current at-risk societies. Genocide Prevention: An Evidence-Based Approach (Cambridge UP, 2026) offers a compelling new approach: to understand how to prevent genocide, we need to examine societies in which genocide has been prevented. It is in these societies - in which a demonstrably high risk of genocide was present, but in which genocide did not occur - that we can potentially find key factors that promote resilience to genocide. The volume explores six such case studies, spanning three continents and seven decades. Through careful analysis it identifies eleven factors that have contributed to preventing genocide in multiple cases, and which have the potential to inform current approaches to prevention. Collectively, these offer a new, evidence-based approach to preventing genocide.

Welcome to the Celestial Insights Podcast, the show that brings the stars down to Earth! Each week, astrologer, coach, and intuitive Celeste Brooks of Astrology by Celeste will be your guide. Her website is astrologybyceleste.com.  

Idaho's Palouse Region is off the beaten path for many, but it's where a significant impact is made to help keep farmers productive and consumers well-fed.  With a storied history dating back to the 19th century, the University is Idaho is one of the nation's premier public research institutions. Redox was provided a campus tour, including the Soil Stewards Farm and Deep Soil Ecotron."Collectively together we have the opportunity to really lean in and make sure that we're providing as your land grant university the research that's needed to help our producers be successful," remarked Leslie Edgar, J.R. Simplot Endowed  Dean of the University of Idaho's College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Find out more about the University of Idaho and how it helps farm productivity at uidaho.edu/cals. 

University of Canterbury chemical and process engineer - Professor Matthew Watson - isn't your typical academic. Matthew has helped launch three deep-tech companies from scientific research, with a fourth now in development. Those ventures span everything from turning waste plastics into safer wood glues, to producing low-emissions iron using hydrogen. Collectively they've raised tens of millions of dollars and now... earnt Matthew a nomination at this year's KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards.

Advances in diabetes care rarely arrive through a single channel, and the 2026 annual meeting of the Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (ADCES) reflected this breadth, with new insulin delivery hardware, cardiometabolic risk management, and endocrine screening criteria all drawing attention from clinicians in Columbus, Ohio.On a recent episode of Diabetes Dialogue, recorded on-site at ADCES26, co-hosts Diana Isaacs, PharmD, and Natalie Bellini, DNP, reviewed sessions and exhibits spanning insulin delivery technology, cardio-kidney-metabolic (CKM) risk reduction, beta-cell preservation, ketone monitoring, and hypercortisolism screening.On the exhibit floor, 2 simplified insulin delivery devices signaled a push toward patients still managing diabetes on multiple daily injections. Pivot, a tubeless patch pump from Modular Medical, holds up to 300 units of insulin, delivers preset 2-unit boluses, and supports 2 distinct basal rates, though it is not yet an automated insulin delivery (AID) system. CeQur's Simplicity bolus-only patch has moved toward 7-day wear with up to 240 units of capacity and a one-unit dosing option, positioning it alongside once-weekly basal and incretin therapies on a shared weekly schedule.A case-based session on CKM syndrome, built around a patient newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and discharged on insulin without pen needles, illustrated how risk calculators such as PREVENT can guide therapy beyond glycemic control. The case incorporated glucose-lowering therapy alongside GLP-1 and SGLT2 inhibitor use for cardiorenal protection, discontinuation of an unindicated beta blocker masking hypoglycemia symptoms, and a plan to taper insulin as other agents took effect.A separate discussion focused on C-peptide, a marker of residual endogenous insulin production, as an emerging clinical trial endpoint in type 1 diabetes. Patients who retain measurable C-peptide despite long-standing autoimmune beta cell loss appear to experience fewer cardiovascular events, less diabetic ketoacidosis, and less severe hypoglycemia, reinforcing interest in beta-cell-preserving therapies during early-stage disease.Continuous ketone monitoring, an emerging sensor category, was covered through patient cases including pregnancy-related nutritional ketosis and a case of latent autoimmune diabetes in adults treated with an SGLT2 inhibitor without insulin, a combination carrying risk for euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis. The hosts noted real-time ketone data could eventually clarify when SGLT2 inhibitor use is appropriate in insulin-requiring patients despite this risk.A well-attended early-morning session addressed hypercortisolism as an underrecognized driver of treatment-resistant hypertension and hyperglycemia. Updated American College of Endocrinology guidance now recommends screening when hemoglobin A1c remains >7.5% or blood pressure remains uncontrolled despite maximal glucagon-like peptide-1, SGLT2 inhibitor, and multidrug antihypertensive therapy, with diabetes care and education specialists playing a growing role in identifying candidates and coordinating referral.The hosts also highlighted Blue Circle Health, a nonprofit offering ≤6 months of virtual bridge care, including dietitian visits, social work support, and insurance navigation, for people with type 1 diabetes across 20 states. Collectively, the sessions underscored a field advancing simultaneously on device design, risk stratification, biomarker science, and access to supportive care.

Welcome to the Celestial Insights Podcast, the show that brings the stars down to Earth! Each week, astrologer, coach, and intuitive Celeste Brooks of Astrology by Celeste will be your guide. Her website is astrologybyceleste.com.  

The potent, dramatic Solar Eclipse in Leo arrives August 12th, shaking up the Leo sector of your birth chart. Solar Eclipses can coincide with far-reaching beginnings, like a potent New Moon, but as this is also connected to the South Node, there can also be an ending or rebalancing connected to this energy as well. Co-present with benefic Jupiter, there is also a possibility that this eclipse brings some opportunity or expansion into your life as well. Collectively, this energy is tied to sudden changes in leadership, or established "kings" and leaders grapping with a sudden shift in power. Leo = rulers and kings, and eclipses are notorious for bringing sudden shifts in who has political power. Want to hear more about the Astrology, the Tarot significations, and readings for the 12 signs?Enjoy the episode!Book With Alexhttps://beacons.ai/dogstaroracle Book With Asterhttps://three-cups-circle.beehiiv.com/bio0:00 Title02:34 Nodal Shift & Pluto in Leo Generation07:10 Eclipse Overview14:09 Seven of Wands 16:31 Trump's Natal Chart 19:35 Jupiter in Leo32:15 Aries35:31 Taurus38:54 Gemini43:41 Cancer47:21 Leo52:37 Virgo56:40 Libra1:00:41 Scorpio1:04:07 Sagittarius1:08:02 Capricorn1:13:20 Aquarius1:17:47 Pisces1:21:09 Recommended Ritual & Current Offerings

With Sheldon today is his manager Craig Rogalski:Craig Rogalski is the Founder and Managing Talent Manager of CK Talent Management, aninternational entertainment management company operating across the US, UK, Canada,Europe, Africa, and Australia.Craig has represented and worked with some of the industry's leading talent, with clientsappearing in some of Hollywood's most iconic films and television projects. His clients have wonand been nominated for major industry honors, including Academy Awards, Emmy Awards,BAFTAs, and British Independent Film Awards. Collectively, his clients have appeared in leadingand supporting roles in films that have generated more than $1.5 billion at the worldwide boxoffice.Craig is also a member of the very private and invite-only Renaissance Institute who's membersinclude past US presidents, Prime Ministers, NASA Astronauts, the President of Harvard toname a few of its prestigious members. He is also a member of theTelevision Academy of Arts& Sciences, and has served as a Daytime Emmy Awards judge for the past three years. He ison Guidepoint's the biggest consulting firm in the world which conslutes industry leaders andfinancial institutions. He is on their expert roster, where he consults on the media andentertainment industry, including talent management, studios, and entertainment investment.Through CK Talent, Craig works across film, television, music, fashion, branded entertainment,and sports-adjacent media, with a focus on developing talent for long-term careers rather thanshort-term visibility.Craig's work sits at the intersection of talent representation, media strategy, and careerdevelopment. Through CK Talent, he helps guide performers through the realities of an evolvingglobal entertainment industry — from branding and auditions to image repositioning,professional boundaries, and long-term opportunity.Today, Craig joins Sheldon as the manager helping guide this next chapter of Sheldon's career— moving him from being seen through a narrow online image into a more elevated path as aprofessional model and actor

Cassi Camara is a Conservation Communications Consultant who recently completed her PhD in Human Dimensions of Natural Resources. She is also an Environmental Education Specialist for the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. Collectively, her work integrates research and practice across governance, policy, education, and communication, with the aim of cultivating environmentally literate citizens, across the globe.Cassi spoke about her experience at Wolf Connection, some of the barriers in achieving environmental policy, and the positive impacts environmental education can have not only for students, but facilitators and teachers as well. Cassiopeia ConsultingCassiopeiacamara.com@thewolfconnectionpod

You don't truly grasp a challenge until you face it yourself. As a physician, I understood the gaps in postpartum care—but as a new mom, I lived them courtesy of my four sons.  Collectively, I have endured postpartum depression, perinatal anxiety, uterine infection, 3-4 degree tears, c-section, natural delivery, pre-eclampsia, VBACs, breastfeeding struggles--and the American healthcare system failed me.  I am physician, more specifically a pediatrician, neonatologist, and lactation specialist.  With all my privilege on paper, my own healthcare system failed me...so what about other mothers.  Seven years ago, I started on the journey to change our medical postpartum care system. I realized that better care doesn't just help individual mothers; it can lower our nation's alarming maternal mortality rate and prevent postpartum depression. In the U.S., two-thirds of maternal deaths happen after birth, yet moms wait weeks for a checkup while newborns get immediate care. I launched and run NayaCare and Naya AIFIND HER HERE:www.naya-app.aihttps://www.instagram.com/nayacare/https://www.facebook.com/nayacarecoloradohttps://www.linkedin.com/in/sonal-patel-md-12982a141/https://www.youtube.com/@nayacare6918Tiktok: @sonalpatel4tridochttps://www.tiktok.com/@4thtrimd?_r=1&_t=ZT-95RAdboDIzdTEDX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8ZjKebeaKYNonProfit: https://c4tc.co/BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Her-Black-Bag-Old-Fashioned-ebook/dp/B09LLFSHTD/ref=sr_1_2?crid=BJWRPJSGRQ93&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9._WwXfsJNuJn0BU7YIg1A1For_O33Ens_4zY5kt8zzK9-SQ9zmU2lK0QbO-dTJ4tDvnB_z4joB8LIE9DV38L7Xq_LXnlUU-tGUWGSqZFXQzo.UinbVGF6U2Akq4mjmMTT1w4oK9Cw3YDG2Vn711Ifprc&dib_tag=se&keywords=sonal+patel&qid=1785955544&s=books&sprefix=sonal+patel%2Cstripbooks%2C203&sr=1-2

In this episode Gary Mansfield speaks to Steeldoor Studios (@SteeldoorStudios) Steeldoor Studios is the pseudonym of a self-taught artist whose work has been shaped by a lifetime of institutional experience, including many years spent in prison.Creating primarily in acrylic, ink and pencil, the artist explores themes of identity, confinement, recovery, resilience and personal transformation.Their paintings frequently feature powerful self-portraits and symbolic imagery, inviting viewers to reflect on the psychological effects of incarceration and the enduring capacity for hope. Despite being colour-blind, Steeldoor Studios has developed a distinctive visual style, using carefully selected palettes and expressive compositions to convey emotion and narrative. Art became both a creative outlet and a means of rehabilitation, allowing difficult experiences to be transformed into meaningful works. The artist's work has been exhibited publicly and discussed at conferences, gaining recognition for its honesty and emotional depth. Through Steeldoor Studios, creativity becomes a vehicle for healing, self-expression and reconnecting with society beyond prison walls. Solo Show - ‘Stretched to the Limit' by Steel Door Studios at National Justice Museum Saturday 23 May to Sunday 1 November 2026 “Steel Door Studios has produced a deeply moving and personal reflection on a broken prison system; each piece invites us to confront difficult truths and asks: who holds the power to define the prison system? Collectively, the pieces propose that we all have a responsibility to shape a system that benefits the whole of society by placing rehabilitation, well-being and desistance from crime at its core. “ For more information on the work of Steeldoor Studios go tohttps://steeldoorstudios.com/ To Support this podcast from as little as £3 per month: www.patreon/ministryofarts For full line up of confirmed artists go to https://www.ministryofarts.co.ukEmail: ministryofartsorg@gmail.comSocial Media: @ministryofartsorg Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

STREAMING MAKING JBS, JEFF BLISS, MICHAEL VLAHOS.  7-31-261900 LA CHAMBER OF COMMERCEThis podcast transcript features a dialogue between John Batchelor and Jeff Bliss regarding a series of escalating global and domestic crises. The conversation begins with a massive migration event in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, which the speakers characterize as an unprecedented invasion of thousands of men from Morocco into the European Union. Turning to the United States, they detail a toxic chemical emergency caused by a massive fire in Los Angeles and the subsequent political fallout in Seattle following a festival shooting. The program also examines the controversial personal history and political ambitions of California Governor Gavin Newsom. Finally, a segment featuring a guest named Germanicus analyzes the risk of an unfolding world war fueled by a perceived lack of decisive American leadership. Collectively, these sources depict a world struggling with volatile borders, civil unrest, and failing institutional stability.

Performance debt builds while you are still succeeding. Learn how hidden costs erode your clarity, recovery, relationships, and future capacity. Performance Debt: Why Success Can Hide the Warning Signs The most dangerous stage of burnout is not when you can no longer perform. It is when you are still performing well enough to believe nothing is wrong. You are still working. Still training. Still handling problems. People continue to depend on you because you have given them every reason to believe you can carry the weight. But something has changed. Decisions require more effort. Your patience is thinner. Training feels mechanical rather than energizing. You are physically present with the people who matter, but part of you is somewhere else—recovering from the day or preparing for the next demand. Nothing has collapsed, so you tell yourself you are fine. That is how performance debt remains hidden. What Is Performance Debt? Performance debt is the accumulated cost of repeatedly sacrificing recovery, alignment, emotional regulation, and sustainable habits to maintain short-term performance. Put more simply, it is what builds when you keep borrowing from your future capacity to perform today. One difficult week does not necessarily create the problem. There will always be seasons that require longer hours, harder training, greater responsibility, and a willingness to push beyond what feels comfortable. Human performance depends partly on our capacity to rise when the moment demands it. The debt begins when the exception becomes the operating model. You stop recovering fully because there is always another deadline. You ignore physical warning signs because the workout still gets completed. You suppress frustration because other people need you to remain composed. You continue carrying responsibilities that should have been shared, changed, or released. Each decision appears reasonable by itself. Collectively, they begin consuming the capacity required to sustain the life you have built. Why Success Conceals the Cost Visible output is a lagging indicator. It tells you what you produced, but it does not reveal what producing it required. You can meet the deadline while losing strategic clarity. You can complete the workout while recovering more slowly. You can take care of everyone around you while becoming increasingly disconnected from yourself. This is especially dangerous for capable men because competence creates room for compensation. Your intelligence helps you solve problems even when your focus is deteriorating. Discipline allows you to override fatigue. Responsibility gives you an honorable reason to continue. Emotional control helps you conceal the pressure from everyone around you. The very qualities that helped you succeed can become the qualities that hide your performance debt. Other people may even reinforce the pattern. They praise your dependability, admire your work ethic, and continue bringing you problems because you always find a way to handle them. They benefit from your output without seeing its private cost. Eventually, “I am the man who handles it” becomes more than a statement of capability. It becomes a role you are afraid to question. The Interest Payments Begin Before Burnout Performance debt rarely announces itself through one dramatic event. It collects interest through small changes you can easily rationalize. Mentally, decisions take longer and your strategic range begins to narrow. You remain capable of solving immediate problems, but it becomes harder to step back, consider alternatives, or see beyond the next demand. Emotionally, irritability increases while your emotional range flattens. You may believe you are remaining controlled, but the people closest to you experience that control as distance, impatience, or withdrawal. Physically, sleep provides less restoration. Soreness lingers. Your nervous system stays activated even when the external demand has ended. You continue training, but the session becomes another obligation rather than a practice that builds strength and restores connection. Relationally, conversations start feeling like additional demands. The people you care about receive your presence in fragments and whatever energy remains after work, responsibility, and internal pressure have taken their share. None of these signals proves that you are failing. They reveal that maintaining your current level of performance is becoming more expensive. (function(d,s,id) { var js; var fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "https://forms.aweber.com/form/30/1374258830.js"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, "script", "aweber-wjs-1506684634")); Performance Debt Is Not the Same as Burnout Performance debt and burnout are related, but they are not interchangeable. Performance debt is the accumulating liability. Burnout is one possible consequence when that liability can no longer be hidden, carried, or serviced. The debt begins much earlier—often while a man is still succeeding and receiving praise for how well he is handling everything. This distinction matters because it creates an opportunity for earlier recognition. You do not need to diagnose every difficult month as burnout. You also do not need to wait until you are exhausted, disengaged, or unable to function before admitting that your way of operating has become unsustainable. Performance debt accumulates before performance visibly declines. Recognizing it early allows you to protect capacity instead of waiting until you must rebuild after a breakdown. What Physical Training Reveals About Sustainable Performance Physical training makes this principle difficult to deny. A demanding CrossFit session, a heavy strength cycle, or a steep mountain climb creates stress. When that stress is followed by adequate recovery, the body adapts. Muscle is rebuilt, movement becomes more efficient, and your capacity increases. But repeated overload without sufficient recovery produces a different result. Movement begins to compensate. Technique deteriorates. Soreness remains longer. The body finds ways to complete the work, but those compensations quietly increase the risk of injury. You may still finish the workout. That does not mean the training is producing the intended adaptation. The same thing happens mentally and emotionally. You compensate for reduced clarity by working longer. You compensate for exhaustion with caffeine, urgency, and adrenaline. You compensate for emotional disconnection by becoming more controlled and task-oriented. For a while, the compensation works. Eventually, it becomes another source of strain. The body does not interpret relentless pressure as character. It responds according to stress, capacity, recovery, and adaptation. Your mind, emotional system, and relationships are not exempt from that equation. Strength creates growth when paired with recovery. Without recovery, strength begins consuming itself. When Your Best Qualities Become Expensive Discipline is not the enemy. Responsibility is not the enemy. Resilience and emotional control are not the enemy. The problem is what happens when these strengths operate without discernment. Discipline without recovery becomes self-neglect. Responsibility without boundaries becomes overfunctioning. Emotional control without connection becomes withdrawal. Resilience without discernment becomes the ability to tolerate conditions that should have been confronted or changed. A strength is valuable because it serves a meaningful purpose. When it is used automatically—regardless of context, cost, or consequence—it stops being a conscious strength and becomes an identity-driven pattern. You may recognize this during training. There are days when pushing through discomfort builds confidence and capacity. There are other days when pushing through is simply an unwillingness to admit that your body needs a different response. The movement may look identical from the outside. The internal truth is completely different. The same discernment must be applied to the rest of your life. Carrying more is not always evidence that you are becoming stronger. Sometimes it is evidence that you have not permitted yourself to put anything down. Recovery Alone Will Not Eliminate the Debt A weekend away may reduce immediate strain. A lighter training week may help your body recover. A vacation may create enough distance for you to breathe again. Those things matter, but temporary recovery does not automatically change the pattern that created the debt. If your identity still depends on being needed, you will return and begin carrying everything again. If you believe rest must be earned, recovery will remain the first thing sacrificed when pressure rises. If your worth is tied to output, any reduction in activity will feel like weakness rather than intelligent performance management. You do not eliminate financial debt by making one payment while continuing the same spending pattern. Performance debt works the same way. Recovery must be accompanied by a change in how performance is produced. That may require clearer boundaries, different priorities, more honest communication, better physical recovery, or the willingness to question goals that no longer align with the man you are becoming. The objective is not temporary relief. It is a more sustainable operating model. Audit the Cost Beneath Your Results Begin with the question most high performers already ask: What results am I producing? Answer it honestly and factually. Look at your work, training, responsibilities, relationships, and commitments. Acknowledge what is functioning without minimizing your accomplishments. Then ask the question that is usually ignored: What is it costing me to produce these results? Look beyond time and effort. Consider the mental, emotional, physical, and relational costs. Where are the interest payments appearing first? What feels heavier, slower, flatter, or more reactive than it did six months ago? Finally, ask: Is my current way of operating sustainable? Do not base your answer on whether you can survive another week. You probably can. Ask whether the same model can support your health, performance, relationships, and sense of purpose for the next year. There is also a fourth question, and it may be the most revealing: What have I already noticed but continued to override? Performance debt loses much of its power when the cost becomes visible and specific. You can no longer call the pattern strength once you clearly see how it is consuming the very capacity that strength is supposed to protect. Sustainable Performance Requires Integrated Strength The answer is not to become less ambitious, less disciplined, or less capable. It is to stop using your capability in a way that steadily destroys your capacity. Sustainable human performance requires pressure and recovery, discipline and discernment, responsibility and boundaries, control and connection. These qualities are not opposites. They are complementary forces that keep strength from becoming fragmented. Imagine carrying the same important responsibilities without the constant internal friction. Imagine training hard while knowing when intensity builds capacity and when it merely feeds an outdated identity. Imagine being present with the people who matter without feeling that their needs are another demand you must manage. That is not reduced performance. It is performance built on a stronger foundation. Your ability to keep going is not proof that your current way of operating is sustainable. The deeper measure is whether your physical strength, mental clarity, emotional resilience, relationships, and sense of purpose remain available while you pursue what matters. Your future capacity is not an unlimited line of credit. The work is not simply to keep performing. It is to become the man who can sustain what matters without consuming himself to do it. Rebuild the Capacity Beneath Your Performance If you recognize the hidden cost beneath your results, the Resilient Man Framework will help you examine the structure supporting your performance. It is built around four interconnected areas—physical strength, mental clarity, emotional resilience, and meaningful purpose—so you can identify where performance debt is accumulating and begin creating strength that remains available when pressure rises. Frequently Asked Questions What is performance debt in simple terms? Performance debt is the hidden cost that accumulates when you repeatedly sacrifice recovery, clarity, emotional regulation, relationships, or alignment to maintain immediate results. It is similar to borrowing money: you receive something useful today but create an obligation that must eventually be repaid. The difference is that the repayment may appear as mental fatigue, slower physical recovery, irritability, reduced focus, or burnout. One intense period does not automatically create debt. The problem develops when borrowing from future capacity becomes your normal way of performing. How is performance debt different from burnout? Performance debt begins while you are still functioning and may still be performing successfully. Burnout is one possible later consequence when the accumulated cost becomes too large to hide or manage. A person carrying debt may continue meeting deadlines, training, leading, and fulfilling responsibilities, although doing so requires increasing effort. Someone experiencing burnout may show more visible exhaustion, detachment, cynicism, or reduced effectiveness. The distinction matters because recognizing the accumulating cost early creates an opportunity to adjust before a significant decline or breakdown occurs. What are the early warning signs of performance debt? Early signs include needing more effort to produce the same result, slower decisions, fragmented focus, lingering physical soreness, reduced patience, emotional withdrawal, and difficulty being present in relationships. You may also notice that training feels mechanical, sleep restores less energy, or time away provides only temporary relief. None of these signs alone confirms a serious problem. The meaningful pattern is a rising internal cost combined with continued external performance. When several areas begin deteriorating while output remains intact, your operating model deserves an honest examination. Can discipline contribute to performance debt? Discipline can contribute when it is used to override every physical, emotional, or relational signal instead of helping you respond intelligently. Healthy discipline supports consistent action, recovery, and meaningful priorities. Misaligned discipline treats rest as weakness, ignores declining capacity, and demands continued output regardless of the cost. The issue is not discipline itself but discipline without discernment. A demanding workout can develop resilience when the body is prepared for it. The same workout can deepen exhaustion when it is performed only to prove that you never back down. Can rest eliminate accumulated performance debt? Rest can reduce immediate strain, but it may not correct the pattern responsible for the debt. A vacation, deload week, or quiet weekend can restore some energy. However, if you return to unclear boundaries, excessive responsibility, emotional suppression, or an identity built entirely around achievement, the same debt will begin accumulating again. Sustainable recovery requires both restoration and recalibration. You must restore neglected capacity while changing how you produce results. Otherwise, rest becomes a temporary payment made against a liability that continues growing. How can I begin reducing performance debt? Start by identifying what your current results are costing you mentally, physically, emotionally, and relationally. Notice where the interest appears first and which warning signs you have been overriding because you can still function. Next, distinguish temporary demands from recurring patterns. Reducing the debt may involve better recovery, clearer boundaries, fewer unnecessary commitments, honest conversations, or changing goals that no longer fit. The purpose is not to withdraw from challenge. It is to create an integrated way of performing that builds capacity instead of continually borrowing from it.

Collective CIO Natalie Silverstein joins Next In Media to explore how creators are evolving into full-fledged media networks and what it takes for brands to scale authentic partnerships in a hyper-fragmented landscape. Natalie, also breaks down real-time crisis agility, strategies for training AI language models on video content, and how to combat the algorithmic reach recession with targeted paid media. Key Highlights

Good morning from Pharma Daily: the podcast that brings you the most important developments in the pharmaceutical and biotech world. Biogen has made a significant acquisition by purchasing Apellis Pharmaceuticals, a move expected to boost its 2026 revenue guidance with promising growth prospects. This strategic acquisition, along with strong sales from new drugs, enhances Biogen's position in the competitive market for neurological disorders. By integrating Apellis' offerings, Biogen is poised to strengthen its portfolio, particularly in areas of unmet medical need. On the regulatory front, AbbVie has achieved a milestone with its drug Rinvoq (upadacitinib), which has received dual approvals from the European Union for treating non-segmental vitiligo and severe alopecia areata. These approvals were based on successful Phase 3 data, underscoring Rinvoq's efficacy as a JAK inhibitor in tackling autoimmune conditions. This development not only highlights AbbVie's commitment to expanding its therapeutic portfolio but also positions upadacitinib as a potential mainstay treatment for dermatological autoimmune diseases. AstraZeneca Pharma India has secured approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization for Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) in the neoadjuvant setting for HER2-positive early breast cancer. This approval marks a significant advancement in personalized cancer therapy, offering new hope for patients with this aggressive form of breast cancer. In terms of industry collaborations, the landscape is witnessing numerous partnerships and strategic alliances that are driving innovation forward. Skyverna Therapeutics and ElevateBio have entered a five-year clinical and commercial supply agreement for autoimmune CAR-T therapy, reflecting the growing interest in cell therapies for rare diseases. Meanwhile, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and AbCellera have joined forces to accelerate drug discovery in autoimmune T-cell engagement, supported by a $28 million upfront investment. These collaborations emphasize the importance of combining expertise and resources to advance complex therapeutic solutions. The integration of artificial intelligence in drug development continues to gain momentum. Evinova and Merck KGaA's strategic collaboration aims to leverage AI and machine learning to enhance clinical trials' efficiency, potentially ushering in a new era of precision medicine. Such partnerships highlight the transformative potential of AI in streamlining research and development processes. In funding news, Core Biomedicine has secured $21 million in Series A financing to advance its precision oncology therapeutics. Enlivex's substantial $400 million private placement aims at advancing prediction markets treasury and Allocetra immunotherapy, further accentuating the focus on personalized medicine targeting specific cancer pathways. Clinical trials have also delivered promising results. ProMIS Neurosciences reported positive interim safety and biomarker data from its Phase 1b study of PMN310 for Alzheimer's disease. This monoclonal antibody targets amyloid-beta oligomers implicated in Alzheimer's pathology, offering hope for patients with this debilitating disorder. Mergers and acquisitions remain active, exemplified by Caldera Therapeutics' reverse merger with Synlogic alongside $278 million in financing to advance its bispecific antibody for inflammatory bowel disease. This move reflects a broader trend toward consolidating resources to tackle complex autoimmune conditions. Eli Lilly's ascent to the top of Norstella's pipeline-to-patient productivity index is noteworthy, driven by successful launch strategies and rapid development cycles. This achievement underscores Eli Lilly's effective alignment of R&D efforts with market needs, particularly in areas such as GLP-1 receptor agonists that have transformed diabetes care. Teva Pharmaceuticals is demonstrating resilience through its innovative medicines portfolio amidst declining generic sales. The unexpected surge in Ajovy sales highlights Teva's pivot toward high-value branded drugs amidst competitive pressures. Novo Nordisk faces legal challenges as it navigates allegations regarding Cagrisema's Phase 3 study protocol changes. Legal scrutiny around transparency in clinical trial disclosures continues to highlight the importance of ethical practices and investor trust. Collectively, these developments illustrate a vibrant yet challenging environment where scientific advancements in immunotherapy and targeted treatments intersect with strategic business alignments focused on sustainable growth. As these trends unfold, they promise more effective treatments for complex diseases while companies adapt to an evolving market environment demanding agility and foresight. As always, stay tuned to Pharma Daily for more insights into how these transformations continue to shape the future trajectory of drug development and healthcare delivery globally.Support the show

Welcome to the Celestial Insights Podcast, the show that brings the stars down to Earth! Each week, astrologer, coach, and intuitive Celeste Brooks of Astrology by Celeste will be your guide. Her website is astrologybyceleste.com.  

This week we talk about cyclospora, FoodNet, and Taylor Farms.We also discuss iceberg lettuce, Taco Bell, and foodborne pathogens.Recommended Book: Babel by R.F. KuangTranscriptFoodborne pathogens cause about 48 million illnesses and around 3000 deaths in the US alone each year.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the main agency tasked with keeping those numbers as low as possible, and the CDC's Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, or FoodNet, is one way that they've tackled this pernicious, persistent problem since 1995, in partnership with the Food and Drug Administration, the US Department of Agriculture, and 10 state health departments: those of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee.Collectively, this FoodNet network covers about 16% of the US population, which seems like a small number, and in some ways it is, but that grid of laboratories and surveillance sites has typically been capable of detecting foodborne problems before they've scaled-up into something more significant, growing from a localized issue into a nationwide outbreak. They're generally not capable of preventing them outright, but they can keep them relatively small and regionalized.FoodNet was created in response to a series of huge, deadly E. coli outbreaks in 1992 and 1993, and in contrast to other common methods of detection, which are usually passive and thus a little slow to respond to potential outbreak indicators, this program was built around active surveillance methods, which means proactively gathering data from medical treatment records, hospitalizations, and even individual patient outcomes (including their travel history)—anything they can pair with diagnostic samples to better understand the context surrounding the products that contain dangerous pathogens—and this was intended to help them move faster to identify issues, triangulate the source of those issues, and then implement measures to solve these issues before they harm a bunch of people, as happened during another round of E. coli outbreaks in 2012 and 2013, which sickened dozens of people across multiple states, about half of the afflicted requiring hospitalization, in addition to at least one known death.At its height, FoodNet tracked 9 pathogens, so it cast a pretty broad net, encompassing the most common and dangerous of these potential vectors, including listeria, campylobacter, shigella, vibrio, yersinia, cyclospora, cryptosporidium, e coli, and salmonella.In July of 2025, as part of a larger wave of sweeping cuts across the nation's safety nets, tracking systems, and scientific agencies, the CDC, under the second Trump administration, downgraded FoodNet so that it was only mandatory to track salmonella and E coli—the rest were no longer on the docket, because these agencies no longer had the budget to keep tracking them.What I'd like to talk about today is a recent, and as of the day I'm recording this ongoing, outbreak of cyclospora-induced cyclosporiasis, what we know about this outbreak, and what might happen next.—Cyclospora cayetanensis is a protozoan that can infect human beings, and which is usually transmitted via contaminated fruits and vegetables. This contamination is typically the consequence of inadequate sanitation standards, as it's not transmitted via coughing or blood or anything like that, it's carried via human feces.So this parasite gets into a human, sporulates, which means it releases a bunch of spores within its host, and then usually between 1 and 2 weeks after entering its new host, the host develops cyclosporiasis, the disease caused by cyclospora producing all those spores. This disease is notorious for sometimes causing what's colorfully called explosive diarrhea, alongside general watery bowel movements, intense cramping and severe gas and bloating, and that's sometimes paired with nausea, vomiting, fever, and dehydration, due to all the frequent, intense, watery bowel-movement-related output.This is how cyclospora reproduces and spreads: it infects a host, that host has urgent diarrhea for a while, usually more than two days, sometimes as long as several weeks or even a month or more, with all the pain and discomfort and life-disrupting issues you might assume from that sort of persistent symptom, and then it sometimes finds new hosts via that watery output.Sometimes, cyclospora works its way into food systems because sanitation standards at a particular farm will be not good. Specifically, workers will sometimes not be allowed to take restroom breaks, and they'll simply do their business right there in the field; so if they're sick and can't afford to take a sick day, and might be fired if they do, or if they're asymptomatic, which some people infected with cyclospora are, they might do their business in the field, unaware that waste can then go on to spread this pathogen into the food system. It's also possible that someone just doesn't wash their hands properly after using the rest room, and then gets back to work, picking vegetables or operating at some other level along the food processing and packaging assembly line, and it gets into the system that way.In a typical year, the United States records around 2,700 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis, though on occasion it's as low as just a few hundred cases, the majority of which show up in health records in the Spring and Summer, between May and August. That range includes relatively mild outbreaks, so while this is a persistent issue, it's also not generally a massive one, at least compared to other pathogens of note. It's not pleasant for those who come down with it, of course, but not something that has triggered an organized response from the top, because of its meager scale, and because (again, while super unpleasant) people with healthy immune systems generally recover without treatment, even if that recovery can take a while. The biggest risk for most people who catch this disease is dehydration, though immunocompromised people are also sometimes given antibiotics by their doctors, the typical dosage curing about 96% of the people who receive it.There was a larger-than-usual outbreak of cyclosporiasis in the US in 2020, which caused a confirmed 1,241 cases across the country, a whole lot to land all at once, and there were no reported deaths resulting from that outbreak. Between 2018 and 2021, there were about 6,000 total confirmed cases across the US, so an average of about 2000 per year.As of mid-July 2026, the CDC has officially confirmed 1,645 cases of this illness, with another 5,100 probable or potential cases currently under investigation. If the majority of those still-under-investigation cases are confirmed, that would mean more people have already been infected as a result of this one outbreak in the first half of 2026 than were infected between 2018 and 2021, which again, is a range that includes the large outbreak that happened in 2020.Also worth noting about those numbers: that's federal-level, CDC reporting, and it's generally understood that there's a significant lag between local-level data and those that have percolated up to the national level. As of the day I'm recording this, Michigan's health agencies alone have more than 5,000 confirmed and suspected cases, Ohio has nearly 1,200, and other states, which are still investigating, are seeing dozens of confirmed cases, including 43 in Wisconsin, 69 in Maryland, and a few already, in the early stages of investigation, in Nevada.Over the past week, officials flagged shredded lettuce sourced from Mexico and sold by a company called Taylor Farms as the likely source of at least some of these cases, and that's led to a recall on lettuce produced by the company in 27 states. Over the weekend, the CDC found cyclospora in iceberg lettuce from the company's Mexican operations, as well, and this lettuce was part of a batch that wasn't included in the recall—so there's a good chance the recall will expand beyond the currently targeted products, which include shredded lettuce destined for Taco Bell locations in five states, and the kitchens of several other fast food chains, as well.Taylor Farms is one of the largest producers of fresh fruits and vegetables in the United States, and their products are sold all over the place, from lower-end fast food restaurants to more expensive grocery stores like Whole Foods.Taylor Foods has announced that it's voluntarily removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from shelves, even though none of its branded, in-store salad kits have been clearly tied to the outbreak, and Taco Bell has said that it's voluntarily removing all potentially affected lettuce from its locations in the five most-impacted states, indefinitely removing lettuce sourced from the implicated supplier; other brands are following suit, no one wanting to be associated with this outbreak, but everyone wanting to show would-be customers that they're taking it seriously.Interestingly, the FDA doesn't actually require that Taylor Foods tell the public who their products go to—which other entities might be selling infected produce. So they've released lists of product numbers, and again, many of their customers are taking the initiative to announce the removal of this lettuce from their shelves or food, without being prompted, but there's still some fog-of-war here, because of Taylor Foods' decision not to be clearer with that product list.So this is already the largest recorded cyclospora outbreak in US history, there have been 141 confirmed hospitalizations from the CDC, and that number is likely larger, again because it takes a while for state-level numbers to work their way up to the CDC, and to be reconfirmed at that level. Also important to note here is that a lot, perhaps even the majority of people who suffer from cyclosporiasis will never show up in these data, because they just suffer silently, either not realizing they have this parasite, or not seeing the point of going to the hospital, maybe paying an arm and a leg to do so, just to get prescribed anti-diarrheal medication and told to take fluids, same as they can do at home. People who do have any kind of immunodeficiency issues or potentially confounding factors, like being older or very young, are being encouraged to seek medical help, though, as they're more likely to suffer more serious consequences after contracting this disease.It's currently unclear where precisely this outbreak came from, and it's puzzling how an outbreak of this scale might have happened, as, in the words of Matthew Moore, a food safety microbiologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who was quoted in the New York Times, this many infections suggest there was a “massive degree of human fecal contamination.” So probably not just a farm laborer who forgot to wash their hands after using the rest room, something much more substantial than that.Also, because cyclospora takes a while, a week or two, to create enough spores in its host to trigger cyclosporiasis, attribution of the infection difficult, which in turn makes tracking it back to its source difficult; which is part of why this outbreak, which has been going on for weeks, is still under investigation, not a solved problem with definitive answers and in-practice solutions.Right now, experts are recommending higher-risk foods are cooked to at least 158 degrees F, because that temperature kills this pathogen, and washing fresh produce doesn't always get rid of all the cyclospora on a contaminated piece of produce. Washing fresh produce certainly helps, and it's better than nothing, and scrubbing is even better. They also recommend avoiding high-risk foods when possible, though of course that won't always be possible for everyone, nor will it always be possible to get heads of lettuce rather than pre-made salads, though that's also advised when feasible.Also worth noting here is that even if the FoodNet program was still up to full power, tracking all 9 of those original pathogens, it's unlikely this outbreak would have been prevented.It likely would have flagged that something was up earlier on in this outbreak, though, which could have led to faster action in the afflicted regions. It probably would have allowed professionals to note hot spots faster, as well, which is what this kind of surveillance system is for: it doesn't prevent, but it does make it more likely experts will have the chance to keep things from spiraling out of control.Show Noteshttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/well/cyclospora-taylor-farms-lettuce-taco-bell.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/15/well/eat/cyclospora-stomach-bug-what-to-know.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/business/cyclospora-taylor-farms-lettuce.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/well/eat/lettuce-safety-cyclospora-outbreak.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/health/cyclospora-taylor-farms-mexico-taco-bell-lettuce.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclosporiasishttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8471761/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00494755261437456https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jul/16/diarrhea-outbreak-cyclospora-parasite-cdchttps://www.cdc.gov/cyclosporiasis/php/surveillance/index.htmlhttps://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/expert-qa/cyclosporiasis-outbreakhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/07/17/taco-bell-warned-investors-about-cyclospora-before-the-outbreak-and-these-other-chains-did-too/https://www.today.com/health/disease/cyclosporiasis-outbreak-foods-avoid-map-cases-parasite-diarrhea-2026-rcna588006http://cnn.com/2026/07/18/health/cyclospora-what-to-do-wellnesshttps://www.statnews.com/2025/12/22/american-food-safety-funding-cuts-foodnet/https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/foodborne-disease/cdc-cuts-back-foodborne-illness-surveillance-programhttps://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-quietly-scaled-back-surveillance-program-foodborne-illnesses-rcna227089https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langas/article/PIIS2468-1253(25)00305-X/fulltexthttps://www.cdc.gov/foodnet/about/index.htmlhttps://www.food-safety.com/articles/10646-cdc-slashes-foodnet-surveillance-from-eight-foodborne-pathogens-to-twohttps://www.thermofisher.com/blog/food/foodnet-active-surveillance-for-food-safety/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/health/taylor-farms-iceberg-lettuce-recall.htmlhttps://apnews.com/article/cyclospora-lettuce-recall-taylor-farms-taco-bell-8c8bb30fbd100e0c246cffeff6983753 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit letsknowthings.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to the Celestial Insights Podcast, the show that brings the stars down to Earth! Each week, astrologer, coach, and intuitive Celeste Brooks of Astrology by Celeste will be your guide. Her website is astrologybyceleste.com.  

✨ This week is a major turning point. We're in the Dog Days of Summer, the hottest and slowest part of the season, beginning as the Sun aligns with Sirius, the Dog Star. It's a reminder to slow down, recharge, and enjoy life. At the same time, we're experiencing the ultra-rare Barbault Basket, a powerful alignment of Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus that signals the beginning of a new chapter for both humanity and our own lives.

For the 1000th time, I sat down and hit record. This is a goal I have worked toward for 10 years. When I launched the podcast on March 15, 2016, my goal was to “feel this out.” I wanted to see if I liked podcasting as a medium for coaching, community building, and exploration. I quickly knew this was going to be my jam.  If you don't know the origin story of this show, you might be surprised to learn that this little show that could largely exists as it does today because I was hit with a cease & desist within 48 hours of launching. The way that situation transpired lit a fire underneath me. In that messy moment of panic, I knew that if someone was going to try to take me down, I was taking this show TO THE TOP.  The show became a Top 10 show in multiple categories on Apple Podcasts. Today, in a sea of 3.4 million podcasts, our show is ranked in the top 0.5% globally. The show has been downloaded over 7 million times in over 140 countries. It is currently a Top 30 Management show - a category of over 30,000 shows.  These numbers are fun for me to see. But the story behind the numbers is so much more impactful. In this episode, I'm sharing the story of the show. From that cease & desist to building an international community of women, to landing on international stages to speak, to Glennon Doyle Zoom bombing our membership community, to a global shutdown, to failed IVF,  PTSD/Anxiety/ADHD diagnoses, rebranding and renaming the show, a Masters Degree, returning to my roots in healthcare, and supporting Fortune 10 companies, this has been a wild ride I could have never predicted.  The impact of the show is so much bigger than me. And, that was always the plan. That was the goal. You all showed up and listened. You did the work. You got uncomfortable. You changed your behavior. You made your life better. You modeled to others how to make their lives better.  Collectively, we have changed lives. Thousands, if not millions, of lives impacted across 7 million downloads and 5.25 million hours of listening. For my fellow math nerds, that's 600 YEARS of continuous listening.  I set out to do this alone. But I am never actually alone. At any given moment, someone somewhere is listening in. In every moment, one of you is with me. We are constantly in this together. And that means everything to me.   In this with you. Always. Links Mentioned: Early Bird Enrollment is open for my Aligned Leadership Incubator! Save $500 if you apply by June 30th: saradean.com/aligned Hire Sara to speak: saradean.com/speaking Coach with Sara: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services Connect with Sara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The provided sources examine effective accelerationism (e/acc), a modern movement that promotes rapid, unrestricted technological development to solve global issues. Proponents like Marc Andreessen argue in works such as the "Techno-Optimist Manifesto" that innovation and free markets are the primary drivers of human prosperity and cosmic progress. Meanwhile, Sam Altman predicts an unstoppable AI revolution that will drastically lower costs while necessitating new policies for wealth distribution, such as taxing capital and land. This ideology often clashes with cautious "doomers" and the effective altruism community, who emphasize the existential risks associated with advanced artificial intelligence. Collectively, the texts portray a utopian vision where technology accelerates beyond human limits to maximize energy usage and expand consciousness. Together, these perspectives illustrate a significant intellectual shift in Silicon Valley toward viewing technology as a philanthropic force that must be freed from regulatory oversight.

Catch up on all the headlines in Utah Jazz, NBA, CFB, MLB, and World Cup news with "What is Trending" for July 10, 2026.

These stories highlight the multifaceted challenges of the burgeoning AI era, ranging from geopolitical regulatory shifts to novel cybersecurity threats. While the U.S. government leverages export controls to extract security commitments from AI developers, international bodies like the EU are implementing strict enforcement deadlines for high-risk systems. Technological advancements are simultaneously enabling autonomous ransomware attacks and revolutionary scientific discoveries, such as AI-designed antibiotics. However, this rapid integration creates significant strain on local energy infrastructure and reveals the persistent necessity of human expertise in traditional engineering. Furthermore, the legal landscape is evolving as courts and legislatures move to protect digital privacy and shield minors from the emotional manipulation of AI companions. Collectively, these reports underscore that as AI becomes a universal tool, society must grapple with its physical, ethical, and security implications.

Send us Fan MailThis week's enterprise software developments highlight the accelerating convergence of AI, automation, and platform consolidation across multiple technology categories. Reshift Media launched Franify to help franchise organizations modernize marketing execution, while Sprinklr expanded its customer experience capabilities through its Spring '26 release. In the AI space, NeuBird AI raised significant funding to advance agentic AI for production operations, and Xoople secured substantial investment to build an AI-ready system of record for geospatial and Earth-scale data. Meanwhile, Advantive detailed its Advantive ONE platform strategy, and AppDirect announced plans to acquire PartnerStack to strengthen ecosystem and partner management capabilities. Amazon Web Services expanded its AI portfolio by introducing Claude Opus 4.7 to Amazon Bedrock, while BlackLine unveiled its Agentic Financial Operations model to transform finance workflows. Certinia introduced Veda, an intelligent operations engine designed to enhance business execution, and Copado launched Agentia, a Salesforce-first delivery platform aimed at streamlining software development and deployment. Collectively, these announcements demonstrate how vendors are embedding intelligent agents, operational automation, and connected data architectures into core enterprise processes to improve productivity, decision-making, and business agility.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry analysts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to analyze current enterprise software stories. We covered many grounds including the direction and roadmaps of each enterprise software vendors. Finally, we analyzed future trends and how they might shape the enterprise software industry.Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXz-mbRHMowQuestions for Panelists?

Steven Pressfield is the bestselling author of titles such as Gates of Fire, Tides of War, and The Legend of Bagger Vance. He's also written numerous nonfiction books, such as The War of Art and Turning Pro. Collectively, his books have sold millions of copies and been translated into countless languages; Gates of Fire, in particular, is required reading at West Point and Annapolis and has been on the U.S. Marine Corps Commandant's Reading List for all ranks since 2002. But what I love about him is that he's incredibly open. He wrote for 27 years before he got his first novel published, and during that time, he worked 21 different jobs in 11 states. He taught school, drove tractor-trailers, worked in advertising and as a screenwriter in Hollywood, worked on offshore oil rigs, picked fruit as a migrant worker — you name it. His newest book is a novel called The Arcadian, and that's what we're getting into today. We're discussing the genesis of the book and how it maps onto many of the personal struggles we all overcome in our day-to-day lives, both as leaders and individuals. We also touch on a few topics that he's never really been asked before, as it pertains to his writing and why he can sometimes bounce in and out of writing both fiction and non-fiction. Regardless of your profession, you'll find something relatable here. He has a wonderful perspective and is a tremendous writer.   WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE: -Why fiction can be more effective at exploring deeper human truths than nonfiction when it comes to psychology, conflict, and motivation. -How great stories are effective because they keep the reader moving by planting breadcrumbs, small hints, and bits of information along the way. -How to improve your writing by honing your voice, finding the right voice for the project, and using a clear structure with recurring symbols and threads. -The things that still keep Steven curious and learning including the creative process, the Muse, and the idea that stories come from another dimension. -How he balances research with storytelling by grounding the reader in real details while still keeping the ideas organized and understandable   Follow Steven: https://www.instagram.com/steven_pressfield/?hl=en https://stevenpressfield.com/   Follow Us: Website: ArtofCoaching.com Instagram: @coach_brettb X: @coach_brettb

A central focus is Tesla's Optimus project, where Elon Musk has tempered expectations by forecasting a slow production ramp-up despite breaking ground on a massive manufacturing facility in Texas. Simultaneously, China is emerging as a dominant force, leveraging its established supply chains to replicate its previous success in the electric vehicle market. Financial analysts predict a multitillion-dollar global market by 2050, fueled by aggressive venture capital and competition between firms like Figure AI, Agility Robotics, and Unitree. While startups lead in innovation, traditional industrial incumbents remain cautious, prioritizing operational reliability and safety certifications over rapid deployment. Collectively, these reports illustrate a sector transitioning into a high-stakes commercial race defined by the integration of advanced AI and physical labor.Check out -

Fmr. Gov. David Paterson is off for the holiday, so instead, it is a best of for Cats and Cosby on WABC. This serves as a high-energy platform for Common Sense conservative discourse, anchored by the major announcement that Michael Cohen, former attorney to Donald Trump, is joining the station as a regular host. The program frames Cohen's arrival as an "amazing moment" supported by the former president, emphasizing a shift toward topical and relevant information intended for the "tired majority" of Americans. Beyond this media update, the episode traverses a variety of political battlegrounds, featuring interviews with Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Middle Eastern stability and Congressman Gabe Evans on the "radical" policies impacting Colorado. Collectively, these segments aim to celebrate America's 250th anniversary while sounding an alarm against what the hosts describe as the anti-American values and "lunacy" of the progressive left.

What if the loneliness you feel isn't a personal problem but a public health emergency nobody is talking about loudly enough? In this episode, Dr. Julie Radlauer, founder of Collectively, TEDx speaker, and bestselling author of CONNECT: 100 Ways to Create Happiness in Your Life, shares how 25 years working at the intersection of behavioral health and public health led her to one unavoidable conclusion: mental health is deeply shaped by social health. What changed everything wasn't a textbook or a theory. It was 50 families from across the country who looked Julie in the eye and said: we're sick of talking about the problem. Fix it. Those conversations didn't just change her research. They changed her entire mission.   [00:04:00] What She Does and Who She Serves Founder and CEO of Collectively, focused on improving the mental health narrative Works with nonprofits, governments, and academia at every level Facilitates a leadership academy for emerging nonprofit leaders [00:05:30] How She Got Here Started as a licensed mental health counselor working with low-income children and families Climbed into administration as director of children's services at a large community mental health center Started a consulting business for flexibility; ended up working even more hours as an entrepreneur [00:07:00] What Inspires Her: Prevention Over Intervention Sees a global mental health crisis and a loneliness epidemic playing out at the same time Focuses on the social aspects of life that people can actually control Wants to give leaders practical tools to prevent mental health struggles before they start [00:08:00] Client Impact: Giving Communities a Framework to Change Conducts comprehensive assessments of organizations, communities, and systems Uses data, surveys, and conversations to identify what is not working Delivers strategic reports showing exactly what needs to change and how [00:10:00] The Research That Changed Everything: 50 Families Got frustrated watching families stabilize and then cycle back into crisis months later Earned a doctorate in public health to understand prevention at the population level Conducted a national study interviewing 50 families of children in public behavioral health systems Families said: we don't want clinical support; we want family, faith, friends, and community [00:12:30] What the Families Taught Her Families challenged her directly: what are you going to do with this information? A group of parents collaborated to co-create curriculum based on what they said was needed Some of those parents now travel the country training behavioral health professionals The families didn't just change her research; they became her mission [00:16:00] The Vision Going Forward Her main client groups are nonprofits, governments, and academia; all are under serious pressure The professionals she works with are exhausted and navigating constant change Focuses on giving leaders tools to support themselves, their teams, and the people they serve [00:17:30] Resources and Final Word Visit collectivelyus.org to learn about the organization and its work Specializes in translating research into practical, accessible tools anyone can use One in three people is currently struggling with mental health; the need has never been greater   KEY QUOTES "What we need is support with our family, our faith, our friends, our community. We need to figure out how to help communities support each other." - The families, as shared by Dr. Julie Radlauer "The people I interviewed in that study changed my life. They were in the most challenging situations, and they said: fix the problem." - Dr. Julie Radlauer "I focus on the social influences of mental health: the social aspects of your life that we actually have some ability to control." - Dr. Julie Radlauer CONNECT WITH DR. JULIE RADLAUER Organization: https://www.collectivelyus.org Personal: https://www.julieradlauer.com Book: https://www.amazon.com/CONNECT-Ways-Create-Happiness-Your/dp/B0CGM51W8Q TEDx Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v9nJlVvKFs LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-radlauer-doerfler-drph-lmhc   Thanks for tuning in! If you liked my show, please LEAVE A 5-STAR REVIEW, like, and subscribe! Find me on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeart Radio | Stitcher

Hello and Happy Birthday! to you listening all over these United States where we are holding it together with block parties, neighboring potluck celebrations, fireworks in the night sky, concerts in the park, dancing in the streets, and inclusion for all. Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds (and a bit more) for Story Prompt Friday and your host, Diane Wyzga. They say that you can move to France and live a really good life but you will never be French. Or you can move to Germany and live a really good life but you will never be German. However, if you are here and raise your right hand to take the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States, you are an American.     So, the Witch of Whidbey is here to stir up some story magic as we celebrate our country's 250th birthday. 250 years old is a lot of years. Together we've done some things wrong and some things better. How do we collectively correct the wrongs and improve the better? We fall in love with the narratives that reflect our best selves and we share them with each other in two ways. Connect250, StoryCorps and NPR's Morning Edition are bringing strangers together for recorded conversations about their lives to mark the 250th anniversary of our nation. Connect250 Conversations will go to the Library of Congress, to become part of American history. You are invited to register for a 40-minute video conversation with an American you've never met, and help create a time capsule of American voices in honor of the nation's 250th birthday. Click the LINK to watch a 30-second animated video on YouTube Introducing Connect250  Click the LINK for all the details you need to Learn More, See the process, and Register for Connect250 Conversations that will kick off July 7th, 2026.  You will have guidance every step of the way to have a successful conversation. I signed up!  Maybe I'll get to talk story with you. America's Invitation. For those of you who are not quite ready to chat with a stranger, here's another opportunity. For nearly 250 years, Americans from all walks of life and every corner of the country have had a hand in shaping our nation's history. America's Invitation is your opportunity to get involved in our nation's birthday celebration with a story, a wish for the future, a poem, or even a song. No matter what contribution you make, you are part of America's story. Click the LINK to share your reflections on our country's past, present, or future. Together our voices will tell the American story to create the largest commemoration in our history. No story is too small. Share yours with us today. Story Prompt: Recall a moment in your life when you felt deeply proud to be an American. Write that story and share it out loud!  You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you'll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. AND!  Stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website during reconstruction, email me [info@quartermoonstoryarts.net] to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as Quarter Moon Story Arts on Substack. Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts Music: Mer's Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.  If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

The coordinated global response to climate change-driven displacement is relatively new. Just a few decades ago, virtually no governments were paying attention to the ways in which people were being displaced by extreme weather, sea-level rise, and other climate events. Although the international response remains a work in progress, significant strides have been made to bring the world together. One of the people responsible for that coordination is Walter Kälin, a longtime humanitarian expert and legal scholar who is now the Envoy of the Chair of the Platform on Disaster Displacement, a country-led initiative that works to protect people at risk of climate-related displacement. In this discussion, he breaks down where things stand today in terms of a coordinated response and how things might evolve in the future. Subscribe and please leave us a review on your podcast service of choice.   Chapters 01:15 Evolution of Global Displacement Policy 06:45 Climate Change Enters the Displacement Agenda (2004–2010) 10:28 The Nansen Initiative and the Birth of the Platform on Disaster Displacement 17:55 Lessons Learned: Bottom-Up Over Top-Down Approaches 19:58 Navigating Declining Funding and Political Fragmentation 24:30 Advice for the Next Generation

On episode 313 I had the pleasure of speaking to fellow collaborator SWORDSTYLESHON who was also joined by fellow Victory Lane ENT. colleague Torray Long for an awesome in person conversation! Recorded amongst an amazing backdrop of anime, art, vinyls and more I was thrilled to dive into an array of topics with both of them and get to know more about what made each of them excited to create. Shon spoke on the importance of fusing the rap and anime worlds together. Something that is present in many of his projects including our early 2026 release “Make It Canon” and it was awesome to hear the level of thought and detail he pours into making sure each bar, beat, and cover art is aligned to meet his exact vision. For Torray this is true from a design standpoint. As the main designer for Victory Lane ENT. he told me more about his approach to coming up with visually appealing products that are made to be paired perfectly with other assets of the brand and movement. Collectively they both discussed their creative chemistry as a group, what its kike brainstorming new ideas together, and their goals for the longterm as they both aren't slowing down any time soon. I loved being able to harness the raw energy of this conversation in person with two guys who undoubtedly have an nact for making the world better for both themselves and others by inspiring them through multiple different mediums. Shoutout to Shon, Torray and the entire Victory Lane crew for this opportunity once again!Consider donating to the show via our Ko-Fi profile here

On this week's Lang Fairy Tales episode we have another triple-bill - though these ones are all slightly wonky...We begin with Rapunzel, a tale with its roots in ancient Persian mythology, although what the Langs do with it leaves a little to be desired!Next up it's The Nettle Spinner, another Charles Deulin legend out of Flanders which seems to speak to the power of the Protestant work ethic in the face of villainy!Last then comes Farmer Weatherbeard, a story drawn from Norse mythology that gets completely muddled in translation, missing the point of the original and focusing not on the apprentice who undoes his master, but on the apprentice's father, who has very little to recommend him as a protagonist...Collectively, it makes for an episode of slightly broken stories - and, in turn, some really interesting chats about them which we hope you enjoy!Speak to you again on Saturday for our Essex-themed Three Ravens Live Show from Great Dunmow BookFest and, as soon as it's not too hot to sit and record it, our Patreon Exclusive episode for June all about The History and Folklore of Boardgames!If you are unfamiliar with the Lang Fairy Tales, these seminal collections were assembled between 1889 and 1913 by a married couple, folklorists and translators Nora and Andrew Lang, with most of the work done to compile them completed by Nora, also known as Leonora Blanche Alleyne.Assembled and published in 12 colour-coded "Fairy Books," the corpus the Langs put together included 798 fairy tales from across cultures, many of which had never before been translated into English.They were amongst the most influential books of their time, changing the course of children's literature - although they're hardly just for children, and often deal with quite challenging concepts.Today, purchasing a complete set of the Lang Fairy Books in good condition costs over £4,000 ($5,000+).Thankfully, the collections are all out of copyright, meaning that we can now tell these stories, in podcast form, many for the first time, and share them with a global audience, for free.Our plan is to release the stories between main series of Three Ravens, performing them straight (though with plenty of silly voices) letting the tales speak for themselves in all their madcap, sharp-edged, often quite bizarre glory.The only edits we have made are to amend some culturally-insensitive epithets, which typically pertain to ethnicity, with any such edits made by Eleanor Conlon.Three Ravens is an English Myth and Folklore podcast hosted by award-winning writers Martin Vaux and Eleanor Conlon.Released on Mondays, each weekly episode focuses on one of England's 39 historic counties, exploring the history, folklore and traditions of the area, from ghosts and mermaids to mythical monsters, half-forgotten heroes, bloody legends, and much, much more. Then, and most importantly, the pair take turns to tell a new version of an ancient story from that county - all before discussing what that tale might mean, where it might have come from, and the truths it reveals about England's hidden past...Bonus Episodes are released on Thursdays plus Local Legends episodes on Saturdays - interviews with acclaimed authors, folklorists, podcasters and historians with unique perspectives on that week's county.With a range of exclusive content on Patreon, too, including audio ghost tours, the Three Ravens Newsletter, and monthly Three Ravens Film Club episodes about folk horror films from across the decades, why not join us around the campfire and listen in?REGISTER FOR THE TALES OF SOUTHERN ENGLAND TOURVisit our website Join our Patreon Social media channels and sponsors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us Fan Mailthe fundamental principles of the time value of money, focusing specifically on the concepts of future value and net present value. They explain that an asset's worth changes over time because current capital can be invested to earn simple or compound interest. Educational materials from Wikipedia and BYU detail how these calculations assist in personal finance planning, such as retirement saving and evaluating investment "sacrifices." Complementary video transcripts demonstrate practical applications, such as using Excel functions to determine if a project's projected cash flows justify its initial costs. Collectively, these resources emphasize that discounting future returns is a more accurate way to measure wealth creation than simpler methods like the payback rule. Detailed formulas are provided to show how inflation, compounding frequency, and interest rates influence the long-term growth of financial assets.Support the show

Send us Fan MailThis week's enterprise software developments highlight how vendors are accelerating investments in AI, automation, connectivity, and operational intelligence across the enterprise technology stack. Zapier and Rillet connected general ledger processes to thousands of business applications, while ActivTrak introduced new capabilities to help organizations measure and govern AI adoption. At the same time, Celonis expanded its collaboration with Oracle to strengthen process intelligence initiatives, and C3 AI showcased enhancements to its enterprise AI development platforms. ECI Software Solutions and In Time Tec announced a strategic collaboration, M-Files introduced new solutions for tax advisory, quality management, and contract processes, and Nexthink expanded digital employee experience management with support for Android and iOS devices. Meanwhile, TrueCommerce embedded agentic AI throughout its platform to streamline supply chain operations, Yobi deepened its partnership with Microsoft to enhance AI-powered customer engagement, and Zone & Co strengthened its financial operations portfolio through the acquisition of Sudozi. Collectively, these announcements underscore the growing focus on embedding AI directly into core business workflows while improving interoperability, governance, and enterprise-wide productivity.In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry analysts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to analyze current enterprise software stories. We covered many grounds, including the direction and roadmaps of each enterprise software vendor. Finally, we analyzed future trends and how they might shape the enterprise software industry.Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9cCGErWYJIQuestions for Panelists?

Last time we spoke about the battle of Shanggao. From late March to early April 1940, Japanese forces attacked Shanggao in Jiangxi with a multi‑pronged offensive. Chinese commanders used elastic defense and coordinated counter-moves, trading space for time through layered positions until the Japanese advanced into prepared strongpoints. As the 34th Division moved toward the town, assaults repeatedly hit ridges and bridge lines held by the 74th Corps. Heavy air strikes caused chaos, but timely flank redeployments prevented a decisive breakthrough. During the crisis around March 21–24, Chinese units maneuvered an encirclement and executed a controlled breakout at the critical moment. After intense fighting and bombing, the Japanese were routed and fell back to their original positions. The wider war did not change, yet Shanggao proved that disciplined Chinese planning could reverse Japanese offensives against superior initiative and numbers.   #207 Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. By the spring of 1941, the War of Resistance against Japan had been grinding for nearly four years, and the map of China looked increasingly like a wound. Japan controlled the coastal cities, the major river valleys, and most of the productive lowland plains of the north and east. The Nationalist government had retreated far inland to Chongqing, governing a rump state of mountainous hinterland, foreign sympathies, and diminishing resources. The war had long since ceased to look like a conventional conflict between organized fronts and had settled into something grimmer and more ambiguous — a slow war of attrition fought in the mud and rocks of the Chinese interior, punctuated by Japanese offensives designed not to end the war but to compress it, to squeeze the Nationalists tighter with each season until surrender became a rational calculation rather than a humiliation. Japan had tried other methods first. In the late 1930s, Tokyo made serious overtures to Chiang Kai-shek's government, proposing a negotiated settlement that would see China aligned with Japan and the puppet Wang Jingwei government elevated as the vehicle for that arrangement. Chiang refused. He had gambled, and would continue to gamble, that the war in Europe would eventually draw in the Western powers, that American patience with Japanese aggression would run out, and that time was ultimately on China's side. The strategy required suffering in the present to buy survival in the future. Germany's invasion of Poland in September 1939 and the subsequent expansion of war across Europe only reinforced Japan's desire to accelerate its operations in China before the international situation made them impossible. By 1940, Japan signaled it intended to resolve the "China Incident" — the bureaucratic euphemism it used to avoid officially acknowledging that it was fighting a full-scale war — once and for all. The question was where. The front was hundreds of miles long. The Japanese army in China was stretched thin despite its nominal strength. Spectacular victories in the lowlands had failed to produce the political capitulation Tokyo expected. And in the mountains of Shanxi Province, a particular irritant had been festering for three years — one that the Japanese could neither ignore nor seem to dislodge. The Zhongtiao Mountains rise along the southern edge of Shanxi Province, running roughly east to west for some two hundred miles, forming a natural wall between the loess plateaus of Shanxi and the plains of northern Henan below. The range is not dramatic by Chinese standards — it is not the soaring, cloud-piercing landscape of Sichuan or Yunnan — but it is rugged, deeply ridged, and extraordinarily difficult to move through quickly. For a defending army with knowledge of the terrain, the Zhongtiao range was close to ideal. For an attacker, especially one dependent on mechanized firepower and coordinated logistics, it was a nightmare. Chinese forces had occupied the Zhongtiao Mountains since 1938, following the fall of Taiyuan and the retreat of Nationalist forces from the broader Shanxi campaign. At a moment when much of northern China was collapsing around them, the garrison there dug in and refused to move. Over the following three years, the Japanese Army mounted thirteen separate offensives against the Zhongtiao position. All thirteen failed. The mountains held. Chinese soldiers would later call it the "Eastern Maginot Line," a nickname that was simultaneously a boast and, in retrospect, a warning — the original Maginot Line, after all, had also been considered impregnable until the enemy simply went around it. But the strategic importance of Zhongtiao went beyond prestige. The mountains commanded the northern approach to the Yellow River crossings — the great geographic boundary that separated Japanese-controlled northern China from the Nationalist-held central and western regions. From their positions in the mountains, Chinese troops could threaten Japanese supply lines, protect their own river logistics, and maintain at least a symbolic presence north of the Yellow River. As long as the Zhongtiao garrison held, Japan could not claim complete control of northern China. It was also a potential launching point for a Chinese counteroffensive, should one ever become possible. The Japanese understood this perfectly. By 1940, eliminating the Zhongtiao position had become not merely desirable but strategically necessary. The First War Zone command responsible for the Zhongtiao garrison was, at least on paper, an imposing force. Between 170,000 and 180,000 men were deployed across the mountain range and its approaches, drawn from multiple armies and organized into several large groupings. The 5th Army Group under Zeng Wanzhong held the central area. The 14th Army Group under Liu Maoen operated in the eastern sector. The 4th Army Group, known as the "Iron Pillar of Zhongtiao" for its tenacious defense of the position over three years, was stationed as the backbone of the force. Individual armies were spread across specific nodes: Pei Changhui's 9th Army at Jiyuan in northern Henan; Zhao Shiling's 43rd Army at Yuanqu at the southernmost tip of Shanxi; Tang Huaiyuan's 3rd Army and Kong Lingxun's 80th Army in the Wenxi and Xiaxian areas; Wu Shimin's 98th Army at Dongfeng Town; Wu Tinglin's 15th Army near Gaoping. The man responsible for holding all of this together was Wei Lihuang, a gifted commander and one of Chiang Kai-shek's most capable generals. Wei had organized the Zhongtiao defense from the beginning, and his strategic instincts were widely respected. He was, by most accounts, the indispensable figure in the garrison's survival. The problem was that Wei had made powerful enemies. His refusal to participate in anti-Communist friction operations — at a time when the Nationalist government was increasingly focused on neutralizing the Communists even at the cost of Japanese resistance — had alienated him from a circle of powerful rivals, including the influential Hu Zongnan. Outmaneuvered at court, Wei was summoned to Chongqing in early 1941 and, under the pretext of strategic consultations, was effectively detained at Mount Emei. He never returned to his command in the Zhongtiao Mountains. The army he had built was left without its architect. The garrison that remained was compromised far beyond its missing commander, however. Three years of static defense had created conditions that corroded military discipline in predictable and insidious ways. Supply lines were unreliable, rations were short, and the soldiers garrisoning remote mountain positions had turned, by necessity and then by habit, to the local economy to sustain themselves. A bustling illicit trade in grain and opium had sprung up across the mountain zone, with Chinese troops selling what they could and buying what they needed from merchants who operated equally comfortably on both sides of the Japanese-Chinese frontier. This was not merely a logistical failure. It meant that Japanese intelligence had abundant commercial cover to infiltrate the garrison area, that security was a fiction, and that the defensive posture of the entire force had quietly shifted from warlike readiness to something closer to bureaucratic occupation. The Japanese had not missed any of this. For months before the offensive, Japanese intelligence agents had worked their way into the garrison's supply networks, trading relationships, and eventually its command structure itself. Japanese special forces had identified key headquarters positions. Informants had mapped the positions of individual units, traced the routes between them, and assessed the readiness of the men holding them. By the spring of 1941, Japanese planners believed, with considerable justification, that they could paralyze the entire Chinese command system within an hour of opening fire. This was not boasting. It was reconnaissance. Back in Chongqing, the intelligence picture was worse than unclear — it was actively distorted. The Nationalist intelligence apparatus issued warnings about Japanese troop movements near the Zhongtiao perimeter in April 1941, but the warnings were partial, their significance disputed, and the political will to act on them absent. A series of conferences were convened at Luoyang, the regional headquarters. Fortification orders were issued. Additional supplies were promised. Almost none of the follow-through actually materialized. The garrison's most powerful formation, the 4th Army Group, had already been transferred away from the area. Its absence left a hole in the defensive line that no amount of paper orders could fill. On the Japanese side, the operation that would eliminate the Zhongtiao garrison was carefully and systematically prepared. It was codenamed the "Central Plains Campaign" — a name that reflected its true ambition, which was not merely to take a mountain range but to reshape the strategic geography of the entire region. The operation was assigned to the North China Area Army under Lieutenant General Tada Shun, an experienced commander who had studied the Zhongtiao problem for years and had a clear understanding of why previous offensives had failed. The core of the attacking force was seven divisions: the 33rd, 35th, 36th, 37th, 41st, and 21st Divisions, along with several independent mixed brigades, puppet Chinese formations, cavalry, and a substantial artillery and air component. The 3rd Air Group, operating from airfields at Yuncheng and Xinxiang, would provide tactical air support throughout the operation. In total, the frontline assault force numbered approximately 100,000 men. This was not a repeat of the previous thirteen offensives, in which the Japanese had probed and pressed at the mountains frontally. This was a comprehensive annihilation plan. Tada's design exploited the geographic shape of the Zhongtiao position itself. The Chinese garrison occupied a roughly crescent-shaped area, with its back to the Yellow River and its front facing north and east into Japanese-held territory. The obvious previous approach — attacking from the north — had failed repeatedly because the terrain favored the defenders. Tada's solution was to attack from three directions simultaneously, with the town of Yuanqu on the Yellow River as the primary objective. Yuanqu was the hinge of the entire Chinese position: it controlled the main river crossings, served as the central supply point for the garrison, and sat at the narrowest point between the mountains and the water. If Yuanqu fell, the Chinese would be cut off from their supply line and divided into two separate pockets. Then each pocket could be destroyed at leisure. To execute this, Tada organized his forces into three attack groups. The eastern group, built around Lieutenant General Harada Yukichi's 35th Division with elements of the 21st Division and the 4th Independent Cavalry Brigade — totaling roughly 25,000 men with armor, artillery, and supporting puppet forces — would drive westward along the Daoqing Road, pushing through Jiyuan and Mengxian toward the eastern flank of the Chinese position. The northeastern group, under Lieutenant General Shozo Sakurai commanding the 33rd Division and an Independent Mixed Brigade, would descend from Yangcheng southward, striking at the middle of the Chinese line. The western and northwestern group, the largest, comprising the 36th, 37th, and 41st Divisions along with the 9th and 16th Independent Mixed Brigades, would push southward from multiple points between Sangchi and Zhangdian, driving straight for Yuanqu. The final element of the plan was the most audacious. Japanese special forces and paratroopers were to land behind Chinese lines on the opening night of the offensive, targeting the Chinese headquarters and communications nodes. If the Chinese command could be blinded and paralyzed in the first hours of the battle, resistance would collapse before it could organize. Given the penetration of the garrison by Japanese intelligence, the paratroopers knew precisely where to go. From late April, Japanese forces quietly moved into their assault positions. Supply dumps were stocked. Artillery was registered on Chinese positions. The attack was set for the morning of May 7, 1941. Everything was ready. The battle opened before dawn on May 7, and it opened everywhere at once. On the eastern front, Harada's 35th Division and its attached formations crossed the start line and drove westward in three parallel columns along the Daoqing Road. More than 5,000 infantrymen, 1,000 cavalry, dozens of artillery pieces, over 100 tanks and armored vehicles, and the supporting puppet troops of Zhang Lanfeng and Liu Yanfeng poured into the Chinese-held area around Jiyuan and Mengxian. The assault had an almost mechanical quality — it moved at the pace of its armor and artillery, methodically grinding through whatever lay in its path. On the northeastern front, Sakurai's 33rd Division descended from Yangcheng with more than 10,000 men, striking at Wu Shimin's 98th Army at Dongfeng Town. Wu was one of the more aggressive Chinese commanders in the garrison, and he did not wait to be overwhelmed. He threw his forces into active resistance on multiple axes, contesting each Japanese advance rather than simply absorbing it. In the fighting around Wangcun, his troops achieved one of the campaign's rare Chinese tactical successes, routing approximately 2,000 Japanese attackers and killing more than 700, including Colonel Hamada, a Japanese regimental commander. It was a genuine local victory, but it could not change the larger picture. On the western and northwestern front, the main Japanese force pushed south with its eyes fixed on Yuanqu. The coordinated weight of three divisions and two independent brigades, all moving along converging axes, was designed to be overwhelming. Individually, a Chinese unit might hold a ridge or a pass for a day. Collectively, there was no way to stop what was coming. And that same night, as the Chinese scrambled to respond to attacks on every side, Japanese paratroopers landed near Chinese headquarters positions. They found what intelligence had promised: a command system already in disarray, staffed by officers who had received no coherent orders and had lost communications with most of their subordinate units. The Japanese were not wrong when they predicted they could paralyze the Chinese command within hours. By the morning of May 8, the Chinese First War Zone headquarters had effectively ceased to function as a coordinating body. Individual armies would fight on, but they would fight alone. The second day of the battle brought the decisive blow. On the afternoon of May 8, the 9th Army under Pei Changhui — already reeling from the pressure of the eastern Japanese columns — abandoned the cities of Ji and Meng and fell back westward. The withdrawal opened a path through the Chinese line, and the Japanese exploited it immediately. That evening, with the assistance of paratroopers who had secured key access routes overnight, Japanese forces reached Yuanqu on the Yellow River's northern bank and took it. The fall of Yuanqu changed everything. At a single stroke, the Chinese garrison's supply line from the south bank of the Yellow River was severed. The main crossing points were in Japanese hands. The two halves of the Chinese position — those to the east of Yuanqu and those to the west — were now separated, unable to reinforce one another. The double encirclement that Tada had designed on paper became a physical reality on the ground. The trap had closed. May 9 brought further disaster. Japanese forces captured Wufujian, another significant point in the Chinese rear. And on this day the battle's human cost began to register in the most stark terms possible. Wang Jun, commander of the newly formed 27th Division of Kong Lingxun's 80th Army, was killed in action fighting in the southern Shanxi mountains. Major General Chen Wenqi, deputy commander of the 24th Division, died in fierce combat near Taizhai Village. And Major General Liang Xixian, having retreated with the remnants of his force to Taizhai and found every route blocked — his options reduced to surrender or death — walked into the Yellow River and drowned himself. He was not the last Chinese officer to choose death over capture. The loss of three generals in a single day was not merely tragic. It reflected something about the nature of the battle that the casualty statistics alone could not capture: the Chinese officers who fought most fiercely and refused to abandon their positions were precisely the men dying, while the broader institutional structure that should have supported them had already failed. The garrison was being consumed from its fighting edge inward. Over the following two days, the Japanese methodically tightened the ring. The eastern column, having taken Yuanqu, split into two prongs: one drove eastward, capturing Shaoyuan by the morning of May 12 and linking up with the forces that had been pressing westward from Jiyuan; the other drove westward to Wufujian, joining with the troops already there. The inner encirclement was now complete and continuous. The Yellow River crossings along the entire Chinese front were blocked. There was no route south that wasn't already under fire or in Japanese hands. The fighting in the mountain passes was, by all accounts, ferocious. At Fengmenkou — a critical pass that both sides recognized as a key chokepoint — the Chinese 9th Army committed the main force of its newly formed 24th Division along with elements of the 54th Division, fighting for every ridge and ravine. The Japanese sent reinforcements and simply absorbed the punishment, pressing forward until numbers and artillery told. By May 12, the position at Jianshan had been surrounded as well, and the outer ring of encirclement had sealed. The Chinese armies in the Zhongtiao Mountains were now divided into isolated pockets, each fighting separately, each trying to find a gap in the Japanese lines that simply wasn't there. Beyond the mountains, the Chinese high command in Luoyang was issuing desperate orders. Units that had already been overrun were instructed to hold positions they no longer occupied. Army commanders who had lost contact with their corps were told to coordinate with formations they couldn't reach. The gap between the orders flowing from headquarters and the reality on the ground had become absolute. The First War Zone command was, in practical terms, a spectator to the destruction of its own army. Of all the days in the three-week battle, May 13 was perhaps the most devastating for Chinese morale. At Cunbu, in the western sector, the 3rd Army under Lieutenant General Tang Huaiyuan had been surrounded and cut off. Tang was among the finest officers in the Nationalist army — a career soldier of exceptional ability, admired by subordinates and superiors alike, the kind of commander who by his personal presence could steady troops on the edge of breaking. He had led the 3rd Army in continuous fighting since May 7, conducting a fighting retreat that had preserved more of his force than most. But there was nowhere left to retreat to. Cunbu was surrounded on all sides. The Yellow River was behind him. The Japanese were in front. Tang Huaiyuan sat with his surviving officers and told them that he would not surrender. Then he shot himself. He was fifty-seven years old. On the same day, Cun Xingqi, commander of the 12th Division, was hit eight times during close combat and died on the field. The tally of dead general officers had now reached five in the space of a week. Tang Huaiyuan's death, unlike the others, resonated as something more than a military loss. He was a symbol of what the Zhongtiao defense had once represented: the possibility that courage and skill could compensate for disadvantages in firepower and logistics. His death seemed to say, loudly, that that possibility was exhausted. Chiang Kai-shek, when news reached him in Chongqing, personally ordered that Tang Huaiyuan be posthumously promoted and honored. The gesture was well-intentioned and entirely beside the point. Tang was dead. His army was destroyed. The gesture could not undo either fact. With the double encirclement complete and the primary Chinese resistance broken, the Japanese Army entered the second and less dramatic but equally brutal phase of its operation: the systematic clearance of what remained. Beginning around May 15, Japanese units shifted from the headlong offensive drives of the first week to methodical sweep operations, moving through the mountain terrain in organized formations, pressing into each remaining pocket and eliminating whatever resistance they found. The Yellow River's northern bank was secured by Japanese forces who established posts at the crossing points, blocking retreat and interdicting any resupply attempt. From the western front, sweep operations continued in a series of movements that lasted until well into June, each one driving Chinese remnants further into smaller and more untenable positions. Japanese after-action reports from this period read with the clinical detachment of men doing carpentry rather than fighting: so many positions cleared, so many prisoners taken, so many bodies counted. For the surviving Chinese forces, this period was one of desperate improvisation. With coordinated resistance impossible and every organized position either taken or surrounded, the remnant armies broke up into smaller columns and attempted to find their own routes out of the encirclement. Their experiences varied enormously depending on their starting position, the initiative of their commanders, and fortune. The remnants of the 3rd Army and 15th Army, under Zeng Wanzhong of the 5th Army Group, managed to push through to Yellow River crossings in the west and get their men across to the south bank, eventually reorganizing at Luoyang and Xin'an. The 93rd Army, which had occupied positions in the northeast, shook off the Japanese pursuit with sufficient speed and organization to cross at Yumenkou and escape into Hancheng County in Shaanxi Province, preserving more of its fighting strength than most. Wu Shimin's 98th Army — whose fighting at Wangcun had been one of the campaign's genuine bright spots — was pushed northward into the Taiyue Mountains, conducting guerrilla operations as it went. Wu himself was wounded during the withdrawal and would spend months recovering; he never fully recovered his health, and would die by suicide the following year. The 43rd Army under Zhao Shiling, which had held Yuanqu before its fall, managed a fighting withdrawal toward Fushan and Yicheng in the north. Pei Changhui's 9th Army conducted several days of guerrilla operations along the Daoqing Road before finding crossings at Xiaodukou and Guanyangdukou and getting across the Yellow River to safety. By May 27, the great majority of the Zhongtiao Mountain garrison had either been destroyed, captured, or withdrawn. The mountains that had held for three years were in Japanese hands. The battle, for all practical purposes, was over. The two sides emerged from the battle with starkly different accounts of what had happened, and the gap between those accounts is itself revealing. Japanese operational records claimed that their forces had killed approximately 42,000 Chinese soldiers on the battlefield, taken around 35,000 prisoners, captured enormous quantities of weapons and supplies, and inflicted total Chinese casualties exceeding 100,000. Against this, Japanese headquarters reported their own losses as 673 killed and 2,292 wounded — a ratio so lopsided that it seemed to describe a completely different kind of warfare. Whether or not the precise numbers are accurate, Japanese sources were consistent in portraying the battle as a catastrophic one-sided rout. The Chinese government's official figures, presented to the public and to allied nations, told a very different story. Nationalist records acknowledged approximately 13,751 officers and soldiers killed, wounded, gassed, or missing, while claiming Japanese casualties of around 9,900. These numbers, by the standards of the actual fighting and the geographic scale of the defeat, strained credulity. They were the numbers of a government that needed, for political and morale reasons, to minimize a disaster it could not afford to fully acknowledge. What is beyond dispute is the strategic result. The Zhongtiao garrison, which had held for three years against thirteen prior offensives, had been destroyed in twenty days. The last significant Nationalist Chinese presence north of the Yellow River in the region had been eliminated. Japan now controlled the northern bank of the river for a substantial stretch, had secured its supply lines through southern Shanxi, and had opened the door for future pressure on Luoyang and ultimately Xi'an. The mountain barrier that had allowed Chinese forces to threaten Japanese logistics was gone. It would not be rebuilt. Six senior Chinese generals had died in the battle: Wang Jun, Chen Wenqi, Liang Xixian, Tang Huaiyuan, Cun Xingqi, and others in the fighting. Their deaths were individually remarkable — men choosing death over surrender at rate that reflected both the desperate conditions of the battle and a code of honor that many of them explicitly invoked in their final moments. They were also, in aggregate, a measure of how completely the officer corps had been consumed. In the decades since the battle, historians have returned repeatedly to the question of why a position held for three years collapsed so completely in three weeks. The answers are neither simple nor flattering to the Nationalist government, and they were debated with bitter intensity in Chongqing even while the battle was still being fought. The most immediate cause was the removal of Wei Lihuang. This was not merely the loss of a capable general — it was the destruction of the institutional knowledge and personal relationships that had made the defense function. The Zhongtiao garrison was not simply a collection of soldiers in mountain positions; it was a system, carefully constructed over three years, that depended on specific command relationships, established logistics arrangements, and particular allocation of resources. Wei had built that system. Without him, and without any adequate replacement, it became something far more brittle than it appeared. Below the level of high command, the garrison's gradual corruption was an equally powerful factor. The trading networks, the opium commerce, the penetration by Japanese intelligence — these were not incidental problems but symptoms of a deeper institutional failure. An army that has spent three years in static defensive positions, chronically undersupplied and without a meaningful offensive mission, tends toward exactly this kind of decay. The Nationalist government's decision to prioritize anti-Communist friction operations over Zhongtiao's fighting readiness had removed the 4th Army Group — the backbone of the defense — and had consumed Wei Lihuang's attention and political capital at the worst possible moment. The Japanese plan, too, deserves credit it rarely receives in Chinese accounts of the battle. The three-pronged converging attack on Yuanqu was not simply overwhelming force applied to an obvious target. It was an elegant solution to the genuine tactical puzzle that the Zhongtiao mountains presented, exploiting the garrison's geographic vulnerability with a precision that turned the defenders' mountain terrain from an asset into a trap. The use of paratroopers to decapitate the Chinese command in the opening hours was a sophisticated operational concept that worked almost exactly as designed. Tada Shun was not lucky. He was thorough. Finally, there is the question of Chiang Kai-shek's own priorities. His reported weeping upon receiving news of the defeat was genuine, in the sense that the loss clearly shocked and grieved him. But the decisions that led to the defeat — Wei Lihuang's removal, the transfer of the 4th Army Group, the neglect of fortification and resupply in the months preceding the battle — had been made in Chongqing, not in the mountains. The Zhongtiao garrison had been strategically sacrificed, piece by piece, for political calculations in the internal factional struggle between Nationalists and Communists. Whether Chiang understood the cost of those choices before May 7, 1941, is debatable. After that date, it was difficult to pretend otherwise. The fall of the Zhongtiao Mountains did not end the War of Resistance, but it substantially worsened China's strategic position in the north. Over the following months, Japan used its consolidated control of southern Shanxi to increase pressure on the Yellow River line and probe toward Luoyang. The surviving Chinese armies, reorganized south of the river, were in no position to counterattack. The mountains themselves, stripped of their garrison and secured by Japanese occupation troops, became part of the extended Japanese occupation zone — a territory to be administered and exploited rather than contested. For the men who had fought there, the battle left wounds that went beyond the physical. Entire armies had to be rebuilt from remnants. Officers who had retreated, whether under orders or on their own initiative, faced boards of inquiry in an atmosphere of recrimination and blame-seeking. Some were cashiered. Some faced criminal proceedings. The search for culpability — which was genuine enough, since the failure was genuine — tended to fall on those least able to defend themselves rather than on the senior commanders and political figures whose decisions had created the conditions for defeat. The posthumous honors awarded to Tang Huaiyuan, Liang Xixian, Wang Jun, and the other officers who died in battle were heartfelt, and they were also convenient. The heroic dead could be elevated without requiring the living to answer uncomfortable questions. Their sacrifice was real. The system that wasted it was also real. In the broader history of the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain tends to be overshadowed by more famous engagements — Shanghai, Nanjing, Taierzhuang, the later battles along the Salween. This is partly because the Chinese side lost comprehensively and had little interest in memorializing the loss, and partly because the battle's significance was more strategic than dramatic. There was no great last stand, no single moment of heroism sufficient to redeem the catastrophe. There were only men dying in mountain passes, generals walking into rivers, and an entire defensive system disintegrating under the weight of its own contradictions. What the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain represents, in the end, is a case study in how military positions are really lost. They are rarely lost on the battlefield alone. They are lost in the staff meetings where capable commanders are removed for political reasons. They are lost in the supply depots that never get restocked. They are lost in the informal economies that grow up when institutions stop functioning. They are lost in the intelligence assessments that are written and ignored. They are lost, finally and irreversibly, in the early morning hours when the guns open simultaneously on three sides and the men at the radios discover that no one is answering.     I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. On May 7, 1941, Japan opened a three-front assault on Zhongtiao Mountains; paratroopers disrupted command night. With the 9th Army withdrawing, Yuanqu fell on May 8, severing supply and trapping the garrison. Fighting raged through May 13, costing generals, until Japanese sweeps cleared pockets; survivors escaped south of Yellow River.

Send us Fan Mailcomprehensive overview of the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) exam, detailing its structure, content, and the professional standards required of candidates. These sources outline critical regulatory frameworks managed by FINRA and the SEC, focusing on prohibited market activities such as insider trading, front running, and churning. They further define the permitted roles of registered representatives, established gift and compensation limits, and the strict protocols for maintaining outside business activities. Additionally, the materials provide practical study strategies and personal insights from exam takers to help candidates navigate the test's emphasis on rules and ethics. Collectively, the texts serve as both a technical syllabus and a professional conduct guide for individuals entering the financial services industry.Support the show

Health New Zealand faces a $190 million bill to process holiday pay owed to tens of thousands of current and former workers. Collectively, $1.8 billion is budgeted to repay those affected by the miscalculations. Unions are scathing of the cost of meeting the repayments, and of the process itself, which has been plagued by delays. But Health NZ said the work is complex and time-consuming and requires to comb through years of records on the different payroll systems inherited from district health boards. Jimmy Ellingham reports.

Most organizations do not fail at strategy because the strategy is wrong. They fail because the organization never learns to behave as if the strategy is real. That is the central argument Dr. Kyle Harkema makes in his book Strategic Clarity. He is the creator of the Strategic Orientation Index (SOI™), a diagnostic tool that functions like an organizational MRI, revealing the hidden misalignment between what an organization says it will do and how it actually behaves day to day. In this conversation with Michael D. Levitt of Breakfast Leadership Network, Dr. Harkema explains why strategic drift is rarely dramatic, what the SOI™ measures, and how the three-part framework of think, listen, and act exposes exactly where execution breaks down inside even well-run organizations. Key Topics Covered Why strategy fails quietly. Strategic failure begins with small, easy-to-dismiss signals: the same decision recycled through multiple meetings, departments generating friction, customers noting a decline in responsiveness, or competitors gaining ground one step at a time. Individually, none of those signals is a crisis. Collectively, they signal drift, and organizations that catch the pattern early are the ones that survive disruption. The Monday Morning Test. If employee behaviors have not changed by Monday morning following a Friday strategy rollout, you have produced a plan, not an executable strategy. Strategy must live in decisions and priorities, not slide decks and town hall speeches. The Strategic Orientation Index (SOI™). The SOI™ evaluates three dimensions: how an organization thinks, listens, and acts. Most organizations are strong in one or two areas and significantly weaker in the third. Dr. Harkema shares a case study of an innovation-focused company with excellent thinking and acting but almost no process for collecting customer insight before making product decisions. The diagnosis was not an innovation problem. It was a listening problem. The Ford Taurus lesson. When Ford abandoned the Taurus, then the number one selling car in the world, for the retro Ford 500 name, the sales collapse was predictable and preventable. The organization thought carefully and acted decisively. It did not listen. The Taurus name was eventually restored, but the market position never recovered. Listening is not a soft skill. It is a strategic competency. Notable Quotes: "If your employees' behaviors don't change on Monday morning for a strategy that you rolled out on Friday, you have a plan, not an executable strategy." - Dr. Kyle Harkema "Strategy lives in behavior. It has to." - Dr. Kyle Harkema "When organizations aren't living and breathing the strategic plan, it limits the impact they cause." - Michael D. Levitt, Breakfast Leadership Network https://kylejharkema.com https://kmccontrols.com    

After the biodiversity panel from the last episode, I got to thinking about how protecting biodiversity is so often reduced to the life forms that humans value. The ones we find beautiful, friendly, or otherwise useful to us directly. Cuddly mammals, majestic birds, colorful butterflies and flowers, etc.    In many ways though, these living beings are only able to survive and thrive if the critters that we dislike are abundant in the same spaces. Many flowers are pollinated by bugs most would find annoying. A lot of cuddly mammals feed on weed species or our own crops. Eagles and owls need an abundance of rodents and reptiles if their populations are to grow. Many invasive exotic species are working tirelessly to restore damaged and imbalanced ecosystems.    It's kinda like trying to lose body fat in just one area of your body. You can't just pick the parts that are desirable to you and expect the whole interconnected system to accept that. Collectively we need to embrace the restoration and stewardship, especially of the lower trophic levels of the food web that support all the higher levels above.    In the last panel we touched a little on the tolerance and adaptation required to share space with predators and birds that threaten livestock and crops, recognizing their role despite the challenges that come from having them around.    Today I'll be revisiting some of my favorite interviews from previous seasons in which we talked about three specific categories of overlooked and undervalued wildlife.    My hope is that we can welcome these into a broader conversation about biodiversity, and maybe even convince you to work to promote greater diversity and open pollination of your crops and livestock, the full range of insects, and even rethink your management of invasive species in your land or on your farm. 

A brief note. These episodes are prerecorded during a five-week period away. I am not tracking current events in real time. Hold what I offer here alongside what you are actually living.--The Wound Beneath Many WoundsThis is a week of significant arrivals. Venus in Leo moves through a rapid sequence of major contacts. Chiron crosses into Taurus, beginning nearly eight years of healing work in the realm of body, earth, and resource. And the week closes with the Sun entering Cancer at the Summer Solstice.Key Cycles This Week:Monday. June 15: Venus in Leo sextiles Uranus in Gemini. A liberating opening. Venus in Leo leans toward authentic self-expression. Uranus electrifies that impulse, breaking open stale patterns and quickening the creative field. Notice the difference between radiance that comes from genuine self-expression and the performance of radiance designed to manage how others see you. Uranus helps clarify which is which.Tuesday, June 16: Venus in Leo trines Neptune in Aries. Vision follows liberation. The heart and the imaginal field move in alignment. Creativity, inspiration, the sense that something more luminous is possible. In a collective field saturated with ugliness and cruelty, the capacity to remain open to beauty is not escapism. It is resistance. Let the imagination open today while holding what arises with gentle discernment.Wednesday, June 17: Venus in Leo opposes Pluto in Aquarius. The week deepens. Venus opposite Pluto surfaces power dynamics in relationship, places where love has become entangled with control or desire shadowed by fear of loss. Collectively this opposition names what has long been visible: the way systems of power have sought to control the feminine, the relational, the creative. Where in your own life has love or creative expression become entangled with power in ways worth examining? What is being asked to transform?Friday, June 19: Chiron enters Taurus, remaining until September 13 before briefly retrograding back into Aries, then returning to Taurus until May 2034. This is the threshold of the week. Perhaps of the year.Chiron in Aries since 2018 has been working the wounds of identity, the right to exist and assert a self in the face of systems that deny that right to so many. It has also been working the wound of radical disconnection from the web of life. The mythology of the rugged individual who needs no one and owes nothing. The belief that life is fundamentally competitive rather than reciprocal. The armoring against interdependence that produces its own profound poverty and loneliness.That wound does not end as Chiron moves into Taurus. It deepens into new territory.Chiron in Taurus turns the healing work toward the body, the earth, and the deep unmetabolized wounds in our relationship to the living world. The wound of an economy built on extraction, of profound inequality where abundance exists alongside deprivation by design, of a civilization that severed its understanding that the earth is not a resource to be used but a living web of which we are part.Nearly eight years. A generational healing arc is beginning. Honor the threshold.Sunday, June 21: Sun enters Cancer. Summer Solstice and Sun sextiles Chiron in early Taurus. The longest day in the northern hemisphere. A sacred pause in earth-based traditions, a moment to feel the fullness of what has been growing and to honor the turn. The Sun sextiling Chiron freshly arrived in Taurus is a gentle blessing on this new healing arc, the light of the Solstice illuminating what Chiron has come to work with. Spend time in the natural world if you can. Let the body be held by something older and larger than the current crisis.Larger FrameChiron in Taurus initiates an era of healing in the domains that matter most for the continuation of life on this planet. The body. The earth. The radical inequality of who has access to sustenance. The severed relationship between human civilization and the living web it depends on.This is the wound beneath many wounds. The one that colonial dominator culture has both created and depended on to sustain itself. Chiron in Taurus will not let it remain invisible.The Summer Solstice opening this era is fitting. The longest light, blessing the beginning of a long healing.Reflection QuestionsWhere in my relationship to body, earth, money, or resource do I sense a wound that has not yet been fully named or witnessed?As Chiron begins its long transit through Taurus, what does genuine healing look like in the domains of physical life, sustenance, and belonging to the earth?On this Solstice threshold, what have I been growing in this half of the year that deserves to be honored in the fullness of this light?Stand at the Solstice threshold before moving on. Feel the earth beneath you. Let the body remember that it belongs to something ancient and reciprocal.We are not only living through breakdown. We are living through the beginning of a healing larger than any of us can fully see from inside it.Podcast poem: Cornwall Swamp by Julie Cadwallader StaubIf this transmission has been useful, share it with someone who might need orientation in these times.Support the showGo to Sheila's website for information for transformational resources: https://www.ontheedgesofchange.comThis episode was co-created with generative AI, engaged as a soul-aligned ally in service of transformation. At the edge where technology meets myth, I choose insight over noise, and alchemy over automation. Thank you for dreaming the future with me.

Jennifer Pierre serves as General Manager of the State Water Contractors (SWC), a statewide nonprofit association representing 27 public water agencies that receive water from California's State Water Project. Collectively, these agencies provide water to more than 27 million Californians and irrigate approximately 750,000 acres of farmland. With more than 20 years of experience in California water policy, Delta management, and water supply planning, Jennifer leads the SWC's efforts to advance reliable, sustainable, and affordable water supplies for communities throughout the state. She is recognized for her commitment to collaboration, science-based decision-making, and balancing water management objectives with environmental stewardship. Prior to joining SWC in 2017, Jennifer spent 14 years with ICF International, where she served as a Principal and led complex water supply, restoration, and planning projects throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its tributaries. Her expertise includes State Water Project and Central Valley Project operations, environmental compliance, ecosystem management, regulatory policy, and stakeholder engagement. Throughout her career, she has successfully guided multidisciplinary teams of engineers, hydrologists, biologists, and policy experts in developing technical analyses, environmental documentation, and water resource solutions. Jennifer earned a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology and Management, with an emphasis in Conservation Biology, from the University of California, Davis.

Welcome to the Celestial Insights Podcast, the show that brings the stars down to Earth! Each week, astrologer, coach, and intuitive Celeste Brooks of Astrology by Celeste will be your guide. Her website is astrologybyceleste.com.  

Podcasting 2.0 June 5th 2026 Episode 262 - "Podcleanse" Dave and Adam are joined by John Spurlock and throw a big idea into the boardroom: The Podcast Data Collective Shownotes ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- John Spurlock - Guest The man behind op3.dev and Livewire.io - From the Great State of New Jersey! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 01 - THE IMPRESSION HEIST — AMP TASK FORCE RATIFIES 4 EXPOSURE DEFINITIONS, NO DISSENTING VOTES Podnews press release Jun 4: AMP Task Force Introduces Cross-Platform Alternative to the Podcast "Download" — "unified impression guidance for audio and video, advancing impression-based measurement as the medium's primary transaction currency." Four exposure definitions ratified. JS Jun 4 quote: "the AMP Task Force ratified a new framework with four exposure definitions, with no dissenting votes." Podcast Play: 30 seconds of content played, audio or video, once per user per session. Podcast Audience: The number of unique users who had a Podcast Play. Ad Impression: A commercial begins playing for the user. Ad Audience: The number of users exposed to an Ad Impression. They wanted to 'hasten the demand' Backstory: AMP first emerged May 29 (Podnews) — same day PC20-261 aired — "to confront podcasting's measurement dilemma." @dave reaction Jun 4 16:12: "RE: [Podnews AMP story] More secretive, back room podcast 'industry' nonsense." PNWR Jun 5 confirms the cabal-composition critique — James and Sam open the show debating AMP. James: "they also want to define what an impression is" + "we don't have a definition of podcast." Sam: "I don't think podcasting is [defined], we can measure consumption." PNWR catches the gaps [0:09:00-0:09:30]: "Spotify yes, Acast no, Art19 missing… Apple is already doing that. Apple is already being cut [out]." Same observation @dave made — who's in the room and who isn't. @js replies @dave on AMP Jun 4: "@dave Dave there were no dissenting votes" — Mastodon-thread confirmation that JS + Dave are on the same page about the consensus-by-cabal red flag. Discussion: V4V counter-thesis — No Agenda is value-for-value (no impressions, no exposures). Open standards vs industry cabals. PNWR is independent-podcaster-aligned; AMP is platform-aligned. Podnews AMP Jun 4 press release Podnews AMP origin May 29 @dave Jun 4 reaction post JS Jun 4 quote post PNWR this week (Pod News Weekly Review) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 02 - THE OPEN COUNTERPART — PODCAST INDEX ISSUE #775 (PNWR + @DAVE BOTH ON IT) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 03 - THE WHY BEHIND IMPRESSIONS — "THE FIRST FOUR AND A HALF MINUTES" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 04 - THE PODCASTING 2.0 DATA COLLECTIVE — THE OPEN ANSWER TO AMP The Podcasting 2.0 Data Collective — the open, V4V-aligned answer to the AMP cabal. Not a consortium with ratified definitions and trade-press releases. A collective of open tools and honest sentinels: OP3 for analytics, Podverse + newpodcasts.net for corpus data, Podcast Index for the namespace, Issue #775 for client identification done right. Matthew 5:6 (KJV): "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." The verse that frames the work. Open data, transparent measurement, value-for-value — righteousness in podcast governance. Those who hunger for it are the ones who'll be filled. The AMP cabal trades righteousness for an ad-tech seat at the table; the Data Collective just keeps the lights on. THE CHARTER — Adam's working document, June 5 2026 We hold more power than we give ourselves credit for. Definition of a Podcast: Syndicated delivery of media files with precise consumption data for all stakeholders. What we brought in (the Podcasting 2.0 namespace contributions): Transcripts Chapters Funding (V4V) Person Location …etc. Statistical relevance: Advertising is based on percentages. Collectively we have about 10% of all apps — statistically enough to be relevant. Godcaster app tracing proves we can measure important metrics. Data to aggregate and display: Follows Plays per episode Completion rate by time Strategy: Become the authoritative source by publishing open stats Monetize We will not be loved initially by the industry, because we will have the truth. Advertisers will love us though, as will Podcasters. Monetization: Data subscriptions Resellers (DJL) Ad Networks Podcasters themselves (consideration) Podcast Index has built the trust needed to house this data. We already have a data exchange relationship with the apps. op3.dev is critical in this equation to offset the old system for correlation. OP3 full podcast support landed this week [PNWR 1:53:00-1:54:30] — OP3.dev now has full episode-level + show-level analytics support for podcasts. Spec work also moving on private feeds (insecure feeds spec). Direct relevance to V4V infrastructure. @dave → @james Jun 5 11:50: "Do you have the daily lists that show up on newpodcasts.net available anywhere as a download? I'd love the full, historical list of feed urls that have appeared there if possible." Open-data request — corpus curation theme. @dave → @mitch May 30: "Would you be able to send me a flat list of all the feed urls in Podverse which have more than X number of subscribers/followers? Let's say more than 5?" Podverse data request — corpus quality. Anchor FM RSS restoration request — Fri 11:01 email to NA inbox (Lusso Lets). Listener can't retrieve feed data from Podcast Index. Adjacent infra beat — the unsung user-facing pain of corpus indexing. Discussion: corpus curation as a steady-state job (Dave's sentinel work) vs measurement standards (the AMP cabal) — which one keeps the ecosystem honest? The Data Collective doesn't ratify, it just shows up to maintain. Hunger and thirst. They shall be filled. OP3.dev — open podcast analytics ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 05 - CAPTIVATE LAUNCHES DAX US — THE IMPRESSION ECONOMY IRL ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 06 - BBC GOES ALL-IN ON CROSSED WIRES YEAR 3 — IPLAYER DEAL + "EDINBURGH OF PODCASTING" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 07 - STREAMING CONSOLIDATION — YOUTUBE MUSIC + TUBI + NETFLIX ALL WANT "PODCAST" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 08 - SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY — VS CODE DELAYS, PHP FOUNDATION, SLSA LEVEL 3 IS NOT ENOUGH ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 09 - AI BUBBLE PC20-FLAVOR — TOTO CHUCKS, MOTHER COMPUTERS, "NO 'I', ONLY MATH" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 - QUIPS / TRANSITIONS ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last Modified 06/05/2026 14:38:09 by Freedom Controller

Dr. Julie Radlauer joins Something For Everybody this week. Dr. Julie is a leading expert in behavioral health, international keynote speaker, founder of Collectively, a TEDx speaker, and a best-selling author of CONNECT.  Dr. Julie shares her perspectives on mental health, resilience, social influences, and how to build a supportive community. She discusses practical tools for improving mental well-being, the importance of authenticity, and how young people can navigate life's challenges with confidence. -

A draft class searching for traction The Detroit Lions Podcast put the 2024 draft class under a harsh light. Two years in, the group has flashed but not finished. The Detroit Lions need more in the NFL's tight margins. This feels like a prove-it season for the entire class, headlined by first-round pick Terryon Arnold at No. 24 overall after a trade up with Dallas from 28. Terryon Arnold needs consistent CB1 tape Arnold has shown it in stretches. Early last year he looked the part outside. Midseason he matured. He played less handsy. He read the receiver better. Then came the injury. Then penalties. Then a general lack of effectiveness. He has not played like a first-rounder yet. The expectation remains that he opens 2026 as a starting outside cornerback. The benefit of the doubt is fading. He has one more season before the fifth-year option decision becomes straightforward or complicated. The Dallas trade context matters Detroit paid a first and a third to move up for Arnold. Those Dallas picks turned into Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe. Guyton has started at tackle and shown an inconsistent but impressive profile. Beebe has started at center and been decent, short of high expectations. No one knows if the Lions would have made the same choices. They did spend time with Beebe at the Senior Bowl. Viewed through that prism, the move has not produced the intended return yet in Detroit. Ennis Rakestraw's availability and a crowded slot Rakestraw has played eight games in two years. Multiple injuries hit both seasons, echoing a college pattern where timing hurt his offseasons more than his Saturdays. This is a big year for him. The room around him has tightened. Detroit drafted Keith Abney in that spot and signed Roger McCreery there. Christian Risdon and Avante Maddox can play slot nickel. Outside, they brought Brockus back. Nick Whiteside is back, and to this point he has shown more in coverage than Rakestraw. The challenge is clear. Day 3 pieces still seeking a spark Giovanni Manu arrived as an offensive lineman from British Columbia in the fourth. Also in the fourth, Vaki was listed as a safety at Utah but Detroit drafted him to play running back, a role he handled at Utah and at the Senior Bowl. In the sixth, Mangin Wingo came in at defensive tackle from LSU. The Lions also added guard Chris Mahogany from Boston College. Collectively, the group has been underwhelming and frustrating. There is time, but not much, for this class to match the standard set elsewhere on the roster. The 2026 tape has to change the story. #detroitlions #lions #detroitlionspodcast #terrionarnold #ennisrakestraw #giovannimanu #2024nfldraft #mekhiwingo #christianmahogany #sionevaki Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices