Podcasts about De Beers

Aja Raden began her career designing engagement rings before turning to writing, using books like Stoned and The Truth About Lies to trace how objects come to be considered valuable, and what happens when that agreement breaks down. In this episode, Anant Sharma sits down with Aja to unpack the myth-making behind the modern diamond industry, how De Beers and N.W. Ayer engineered scarcity where none existed and tied it so tightly to love that "diamonds are forever" became gospel. They also discuss the panic now gripping the Natural Diamond Council as lab-grown diamonds undercut the very story the industry built itself on and the origin story of the beads that bought Manhattan. A conversation about scarcity, storytelling, and what happens when an industry gets trapped by the mythology it invented.

Gerhardus shares how we can face our sins through the power of the Holy Spirit.

You may have heard that a diamond is forever. Turns out, a diamond's value is not. Overall, global rough diamond prices are down 20% year over year and 40% from a decade ago. That's just for natural diamonds — not the increasingly popular lab-grown diamond category. And legendary diamond mining company De Beers announced it's suspending diamond production at its largest mine. We'll unpack. But first: why Fed officials are so confident about hitting their inflationary target.Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.Stories featured in this episode:What's behind the diamond downturn?

You may have heard that a diamond is forever. Turns out, a diamond's value is not. Overall, global rough diamond prices are down 20% year over year and 40% from a decade ago. That's just for natural diamonds — not the increasingly popular lab-grown diamond category. And legendary diamond mining company De Beers announced it's suspending diamond production at its largest mine. We'll unpack. But first: why Fed officials are so confident about hitting their inflationary target.Every story has an economic angle. Want some in your inbox? Subscribe to our daily or weekly newsletter.Marketplace Morning Report is more than a radio show. Check out our original reporting and financial literacy content at marketplace.org — and consider making an investment in our future.Stories featured in this episode:What's behind the diamond downturn?

Anglo American's interims dazzled - earnings up 35%, free cash flow up nearly 150%, the dividend all but tripled. But BizNews editor Alec Hogg looks past the headline to what Anglo's walking away from: steelmaking coal sold, De Beers going for a tenth of what it paid, and a Teck merger that moves the head office to Vancouver. A 109-year-old Johannesburg company is quietly leaving. He pairs that with Old Mutual's finding that half of working South Africans now gamble - the sharp end of a two-speed nation. Plus ArcelorMittal, Reinet, Woolworths, a post-Fed bond rout, and the great Microsoft-Meta AI tension.

Hosts Victoria Gomelsky and Rob Bates catch up after Rob's return from the World Diamond Congress in Singapore. He shares his impression of the event including observations about the state of the diamond industry and possible paths forward. (Get a bonus glimpse into Victoria's experience visiting Singapore as a backpacker in her 20s.) The hosts touch on the closing of the historic Ekati mine. After speaking to many who knew him, Victoria reflects on the legacy of the late Philippe Stern, the patriarch of the family that has helmed Patek Philippe for nearly 100 years. Title sponsor: De Beers (adiamondisforever.com)

South Africa's diamond industry is facing a major turning point after De Beers announced a two-year suspension of production at its flagship Venetia mine in Limpopo. On The Insight, mining expert David van Wyk unpacks the factors driving the decision, from weakening global demand and the rise of lab-grown diamonds to the broader implications for jobs, mining communities and the future of South Africa's mining sector

Wingstop just crushed the fast-food race with 382 new locations, De Beers is getting gutted by lab-grown diamonds, and Olive Garden's $100 Never-Ending Pasta Pass is back after a six-year hiatus. Donny Deutsch and his Executive producer Lou Pellegrino run through this week's biggest movers: a booming box office (Odyssey, the MJ biopic, Toy Story 5), Hasbro turning Monopoly into a movie, the Mickey Mouse Club reboot, a surprise CD sales boom, solo dining's 52% surge, Starbucks swapping "grande" for "medium," and Pringles' controversial hot dog buns in a can. Plus, the debut of a new segment: Grand Brand of the Week. Tune in Thursday for Donny's big sit-down with Stephen A. Smith. Rate, review, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The mining giant De Beers has announced that it is suspending production at South Africa’s biggest diamond mine for two years. A change in consumer behaviour as well as competition from cheaper lab-grown diamonds are the main reasons for the company needing time to cut costs and streamline operations. Lester Kiewit speaks to Peter Major, mining analyst and director of mining at Modern Corporate Solutions. Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit is a podcast of the CapeTalk breakfast show. This programme is your authentic Cape Town wake-up call. Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit is informative, enlightening and accessible. The team’s ability to spot & share relevant and unusual stories make the programme inclusive and thought-provoking. Don’t miss the popular World View feature at 7:45am daily. Listen out for #LesterInYourLounge which is an outside broadcast – from the home of a listener in a different part of Cape Town - on the first Wednesday of every month. This show introduces you to interesting Capetonians as well as their favourite communities, habits, local personalities and neighbourhood news. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Good Morning Cape Town with Lester Kiewit. Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays between 06:00 and 09:00 (SA Time) to Good Morning CapeTalk with Lester Kiewit broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/xGkqLbT or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/f9Eeb7i Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalkSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ralph welcomes back his old running mate, Native American activist, Winona LaDuke, who has devoted her life to advocating for Indigenous control of their homelands, natural resources, and cultural practices to talk about her latest incarnation: hemp farmer. Then, we'll speak to Hal Weitzman, from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, about how Elon Musk's feud with Delaware may transform corporate America. Plus, we tick off Robert Reich's ten policy prescriptions the Democratic Party should fight for to beat the GOP in the upcoming midterms.Winona LaDuke is an activist, economist, and author, who has devoted her life to advocating for Indigenous control of their homelands, natural resources, and cultural practices. She is also a two-time vice-presidential candidate with Ralph Nader. Ms. LaDuke lives and works on the White Earth Ojibwe reservation in northern Minnesota, where she runs Winona's Hemp & Heritage Farm. She is also a member of the Indigenous Hemp & Cannabis Farmer's Cooperative.I'm looking first at seed sovereignty. We're growing [European hemp] varieties and then we're growing these feral hemp varieties. They're called feral varieties (which of course, that's something that I love) which means that when they eradicated hemp in the 1930s with the Marijuana Prohibition Act—well, they missed some spots. And those guys kept growing. And so 80 years of being illegal—isn't that great? Something that's illegal for 80 years is still with us, rocking out. And so I figure if you grew illegally for 80 years, you are really a tough hemp plant…And so we are growing out these hemp varieties and built a cooperative because we want to own the seeds and we want to own the technology (the value-added processing), and we want to use this hemp as a part of our future as tribes.Winona LaDukeMy grandsons are farming. I don't know who else can say their grandchildren are farming—let me know. My grandchildren are farming. They're running the horses. They're running the farms. You know, that's a retirement plan. My 401k will be worth nothing, but my grandchildren will feed me. This is my strategy.Winona LaDukeHal Weitzman is Executive Director for Intellectual Capital at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, editor-in-chief of Chicago Booth Review, and host of The Chicago Booth Review podcast. A former Financial Times editor and foreign correspondent, he is the author of Latin Lessons: How South America Stopped Listening to the United States and Started Prospering and What's the Matter with Delaware?: How the First State Has Favored the Rich, Powerful, and Criminal—and How It Costs Us All.There is a race to the bottom. There's been a race to the bottom for many decades. That's not new. I think it's accelerated somewhat. Delaware has joined that race from having been something of a “premium product” in terms of incorporating companies—Delaware has become a bit more “cut-price” I would say, and in that sense has followed Texas and Nevada. So the conclusion that we have a race to the bottom and it may be worse than Delaware—actually I think Delaware's already there. So it's not that it's getting worse outside of Delaware, it's getting worse including Delaware.Hal WeitzmanThe trend I think we're seeing is the exclusion of small shareholders completely—regardless of the status of your shares, this is about how big you are. And if you're a small shareholder there is no corporate democracy for you… It was practice in the past for activist groups, campaigning groups, to buy one share of a company and then to go to the shareholder meeting so they could make the point that they wanted to make. Now that kind of shareholder democracy is being encroached on. And the extent now is to say: unless you have a large position (regardless of the size of the company and the cost of the shares), you will not be allowed to bring suits against the executives for the correct running of the company.Hal WeitzmanNews 7/17/26* Our top story this week is New York Governor Kathy Hochul's decision to impose a one-year “pause” on the construction of AI data centers across the state. ABC7 reports that this is the first such moratorium in the nation, despite similar attempts in several states, most notably Maine where Governor Janet Mills vetoed a bill to this effect. Hochul argues that the pause is necessary so lawmakers and regulators can formulate “Guardrails to reduce the risk to our energy grid, minimize land disruption, noise pollution, and protect our natural resources, especially our water supply.” Hochul's move comes amidst a broader push against AI data centers from the left. Semafor reports Senator Bernie Sanders proposed a nationwide ban in March and many progressives running for state and local office in the midterms have made this a cornerstone of their campaigns. According to this piece, “In February, polling from Marquette Law School found 70% of all Wisconsinites agreeing that ‘the costs of the data centers outweigh the benefits.' Among Democrats, the number was 85%.”* Another progressive Member of Congress quite literally stepped into another hot-button political issue this week. While visiting a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank Wednesday, Al Jazeera reports armed settlers stopped the van of Representative Ro Khanna and were “later joined by Israeli soldiers who continued to block the road.” In a video, Khanna points out, settlers can be seen “brandishing M4s [rifles], kicking the tyres of our van, laughing at us, mocking at us, videotaping us.” This continued for over an hour and was only resolved when he reached out to the American Embassy, according to Khanna. Israel has responded to this fiasco by blaming Khanna, accusing the congressman of failing to coordinate his trip with the Israeli government; Khanna retorted that “The [Israeli military] is lying” and called for the arrest of the violent settlers. Conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson excoriated U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, writing “An American member of congress is threatened by foreign terrorists carrying American rifles, backed by a foreign military paid for by American taxpayers, and the US ambassador to that country says not a word in defense of his own countryman…It's too much, too insulting and humiliating to America.”* Following his return from occupied Palestine, Khanna again teamed up with Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky to sponsor an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which would have removed the “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative” from the must-pass legislation. Responsible Statecraft describes the initiative as “an unprecedented integration of the U.S. and Israeli military industrial complexes,” by creating “an executive agent within the Department of Defense whose sole responsibility is furthering U.S. and Israeli military tech integration across nearly every facet of the defense process.” This article also notes that “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described this shift in the U.S.-Israel relationship as ‘my plan.'” However, House leadership is not backing this commonsense, bipartisan amendment. In a letter, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said he would vote against the amendment, calling it “overly broad” and claiming the amendment would “restrict our country's ability to confront Hamas, Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations in the region who are sworn enemies of both the United States and Israel,” per the Times of Israel. However, Jeffries pledged not to whip votes against the amendment and indeed the House Minority Whip, Congresswoman Katherine Clark, voted for the amendment as did Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, despite the opposition of Jeffries and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar. The Congressional Progressive Caucus reportedly whipped votes in favor of the amendment.* In more Israel-related news, this week Marco Rubio – who serves as Secretary of State as well as the acting National Security Advisor – announced that the State Department will launch a “sweeping campaign to dismantle…the International Criminal Court.” CNN observes that “The administration's ire against the ICC goes back to President Donald Trump's first term, when it targeted the ICC for seeking to investigate alleged war crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan,” and that since taking office for the second time, the Trump administration has “imposed a slew of sanctions against ICC officials for their attempts to investigate the US and Israel.” CNN also quotes a State Department official who said that top officials, including Secretary Rubio and US ambassadors, “are calling countries as part of a campaign to diplomatically isolate the International Criminal Court.” It is worth noting that “all American presidents since the ICC's ratification have maintained that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over Americans,” and that Congress even passed a law calling for an invasion and occupation of the Hague if any American serviceman was ever prosecuted by the ICC, implying that this crackdown on the court is not about American sovereignty at all but rather the prosecution of Israeli officials for their war crimes in Gaza.* In another stunning story starring Marco Rubio, the New York Times reports the Secretary of State is functionally “running Venezuela from afar.” The Times story characterizes Rubio's position as the “de facto viceroy of Venezuela,” effectively controlling the country's “finances, the distribution of its natural resources and its government.” This story makes clear that while Delcy Rodríguez, the former Vice President of Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro, nominally occupies the presidency, Rubio is the one really calling the shots, with Rubio setting the conditions on what Venezuela's export revenue “can be spent on, and by whom,” and having the authority to approve or deny key governmental appointments in the country, such as the minister of defense. In short, the United States has established a shocking explicitly neo-colonial regime in the country, fulfilling the gravest prognostications of anti-imperialist critics of American intervention in the Bolivarian Republic.* Closer to home, Bloomberg reports the federal government has officially launched a grand jury investigation into the United Auto Workers and the union's outspoken president, Shawn Fain. The investigation stems from accusations made by the union's Vice President, Rich Boyer, who alleged that Fain used his position to secure benefits for his fiancée and her sister – and when Boyer refused to approve the benefits, Fain retaliated by stripping Boyer of his duties as chief negotiator with Stellantis NV. Fain has called the allegations “false” and is accusing Boyer of seeking to influence the upcoming UAW leadership election. Fain also claims that Boyer is the one retaliating after Fain “refused the vice president's request to hire family members to positions in the union.” Fain has long maintained that the Justice Department, and specifically the DOJ-appointed monitor, Neil Barofsky, has a political grudge against him because “the UAW took an anti-war stance about what was happening in Gaza.” According to Bloomberg, “Both Fain and Boyer have slates running and each is accusing the other of attempting to abuse their positions to benefit family.”* This week, another victim of harassment by the federal government, student activist Mahmoud Khalil, filed a landmark civil rights suit alleging that the government conspired with a number of private groups – including the Heritage Foundation, Betar, and Canary Mission – to “suppress criticism of Israel through a coordinated campaign to dox, jail and ultimately deport student activists.” According to the lawsuit, said activists were “nearly automatically targeted by the Federal Defendants for arrest and removal.” Khalil's lawyers argue that this “public-private partnership” could violate the “Ku Klux Klan Act, a Reconstruction-era law that sought to restrict government coordination with vigilante groups.” The suit is led by the Center for Constitutional Rights. The AP reports “Soon after his arrest, both Canary Mission and Betar boasted of their role in flagging Khalil's noncitizen status to the government.” Since Khalil's arrest, Betar has agreed to “dissolve its nonprofit status,” following a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James accusing Betar's members of harassing Palestinians.* Turning to the state level, this week 12 state attorneys general, led by California's Rob Bonta, filed an antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount Skydance, controlled by the Trump-aligned David Ellison. The proposed, $110 billion merger was approved by the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department last month, which reached the dubious conclusion that the merger is “not likely to result in harm to competition or American consumers.” In the filing, Bonta and the state AGs for Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Washington allege that the merger “would extinguish competition between Paramount and Warner Bros. and inflict substantial harm on movie theatres, basic cable distributors, and, ultimately, audiences nationwide.” This from Reason.* In the world of philanthropy, CNBC reports Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has “excluded the Gates Foundation from his sizable annual charitable donations.” As this report notes, the Gates Foundation has been among the top recipients of his annual Berkshire donations, totaling $47 billion worth of Berkshire stock since 2006. The reason for the exclusion of the Gates Foundation has been much speculated upon, in particular, whether it was due to the recent revelations about Gates' relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. Asked about this, Buffett said that he had “read a great deal…in terms of what happened, with Bill and Epstein,” calling their relationship “distasteful,” but also saying that he “found nothing in there that was beyond what [he] could picture [himself] doing.” Instead of the Gates Foundation, all of this year's donations will go to foundations linked to the Buffett family.* Finally, British multinational diamond conglomerate De Beers, famous for coining the “A Diamond is Forever” tagline in 1947, reported this week that they plan to halt work at their “flagship” Venetia mine in South Africa as demand for the stones wanes. The BBC highlights both slackening consumer demand as well as competition from lab-grown diamonds, particularly those produced in China. That said, the closing of the Venetia mine – the biggest in South Africa, accounting for over 40% of the country's diamond production – will send shockwaves through that country's already shaky economy. That mine alone employs more than 4,000 people, while the mining sector employs nearly half a million. De Beers said they plan to reopen the mine in two years; in the meantime, they are looking to expand copper mining to keep up with demand from AI data centers.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

Mia Kriegler – direkteur: batebestuur, Kruger Internasionaal Volg RSG Geldsake op Twitter

Nosipho Radebe speaks to Mining Analyst, David van WykSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cosatu sluit aan by die mynwerkersvakbond NUM en veroordeel De Beers se besluit om produksie by sy Venetia-myn in Limpopo vir twee jaar te staak en 'n Artikel 189A-kennisgewing uit te reik wat 1 214 werkers se voortbestaan bedreig. Cosatu se woordvoerder, Zanele Sabela, sê die onderneming is lank reeds bewus van die uitdagings in die diamantbedryf, insluitend lae pryse en die stygende vraag na sintetiese diamante:

Hosts Victoria Gomelsky and Rob Bates talk to Gabrielle Saunders, founder of Ruveil, a jewelry brand that allows people to “wear what they hear.” She explains how her jewelry design is informed by her background working in jewelry houses such as Alexis Bittar and Harry Winston, studying gemology at GIA, and becoming a sound meditation facilitator. Bridging the seemingly disparate worlds of wellness and fine jewelry, Gabrielle's brand taps into a growing market and creates a personal connection between each piece and its wearer. Title sponsor: De Beers (adiamondisforever.com)

Malgré les sanctions, la Russie garde la première marche du podium pour la troisième année consécutive, en valeur comme en part de marché en ce début juillet, selon le Rapaport Group, institution qui fait référence sur le marché du diamant. Une position qu'elle conserve bien que sa part dans le marché mondial ait légèrement reculé, car elle a réduit sa production et ses exportations pour soutenir ses prix.  Depuis 2023, année où elle a dépassé le Botswana, la Russie conserve son titre de premier producteur mondial de diamants bruts en valeur. Le pays a même produit près de deux fois plus de diamants bruts que ses plus proches concurrents. Concrètement, selon les statistiques publiées en début de mois par le Processus de Kimberley, la Russie a extrait l'an dernier 31,5 millions de carats, pour une valeur totale de 2,72 milliards de dollars, soit un prix moyen de 86 dollars par carat. À lire aussiLe Canada, un géant mondial du diamant aux mines vieillissantes Techniques sophistiquées de contournement des sanctions La performance est notable et notamment en raison des sanctions occidentales. Depuis le 1ᵉʳ janvier 2024, les pays du G7 interdisent l'importation de pierres extraites en Russie et l'Union européenne a sanctionné le géant russe Alrosa, le premier producteur mondial, qui fournit un quart du marché. Évidemment, comme pour d'autres produits, la Russie a construit un système sophistiqué de contournement. Selon notamment une enquête d'un média indépendant et d'une ONG russe, la Russie profite d'une sacrée faille : le bannissement ne s'applique pas aux diamants déjà présents sur le territoire européen ou dans les pays tiers avant le 1ᵉʳ janvier 2024, ni à ceux taillés en dehors de Russie avant cette date. Pensé pour protéger les investisseurs, le résultat, c'est que beaucoup de diamants russes sont taillés ailleurs, changent d'origine et se fraient un chemin sur des marchés dont les portes sont censées être fermées. L'Arménie est pointée du doigt pour son aide au diamant russe par l'OCCRP, une organisation internationale de journalisme d'investigation. Réduction de la production dans un secteur jugé instable Reste que le tableau est loin d'être si rose pour la Russie et Alrosa. D'abord, parce que l'entreprise a suspendu l'exploitation de plusieurs gisements au cours des mois écoulés afin de réduire ses coûts dans un contexte de ralentissement du secteur. Au total, selon le journal Kommersant, la production russe a été réduite de 15,5 % en 2025. Selon les données du Processus de Kimberley, c'est la plus forte baisse de production parmi les cinq principaux pays producteurs de diamants, la Russie se classe même au deuxième rang pour le recul de ses exportations.  Les perspectives du secteur du diamant russe sont évaluées de manière très diverse dans le pays, mais des points convergent chez les analystes cités dans la presse russe : le secteur reste instable, la concurrence des pierres synthétiques s'intensifie et la popularité des diamants est en déclin à l'échelle mondiale. À lire aussiEn attendant son repreneur, De Beers baisse le prix de ses diamants

The National Union of Mineworkers has condemned De Beers' decision to suspend production at Venetia Mine for two years. The company has also started Section 189A retrenchment proceedings, placing 1,214 workers at risk of job losses. NUM says the move is a severe blow to employees, families and surrounding communities and that the company should have consulted workers earlier. We're now joined on the line by NUM National Health and Safety Secretary and Diamonds Sector Chief Negotiator, Masibulele Naki

A month after the year's most hyped listing, nearly everyone who bought SpaceX and held is underwater — and with the 180-day lock-up now gone, Simon Brown explains why insider selling is only getting started. He then tours the week's biggest moves: Apple's copyright lawsuit against OpenAI and what it means for hardware and an IPO, Purple Group buying Telescope AI to strengthen EasyEquities, oil climbing back into the 80s as Middle East peace talks stall, De Beers closing its last South African mine, and Sappi languishing at 1998 levels. He closes on a US 10-year yield near 4.6% and the start of a US earnings season priced for 23–24% EPS growth. Topics: SpaceX, OpenAI, Apple, Purple Group, Telescope AI, Brent oil, De Beers, Sappi, Mpact, US Treasuries, bank earnings. WorldWideMarkets is part of JustOneLap.com.

Kea Nonyana from Prime XBT unpacks De Beers's decision to shut its South African mine and what TSMC's 36% revenue surge says about the strength of ongoing AI-driven chip demand. Charles Savage, CEO of Purple Group, explains the rationale behind the group's $10.75 million acquisition of Telescope AI and what it means for the business. Professor Adré Schreuder from UP discusses the latest Customer Experience Index, which, for the first time, includes investment firms, revealing how the sector measures up.

Africa Melane speaks to David van Wyk, Lead Researcher at the Bench Marks Foundation, about De Beers' decision to suspend production at its Venetia mine for two years. They discuss what the move means for workers, mining communities and South Africa's diamond industry, as well as the mine's historical legacy, land restitution, and the uncertain future of De Beers as Anglo American prepares to sell the business Early Breakfast with Africa Melane is 702’s and CapeTalk’s early morning talk show. Experienced broadcaster Africa Melane brings you the early morning news, sports, business, and interviews politicians and analysts to help make sense of the world. He also enjoys chatting to guests in the lifestyle sphere and the Arts. All the interviews are podcasted for you to catch-up and listen. Thank you for listening to this podcast from Early Breakfast with Africa Melane For more about the show click https://buff.ly/XHry7eQ and find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/XJ10LBU Listen live on weekdays between 04:00 and 06:00 (SA Time) to the Early Breakfast with Africa Melane broadcast on 702 https://buff.ly/gk3y0Kj and CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3N Subscribe to the 702 and CapeTalk daily and weekly newsletters https://buff.ly/v5mfetc Follow us on social media: 702 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702 702 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkradio702/ 702 on X: https://x.com/Radio702 702 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@radio702 CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

De Beers secretly cut prices for natural diamonds… but its “Desert Diamonds” sell imperfection.ChatGPT's newest AI understands “uh-huh”... because the future of offices is whispering.Gyms are replacing bars for Gen-Z… it's a reaction to the Burnout Economy.Plus, we're in a Middle Child Recession… America is running out of middle-born children.$MSFT $PNDRY $SPYGrab your Tickets to the IPO Tour: Our In-Person OfferingSan Francisco 9/23: https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C0064AFB5F688BDBoston 10/14: https://tickets.citywinery.com/event/tboy-the-ipo-tour-in-person-offering-8cdhupSeattle 11/4 (21+): https://www.axs.com/events/1446394/the-best-one-yet-ticketsNEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter OUR 2ND SHOW:Want more business storytelling from us? Check our weekly deepdive show, The Best Idea Yet: The untold origin story of the products you're obsessed with. Listen for free to The Best Idea Yet: https://wondery.com/links/the-best-idea-yet/NEW LISTENERSFill out our 2 minute survey: https://qualtricsxm88y5r986q.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dp1FDYiJgt6lHy6GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Linkedin (Nick): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-martell/Linkedin (Jack): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jack-crivici-kramer/Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ About Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today's top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, The Best One Yet is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Grootes speaks to Avhapfani Tshifularo, CEO of the Fuel Industry Association of South Africa, about the government's proposed Strategic Petroleum Stock Policy and what it could mean for the country's fuel security. In other interviews, David Van Wyk, mining analyst talks about De Beer’s decision to pause production at its Venetia mine in Limpopo for two years, what the move means for South Africa's diamond industry and workers, and how the mining giant is adapting to weak global demand. The Money Show is a podcast hosted by well-known journalist and radio presenter, Stephen Grootes. He explores the latest economic trends, business developments, investment opportunities, and personal finance strategies. Each episode features engaging conversations with top newsmakers, industry experts, financial advisors, entrepreneurs, and politicians, offering you thought-provoking insights to navigate the ever-changing financial landscape.    Thank you for listening to a podcast from The Money Show Listen live Primedia+ weekdays from 18:00 and 20:00 (SA Time) to The Money Show with Stephen Grootes broadcast on 702 https://buff.ly/gk3y0Kj and CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show, go to https://buff.ly/7QpH0jY or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/PlhvUVe Subscribe to The Money Show Daily Newsletter and the Weekly Business Wrap here https://buff.ly/v5mfetc The Money Show is brought to you by Absa     Follow us on social media   702 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702 702 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkradio702/ 702 on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk 702 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@radio702   CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/Radio702 CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stephen Grootes speaks to David Van Wyk, mining analyst, about the company's decision to pause production at its Venetia mine in Limpopo for two years, what the move means for South Africa's diamond industry and workers, how the mining giant is adapting to weak global demand and falling diamond prices. The Money Show is a podcast hosted by well-known journalist and radio presenter, Stephen Grootes. He explores the latest economic trends, business developments, investment opportunities, and personal finance strategies. Each episode features engaging conversations with top newsmakers, industry experts, financial advisors, entrepreneurs, and politicians, offering you thought-provoking insights to navigate the ever-changing financial landscape.    Thank you for listening to a podcast from The Money Show Listen live Primedia+ weekdays from 18:00 and 20:00 (SA Time) to The Money Show with Stephen Grootes broadcast on 702 https://buff.ly/gk3y0Kj and CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show, go to https://buff.ly/7QpH0jY or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/PlhvUVe Subscribe to The Money Show Daily Newsletter and the Weekly Business Wrap here https://buff.ly/v5mfetc The Money Show is brought to you by Absa     Follow us on social media   702 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TalkRadio702 702 on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@talkradio702 702 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkradio702/ 702 on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk 702 on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@radio702   CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/Radio702 CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's Headlines: Mitch McConnell is still missing with zero health updates, Elaine Chao's spokesperson says she left for China two days before he was hospitalized and has since returned. Mitch's absence is now actively complicating Senate business since he sits on the Appropriations Committee that needs to pass a government funding bill by September 30th — so the republicans need him conscious and present, which remains unconfirmed. In other news, The Secret Service apparently made Trump swap planes leaving Turkey out of "an abundance of caution" over Iran escalation concerns about how quickly the Qatari hand-me-down was retrofitted, despite Trump insisting the plane is fine. Meanwhile the  White House columns are now covered in a tarp printed to look like the White House, which is a real thing that exists. On the Immigration beat, ICE shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national with no criminal record who had lived in the US for decades and was on his way to work, with federal officials claiming self-defense and no footage to back it up — and Mexico is now reportedly planning to file criminal complaints in the US over multiple ICE custody deaths, because apparently diplomatic complaints weren't getting through. In Texas, Ken Paxton, AG and Republican Senate candidate who literally just created a voter fraud tip line, appears to have voted at an address he hadn't lived at for over a year across six elections including the primary that made him the Republican nominee — information that only surfaced because of his divorce filings — and spent July 4th weekend in England with his alleged mistress, patriotic. On the cost of living beat, Walmart is cutting grocery prices by 12%, DeBeers is making its deepest diamond price cuts ever now that lab-grown diamonds have broken their monopoly, and the government is quietly changing how it calculates inflation in a way that will make the numbers look slightly better going forward, with timing that is, shall we say, convenient. Resources/Articles mentioned: WLKY: Sen. Mitch McConnell's wife releases statement amid his hospitalization WaPo: How Mitch McConnell's absence complicates the Senate's business and war funding ABC News: Secret Service urged Trump to depart Turkey on old Air Force One as a security precaution, sources say The Daily Beast: White House Gets Tacky Tarp Over Trump's New Project AP News: Family demands an independent probe after ICE officer fatally shoots a man in Houston Axios: Mexico threatens legal action over citizens' deaths in ICE custody The Texas Tribune: Ken Paxton's voter registration may violate Texas election law SA Current: Republican Ken Paxton spotted with alleged mistress in England over Independence Day weekend WSJ: Walmart Lowers Prices on Thousands of Items, Including Beef and Coca-Cola Bloomberg: De Beers Makes Diamond Price Cuts for Shrinking Buyers Club Axios: Measurement tweaks will make inflation data look better Subscribe to the Betches News Room and join the Morning Announcements group chat. Go to: betchesnews.substack.com Morning Announcements is produced by Sami Sage and edited by Grace Hernandez-Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S'il ne s'agissait pas de diamant, on pourrait parler de « grande braderie ». Le géant De Beers, vient cette semaine de baisser fortement les prix de ses diamants, lors d'une session de vente qui s'est ouverte à Gaborone au Botswana dédiée à des acheteurs triés sur le volet. Ces « soldes » sont rendus possibles par une petite reprise de la demande mais confirment aussi que De Beers n'a pas intérêt, en ce moment, à maintenir des prix trop supérieurs à ceux du marché. La stratégie de l'entreprise a longtemps été de proposer des prix de 20 à 30% supérieurs au marché, quitte à ne pas vendre, toute baisse des prix pouvant donner un signal que le marché n'est pas porteur. Quand elle a pratiqué des rabais, c'était en coulisse, discrètement, pour que l'affichage reste celui de prix officiels qui se maintiennent.  Depuis un an et demi, cette posture a évolué : l'entreprise, a accepté de baisser ses prix à plusieurs reprises, et cette semaine, elle a opéré des réductions semble t-il importantes sur plusieurs catégories de pierres et en particulier sur les plus petites, celles de moins de un carat et celles comprises entre un et deux carats, ce sont les diamants qui ont le plus souffert de la baisse de la demande. Le groupe a aussi choisi de concentrer ses ventes sur un nombre de clients plus réduits, en choisissant les plus importants, « pour peut-être les fidéliser », commente un expert du secteur. Ces gros clients, appelés « sightholders » sont passés d'environ 70 à une cinquantaine voire moins, selon l'agence Bloomberg.  Le marché des pierres naturelles est en crise depuis trois ans. De Beers profite aujourd'hui d'une petite reprise du marché, pour faire baisser ses stocks devenus trop importants, et récupérer des liquidités. Ce que l'entreprise perd en baissant ses prix devrait être compensé par les volumes vendus.  L'Angola, et ses prix bas Pour comprendre la position de De Beers, il faut regarder aussi ce qui se passe chez un autre producteur, l'Angola. Le pays s'est distingué par une production record l'année dernière, ce qui a contribué à créer une surabondance de pierres naturelles, commercialisées à prix très avantageux. Cette pratique tarifaire a alimenté le marché à la baisse. Et cela devrait continuer en 2026, même si l'Angola a dit sa volonté de limiter la surproduction de diamants bruts de petites tailles issus des mines de Catoca et de Luele, pour « protéger la valeur de la production angolaise et le marché » a confié le directeur commercial d'Endiama la société minière nationale, à Rapaport News. Dernière ligne droite pour la vente de De Beers Cette baisse des prix pratiquée par De Beers intervient dans un contexte de grande insécurité pour le géant du diamant. La maison mère de De Beers, Anglo American – qui détient 85% du capital – a décidé, il y a deux ans, de se séparer de son secteur diamant. Les négociations seraient entrées dans une phase finale, selon le directeur de l'entreprise qui tablait sur un accord d'ici quelques semaines. En attendant de connaître son repreneur, l'entreprise perd plus d'un million de dollars par jours et personne ne sait à quelle valeur financière elle sera cédée. À lire aussiDe Beers perd de la valeur en pleine crise du secteur du diamant

EPISODIO 02 — La marca del Gobierno, George Heaton, Michelin, Stanley, De Beers, United Airlines, Buc-ee's y Limp BizkitDos personas mirando los mismos negocios desde ángulos distintos. Pepe es emprendedor — co-fundador de Minimalism Brand y consultor de estrategia. Pablo es filósofo. Cada episodio traemos cinco historias de negocios, debatimos sin ponernos de acuerdo, y nos hacemos preguntas que no tienen respuesta fácil.George Heaton y la marca personal: Empatizamos con el que lucha. Cuando le va bien, dejamos de empatizar. ¿Por qué construimos creadores para después abandonarlos — o directamente destruirlos?Michelin: En 1900 había 3.000 coches en Francia. Dos fabricantes de neumáticos crearon una guía de restaurantes para que la gente condujera más. Hoy esa guía destruye y consagra carreras de chefs en 45 países. Hay chefs que se han suicidado por perder una estrella que les dio una empresa de ruedas.Stanley: Nació en 1913 para que los obreros no se les enfriara el café. En 2019 facturaba 70 millones. En 2023, 750 millones. No mejoraron el termo — convencieron a la misma persona de que necesitaba doce. La marca más sostenible del mundo te vendió coleccionismo. Y luego te vendió lo que ibas a meter dentro.De Beers: Antes de 1947, pedir matrimonio con un diamante no era la norma. Una copywriter escribió cuatro palabras — "A Diamond Is Forever" — y rediseñó el significado del amor en Occidente. Y de paso resolvió un problema de negocio brillante: nadie revende un diamante porque hacerlo es un sacrilegio emocional.United Airlines: Dos crisis, dos lecciones sobre cómo no reaccionar cuando la cagas. En 2008 un músico les escribió una canción. En 2017 arrastraron a golpes a un médico de 69 años por el pasillo de un avión mientras los pasajeros grababan. La cagada no es la cagada — es cómo reaccionas a ella.Buc-ee's: Una gasolinera de Texas que ganó el premio al Mejor Baño de América y construyó un imperio de casi mil millones de dólares sobre porcelana. Lo que empezó como una estación de servicio es hoy el concepto más original del retail americano — y todo porque apostó por el detalle que nadie consideraba relevante.Limp Bizkit: La gente está hasta los cojones de que le digan que sea su mejor versión. Nike dice Just Do It. Limp Bizkit dice Just Break It. El resurgir de una banda que nadie esperaba puede ser el síntoma cultural más honesto del momento.

This week on Good Things with Brent Lindeque, I sit down with Rikus de Beer, the man behind the wildly popular Radio Raps character, Jonathan. I went into the interview expecting the larger-than-life humour that has made him one of South Africa's favourite entertainers. While there certainly were laughs, what I didn't anticipate was just how grounded and deeply inspiring the conversation would become. Hearing him reflect on the turning points in his life gave me a fresh appreciation for the person behind the character. At just 26 years old, a severe illness changed everything. After contracting a near-fatal virus and spending six weeks in ICU, he found himself questioning the life he had built. That experience became the catalyst for a bold decision: he left his corporate career behind and chose to chase a dream that made no sense on paper but felt completely right in his heart. That leap of faith gave birth to Radio Raps, the entertainment brand that would go on to capture South Africans through viral WhatsApp voice notes, unforgettable stand-up performances and the iconic Jonathan character. Alongside the comedy, Rikus also built an impressive business career, becoming the owner of the popular Hennie's restaurant chain and proving that creativity and entrepreneurship can go hand in hand. This episode isn't about comedy… at all. It's about perspective, taking chances, finding purpose after life's biggest setbacks and discovering that success often begins with the courage to change direction.

Once a month I teach a tafseer class at UWA, and tonight we finished Surah al-Fatihah. We started back in April, paused in May while I was at Hajj, and picked it up again this week.This is the most important surah in our lives. We recite it at least seventeen times a day — and there has to be a reason Allah asks that of us. The whole reason we sit with it is to see how seven short verses, recited so many times that they almost slip past us, are actually a map for how to live.We began by going back over the verses we'd already covered, because the later ones don't land without them.Grounded is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Bismillah — In the name of AllahThe first thing to notice is that Bismillah isn't a complete sentence. “In the name of Allah” — and then what? In Arabic this is a shibh jumla, a fragment. The sentence is left open on purpose, and you complete it with your action.That's why the Prophet ﷺ said that anything important begun without Bismillah is cut off from blessing. When you say it, you're invoking Allah's help before you've even started.From that one word, three things follow.First, it's a filter. When you put Allah's name on something, the wrong things become hard to do. I mentioned the Indonesian sheikh who was asked whether smoking is makruh or haram. He refused to give a fiqhi answer. He simply asked the man: can you say Bismillah before you smoke? The man said no, of course not, it wouldn't be appropriate. Then you already know the answer. Put a Bismillah in front of a thing, and you find out very quickly what it's worth.Second, it's a mindset. When you do something in the name of someone great, you raise your game. A footballer plays differently for his country than for his local club — the colours change how seriously he takes it. So when a Muslim acts in the name of Allah, he doesn't do things half-heartedly. The Prophet ﷺ told us Allah loves itqan — excellence, doing a thing to the best of your ability. You see it in the smallest acts, like taking wudu carefully without wasting water, and you see it across the whole of Muslim civilisation. Walk through the old mosques of Andalusia and look at the detail in the calligraphy, the care in every surface. That care begins at Bismillah. Allah is beautiful, and He loves beauty.Third, it's our source of barakah. Because we're invoking Allah's help, we stay humble when we succeed — we know it was His work through us, not our own greatness — and we stay calm when we fail, knowing there may be something better in it. We're not euphoric in success or crushed in failure. We did it Bismillah, and we leave the outcome to Him.Grounded is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Alhamdulillah — All praise is for AllahThen comes gratitude — and gratitude, it turns out, is the real engine of human happiness.There's a study I keep coming back to, out of UC Berkeley and UC Davis. They took people struggling with depression and split them into groups. One group received nothing. One received medication. One was given gratitude work — every day, write down the things you're thankful for. After a month, the group that did nothing got worse, the medicated group improved, and the gratitude group improved just as much as the medicated one.But the follow-up study found something sharper. Gratitude has pillars. To be grateful you need three things: the beneficiary (you, the one receiving), the benefit (the thing itself), and the benefactor (the one who gave it).When a friend buys you a kebab, all three are obvious — you know exactly who to thank. But who do you thank for good rain on a morning you love? For the parents you didn't choose? For children born healthy? You had no hand in any of it. The Bureau of Meteorology reports the weather; it doesn't send it.This is why, for those who removed God, the gratitude eventually collapses — the mind quietly asks, who am I actually thanking? It's no accident that the self-help shelves are filling with crystals and auras and the old paganism is creeping back. People are reaching for a power to thank and finding nothing there.We already have the answer. Alhamdulillah. And the fact that Allah even taught us who to thank is itself a thing to be grateful for — which is why it becomes an endless loop. Alhamdulillah for the Alhamdulillah.Rabb al-'alamin — Lord of all worldsSo who is this we're thanking? Allah is Rabb — and Rabb doesn't just mean Lord. It carries the meaning of nurturing. Not a creator who set the universe running by its own laws and stepped back, but One who creates, sustains, and nurtures every moment. And al-'alamin — everything that exists besides Him.Then immediately: ar-Rahman, ar-Rahim.Why mercy again, so soon after Bismillah? Because it isn't repetition. Imam al-Tabari disliked calling anything in the Qur'an repetition — we repeat ourselves only when we've run out of better things to say, and Allah never has. The mercy here is placed deliberately. The word Rabb — Lord, Master — can stir fear; this is a power that can do anything to us and we can do nothing back. So the instant that fear rises, Allah answers it with love. He is not a Lord laying traps so you'll trip and fall into the fire. Every law He sets is for our benefit, not His — if all eight billion of us turned away tomorrow, it would take nothing from His majesty, and only harm ourselves.This is the balance the scholars call khawf and raja', fear and hope. Lean only on hope and you grow careless; lean only on fear and you despair. Rabb al-'alamin and ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, side by side, hold you upright.Maliki yawm id-din — Master of the Day of JudgmentThis verse is read two ways — Malik (King) and Maalik (Owner) — and here is something worth understanding about our recensions. The different readings of the Qur'an don't contradict each other the way variant manuscripts elsewhere might. They complete each other.A king and an owner aren't the same. I own this iPad — I don't call myself its king. As owner I can use it, lend it, smash it, and no one can question me; I control every detail. But you don't own a country, you reign over it — a king sets the laws that govern the whole. The owner handles the detail, the king handles the big picture. Allah is both. On that Day He sets every rule — who speaks, who goes where, when it begins — and He holds every single soul down to the smallest detail.And notice the word din. Allah could have said yawm al-qiyamah. He chose din, which in Arabic is one vowel from dayn — debt. Religion and debt are bound together, because the reason we worship at all is a debt of gratitude we owe Him.The Prophet ﷺ embodied this. He prayed through the night until his feet swelled, and when Aisha asked why — when Allah had already forgiven him entirely — he answered: should I not be a grateful servant?That's the summit. People worship for different reasons. Some out of fear of the Fire — valid. Some to bargain, O Allah, I have an exam — also valid, also sincere. Al-Ghazali called these levels: the slave who obeys out of fear of beating, the merchant who trades. But the highest is the one who worships out of sheer gratitude, moved by love.An easy way to check where you sit — I use it on myself. Look at how you set your alarm for Fajr. If sunrise is 7:15 and I set it for 7:00, just enough to make the prayer before it's lost, I'm moving out of fear of missing it. The one moved by gratitude sets it for 5:00 — time for tahajjud, some Qur'an, then Fajr. Same prayer. Very different relationship.And this debt isn't only with Allah. The Day of Judgment is the day all debts are settled — including the ones we owe each other. The Prophet ﷺ told us of the true bankrupt: a man who arrives with a mountain of good deeds, sees his scale, thinks he's bound for Paradise — and then the people he wronged come forward. He cheated me. He hit me. He slandered me. His good deeds are handed out one by one until they run dry, and when they're gone, their sins are loaded onto him instead. He started rich and ended in ruin.So al-Fatihah reminds us, seventeen times a day, that everything we do is being counted. This is why the Qur'an says prayer restrains us from indecency — at Fajr you're reminded twice, at Dhuhr four times, before the day can pull you off course. Maliki yawm id-din. Settle your debts before they're settled for you.The turnUp to here, every verse has been about Allah — describing Him, praising Him from a kind of distance. Then the whole surah pivots.Iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'in — You alone we worship, You alone we askIn Arabic you'd normally begin with the verb. Allah front-loads iyyaka — “You” — and that inversion is where the word only comes from. It isn't written in the verse; it's created by the word order. Only You we worship. Only You we ask. And He says it twice, to drive it home.Then look at na'budu. We translate it “worship,” and we shrink that to rituals — prayer, fasting, dhikr. But its root means slave. A slave has handed over his freedom; he doesn't get to say no, not this one. So this is far bigger than the window of prayer. Every part of life — how we work, how we rest, how we treat people, how we entertain ourselves — belongs to Allah.People hear “slave” and recoil. Translators reach for “servant” instead, and even that's going out of fashion. But enslaving yourself to Allah is the one freedom that's real — because we are never as free as we imagine.Ask a child almost anywhere in the world to recognise the golden arches and they can, often before they can read. They link it to happiness — the happy meal did its work. But be honest: is that the best burger you've ever had? Is that the best playground in your city? The parks in Perth are better. We didn't choose to want it; a marketing machine chose for us.Or take diamonds. You “need” one to propose — except diamonds are neither rare nor precious. They're abundant; the scarcity is manufactured. The entire idea was a De Beers campaign from the 1920s, and it reshaped what a whole civilisation believes love requires.Even right and wrong get sold to us. Things shift from forbidden to acceptable not because the science changed but because someone with deep pockets lobbied hard enough. A hundred years ago, women in Perth dressed almost like Muslim women — high collars, long sleeves, covered ankles. A century later they're barely clothed, and it's called freedom. Yet the bikini was designed by a man. How is that liberation?So iyyaka na'budu hands us a fixed point. Our right and wrong, our values, our whole standard comes from Allah alone — and that's exactly what makes us stable when everything else is being marketed at us. We reaffirm it seventeen times a day.And iyyaka nasta'in — only You we ask for help. Of course we ask people for help too. But a believer knows that if someone helps me, the help still came through Allah. When I drink to quench my thirst, it isn't the water doing it — it's Allah, using the water as His means. Even so, the Prophet ﷺ told us that whoever doesn't thank people hasn't truly thanked Allah. So this isn't an excuse to skip past gratitude to the person in front of you. Thanking them is part of thanking Him.Ihdina as-sirat al-mustaqim — Guide us the straight pathNow, finally, we ask for something. And of everything a person could ask the Lord of all worlds for — wealth, relief, rescue — the prayer lands on guidance.And there's no “to.” If Allah meant guide us toward the path, the Arabic would include ila. He leaves it out. Professor Quraish Shihab puts it well: if you ask me the way to the musalla, I can point — out the door, left, right, right again. That's directions, and goodbye. But ihdina sirat al-mustaqim, with no ila, is the other kind — come, let's go, I'll walk you there myself. So we're not asking Allah to show us the path from a distance. We're asking Him to walk it with us — every step, every decision, sometimes hour by hour.Then the word sirat itself. Arabic has several words for path — sabil, tariq — but sirat is a wide one. Its root means to swallow something whole; a sirat is broad enough to swallow crowds. This matters. The straight path isn't a narrow ledge for our group alone. It's vast. Whoever prays as we pray, faces our qiblah, eats our slaughter — the Prophet ﷺ called that person a Muslim. We can disagree sharply on creed and method and still not expel one another from the path.And within that one wide road there are subul — lanes. Allah says of those who strive, We will guide them to Our ways — plural. Some people reach Allah most easily through prayer; sunnah prayers come light to them. For others it's fasting beyond Ramadan, or teaching, or feeding the poor, or caring for orphans and single mothers. Different gifts, different lanes, same road.Which means I have no business looking down on anyone. I might memorise more Qur'an than the next person and assume I'm above him — when he may be carrying half his community on his back while I spend my time reciting. Allah handed out different talents on purpose. Use yours as your lane to Him, and leave the contempt behind.The path of those blessed — and the two who lost itAllah doesn't leave the path abstract. He names who's already on it: the path of those You have blessed. Elsewhere He tells us who they are — the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, the righteous. So this road isn't some untrodden wilderness we have to hack through. People have walked it ahead of us. Find your heroes among them.We're built to follow heroes — it's why influencers now out-earn the executives of the platforms they post on. So Allah meets that instinct and points it somewhere worthy. We should know our prophets. We should know the siddiqin — Abu Bakr, the certified truthful. The martyrs — Umar and Uthman. The righteous companions, each one.If our children can name all eleven players on a football team but not the ten companions promised Paradise, something has gone wrong in the home. I'm not against knowing the players — some people can tell you the exact weight of the racquet Federer uses, custom-made, not the commercial one. Fine. But then let's also know the length and weight of our Prophet's sword. The more we know our heroes, the more we love them, and the more we want to become like them.Then the final turn: not the path of those who earned anger, nor of those who went astray. The classical scholars sometimes named specific groups, but I prefer the reading that looks at character — and it ties the whole surah together.Look back at the seven verses. The opening ones — Bismillah, Alhamdulillah, ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, Maliki yawm id-din — are verses of knowledge. They tell us things. The later ones — only You we worship, guide us — are verses of action. We do something with them.So the two who lose the path are:* The one who has knowledge and refuses to act on it — that's the one who earned anger. He knew and chose not to.* The one who acts without knowledge — that's the one astray. All effort, no guidance, lost despite his sincerity.There's a hadith — discussed by the scholars, used by al-Mundhiri to spur us — where the angels come first for those who knew the Qur'an and didn't live it, before the idol-worshippers, and when those people protest, the answer comes: are the one who knew and the one who didn't know the same? Disobedience out of knowledge is heavier than disobedience out of ignorance.The complete surah is both together: knowledge and action. You know, and you act on what you know.Seven verses. And the Prophet ﷺ told us this is a conversation — every time we recite it, Allah answers, line by line:When you say Alhamdulillahi rabbil 'alamin, Allah says: My servant has praised Me. When you say ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, He says: My servant has glorified Me. And when you say ihdina sirat al-mustaqim, He says: This is for My servant — and for him is what he asked.That's the conversation we have with our Lord at least seventeen times a day. Tonight we finally heard the whole of it.One more thingAt the end of tonight's class, I opened something I've been building for a while.It's called Grounded — a way to actually learn the Qur'an you recite, instead of reading a translation once and forgetting it. It follows the same shape as the class itself: you learn an ayah, you recall it, and then you ground it in a daily habit. One ayah a day. About fifteen minutes.We start, of course, with al-Fatihah — the same surah we've just finished.It's been in private beta with my own students at Qaswa, who've been on it for a while now — competitive enough that some of them stay up at night trying to climb the leaderboard, only to wake up and find they've been overtaken. Tonight I opened it to the UWA cohort as the next group in.If you're a paid subscriber to this Substack, you're next in line. I'll be sending invitations before long, and you'll be among the first outside these classes to join.Stay tuned. Next month, a new surah.Here's the fuller version. Every point gets room to build the way it did in the room, and the app section now places UWA correctly — Qaswa students were already on it, UWA is the second cohort. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.grounded.day/subscribe

28 Junie | Staan Vas In Twyfel | Hallo Kerk Centurion - Francois De Beer by Hallo Kerk

What does it take to turn a house into a home? For Christophe Carpente – the French-born, Swiss-trained architect behind some of the world's most considered luxury interiors – the answer lies in chemistry, trust, and the willingness to let go.In this episode of House Guest, Carpente joins Carole from his Notting Hill studio to reflect on nearly 30 years of practice: from designing flagship stores for Cartier, Burberry and De Beers, to the deeply personal work of building homes for their owners. Sponsored by Aqualisa Showers.

After some time, which provided both a chance to recover and distance to digest, Rob Bates and Victoria Gomelsky talk about all their takeaways from the JCK and Luxury shows in Las Vegas. They discuss the reasons for the record-breaking success many exhibitors reported from the show in the face of turbulent times; challenges in the natural and lab-grown diamond space; and the phenomenon of premiumization in the watch industry and luxury market at large. They also talk about a well-attended Collective Horology event as well as the economic strain on the middle-class customer. Title sponsor: De Beers (adiamondisforever.com)

Gareth Penny spent 22 years at De Beers, joining the board in 2003 and serving as Group CEO from 2006 to 2010 during which he dismantled over a century of supply-side monopoly. From 2013 to 2022 he was Independent Chair of Norilsk Nickel, winning Russian Chairman of the Year in 2016, and from which he resigned following the invasion of Ukraine. Listen to this episode to find out more about: Why being the world's biggest diamond monopoly was almost worthless (01:52) The people inside a business are the last to see what's wrong with it (06:20) Governing a boardroom with a government, a corporate and a family in it (11:20) The advice Gareth gives any CEO about to reinvent their company (14:36) What a fit board and a great sportsman have in common under pressure (20:36) The secret to a calm boardroom (24:42) Why the chair should always be the last person to speak (27:21) How a board handles one of the worst oil spills in Arctic history (30:15) The board function Gareth thinks almost every company is missing (35:36) ⚡The Lightning Round⚡(37:55)Host: Oliver CummingsProducer: Will FeltonEditor: Penelope CoumauMusic: Kate MacAudio: Nick KoldEmail: podcast@nurole.comWeb: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Die regering se plan om 'n belang in De Beers te verkry, wek beide optimisme en kommer. Daar word gesê dat 'n belegging van tot 3 miljard Namibiese dollar in De Beers oorweeg word, via 'n gesamentlike onderneming met Botswana en Angola. Ondersteuners voer aan dat dit Namibië se vastrapplek in die bedryf kan versterk. Kritici waarsku egter dat die sukkelende diamantmark die onderneming riskant kan maak. Kennedy Hamutenya, die voormalige hoof van die staat se diamantbemarkings- en verkoopsmaatskappy, Namdia, sê die sleutel lê in hoe die belegging gestruktureer en bestuur word.

Hosts Rob Bates and Victoria Gomelsky interview an array of jewelry industry professionals live from the JCK and Luxury show floors. Get the immediate reactions of the heads of trade organizations, a variety of jewelry retailers, a JCK veteran, and a gem explorer on trends they've noticed, how the show went, and the state of the industry at large. Despite question swirling around many factors affecting the industry including the price of gold, natural and lab-grown diamonds, and the sale of De Beers, the overall mood was one of positivity and resilience. Title sponsor: De Beers (adiamondisforever.com)

Hosts Victoria Gomelsky and Rob Bates interview a pair of high jewelry designers who also happen to be sisters: Ofira Sandberg and Lorraine Schwartz. The women share their family's history going back three generations in the jewelry industry, and tell how they ended up in the business despite their childhood vow not to. Lorraine and Ofira also talk about where they got their keen eye for design and how it helped their star rise as jewelers and led to relationships with several entertainment icons—including Barbra Streisand, Elizabeth Taylor, Beyoncé, and David Bowie. Finally, Ofira reveals what we can look forward to seeing on view during the pair's first time exhibiting at JCK Luxury. Title sponsor: De Beers (adiamondisforever.com)

'n Globale entrepreneurskapsprogram, ondersteun deur die Stanford Graduate School of Business en die De Beers-groep, doen opnuut 'n beroep op Namibiese sakeleiers om voor 1 Junie aansoek te doen vir sy transformerende sakegroei-inisiatief. Jeffrey Prickett, die globale direkteur van die Stanford Transformasieprogram, vertel aan Kosmos 94.1 Nuus dat die program reeds meer as 200 maatskappye reg oor Suider-Afrika gehelp het om bedrywighede uit te brei, duisende werkgeleenthede te skep en miljoene in beleggings te lok.

Victoria Gomelsky and Rob Bates cover a gamut of enriching industry events and jewelry business news. Victoria bounced from Jewelers Mutual's thought-provoking Conversations at Half Moon Bay to the ultra-luxe and action-packed Watches and Wonders in Geneva. She shares takeaways drawn from Conversations and the watch trends spotted in Geneva. Rob breaks down what the tariff refunds mean for businesses and which importers qualify. Finally, he shares his thoughts on QVC's bankruptcy filing, the company's possible future, and its influence on the jewelry industry. Title sponsor: De Beers (adiamondisforever.com)

In this episode of Run the Numbers, CJ Gustafson breaks down the diamond industry as a business model: how De Beers controlled supply, engineered demand, and built one of the most powerful pricing machines in history. From the Central Selling Organization to “A Diamond Is Forever” to the rise of lab-grown diamonds, this episode unpacks monopolies, scarcity, pricing power, and what happens when technology forces transparency.—SPONSORS:RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for teams that have outgrown spreadsheets and billing tool workarounds. It handles high-volume subscriptions, usage-based contracts, and mid-cycle upgrades, so you can scale without scrambling at month-end. For RevRec that keeps your books clean, visit https://www.rightrev.com/CJRillet is an AI-native ERP built for modern finance teams that want to replace NetSuite and close faster. With revenue recognition, close management, multi-entity support, and native Stripe and Salesforce integrations, Rillet helps scaling companies run their finance stack in one place. Hundreds of teams, including Windsurf and Mercor, use Rillet to make the zero-day close real. Book a demo at https://www.rillet.com/cjEY works with high-growth tech companies to navigate the messy realities of scaling—from regulatory requirements to IPO readiness. By helping teams get it right early and often, EY lets founders stay focused on building while reducing risk as they grow. Learn more at https://www.ey.com/techstartupsSpendHound is a SaaS spend management platform built for finance and procurement teams that want visibility and leverage in every deal. By tracking all your software, benchmarking pricing across thousands of vendors, and surfacing contracts and renewals, SpendHound helps you stop overpaying and negotiate with confidence. Trusted by teams at ZoomInfo and Hootsuite. Get started at https://www.spendhound.com/cjBrex is an intelligent finance platform that combines corporate cards, built-in expense management, and AI agents to eliminate manual finance work. By automating expense reviews and reconciliations, Brex gives CFOs more time for the high-impact work that drives growth. Join 35,000+ companies like Anthropic, Coinbase, and DoorDash at https://www.brex.com/metricsAleph is a modern FP&A platform built for teams that want more than another planning tool. By connecting your ERP, CRM, and other systems into one trusted data layer with AI workflows, Aleph helps you move faster with real-time insights. Get a personalized demo at https://www.getaleph.com/run—LINKS: Mostly Talent: https://mostlymetrics.typeform.com/to/cLTxtAsNCJ: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/Mostly metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com—RELATED EPISODES:Why Uber Drivers Can't Escape the 30% Cuthttps://youtu.be/LpbH9GpBrSY—TIMESTAMPS:All verified. Here are the timestamps:0:00 Blood Diamond1:55 Show intro2:15 Diamond history: ancient India and riverbed origins3:56 Brazil supply shock and the mining era4:39 De Beers: Cecil Rhodes and the PE rollup6:47 Sponsors — RightRev | Rillet | EY9:49 The Central Selling Organization (CSO)10:39 The site system: invite-only, take-it-or-leave-it auctions12:22 Diamonds are more abundant than gold13:01 NW Ayer, Bernays, and engineering demand14:17 "A Diamond is Forever" campaign15:13 Lab grown diamonds: 20% of US purchases16:32 De Beers collapses: $3.1B operating loss17:18 Sponsors — SpendHound | Brex | Aleph21:07 Lesson 1: Rollups are powered by capital21:39 Lesson 2: Distribution beats mining22:11 Lesson 3: Artificial scarcity unravels22:55 Lesson 4: Price opacity is a temporary moat23:39 Lesson 5: Demand engineering24:30 Lesson 6: The real product was risk smoothing26:30 Credits#RunTheNumbersPodcast #BusinessStrategy #FinanceHistory #Pricing #Monopoly

Francis Hall (Faceboy) hosts Reina De Beer. Dear old friends discuss topics including love and loss in this very interesting episode.

Victoria Gomelsky and Rob Bates talk to David Siminski, vice president of sales at United Precious Metals, who shares how the volatility of the gold and silver market has been affecting refiners. He also explains what it means to be a primary refiner (as opposed to a smelter), and offers advice for retailers dealing with refiners so they can optimize what they're doing, make more money, and be more efficient customers. Title sponsor: De Beers (adiamondisforever.com)

In this 83rd episode of the Paul Zimnisky Diamond Analytics Podcast, De Beers' iconic marketing executive Sally Morrison returns to the show. The episode begins with Paul ranting about the "word play" used by some in the industry to prop up LGD. The two then discuss whether reverting to referring to "natural diamonds" as just "diamonds" (without a qualifier) could be strategic from a marketing standpoint. Next, Sally shares the results of a recent consumer survey revealing, amongst other things, the latest customer preferences towards lab-grown versus natural diamonds –which in part led to Desert Diamonds, De Beers' newest "beacon" campaign. The two then analyze how financial temperament between women and men tends to differ when deciding on a budget for an engagement ring. Finally, the two talk about why large natural diamonds are outperforming, how the business of marketing diamonds has evolved and Sally's recent trip to Rwanda to observe gorillas in their native habitat.   Hosted by: Paul Zimnisky Guest: Sally Morrison Guest plug: www.adiamondisforever.com More information on PZDA's State of the Diamond Market report: www.paulzimnisky.com/products   Show contact: paul@paulzimnisky.com or visit www.paulzimnisky.com.   Please note that the contents of this podcast includes anecdotes, observations and opinions. The information should not be considered investment or financial advice. Consult your investment professional before making any investment decisions. Please read full disclosure at: www.paulzimnisky.com.

LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured  Are diamonds really forever—or just one of the greatest marketing illusions ever created? This deep dive exposes how De Beers and a 1947 ad campaign transformed diamonds from rare luxury items into a cultural “must-have.” From the famous slogan “A Diamond Is Forever” to the two-month salary rule, discover how supply manipulation, advertising, and now lab-grown diamonds have shattered the myth of diamond value—and why prices are collapsing today.

Victoria Gomelsky and Rob Bates cover a mix of fun events and notable jewelry industry news. From the glitz and glamour of 24 Karat Weekend to the colorful, gold-bedecked showcases at JIS Spring in Miami, the hosts take us on a tour of jewelry events that kicked off the season. Victoria shares her takeaways from JIS, including an enormous gold chain with a price tag she can't stop thinking about. Rob covers the latest changes coming from Signet as well as drastic cuts—and one newcomer—to De Beers' sightholder list. Title sponsor: De Beers (adiamondisforever.com)

In this episode, Dr. Puder sits down with Franciska de Beer, MSc, first author of landmark HAMLETT-OPHELIA Consortium papers in JAMA Psychiatry, World Psychiatry, and Psychological Medicine. They dive deep into the psychiatrist effect in first-episode psychosis, revealing that individual psychiatrists explain approximately 10% of variance in positive symptom improvement and daily functioning, even after controlling for medication dose. The conversation explores groundbreaking HAMLETT findings on early antipsychotic tapering versus maintenance, dopamine supersensitivity after high-affinity D2 blockers, sex differences in treatment outcomes and clozapine levels during menopause, and why shared decision-making and reflective functioning matter more than ever in psychosis care.   By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.25 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog Link to YouTube video

On the first day of US and Israeli attacks in Iran, a school bombing in the village of Minab that killed many children triggered global outrage. The World investigates another similar attack that also resulted in the death of children in the city of Lamerd that went mostly unnoticed. Also, a new amendment to the national security law in Hong Kong allows police to demand the password to a person's phone in order to search it. And, the British colonial-era diamond giant De Beers is now up for sale, and former African colonies, like Botswana, are looking to buy the company that long profited from their diamond mines. Plus, a new swing set celebrates a wacky border shared by two towns between the Netherlands and Belgium. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Appearing in a new video format, JCK's Victoria Gomelsky and Rob Bates interview Rebecca Foerster, the CEO and president of Hearts on Fire North America. Rebecca, who recently won JVC's Stanley Schecter Award, shares how her experiences growing up in New York City, working in cosmetics and fragrances, and her introduction to the manufacturing side of the jewelry industry shaped her view of and affection for the business. She also lends her perspective on what successful retailers are doing right, as well as the place in the market for lab-grown and natural diamonds. Title sponsor: De Beers (adiamondisforever.com) Watch here: https://youtu.be/8okt8FjLmwc

＜目次＞(0:00) 草野さん、おかえりなさい！(1:11) 今日のトピックはマーケティングトレンド(2:32) ダイヤモンドの婚約指輪の消費行動トレンドを作ったDe Beers(8:10) バレンタイン、イースターの消費トレンド(9:32) 分散された社会の中で教育・洗脳はできるのか？(11:16) アメリカは毎日「〇〇の日」(13:31) 役者のプロモーションのスキルセットが求められている時代(16:15) テック業界でもローンチ方法が変化している(19:33) TikTokユーザーは1日222本の動画を視聴(23:00) 集中時間が落ちているのではなく、検討時間が落ちている(25:15) 会話を求めるSNSユーザー(27:27) フォロワーの概念がなくなっている現象(32:18) AIコンテンツが分からなくなる世界(34:04) 人の顔が動画のテンプレになる(39:09) 過程やプロセスを楽しむ裏方コンテンツ(47:05) テック業界で話題になった決算発表のアプリ(50:02) スペクタクルとプロセスマーケティング(51:31) ハーバードビジネススクールで教えるのがステータスになる(55:40) プロセスへのリスペクト(56:59) カメラの行列が出来るかも？(57:59) 裏方を見せるのは日本にフィットしているのか？＜参照リンク＞https://offtopicjp.notion.site/311-2d3c8b57e114803a85bcfa05450909c6?source=copy_link＜About Off Topic＞Podcast:Apple - https://apple.co/2UZCQwzSpotify - https://spoti.fi/2JakzKmOff Topic Clubhttps://note.com/offtopic/membershipX - https://twitter.com/OffTopicJP草野ミキ:https://twitter.com/mikikusanohttps://www.instagram.com/mikikusano宮武テツロー: https://twitter.com/tmiyatake1

This week, we are revisiting a favorite episode. The natural diamond industry is facing an existential threat: lab-grown diamonds. They are chemically and physically identical to natural stones but they are a fraction of the price. Eleanor Olcott, the FT's China technology correspondent, travelled to the epicentre of lab-grown diamond production in the central Chinese province of Henan to see how they are made. While the FT's natural resources editor, Leslie Hook, explores what the sale of De Beers, the natural diamond producer, could mean for the future of the sector.This episode originally aired on September 10 2025. Clip from Arnold Worldwide The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For further reading (updated):How the diamond industry lost its sparkle The sparkle is fading in Africa's diamond heartlandDe Beers likely to be sold to consortium, Anglo chief says- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Follow Leslie Hook on X (@lesliehook) and Eleanor Olcott on X (@EleanorOlcott). Michela Tindera is on X (@mtindera07) and Bluesky (@mtindera.ft.com), or follow her on LinkedIn for updates about the show and more. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What makes something valuable? In the finale, we tell the story of how the De Beers diamond cartel finally cracked—not through courts, but through science. Along the way, we hear from precious-metals expert Kevin DeMeritt, founder of Lear Capital. As lab-grown diamonds erase scarcity and prices collapse, the episode reveals why diamonds followed the same path as pearls, and why true value isn’t built on marketing or belief, but on permanence. Presented by The Licorice Guy.Support the show: https://redpilledamerica.com/support/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What makes something valuable? In Part Two, we tell the story of how De Beers, the multinational diamond company, used Hollywood to create one of the most successful marketing campaigns in history. Along the way, we hear from precious-metals expert Kevin DeMeritt, founder of Lear Capital. Diamonds might be a girl's best friend, but that desire was carefully and methodically manufactured. Presented by The Licorice Guy. What Makes Something Valuable? (Finale) airs Friday, January 16th, 2026. Support the show: https://redpilledamerica.com/support/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What makes something valuable? To find the answer, we tell the story of De Beers — the multinational diamond company that built the most successful monopoly in modern history. Along the way, we speak with Kevin DeMeritt, founder of Lear Capital, one of America’s largest precious-metals firms. What we uncover is striking: many of the things humanity has prized were never inherently valuable at all — their value was manufactured. Presented by The Licorice Guy. What Makes Something Valuable? (Part Two) airs Tuesday, January 13th, 2026. Support the show: https://redpilledamerica.com/support/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.