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A deep-sea oil executive discovers that delegating a catastrophic emergency to subordinates works best when someone actually answers the intercom.IN THIS EPISODE: "The Engineer" by Frederick Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth (Infinity Science Fiction, February 1956)MORE Stories Like This: https://www.auditoryanthology.com=====Originally aired: January 27, 2026EPISODE PAGE (includes sources): https://weirddarkness.com/TheEngineerABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all thing strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold case murders, conspiracy theories, and more. On Thursdays, this scary stories podcast features horror fiction along with the occasional creepypasta. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “Best 20 Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a cross between “Coast to Coast” with Art Bell, “The Twilight Zone” with Rod Serling, “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack, and “In Search Of” with Leonard Nimoy.DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.
Gregory Copley assesses China's instability under President Xi Jinping, who continues arresting generals in sweeping military purges that reveal deep fissures and distrust within the People's Liberation Army leadership.1932
Gregory Copley assesses China's instability under President Xi Jinping, who continues arresting generals in sweeping military purges that reveal deep fissures and distrust within the People's Liberation Army leadership.1949 STORK CLUB
Czabe welcomes back former morning show co-host BRIAN BUTCH to dissect the Green Bay Packers' maddeningly timid, conservative approach. What's wrong with this team? Brian has some theories. The guys also debate the biggest cities in Wisconsin, discuss Butch's college basketball road adventures this season, and it's officially time to get hyped for CzabeVegas 2026! MORE....Our Sponsors:* Check out Aura.com: https://aura.com/remove* Cheesesteaks from Philly? Deep dish from Chicago? Go to Goldbelly and use my code CZABE for a great deal: https://www.goldbelly.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
In this episode of the Nine Finger Chronicles podcast, host Dan Johnson and guest Connor Little discuss a variety of topics related to hunting culture in Texas, including the impact of weather on outdoor activities, the role of social media in mental health, and the differences in hunting practices across the state. They delve into the economics of hunting, the ethics of baiting, and the diversity of landscapes that influence deer hunting experiences. Connor shares his personal journey in hunting and the upcoming launch of his new podcast, 'Deep in the Hunt of Texas. Takeaways Texas is experiencing unusual weather with ice storms affecting outdoor activities. Laughter can be a powerful motivator during workouts, as shared by Connor. Doom scrolling on social media can negatively impact mental health. The culture of hunting in Texas varies significantly across regions. Baiting practices in Texas are common and often necessary for attracting deer. The economics of hunting in Texas has shifted towards a corporate model with high fence ranches. The rut for whitetails varies across Texas, affecting hunting strategies. Texas Parks and Wildlife manages deer populations with specific regulations for different counties. The ethics of feeding and baiting deer is a topic of debate among hunters. Connor's new podcast will explore the rich history and culture of hunting in Texas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode of the Nine Finger Chronicles podcast, host Dan Johnson and guest Connor Little discuss a variety of topics related to hunting culture in Texas, including the impact of weather on outdoor activities, the role of social media in mental health, and the differences in hunting practices across the state. They delve into the economics of hunting, the ethics of baiting, and the diversity of landscapes that influence deer hunting experiences. Connor shares his personal journey in hunting and the upcoming launch of his new podcast, 'Deep in the Hunt of Texas. Takeaways Texas is experiencing unusual weather with ice storms affecting outdoor activities. Laughter can be a powerful motivator during workouts, as shared by Connor. Doom scrolling on social media can negatively impact mental health. The culture of hunting in Texas varies significantly across regions. Baiting practices in Texas are common and often necessary for attracting deer. The economics of hunting in Texas has shifted towards a corporate model with high fence ranches. The rut for whitetails varies across Texas, affecting hunting strategies. Texas Parks and Wildlife manages deer populations with specific regulations for different counties. The ethics of feeding and baiting deer is a topic of debate among hunters. Connor's new podcast will explore the rich history and culture of hunting in Texas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Jon Czin, former CIA analyst and NSC staffer, returns to talk purges. We have far too much fun. The disney take on PLA purges: https://suno.com/s/Wv1yQyxdUhWBzyA0 08:50 Deep read into the WSJ nuke traitor allegations 22:10 Xi getting paranoid? 26:13 Taiwan implications 32:38 Succession implications 45:55 It must really suck to work in Chinese politics Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Hour 1 with Glenn Davis! Manchester United shakes up Premier League with win over Arsenal. Deep dive on Houston Dynamo Academy Why does it not produce first team players of importance from Houston? MLS and Dynamo roster talk.
Czabe flies solo today with a loaded agenda. First up: the absurdity of making Shedeur Sanders—now somehow the martyr of the 2025 NFL Draft—a Pro Bowl Games alternate at QB. Things get taken away as you get older. It's a fact of life, and Southwest Airlines just proved it with their final open-seating flight now in the books. Paul Allen bends the knee, but it won't be enough. A hard truth: the Easter Bunny is fake, but paid protestors are real. Did an NFL poster actually foretell this year's Super Bowl LIX matchup? Neutral-site NFL Championship games are a completely horrible idea, which naturally means Mike Florio is all for them. MORE....Our Sponsors:* Check out Aura.com: https://aura.com/remove* Cheesesteaks from Philly? Deep dish from Chicago? Go to Goldbelly and use my code CZABE for a great deal: https://www.goldbelly.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
hiiii CHATTT!! pls enjoy a zoomies filled episode - we are SO excited for our live shows this week! in this episode we talked about Drew's skincare journey, our thoughts on Season 2 of "The Pitt", and the one time Drew embraced a unfunny joke!WE'RE DOING 2 LIVE SHOWS IN CALIFORNIA! BREA 01/29/26 and PASADENA 01/30/26!!!GET YOUR TICKETS AT www.drew-afualo.com/tour !!!This is a Headgum podcast. Follow Headgum on Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok. Advertise on Two Idiot Girls via Gumball.fm.DREW'S BOOK IS OFFICIALLY AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE YOU CAN PURCHASE BOOKS!! GO GET IT!!!!For extra fun silly zoomie-filled content, JOIN OUR MEMBERSHIP!!! Visit patreon.com/twoidiotgirls for more info!!!FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM & TIKTOK :P@_twoidiotgirls | @deisonafualo | @drewafualoTHANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!Go to https://HelloFresh.com//twoidiotgirls10fm to Get 10 free meals + a FREE Zwilling Knife (a $144.99 value) on your third box. Offer valid while supplies last. Free meals applied as discount on first box, new subscribers only, varies by plan.Get organized, refreshed, and back on track this new year for WAY less. Head to https://Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
The Rush Hour — Morning Edition Breaking news out of Minnesota as Greg Pavino is fired following the tragic and escalating events that have rocked the state A full breakdown of what led to his removal and why pressure reached a boiling point Deep dive into ICE terrorizing citizens, the tactics being used, and why public trust is collapsing fast The growing national pushback after the death of Alex Pretti, and how protests, political leaders, and communities are responding What all of this means for civil liberties, federal authority, and where the country goes next
In 1935 a young girl from Wales studying nursing in Liverpool, England, surrounded her life to the Lord Jesus. From the moment she was filled with the Holy Spirit she had a desire to minister to the Congolese people. Deep in her heart she felt that the Lord was asking everything of her, even her very life. Cheryl recounts the story and triumph of Winnie Davis from her conversion, her ministry in Congo, to her harrowing capture by the Simba rebels. Winnie's story will bring to your heart an awareness of the cost of truly giving the Lord everything!
How Mystery Babylon Infiltrates and Influences the Church | KIB 515 Kingdom Intelligence Briefing Description Subtitle: Mystery Babylon in the Church: How a Seductive System Keeps Believers Trapped This Kingdom Intelligence Briefing (episode #515) digs into a hard but crucial question: How has Mystery Babylon infiltrated and influenced the Church? Dr. Michael and Mary Lou Lake unpack how a global Babylonian system has been built around us—politically, economically, spiritually—and how it keeps people "comfortable," passive, and afraid to confront evil. Mary shares a sobering picture the Lord showed her of a Babylonian "cloud system" that pulls people back in whenever they try to step out, and a deeply personal testimony of confronting hidden darkness, trauma, and occult networks. From there, Dr. Lake lays out a powerful biblical teaching on Mystery Babylon's strategy to infiltrate and then influence the Church: Seduction instead of open confrontation Syncretism (mixing paganism with Christianity) Entertainment-based "worship" replacing reverence Prophetic performance instead of true prophetic voices Debt, media, and politics used to pressure pastors The push to blur holiness, law, and biblical authority You'll also hear about current examples, including the Sean Bolz / Bethel prophetic scandal, how fear of confrontation keeps leaders trapped, and why so many ministries will not face what's really going on. Most importantly, this episode is a call to the remnant: To face the truth about Babylon's influence To come out of religious harlotry and man-made empire To return to holiness, the fear of the Lord, biblical depth, and true spiritual warfare To embrace kingdom identity over cultural identity To be willing to suffer well, stand apart, and be "the absolute other" in a collapsing system Dr. Lake closes with a prophetic look at what's ahead in 2026–2027, the coming shaking of Babylon, and a charge to stand firm so you can hear, "Well done, My good and faithful servant." Timeline of Topics Discussed (for Chapters) (Adjust timestamps to match your final edit.) 00:00 – Biblical Life intro & opening montage Program intro: Biblical Life TV mission to empower the remnant for the last days. 02:00 – Welcome to KIB 515 & severe winter weather Dr. Michael and Mary Lou share about the heavy snow, partner prayers, and God's faithfulness. 05:00 – Mary's vision of the Babylonian "cloud system" Mary explains the picture God showed her: a spiritual Babylonian system like a cloud/vacuum that pulls people back whenever they try to move out. 10:00 – How Babylon keeps people "comfortable" and quiet A seductive spirit whispers, "Don't confront this… you can't change anything… just go along," creating apathy and passivity. 14:00 – Matthew 24, end-time deception, and false prophets Reading from Matthew 24; discussion of deception, lawlessness, and the clear signs we are in the last days. 18:00 – The Sean Bolz / Bethel prophetic scandal Mary reviews the public information: mining social media and conference registrations to fake "prophecy," Bill Johnson's apology, and the refusal to confront earlier. 23:00 – The danger of needing "a word" instead of hearing God for yourself Why the obsession with personal prophecies is dangerous, and encouragement to seek God directly. 27:00 – True prophets vs false prophetic performance Dr. Lake shares earlier experiences with real prophets, how they confront sin, and the fear of the Lord that surrounds true prophetic ministry. 32:00 – Mary's personal testimony: coming out of Babylon and trauma Mary recounts her own journey: Deep depression and blocked memories A whistleblower woman who exposed local occult and corruption Fort Leonard Wood hospital stories, missing babies, and a man who claimed to be her son The cost of facing painful truth and choosing to confront instead of deny 42:00 – The necessity of spiritual warfare and praying your own way out Mary exhorts listeners: no one can do all your praying for you; you must engage spiritual warfare and choose not to participate in Babylon. 47:00 – Dr. Lake's thesis: How Mystery Babylon infiltrates and influences the Church Mystery Babylon as a counterfeit religious, political, and economic system that works by infiltration → influence → substitution. 52:00 – Adaptability of Babylon vs. slowness of the Church Babylon's guerrilla tactics and tentacles versus a tradition-bound Church that defends man-made customs over the Word of God. 56:00 – Syncretism: blending the Bible with pagan and occult ideas How pagan practices, New Age methods, and even Masonic material have been baptized into "Christian" ministries and prophetic schools. 1:02:00 – Counterfeit revelation & prophetic manipulation Dreams, visions, and "secret knowledge" used to undermine Scripture and create dependence on personalities instead of the written Word. 1:07:00 – Entertainment-driven church vs biblical worship From temple worship to Vegas-style services; why emotional spectacle has replaced reverence, holiness, and the fear of the Lord. 1:12:00 – Doctrines Babylon wants silenced Holiness, repentance, judgment, spiritual warfare (rightly understood), the sovereignty of Christ, and separation from the world. 1:16:00 – Co-opting clergy: prestige, platforms, money & media How Babylon uses publishing, media, influence, and economics to pressure pastors to avoid controversial truth and protect "the machine." 1:21:00 – Debt structures and analytics-driven sermons Stories of massive church overhead, the temptation to preach what keeps offerings high, and the danger of corporate thinking in ministry. 1:26:00 – Political courtship and religious compromise The trap of trying to gain legitimacy through political power instead of maintaining a prophetic witness that confronts kings and systems. 1:30:00 – Higher criticism, liberal theology, and demythologizing Scripture How treating the Bible like mere literature drains the supernatural and opens the door to Babylonian thinking. 1:34:00 – Marks of Babylonian theology in the Church Universalism, lawlessness (antinomianism), Gnosticism, man-centered religion, hybrid mysticism, and moral relativism. 1:39:00 – Babylon's endgame: replacing the bride with the harlot Proverbs and Revelation's two women: the pure bride and the whore of Babylon; Babylon's goal to transform the visible church into a one-world religious system. 1:44:00 – How the remnant resists Babylon Biblical literacy and theological depth Holiness and separation Discerning of spirits rooted in the fear of the Lord Seeing the Bible as a war book from Genesis 1 Kingdom identity over cultural identity Prophetic voice over prophetic performance 1:51:00 – Suffering well, covenant faithfulness, and coming judgment Why suffering for truth is part of our calling and how God will reward faithful servants as Babylon is judged. 1:56:00 – 2026–2027: days ahead and God's remnant Dr. Lake's view that things will get "interesting" in 2026–2027 and his prayer that listeners stand firmly in the Kingdom when the dust settles. 2:00:00 – Final exhortation: "Come out of her, My people" Revelation 18:4, a call to separate from Babylon so we do not share in her plagues, and a closing prayer for the remnant to be established in the Kingdom. Hashtags #MysteryBabylon, #ComeOutOfBabylon, #KingdomIntelligenceBriefing, #KIB515, #BiblicalLifeTV, #DrMichaelLake, #MaryLouLake, #EndTimesRemnant, #PropheticWarning, #FalseProphets, #BethelChurch, #SeanBolz, #SpiritualWarfare, #HebraicHeritage, #Holiness, #FearOfTheLord, #EndTimesDeception, #LastDaysChurch, #RemnantBelievers, #KingdomOfGod
Former U.S. Army officer Brad Miller, who lost his position after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, discusses major historical events, such as 9/11 and the pandemic, not as isolated incidents but as occult-driven military operations designed to engineer public consent. He argues that the American deep state is merely a vassal for a globalist empire that utilizes political figures like Donald Trump to implement a technocratic control grid. The discussion suggests that multipolarity and international conflicts are largely staged distractions meant to consolidate power under a centralized world state. Miller warns that a potential Third World War could serve as the final catalyst to permanently lock populations into a digital, algorithmic ghetto. Watch on BitChute / Brighteon / Rumble / Substack / YouTube *Support Geopolitics & Empire! Become a Member https://geopoliticsandempire.substack.com Donate https://geopoliticsandempire.com/donations Consult https://geopoliticsandempire.com/consultation **Listen Ad-Free for $4.99 a Month or $49.99 a Year! Apple Subscriptions https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/geopolitics-empire/id1003465597 Supercast https://geopoliticsandempire.supercast.com ***Visit Our Affiliates & Sponsors! Above Phone https://abovephone.com/?above=geopolitics American Gold Exchange https://www.amergold.com/geopolitics easyDNS (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://easydns.com Escape The Technocracy (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://escapethetechnocracy.com/geopolitics Outbound Mexico https://outboundmx.com PassVult https://passvult.com Sociatates Civis https://societates-civis.com StartMail https://www.startmail.com/partner/?ref=ngu4nzr Wise Wolf Gold https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=geopolitics Websites X https://x.com/BradMiller1010 Substack https://bradmiller10.substack.com YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@bradmiller10 IPAK EDU https://ipak-edu.org About Brad Miller Brad Miller is a former U.S. Army officer and American Constitutionalist. *Podcast intro music used with permission is from the song “The Queens Jig” by the fantastic “Musicke & Mirth” from their album “Music for Two Lyra Viols”: http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)
In this episode of Hidden Wisdom, Meghan sits down with Nelson Whiting—bestselling author of Your Problem Isn't Pornography, certified clinical hypnotherapist, and founder of No Limits Hypnotherapy—for a grounded, expansive conversation about hypnotherapy as a form of deep repentance: getting beneath behavior to the belief systems that drive shame cycles, anxiety, compulsions, and spiritual disconnection.Nelson explains how real change happens when the conscious and subconscious mind come into agreement, why “time heals” is often a myth, and how prayer, meditation, and clinical hypnosis can help quiet survival mode, restore inner safety, and create rapid transformation through new perspective and new choices. They explore the spiritual implications of inner work, the role of agency, and why healing often requires moving from self-criticism into self-love—so you can reconnect with God, truth, and your highest identity.You'll also hear discussion on spiritual discernment (including “false spirits”), the balance of masculine and feminine within healing, and a powerful closing reflection on being “born again” as a spiritual rebirth—held in what Meghan calls the cosmic womb.Learn more about Nelson: NoLimitsHypnotherapy.com (sessions + resources)0:00 Meet Nelson Whiting + what this episode covers1:50 Nelson's story: seminary teaching → illness → calling to hypnotherapy4:00 Early hypnosis experience + the power of the mind6:05 Training with Dennis Parker: “gospel foundation” + adversarial protocols9:04 Faith as decision-making; bringing subconscious online12:21 “Your Problem Isn't Pornography”: why behavior isn't the root13:22 How lust patterns form: imagination → memory → emotion → action17:41 Why common “solutions” are slow (support groups, blockers, confession)20:49 Repentance as inner work: thoughts → emotions → beliefs22:37 Repentance = learning; freedom to get it wrong (baseball study)27:54 Prayer as therapy: “be still and know” + intention behind stillness30:55 Survival mode, the amygdala, and rapid change through neuroplasticity32:01 Synaptic pruning: creating “space” between you and temptation36:19 Spiritual impact: self-criticism, energy depletion, separation from God41:12 Anxiety/depression as thought-patterns; perspective changes everything45:38 Hypnotherapy vs guided meditation (why customization matters)52:24 Nonlinear change: “you can jump to the new self”54:56 Agency: why “God take it away” can keep people powerless57:35 Masculine/feminine balance Hidden Wisdom initiates truth-seekers into the Mysteries, guiding listeners toward a lived experience of the Divine that awakens and transforms faith—without dismantling family or community. This podcast is perfect for women (and men) exploring faith renovation, spiritual awakening, Christian mysticism, sacred wisdom, and embodied spiritual growth. Pursue your Journey: ✨ Hidden Wisdom App – Coming Spring 2026! Pathway programs, community, library, events and more! Join the waitlist for updates, sneak peeks, and discounts!
We are going to spend the next 5 weeks talking about prayer, and Christine Caine is here to help us kick off that conversation. If we're going to be spiritually stronger in a world we cannot control, we have got to get serious about prayer. Chris is going to fire you up today about your prayer life! We talk about her prayer life as an activist, her turning 60 this year and continuing to run her race harder, olive trees, and what Jesus tells the disciples to pray for in Matthew 9. You don't want to miss this one! She also has a new book coming out on February 10th called The Faith to Flourish which is perfect for what we're talking about right now. You're going to want to preorder your copy today! We want our miniBFFs to learn about prayer today too, so parents, there's a brand new episode for them today over on the miniBFF podcast. We also will continue this conversation and I'll tell you some of my over on our Substack. You can find that at spirituallystronger.com. . . . . Thank you to our sponsors! Our Place: Visit fromourplace.com/TSF and use code TSF for 10% off sitewide. Thrive Causemetics: Go to thrivecausemetics.com/TSF for an exclusive offer of 20% off your first order This show is sponsored by BetterHelp: Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp.com/thatsoundsfun. CreaTone: Let's get you started with 20% off your first order. Visit tonetoday.com and use our code TSF for your discount. AG1: Go to drinkag1.com/SOUNDSFUN to get their best offer… get 3 FREE AG1 Travel Packs and 3 FREE AGZ Travel Packs, plus FREE Vitamin D3+K2 and AG1 Welcome Kit with your first AG1 subscription order! Shopify: Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at Shopify.com/soundsfun. Boll and Branch: Get 15% off your first order plus free shipping at BollAndBranch.com/THATSOUNDSFUN and use code THATSOUNDSFUN. NYTimes bestselling Christian author, speaker, and host of popular Christian podcast, That Sounds Fun Podcast, Annie F. Downs shares with you some of her favorite things: new books, faith conversations, entertainers not to miss, and interviews with friends. Sign up to receive the AFD Week In Review email and ask questions to future guests! #thatsoundsfunpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
John Hardie Hardie reports that Ukraine's deep strike campaign against Russian territory intensified in mid-2025, focusing primarily on energy infrastructure like oil refineries. Despite a "very bitter winter" leaving Kyiv without heat, there is talk of potentially reviving a failed energy truce from earlier in Trump's second term. Hardie suggests this could serve as a confidence-building measure toward de-escalation and a broader deal.1859 ODESSA
00:00 Super Bowl LIX Preview: Seahawks vs. Patriots03:00 Weather Woes: Snowstorm Impact on Sports06:01 Coaching Decisions: Field Goals and Fourth Downs08:59 Sean Payton's Controversial Calls12:02 Memorable Interviews: Jack Nicklaus Experience14:55 NFL Coaching Changes: The Case of Mike Vrabel17:59 Referee Transparency: The Need for Clarity21:00 Owner's Influence: Hall of Fame Debate24:06 NFL Insights: Lockout Solutions and Player Dynamics27:19 Draft Decisions: The Impact of Timing and Choices30:46 Coaching Changes: The NFL's Hiring Trends35:51 The Press Conference Effect: Coaching Perceptions39:54 The State of Sports Journalism: Challenges Ahead48:31 The Evolution of News: From Classifieds to DigitalOur Sponsors:* Check out Aura.com: https://aura.com/remove* Cheesesteaks from Philly? Deep dish from Chicago? Go to Goldbelly and use my code CZABE for a great deal: https://www.goldbelly.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
It's natural to feel ambition, as we're wired to find great satisfaction in accomplishing hard goals. But what impact has the internet had on this instinct? To help explore this question, author Brad Stulberg, author of the new book THE WAY OF EXCELLENCE, joins Cal during the ideas segment to explore ways in which the internet hijacks our drive, and what we can do about it. Then, in the practice segment, Cal provides the 2026 of his evolving advice for escaping email and IM overload in your job.Below are the questions covered in today's episode (with their timestamps). Get your questions answered by Cal! Here's the link: bit.ly/3U3sTvoVideo from today's episode: youtube.com/calnewportmediaIDEAS SEGMENT: Is the internet hijacking ambition? [4:16]PRACTICES SEGMENT: Escaping messaging hell [1:03:06]QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS:Have new AI tools actually been as transformative as claimed? [1:23:49]CAL RESPONDS TO COMMENTS [1:38:15]WHAT CAL'S READING: Cal gives his weekly reading update [1:44:52]Future Boy (Michael J. Fox)The Unauthorized Story of Disney's Haunted Mansion (Jeff Baham)Links:Buy Cal's latest book, “Slow Productivity” at calnewport.com/slowGet a signed copy of Cal's “Slow Productivity” at peoplesbooktakoma.com/event/cal-newport/Cal's monthly book directory: bramses.notion.site/059db2641def4a88988b4d2cee4657ba?podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/old-school-with-shilo-brooks/id1841566275instagram.com/p/DFh_mNGSvuZ/?img_index=2microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/breaking-down-infinite-workdayreddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1o2g1xq/with_all_the_billions_trillions_going_into_it/calnewport.com/a-world-without-email/Thanks to our Sponsors: mybodytutor.commonarch.com (Use code “DEEP”)pipedrive.com/deepmeetfabric.com/deepThanks to Jesse Miller for production, Jay Kerstens for the intro music, and Mark Miles for mastering. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Could live selling be the next big opportunity for indie authors? Adam Beswick shares how organic marketing, live streaming, and direct sales are transforming his author career—and how other writers can do the same. In the intro, book marketing principles [Self-Publishing with ALLi]; Interview with Tobi Lutke, the CEO and co-founder of Shopify [David Senra]; The Writer's Mind Survey; Bones of the Deep – J.F. Penn; Alliance of Independent Authors Indie Author Lab. Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing and integration with writing software, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 15% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna This show is also supported by my Patrons. Join my Community at Patreon.com/thecreativepenn Adam Beswick is a bestselling fantasy author and an expert in TikTok marketing for authors, as well as a former NHS mental health nurse. Adam went full-time as an indie author in 2023 and now runs AP Beswick Publications. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below. Show Notes How Adam scaled from garden office to warehouse, with his wife leaving her engineering career to join the business Why organic marketing (free video content) beats paid ads for testing what resonates with readers The power of live selling: earning £3,500 in one Christmas live stream through TikTok shop Mystery book bags: a gamified approach to selling that keeps customers coming back Building an email list of actual buyers through direct sales versus relying on platform algorithms Why human connection matters more than ever in the age of AI-generated content You can find Adam at APBeswickPublications.com and on TikTok as @a.p_beswick_publications. Transcript of interview with Adam Beswick Jo: Adam Beswick is a bestselling fantasy author and an expert in TikTok marketing for authors, as well as a former NHS mental health nurse. Adam went full-time as an indie author in 2023 and now runs AP Beswick Publications. Welcome back to the show, Adam. Adam: Hi there, and thank you for having me back. Jo: Oh, I'm super excited to talk to you today. Now, you were last on the show in May 2024, so just under two years, and you had gone full-time as an author the year before that. So just tell us— What's changed for you in the last couple of years? What does your author business look like now? Adam: That is terrifying to hear that it was that long ago, because it genuinely feels like it was a couple of months ago. Things have certainly been turbocharged since we last spoke. Last time we spoke I had a big focus on going into direct sales, and I think if I recall correctly, we were just about to release a book by Alexis Brooke, which was the first book in a series that we had worked with another author on, which was the first time we were doing that. Since then, we now have six authors on our books, with a range of full agreements or print-only deals. With that focus of direct selling, we have expanded our TikTok shop. In 2024, I stepped back from TikTok shop just because of constraints around my own time. We took TikTok shop seriously again in 2025 and scaled up to a six-figure revenue stream throughout 2025, effectively starting from scratch. That means we have had to go from having an office pod in the garden, to my wife now has left her career as a structural engineer to join the business because there was too much for me to manage. We went from this small office space, to now we have the biggest office space in our office block because we organise our own print runs and do all our distribution worldwide from what we call “AP HQ.” Jo: And you don't print books, but you have a warehouse. Adam: Yes, we have a warehouse. We work with different printers to order books in. We print quite large scale—well, large scale to me—volumes of books. Then we have them ordered to here, and then we will sign them all and distribute everything from here. Jo: Sarah, your wife, being a structural engineer—it seems like she would be a real help in organising a business of warehousing and all of that. Has that been great [working with your wife]? Because I worked with my husband for a while and we decided to stop doing that. Adam: Well, we're still married, so I'm taking that as a win! And funnily enough, we don't actually fall out so much at work. When we do, it's more about me being quite chaotic with how I work, but also I can at times be quite inflexible about how I want things to be done. But what Sarah's fantastic at is the organisation, the analytics. She runs all the logistical side of things. When we moved into the bigger office space, she insisted on us having different offices. She's literally shoved me on the other side of the building. So I'm out the way—I can just come in and write, come and do my bit to sign the books, and then she can just get on with organising the orders and getting those packed and sent out to readers. She manages all the tracking, the customs—all the stuff that would really bog me down. I wouldn't say she necessarily enjoys it when she's getting some cranky emails from people whose books might have gone missing or have been held up at customs, but she's really good at that side. She's really helped bring systems in place to make sure the fulfilment side is as smooth as possible. Jo: I think this is so important, and I want everyone to hear you on this. Because at heart, you are the creative, you are a writer, and sure you are building this business, but I feel like one of the biggest mistakes that creative-first authors make is not getting somebody else to help them. It doesn't have to be a spouse, right? It can also be another professional person. Sacha Black's got various people working for her. I think you just can't do it alone, right? Adam: Absolutely not. I would have drowned long before now. When Sarah joined the team, I was at a position where I'd said to her, “Look, I need to look at bringing someone in because I'm drowning.” It was only then she took a look at where her career was, and she'd done everything she wanted to do. She was a senior engineer. She'd completed all the big projects. I mean, this is a woman who's designed football stands across the UK and some of the biggest barn conversions and school conversions and things like that. She'd done everything professionally that she'd wanted to and was perhaps losing that passion that she once had. So she said she was interested, and we said, “Look, why don't you come and spend a bit of time working with me within the business, see whether it works for you, see if we can find an area that works for you—not you working for the business, the business working for you—that we maintain that work-life balance.” And then if it didn't work, we were in a position where we could set her up to start working for herself as an engineer again, but under her own terms. Then we just went from strength to strength. We made it through the first year. I think we made it through the first year without any arguments, and she's now been full-time in the business for two years. Jo: I think that's great. Really good to hear that. Because when I met you, probably in Seville I think it was, I was like, “You are going to hit some difficulty,” because I could see that if you were going to scale as fast as you were aiming to— There are problems of scale, right? There's a reason why lots of us don't want a bloomin' warehouse. Adam: Yes, absolutely. I think it's twofold. I am an author at heart—that's my passion—but I'm also a businessman and a creative from a marketing point of view. I always see writing as the passion. The business side and the creating of content—that's the work. So I never see writing as work. When I was a nurse, I was the nurse that was always put on the wards where no one else wanted to work because that's where I thrived. I thrive in the chaos. Put me with people who had really challenging behaviour or were really unwell and needed that really intense support, displayed quite often problematic behaviours, and I would thrive in those environments because I'd always like to prove that you can get the best out of anyone. I very much work in that manner now. The more chaotic, the more pressure-charged the situation is, the better I thrive in that. If I was just sat writing a book and that was it, I'd probably get less done because I'd get bored and I wouldn't feel like I was challenging myself. As you said, the flip side of that is that risk of burnout is very, very real, and I have come very, very close. But as a former mental health nurse, I am very good at spotting my own signs of when I'm not taking good care of myself. And if I don't, Sarah sure as hell does. Jo: I think that's great. Really good to hear. Okay, so you talked there about creating the content as work, and— You have driven your success, I would say, almost entirely with TikTok. Would that be right? Adam: Well, no, I'd come back and touch on that just to say it isn't just TikTok. I would say definitely organic marketing, but not just TikTok. I'm always quick to pivot if something isn't working or if there's a dip in sales. I'm always looking at how we can—not necessarily keep growing—but it's about sustaining what you've built so that we can carry on doing this. If the business stops earning money, I can't keep doing what I love doing, and me and my wife can't keep supporting our family with a stable income, which is what we have now. I would say TikTok is what started it all, but I did the same as having all my books on Amazon, which is why I switched to doing wide and direct sales: I didn't want all my eggs in one basket. I was always exploring what platforms I can use to best utilise organic marketing, to the point where my author TikTok channel is probably my third lowest avenue for directing traffic to my store at the moment. I have a separate channel for my TikTok shop, which generates great traffic, but that's a separate thing because I treat my TikTok shop as a separate audience. That only goes out to a UK audience, whereas my main TikTok channel goes out to a worldwide audience. Jo: Okay. So we are going to get into TikTok, and I do want to talk about that, but you said TikTok Shop UK and— Then you mentioned organic marketing. What do you mean by that? Adam: When I say organic marketing, I mean marketing your books in a way that is not a detriment to your bank balance. To break that down further: you can be paying for, say for example, you set up a Facebook ad and you are paying five pounds a day just for a testing phase for an ad that potentially isn't going to work. You potentially have to run 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ads at five pounds a day to find one ad that works, that will make your book profitable. There's a lot of testing, a lot of money that goes into that. With organic marketing, it's using video marketing or slideshows or carousels on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook—wherever you want to put it—to find the content that does resonate with your readers, that generates sales, and it doesn't cost you anything. I can create a video on TikTok, put it out there, and it reaches three, four hundred people. That hasn't cost me any money at all. Those three, four hundred people have seen my content. That's not TikTok's job for that to generate sales. That's my job to convert those views into sales. If it doesn't, I just need to look at the content and say, “Well, that hasn't hit my audience, or if it has, it hasn't resonated. What do I need to do with my content to make it resonate and then transition into sales?” Once you find something that works, it's just a case of rinse and repeat. Keep tweaking it, keep changing or using variants of that content that's working to generate sales. If you manage to do that consistently, you've already got content that you know works. So when you've built up consistent sales and you are perhaps earning a few thousand pounds a month—it could be five figures a month—you've then got a pool of money that you've generated. You can use that then to invest into paid ads, using the content you've already created organically and tested organically for what your audience is going to interact with. Jo: Okay. I think because I'm old school from the old days, we would've called that content marketing. But I feel like the difference of what you are doing and what TikTok—I think the type of behaviour TikTok has driven is the actual sales, the conversion into sales. So for example, this interview, right? My podcast is content marketing. It puts our words out in the world and some people find us, and some people buy stuff from us. So it's content marketing, but it's not the way you are analysing content that actually drives sales. Based on that content, there's no way of tracking any sales that come from this interview. We are just never going to know. I think that's the big difference between what you are doing with content versus what I and many other, I guess, older creators have done, which is— We put stuff out there for free, hope that some people might find us, and some of those people might buy. It's quite different. Adam: I would still argue that it is organic marketing, because you've got a podcast that people don't have to pay to listen to, that they get enjoyment from, and the byproduct of that is you generate some income passively through that. If you think of your podcast as one product and your video content is the same—these social media platforms—you don't just post your podcast on one platform. You will utilise as many platforms as you can, unless you have a brand agreement where a platform is paying you to solely use their platform because you or yourself are the driver for the audience there. I would say a podcast is a form of organic marketing. I could start a podcast about video marketing. I could start a podcast about reading. The idea being you build up an audience and then when you drop in those releases, that audience then goes and buys that product. For example, if you've got a self-help book coming out, if you drop that into your podcast, chances are you're going to get a lot more sales from your audience that are here to listen to you as the inspirational storyteller that you are from a business point of view than what you would if you announced that you had a new crime novel coming out or a horror story you've written. Your audience within here is generally an author audience who are looking to refine their craft—whether that be the writing or the selling of the books or living the dream of being a full-time author. I think it's more a terminology thing. Jo: Well, let's talk about why I wanted to talk to you. A friend of ours told me that you are doing really well with live sales. This was just before Christmas, I think. And I was like, “Live sales? What does that even mean?” Then I saw that Kim Kardashian was doing live sales on TikTok and did this “Kim's Must Have” thing, and Snoop Dogg was there, and it was this massive event where they were selling. I was like, “Oh, it's like TV sales—the TV sales channel where you show things and then people buy immediately.” And I was like, “Wait, is Adam like the Kim Kardashian of the indie author?” So tell us about this live sale thing. Adam: Well, I've not got that far to say that I have the Kim Kardashian status! What it is, is that I'm passionate about learning, but also sharing what's working for me so that other authors can succeed—without what I'm sharing being stuck behind a paywall. It is a big gripe of mine that you get all these courses and all these things you can do and everything has to be behind a paywall. If I've got the time, I'll just share. Hence why we were in Vegas doing the presentations for Indie Author Nation, which I think had you been in my talk, Jo, you would've heard me talking about the live selling. Jo: Oh, I missed it. I'll have to get the replay. Adam: I only covered a short section of it, but what I actually said within that talk is, for me, live selling is going to be the next big thing. If you are not live selling your books at the moment, and you are not paying attention to it, start paying attention to it. I started paying attention about six months ago, and I have seen constant growth to a point where I've had to post less content because doing one live stream a week was making more money than me posting content and burning myself out every single day for the TikTok shop. I did a live stream at the beginning of Christmas, for example. A bit of prep work went into it. We had a whole Christmas set, and within that one live stream we generated three and a half thousand pounds of organic book sales. Jo: Wow. Adam: Obviously that isn't something that happened overnight. That took me doing a regular Friday stream from September all the way through to December to build up to that moment. In fact, I think that was Black Friday, sorry, where we did that. But what I looked at was, “Right, I haven't got the bandwidth because of all the plates I was spinning to go live five days a week. However, I can commit to a Friday morning.” I can commit to a Friday morning because that is the day when Sarah isn't in the office, and it's my day to pack the orders. So I've already got the orders to pack, so I thought I'll go live whilst I'm packing the orders and just hang out and chat. I slowly started to find that on average I was earning between three to four hundred pounds doing that, packing orders that I already had to pack. I've just found a way to monetise it and engage with a new audience whilst doing that. The thing that's key is it is a new audience. You have people who like to consume their content through short-form content or long-form content. Then you have people who like to consume content with human interaction on a live, and it's a completely different ballgame. What TikTok is enabling us to do—on other platforms I am looking at other platforms for live selling—you can engage with an audience, but because on TikTok you can upload your products, people can buy the products direct whilst you are live on that platform. For that, you will pay a small fee to TikTok, which is absolutely worth it. That's part of the reason we've been able to scale to having a six-figure business within TikTok shop itself as one revenue stream. Jo: Okay. So a few things. You mentioned there the integration with TikTok shop. As I've said many times, I'm not on TikTok—I am on Instagram—and on Instagram you can incorporate your Meta catalogue to Shopify. Do you think the same principle applies to Instagram or YouTube as well? I think YouTube has an integration with Shopify. Do you think the same thing would work that way? Adam: I think it's possible. Yes, absolutely. As long as people can click and buy that product from whatever content they are watching—but usually what it will have to do is redirect them to your store, and you've still got all the conversion metrics that have to kick in. They have to be happy with the shipping, they have to be happy with the product description and stuff like that. With TikTok shop, it's very much a one-stop shop. People click on the product, they can still be watching the video, click to buy something, and not leave the stream. Jo: So the stream's on, and then let's say you are packing one of your books— Does that product link just pop up and then people can buy that book as you are packing it? Adam: So we've got lots and lots of products on our store now. I always have a product link that has all our products listed, and I always keep all of the bundles towards the top because they generate more income than a single book sale. What will happen is I can showcase a book, I'll tap the screen to show what product it is that I'm packing, and then I'll just talk about it. If people want it, they just click that product link and they can buy it straight away. What people get a lot of enjoyment from—which I never expected in a million years—is watching people pack their order there and then. As an author, we're not just selling a generic product. We're selling a book that we have written, that we have put our heart and soul into. People love that. It's a way of letting them into a bit of you, giving them a bit of information, talking to them, showing them how human you are. If you're on that live stream being an absolute arse and not very nice, people aren't going to buy your books. But if you're being welcoming, you're chatting, you're talking to everyone, you're interacting, you're showcasing books they probably will. What we do is if someone orders on the live stream, we throw some extra stuff in, so they don't just get the books, they'll get some art prints included, they'll get some bookmarks thrown in, and we've got merch that we'll throw in as a little thank you. Now it's all stuff that is low cost to us, because actually we're acquiring a customer in that moment. I've got people who come onto every single Friday live stream that I do now. They have bought every single product in our catalogue and they are harassing me for when the next release is out because they want more, before they even know what that is. They want it because it's being produced by us—because of our brand. With the lives, what I found is the branding has become really important. We're at a stage where we're being asked—because I'm quite well known for wearing beanie hats on live streams or video content—people are like, “When are you going to release some beanie hats?” Now and again, Sarah will drop some AP branded merch. It'll be beer coasters with the AP logo on, or a tote bag with the AP logo on. It's not stuff that we sell at this stage—we give them away. The more money people spend, the more stuff we put in. And people are like, “No, no, you need to add these to the store because we want to buy them.” The brand itself is growing, not just the book sales. It's becoming better known. We've got Pacificon in April, and there's so many people on that live stream that have bought tickets to meet us in person at this conference in April, which is amazing. There's so much going on. With TikTok shop, it only works in the country where you are based, so it only goes out to a UK audience, which is why I keep it separate from my main channel. That means we're tapping into a completely new audience, because up until last year, I'd always targeted America—that's where my biggest readership was. Jo: Wow. There's so much to this. Okay. First of all, most people are not going to have their own warehouse. Most people are not going to be packing live. So for authors who are selling on, let's just say Amazon, can live sales still work for them? Could they still go live at a regular time every week and talk about a book and see if that drives sales, even if it's at Amazon? Adam: Yes, absolutely. I would test that because ultimately you're creating a brand, you're putting yourself out there, and you're consistently showing up. You can have people that have never heard of you just stumble across your live and think, “What are they doing there?” They're a bit curious, so they might ask some questions, they might not. They might see some other interactions. There's a million and one things you can do on that live to generate conversation. I've done it where I've had 150 books to sign, so I've just lined up the books, stood in front of the camera, switched the camera on while I'm signing the books, and just chatted away to people without any product links. People will come back and be like, “Oh, I've just been to your store and bought through your series,” and stuff like that. So absolutely that can work. The key is putting in the work and setting it up. I started out by getting five copies of one book, signing them, and selling them on TikTok shop. I sold them in a day, and then that built up to effectively what we have now. That got my eyes open for direct selling. When I was working with BookVault and they were integrated with my store, orders came to me, but then they went to BookVault—they printed and distributed. Then we got to a point scaling-wise where we thought, “If we want to take this to the next level, we need to take on distribution ourselves,” because the profit lines are better, the margins are bigger. That's why we started doing it ourselves, but only once we'd had a proven track record of sales spanning 18 months to two years and had the confidence. It was actually with myself and Sacha that we set up at the same time and egged each other on. I think I was just a tiny bit ahead of her with setting up a warehouse. And then as you've seen, Sacha's gone from strength to strength. It doesn't come without its trigger warnings in the sense of it isn't an easy thing to do. I think you have to have a certain skill set for live selling. You have to have a certain mindset for the physicality that comes with it. When we've had a delivery of two and a half thousand books and we've got to bring them up to the first floor where the office is—I don't have a massive team of people. It's myself and Sarah, and every now and again we get my dad in to help us because he's retired now. We'll give him a bottle of wine as a thank you. Jo: You need to give him some more wine, I think! Adam: Yes! But you've gotta be able to roll your sleeves up and do the work. I think if you've got the work ethic and that drive to succeed, then absolutely anyone can do it. There's nothing special about my books in that sense. I've got a group called Novel Gains where I've actually started a monthly challenge yesterday, and we've got nearly two and a half thousand people in the group now. The group has never been more active because it's really energised and charged. People have seen the success stories, and people are going on lives who never thought it would work for them. Lee Mountford put a post up yesterday on the first day of this challenge just to say, “Look, a year ago I was where you were when Adam did the last challenge. I thought I can't do organic marketing, I can't get myself on camera.” Organic marketing and live selling is now equating to 50% of his income. Jo: And he doesn't have a warehouse. Adam: Well, he scaled up to it now, so he's got two lockups because he scaled up. He started off small, then he thought, “Right, I'm going to go for it.” He ordered a print run of a few of his books—I think 300 copies of three books. Bundled them up, sold them out within a few months. Then he's just scaled from there because he's seen by creating the content, by doing the lives, that it's just creating a revenue stream that he wasn't tapping into. Last January when we did the challenge, he was really engaged throughout the process. He was really analytical with the results he was getting. But he didn't stop after 30 days when that challenge finished. He went away behind the scenes for the next 11 months and has continued to grow. He is absolutely thriving now. Him and his wife—a husband and wife team—his wife is also an author, and they've now added her spicy books to their TikTok shop. They're just selling straight away because he's built up the audience. He's built up that connection. Jo: I think that's great. And I love hearing this because I built my business on what I've called content marketing—you're calling it organic marketing. So I think it's really good to know that it's still possible; it's just a different kind. Now I just wanna get some specifics. One— Where can people find your Novel Gains stuff? Adam: So Novel Gains is an online community on Facebook. As I said, there's no website, there's no fancy website, there's no paid course or anything. It is just people holding themselves accountable and listening to my ramblings every now and again when I try and share pills of wisdom to try and motivate and inspire. I also ask other successful authors to drop their story about organic marketing on there, to again get people fired up and show what can be achieved. Jo: Okay. That's on Facebook. So then let's talk about the setup. I think a lot of the time I get concerned about video because I think everything has to be on my phone. How are you setting this up technically so you can get filmed and also see comments and all of this kind of stuff? Adam: Just with my phone. Jo: It is just on your phone? Adam: Yes. I don't use any fancy camera tricks or anything. I literally just settle my phone and hit record when I'm doing it. Jo: But you set it up on a tripod or something? Adam: Yes. So I'll have a tripod. I don't do any fancy lighting or anything like that because I want the content to seem as real as possible. I'll set up the camera at an angle that shows whatever task I'm doing. For example, if I'm packing orders, I can see the screen so I can see the comments as they're coming up. It's close enough to me to interact. At Christmas, we did have a bit of a setup—it did look like a QVC channel, I'm not going to lie! I was at the back. There was a table in front of me with products on. We had mystery book bags. We had a Christmas tree. We had a big banner behind me. The camera was on the other side of the room, but I just had my laptop next to me that was logged into TikTok, so I was watching the live stream so I could see any comments coming up. Jo: Yes, that's the thing. So you can have a different screen with the comments. Because that's what I'm concerned about—it might just be the eyesight thing, but I'm like, I just can't literally do everything on the phone. Adam: TikTok has a studio—TikTok Studio—that you can download, and you can get all your data and analytics in there for your live streams. At the moment, I'll just tap the screen to add a new product or pin a new product. You can do all that from your computer on this studio where you can say, “Right, I'm showcasing this product now,” click on it and it'll come up onto the live stream. You just have to link the two together. Jo: I'm really thinking about this. Partly this is great because my other concern with TikTok and all these video channels is how much can be done by AI now. TikTok has its own AI generation stuff. A lot of it's amazing. I'm not saying it's bad quality, I'm saying it's amazing quality, but— What AI can't do is the live stuff. You just can't—I mean, I imagine you can fake it, but you can't fake it. Adam: Well, you'd be surprised. I've seen live streams where it's like an avatar on the screen and there is someone talking and then the avatar moving in live as that person's talking. Jo: Right? Adam: I've seen that where it's animals, I've seen it where it's like a 3D person. There's a really popular stream at the minute that is just a cartoon cat on the stream. Whenever you send a gift, it starts singing whoever sent it—it gets a name—and that's a system that someone has somehow set up. I have no idea how they've set it up, but they're literally not doing it. That can run 24 hours a day. There's always hundreds and hundreds of people on it sending gifts to hear this cat sing with an AI voice their name. Yes, AI will work and it will work for different things. But I think with us and with our books, people want that human connection more than ever because of AI. Use that to your advantage. Jo: Okay. So the other thing I like about this idea is you are doing these live sales and then you are looking at the amount you've sold. But are you making changes to it? Or are you only tweaking the content on your prerecorded stuff? Your live is so natural. How are you going to change it up, I guess? Adam: I am always testing what is working, what's not working. For example, I'm a big nerd at heart and I collect Pokémon cards. Now that I'm older, I can afford some of the more rare stuff, and me and my daughter have a lot of enjoyment collecting Pokémon cards together. We follow channels, we watch stuff on YouTube, and I was looking at what streamers do with Pokémon cards and how they sell like mystery products on an app or whatnot. I was like, “How can I apply this to books?” And I came up with the idea of doing mystery book bags. People pay 20 pounds, they get some goodies—some carefully curated goodies, as we say, that “Mrs. B” has put together. On stream, I never give the audience Sarah's name. It's always “Mrs. B.” So Mrs. B has built up her own brand within the stream—they go feral when she comes on camera to say hi! Then there's some goodies in there. That could be some tote socks, a tote bag, cup holders, page holders, metal pins, things like that. Then inside that, I'll pull out a thing that will say what book they're getting from our product catalogue. What I make clear is that could be anything from our product catalogue. So that could be a single book, it could be six books, it could be a three-book bundle. There's all sorts that people can get. It could be a deluxe special edition. People love that, and they tend to buy it because there's so much choice and they might be struggling with, “Right, I don't know what to get.” So they think, “You know what? I'll buy one of them mystery book bags.” I only do them when I'm live. I've done streams where the camera's on me. I've done top-down streams where you can only see my hands and these mystery book bags. Every time someone orders one, I'm just opening it live and showcasing what product they get from the stream. People love it to the point where every stream I do, they're like, “When are you doing the next mystery book bags? When are you doing the next ones?” Jo: So if we were on live now and I click to buy, you see the order with my name and you just write “Jo” on it, and then you put it in a pile? Adam: So you print labels there and then, which I'll do. Exactly. If I'm live packing them—I'm not going to lie—when I'm set up properly, I don't have time to pack them because the orders are coming in that thick and fast. All I do is have a Post-it note next to me, and I'll write down their username, then I'll stick that onto their order. I'll collect everything, showcase what they're getting, the extra goodies that they're getting with their order, and then I'll stick the Post-it on and put that to one side. To put that into context as something that works through testing different things: we started off doing 60 book bags—30 of them were spicy book bags, 30 were general fantasy which had my books and a couple of our authors that haven't got spice in their books—and the aim was to sell them within a month. We sold them within one stream. 60 book bags at 20 pounds a pop. What that also generated is people then buying other products while we're doing it. It also meant that I'd do it all on a Friday, and we'd come in on a Monday and start the week with 40, 50, 60 orders to pack regardless of what's coming from the Shopify store. The level of orders is honestly obscene, but we've continuously learned how best to manage this. We learned that actually, if you showcase the orders, stick a Post-it on, when we print the shipping labels, it takes us five minutes to just put all the shipping labels with everyone's orders. Then we can just fire through packing everything up because everything's already bundled together. It literally just needs putting in a box. Jo: Okay. So there's so much we could talk about, but hopefully people will look into this more. So I went to go watch a video—I thought, “Oh, well, I'll just go watch Adam do this. I'm sure there's a recording”—and then I couldn't find one. So tell me about that. Does [the live recording] just disappear or what? Adam: Yes, it does. It's live for a reason. You can download it afterwards if you want, and then you've got content to repurpose. In fact, you're giving me an idea. I've done a live today—I could download that clip that's an hour and 20 minutes long. Some of it, I'm just rambling, but some of it's got some content that I could absolutely use because I'm engaging with people. I've showcased books throughout it because I've been packing orders. I had an hour window before this podcast and I had a handful of orders to pack. So I just jumped on a live and I made like 250 pounds while doing a job that I would already be having to do. I could download that video, put it in OpusClip, and that will then generate short-form content for me of the meaningful interaction through that, based on the parameters that I give it. So that's absolutely something you could do. In fact, I'm probably going to do it now that you've given me the idea. Jo: Because even if it was on another channel, like you could put that one on YouTube. Adam: Yes. Wherever you want. It doesn't have a watermark on it. Jo: And what did you say? OpusClip? Adam: OpusClip, yes. If you do long-form content of any kind, you can put that in and then it'll pull out meaningful content. Loads of like 20, 30 short-form content video clips that you can use. It's a brilliant piece of software if you use it the right way. Jo: Okay. Well I want you to repurpose that because I want to watch you in action, but I'm not going to turn up for your live—although now I'm like, “Oh, I really must.” So does that also mean—you said it's UK only because the TikTok shop is linked to the UK— So people in America can't even see it? Adam: So sometimes they do pop in, but again, that's why I have a separate channel for my main author account. When I go live on that, anyone from around the world can come in. But if I've got shoppable links in, chances are the algorithm is just going to put that out to a UK audience because that's where TikTok will then make money. If I want to hit my US audience, I'll jump on Instagram because that's where I've got my biggest following. So I'll jump on Instagram and go live over there at a time that I know will be appropriate for Americans. Jo: Okay. We could talk forever, but I do have just a question about TikTok itself. All of these platforms seem to follow a way of things where at the beginning it's much easier to get reach. It is truly organic. It's really amazing. Then they start putting on various brakes—like Facebook added groups, and then you couldn't reach people in your groups. And then you had to pay to play. Then in the US of course, we've got a sale that has been signed. Who knows what will happen there. What are your thoughts on how TikTok has changed? What might go on this year, and how are you preparing? Adam: So, I think as a businessman and an author who wants to reach readers, I use the platforms for what I can get out of them without having to spend a stupid amount of money. If those platforms stop working for me, I'll stop using them and find one that does. With organic reach on TikTok, I think you'll always have a level of that. Is it harder now? Yes. Does that mean it's not achievable? Absolutely not. If your content isn't reaching people, or you're not getting the engagement that you want, or you find fulfilling, you need to look at yourself and the content you are putting out. You are in control of that. There's elements of this takeover in America—again, I've got zero control over that, so I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. I'll focus on areas that are making a difference. As I said, TikTok isn't the biggest earner for my business. My author channel's been absolutely dead for a good six months or so. But that means I get stagnant with the content I'm creating. So the challenge I'm doing at the minute, I'm taking part to create fresh content every day to recharge myself. I've got Instagram and Facebook that generate high volumes of traffic every single day. And usually if they stop, TikTok starts to work. Any algorithm changes—things will change when it changes hands in America—but primarily it still wants to make money. It's a business. If anything, it might make it harder for us to reach America because it will want to focus on reaching an American audience for the people that are buying TikTok shop. But they want it because they want the TikTok shop because of the amount of money that it is generating. It's gone from a small amount of people making money to large volumes of businesses across the entire USA—like over here now—that are reaching an audience that previously you had to have deep pockets to reach, to get your business set up. Now you've got all these businesses popping up that are starting from scratch because they're reaching people. They've got a product that's marketable, that people want to enjoy. They want to be part of that growth. I think that will still happen. It might just be a few of the parameters change, like Facebook does all the time. Jo: Things will always change. That is key. We should also say by selling direct, you've built presumably a very big email list of buyers as well. Adam: Yes. I've actually got a trophy that Shopify sent me because we hit 10,000 sales—10,000 customers. I think we're nearing 16,000 sales on there now. We've got all that customer data. We don't get that on TikTok. We haven't got the customer data. Jo: Ah, that's interesting. Okay. How do you not though? Oh, because—did they ship it? Adam: So if you link it with your Shopify and you do all your shipping direct, the customer data has to come to your Shopify, otherwise you can't ship. When TikTok ship it for you—so I print the shipping labels, but they organise the couriers—all the customer data's blotted out. It's like redacted, so you don't see it. Jo: Ah, see that is in itself a cheeky move. Adam: Yes. But if it's linked to your Shopify, you get all that data and your Shopify is your store. So your Shopify will keep that data. They kept affecting how I extracted the shipping labels and stuff like that, and just kept making life really difficult. So I've just switched it back. I think Sarah has found an app that works really well for correlating the two. Jo: Yes, but this is a really big deal. We carp on about it all the time, but— If you sell direct and you do get the customer data, you are building an email list of actual buyers as opposed to freebie seekers. Which a lot of people have. Adam: Absolutely, and that's the same for you. If you send poor products out or your customer has a poor experience, they're not going to come back and order from you again. If your customer has a really good experience and opens the products and sees all this extra care that's gone in and all the books are signed, then they've not had to pay extra. There was a Kickstarter—I'm not going to name which author it was—but it was an author whose book I was quite excited to back. They had these special editions they'd done, but you had to buy a special edition for an extra 30 quid if you wanted it signed. I was like, “Absolutely not.” If these people are putting their hands in their pockets for these deluxe special editions, and if you're a big name author, it's certainly not them that have anything to do with it. They just have other companies do it all for them. Whereas with us, you are creating everything. Our way of saying thank you to everyone is by signing the book. Jo: I love that you're still so enthusiastic about it and that it seems to be going really well. So we're almost out of time, but just quickly— Tell people a bit more about the books that they can find in your stores and where people can find them. Adam: Yes. So we publish predominantly fantasy, and we have moved into the spicy fantasy world. We have a few series there. You can check out APBeswickPublications.com where you will see our full product catalogue and all of my books. On TikTok shop, we are under a.p_beswick_publications. That's the best place to see where I go live—short-form content. I'll post spicy books on there, but on lives, I showcase everything. I also have fantasy.books.uk, where that's where you'll see the videos or product links for the non-spicy fantasy books. Jo: And what time do you go live in the UK? Adam: So I go live 8:00 AM every Friday morning. Jo: Wow. Okay. I might even have to check that out. This has been so great, Adam. Thanks so much for your time. Adam: Well, thank you for having me.The post Selling Books Live On Social Media With Adam Beswick first appeared on The Creative Penn.
This was a DEEP one ...
These are Scary WENDIGO Encounters | Deep Woods Horror Stories For WinterLinktree: https://linktr.ee/its_just_creepyStory Credits:►Sent in to https://www.justcreepy.net/Timestamps:00:00 Intro00:00:18 Story 100:11:00 Story 2Music by:►'Decoherence' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.auBusiness inquiries: ►creepydc13@gmail.com#scarystories #horrorstories #wendigo
Join Dan and Stephanie Burke as they continue their discussion with Dr. Mary Ruth Hackett about the most essential rules of discernment to teach your children! Resources: Discernment of Spirits for Beginners - Dr. Mary Ruth Hackett & Dan Burke Dr. Mary Ruth Hackett - website Into the Deep - video series Finding Peace in the Storm - Dan Burke Into the Deep – Dan Burke Spiritual Warfare and the Discernment of Spirits - Dan Burke The Contemplative Rosary - Dan Burke and Connie Rossini A Catholic Guide to Mindfulness - Susan Brinkmann OCDS Avila-Institute.org/events - website Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation EWTN Religious Catalogue – online
This legislative session is the swan song for Colorado's outgoing governor, Jared Polis. He still has a lot on his "to do" list, but policy clashes within his own party could create some challenges. We explore that today with Purplish. Then, a researcher at the Colorado School of Mines has developed a new way to treat deep wounds, and that could just be the beginning for its use. Also, what Colorado's two largest cities are doing to send a message to ICE. Plus, we answer a Colorado Wonders question about the impact of moose on our state.
Resistance Patterns in Deep Realization Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Today on the bench, we sit together with Keegan Kittock, co-founder of Deep Wave Sauna. With the rising tide of sauna also comes marketing talk, pedantic chatter, and graphs and charts about how air supposedly moves in the hot room. So it's extra special and refreshing to visit with someone like Keegan. In this episode, we start at the beginning—picturing Keegan after elementary school, dragging a magnet around a building site, earning bubble-gum money working for his father's contracting company. And like many of us, catching the sauna bug at a young, impressionable age up north at the family cabin: long rounds, long dock time, and plunging in the lake, splashing around with neighbors, friends, and family. Love of sauna and love of construction are two powerful forces pointing toward building saunas for others. Add to that Aaron—Keegan's lifelong friend, collaborator, and business partner—and you have Deep Wave Sauna. Ask them at Sauna Days or outside one of their builds how the company got its name and you'll get right to the heart of it. Deep Wave. A nod to the nerdiness without the pedantic edge. Keegan can talk in great technical detail about different wavelengths of heat and steam, but he's well past trying to impress. He's relatable and genuinely fun to Sauna Talk with. Deep heat. That wave that feels so good on the bench. That's enough. When we consider the holy trinity of good sauna (heat, steam, ventilation), the first two we can get our arms around, but ventilation is oblique—impossible to see, harder to feel, and easy to misunderstand. But Keegan has earned the title of "thermal whisperer" among fellow sauna aficionados. He's the one who taught me that air is a fluid and should be understood as such. So when we talk about good ventilation, we talk about the lazy river. Stay tuned for more in this episode—why this is what we aim for, and how many saunas can achieve it naturally and passively without the mechanical buzz-kill easy street. Keegan brings it down to earth. And I'm overjoyed to have made my way out to his prairie-style sauna on his property west of the Twin Cities. I love his sauna. Spiritual Patina rating: solid 9.0. Within this article on SaunaTimes are a few photos taken from Keegan's sauna. And you can check these out and it'll likely bring you right there with us, on the bench, where we recorded this episode for you.
01. Mattei & Omich, Re-Tide - Friday Night 02. Eleganto, Zadquiel - Nintend 03. Dario Nunez, Astra Deejay - This Is The Sound 04. Vacuii - The Other Side 05. Zetbee, Reiner Von Vielen, Chemars - Moonlight 06. Devis Jay - Perpetual 07. Dont Blink - LOSE YOURSELF 08. Gotsome, Katy Alex - Take It Slow 09. Draxx - Back to the Sound 10. Twinflame (Us) - For Your Love 11. Stefano Prette - Feeling 12. Hey Jack - Terre Du Soleil 13. Astrohertz - Back On You 14. Demuja - Body Love 15. Chinonegro - Mi Gentee 16. Chiccaleaf (Ita), Cleo - No Me Canso 17. Jesusdapnk - Hot Springs 18. Me & My Toothbrush - If Only You Believe 19. Man Without A Clue - All Get Down 20. Gawp, Dyn Dyn - Bang! 21. Dj Pp - The World 22. Josh Butler, Theos, Marck Jamz - Bringin' It Back 23. Calee - Borjita S Rhythm 24. Fdf - The Charm Of The Groove 25. Finn, Ferreck Dawn, Robosonic - Sometimes The Going Gets A Little Tough 26. The Cube Guys - I Can Feel It 27. Cid, Taylr Renee, Mishell & Buka - Fancy $hit 28. Sam Green, Carla Monroe - Jam Inside Your Love 29. Lexx London - Make You Feel 30. Lydia Scarfo, Karl Dope, Lydia Scarfo - I Miss You 31. Damante, Yasmin Jane, Lauren Nicole - God Is The Rhythm 32. Burnr - The Middle 33. Eric Costa, Piem - Meua Opera 34. Supernova - Phantascope 35. Tony Romera - Time To Move 36. Charlie Iapicone, Leon - Extreme World 37. Francesco Bianco - Everynight 38. R1D1 - Water Lounge 39. Kilhoffer - Live Forever 40. Disclosure - My Intention Is War (Fig ii) 41. Flavor Plus, Bhx1 - Take Me to the Top 42. Luxo - All I Do 43. Meduza, Ferreck Dawn, Clementine Douglas - I Got Nothing 44. Ghostbusterz, Nudisco - Them Boyz 45. Kinobe, Swag'S Flying High - Butterfly 46. Kimotion, Angie Robba, Adam Trigger, Flo Dosh - Jolene 47. Fdf - Under The Lights 48. Housequake - Hypnotizing 49. Eden Prince, Deja - Giving Me Life 50. Stogov, Alexey Zhurba - This Is Wisdom 51. Stogov - Smooth Turn 52. Chris Lake, Ayra Starr - Goodbye (Warm Up) 53. Zav, Jizz - Lost In The Sound 54. Gr8 - Take Me For A Ride 55. Gabe N. - U Like The Bass 56. Robin Orlando, Nick Hollyster, Zetbee - System Raw 57. Krazo, Diver City, Slim Khezri - Billie Jean 58. Sond Zpace, Le Drux Justine - On the Podium (in a fashion house) 59. Demuir - Loving This Way 60. Maitland, Rion S, Haskell - Work 61. Angel Heredia - Diamont 62. Frits Wentink, Dominic Oswald - Club Land 63. Stanny Abram - Time To Jack 64. Brokenears - My Mind 65. Akeem Raphael, Tiny Blue - Do It Again 66. Fabian Haneke - Bad 67. Oxoah - All Night Long 68. Lisi & Bill - Life Changes 69. Diskull - Letyago 70. Sweet Harmony - Nectar 71. High Society, Taka Boom, Pj D'Arpino - Pick Me Up I'll Dance 72. Mallin, Sam Dexter - Just A Dream 73. Murphy'S Law (Uk), Ki Creighton - Rewind It Back 74. Vinnie Roussos - The Fading Echo 75. Alonso, Rim Deluxe - Music Never Stop 76. Fond8 - Sometimes (In the Garage)
Listen to this exclusive Techno DJ Mix set by Katrii. Download Katrii – Dirty Techno Vol. 4 for free. Subscribe to listen to Techno music DJ Mix, Tech House music, Deep House, Acid Techno, and Minimal Techno.
Deep beneath the Earth sits 50,000 times more energy than all the world's fossil fuel reserves, but accessing it requires using the same controversial technology that oil companies spent trillions to develop: fracking. Cindy Taff left Shell to prove that drilling for geothermal heat instead of hydrocarbons can deliver what solar, wind and fossil fuels can't — clean, renewable power at all times, regardless of weather. Could this be the breakthrough that finally solves our energy challenges?Learn more about our flagship conference happening this April at attend.ted.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
When Vince is away the episode gets a little ...strange as we bring you Bowling with Corpses and Other Strange Tales from Lands Unknown by Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart; Juni Ba's The Fables of Erlking Wood; Batman/Green Arrow/The Question: Arcadia by Gabriel Hardman and Romulo Fajardo Jr.; Patrick Horvath's Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring; and Goes Like This by Jordan Crane from Fantagraphics. DAP struggles to explain Asano's Mujina Into the Deep much to Jason's delight. Plus, an Image-O-Rama: Ghost Machine's Redcoat by Geoff Johns, Bryan Hitch, Andrew Currie, and Brad Anderson; Escape by Rick Remender and Daniel Acuña; Good as Dead by David Lapham, Maria Lapham, and Dee Cunniffe; Assorted Crisis Events by Deniz Camp, Eric Zawadzki, and Jordie Bellaire; and a bunch more!
There's an old African proverb: the boy who isn't initiated into the tribe will burn the village down just to feel its warmth. Modern men don't get initiated. They get pacified. Distracted. Left to figure it out alone. This micro episode is about the consequences of that missing rite and why uninitiated men leak chaos into their relationships, work, and families without even knowing why. If you've always felt like you were "almost" a man but not quite, this one's for you Get Involved Subscribe and REVIEW on Apple Follow and RATE on Spotify Sign up for Mike's Newsletter your weekly dose loving straight talk direct to your inbox – avoid the vortex of Social Media and get the days best content instantly. Want to explore DEEP coaching support and guidance with Mike? The Everyday Legends Academy is now open for enrolment applications. Start the exploration process with Mike NOW to see if it can be the full and remarkable solution for you like it has been for so many men before you
Scientists just made a discovery that sounds like pure science fiction—a massive hidden ocean, locked deep beneath our feet. This underground sea isn't like the lakes or rivers we know, it's buried hundreds of miles down in the mantle, inside special minerals that trap water like a sponge. Imagine, it could hold more water than all the surface oceans combined, reshaping what we thought we knew about Earth. What if the secret to earthquakes, volcanoes, and even plate tectonics has been hiding in this buried ocean all along? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Deep in the wilderness of Gakona, Alaska, lies a research facility that was owned and operated by the U.S. government from 1993 to 2015. The High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program, or HAARP, was established to study radio waves and other seemingly innocuous fields. But some believe the program ran deeper and had the power to control the weather and maybe even human minds.For a full list of sources, please visit: sosupernaturalpodcast.com/conspiracy-project-haarpSo Supernatural is an Audiochuck and Crime House production. Find us on social!Instagram: @sosupernaturalpodTwitter: @_sosupernaturalFacebook: /sosupernaturalpod Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Check out the link below for the new Inescapable Podcast where Plus+ Members can go ahead and lock the feed into their favorite podcast player in preparation for their upcoming launch! Welcome back! On this week's episode, we put on our theological hats and explore the rapidly increasing interest in the idea that not only has Jesus already returned, but that we are currently in the “little season” of Satan! This theory goes DEEP into speculation and subjective interpretation but a lot of the points made do make some sense, depending on your particular worldview. We also get into some philosophical waffling on the potential nature of reality, and the “simulator” idea which posits that your unique experience in life IS the matrix, not physical reality itself. Then for your plus extension, we chat about the most important thing not being talked about when it comes to disclosure. Then we take a look at the always mysterious Cryptozoo-woo-woo: Freaky creatures that are not supposed to exist, yet somehow have produced scores of reports - legends in the flesh, myths in the real, terror in the soul, and bewilderment in the heart. Offering some observers an inexplicable opportunity to witness their bizarre behaviors, odd traits, out-of-time features, and in some cases, physical evidence. Inescapablepodcast.com! Book - The End Is Behind Us: Are We Living in Satan's Little Season? Book - The Little Season of Satan: Hidden History, or Hidden Agenda Bank of England must plan for a financial crisis triggered by aliens, says former policy expert Warning Issued That Alien Revelations Could Spark Financial Crisis George Martin's Chupacabra Sketch Stellers' Sea Ape - Cryptid Wiki Vietnam's Water Puppet Theater Cryptozoology A To Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature LinksPlus+ ExtensionThe extension of the show is EXCLUSIVE to Plus+ Members. To join. click HERE. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Horror Hill: A Horror Anthology and Scary Stories Series Podcast
Winter has a way of stripping things down to the bone. In this episode of Horror Hill, host Erik Peabody invites you into the season he calls "deep hurting," that long stretch of cold where the days blur together, the body falters, and the mind drifts toward thoughts it usually keeps buried. Featuring a bleak and deeply unsettling tale from J.R. Hamantaschen, this episode lingers in the spaces between despair and revelation, asking whether some truths arrive too late to save us—and whether some knowledge was never meant to be endured for long. “Love Is Not an Eternal Thing Like Hatred or Disgust” by J.R. Hamantaschen – While working a routine shift at a grocery store, a young employee has a fleeting but unsettling encounter with an elderly stranger—one that lingers in his thoughts far longer than it should. As the day unfolds, a series of increasingly disturbing incidents ripple through the store, hinting at a shared anguish carried by those at the far end of life. Ordinary spaces become charged with dread, and quiet despair gives way to something far more profound and unexplainable. A deeply unsettling meditation on aging, identity, and the limits of human endurance, this story confronts the terrifying possibility that some truths are revealed only when it's already too late. To watch the podcast on YouTube: http://bit.ly/ChillingEntertainmentYT Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast for free wherever you're listening or by using this link: https://bit.ly/HorrorHillPodcast If you like the show, telling a friend about it would be amazing! You can text, email, Tweet, or send this link to a friend: https://bit.ly/HorrorHillPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Deeper Shades of House - Deep House Podcast with Lars Behrenroth
DEEPER SHADES OF HOUSE #936 Podcast compiled and mixed by Lars Behrenroth For full playlist, please visit https://www.deepershades.net/936
The legend of Chris from Alabama continues as the man himself calls in to apologize for his epic rant—only to receive nothing but love and respect from the entire Packer Nation community. Callers from Tennessee, Minnesota, South Carolina, and beyond phone in just to thank Chris for saying what everyone was feeling, proving that sometimes the most unfiltered moments create the strongest connections. Liz from New York delivers a passionate takedown of Caleb Williams, calling out his arrogance and questioning whether the Bears' success has anything to do with his actual quarterback play Deep dive into new backup QB Kyle McCord's college stats, including his 90 PFF grade at Syracuse and what development under Matt LaFleur's quarterback coaching could look like Daniel from California sparks a transparency debate about the Packers organization keeping fans in the dark on coaching decisions and personnel moves DC search analysis covering concerns about Gannon's cringy motivation style and why Raheem Morris feels like recycled coaching all over again Jim Leonard interview mystery explored—why haven't the Packers done a virtual interview when they easily could? The calls keep rolling in as Peter Thomas announces a new baby, Nico from Idaho gets fired up, and the whole community rallies around what might be the greatest rant in show history. This episode is brought to you by PrizePicks! Use code PACKDADDY to get started with America's #1 fantasy sports app. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/PACKDADDY To advertise on this podcast please email: ad-sales@libsyn.com Or go to: https://advertising.libsyn.com/packernetpodcast Help keep the show growing and check out everything I'm building across the Packers and NFL world: Support: Patreon: www.patreon.com/pack_daddy Venmo: @Packernetpodcast CashApp: $packpod Projects: Grade NFL Players ➜ fanfocus-teamgrades.lovable.app Packers Hub ➜ packersgames.com Create NFL Draft Big Boards ➜ nfldraftgrades.com Watch Draft Prospects ➜ draftflix.com Screen Record ➜ pause-play-capture.lovable.app Global Economics Hub ➜ global-economic-insight-hub.lovable.app
The fight over safety on a stretch of Alameda Avenue in Wash Park continues — will the city's new plan to test an altered safety plan make anyone happy? Then, rents are dropping, apartment vacancies are up, and the mayor is concerned. Why? Politics contributor Deep Singh Badhesha joins producer Paul Karolyi and host Bree Davies to talk about the latest twist in the Alameda sage, the inflection point in our rental market, and of course our wins and fails of the week. Paul talked about our guest diversity report for 2025, Colfax Ave BID executive director Frank Locantore's push for housing, and a medicaid fraud scandal. Bree mentioned a Telluride town councilmember's hot mic moment. Deep discussed Bo Nix's broken ankle and YouGov's poll on Colorado's Trump disapproval rating. What do you think about Alameda Ave.? We want to hear from you! Text or leave us a voicemail with your name and neighborhood, and you might hear it on the show: 720-500-5418 Come out to our next member event! We're hosting it at Convivio Café, and if you're a City Cast Denver Neighbor you're invited. Sign up now and get the details at membership.citycast.fm. For even more news from around the city, subscribe to our morning newsletter Hey Denver at denver.citycast.fm. Watch clips from the show on YouTube: youtube.com/@citycastdenver or Instagram @citycastdenver Chat with other listeners on reddit: r/CityCastDenver Support City Cast Denver by becoming a member: membership.citycast.fm/Denver Looking to advertise on City Cast Denver? Check out our options for podcast and newsletter ads at citycast.fm/advertise
Listen to this exclusive Melodic Techno DJ Mix set by Matvolution. Download Matvolution – DäncingDead IV – Heaven&Hill Halloween Special for free. Subscribe to listen to Techno music DJ Mix, Tech House music, Deep House, Acid Techno, and Minimal Techno.
In this meeting of The Late Diagnosis Club, Dr Angela Kingdon welcomes Sarma Melngailis, a late-identified Autistic woman whose life unfolded in public long before she had language for her neurodivergence.Sarma was once a celebrated New York restaurateur and entrepreneur. Years later, she became the subject of global scrutiny following a highly publicised documentary that framed her story through scandal rather than context. She was not diagnosed as Autistic until age 51, after everything had already happened.In this conversation, Sarma speaks candidly about sensory overwhelm, being misread as cold or suspicious, vulnerability to coercive control, and how not knowing she was Autistic shaped her relationships, business decisions, and sense of self. This episode is not about scandal — it's about what happens when a life is interpreted through the wrong lens, and what becomes possible when the right one finally arrives.
The legend of Chris from Alabama continues as the man himself calls in to apologize for his epic rant—only to receive nothing but love and respect from the entire Packer Nation community. Callers from Tennessee, Minnesota, South Carolina, and beyond phone in just to thank Chris for saying what everyone was feeling, proving that sometimes the most unfiltered moments create the strongest connections. Liz from New York delivers a passionate takedown of Caleb Williams, calling out his arrogance and questioning whether the Bears' success has anything to do with his actual quarterback play Deep dive into new backup QB Kyle McCord's college stats, including his 90 PFF grade at Syracuse and what development under Matt LaFleur's quarterback coaching could look like Daniel from California sparks a transparency debate about the Packers organization keeping fans in the dark on coaching decisions and personnel moves DC search analysis covering concerns about Gannon's cringy motivation style and why Raheem Morris feels like recycled coaching all over again Jim Leonard interview mystery explored—why haven't the Packers done a virtual interview when they easily could? The calls keep rolling in as Peter Thomas announces a new baby, Nico from Idaho gets fired up, and the whole community rallies around what might be the greatest rant in show history. This episode is brought to you by PrizePicks! Use code PACKDADDY to get started with America's #1 fantasy sports app. https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/PACKDADDY To advertise on this podcast please email: ad-sales@libsyn.com Or go to: https://advertising.libsyn.com/packernetpodcast Help keep the show growing and check out everything I'm building across the Packers and NFL world: Support: Patreon: www.patreon.com/pack_daddy Venmo: @Packernetpodcast CashApp: $packpod Projects: Grade NFL Players ➜ fanfocus-teamgrades.lovable.app Packers Hub ➜ packersgames.com Create NFL Draft Big Boards ➜ nfldraftgrades.com Watch Draft Prospects ➜ draftflix.com Screen Record ➜ pause-play-capture.lovable.app Global Economics Hub ➜ global-economic-insight-hub.lovable.app
On a brutally cold January day, Brian From reflects on storms, family milestones, faith, and the ways God forms us in ordinary moments. From celebrating his 26th wedding anniversary to wrestling with the need for Christian community, spiritual fruit, and intentional relationships, the episode weaves together personal stories and thoughtful devotional insights. Brian closes by challenging listeners to rethink success—not in terms of status or achievement, but faithfulness, love, character, and a life well-lived before God. Shining Science on X: "
From shipping Gemini Deep Think and IMO Gold to launching the Reasoning and AGI team in Singapore, Yi Tay has spent the last 18 months living through the full arc of Google DeepMind's pivot from architecture research to RL-driven reasoning—watching his team go from a dozen researchers to 300+, training models that solve International Math Olympiad problems in a live competition, and building the infrastructure to scale deep thinking across every domain, and driving Gemini to the top of the leaderboards across every category. Yi Returns to dig into the inside story of the IMO effort and more! We discuss: Yi's path: Brain → Reka → Google DeepMind → Reasoning and AGI team Singapore, leading model training for Gemini Deep Think and IMO Gold The IMO Gold story: four co-captains (Yi in Singapore, Jonathan in London, Jordan in Mountain View, and Tong leading the overall effort), training the checkpoint in ~1 week, live competition in Australia with professors punching in problems as they came out, and the tension of not knowing if they'd hit Gold until the human scores came in (because the Gold threshold is a percentile, not a fixed number) Why they threw away AlphaProof: "If one model can't do it, can we get to AGI?" The decision to abandon symbolic systems and bet on end-to-end Gemini with RL was bold and non-consensus On-policy vs. off-policy RL: off-policy is imitation learning (copying someone else's trajectory), on-policy is the model generating its own outputs, getting rewarded, and training on its own experience—"humans learn by making mistakes, not by copying" Why self-consistency and parallel thinking are fundamental: sampling multiple times, majority voting, LM judges, and internal verification are all forms of self-consistency that unlock reasoning beyond single-shot inference The data efficiency frontier: humans learn from 8 orders of magnitude less data than models, so where's the bug? Is it the architecture, the learning algorithm, backprop, off-policyness, or something else? Three schools of thought on world models: (1) Genie/spatial intelligence (video-based world models), (2) Yann LeCun's JEPA + FAIR's code world models (modeling internal execution state), (3) the amorphous "resolution of possible worlds" paradigm (curve-fitting to find the world model that best explains the data) Why AI coding crossed the threshold: Yi now runs a job, gets a bug, pastes it into Gemini, and relaunches without even reading the fix—"the model is better than me at this" The Pokémon benchmark: can models complete Pokédex by searching the web, synthesizing guides, and applying knowledge in a visual game state? "Efficient search of novel idea space is interesting, but we're not even at the point where models can consistently apply knowledge they look up" DSI and generative retrieval: re-imagining search as predicting document identifiers with semantic tokens, now deployed at YouTube (symmetric IDs for RecSys) and Spotify Why RecSys and IR feel like a different universe: "modeling dynamics are strange, like gravity is different—you hit the shuttlecock and hear glass shatter, cause and effect are too far apart" The closed lab advantage is increasing: the gap between frontier labs and open source is growing because ideas compound over time, and researchers keep finding new tricks that play well with everything built before Why ideas still matter: "the last five years weren't just blind scaling—transformers, pre-training, RL, self-consistency, all had to play well together to get us here" Gemini Singapore: hiring for RL and reasoning researchers, looking for track record in RL or exceptional achievement in coding competitions, and building a small, talent-dense team close to the frontier — Yi Tay Google DeepMind: https://deepmind.google X: https://x.com/YiTayML Chapters 00:00:00 Introduction: Returning to Google DeepMind and the Singapore AGI Team 00:04:52 The Philosophy of On-Policy RL: Learning from Your Own Mistakes 00:12:00 IMO Gold Medal: The Journey from AlphaProof to End-to-End Gemini 00:21:33 Training IMO Cat: Four Captains Across Three Time Zones 00:26:19 Pokemon and Long-Horizon Reasoning: Beyond Academic Benchmarks 00:36:29 AI Coding Assistants: From Lazy to Actually Useful 00:32:59 Reasoning, Chain of Thought, and Latent Thinking 00:44:46 Is Attention All You Need? Architecture, Learning, and the Local Minima 00:55:04 Data Efficiency and World Models: The Next Frontier 01:08:12 DSI and Generative Retrieval: Reimagining Search with Semantic IDs 01:17:59 Building GDM Singapore: Geography, Talent, and the Symposium 01:24:18 Hiring Philosophy: High Stats, Research Taste, and Student Budgets 01:28:49 Health, HRV, and Research Performance: The 23kg Journey
FREE PDF: How To Start A Weekly, Multigenerational Family Meal Rhythm: familyteams.com/meal --- This month we've talked about why having a weekly, multi-generational family meal is such a game changer for families who want to build a family team that lasts for generations. We've talked about how to make the meal fun and how to make it sustainable. Today we dive into how to maximize the meaning of this weekly family meal. And you might be surprised about how we've done that. This is a very counter-cultural thing to do, so make sure to listen to the full episode to get an idea of how this could look in your family, whether you're starting out as just a husband and wife with a small kid, or if you've got a large family and already have great relationships with the upstream generation. On this episode, we talk about: 0:00 Intro 0:27 What gives a meal real meaning? 2:00 Spiritual meaning 4:23 How to stop it from feeling forced 11:03 Deep meaning for moms 14:00 Removing the meaning-killers 16:25 Combatting hustle and hurry 19:45 Not so logistical 22:55 If you don't have a great relationship with your parents... Follow Family Teams: Facebook: https://facebook.com/famteams Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/familyteams Website: https://www.familyteams.com Resources Mentioned: FREE PDF: How To Start A Weekly, Multigenerational Family Meal Rhythm: familyteams.com/meal --- Hi, welcome to the Family Teams podcast! Our goal here is to help your family become a multigenerational team on mission by providing you with Biblically rooted concepts, tools and rhythms! Your hosts are Jeremy Pryor and Jefferson Bethke. Make sure to subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube so you don't miss out on future episodes!
“For faster service, try our customer service portal.” Big Tech's AI rush is the next step in stripping humanity from customer service – promising speed and efficiency. But the data shows something darker: collapsing trust, rising customer rage, and dehumanized systems people can't escape. In this episode of The Deep, Erika breaks down why we all hate AI customer service, who benefits, and why monopolies are betting you have nowhere else to go.Timestamps:0:00 - Intro: Customer service is broken2:33 - Why is customer service worse than ever?5:19 - Corporations sacrifice human touch for scalability 8:43 - A race to the bottom10:03 - Surveys show customers despise AI support12:06 - The psychology behind why customers hate it14:48 - Conclusion: Resisting fatalismSubscribe to the LOOPcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theLOOPcastSources:Banks, Alex (@alexbanks). “Note on AI and Attention.” Alex Banks (Substack), June 2, 2025. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://substack.com/@alexbanks/note/c-192787692?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=1htswx.Customer Experience Dive. “Klarna Reinvests in Human Talent for Customer Service as AI Chatbot Use Grows.” Customer Experience Dive, April 15, 2025. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://www.customerexperiencedive.com/news/klarna-reinvests-human-talent-customer-service-AI-chatbot/747586/.HBR Editors. “Fixing Chatbots Requires Psychology, Not Technology.” Harvard Business Review, May 2025. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://hbr.org/2025/05/fixing-chatbots-requires-psychology-not-technology.StoryBoard18 Staff. “Human Touch Trumps AI: 88% of Consumers Prefer Human Agents for Customer Service.” StoryBoard18, October 22, 2025. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://www.storyboard18.com/digital/human-touch-trumps-ai-88-consumers-prefer-human-agents-for-customer-service-78916.htm.The Agent Architect (@theagentarchitect). “AI Customer Service Con: Customer Abandonment.” The Agent Architect (Substack), November 11, 2025. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://theagentarchitect.substack.com/p/ai-customer-service-con-customer-abandonment.Unknown Author. “Title Not Provided.” Substack, (p-171273784), 2025. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://substack.com/home/post/p-171273784.
Feel immediate relief from anxiety in just 10 minutes. This session is a guided somatic healing practice designed to lower cortisol, regulate your nervous system, and activate your vagus nerve for deep inner peace.If you are feeling the weight of the world, a tight chest, or a racing mind, you have found the right place. We aren't going to fight the anxiety today; we are going to step underneath it to trigger a biological "rest and digest" signal.In this session, you will learn how to:Activate the Vagus Nerve: Use breathwork and visualization to send safety signals directly to your body.Perform a Cortisol Detox: Visual techniques to flush stress hormones from your system.Practice Somatic Grounding: Move out of "fight or flight" by anchoring into the body.Reprogram the Subconscious: Use high-frequency affirmations to reclaim your power and peace.Key Moments:(01:00) The "Physical Switch": Breathwork for instant nervous system regulation.(01:45) The Golden Light Visualization: Releasing tension from the jaw and shoulders.(03:15) The River Technique: Detaching from intrusive thoughts.(07:30) Subconscious Affirmations: "I am vibrating at the frequency of peace."Support the Show & Go Ad-Free If these sessions help you find your calm, please consider joining our Supporters Group. For just $5/month, you get access to all 2,300+ episodes ad-free and the warm glow of knowing you are keeping this show alive. Disclaimer: This session is for relaxation and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.
The AI Breakdown: Daily Artificial Intelligence News and Discussions
New surveys from PwC, Workday, and Section are being read as evidence that AI is overhyped, but the real story is simpler: companies that deeply integrate AI into core workflows are nearly three times more likely to see real financial gains, while everyone else stalls. This is not a story about AI capability—it's a story about leadership, integration, and execution. In the headlines: Apple explores a new AI device form factor, Meta previews internally trained models, and Congress moves to tighten oversight of advanced chip exports.Brought to you by:KPMG – Discover how AI is transforming possibility into reality. Tune into the new KPMG 'You Can with AI' podcast and unlock insights that will inform smarter decisions inside your enterprise. Listen now and start shaping your future with every episode. https://www.kpmg.us/AIpodcastsZencoder - From vibe coding to AI-first engineering - http://zencoder.ai/zenflowOptimizely Opal - The agent orchestration platform build for marketers - https://www.optimizely.com/theaidailybriefAssemblyAI - The best way to build Voice AI apps - https://www.assemblyai.com/briefLandfallIP - AI to Navigate the Patent Process - https://landfallip.com/Robots & Pencils - Cloud-native AI solutions that power results https://robotsandpencils.com/The Agent Readiness Audit from Superintelligent - Go to https://besuper.ai/ to request your company's agent readiness score.The AI Daily Brief helps you understand the most important news and discussions in AI. Subscribe to the podcast version of The AI Daily Brief wherever you listen: https://pod.link/1680633614Interested in sponsoring the show? sponsors@aidailybrief.ai
Deep in the Undercity, the Ding Dong Danglers (official name) creep closer and closer to sick loot and lich murder. And yes, Nerd Poker, where even the traps are passive-aggressive! For 3 bonus episodes a month and more, subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/nerdpoker. For merch, social media, and more be sure to head to nerdpokerpod.com.
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