Podcasts about doctors without borders

I'm going to be at ATL Comic Convention on Saturday, July 19th, running a panel with the performance actors from Red Dead Redemption 2 at 2PM! Last week, I was at Summer Games Done Quick 2025, reading donations and helping raise over $2.4million for Doctors Without Borders. The SAG-AFTRA strike against video game companies is now officially over, and everyone is back to work with better pay and more AI protections. Subnautica 2 was delayed despite being ready, the founders of the studio outsted, and a $250million bonus not hit because they will not make their revenue targets by the contracted deadline due to the delay. Then we talk to Rob about the news I missed while I was at SGDQ.

In this episode, regional experts of the Middle East share their knowledge about Syria's healthcare system and how it has been affected by years of conflict. Based on research from the book "Everybody's War: Politics of Aid in the Syria Crisis," (published by Oxford University Press), our guests provide thoughtful analysis of several important issues:The connection between healthcare provision and questions of state legitimacyHow Syria's once-unified healthcare system became fragmented during the warThe complex dynamics of delivering humanitarian aid in a polarized conflict environmentThe discussion examines the practical and ethical challenges facing healthcare workers and aid organizations operating in contexts where corruption and restricted access are common.  The experts provide an informative overview for listeners interested in understanding the intersection of healthcare delivery, conflict, and humanitarian response in complex emergency settings.This episode offers valuable insights into how humanitarian assistance functions within the broader political and economic realities of the Syrian crisis.Omar Dewachi is associate professor at Rutgers University whose work is at the intersections of global health, history of medicine and political anthropology. His scholarship focuses on the human and environmental manifestations of decades of conflict and military interventions in Iraq and the broader Middle East. Duncan McLean is a senior researcher for Doctors Without Borders . He has published widely on the humanitarian sector and has contributed chapters to book publications Saving Lives and Staying Alive, The Politics of Fear, and Everybody's War. Dr. Mclean holds a PhD in history and has lectured at several universities in the Czech Republic, France and the UK, focusing on epidemiological and colonial history.Aula Abbara is a consultant in Infectious Diseases/ General Internal Medicine at Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust, London and an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial College. She teaches and supervises students on the Global Health BSc course at Imperial College and the TMIH at LSHTM. #Syria #Healthcare #HumanitarianCrisis #MiddleEast #ForeignAidSupport the showSupport the Center for Security, Race and Rights by following us and making a donation: Donate: https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/csrr-support/20046.html Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rucsrr Follow us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/rutgerscsrr Follow us on Threads: https://threads.com/rutgerscsrr Follow us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/rucsrr Follow us on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/rucsrr Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://csrr.rutgers.edu/newsroom/sign-up-for-newsletter/

EA is reportedly hitting the brakes on the Need for Speed franchise, Summer Games Done Quick raised $2.4 million for Doctors Without Borders, and a Switch 2 user warned about an accidental ban after playing preowned game cards. It's Monday, July 14th and here's a quick look at tech in the news this morning from Engadget. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3665: Jacob Lund Fisker challenges conventional wisdom on travel by questioning its true value beyond consumerism and social status. He argues that living abroad and developing useful skills offer far deeper personal growth and perspective than typical tourism. Discover why meaningful experiences come not from collecting destinations but from immersing yourself in new cultures and responsibilities. Read along with the original article(s) here: http://earlyretirementextreme.com/travel-tourism-and-living-abroad.html Quotes to ponder: “Having been to the other side of the world no longer means braving mountain ranges, running out of food, or being chased by bandits.” “I highly recommend living abroad though out of which traveling is a very very small part, that is, a couple of days of getting there vs a few years or more of being there.” “To see the world, get the skills first, then travel. Not the other way around.” Episode references: Doctors Without Borders: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org Peace Corps: https://www.peacecorps.gov World Tourism Organization: https://www.unwto.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3665: Jacob Lund Fisker challenges conventional wisdom on travel by questioning its true value beyond consumerism and social status. He argues that living abroad and developing useful skills offer far deeper personal growth and perspective than typical tourism. Discover why meaningful experiences come not from collecting destinations but from immersing yourself in new cultures and responsibilities. Read along with the original article(s) here: http://earlyretirementextreme.com/travel-tourism-and-living-abroad.html Quotes to ponder: “Having been to the other side of the world no longer means braving mountain ranges, running out of food, or being chased by bandits.” “I highly recommend living abroad though out of which traveling is a very very small part, that is, a couple of days of getting there vs a few years or more of being there.” “To see the world, get the skills first, then travel. Not the other way around.” Episode references: Doctors Without Borders: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org Peace Corps: https://www.peacecorps.gov World Tourism Organization: https://www.unwto.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discover all of the podcasts in our network, search for specific episodes, get the Optimal Living Daily workbook, and learn more at: OLDPodcast.com. Episode 3665: Jacob Lund Fisker challenges conventional wisdom on travel by questioning its true value beyond consumerism and social status. He argues that living abroad and developing useful skills offer far deeper personal growth and perspective than typical tourism. Discover why meaningful experiences come not from collecting destinations but from immersing yourself in new cultures and responsibilities. Read along with the original article(s) here: http://earlyretirementextreme.com/travel-tourism-and-living-abroad.html Quotes to ponder: “Having been to the other side of the world no longer means braving mountain ranges, running out of food, or being chased by bandits.” “I highly recommend living abroad though out of which traveling is a very very small part, that is, a couple of days of getting there vs a few years or more of being there.” “To see the world, get the skills first, then travel. Not the other way around.” Episode references: Doctors Without Borders: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org Peace Corps: https://www.peacecorps.gov World Tourism Organization: https://www.unwto.org Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Also known as El Infierno Verde (the green hell), The Darién Gap is a stretch of jungle that connects Colombia and Panama. A place so dangerous, only those with no other choice would dare to cross in hopes of a better life. In this episode, Ayden shares a Susto original based on the jungle of death.Please consider donating to Doctors Without Borders for their work at the exit of The Darién Gap and around the world:https://events.doctorswithoutborders.org/campaigns/sustoWant to hear your story on Susto? Fill out the Letters From the Beyond form or visit SustoPodcast.com to be shared on the show!Become a Patron here!

A deadly week in Gaza saw hundreds of Palestinians killed. The world now waits for a possible ceasefire, which would bring some relief to a population already facing a fuel crisis and food shortages. Chris Lockyear is the Secretary-General of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and joins the show from Geneva.   Also on today's show: Ukrainian Journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk; Ari Shaw Director of International Programs, UCLA Williams Institute  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 22 Andy answers the ladies most vulnerable concerns.. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. "So why me, huh?" Sarah asked her. "Why'd'ja choose me to play with you and Andy?" Piper bit her bottom lip, as if she was a tad nervous, before she shyly looked up at Sarah. "'Cause I'm kinda turned on with how you talk, Sarah, and I was kinda hoping you could talk to me that way while I was trying to make our man happy?" Despite all the massive confidence he'd seen Piper bearing almost the entire time he'd known her, she seemed almost nervous that Sarah would consider turning her down, as if her voiced desire was a step too far beyond the pale. Sarah licked her lips as her eyes widened. "I will totally fucking do that as long as you agree to just one fucking condition. If you don't, well, I can just go upstairs and leave you two to it." Andy was about to ask, but Piper beat him to it. "What condition is that?" "You can't, like, get fucking mad at me for anything I say, or anything I call you. 'Cause if I'm gonna fucking do this, then I'm gonna fucking do this, and I can't be all in my fucking head about you thinking I'm being mean or rude or shit. So you can't be all pissed off that I call you dirty things if you're fucking asking me to talk fucking dirty to you," Sarah giggled. "That cool, bitch?" "Not only do I promise not to get mad, Sares," Piper said to her. "I promise to like it." Sarah nodded. "Good, then why the fuck aren't you on top of that cock already?" Piper pursed her lips into a smile. "I was waiting for you to tell me I could, Andy." Sarah's hand swatted over and spanked Piper's ass with a loud smack. "He shouldn't have to tell you, you daft bitch. You wanted to fuck him, he totally didn't say 'not now' or some shit, so that means fucking time is on!" In the middle of Sarah's sentence, Piper reached down to grab his cock and get it aligned so she could slide right down onto it, straddling him to get his cock as deep inside of her as she could, her other hand resting on his shoulder. "That's a good girl," Sarah purred. "Don't you feel so much better without an empty cunt, you athletic slut you?" Piper nodded, leaning over to kiss Sarah again, although Sarah pushed her back after a few seconds, clearly intent on keeping her mouth free so she could talk to her. "I've had like a dozen partners, and not one of them made me feel like Andy does," Piper said, looking at Sarah's face. Sarah slapped Piper's ass again, this time even harder. "So why are you fucking telling me, bitch? Am I the one whose cock is jammed up your stupid snatch?" Piper moaned as Sarah's fingernails dragged against that reddening flesh, shaking her head, turning to look at Andy. "You feel so fucking good inside of me, Andy," she said to him. "Thank you for taking me in." On 'in,' she bounced down hard in his lap. "Thank you for saving my friend." On 'friend,' she did it again. "It's a shame you're on fucking birth control," Sarah teased, "because these are fucking breeding hips, and you'd look super fucking cute with a baby bump, but I guess you need to go and win your gold medal before we can talk about getting you bred like a proper bitch." Piper's tongue swiped out over her own lips, as she nodded. "I'll do it eventually," she said eagerly. "I'll happily bear your child, Andy, but I gotta do the Olympics first, to prove to myself that I can really do it." "You don't  " Andy started but Piper kissed him once more, jamming her tongue into his mouth sloppily, making sure to silence him. "Hmm, I think she likes the idea of you fucking breeding her, Andy," Sarah said with a laugh. "The idea of you pumping her fucking cunt so full of fuck cream that it's practically oozing out of her, so messy and sloppy, like a good little whore. You like that image don't you, Pipes?" The athletic brunette nodded quickly. "I do I do I fucking do so fucking much," she panted, as Sarah reached one of her hands in to pinch one of Piper's tan nipples firmly, giving it a twist, which made the girl groan huskily. "And yet, you're still fucking holding back," Sarah scolded. "You gotta fucking give in like a good girl, otherwise you won't get what you fucking what, what I know you think you fucking deserve, but you don't deserve it until you've ditched all those fucking fears and embraced who the fuck you are from now on." She gave Piper's ass another hard smack before sliding her hand around the athlete's waist, moving her thumb down to rub against Piper's clit, as Andy felt her start to tighten up even more around his shaft. "But I bet, I just fucking bet, that if you just let it out, let it all fucking out, you'd feel fucking better, and you'd get what a good bitch deserves." "Fuck, Sarah, you're so fucking good with those fingers," Piper whimpered. "Damn fucking straight I am," Sarah said. "But I'm gonna stop if you don't cut loose." "I'm, I'm fucking scared," Piper whispered quietly. "We all were, Pipes, but you learn to fucking let go and trust, not just in Andy but in the family, in all the fucking rest of us, that we've got your fucking back, that we're gonna fucking take care of you, so either you're fucking in or you're out, what's it gonna be, bitch?" "I'm in,” she cried, her voice shredded and frantic, clearly about to have an immense orgasm. "I'm in I'm in I'm so fucking in,” "Not fucking yet you aren't," Sarah said harshly. "Gotta let that last fucking guard down, gotta let that last fucking truth out. You'll feel better, bitch, but you gotta fucking say it,” "Andy Rook, I fucking love you!" Piper shouted before she kissed him hard, and she started to have a monstrous orgasm, her whole body violently trembling, and the spasms of her cunt around his cock forced his own release, as he started spewing arcing loads of steaming jism inside of her, the two of them locked together on top and bottom, the intensity of the orgasm cratering them out. As soon as it had passed, Piper buried her face into Andy's neck, laughing a little bit even as he could feel her eyes watering, tears of joy slipping from her face. "I thought I'd never say that to another person as long as I fucking lived," she whispered against his skin, "but I do, I fucking love you, Andy Rook." "And I love you too, Piper Brown," he said, stroking her hair with one hand, his other intertwined with Sarah's. They stayed like that for a minute or so before Piper started to giggle, turning to look over at Sarah. "I don't know how you do it," she said to the tall redhead, "sitting there watching and not demanding to get involved." "Oh I'm happy enough to wait my fucking turn," Sarah giggled. "But pretty quick Imma need you to get off of him so I can fucking get off." Piper's giggle burst from her as she nodded then leaned over to kiss Sarah. "Thank you for that," she told her. "I hate having to ask for help." "That's what family's for," Sarah answered. "But get a little, give a little, so Imma also need you to help me out here." The brunette climbed from his lap, and his cock was absolutely soaked with their juices, and while he was starting to soften, that feral look in Sarah's eyes told him he wasn't done yet, and made him begin to stiffen up again. "Whatever you need, Sares," Piper said, "I got you, boo." "I'll just need a helping hand," Sarah said, getting up off the couch. Andy tried to get up as well, but Sarah shoved him back down once more. "Who told you you could fucking get up?" she giggled. "I need you to stay there and let me run the fucking show this time, 'cause I'm a little fucking nervous, and I want to have the fucking control to do this how I think fucking feels right. I hope that's fucking okay with you, because if it isn't, well, I don't fucking care, now, do I?" Andy wasn't entirely sure what Sarah had in mind, as she turned away from him and moved to straddle his legs, but very quickly, it dawned on him what she was doing. "I can't fucking believe Emily did this shit before I did," Sarah said, reaching one hand back to grab his cock. Her position had her legs spread wide, as she moved to rub the tip of his cock along her cunt before dragging it downward, nestling it against the rosebud of her asshole. "Had to be fucking first to something, I guess." He could feel the tall woman getting his cock aligned right and then slowly started sitting down on it, his shaft pulsing in excitement as he felt her body, tight and a little unprepared, try and resist his cock's entrance before she finally seemed to lose patience with her own hole, as she pushed down to get the head of his cock inside of her ass. Her head leaned back, her eyes looking up at the ceiling, as a guttural, almost paleolithic, moan of pain and pleasure boiled out of her. "Fuck that's fucking big that's big holy fucking shit balls that's a big fat fucking cock and it's fucking going up my fucking ass oh my fucking God what the fuck am I doing?" "We can stop if  "   Sarah looked back over her shoulder at Andy with a wildness in her eyes that he'd never seen before, a deranged grin on her face. "Stop? Are you out of your fucking mind? This is the greatest fucking feeling I've ever fucking felt in my fucking life! Why the fuck would I want you to fucking stop?! I want fucking all of it!" she said to him as she pushed herself down onto his cock until he was buried as deeply as he could get inside of her backdoor, the tall girl's skin covered with a layer of goosebumps that made the fine red hairs of her arms stand on end, her body vibrating in orgasm as she did. "Jesus Fucking Christ, I feel like such an utter fucking whore and I fucking love it! You've got that big fucking cock jammed right up my fucking virgin asshole and it made me fucking cum just going the fuck in, so now you gotta fuck me or I gotta fuck you but somebody's gotta fuck somebody right the fuck now!" Piper had sort of been standing off to the side a little bit, and one of Sarah's hands shot up and grabbed one of the brunette's wrists, yanking her close. "Er, what, what am I supposed to be doing here, Sarah?" "You can fucking rub or you can fucking lick, but you gotta fucking work that fucking clit of mine while he's fucking my ass, so get fucking to it!" she barked, and the commanding tone to her voice made it clear the actress was not asking for input on the matter. The tanned athlete took one of her hands timidly down to rub against Sarah's cunt before moving to stroke her clit, as Sarah began to bounce up and down in his lap, one hand on the arm of the couch, the other on Andy's hip. In this position, Sarah had completely control of the tempo and the force with which she slid her ass down onto his cock, something he'd expected her to use to keep it slow and tender, but instead, Sarah was practically trying to break the couch, slamming her ass down into his lap as hard as she cold each time, while Piper was caressing her clit. "Fuck that's so fucking good oh my god why didn't I ever get fucked in the ass before I love this so fucking much but it's all your ass, Andy, Daddy, it's only ever your fucking ass, you're the only one to ever fuck me this way, and I fucking love that and I keep God! I keep fucking cumming over and over again, so please Daddy, please please please cum in my fucking virgin ass and let me fucking feel it, let me feel you own the last fucking bit of me no man's ever had, because I don't need any other fucking man but you because I fucking love the ever loving shit out of you you big cocked motherfucker you hear me I fucking love you Andy so fucking cum, cum right the fuck up my ass! Fuck! Fuck! Muph!" She leaned her head back at the end onto his shoulder, craning her neck so that she could jam her lips against his, as he felt Piper's other hand cradling his balls, squeezing them gently, and the sensations were all too much, as his body let loose another orgasm, flooding Sarah's rectum with a gusher of an orgasm as their tongues clung to each other before they both slumped back, his back against the couch, her back against his chest, both of them nearly too exhausted to move. Huginn, who had remained completely undisturbed by all of this, finally had had enough, and the black cat got up and hopped down the couch, moving to a different unoccupied couch, hopping back up, curling into a ball and settling down once more, a perturbed look on his face. Then Sarah began to feverishly giggle, waves of curved red hair over her face before she pushed them out. "Em was fucking right. That was totally fucking amazeballs. Thanks Pipes." Piper winked a little bit as she pushed a fingertip inside of Sarah's cunt, causing the actress to gasp a little bit in surprise before Piper slid the finger back out, lifting it up to her lips, licking it in front of the two of them. "We're definitely gonna need a shower before we get into bed," she said, and they all laughed at that. Chapter 38 In a rather unusual turn of events, Andy woke the next morning on November 18th to an empty bed. It wasn't uncommon for him to awake with only a couple of the girls still in bed asleep with him, but a totally empty bed was almost an unheard of experience at this point. He glanced at his Apple Watch and saw that it was around 10:30, which meant he'd definitely slept in a bit. Like most writers, Andy was generally a nocturnal creature, staying up late and getting up late, which had put his schedule at odds with some members of the family, but they'd mostly learned to make it work. He slipped on some boxers, pulled on his jeans and tugged on a t shirt,  this particular one a gift from some fantasy convention he'd been a guest speaker at,  and headed over to the balcony, stepping out onto it with a smirk. Down at the pool, most of the girls were nearly finishing their morning work out, being led by Sheridan, a sea of sports bras and yoga pants, doing the last part of their high intensity section of the workout, and Andy could vaguely hear Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" being played from a portable speaker near them. (Andy still wasn't sure which bothered him more, the fact that they were listening to Vanilla Ice or the fact that Vanilla Ice opened that song with "Stop! Collaborate and listen!" and yet there were no signs of any collaboration going on. In fact, it didn't seem like Ice understood what the word collaborate meant. The writer in him just couldn't bear it.) Lauren and Taylor weren't there as he expected they'd gone in to work today, especially since it was Taylor's first day of working in months. He hoped that she fit in well with the 49ers organization, but at this point, he wasn't entirely even sure who was working there. Niko also wasn't working out as he figured she'd gone to work at the base today. He wasn't sure what her schedule was like these days so he trusted her to let him know when she was coming and going and when it would be important for him to know. She was more than capable enough to manage her own schedule. It was nice to spot that both Fiona and Moira were in the group, between Ash and Sarah in the front row of three, and both seemed to be in good spirits. Moira's unruly mass of red curls had been braided into a tightly woven tail that whipped behind her as she danced to the beat of the music, occasionally slapping against either Fi or Sarah, both of whom laughed wildly when it did. It made Moira look a little like a redheaded version of the original polygon model of Tomb Raider, now that he thought about it. The weather was still mostly overcast, and it looked like rain might even be on the schedule for later in the day, something he didn't mind one bit. California had mostly been in a drought for years, and any rain the state could get was seen as a blessing, particularly since they now lived in more densely wooded areas. The last thing Andy wanted was a wild fire to take his new home. He leaned against the railing, just enjoying looking over both the estate and his family before Sheridan finally spotted him up on the higher floor balcony as the song came to an end. She pointed to Andy to draw the girls' attention to him, as all of them turned to look at him. The words were out of his mouth before he even knew he was saying them. "Good morning, angels," he shouted to them. "Good morning Andy!" they shot back in matching cadence. "You know, you really ought to join us some mornings, Andrew," Emily teased politely. "Hmm. I'd be worried about making a fool of myself." "I can make sure we don't overwhelm you on your first work out, dude," Sheridan said to him with a wink and a grin. "Let's give it a go tomorrow, 'kay?" Andy groaned a little bit. "God help me. Okay, I'll give it a try, but no making fun of me!" All the girls made various catty comments and gestures as he rolled his eyes and headed back into the house. He had a little bit before any of them were back inside anyway, even if they were finished with their workout. While the pool house was being converted into Tala's workshop, it still had a large group shower room, and the girls tended to go and cool down in there before splitting off afterwards. A few of them would go and shower in their own individual bathrooms, but the majority of them enjoyed the communal experience, as it let them all continue to get to know each other. Andy headed down to the kitchen and found that Jenny had made him a mini breakfast burrito that was waiting with a glass of pineapple juice on the little kitchen island, Katie also sort of milling around the room as both women bowed to him when he entered. He'd tried to get them to stop doing that, but he'd learned that attempting to discourage his staff of anything generally only resulted in them doing it even more than they were originally, so he was trying a new tactic now,  let them burn themselves out on it and hope they'd stop on their own. "Enjoy your breakfast, sir!" Jenny said, moving around the counter before dropping down onto her knees. "I know I'll enjoy mine!" Her fingertips unbuttoned Andy's jeans and he was thankful he hadn't put on a belt this morning, as Jenny began to lick and suck on his cock, slowly running her tongue along it while her wife watched on, although there was an unusual expression on Katie's face, something Andy wasn't quite sure of. "What's on your mind, Katie?" he said, feeling Jenny's lips slowly push down around his length. They had told him before that they wanted to make getting their needed dose as low impact for him as possible, and had stressed that they enjoyed this sort of casual acquisition. "You look like you're worried about something." The Hispanic girl sighed and nodded. "I, I wanted to discuss something with you, sir, but I wasn't sure quite how to bring it up. Shit, I'm nervous even thinking about it now." Andy nodded, chewing a mouthful of his food before taking a sip from the glass to wash it down. "Look, you don't have to tell me anything, Katie, but if something's on your mind, you'll probably feel better if you just get it out of your head. No matter how much worse you think it'll be if you say it, letting it rattle around your brain like a cage full of bees is only going to be worse." "I suppose that's fair, sir," Katie said, chewing on her finger nervously. "It's just, this isn't the sort of thing I thought I'd ever say, sir, and it makes me feel strange. I think it's probably just part of whatever the treatment's doing to me, but it's, it feels like it's both a part of me and not a part of me, you know? Like some part of me I didn't know about but was lingering in the dark shadows of my mind the whole time?" Andy frowned a little. "No, I can't say I do know what you're talking about." Jenny's mouth popped off his cock as she made an exasperated noise from his waistline. "Uuuugh! Just tell him already!" she said, frustration in her voice, before she pushed her lips back down around his cock once more. "Sir, I think, I think I'd like for you to fuck me, maybe just the once, maybe just to see if maybe I might like it," Katie said, her voice sounded terrified that he would reject her or yell at her. "I mean, I don't have a problem with if both of you don't, but you certainly needn't do it on my behalf, Katie," Andy told her, as Jenny started to suck harder, as if to pull the resistance out of him. "You made it very clear to me when I arrived that you were a lesbian, though, and I wouldn't dream of asking you to change that." Katie threw her hands up, her eyes widening a little bit, almost in shock at herself. "That's just it! I am! I know I am! I've always thought girls were the only sexy things in the world! The idea of being with dudes just made me uneasy! I imagine I felt about guys the same way you feel about guys,  I don't want to be with that!" "Then why  " "I don't know, alright?! I don't fucking get it! Thinking about any other man just makes my stomach all queasy and nauseous, but the last few weeks, when I've been thinking about what it looks like when I see you fucking Jenny, I don't feel like I do when I think about any other man, and I don't understand what's going on!" The woman looked like she was about to cry, and Andy reached over and grabbed her hand, pulling her over towards him, his fingertips curling around hers. "I am never going to make you do anything you don't want to do, Katie," he said sternly. "But they did tell us that the serum was going to have some side effects, and that it was likely going to make some physiological changes to our bodies, some foreseen and some unforeseen." Jenny had eased off the speed of the blowjob a bit, but hadn't stopped entirely. "If you want to try actual sex with me, I'm not opposed to that, but  " "But you don't want me to think I'm doing it on your account. I'm not, sir, I assure you! I don't even know where these thoughts are coming from, but I told Jenny about a week ago, I had a sex dream with you in it, and we were fucking, and in the dream, it seemed like I liked it quite a lot," Katie sighed. "I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything,” "They say sex dreams generally aren't about sex." "But, but when you were taking Whitney the other day? I found myself getting wet, thinking about what it would be like, what it would be like to be her, to be getting fucked by you, and, and I think I want to try that at some point, not the tying up or collaring or anything but, but I think I'd like for you to fuck me once, just to see, just to see if I really do feel differently about you than I do all the other men in the world,” "And you're okay with this, Jenny?" he said, reaching down to stroke Jenny's hair back. Jenny nodded, popping her lips off his cock with a loud smack. "I still want both of us to be there any time you dose either of us, sir, but if this is a thing she wants to try, well, it would be unfairly judgmental of me to fuck you myself and not allow her to do so as well. 'Sides, she told me about these feelings long before she told you, and that's all that really matters." She smiled at him kindly, then lowered her lips back down around his shaft once more, her eyes still looking up at when she did. "Then it's fine with me, Katie," he said, looking back at the Hispanic woman, one of her hands being held by him, the other being held by Jenny from below. "Thank you, sir," Katie said. "For being willing to do that with me, and for not judging me because of it." "Katie, look. If you want to try it, that's fine. If you try it and you don't like it, that's fine. If you try and do like it and want it more regularly, that's fine. If you change your mind right before we're about to do it, that's fine. Whatever you want here, it's fine. I just want you to be satisfied with whatever decision you made, and I want it made because it's what you want, and not what you think I want, okay? I am surrounded by beautiful women, and I'm just trying to do everything I can to do right by all of you. So whatever you want, you just need to tell me." She nodded, before looking down with a smile. "You were taking your time because I was talking to him, weren't you, Jen?" The curvy girl between his legs giggled a little and nodded, then started thrusting her face into his lap faster and more intently, and Andy could feel that release building up inside of him, even as he finished the last bite of breakfast. He was more than a little taken back when Katie leaned in and whispered into his ear, "My wife's such a good little cocksucker, isn't she? Give us our breakfast, Master, that fucking load of hot cum right into her fucking mouth." The unexpected words made his cock throb and finally he pumped a few squirts of his cum into Jenny's mouth, as she shuddered at his feet. The woman kept her lips sealed just past the head of his cock while her fingers jerked along the rest of his length, making sure to milk out the last of it before she pulled her head back, keeping her lips pursed together before standing up and immediately kissing Katie, swapping that cum between them, Katie's form trembling as she leaned against Jenny, the Latina being held up by her wife for just a moment until the orgasm passed. Both women pulled from the kiss, licking each others lips for just a moment before turning to look over at Andy, almost as if they were ready for a second course right now. Katie winked at him. "You know, I know it's all chemical, but dios mio if that orgasm from tasting your cum doesn't leave one sweet ass high,” Jenny moved to tuck his cock back into his pants, zipping them back up and buttoning them, as she glanced over at Katie. "Don't forget to update the Needs Board, hun," she told her wife, who nodded in response. "Got it, babe. Anyway, sir, let me think about it, but next time, I think I'd like you to fuck Jenny with me there, and then fuck me with Jenny there, so I have some time to let it settle in my brain that I'm going to go through with it," Katie said to him. "You know, actually fucking a dude." "Whatever you want, Katie." "Thank you, sir. Oh, don't forget, you have a phone meeting at 2 with that director candidate, Erica Xiao." He nodded. "Good. Yes. Thank you for reminding me. I might have forgotten if you hadn't." Jenny snickered a little. "Em would've had your balls if you had." "She's got them anyway," Katie shot back. Andy arched an eyebrow at them. "Don't you two start." He drank the last of his pineapple juice then pushed the plate forward. "Thanks Jenny, for everything. I'm going to head to my office. Maybe send down lunch a little after one." "Yes sir. Also, don't forget that Miss Steele will be here sometime today." "Oh right," Andy said, chuckling. "Sometimes everything gets so busy, I can barely remember my own name, much less who's coming and going. Katie, can you set up a large portion of the back yard to fence off, so that Maya's dogs will have a place to run and play without us worrying about them getting into the pool if she wants to leave them outside?" "Miss Steele's got dogs?" Katie said, groaning. "Great. Now I get to start having to watch the backyard for landmines." "That's why I was thinking if we gave them their own area that's fenced off, at least we'd have it clearly marked that it's the part of the yard with occasional hazards, although Sarah insisted that Maya is known to always clean up after her dogs. Maybe put a bin outside for her to toss them all?" Katie nodded. "I can spend the day prepping the yard so we're not all worried about stepping in dog shit when we're walking in the grass." "Good on you." "Did Miss Washington said what kinds of dogs they were, sir?" Jenny asked. "Pomeranians, I think," Andy said. "Those aren't dogs, those are animated dustmops," Katie said with an amused snort. "And here I was worried they would be Saint Bernards or Rottweilers." As he headed down to his office, he was starting to run through the checklist of things he needed to do today in his head. He definitely wanted to talk to Moira now that she was up, but he figured he would let her come to him in her own time, as it had been so long since they'd really talked to one another. He would need to pair with Maya when she arrived, and he also needed to check on Lexi and see how she was doing. As much as he wanted to head over to Xander's and see his friend's new house and meet all the rest of his partners, Xander had asked him to wait until the weekend, so he would have more of a chance to get settled, both into the house and into the household. He was almost at the door of his office when his iPhone began to ring, and he fished it out of his pocket, surprised to see Phil The Younger a.k.a. Lesser Phil a.k.a. Phil Pak (not Phil Marcos), on the screen, as he answered it. "Heya man, long time no talk!" Andy said to him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" "Nothing good I'm afraid," Lesser Phil sighed. "I'm not going to be able to make poker night on Friday. In fact, I may not be able to make poker night for a while, I'm afraid." "That sucks man. What's going on?" "Well, me and the family were relocated, so we're quite a bit further from you now, and the place where we're at is very strict on quarantine procedures, so if we came and saw you and the rest of the gang for poker, we'd have to quarantine for a week before we would be allowed back in to our house, so while we'll try and do it a couple of times a year, for the foreseeable future, it's probably off the table." "Where's they move you to that's got such strict guidelines?" "They're calling the place Valhalla Shores. They decided that they didn't want to put all their eggs in one basket and have New Eden be the only place for Level Fives in the Bay area, so they built a new one over closer to the coast. We're where Pacifica used to be, basically, although I think they tore almost all the old city down and put up this place, like a giant gated mansion community. It's a little snobby for my liking, personally, but you know how Brandy has always been in terms of keeping up with Joneses, so when the NSA offered to move us over to here, she made me jump on it immediately. It's mostly just spooks and techbros over here," he sighed. "You'd fucking hate it. I know I do, but it keeps peace in my household, and that's about all I can ask." "Wait, techbros and spies crossbreeding? That sounds like a horrible idea, like, just the worst. On the other hand, if your quarantine protocols are that strict, it might mean I never have to deal with techbros again, and that might make the whole thing absolutely worth while. Hey, can I recommend a couple of cockish investors over here in New Eden to get transferred over there?" Phil the Younger laughed. "You fuckin' wish, dude. Whole place is fucking creepy anyway. Brandy says some of the women are kind of Stepford ish, and she feels like they're definitely an in crowd and an out crowd and she has zero interest in joining the in crowd. They keep trying to get her to join one of their hot yoga classes, but she said they'd have to break her legs to get her to do that shit. I hope she was being figurative, but you know Brandy." "That I do. Well, we'll miss seeing you guys, but I get it. You're doing what you have to do to keep your family safe and sound. Keep us posted, but I appreciate you calling to tell me personally." "Copy that, man," he said. "See you on the other side." After Lesser Phil had hung up, Andy wondered how many actual community hubs had formed in the Bay area since the cultural rebuilding had started. He also wondered how hard it would be for him or any members of his family to leave New Eden, even for a short while. He'd been craving an animal style In N Out burger for nearly a year now, and while he could ask Jenny to make something equivalent, there was nothing quite like having the real deal. He was certain Niko would know what the current entrance/exit policy for New Eden was, and he resolved to ask her when he saw her. It couldn't be that strict, he realized, because Lauren had been coming and going to the training camp for over a week now. Maybe he could just get in the Tesla and drive down to an In N Out, assuming he could find one that was open. When he walked into his office, he saw that his two cats, Muninn and Huginn, were curled together in a bundle in his writing chair, the two forming a sort of gray black yin yang symbol. Also, as promised, atop of his desk was a brand new laptop, a silver MacBook, with a Post It note on top of it. It was from Whitney (he could recognize her meticulous handwriting) and said "Try it. If you hate it, we'll get something different. “w" As much as he wanted to move the two cats so he could sit down in the chair where he got his best work done, he decided it was okay to sit at the desk for a while, even though it felt way more formal, although he realized he wasn't doing much creative today, mostly just the assorted busywork that sprung up around the actual creative process. The new laptop was set up with access to his emails and had all of his writing transferred onto it, so he could consult back to other things as he started answering questions from his agent and his editor, losing an hour or so before there was a knock at the door. "Come on in," he said. The door opened and Moira and Fiona slipped in together, closing the door behind them. All of their possessions clearly hadn't arrived from cross country yet, because he noticed each of them was wearing one of his t shirts, the fabric hanging big and loose over them like an overcoat. Moira had on one of his Biffy Clyro shirts, which he found fitting, whereas Fiona had clearly dived way back into the depths of his closet and was wearing a Gin Blossoms t shirt. "It's good ta see ya again, Andrew," Moira said shyly, smiling across the room at him. "I've missed ye something fierce." "How are you feeling, Moira? I knew the serum can react strangely to people who've had complicated medical history, and I imagine dengue fever isn't the only strange bug you've picked up over your wild and crazy life." "I cannae tell ye how great I feel, Andrew," she said, starting to move across the room to him. "An' how thankful I am ye trusted Fi enough t' let her bring me in wit' her. Yer, nae mad, are ye?" He shook his head. "Look, Moira. We had a wonderful time together, but that was decades ago. But I've always trusted Fi, and if you and her were together before now, there's no reason any of that should change." "Of course it'll have t' change, ye big dummy," she giggled. "Ye know she's always loved ye, ye daft shite? E'en when I came inta her life, that has nae changed." "Except she's changed and I've changed, so maybe it has changed too." "You haven't changed that much, Andy," Fi said, "and neither have I. You still trusted me enough to offer me a place in your family, even when I had a condition I wouldn't tell you about." "Were ye surprised when ye saw me?" Moira asked him. "Well, I'd figured it out before I saw you. I figured it out as soon as I heard your voice, and that let me put two and two together. But I was very surprised when I heard your voice, yeah." "Surprised inna good way, I kin hope?" "Naturally, although I was hoping you were going to be happy with me, even with the weight I've put on and the hair I've lost," he chuckled. "I think ye look sexy, ya galoot," Moira twittered. "Hold me hands, Fi. It's all I kin do t' keep from havin' a crack at him right now." Fiona wrapped her arms around Moira's waist, shaking her head. "He's not going anywhere, Moira," she said with a kind ease. "Aye, an' neither are we, an' I don' wannae be too far behind the other gare ruls, an' two of 'em are already in th' lead." "One day at a time, love. One day at a time." "You two want to sit and have a chat?" Andy said. On the other side of his desk were two chairs, so he could entertain meetings in here if he needed, although the chairs held the cats more often than they held people. "Oh aye, let's have a chinwaggle," Moira said, slipping from Fiona's arms, moving over towards Andy's desk, but instead of moving to sit in one of the chairs across the desk, she moved to slide herself up and into his lap, her legs dangling over one of the arms of the chair. Fi then moved across the room, and moved his laptop to one side, so she could scoot her ass up and onto his desk directly in front of him, making sure not to knock anything off. "So tell m  " he started to say before Moira leaned in and kissed him hard, her body light in his lap, but the strength with which she pulled his lips onto her own was more than a bit forceful. "I bloody love ye, Andy," Moira said to him. "And Jaysis, do you smell fookin' amazin'." Andy grinned a bit, arching an eyebrow. "Sounds like you may have picked up a little bit of Piper's superpower along the way. I wonder if that's a side effect of the dengue fever antibodies you have in your system." "I cannae tell ye where it comes from, but Jaysis, you smell better'n any meal I've ever eaten in me life. I want ta breathe ye all day long,” She buried her face against the nape of his neck, as he looked to Fiona for sympathy, but saw only mirth on her face. "So, Moira, tell me what you've been up to since we last saw each other." "School," she said, pronouncing the word like 'skoo will,' "then more school, then residency, then Doctors Without Borders, at least until I ran in ta Fi again in DC. It's no tha' excitin'." "Doctors Without Borders, tending to patients in the middle of warzones? That's the absolute definition of exciting to me." "Then you're a fool," she giggled. "I mean, yeh, I was shot at now an' again, but that's a part o' life anyway, isn't it? I was tendin' to kids who needed doctors, an' while I loved tha' work, when I shacked up with Fi again, she wanted me to be safer, wha'ever th' hell tha' means." "It means you're saving lives without people trying to take yours, Mo," Fiona scolded, kicking the Scottish lass with the tip of her leather boot. "She's still undecided whether she wants to take up private practice here in New Eden, or if she wants to go and work in the hospital they're finishing up alongside the base." "In a few years, anyway," Moira said. "After I've given ye a son." Andy's head leaned back a little bit. "Little early to be thinking about stuff like that, isn't it, Moira?" "Like hell, Andy," Moira said, pulling her face back from his neck so she could look him in the eyes again. "You," she said, tapping his chest with a fingertip, "need children. I," she continued, tapping her own, "want tae have one or two before I get back to the medical life. So all we're doin' is just wastin' fookin' time until you get me ripe." "You still don't need to rush right into it, Moira," Andy said, stroking his fingertips against the back of her neck. "Take some time to get settled and comfortable here in the household before you go rushing straight towards the respawning finish line." "Spoken like a laddie who doesnae realize our clocks 'r tickin'," she grumbled. "But, aye, I'll do me best nae to rush it too much. And all the other gare ruls have bin sooo kind tae us. I didnae know what t' expect, 'specially wit' all th' famous faces y'got around these parts." "They're just people, like anyone else," Andy replied. "Think how I feel, trying not to let anyone down." "Ach, yer daft, laddie," Moira said, tickling him a flash. "Yer a good man, an' tha's all tha' matters." "Emily told us all about her experiences this morning, what with the poker game and how it felt being traded like cattle. She was horrified by what horrible things the few remaining men in power are up to, and Niko explained how she basically had to force you to get into the game to rescue Asha and her mother from Covington," Fiona said. "I'm sure that must've been quite taxing." "You had to risk people to win people, and while I certainly didn't want my ex as part of my life, I didn't want to consign her to a life with someone horrible either," he sighed. "I feel very fortunate that it all worked out in my favor, but it was such a gigantic risk." Fiona tugged his chair a little closer to the desk with her leather boot, shrugging. "Life's one colossal risk, Andy. You've always known that." "You think your mother's going to be okay with you being part of a polypod, Moira? I only met her the once, but she struck me as an especially stern Catholic." "When th' news comes out, she'll come 'round, 'specially since th' Pope's apparently okay wit' it, or so we were told a' th' base," Moira shrugged. "Besides, it saves me th' trouble from havin' t' tell 'er I'm shacked up wit' Fi here. She's still nae comfortable wit' 'th' gays,'" she said, making air quotes with her fingers. "Didnae know how t' break it t' her tha' her daughter's as queer as a two dollar bill." "I hope I'm not coming between you two," Andy said. "Nah," Fiona laughed. "We're both bi, and both need some cock in our life. Yours'll do. It was generally my favorite." "An' mine, although I didnae try tha' many." "Tell him how many, Mo." "I don' wanna." "C'mon." "Fi,” "Mo,” Moira sighed. "Fine, wha'ever. I've only had three cocks, Andy, an' yours was right smack dab in th' middle. Me first was a boy in school, and me most recent was another doctor jus' before I hooked up with Fi again. I generally prefer gare ruls to lads, but ye always felt, felt like home t' me." "She was worried that her piercings were going to put you off her," Fi said. "Between the nose stud and the pierced nipples, she told Niko that she felt too different than anyone else it sounded like you had in the family." "I'll admit, I'm not generally a big fan of excessive piercings, but the whole look works on you, Moira. I mean, if you'd had one of those septum piercings like a bull ring, I might have had some reservations, but who am I to tell someone what they do to their body?" Fiona giggled slightly. "I jokingly suggested she get one of her eyebrows pierced once and she slugged me hard enough that she almost dislocated my shoulder." "Do I look like I wanna join bloody Evanescence?" Moira growled. "Did you two decide if you want a bedroom to yourselves, or one each?" Moira shook her head. "We're wit' you, laddie, no matter where y' lay yer head down." "Although I was thinking I might turn one of them into an office for me to work, if that's okay," Fiona said. "Sort of like your little office here." "Yeah, of course," Andy said. "Whatever you want. At some point, all the rooms will be spoken for, but until they are, they're fair game for whoever wants them." "At some point, some of them are going to have to be nurseries," Fiona stressed. "Especially since you've already got two pregnant ladies in the house. How far along are they?" "A couple of months," Andy said. "So it's still early days, and we haven't really told many people outside of the family yet, since the first few months are the diciest." "When's th' big wedding gonnae be?" Moira asked. "Niko told me her family wouldn't give two shits if the wedding happened after the kid was born, but Ash said her family might have some issues with it, so she and I might have a legal ceremony beforehand and then when the world is open again, when I have the giant wedding ceremony, she'd be part of that too." "Seems a fair compromise," Fi agreed. "It would also mean you have someone to function as Head of Household if you were incapacitated and needed someone to make a decision on your behalf." "Don't go planning to have me put into a medical coma any time soon, Fi," Andy joked. "That's still a few months down the way." "Good thing you've got yourself a doctor in the house now, hmm?" "How're you two feeling about all of this? I know it's a lot to process all at once." "It's a lot of bloody names ta learn," Moira grumbled. "I almost want ta see nametags on e'eryone fer a few months." "You'll pick them up pretty quick," Andy said. "And I was smart or lucky enough to not get any two partners with the same first name, thank god for that." "I dinnae find out if they tol' you, Andy," Moira interrupted, "but jus' so ye know, my cycle's shorter than th' rest of th' gare ruls. They kin go about ten days 'fore they cannae think clearly, but I kin only go about six." "Nobody told me that, no," Andy said. "Any other differences I should know about?" "Nothin' ye need concern yerself with," she replied, kissing his cheek. "I'm sure all th' lasses have got their own quirks so ye need nae concern yerself." "Alright then, I'll try not to worry. Anyway, I appreciate you stopping by to say hello, but I do have an online meeting in just a little bit, so I hate to kick you out but  " "No no! You've got work to do, so c'mon, Mo," Fiona said, hopping off his desk, pulling Moira from his lap. "Let the man talk to the voices in his computer." Moira leaned down and kissed him one final time, resting her face against his for what felt like minutes before she smiled and pulled back. "I love ye, ye daft git." "Love you both," he said, as they slipped out of his office. The meeting went as well as could be expected, and Erica Xiao seemed like she might actually be a good choice for directing the first Druid Gunslinger movie, as she seemed to intuitively grasp the undercurrents of the story without having to explicitly call them out, something that was a refreshing change of pace from the first couple of candidates he'd interviewed. Of course, he didn't get the final say on who was directing the movie, but Working Title seemed to genuinely care that he liked the director, so that they would remain true to the books. They'd gone against authors' wishes before, and it hadn't gone well for them, so now they were trying to make sure the author approved of, or at least understood the reasoning for, any changes that were made in the process of translating it from a book to a movie. After that, he decided he needed to go and check on Lexi. Even though Phil had told him that her imprinting process time would take a bit longer, he thought it wise to swing by and make sure that she wasn't in any pain, but when he arrived by her door, he found Niko sitting on a chair in front of it, a Lee Child book in her hands. "Hey Niko," Andy said, approaching her. "I thought you were on the base today?" Niko shook her head, smiling at him as she tucked a slip of paper in as a bookmark before closing the paperback up, setting it on a table next to her. "With Lexi having a different reaction to the serum, Phil asked me to stay here and keep tabs on her, and report in what other irregularities she was going through, especially since I noticed a few right away." Andy's brow furrowed in worry. "How concerned should I be?" Niko sort of tilted her head a little. "That's just the thing, babe. I don't think you need to be at all worried, but you are definitely going to have a challenge on your hands for the first few days after she wakes up. I think letting Jenny help with that, though, would be a wise move." "What the hell does that mean, Niko?" She jerked her head over her shoulder. "C'mere and lemme show you." After sliding off the chair, she opened the door and they both stepped into the room, and Andy immediately started to panic, but he felt Niko's hand take his and squeeze it reassuringly. "She's fine, Andy, regardless of how she looks." "What, what the hell is happening to her?" There was a large growth on one side of her, a faded white swell over her body, and Andy didn't even know what exactly he was looking at. "She's healing," Niko said. "The reason you're going to want Jenny to help is that by the time she wakes up, I think Lexi's not going to have any scars left. It's almost like she's shedding the scarred layer of skin and replacing it with fresh, newly healed skin, like a snake molting. We've seen it in rare cases on the base. I told you early on that I knew the serum did some basic additional healing when it was first taken into the woman's body, but that level of healing varies a lot from patient to patient, more than anything else about it. When she was injected on the base, I knew there was a, call it ten to fifteen percent chance this might happen, that the serum might go into overdrive with her scars and began repairing the skin and the nerves, but I didn't want to get her hopes up in case it didn't happen, because we still don't know what does and doesn't cause the reaction." "And, and you're telling me her skin will just be back to normal?" "Whoa, easy there. 'Normal' is a very flexible word, and one that we don't like using on the base," Niko told him. "She's likely to be healed but considering all of those nerves will be freshly regrown, they are going to be hyper sensitive, and that means people are going to have to be careful around her, because it'll be easy to overwhelm her until those nerves have gotten accustomed to working again and they know how to moderate their intake. We also have no idea what it's going to do to her PTSD, if anything, and that's what we need to keep an eye on." "But, she is going to be okay, right?" "This isn't going to be a problem, Andy, but it's up to all of us to make sure that the repercussions of her sudden healing don't overwhelm her. But I think it'll be okay." Andy sighed, turning to press a kiss against Niko's cheek. "Is there anything else you aren't telling me?" "Honey, what I'm not telling you could fill up Levi's Stadium, but you just have to trust me that I'm doing it all with your best interests at heart, okay?" He chuckled, shaking his head. "You're lucky you're so cute." "It's one of my natural defense mechanisms," she teased. "C'mon, let's leave her be." They stepped back out into the hallway and Niko closed the door behind her. "I figured I should be here when she wakes up, so I can explain to her all of what happened, and prepare her for what to expect. It's the least I can do." She jerked her chin upward, to get Andy to look behind him. "Looks like you're up." Nicolette was walking down the hall, a soft smile on her face. "Just letting you know, Master, that Miss Steele's ride over just buzzed the gate and she should be at the front door any minute. Miss Washington and Miss Stevens said they would meet you there." Andy kissed Niko again before turning to walk with Nicolette towards the stairs, heading to the front door. "Showtime!" Chapter 39 It was with a little surprise that Andy stepped out of his front door to see a familiar electric blue Tesla parked in front of it, Phil helping Maya remove her things from his trunk. "Hello Maya," Andy said, walking down the steps towards her, seeing Emily and Sarah were already there, Emily talking with Maya while Sarah was crouched down next to the little carrier, giving the dogs inside scratches while cooing at t

In this EAUN edition of EAU Podcasts, you can listen to an inspiring conversation on Endourology – Implementation of Advance Nursing Practice, between Marta Marchetti (GB), Carmine Civilli (GB), and Dr. Susy Dal Bello (IT). Dr. Dal Bello shares her groundbreaking journey in implementing advanced nursing practices and launching the first nurse-led flexible cystoscopy endoscopy clinic in Italy.----About the speakers:Marta MarchettiMarta is a highly skilled nursing professional from northern Italy. She graduated in nursing from the University of Padua in 2013 and earned a master's degree in the diagnosis and surgical treatment of congenital heart disease in paediatric and adult patients in 2015. Marta's career began as a surgical nurse, progressing to roles in the operating room as a scrub nurse in endourology and robotics, and later as a surgical assistant. In 2022, she completed a master's in surgical care practice from Anglia Ruskin University (GB). Her expertise spans preoperative planning, intraoperative care, postoperative management, and patient follow-up. Marta is passionate about staff and patient education, which has led her to become actively involved with the EAUN and the Special Interest Group in Endourology and Robotics. Marta is currently working at The Royal Marsden Hospital in Chelsea (London), a centre of excellence and research for cancer treatment and care.Carmine CivilliCarmine is an experienced Surgical Care Practitioner with a strong background in perioperative multi-disciplinary cancer care and robotic-assisted surgery. Based in Manchester, he plays a pivotal role in service development across the region, especially in complex robotic procedures. Particularly interested in research design and data analysis, Carmine brings both clinical expertise and academic insight to the evolving field of robotic surgery. His work spans hands-on surgical practice, quality improvement, and staff education, including mentoring and contributing to national discussions. Carmine's experience has also been shaped by his involvement in humanitarian surgical missions across African countries with Doctors Without Borders, where he supported surgical care delivery in resource-limited settings, an experience that continues to strongly influence his perspective on global health equity. His passion lies in improving patient outcomes through innovation and evidence-based practice, while advocating for the development and recognition of surgical practitioners within and beyond the robotic theatre. Carmine is also active in research and editorial writing, focusing on healthcare systems, surgical education, and frontline staff wellbeing.Susy Dal BelloSusy is a highly accomplished nursing leader from northern Italy. She graduated in nursing from the University of Padua in 2013 and earned a master's degree in healthcare management in 2017. In 2023, she completed a master's in nursing and midwifery sciences. Susy's career began as a surgical scrub nurse, gaining extensive expertise in operating room procedures before advancing into a leadership role. Since 2019, she has served as the nurse manager of the multidisciplinary endoscopy unit, overseeing endoscopic procedures, staff management, and the strategic organization of the unit. Her expertise encompasses advanced clinical practice, leadership in healthcare management, and the coordination of multidisciplinary teams. Committed to professional development and education, she has been actively involved with the EAUN and the Special Interest Group in Endourology and Robotics since 2021. In 2023, she further expanded her international perspective through an observership at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 20 Fiona fills in some gaps. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Fiona giggled once more. "I think since we were both being stupid about it, it cancels each other out. Some, anyway. But then I got this message from Captain Linda Hayes in the Air Force, telling me that a request had been put in for me to be paired up with you out here in California, if I was interested in that." "Well," he said, teasing her back, "you did say you wanted me to reach out,” "I did, and you agreed to my condition, because there was no way I was coming without bringing Moira." "Thanks for that." "I did my homework first, though," she chided. "Even after I'd accepted, I still had about a day to change my mind, so I reached out to Xander and spent about five hours talking to him on the phone." "I thought you said you hadn't talked to him?" "Yeah, well, I was lying, but most of the time I was talking to him, I was asking about you." "Oh, and that was enough to convince you?" "Well, he answered a lot of questions, but the only thing I really cared about was if you were still, y'know, you. Doing good deeds without thinking too much about them in advance, trying to help every lost soul you bump into. He said of course you were still you, and probably even more you now than you'd ever been." She paused for a minute, then continued. "He actually told me all about the poker game, and how you were just trying to help one of Niko's friends, and had to do your best to save nearly every damn person that you could, and the more about it he told me, the more I knew that you hadn't changed a bit. Still jumping face first into the firing line, just like Moira." "I wish I could say I'd gotten a little wiser over the years, but I don't know if that's true." "If Niko, Ash and Emily are to be believed, I'd say so," she said. "They certainly grilled the hell out of us before they were okay letting us into the household. Emily's quite the little spitfire, considering how short of a time she's known you. Very protective of you, although maybe that's as much protective of Sarah as it is of you." "Yeah, that's definitely a possibility," Andy admitted. "Sarah's so insanely optimistic about things, maybe she needs Em to keep her down to earth. And the poker game caused lots of ripples out here, so everyone was a little on edge about all of it. Well, that and the fact that I just made the decision to invite you entirely on my own without talking to anyone in the household first. I mean, they'd told me to make sure I invited someone of my own choosing, but I think they thought I would've talked it out with them a little bit beforehand." "And you didn't?" "Didn't need to." "That confident, were we?" she chuckled. "I see we haven't entirely shed the overconfidence problem we had back in high school." "It was me taking a bit of agency back in my life, Fi. And while it surprised everyone a bit around here, I don't think anyone really complained, other than they hated waiting to learn more. I just figured, if you said no, there was no reason getting everyone excited for nothing." "Did you honestly think I would've said no?" Andy shrugged a little. "It'd been over a decade, Fi. I figured anything was possible." "I suppose," she said. "So what do I need to know about my new family? The short version, s'il vous plaît." He smirked at her dipping into French for a moment. She tended to do that when she was feeling particularly playful, knowing he didn't speak a word of it. "Well, there's three levels of partner here in the house, I guess. The fiancés, the partners and the staff." "How did you decide which fell into which category?" "I mean, I mostly didn't decide, or I suppose, basically they either chose to be partners or staff first and foremost, and from there, the ones who felt the most emotionally connected to me decided they wanted to eventually get married. I asked Aisling first, and she agreed, and then Niko asked me before I could ask her. When I announced that, Emily and Sarah both sort of insisted I accept their proposals as well." "Much like I did," she said with a titter of laughter. "See? Not as different as you thought. Nicolette, Jenny, Katie and Whitney all came here expressly because they wanted to be staff, and not partners." "And you're okay with that?" Her voice didn't have a tone of judgment to it, just a hint of curiosity. "It's what they wanted, so who am I to tell them that's wrong?" "That's completely fair," she said. "It just surprises me that you sort of made peace with that so easily. I would've thought you would've taken more time to get your head around it." "After you get past the notion of the first one, it's pretty easy to make peace with the rest, and Nicolette was very good at making that clear to me early on. Katie's the weirdest of the cases, but we've made it work." "How so?" "Oh," Andy said, amused in how offhandedly he mentioned it, "she's completely a lesbian, so she gets everything secondhand." "I'm sure there's a story behind that one." "There is, but I was giving you an overview." "Fair enough, Mr. Rook," she said, mirth layered in her voice. "Do continue." "Everyone who isn't a fiancé or a staff member falls into the category of partner, but even there, there can be quite the range of attachment." "How many others are there that don't fall into either category?" "Eight, not counting you or Moira, with one more on the way, and one more to maybe fall into staff but maybe into partner as well." She giggled a little. "You, sir, are drowning in cunt." "Yeah, well, it comes with its own complications." "And you know I'm going to be a fiancé, as is Moira." "Well," Andy admitted, "I knew you wanted to be, but I didn't want to jump to any conclusions about Moira." "You were the first man she ever loved," Fiona sighed. "As much as she might have tried to pretend otherwise, she never hid that very well." "Well, fair's fair, Fi," he chuckled. "You were the first person I ever loved, so I guess it all works out in the end." The rain had actually gotten heavier rather than easier since they'd been talking, but the fog was starting to roll in a bit, so it was harder to see, wisps of clouds covering the grounds of the manor. "What am I going to do with myself here, Andy?" she said, leaning into him. "I'm a reporter. It's my job to report things. I'm used to covering the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives, even the military. Granted, I hated DC, but how is any of this ever going to compare?" He shifted a little bit. "I mean, you could write a book about the whole pandemic, document the whole thing from top to bottom. I know there's going to be the 60 Minutes news story in less than a week, but they're only going to have an hour to cover so much. You could write a book like Bob Woodward, cover everything." She stood quietly for a minute, then nodded. "You're right. Maybe I could do something like that." She reached a hand and smoothed it across his chest through his shirt a bit. "So, now I want to get the juiciest piece of dirt here in the house. Who's the best in bed?" "Oh hell no," he laughed. "Even if I could make that kind of judgment, which I can't, there's no way in hell that I would. Everyone's amazing in their own way." "Picked up any new fetishes I should know about, or just the ones you had back in college?" she teased, her fingertip trailing down his sternum. "And what old fetishes those would be?" "Oh come on, Andy," she said with a smirk. "I haven't forgotten. Sweary wife, happy life. I bet if I started telling you that my cunt still ached from the fucking you gave it last night, you'd be getting,” Her fingertips teased against the waistline of his sweatpants. "See? There it is, right on cue." "Tease," he scolded. "No no no, love," she giggled. "Tease would be if I wasn't going to do anything about it. I am, but I just want to know what else you've done with whom else." "Too many things to list all at once," he said. "Maybe just ask some specific questions, and you'll get your answers." "Did you fuck Emily in her costume from the movie?" she said, rubbing one of her thighs along the front of his. He was amused by the question. "I did, but that was her idea, not mine." "Doesn't matter whose idea it was, only that you've done it. Doesn't make it any less hot. How many different girls in the house have blown you?" "Almost all of them?" "Done any of them in the ass?" "I think five or six of them." "Was it the first time for any of them?" "For most of them, not that it matters." "Everything matters, Andy. Everything matters." She slid her hand to rub against Andy's cock a bit through the sweatpants and boxers. "Any of them as loud as I was the first time you fucked me in the ass?" "Only Niko," he said with a chuckle. "Most of the others were loud, but Niko really howled in pleasure loud enough to shake the walls." "You gonna do all of them that way?" Her fingertips stroked his shaft just a little through the fabric, her eyes looking up at him in amusement. "Only if they want to." "Anyone said they don't want to?" "Piper said she wasn't too sure about it, and Sheridan said the idea scares her, which she said also turns her on a little, but she was still pretty nervous about it, so we'll see I guess. If they want to, I will, but if they don't, I won't. You know me, Fi. I'm never going to make anyone do anything they don't want to do. Ever." "What about that plump Japanese teenager you've got?" "Hannah?" he said with a laugh. "Oh, she's eager for it, but she's always rushing towards new things like a cat after a laser pointer. I think if one of the girls said she wanted to have sex on a trapeze, Hannah would say she had next. " "Done any bondage?" "A little bit with Whitney, the newest staff member, but she's very much into that kind of thing, so I felt like I'd be letting her down if I didn't at least give it a go. And I suppose you could say Nicolette and I dabble at that back and forth all the time." "How did it feel?" Her hand slipped up and then pushed down beneath the waistband of his sweatpants and boxers, moving to close around his naked cock. "Did you like being a Master for a day? Everyone doing only what you told them to?" He grinned, feeling her cool touch against his warm skin. "It's a fun hat to put on from time to time, but certainly not one I want to wear too often, and definitely not one I want to get too comfortable wearing. Too many people get a little taste of power and then run away with it." "Did you like our little game yesterday morning where we were all touching and kissing and sucking on you at once?" He nodded, maybe even a bit too quickly. "It was intense. Overwhelming and hard to focus, but it felt so damn good. Was that your idea?" "Of course it was my idea," she giggled. "Well, it wasn't entirely my idea, but I started coming up with the plan. Niko and Ash both helped a little bit. I'm not stepping on anyone's toes by being here, am I? It seems like you and those two are especially close." "Other than Lauren, we've been together the longest. But Lauren and Taylor are a couple. They love both me, but they love each other more, which is absolutely fine. So we've all worked pretty hard to make each other happy." "Where do you think Moira and I are going to fit in here?" "It feels like the fiancés have their own little clique, and I expect you'll slide right in there before you know it. I know you, and you've always been one of the most adaptable people ever. You've always been the kind of person to go up and pick a fight with the biggest person in the yard, if it's what you thought you needed to do." "Prison metaphors?" she laughed softly. "Not exactly your most romantic approach, is it, Rook? Shouldn't you aim a little higher?" "I actually think you and Ash are going to become the most dangerous team I've ever seen, and that's before you rope in the partnership that Emily and Niko are already building," he said with a little laugh. "I'm just a guy in the background, a meat puppet for you ladies to steer me around into whatever conflict you need me to put down." He gave her shoulder a little squeeze. "You're gonna love her. She reminds me a lot of you. Or you remind me a lot of her. Take your pick." "Well, while redheads are an acquired taste, it's one you know I've already acquired," she said, her thumb teasing over the head of his cock. "So maybe I should just tell you that I'm looking forward to get a taste of her, hmm?" Fiona smirked. "Or maybe that I already did?" "You didn't," Andy said, tilting his head to one side. "No, I haven't, but I will soon enough," she said with a laugh. "So I don't need to worry about the fiancés, because we're all going to get along like a house on fire. Do I need to worry about the partners? Do you think any of them aren't going to like me?" Andy grinned. "I don't know anyone who didn't like you the moment they met you, Fi." "But Ash is the lady of the house." "We don't have a lady. I thought we were an autonomous collective," he said to her, smugly. She gave his cock a firm squeeze, enough to make him yelp a little. "You're fooling yourself. And the two showing up today? Those are going to be the last ones? Or is there space for one or two more, if the right girl strolls in front of you?" "I mean," Andy said, as she begun to stroke his cock very slowly and deliberately. "I said in the interview with 60 Minutes yesterday that if I had my say, we were definitely done adding people to the household, but Emily pointed out I really don't have the final say in these kinds of things." "All I'm saying is that you shouldn't shut any doors permanently, Andy." Her fingertips were sliding back and forth. "I think you're almost ready for me again." "Twice in two days?" he said, trying to shift a little bit against her cold touch. "The other girls are going to think you're greedy." "I paid close attention to the briefing when they were giving us the injections, Andy," she scolded. "You can pump out a good five loads a day without any trouble, so I'm making up for lost time." "I mean, I didn't say that I didn't understand." "Good," she said, turning around, putting her back to his chest, letting go of his cock as she leaned forward, and tugged her yoga pants down to the middle of her thighs, exposing her cunt to him. "So get to it." He reached down to grab his shaft, moving to get it lined up before he pushed forward, sliding good and deep inside of her, feeling her honeyed walls clench on him even as he filled up her hungry cunt with his shaft. "Ffffuck," she hissed. "That's never going to get old, feeling you slide inside of me. God, I'd forgotten how much I fucking missed this. Promise me we'll never be that stupid again, Andy," she said as she started to swivel her hips a little bit, not pumping into him, just making his cock press against one side of the inside of her snatch then the other. "I'm never going to let you go again, Fi. You have my word on that." "Right now, there's only one word I give a shit about," she said. "Fuck." Her hips slammed back against his in time with the word. "Fuck." She repeated it, both the word and the motion. "Fuck!" The tempo and the force of her body thrusting back into his increased with the intensity of the word. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" They'd fallen back into their old, familiar rhythm, each of them remembering the other's personal turnons. They knew how to get each other going quickly, and while Andy had expected that Fi would want to savor their moment alone, she was hellbent on getting another orgasm from him. Patience was not on the cards. Each time he pushed forward, she whipped back, as if every second he wasn't inside of her was a second she couldn't afford, that she couldn't abide by him being anywhere else. She wanted him to be inside of her as much as she could get it. "C'mon, Andy," she whispered. "Just you and me, just like old times. Just do it already!" The familiarity was a heady cocktail of lust, and her body gripped his cock in just the perfect way, and before he knew it, the moment as on top of him, just as he was on top of her. His body seized and she started to spasm just as he began to unload his hot spunk inside of her body, the two shivering in one unison, a completed pair once more. A minute or two later, they were both laughing softly again, his cock having slipped out of her, both of them having tugged their clothes up, Fi having slipped back into his arms once more. "I'm gonna love getting that regularly," Fiona giggled. "Not that you weren't great at sex before, but man, the chemical life is quite a trip." She reached up, tipped his head down and kissed him again. "I still love you, Andy. Always have." "Me too, Fi. Me too." They stood there on the balcony listening to the rain for a few minutes. "So who's coming today? You said you've got a few more lined up?" "One of Em and Sarah's friends, plus my new bodyguard." "Bodyguard, huh?" Fiona smirked as they turned to walk back into the house. "Gotta admit, sounds kinda hot." Lexi arrives to the House Of Rook. Chapter 35 When they sneaked back into the bedroom, Andy could hear the shower running, and he and Fiona stepped into the master bathroom, closing the door behind them. They each stripped and hopped into the running shower, where Niko was just finishing washing her hair. He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss before Fi moved to hug the smaller girl warmly. "Thanks for being so welcoming, Niko," Fi said to her. "You've really been the best at welcoming both me and Moira. Not that any of the girls have been bad, but you were there to talk with us the whole time the treatment was going on, and it means a lot to me that you were willing to answer all our silly questions." Niko smirked, leaning in and kissing Fi on the cheek. "Not a problem," she said. "I just wanted you both to feel as comfortable as possible here, and we all knew that if Andy invited you personally, you'd get along with everyone great. Which reminds me, Andy. I don't think anyone told you yet, but Moira will actually be passed out in the imprinting process for a significant amount longer than normal, but that's expected and nothing to worry about, so don't freak out when she sleeps through all of today, okay? That's exactly what's supposed to happen, and nothing's wrong." Andy tipped his head a little in curiosity. "Why's the treatment taking to Moira differently?" "Unlike everyone else in the house, Moira actually had dengue fever during her time working for Doctors Without Borders, and while she's fully recovered from it, the antibodies for that complicate the serum so it takes longer to settle in and take hold. It's a minor flap, and it won't have any impact in the long run," Niko said, as she stepped out of the shower. Fiona stepped out after her, grabbing a towel as well. "She's lived a way more interesting life than the rest of us. You'll be astonished by some of her stories from when she was performing triage in warzones. It turns out people can be far more horrific than I ever imagined." Andy turned off the water and stepped out last, grabbing the one massive black towel that was his and exclusively his. Andy sometimes wondered if Nicolette always had laundry running, what with all the people in the household. He knew she had a system of some kind, and had yet to give any woman someone else's clothes, so the last thing he wanted to do was jinx it by asking for details, though he had complimented her on it several times, something that always made her smile. "Oh, some people suck," Andy grumbled as the hot air from the fan blew down on him even as he was lightly caught in the backwash of Niko and Fiona's hair dryers. "I've known that since I was a kid, and it's basically the backbone for the career of any writer. I'm sure we're going to hear a bunch more about that starting today, since we'll be adding an ex spook to the family." Niko nodded, as she flipped off her hair dryer. "She and Maya won't be showing up at the same time, either. Lexi will be here around lunchtime; Maya won't get here until late in the evening. People are passing through the base at such a high speed that we're just treating everyone as soon as they arrive rather than batching them like we used to." She grabbed her clothes from the shelf and started tugging them on, clearly getting ready to head to the base. She'd been taking a lot of time off to meet new arrivals to the Rook family, but she was determined to get back into some sort of normal rhythm now. "Lexi's a tough one to get a read on, but I think she'll warm up to you eventually," she said, giving him a firm hug. "She's had a pretty rough go of it for the last several years, so try and be patient with her. I know you always are, but a little extra patience here wouldn't go amiss, if you know what I mean. This is quite the severe change for her." Andy nodded. "Of course I'll be patient," he said before giving Niko a soft kiss. "You liked her though? She seemed like a good person? You get to meet everyone before most of us do, so I trust your judgment on these kinds of things." "She'll take care of you, and that's the most important part for a bodyguard. The rest we can figure out as we go." While Fiona finished getting her hair dried and shaped, Niko got dressed and headed out. They would see her again in the evening, but people needed to start getting back to work. Lauren was already changed into her workout clothes and heading down to the cars, as she was heading off to training camp, something that Andy had just heard about yesterday. Knowing full well there were going to be huge amounts of dead players, the NFL was preparing something truly unheard of. The following season would be the first co ed season played in the history of the league, and would be that way moving forward, so thousands of adjustments were being made, but the last thing the owners were going to allow to happen was the death of their livelihood because many of their players died. The 49ers had asked Lauren to consider playing, but for the time being, she had insisted she only wanted to continue as a trainer for players. That just meant instead of training exclusively men, she was mostly training women with some men, mostly new incoming players from other countries. Andy couldn't even begin to imagine how much restructuring and revamping of the game itself going completely coed was going to result in, but he imagined it would be no slight shift. They had nearly a year before the scheduled 2021 season would start, with the 2020 season already fully canceled, but the amount of changes they were going to be making meant they needed to get a head start on them, particularly so they could figure out how to start recruiting women to play. It had come as a bit of a surprise to him that they hadn't just started recruiting men from other countries, considering the rest of the world hadn't faced casualties anywhere near as badly as the US, but the last time he'd talked with Phil, Andy heard that DuoHalo was flaring up again in many other parts of the world, as piss poor world leaders had convinced themselves the dangers had passed, and that they could just "endure" through the resurgences. It would likely take a few more million deaths overseas to prove them wrong. He wondered if there was a collapsing of other American leagues, such as the NBA and the WNBA, into one league. For non contact sports, the changes would be exceptionally minor, but the recruiting would be the biggest challenge, although he wondered if entrenched sexism would impact more international things like FIFA or the Olympics. He suspected it would have to, eventually. Most of the other girls were still either working from home or not working at all, so most people tended to be around the house for the majority of the day. Both Sheridan and Piper were getting up as Lauren left, however, the two getting ready to start their morning workout, although Andy suspected they might grab Hannah and Asha to join them. Andy had tried participating in their morning workout routine once, and had found himself unable to keep up with the girls, despite his best efforts. They were just in far better shape than he was. Lauren had also allowed Taylor to get dressed and had taken her to work, as she was training her partner to work with the 49ers with her. By midday, most of the girls were up and tending to their own worlds, Sarah and Emily taking meetings with studio folks and their projects about upcoming agents, Ash working away on some project or another for Google, Hannah and Asha were both doing some coursework having enrolled in remote courses at Stanford until onsite learning could begin again. Tala and Jade wouldn't be up until late afternoon, so Andy spent the rest of the morning doing edits and rewrites on the draft of the newest Druid Gunslinger novel. Everyone met up for lunch, however, as they usually did, and just as they were finishing up, the doorbell rang and Nicolette hopped up to rush towards the door before Andy could even get up. "Oh, let her have her moment," Sarah said to him with a smile. A minute or so later, Nicolette entered the dining room with Lexi in tow. While Andy had spoken to her a little bit on FaceTime, it was their first meeting in person. He smiled, rising up and walking over towards her. "Hey Lexi, welcome to your new home," he said, extending a hand to her. Lexi was an odd mishmash of styles, two differently contrasted vibes struggling for dominance in the woman's look. She had on tight blue jeans and a leather motorcycle jacket, but beneath the jacket she had on a pastel pink top that seemed a little frilly. The Latina woman's scars were more prominent in person, the right side of her face from the cheekbone downward warped and wrinkled, definite burn scars that had healed but had been severe enough that cosmetic surgery would prove difficult. He could see the scars covered almost half of her neck and disappeared down into the neckline of her shirt, so he assumed it spread over at least some of her torso. He knew it bothered her, but wanted to assure her that it didn't bother him at all. She took his hand and shook it, certainly a different greeting than the other girls had gotten, but Andy wanted to give Lexi the space to settle in however she wanted. Their relationship hadn't been defined yet, and both Jenny and Katie had made it clear that they suspected it would blossom into something more than a professional relationship, but at first, that's what it would need to be. "Let me introduce everyone. You know Katie and Jenny already, obviously, you met my fiancé Niko on the base, and you met Nicolette at the door," he said. "These are my other fiancés Aisling, Sarah, Emily and Fiona, and these are my partners Piper, Sheridan, Hannah and Asha. This is the house IT tech Whitney. My partners Tala, Jade and Moira are all still recovering from the imprinting process, and my partners Lauren and Taylor are both off at work. I know, I know, it's a lot of names to remember all at once, so don't worry, everyone will be happy to remind you for a while." Lexi tried to shake hands with all of them, but many of the girls insisted on hugs, something that seemed to take the Latina a little aback, although she didn't retreat from any of the contact. "It's very nice to meet all of you," she said. "Mr. Rook? Would you mind giving me a bit of a tour of the grounds, just so I can get my bearings?" "Not at all, Lexi, but please, you're welcome to call me Andy if you like." She offered a brief tight lipped smile that appeared and was gone just as quickly. "Let's stick to 'Mr. Rook' or 'sir' for now, and we'll see where that goes, okay?" He grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "Play it where it lies. C'mon, I'll give you the tour." The two walked out of the room, and once they were down the hallway a bit, he could see Lexi visibly relax a little. "Sorry about that," she said to him. "That was a lot of people all at once, and I know they're all your family, and that it's part of the gig, but it's a ton of information to take in all at once. The longer I stayed in there, the more worried Jenny was gonna get about me, and that's all I need, is her up my ass worrying that I'm going to have another episode." "Episode?" he said, as they walked out into the back yard. He figured he would give her a tour of the grounds first before doing the house, that way they would be a good distance from people, allowing her to have a bit of time to wrap her head around all of it, and to get to know him one on one before having to adapt to all the other people. "We talked a little bit about this when we spoke earlier, but I do have PTSD, so from time to time, I can go through panic attacks, nightmares or even brief flashbacks, although nothing that should prevent me from doing my job, which is to keep you and your family safe," she said. There was a confidence to her walk, a sense of purposefulness, like she was always on task. "And I do want to stress that while I'll do my best to keep all of your family safe, you will be the primary protectorate, and that means your health and well being will always have the highest priority. You seem like a good guy, and that may take some getting used to, but if I'm going to do my job properly, it's a thing you're going to have to get your head around pretty fucking quickly, pardon my language." "Okay, first thing's first," he said with a laugh. "Never apologize for swearing around me. Ever. I happen to like women who swear, and while that may not be what you're used to, it's S.O.P. around here and you don't need to waste words on apologizing for things you don't need to." She laughed a little, a genuine warm laugh, and that made Andy feel a little bit better. She'd been putting on a very cold exterior since her arrival, and Andy wanted to make sure she felt like she didn't need to be so guarded from the whole family. "Fuckin' a, then," she said, nodding to him. "But my point still stands. If it comes down to keeping you safe or keeping one of your women safe, I am always going to put your safety first. You don't have to like that, but you're gonna have to fucking accept it, because that is the way it's going to be. If you die, it sounds like there's a good chance that all of your partners die with you, and the protection business is about understanding the very basic math of it, which is that in a situation where I can let one of these women die or I can let all of these women die, I am going to protect you first, and will mourn the loss of the woman I couldn't save afterwards. I realize that may sound particularly cold, but I don't want you thinking about it like that. Trust me to do my job, and I will keep you safe with my last dying breath, if I have to." "I can't imagine it'll ever come to that," he said, as they walked past the pool, heading out to walk into the large grassy field off to the side of it. "I get everyone wanting to make sure that I'm safe, knowing that their health is dependent on mine, but I don't live a high risk life. I haven't pissed off arms dealers, drug dealers or crime bosses. There aren't any foreign governments trying to kill me. I'm not in the line of fire for anything or anyone." "Can I speak plainly, sir?" "Always. In fact, you should never worry about saying something that will offend or anger me, Alexis. If we're out in public, maybe use some tact in conversations then, but when we're at home, and this is your home now, if you want it to be, just speak your mind." She nodded a bit, walking along side him. "Copy. That's horseshit, sir, about you not being in the line of fire for anything or anyone. I spoke with Niko some yesterday, and as one security person to another, she told me that I should consider this Covington to be a hostile operator, and that should extend to anyone in his family or household." "Arthur?" Andy said. "Sure, I bet he's pissed at me, and that man has a lot of resources he could bring down to bear on me, but I wouldn't think he's the kind of guy to hire a hitman to rub me out or anything. That sounds a little too 'Goodfellas' and not enough 'Trading Places,' for his tastes. He's an asshole, but I doubt he's up to out and out murder." "I have to keep reminding myself that despite this house and your large collection of beautiful women, you're extremely new to this lifestyle, sir," Lexi said to him. "The ultrawealthy are almost exclusively assholes with no regard for human life or the well being of anyone who isn't providing something of use to them. You may think Covington's harmless now, but at any moment, he could turn far more malevolent, and it's my job to ensure that he doesn't get to you." "You know, I'm just going to trust your judgment on this, then. When I got an agent, I had to learn to let my agent to do all the things an agent should be doing. The same when we signed a five book deal and I got an editor. I had to learn to trust the editor's judgment on what did and didn't belong in a story. So third time's a charm. If you take on the job here, then I'll defer to you in all things of this kind of nature, and if you tell me someone could be a threat, I'll consider them a threat." "If I take the job here?" she asked, stopping in her walk as they neared the fence at the edge of the property. "I thought I'd already made it clear I accepted it." "Well, you did, but up until you're imprinted, you can still change your mind," he said. "And I always give everyone up until that moment to reconsider if they want to. Jenny said she thought you were looking for your Prince Charming, and if you take this job, if you get imprinted to me, that effectively ends that search for you for the foreseeable future. That's a huge step to take, and if you have any misgivings about it, you shouldn't commit to it, to me, to us, to this." "Well, Jenny established pretty clearly that I am absolutely disinterested in intercourse with any of the women in the house, right?" "Absolutely. And if that's what you want, nobody's going to push. You and I can have our intimate time one on one without anyone else around, and if you like, I can even spend a night with you in your bed regularly. The key is that you're going to have to accept that I'm also attached to all these other women, and while I'm going to do my best to divvy up my time equally, I won't always be perfect at that." "Anytime you go anywhere, I'll be by your side, so we will get plenty of time together, sir," she said with a little laugh. "A better question is how good have you been at not comparing your partners? I'm sure someone's got to be the best, which means someone's also got to be the worst." "No bests and no worsts," he said sternly. "Everyone's different, and that's exactly how it should be. Hell, I think everyone's different enough that it makes comparisons nearly impossible anyway." "Do the scars bother you?" she asked him, turning to face him directly as they stood near the fence, a big metal monstrosity that was far enough from the house that its appearance was mostly masked by trees. "At some point I could get cosmetic surgery, but up until recently, I've constantly been working, and there hasn't been any time for it." "That's entirely up to you, Lexi," he told her. "I don't mind the scars. I think they add character and personality." "You haven't seen how far they go," she sighed. "Not yet, anyway, but I will when you're ready to show me." "They go down to my ribs, and my right boob is scarred up like my neck here. Not very sexy, I know, but it's what I got." He took her hand for a moment, which made her jump a little bit at the sudden contact. "Lexi, don't worry about it," he said emphatically. "You're a beautiful woman, and I do not mind the scars. If you want to have them corrected at some point, you are welcome to do so, but you do not need to think you have to do so on my behalf, okay? I'm going to trust you so I need you to trust me on this." She looked down, drew in a heavy breath then sighed it out. "I got hit with a molotov cocktail in the jungles of Peru. The doctors there did everything they could to tend to the burns, but they were severe, and we were several hours away from a real hospital, so before I could get the best treatment, a lot of the damage had already been done. There's some nerve damage anywhere I'm scarred, so I have to be careful if I get into scraps, because I could be bleeding from there and not notice it. I also get phantom itches all the time, but I've mostly gotten the compulsive need to scratch under control at this point. Some people, a lot of people actually, have trouble seeing past the damage." Andy's other hand moved to brush along the underside of her chin, touching some of the scarred flesh for the first time, forcing her to look back up and at him. "There's where they're going wrong," he said. "You don't look past the damage. You learn to see that the damage is part of what you're seeing, and integrate that into the whole. Everyone's damaged, Lexi. Everyone. Some people, they just have an easier time hiding the scars. But you are a beautiful, sharp witted woman, and anyone who gets fixated on the scars is looking at the wrong thi  " He didn't get a chance to finish his sentenced, because she leaned up and kissed him, shutting him up, her hand holding onto the back of his head. The kiss took him but surprise, but it wasn't unwelcome. Still, he let her set the tempo and intensity of it, their tongues remaining in their mouths, and the kiss only lasted a few seconds before she pulled back, lifting her free hand up to wipe a tear from her eye. "That's, that's very sweet of you to say, sir. It's been a long time since anyone's looked at me with something other than sympathy." "I can tell you've never read any of my books," he said with a soft laugh, She blushed a little, frowning. "I'm sorry sir, I haven't,” "Don't worry about it," he said, waving a hand. "The reason I said that is because the main subtext of my books is that everyone has damage, and how they manage that damage is the important part, not the damage itself." She laughed a little bit dismissively. "You've got two world renowned actresses and an Olympic hopeful athlete here. I somehow doubt they've got all that much damage to them." "Well, Piper was imprisoned by Covington and left in a sexual frenzy locked in a room without clothes or a toilet for days, so maybe don't go implying around her that she does have any idea what damage looks like." The laughing died immediately. "Oh my god, that's horrible. I didn't even realize  " "As for Sarah and Emily, someone attempted to rape Sarah about six years ago, and while she got lucky and someone interrupted it, the person responsible was a studio mogul and still hasn't been really punished for it. Emily, on the other hand, has had stalkers for years, and had her home broken into a couple of times, once when she was even in it. She told me once the interview airs in a few days, announcing that she and Sarah are partners, but also that they're going to marry me, that we may get some hate mail and death threats, although she says they're generally just people venting. But I suppose you can add that to your list of possible threats against my life." She nodded somberly. "I expected that, although I did not know about Miss Washington's near rape, obviously. Powerful men are such bastards." She chuckled a moment. "Present company excluded, clearly." "Oh, I've probably been a bastard a couple of times in my life, of that I have no doubt." They started walking along the fence line, so that Lexi could see the outskirts of the property. "But I draw the line at assaulting innocent women." "But assaulting non innocent women's cool then?" she said with a slight smile. "Look, if a woman's coming at me with a weapon in hand, all bets are off," he chuckled. "And I think that's fair, don't you?" "Absolutely fair, sir." They walked along the fence for a minute or so in silence. "Now that we've sized each other up a little, do you still think I'll be a good fit here, Mr. Rook?" "Oh, I knew you'd fit in here after our first conversation, Lexi, but that's not what's important right now. What's important is if you want to be here, and if you can stomach having to be sexually involved with me on the regular." That made her giggle, a sound he was particularly pleased to draw from her. "You make it sound like you're some oafish brute with a face not even a mother could love." He smirked. "I have no illusions about who I am, Lexi. I'm losing my hair. I have a bit of a belly. Hell, I've got hair on my back. On the best of days, after a good amount of prep work, I am a six, at best, and certainly not deserving of all the beautiful women I'm surrounded with. But I'm alive, and most of the men who were nines and tens aren't any more, so women are reevaluating their standards, I guess, and I'm the beneficiary of the new sliding scale. Is that fair? Oh fuck no, but that's where we find ourselves. But the social game is radically different than it was a year ago. No matter what you may think of yourself, I can assure you that you are well out of my league. But you have friends here, in that you know Jenny and Katie, and they'd both love to have you around the house. I know Jenny's worried about you, and all the girls are worried about my safety, so this seems like an easy two birds with one stone solution to me. But if you look at me and think 'God, I just can't see myself fucking this dude every week or so,' then I get that, and I'm not gonna be angry." She smirked a little bit. "I can see myself fucking you every week or so. I just don't know that I can see you wanted to fuck my scarred ass every week or so." "The scars go down to your ass?" he said with a grin. "That's even sexier." That set her off giggling again. "No, they don't extend down to my ass, you jerk," she said, still smiling. "But you know what I mean." "No," he said, shaking his head. "I really don't know what you mean. The scars are beautiful, they're a part of the beautiful woman that you are. Anyone who's been put off by that is a fucking idiot, and isn't worth your time." "And my past isn't a dealbreaker?" He arched an eyebrow at her in surprise. "You're kidding, right? I didn't want to say anything, but when Jenny showed me that photo of you holding an AK 47 in the jungle, looking like an utter badass, I got an immediate hard on. How the fuck would that be a dealbreaker?" "Some people think hooking up with an ex spy is risky." "I accept you, Lexi," he said. "I'll keep repeating that as long as it takes. The decision's really yours to make." They were nearly back at the house again, approaching the small pool house first. "It okay if I build a small gun range out here?" "I mean, as long as you set it up so there's minimal risk to us or the neighbors, although I guess if you point it that way," he said, gesturing off in one direction, "there really isn't any risk, as any missed shots will just go into the hillside." "And you know I'm going to have guns in the house?" "I sort of expected that, what with the whole body and guarding aspects of what you're going to be doing. I just ask that you make sure they're stowed safely, either on your person or in a case. My cats are assholes, but they won't open cases. That's all I'm really worried about." "Well, and babies, eventually," she said to him. "Oh you heard?" She nodded. "Niko mentioned it yesterday, which was why she was grilling me so hard for my professional qualifications. She's remarkably competent for someone so young." Andy returned the nod. "It's easy to forget she's barely old enough to drink, considering how much she runs around here. I think you'll learn that between her, Ash and Em, I really don't get to make all that many decisions in the house," he laughed. "Not that I'm complaining." "And any specific sexual kinks I can't practice on you?" He grinned. "No poop, no pee, and my ass is exit only." "Then is it fair of me to say mine is as well?" "Absolutely fair." "And you're gonna be okay fucking in a bed with a gun on the nightstand?" "Are you kidding?" he chuckled. "That might make it hotter. Anyway, this is the pool house, which is going to get converted into Tala's bedroom and work space. You haven't met her yet, but she's both a wood worker and a musician, so giving her her own area where she can hammer away on oak, metal, guitar or drums whenever she wants to seemed to make sense." "She won't be sleeping in the master bedroom regularly?" "Regularly, yes. Often, no. I expect her to be the main bedroom like once a week or so, but there won't be any kind of rigid schedule for that kind of thing. Jenny said you're the kind of person who likes to have schedules and follow them, but with this many people in the family, there's got to be some room for give. That going to be a problem?" "Nah," she said. "Who you fuck when isn't any of my concern, as long as I'm getting my regular fix within my timeframe." "So you're going to stay then?" "I think we both knew I was going to before I got here, but yeah, I feel comfortable saying I'm in now that I've had a chance to size you up a little more. I've heard about most of the girls here either from Jenny or from when I was talking with Niko yesterday, and while there may be the occasional personality clash here and there, I don't think it'll be anything we can't work out together." "And I'm not too ugly for you?" he teased. "Look," she sighed with a hint of exasperation. "If I'm not allowed to be bothered by my scars, then you can't call yourself ugly, deal? You're a handsome man, and I won't have you demeaning the man I'm going to be fucking on the reg, got it?" "Yes ma'am." The tour of the house gave them a little bit more time to discuss the general routines people were in within the house, what times and days people were coming and going, and when people woke up and went to sleep. She seemed especially amused by the Needs board, tracking the last time each of the girls in the house had gotten their fix, and the point when they were going to start being mentally affected by not hooking up. "You've got a few here you're gonna need to tend to soon," she said, tapping the schedule. "Yeah, the last few days have been pretty busy, but I'll make sure I take care of them in the next couple of days. And we'll have to add your name up here on the board, assuming you're joining the household." "Didn't I say I was going to?" "I mean, not explicitly, no." He shrugged slightly. "You've been strongly hinting that you're going to, but you need to say it to finalize it." She was quiet for a bit, as they walked away from the board, heading towards the stairs. "Fine. Fine then. I'm in. I'll join this weird household you have and become part of your family, as well as taking on the job of your personal protection. Just don't ever ask me to be a play partner with any of your girls, or invite any of them into my bed." He raised his hands as they walked up the stairs, heading into the hallway that lead down towards some of the individual bedrooms, finding Jenny and Katie standing down in front of one of the doors down near the end. "Are you gonna do it?" Jenny said, stepping forward to take Lexi's hands in her own. "Yeah, I am," she said. "It seems like you're right. He seems like a good guy, and finding those in this world's new layout is going to be a bitch in the best of circumstances. And if you say he's a good fuck, I have no reason not to trust you, Jen. Plus, the idea of having lots of people around, of having friends around, that sounds pretty fucking great to me. So what's next then?" She turned to look back at Andy. "You want to do it now or later?" "I mean, that's entirely up to you," Andy said. "You can wait up to a couple of days if you want to, or we  " "I wanna fuck right now, if that's okay," she said, interrupting him, blushing a little bit. "Not to be pushy or anything, but I haven't gotten laid in a couple of years, and even before the treatment, I was fidgeting more than a whore in Sunday School. So if it's alright with you, maybe we can go and do that right now?" Jenny leaned back and pushed the door open behind her, as Katie gestured to the open room. "This'll be your bedroom, Lex," Katie said. "It has its own attached bathroom, like most of the bedrooms do. You can decorate all of it however you want to, but Jen had one little touch that she wanted to throw up to make you feel more at home." Lexi stepped into the bedroom and then began howling with laughter, reaching behind her to slap several times at Jenny's arms playfully. "You! Utter! Bitch! Oh my fucking god! Where did you fucking find it?" Andy moved closer to peek his head inside of the room and noticed that on one wall was a large poster of a shirtless Enrique Iglacias on the wall, like something from Teen Beat magazine back in the day. The image had to be at least ten or fifteen years old, and Andy suspected he had wandered into a private joke between the two women. "I had to buy it off the internet, but when I talked to Andy about bringing you here, I ordered it so that if you came, you could have it up on your wall, just like you did in your bedroom at our old apartment." "I can't tell if I want to rip it down immediately or leave it up forever!" "Well if you take it down, don't rip it up," Jenny teased, giving her friend a big hug, one that Katie joined in on. "Good to have ya here, Lex," Katie said. "Now we'll leave you two to it." The two women excused themselves and headed back down the hallway, as Lexi stepped into her bedroom, Andy stepping in behind her, closing the door behind them. Lexi was glancing around the room, but still slid out of her leather jacket, tossing it on top of a dresser in the room. Beneath the jacket had been concealed a shoulder holster with a firearm in it, that she slowly slid off, placing next to her jacket on the dresser. "I have some serious decorating to do in here, but I can make it work."

Quaranteam – Book 1: Part 19 Jade makes her request of Andy. Based on a post by CorruptingPower, in 25 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels. Chapter 33 Andy sort of cocked his head to one side, as Emily started to break down the camera and the microphones. "I'm almost afraid to ask what you mean by that, Jade," he said with a soft chuckle. "What does 'something else in mind' mean here?" Jade blushed a little, looking away for just a moment before turning back to look at him. "I've, I've been giving it a lot of thought, Andy," she said, pausing a bit in between the words, as if she was making sure she didn't chicken out of saying any of this. "And I've been talking with Lauren some, and she's been an utter sweetheart about all of this, and she's made me realize something,” "Stop," Andy said. "Before you go any further, I want you to make sure whatever it is you're about to ask for, it's what you want. Not what Lauren wants, or what someone else suggested. This is a once in a lifetime experience, and I don't want you to regret any aspect of it." "Oh. Oh! Oh, no! I wasn't,” she said, giggling a bit. "I wasn't going to suggest I wanted this to be my first time! No no no, not at all, Andy! Gosh! But, you remember I told you I wanted to record a video to send to my father, to show him that he couldn't control me any more, right?" "Oh," he said, understanding where this was going. "Sure, and you've changed your mind and don't want to do that any more, no I get that." "No!" Jade said, shaking her head quite determined. "I still super want to do that, but I realized, uh, I'm going to go a bit, no, a lot further than I think you're expecting me to. And I don't want it to come as any great shock to you when I do." Andy got a strange smile on his face, arching an eyebrow at her. "I mean, I'm glad you're telling me in advance, because it might've come as a surprise to me, but let's be real here, do you think you're going to go further than anyone in this house has?" Jade's eyes widened a little bit, then nodded with a little impish smile. "Kinda? I mean, I'm not going to do anything you haven't seen before, but I'm certainly gonna say some stuff that might shock you a bit." "Like...?" The blonde woman sighed a little bit, folding her arms over her ample chest. "So, in talking with Lauren a lot today, I realize that I've been so darn shy with boys because of my dad, because of all the stupid bull honk he told me over the years, because of all the expectations he put on me, and I need,” She looked away again, trying to find the words she wanted to say before looking back at him with those gorgeous green eyes of hers. "I need to make as much of a break from him as I can. I need to make him want to disown me, to get me out of his life, so he can't try and control me any more, can't try and control you because I'm with you." "This is starting to sound serious," he said, as Emily tucked the camera into the bag, pushing it to one side. "You don't need to do any editing with the footage from Tala?" The tiny Brit shook her head. "Framed it clean and only recorded what we needed, so no need to do any post work," she said. "Besides, I need to be here to help support Jade. What she's going to ask of you is, very brave." "Very brave?" Andy said, looking at Emily before looking back at Jade. "What are you going to ask of me?" "I'm going to,” she said, stopping then starting again. "I'm going to ask you to be okay with whatever I say during the whole imprinting process, to not interrupt me, to let me get all of this out onto film, that I'm going to send to my dad, so that he knows I don't want him in my life, I don't need him in my life, and that he's not welcome in my life." "He's still your father. Are you sure you want to kick him out for good?" Jade sighed a little bit, sitting down on the bed next to him. "That's just it, Andy. You don't know him like I do. You don't know what I've been through growing up. How much he stressed that I had to be a prim and proper lady. Proper forks, curtsying to the right depth, never speak at a party unless spoken to first. That I couldn't have any fun because fun reflected poorly on the family's legacy. He scared off every boy I tried dating in high school and even well into college. He tried to keep me in some protective bubble, where I would be reliant on him for everything, so that I would do whatever he wanted me to. Did I tell you yet that he wanted me to have an arranged marriage?" "What? No! Really? In this day and age?" "It gets worse," Emily said, taking the camera bag to the door of the bedroom, handing it off to Nicolette, who was standing there. "Take that downstairs and when Katie Couric's crew comes to pick it up, hand it off to them with our thanks." "Yes ma'am," Nicolette said, taking the bag from her before heading down the hallway. Emily closed the door after she went, leaving Andy in the room with four conscious women,  Jade, Emily, Sheridan and Lauren,  and three unconscious women,  Tala, Fiona and Moira. "Tell him who the person he wanted you to marry was, Jade," Emily said, annoyance plain on her face. "He won't believe it." "It won't mean anything to him," Jade said, "but okay. My father wanted me to get married to Benjamin Watkins. He's  " "I know who the fuck he is, Jade." Suddenly, Andy was furious on Jade's behalf. "You've got to be fucking shitting me," he said angrily. "He's almost a decade younger than you, he's an asshole and he's a selfish little prick. How could your father possibly think that would be a good idea?" "Wait, how do you even know who Benjamin is?" Jade said, looking at her hands nervously. Andy gave Jade the short version of the poker story, explaining how he had originally gone to protect some of Niko's friends, but had ended up winning even more people, and the last one, Deborah, had been claimed by Benny before she could be brought over to Andy, which was why Hannah had joined the family instead. Benny's awful behavior on his doorstep had left Andy with a very bitter impression of the boy too stupid to be called a young man. "I mean," Andy said, "I can't imagine Nathaniel, Benny's father, even going along with that. Had your dad talked about it with him?" "I think he wanted to convince me to go along with it first before talking with the Watkins family," she grumbled. "But I never agreed to it, because I wasn't going to let my father tell me who I could or couldn't love, the jerk. And a couple of years ago, he stopped talking about that entirely, and I think I finally figured out why." "So what do you need from me with all of this, Jade?" he said to her. She smiled warmly at him. "See, that right there is how I know I made the right dang choice, Andy," she said. "You're always just asking how you can help, what you can do to make other people happy first. It's never about what you want or need." "I'm surrounded by a large number of beautiful women all competing for my time and affection," he said with a laugh. "If I ever start complaining about that, people should start punching me in the kidneys." "But yer still doin' a bangup job of makin' sure such a diverse buncha Sheilas get along with one another, Andy," Lauren said to him. "It's the least I can do." "Anyway," Jade said, "what I need is for you to be okay with whatever I'm going to say in this video we're going to make. It's, it's not going to be what you expect from me, and honestly, it might be pushing your boundaries a little bit, but I need you to know that I'm okay with it, and just because it's stuff I'm saying in the video doesn't mean it's anything we have to actually do if you don't want to." He reached over and brushed a hand across Jade's face tenderly. "I mean, I only have a couple of complete hard passes in my repertoire, but nobody's come up against any of those yet." "Anything I should know about?" "You don't want to peg, pee or poop on me, do you?" Jade giggled intensely, shaking her head. "God no." "Then it's probably fine." "We'll see if you say that after you're done imprinting me," she grinned. "You won't hear anything I say right after I'm done imprinting you," he chuckled "How long does that last, anyway?" Jade asked. "Well, I expect Whitney woke up a couple of hours ago, and Tala will wake up tomorrow midday. Fi and Moira got it this morning, so technically they should wake up in the middle of the night, but because it'll be dark outside, they may just keep on sleeping until morning. You'll be out a little longer than Tala will. It'll screw up your sleep schedule for a few days, but before you know it, it'll be back to normal." "I think we're pretty far from normal, Andy," Jade said with a nervous laugh. "You know what I mean." "Sure sure, I know what you mean." Behind her, Sheridan and Lauren helped moved Tala up, laying her down next to Moira and Fiona's sleeping bodies. "Do you want us to leave her here tonight, Andy, or put her in her own bed?" Sheridan asked him, as they made sure that the three women were close to each other without overlapping too much. Women in the imprinting process made almost no movements when they were out, so it was important to position them so they didn't have muscle cramps when they awoke. "She said wanted to wake up in the main bed for her first morning after imprinting, so she can just stay here," he said. "Jade? What about you?" "I'd like to do the same, if that's okay." "Of course it's okay," he said, leaning in to give her a sweet kiss, his fingertips brushing against her face once more. "I'm trying to get you to relax." "I know. I know I know, and I appreciate it," she said with a shy smile. "You're so gosh darn sweet. But you don't know how far I'm about to go down a path of depravity." "You don't have “ " "Andy," she said, resolve strong in her voice. "I do have to do this, so just let me do it, okay?" "Sure, okay." "Should we, are you ready to get started?" she said, looking up at him. "Are you sure you don't want me to go hop through a shower first? I'm still kinda sticky from my time spent with Tala." "No no, that'll make this all the better," she said, moving to stand up. For her interview outfit, she'd chosen a long skirt that hung down past her knees, but wasn't quite long enough to be considered a dress, and a red silk blouse that hung loosely over her ample bosom. "Emily, are you ready to start filming?" "You're sure you want me to capture everything, Jade?" Emily said. "I know we talked about this, but, everything? Nudity and everything? To your father?" Jade nodded, her gaze resolved. "I need to do this, Em, so just film it all." Emily shrugged a little, grabbing Jade's phone from the nightstand next to the bed. "If you say so, love." "Andy, could you stand up?" Jade said, as Emily moved over towards Jade, getting ready to capture what was about to happen on the iPhone. He nodded, sliding up and off the bed, moving to stand, glad that someone had turned on the heat in the house earlier in the day so he wasn't cold, standing nude in the middle of his insanely large bedroom. "Don't say much during this, okay, Andy?" Jade asked him, imploringly. "I mean, if I ask you a direct question, and it doesn't feel rhetorical, maybe answer, but err on the side of not saying anything. I need this to be all about me rather than you, no matter how much I'm going to talk about you during all of this." "Okay, I'll try and be quiet as much as I can then." "Great. Super. Thank you. Oh, if you hear me calling myself Button, it was his nickname for me growing up. So that's where that comes from. Anyway, let's get to it. Em?" she said, looking over to Emily, who was framing all of Jade in the shot on the phone. "Aaaaand, action!" Emily said, just before she hit the record button. Jade offered a brief, almost reticent smile, and it was gone as quickly as it appeared. "Hi Daddy. Button here and this is going to be the last time I reach out to you." She started slowly unbuttoning her blouse, letting it fall open, to reveal an ornate black lacy bra on beneath. "I know you wanted me to move back home until the whole plague passed, but that's not going to happen. I'm done living by your rules, not just regarding this, but everything." Andy actually felt a little bit nervous, not about being seen naked on camera, but for what Jade was going to say. She'd been purposefully vague with him, but he trusted her that she was only doing whatever she thought was necessary. "You always wanted to keep your little Button under your thumb, didn't you Daddy?" she said, sliding the blouse entirely off, tossing it aside. "But a couple of years ago, around the five year anniversary of Mom's passing, the things you said to me changed and started getting creepy. You kept talking about how much I reminded you of Mom when she was my age, how much you missed her and how your needs weren't being met." Oh, Andy thought to himself. OH. Oh shit. "I tried to tell myself that you didn't mean it, that you didn't realize what you were saying, or how inappropriate it was to be talking about your own daughter that way, but the more I told myself that, the more you seemed to be doing it." She unhooked the waist of her skirt and then let it drop to her ankles, stepping out of it before kicking off her boots, leaving her in the black bra and a matching set of black panties. "But the more I thought about it, the more I realized you weren't looking at me thinking about Mom. You were looking at me thinking I could replace Mom, and that's fucking creepy, Dad." She was fit, more fit than Andy had realized when she'd shown up in the cheerleader outfit yesterday, and her body was as toned and lithe as Sheridan's was, although maybe a little more muscular. She was an athlete, more like Piper, and she took great pride in showing her body to Andy, it seemed, or maybe showing off to her father, lashing out at him for his actions. "You wanted me to move back into the mansion so you could get me imprinted to you, didn't you, you sick fuck? You wanted your own daughter bound to you by science, reliant on your cum to keep her alive? Do you know how disgusting that is? How much it horrifies me?" She unclasped her bra behind her back and pulled it forward and off, tossing it aside, exposing her tits to both Andy and the camera, large proud swells that were just the perfect size for her body, as tanned as the rest of her, although her nipples were a bright rosy pink. "But you've lusted after your own daughter, haven't you, you sicko? You thought your wealth would let you get away with the ultimate betrayal, to have a perversion that you should have never even thought about," she growled. Andy understood now why she'd been so angry when she'd talked to him earlier in the day. Jade had clearly been thinking about her father's actions in light of what she knew about the process now, and had put two and two together to get a pretty unpleasant four. And now she was making sure her father understood that he was dead to her. "It bothers you, doesn't it, Daddy, hearing your precious little Button talking like some dirty whore? Swearing so fucking casually when you tried to drill it into her head that she should always be ladylike? Never act like some kind of cheap slut, never let a boy see or touch her special places." Jade's face was one of rage now, as she grabbed her panties and shoved them down, stepping out of them, leaving her fully exposed. She had a large triangle shaped blonde bush, neatly trimmed but still of a decent size. She also had no tanlines of any kind, making it clear she tanned in the buff, her whole skin that golden shade, the perfect California girl. "I hope seeing this video gives you a fucking heart attack, you asshole, because you're going to witness me guaranteeing that you can never fucking have me," she said, her hands on her hips, not making any effort to hide or conceal any of her gorgeous body. Andy hoped that the video did the trick, but if his time in New Eden had taught him anything, it was that the super rich were capable of nearly anything, and there were no other words to describe Jade's father, Cormack Dillon, quite so succinctly as "super rich," and that meant the man stood every chance of continuing to be a problem. "I took the DuoHalo immunity treatment yesterday, which means I'm going to get imprinted onto a man, to get the other half of it, and I know you know what that means," she said, sliding one hand over one of her tits, cupping it, for both the camera's eye as well as Andy's. "That means I'm going to be imprinted onto a man, a man who isn't you." Jade's nipple stiffened to her touch, and Andy could hear Lauren and Sheridan moving a little behind him, making sure they were completely out of the path, but he also wondered if the two weren't starting to play with themselves at least a little, because Jade had gone from schoolmarm to raw sexual carnage faster than a Lambo went from 0 to 60. "You know what that means?" Jade said, a coy smile on her face as her tongue licked her lips. "He's going to be my new Daddy, a better Daddy, a good Daddy, and he's gonna reap all the benefits that a good Daddy deserves." Her other hand moved to rub between her thighs, stroking across her cunt quite nervously, but her smile was practically eager. "I laid awake so many nights, playing with my cunt, wondering what my life was going to be like when I finally gave my cherry to someone, your words ringing in my ears how I needed to choose carefully, to pick someone who would make the family proud over someone who made me feel all warm and wobbly." Andy could feel her slowly closing the distance between them, Emily doing her best to keep her framed in the shot the entire time. "But that was what you wanted, and you're dead to me now. So I'm gonna give my cherry to my new Daddy, to a man that I chose to be with. And I'm not gonna be prim and proper about it, oh no," she purred. "I'm gonna be every bit the slut you were afraid I would turn into and more." She was only a few feet away from him when she slowly moved down onto her knees, keeping her head tipped up proudly. "He wanted to wash his cock off before I sucked him off, but I told him no," Jade giggled, scooting on her knees closer to Andy now. "I liked the idea of his cock being slick from the cunt of some other girl he'd just fucked when I blew him for the first time, so I'd get my first taste of cunt with Daddy's cock." She reached forward and grabbed Andy's shaft, giving it a gentle stroke. "See how much bigger my Daddy's cock is than yours, you senile old fucker? See how slick it is with the juices of some bitch he just met yesterday, another slut who's going to tend to his needs just like I'm going to? God, it smells so fucking good. Can I have a lick, Daddy? Just a little one?" Her intense green eyes were looking up at him, so Andy just nodded in response, as Jade let out a thankful, eager moan. "Oh thank you Daddy," she purred. "I just can't wait to be a good little Daddy's girl." Andy was glad she'd had the talk with him before this, because she'd been right,  he might have been a little uncomfortable with this had she not given him some advance warning. But she seemed to be enjoying stroking his cock for the camera, and when she leaned in, he knew what was going to happen, even if she didn't, not entirely. She'd intended to drag her tongue from the base of his cock to the tip, but only got about half way up before the mix of his semen and Tala's juices sunk into her bloodstream enough to begin the priming process, and she suddenly leaned her head back, looking straight up at the ceiling with completely defocused eyes, an intensely shredded moan erupting from her throat, that priming orgasm exploding through her body. Jade was back on her haunches, practically sitting on her heels, as her entire body shivered and quaked, the intensity of the orgasm a surprise even to Andy, who'd seen this thing happen more than anyone. The imprinting process had affected Jade stronger than anyone he'd previously paired with. "Jesus Fucking Christ," Jade hissed, finally having recovered enough strength to pull her head forward again. "That was the most intense fucking thing I've ever felt, Daddy. And I'm just getting started, because I have to thank Daddy for the gift he's giving me by taking me into his family." She kissed along the length of his cock slowly, never once taking her eyes off of Andy's, Emily having moved in, standing on the bed behind him, so she could look down with the camera. He even felt one of Emily's hand on his shoulder, making sure she was balanced properly. "I'm gonna be such a good little slut for you, Daddy," she whimpered. "I can't wait to feel you inside my cherry cheerleader cunt, to be the first and only cock I ever have inside of my sweet snatch. God, you're gonna feel so good, aren't you, Daddy?" Andy couldn't help but smirk for a moment, because he could feel Emily's nipples were rock hard through her top, pressed against his back while she continued to film. Clearly, the Brit was getting turned on by what she was watching. "That's not all I'm gonna give you, Daddy," Jade said, licking the taste of him and Tala from her lips. "I'm gonna give you everything. I'm gonna do everything. After an entire life of saying no no no, all I'm gonna tell my new Daddy is yes yes yes." She was starting to cradle his balls now, and he felt like that was a warning that she was about to crank up the tempo on him. "If Daddy wants to fuck me, I'll ask what position while I'm spreading my legs to show him I'm already wet for him. If Daddy wants me to blow him, I'll start sucking on his cock right away, no matter where we are or who's around. If he wants to knock me up, I'll beg him to breed me like his good little bitch in heat, even if we aren't married." She shivered a little bit, looking down for a second before gazing back up. "If Daddy wants to fuck me in the ass, I'll hold my cheeks apart and beg him to do it to me hard and fast, just like a good little slut, just like his good little slut should." He couldn't help himself, and his cock throbbed at that, not just from her description of it, but from the look in her eyes as she said it, like she was revealing some hidden desire that she hadn't known she wanted until she spoke the words aloud, and now that she had, it was burrowing hold in her psyche, not for now, but something definitely to be revisited lately. The look on her face was one of eagerness, like she was reveling in who she was after hiding it for so long. "To keep boys from fucking me, I had to learn how to become not just a good cocksucker, but the best cocksucker, able to get a boy off within just a minute or two of wrapping my lips around his cock, but I don't want my new Daddy to feel like he's being rushed, so enjoy this Daddy." Jade wrapped her lips around the head of his cock and slowly pushed her face down onto it, her lustrous green eyes holding his gaze the entire time, until she had her lips down around the base of his cock, no sign of coughing or choking, like she'd managed to suppress her gag reflex entirely. She slowly drew her head back, sliding her mouth off his cock with a wet pop as she grinned up at the camera. "You see that, Cormack? That's the view you always wanted of your daughter, isn't it, you twisted asshole? Down on her fucking knees with her tits out, looking up at you, her lips wrapped around your cock? But it's not your cock, is it shithead?" As she pushed her head back down onto his cock again, Andy did everything he could to keep his moan quiet, but a little bit of it slipped out, and that made Jade smile as she pulled back from his cock once more. "Hear that, Cormack? That's my new Daddy, enjoying what a good little cocksucker he's got. I asked him to stay quiet, but I'm just too skilled at sucking cock that he can't keep still. So I hope you fuck off and die, because I'm gonna get what I want now, I'm gonna be happy without you, I'm gonna get bonded to this beautiful fucking stud of a man, and he's gonna be my Daddy forever, and you're just going to be dead to me, so the sooner you fuck off and die, the better. Goodbye forever Cormack." After she said that, she started thrusting her head down his cock over and over, going from tip to base time and time again, making as much noise as she could, as much performance as it was blowjob, but damn if she wasn't right, and it was the best blowjob he'd ever gotten. Jade had total control over when his orgasm was going to hit, and just when he thought he was about to pop, she backed him away from it, just to prove that she could, then when he thought she was slowing down to prolong the video, she attacked once more, and started bobbing her head across his shaft faster and faster, and there was no stopping the collision course they were headed on. He wanted to put his hands on her head, but Emily seemed to have the shot framed exactly as she wanted, and Jade was doing her best to keep her eyes on his face and the camera the entire time, and when the moment of his release happened, he wasn't even sure where she was looking, because the intensity of the orgasm was brutal, easily the hardest he'd ever come from a blowjob. His cock blasted a hot load of cum against the back of her throat, as her lips sealed in a vacuum lock around the head of his cock, sealing him in there, not letting a drop of it spill out, all of it pouring directly into her belly, as her green eyes finally rolled back in her skull. Her mouth finally popped off his cock as she started to fall backwards, and Lauren darted in suddenly to slide her arms beneath Jade's shoulders, catching her and cradling her to lower her down onto her back, pulling her away slightly to let her legs unfold from beneath her, as Emily moved off the bed, jumping to the floor, slowly crouching down to finish on Jade's face, as the bubbly blonde proudly said 'imprinting' over and over again, an accomplished smile wide on her face. Emily tapped the Stop Recording button on the phone, and then exhaled a deep breath. "Holy fuck!" she shouted, taking one of her hands to fan her face. "I know she said to expect it to be out of character for her, but can I once again reiterate, holy fuck!" She giggled wildly, licking her lips. "I can't tell if I should send her father this video first or do my best to convince you that you can handle another round right here and now, Andrew, because, in closing, holy fuck was that hot!" Andy laughed a little bit, shaking his head. "No more. No more rounds for today. The House of Rook is officially doing no more deliveries tonight!" He crouched down and scooped Jade up into his arms,  she was light, although Emily and Lauren helped him anyway,  as he lifted her up and onto the bed, laying her down next to Tala. Once there, he moved the four of them,  Jade, Tala, Fiona and Moira,  over to one side of the bed, not pushing them off, but making sure there would still be room for his usual group of people to crawl into the bed as well in a few hours time. "Well, at the very least, I can take care of you in the shower before you make your run to Target tonight," Emily said to him. "God, can't it wait until tomorrow?" he groaned, before raising his hand. "No no, I know, we need to do it, and I agreed to do it tonight. Okay, let's go shower, and then a handful of us can make the run out and pick up supplies." After a very nice shower with Emily and Sheridan, where both girls steadfastly avoided getting their hair wet, Andy felt cleaned up and ready to round out his day. He hadn't even had dinner yet, but he decided that could wait until after the Target run. One of the things he'd learned early on, before they'd even gotten to New Eden even, was that women who lived together didn't really sync their periods up, but with a typical period lasting about five days, the more women in a household, the more likely it was someone needed additional feminine supplies. With the size of household now, he'd learned they were the most vital supply the household needed, and never, ever ever to be without. Whenever he went on a supply run, the girls drew names from a hat to decide who would go with him, because inevitably whoever went found a handful of things they just had to have and brought them home, and going to a Target with his entire family was beyond unwieldy. So as Andy checked his shopping list, the girls did their little drawing. Hannah, Aisling and Sarah won, and so the four loaded up into the Tesla Model Y and headed down to the Target. There were many things he was appreciative of about the home in New Eden that the government had gifted him with, but the one he noticed the most was its completely self reliance. The entire roof of the mansion was covered in solar panels, and Andy had been told there was a small field of them further out on his property, in the middle of a natural glade, that ran back to his house, which had power walls, storing all of that excess power. The cars were all electric. Phil had joked around that if New Eden were hit by the worst possible of storms, the town would be self sustaining for a few months before food would be the eventual first issue. Target was one of the few well established brand stores within the walls of New Eden, but it was handy enough that everyone seemed to overlook it not being a local business. There were a handful of cars in the parking lot, but it looked far from crowded. Andy parked the car and then headed in, as Hannah grabbed them a shopping cart. Andy hoped they'd only need the one, but at least half of the time, these trips involved getting a second cart. Most of his list was relatively short,  cat food, cat litter, cleaning fluid for his electric shaver, vanilla Coke if he could find it,  but the girls had their own list, and it was compiled from all the girls in the house. They mostly didn't have to do groceries,  Jenny and Katie made their own weekly run to the grocery store to keep the house stocked,  but everyone had little things they wanted for themselves. Nicolette had toilet paper delivered in bulk and was trying to convince the household to bulk order feminine supplies as well, but it seemed like each of the women in the house had their own deeply held preferences. Andy suspected Nicolette would win out in the end, and that bulk deliveries in the near future would start including things like pads and tampons (as well as diapers and other such baby supplies) eventually. For now, though, everyone was still eager to get out of the house every chance they could, the fatigue of being quarantined to a single space, even one as wonderful as the Rook Manor, getting to each of them a little bit. "Okay girls, let's split up and cover ground a bit," Ash said to the other two, "and we can meet up with Andy back in the pet supplies." Sarah, Hannah and Aisling each put a hand on top of one of the others and then said in unison "Go Rookies!" And like that, they each went their own separate direction into the large Super Target, as Andy headed over to pick up his electric razor cleaning fluid. Since their arrival, both Sarah and Emily had been trying to convince Andy to move to disposable razor blades, or even a straight razor, for shaving, but Andy had been using an electric since college and found the convenience of it too great to give up. Jenny had assured the two actresses that once Alexis showed up, Andy would learn the joy of having his face shaven by a woman with a straight razor, and once he did, he'd never want to go back. But even when she showed up tomorrow, she'd need to convince him it was the right call, so until then, he would stick to his old ways. Before he could make his way out of the razor section, Sarah came bounding around the corner, a package full of pads in one hand, a handful of make up supplies in the other, tossing all of them into the cart. "Hey, like, did you know Nate Watkins was gonna be here tonight? I saw him and one of his partners coming in as I was heading here," she said, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "I didn't," Andy said, "but it's not that big a community, so people are bound to run into one another here." "Did Phil tell you how many households are here in New Eden?" she said, sliding her arm around his waist, her body taller than his, something he still hadn't fully gotten used to. "I asked him, and I think he said about 400, although it's pretty scattered out, and some of the households are way bigger than others. We're definitely one of the bigger ones, although there's pressure on everyone to grow a bit, considering the news that'll be hitting in a couple of days." The two of them headed over to the soft drinks, and Andy was delighted to find that not only did they have vanilla Coke, they also had vanilla cherry Coke and orange vanilla Coke, so he grabbed a twelve pack of each, sliding them on the flat tray beneath the main cart itself, knowing to leave as much of the basket open for the girls as he could. "I imagine that poor Lily's going to go mental when she hears she's going to have to share poor Eric with even more girls," Ash said, tossing her collection of things into the basket. She'd come from behind Sarah and Andy, so neither had seen her coming. "But she'll just have to cope like the rest of us have." "She'll be extra picky on Eric's behalf," Andy said with a quiet smirk. "He won't want to kick up a fuss about who they send, so she'll take over the whole process and make sure nobody rocks the boat over there." "I meant to ask," Sarah said. "How come Eric's got a Chinese last name when he's Japanese?" "Well, he's actually half and half," Andy said, "but he prefers to think of himself as Japanese first and foremost, I guess, so that's how I've always thought of him. His Dad's Chinese but his mom is Japanese. They met after they'd both immigrated here in the 70s to work for tech companies. It's kind of a cute love story. They met in a class to learn English as a second language, so his dad never learned any Japanese and his mom never learned any Mandarin or Cantonese, and they only ever spoke English to each other in the house. They're both very nice people. Eric sort of speaks all three languages, but none of them that well. His Japanese is better than his Cantonese, though, or so he tells me." "That's funny," Ash said. "Lily's story is pretty much the same, half Chinese half Japanese. I guess their kids will keep the same ratio then." "Once they get around to them," Andy said. "You heard Lily, love," Ash giggled. "She's gonna get a child out of Eric even if it kills him. Her clock isn't just ticking, it's pounding out a drum beat." "No no, that's just Lily taking him Amazon style," Andy said, and both Sarah and Ash descended into fits of laughter at that, as he smirked and pushed the cart onward. They kept walking as Sarah and Ash each picked up a few things here and there,  scented candles, Fabreeze, some picture frames,  as they headed towards the pet section. "Don't freak out, Andy," Sarah said, "but I'm going to be grabbing some dog food for Maya's two pups." Andy arched an eyebrow. "Not once did you or Emily ever mention that Maya had dogs," he said, trying to put on his most disappointed look. "Don't you think that's something you should've mentioned, what with me having a couple of cats?" "That's fair, completely fair, but hear me out, just for a moment, on a counter argument," Sarah said, talking slowly, as if she was struggling to think of what she wanted to say. "Ok,” Sarah glanced over at Ash, who offered a sympathetic shrug, then back at Andy, and suddenly she grabbed him and kissed him hard, wrapping her arms around him in a constrictive hug before she pulled from the kiss and clenched him more tightly. "Okay, so we totally didn't mention it, and that's totally on Emily and me, but they're just two little Pomeranians, and they're super cute, and they're named Stan and Ollie, and I know we should've told you, but we asked Ash, and she said you're not allergic, and she didn't think you'd be upset, and I don't know why we didn't mention it during the presentations, but we didn't, and then you said yes, and we were both just so excited, and at that point, you were into the idea, and it didn't even occur to us that you might not like dogs, because I mean who doesn't love dogs, am I right, and I wasn't even thinking about it because Emily said she was gonna tell you but then she put dog food on the list for me to grab and now here I am, trying to convince you that it would be criminal to turn those two sweet little adorable faces away or hide them out back or anything when they're super well trained and lovable and  " She suddenly pulled back, glanced over at Ash, who was desperately trying to keep from breaking out into laughter, then back at Andy, sighing. "And you totally knew the dogs were coming and were fucking with me, weren't you?" At that point, Andy could finally let out the laughter that had been building and building and building inside of him as Sarah had just kept talking and talking and talking and some part of him had wanted to let her off the hook right away, but it had just so much funnier with every word. Ash was leaning against the cart, she was laughing so hard, once she finally broke. Andy squeezed Sarah tightly then pulled back and kissed her softly. "Of course the dogs are okay, Sarah," he said. "But you two definitely should have told me during the pitch, just in case I was allergic to dogs, which I'm not. But Emily brought it up to me yesterday, and I gave her a bit of stick for it, and she suggested this was how I gave you stick for your part in the matter." "Emily knew you were gonna put me up to this?" Sarah said, tilting her head to look upward. "Oh, the shit I'm gonna give that bitch when I see her,” Andy swatted his hand on Sarah's ass with a loud slap, which made her jolt a little bit into him. "Now now, I said the matter's closed, and the matter's closed, got it?" "You're fucking lucky you're so damn lovable yourself, mister man," she joked, rolling her eyes. "But okay, I guess we earned that." "Oh, Ker rist I wish I'd recorded that," Ash said, finally easing off of her laughing. "I don't know how she let that sentence run that far, but I think it could have sprinted past Piper!" As they arrived in the pet section, Hannah came to meet up with them, Nathaniel and his female partner in tow. She saw that Ash was wiping tears from her eyes still and pouted. "Aw, I missed the whole dog food fake fight, didn't I?" she said. "Oh well, look who I ran into!" It didn't surprise Andy that Hannah had stopped to talk to Nathaniel Watkins and his partner, as Watkins had been the man to bring Hannah over to him originally, which meant he'd know the Asian cheerleader longer than he had. Watkins was dressed, as ever, in cargo shorts, a bright Hawaiian shirt, socks and sandals, his black hair drawn back into a man bun, a pair of thin spectacles over his eyes. The woman next to him looked five to ten years younger than him, in probably her early to mid thirties, with eastern European features, jet black hair in bangs that hung down to her collarbone, dressed in a large loose t shirt that said "Cal Poly" on the front of it, and baggy sweatpants. It was clear, both had just decided to run errands in whatever they'd been lounging around the house in, although Watkins himself hadn't looked all that different at the poker night, or either of the times he'd come over to Andy's house, so Andy couldn't help but wonder if that was the man's standard look. Chapter 34 Uncharacteristically, Andy woke up at around 6 a.m., noticing that Fiona wasn't in the bed with all of them. He'd suspected that both she and Moira would wake up sometime in the middle of the night, but he'd hoped that they'd still sleep in some and get accustomed to local time a bit more. Fi, it seemed, couldn't do that. As carefully as he could, Andy extricated himself from the pile of naked female bodies around him and slipped out of bed. When it had been just him, Ash, Lauren and Niko, in the early days, anyone trying to leave the bed would wake everyone up, but now, after the last month or so of constant additions, people had grown much more acclimated to people moving, sliding in and out of the bed during the night without waking up. Currently the bed held Moira, Niko, Sarah, Emily, Tala, Sheridan, Lauren and Jade. He'd been a little surprised the night before when both Sheridan and Lauren had crawled into the bed as everyone was shutting down for the night, but both women insisted they each wanted their friend to have a familiar face nearby when they woke up in the house for the first time. He said he completely understood and respected that. He grabbed one his big t shirts, this one for the Chapterhouse album "Whirlpool," pulled on some boxers and some sweatpants and went to go find where Fiona had gotten herself to. Andy didn't have far to look. When he pulled the shirt on, he could see motion on the covered balcony just outside of the master bedroom, and figured it had to be her. He opened the sliding door as quietly as he possible, hearing the sound of heavy raindrops falling just feet away from the balcony, the wind not heavy enough to force them beneath the overhang. Fiona was wearing a cable knit sweater and Lululemon yoga pants, leaning against the railing, it still cool enough outside for her breath to leave a telltale cloud in the air in front of her. "This is California," she said, her voice laying plain her amusement with the weather. "I was promised sunshine and warm weather all the damn time." "It's raining," he said, moving to stand beside her. "And we need it, so don't jinx it and make it stop. Besides, it was raining the day you asked me and Xander to move in with you." She laughed a little bit, shaking her head slightly. "I can't believe you remember that," she said. "And, for the record, I asked you to move in with me, and I knew that Xander came as part of the deal at the time, because you weren't going to leave him hanging. How's he doing, anyway? I haven't talked to him since college." "You can ask him yourself when he gets here in a while." Fi turned to look at him, arching one of her impeccably well kept eyebrows in his direction. "He is not moving into this house, Andrew. This isn't the old days." Andy laughed, shaking his head. "I didn't mean here here, as in Rook Manor, but he's moving into New Eden, so he won't be too far away." He went to slide an arm around her waist, just a little hesitation in his motion, but she immediately slid in firmly against him, pressing her body against his. "I knew that, Andy. I was fucking with you. Jesus, you're an idiot sometimes," she sighed with a wide smile on her face. "So it's lucky you're so damn cute." He rolled his eyes a little bit. "Nobody thinks I'm cute but you." "Bullshit. Moira thinks you're cute." "Fine. Nobody but you and Moira." "And Niko and Emily and,” "Okay, okay, I get the point," he laughed, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "God, I missed you, Fi." "Me too. So next time, maybe call, huh?" He smirked. "You're gonna hold this over my head for a while, aren't you?" She giggled a little, nodding. "Oh yeah, bigtime. But you know me. I'll get bored with it at some point, and tease you about something new, once I have something new." Her right hand rested on his left arm, which was folded and pressed against the railing. "How the hell did we get to here, Andy?" "I mean, there's all of my life before May of this year, and then there's this year, and one of them is a lot more boring than the other, but I'll tell you all about both, given enough time. I am sorry I didn't try and find you after you cut me out, but to be fair, I didn't think you wanted me to." She nodded, giving a little shrug. "I was angry and I was dumb, Andy. It wasn't a good combination. And when I was old enough to know better, I was too scared, thinking you'd just moved on and didn't ever think about me any more." He had a short bark of laughter, shaking his head. "Yeah, get that fucking idea right out of your head now. After we split, I only had one serious girlfriend, and that was because I was comparing them to you all the time and nobody ever lived up to you." "Not even the one serious girlfriend?" "Especially not the one serious girlfriend, but at that point, I thought maybe it was me, and I was the one doing things wrong, so I stuck with it longer than I should've. You'll end up meeting her at some point around New Eden and then you'll ask yourself how she and I ever dated as long as we did." "That bad, huh?" she said, giving his arm a squeeze. She always knew exactly the level of physical touch he needed to feel reassured or put at ease. "That bad and a whole hell of a lot worse." That hung in the air for a minute or two with nobody saying anything. "You seem to have done alright for yourself this year, though," she teased. "Two actresses, two cheerleaders, an Irish lass, an Aussie, a Native knockout, a couple of athletes, an Indian knockout and your own personal staff including an honest to god French maid. I'm shocked you could find time to pencil me and Moira in." "I certainly never intended  " She reached a fingertip up to his lips to stop him from talking. "I spent a great deal of time between my arrival at the base and my injection with the serum talking about you with Niko, and she assures me that you've done everything you can to be the best man anyone here can ask for, so whatever you intended, it doesn't really matter anymore, does it? What matters now is that you've got a wonderful, if a bit immense, family, and that you wanted me and Moira to be a part of it." "Speaking of Moira, how long have you two been together?" Fi grinned, leaning her head against his chest. "About four years now. It's the reason I didn't put anything about my relationship status on my Facebook page. Didn't want Mom and Dad throwing a shitfit about it. Well, mostly Mom, I think." "So it's been serious for a while now." "Very," she said. "And she's the one who's been bitching at me to reach out to you for the last couple of years, so don't worry about her being jealous of you or anything. On our way here, she was telling me that it's felt like the entire time we've been together, there's been a part of me missing, and how she was sure that you had the missing part of me. I'm surprised you never reached out to her." "I never got her contact information all those years ago," he chuckled. "Hell, I didn't even get her last name. I still didn't know it until Niko told me yesterday." "Oh my god, really?" Fi giggled. "I guess that makes sense, because I know you would've remembered it if you'd ever learned it. You loved that damn silly movie." "Madam, I will not permit you to impugn 'Highlander' on these grounds." "Oh hush," she said. "But yes, you're going to be taking a bride from the Clan MacLeod, but there cannot only be one. You owe me a ring as well, mister." "You think that'll satiate the bloodlust of Mr. & Mrs. Smith?" he said, referring to her parents. "They already know you're back in this picture and are ecstatic," she said, kissing his cheek. "I mean, Mom's a little less thrilled with how many wives you're going to have, but I told her with all the deaths, that's the way it's going to work in this country for our generation. She's still wrapping her head around it." "Everyone in your family okay? All your brothers?" "All three were smart and locked down immediately, so everyone's okay. I'm glad you asked." "And Moira's family?" "Her mom's all that's left, and Scotland's not had a lot of problems with DuoHalo, since they seemed to take lockdown extremely seriously in the smaller villages. You can talk to her about her mom when she's up. It'll mean a lot to her that you're asking." "So how did you two hook up again?" Fiona sighed again, slumping into his body a little more. "How much of my writing career did you follow after we split?" "Most of it?" he chuckled. "I set up a Google Alert to notify me whenever your byline appeared." "You stalker," she giggled, waiting just the perfect beat before speaking again. "It's okay; I had one set up on you as well. Uh, two, actually, one for your real name and one for your pen name, once I read an article about that. Thanks for making that hard on me." "I didn't expect anyone to be following my fiction writing, Fi. But carry on with your story." "Do you remember that story I wrote about about five years back on the Syrian civil war?" "I remember you wrote a whole series of them. What, seven or eight different pieces?" She smiled up at him. "Gold star for robot boy," she said with a smirk. "You really were paying attention. That's nice to know. Anyway, the one about the Doctors Without Borders that were crossing into the firefights to provide medical aid to civilians caught in the crossfire." "Oh yeah," he said. "Those people sounded amazingly brave." "Moira was one of those people," Fi said. "Running out into firefights, scooping up kids and pulling shrapnel out of them. One of the bravest people I'd ever met, but she's been doing it for a few years, and it was starting to take a real toll on her, so I invited her to come and visit DC. A few weeks later she'd gotten a job at a hospital in Georgetown. A couple of months later we started dating. Half a year later, she moved in with me. About two years ago, we decided we both wanted to get the fuck out of DC forever, but weren't sure where to go." "Around the time you added me and Xander on Facebook." "Actually, I have a confession to make,  Moira sent you the friend request from my account," she sighed. "I was convinced you didn't even think about me any more, so one day when we were fighting, she just sat down at my computer, found you on Facebook and sent you the friend request before I could stop her." "And then you and I played the biggest, dumbest game of virtual chicken ever, waiting for the other one to reach out first," he sighed. "God, we're fucking stupid some days." To be continued in part 20, by CorruptingPower for Literotica.

“I'm happy for the winding path that took me to this work” Kathryn Hymes is a technologist and computational linguist, currently serving as a director of product and innovation at Doctors Without Borders. Previously, she worked in leadership positions at multiple technology firms, most recently as the head of international product expansion at Slack and an advisor at Airtable. She holds an MS in computational and mathematical engineering and an MA in linguistics, both from Stanford. Her writing on language and technology has appeared in the Atlantic, Wired, and the New York Times. Kathryn is also a co-founder of Thorny Games, a design studio that explores the stories behind the language we speak. Kathryn Hymes on LinkedIn MSF Science Portal Thorny Games Topics include: – computational linguistics – project management – localization – field research – non-profitsThe post Episode #73: Kathryn Hymes first appeared on Linguistics Careercast.

With Matt on assignment, Daniel is joined by Producer Adam and brother of the pod, journalist Aaron Maté to survey mysteriously shrouded Israeli weapons demonstrations, the purported expertise of the New York Times Editorial Board, and fittingly for an episode with 100% more Canadians than normal: a thorough investigation of things you can't do on television (if hasbarists are watching).Please support Doctors Without Borders: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/To read Aaron's writing visit the Grayzone: https://thegrayzone.com/See Francesca Fiorentini and Matt Lieb August 28 in Houston, TX: https://bit.ly/mattfranhtxSubscribe to the Patreon https://www.patreon.com/badhasbaraWhat's The Spin playlist: https://spoti.fi/4kjO9tLSubscribe/listen to Bad Hasbara wherever you get your podcasts.Spotify https://spoti.fi/3HgpxDmApple Podcasts https://apple.co/4kizajtSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/bad-hasbara/donationsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders has sent an open letter to EU leaders and the European Commission urging them to act decisively with regard to Israel in order to lift the siege of Gaza. Christopher Lockyear, the Secretary General of MSF Gaza joined Sarah.

In marking World Environment Day which is observed every year on 5 June this year's theme, Ending Plastic Pollution, an urgent call is made about plastic waste choking our planet and threatening human health. A global study by the University of Newcastle for the World Wide Fund for Nature reveals a disturbing truth: we may be ingesting up to 5 grams of plastic each week, equivalent to the weight of a credit card. Doctors Without Borders says The time for bold, urgent action is now. For more on this, Elvis Presslin spoke to Neo Tsotetsi, Climate Engagement Coordinator at Doctors Without Borders.

Tuesday morning brought another shooting near a food distribution site in Gaza — the third in as many days. This time, more than two dozen people were killed as they tried to collect emergency food aid, according to Gaza health officials and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Israeli military acknowledged firing warning shots at "several suspects" moving toward their position, and fired additional shots at individual suspects who, they said, did not retreat. The violence may have something to do with the way Israel is now managing food distribution in Gaza. It's not how aid is typically given out in war zones.Avril Benoit, CEO of Doctors Without Borders within the U.S., explains what she sees is wrong with the new aid plan in Gaza.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Email us at considerthis@npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This episode is sponsored by: My Financial CoachYou trained to save lives—who's helping you save your financial future? My Financial Coach connects physicians with CFP® Professionals who specialize in your complex needs. Whether it's crushing student loans, optimizing investments, or planning for retirement, you'll get a personalized strategy built around your goals. Save for a vacation home, fund your child's education, or prepare for life's surprises—with unbiased, advice-only planning through a flat monthly fee. No commissions. No conflicts. Just clarity.Visit myfinancialcoach.com/physiciansguidetodoctoring to meet your financial coach and find out if concierge planning is right for you.____________In this episode, Dr. Tyler Evans,  joins host Dr. Bradley Block to unpack the dangerous implications of the Trump administration's public health funding cuts. Referencing historical pandemics like cholera, Hong Kong flu, and COVID-19, Dr. Evans illustrates how slashing programs such as PEPFAR ($6 billion), Ryan White (part of HRSA's $1.7 billion cut), and refugee health ($2 billion) dismantles global disease surveillance and response systems. These cuts, he warns, could allow outbreaks in regions like Central Africa to spread to American cities, overwhelming hospitals and disrupting economic stability. Dr. Evans critiques the politicization of health policy, including Medicaid reductions and attacks on evidence-based HIV initiatives, which exacerbate poverty and disease spread. Despite these challenges, he finds hope in humanity's ability to unite across divides, urging physicians to frame global health investments as personal and economic protection for their patients. With another pandemic likely within five years, this episode empowers physicians to advocate for resilient public health systems.Three Actionable Takeaways:Connect Global to Local Risks – Educate patients that funding global health programs like PEPFAR prevents diseases from reaching their neighborhoods, ensuring hospital access.Emphasize Economic Stability – Highlight how public health cuts threaten financial markets and personal 401(k)s by causing pandemic-driven instability, advocating for prevention.Push for Evidence-Based Policy – Counter divisive rhetoric by promoting programs like Ryan White to community members, emphasizing their role in community health.About the Show:The Physician's Guide to Doctoring covers patient interactions, burnout, career growth, personal finance, and more. If you're tired of dull medical lectures, tune in for real-world lessons we should have learned in med school!About the Guest:Dr. Tyler Evans is an infectious disease and public health physician and CEO and co-founder of Wellness and Equity Alliance. He has led initiatives at Curative Incorporated, Marin County Health, and New York City's COVID-19 response, overseeing delivery of over 2 million vaccine doses nationwide. His work with Doctors Without Borders and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation spans HIV/AIDS, refugee health, and global infectious diseases. Dr. Evans is the author of Pandemics, Poverty, and Politics: Decoding the Social and Political Drivers of Pandemics from Plague to COVID-19, set for release in August 2025.Website: https://www.tylerevansmd.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-b-evans-md-ms-mph-aahivs-dtmh-fidsa-767ba738/About the host:Dr. Bradley Block – Dr. Bradley Block is a board-certified otolaryngologist at ENT and Allergy Associates in Garden City, NY. He specializes in adult and pediatric ENT, with interests in sinusitis and obstructive sleep apnea. Dr. Block also hosts The Physician's Guide to Doctoring podcast, focusing on personal and professional development for physiciansWant to be a guest? Email Brad at brad@physiciansguidetodoctoring.com  or visit www.physiciansguidetodoctoring.com to learn more!Socials:@physiciansguidetodoctoring on Facebook@physicianguidetodoctoring on YouTube@physiciansguide on Instagram and Twitter  Visit www.physiciansguidetodoctoring.com to connect, dive deeper, and keep the conversation going. Let's grow! Disclaimer:This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical, financial, or legal advice. Always consult a qualified professional for personalized guidance.

South Africa's progress in fighting HIV and TB is under threat due to US funding cuts, with 39 clinical research sites at risk. This is according to a new report by Doctors Without Borders and the Treatment Action Group done for the first time since the US announced funding cuts for foreign aid earlier this year. The recent analysis reveals that 39 clinical research sites are at risk in South Africa. Elvis Presslin spoke to TB Advocacy Pharmacist at Medisins Sans Frontiers, Christophe Perrin

With three years of The Black Casebook in the books, it only seemed right that we celebrate by turning the floor over to you, my beloved listeners, for our annual mailbag episode. This one has it all: giant robots, a salute to Morrowind, how to rescue Tim Drake, Berserk Korner, and all the esoteric bullshit you can handle. And much more!Please consider supporting Palestinians through a gift to the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Palestinian Children's Relief Fund⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠ANERA⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠Doctors Without Borders⁠⁠⁠⁠, or the charity of your choice.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,on Bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. You can also support us ⁠⁠⁠⁠on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Sponsored by: Set for LifeSet For Life Insurance helps doctors safeguard their future with True Own Occupational Disability Insurance. A single injury or illness can change everything, but the best physicians plan ahead. Protect your income and secure your future before life makes the choice for you. Your career deserves protection—act now at https://www.doctorpodcastnetwork.co/setforlife_______________In this episode, Dr. Tyler Evans, dives into the current state of infectious diseases in the U.S. and globally. From measles outbreaks driven by vaccine hesitancy to waning immunity fueling whooping cough, Dr. Evans covers the resurgence of diseases once thought under control. He also discusses bird flu (H5N1), mpox, and Marburg virus, highlighting the impact of reduced public health surveillance due to budget cuts. With stories from his work in South Sudan and New York City's COVID-19 response, Dr. Evans emphasizes the need for robust systems to protect against global health threats. Tune in for a crash course on staying ahead of the next pandemic.Three Actionable Takeaways:Check Your Measles Vaccination Status – If you're a healthcare worker in a rural area or near a measles outbreak, consider an MMR booster, especially if born before 1989 when only one dose was standard.Stay Vigilant for Whooping Cough – Be aware of waning immunity five years post-vaccination, particularly if you're around young children, and ensure pertussis vaccinations are up to date.Advocate for Public Health Funding – Reduced surveillance for diseases like bird flu and mpox due to budget cuts increases risks; support policies that strengthen public health infrastructure.About the Show:The Physician's Guide to Doctoring covers patient interactions, burnout, career growth, personal finance, and more. If you're tired of dull medical lectures, tune in for real-world lessons we should have learned in med school!About the Guest:Dr. Tyler Evans is the CEO and co-founder of Wellness and Equity Alliance, with extensive experience in infectious disease and public health. He has led initiatives at Curative Incorporated, Marin County Health, and New York City's COVID-19 response, overseeing the delivery of over 2 million vaccine doses. His work with Doctors Without Borders and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation spans HIV/AIDS, refugee health, and global infectious diseases. Dr. Evans is the author of Pandemics, Poverty, and Politics: Decoding the Social and Political Drivers of Pandemics from Plague to COVID-19, set for release in August 2025.Website: https://www.tylerevansmd.com/LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-b-evans-md-ms-mph-aahivs-dtmh-fidsa-767ba738/   About the HostDr. Bradley Block – Dr. Bradley Block is a board-certified otolaryngologist at ENT and Allergy Associates in Garden City, NY. He specializes in adult and pediatric ENT, with interests in sinusitis and obstructive sleep apnea. Dr. Block also hosts The Physician's Guide to Doctoring podcast, focusing on personal and professional development for physiciansWant to be a guest? Email Brad at brad@physiciansguidetodoctoring.com or visit www.physiciansguidetodoctoring.com to learn more!Socials:@physiciansguidetodoctoring on Facebook@physicianguidetodoctoring on YouTube@physiciansguide on Instagram and Twitter Visit www.physiciansguidetodoctoring.com to connect, dive deeper, and keep the conversation going. Let's grow! Disclaimer:This podcast is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical, financial, or legal advice. Always consult a qualified professional for personalized guidance.

Where were you when the lights went out? Like a specter from the past, The Black Casebook returns to discuss Strange Apparitions, the seminal Bronze Age story that set the stage for the modern Batman to come. Released amid the 1977 New York blackout and the crumbling postwar consensus, Strange Apparitions is a story about what happens when the lights go out—and an entire city, cast into darkness, is forced to dream of what comes next.Please consider supporting Palestinians through a gift to the ⁠⁠⁠Palestinian Children's Relief Fund⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠ANERA⁠⁠⁠, Doctors Without Borders⁠⁠⁠, or the charity of your choice.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can find The Black Casebook on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,on Bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@blackcasebookpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and you can write in to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠blackcasebookpod@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to share any Bat-thoughts you have. You can also support us ⁠⁠⁠on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Theme by Black Plastique⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Intro music by ZHRØ.

On June 7, 2025, Oar the Rainbow will be one of just five teams losing sight of shore for an unsupported, human-powered, 2800-mile row from Monterey, CA to Kauai, HI. The team, – including the first out transgender person to row across the Pacific – are about two years into their planning and training.  Members Taylan Stulting, Julie Warren, and Courtney Farber have inclusion, joy, and kindness at the heart of the team, with the belief that representation in sports matters, while pushing the limits of endurance. We talk about the love of rowing, having something to prove, what to expect out there, and fundraising for Athlete Ally and Doctors Without Borders. Stick around for a bonus Q&A with ocean rower, author, and adventurer Jordan Hanssen.   QUICK LOOK 00:00 - Podcast Series Introduction 01:45 - Episode Intro: Rachel and Tara's take on taking on an ocean 08:57 - The Huddle: A quick get to know you  10:39 - Rowing week on a scale of 1-10 11:26 - The Hot Seat Q&A 13:58 - Rowing origin stories: For Courtney the stars aligned in her 30s; Julie got handed a flier as a college freshman; Taylan sought out a college LTR program 19:20 - Most recent training/practical session together 21:09 - The dream of rowing an ocean 26:05 - How Oar the Rainbow came to be 28:40 - Commitment and family sacrifices 30:30 - About the World's Toughest Row 31:20 - The boat named Emma 32:30 - Training 33:37 - Extrapolating personal skills to make the teamwork work 38:03 - The “why”  42:42 - Charities and support 44:14 - Intro to Q&A with ocean rower, author, and adventurer Jordan Hanssen 44:55 -  What is so exciting about rowing on the ocean?  45:56 -  What piece of equipment or personal gear do you wish that you had with you?  48:25 -  How did you feel hitting the halfway point and in the days following that milestone?  49:44 -  What was the transition back to life on land like for you?  51:38 -  How to plan for something unexpected? 53:10 -  Lovely nuggets 56:10 - Steady State Network news and notes . To see photos of Oar the Rainbow, and get links to the people, clubs, and events mentioned in this episode, check out the show notes on our website. . This episode was made possible in part by Breakwater Realty, RowSource, and our Patrons. . Steady State Podcast is written, produced, hosted, and edited by Rachel Freedman and Tara Morgan. Tara provides additional audio engineering and is our sponsor and donor coordinator. Rachel manages the website, social media, and e-newsletter. Our theme music is by Jonas Hipper. . SHOP SSN GEAR: www.steadystatenetwork.com/shop SIGN UP FOR THE SSN NEWSLETTER: www.steadystatenetwork.com/newsletter MAKE A DIFFERENCE: www.steadystatenetwork.com/support  Check out more Steady State Network here:  FB - /SteadyStateNetwork IG - @SteadyStateNetwork FB - /AllieswithOars IG - @AllieswithOars BLUESKY - steadystatenetwork.bsky.social Connect on FB and IG with the hosts: Rachel Freedman - @RowSource Tara Morgan - @CmonBarber  

Today I have the honor and the pleasure to speak once again with celebrated poet and physician, Fady Joudah. The last time Fady was on the podcast was in November, 2023, shortly after the outbreak of war in Gaza. At that point we spoke about the impossibility of, even then, quantifying the genocide. Today we focus on the politics of language—in particular, the distinction Fady Joudah makes between Palestine in English, and Palestine in Arabic. We speak too of the need for and limitations of solidarity, and finish with a reading and discussion of one of Fady Joudah's most remarkable and stunning poems, “Truth is Never Finished.”  Fady Joudah is a Palestinian American physician, poet, and translator. He was born in Austin, Texas, and grew up in Libya and Saudi Arabia. He was educated at the University of Georgia, the Medical College of Georgia, and the University of Texas Health Sciences in Houston. In 2002 and 2005 he worked with Doctors Without Borders in Zambia and Sudan, respectively.Joudah's debut collection of poetry, The Earth in the Attic (2008), won the 2007 Yale Series of Younger Poets competition, chosen by Louise Glück. Joudah followed his second book of poetry, Alight (2013) with Textu (2014), a collection of poems written on a cell phone wherein each piece is exactly 160 characters long. His fourth collection is Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance (2018).  In 2014, Joudah was a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry. As critic Charles Bainbridge observed in a 2008 Guardian review of The Earth in the Attic, “Joudah's poetry thrives on dramatic shifts in perspective, on continually challenging received notions.”Joudah translated  several collections of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish's work in The Butterfly's Burden (2006), which won the Banipal prize from the UK and was a finalist for the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation; and in If I Were Another, which won a PEN USA award in 2010. His translation of Ghassan Zaqtan's Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me (2012) won the Griffin International Poetry Prize in 2013. His other translations include Amjad Nasser's Petra: The Concealed Rose and A Map of Signs and Scents.Joudah lives with his family in Houston, where he works as a physician of internal medicine.

Heavy US tariffs against much of the world will kick in on Tuesday at midnight. Few will be hit has hard as Cambodia — where nearly a third of the country's economy is generated by selling goods to Americans — as Cambodian exports to the US are set to face a 49% tariff. Also, Doctors Without Borders reports that 1/5 of all primary care visits in Gaza deal with illness caused by a lack of access to clean water as the enclave faces acute water shortages amid an Israeli blockade. And, the Ivory Coast bans wigs for this year's national beauty pageant in favor of natural hair styles. Plus, British Bengali musician Tara Lily's debut album is inspired by the ocean waves of Goa and nightlife in Mumbai.Listen to today's Music Heard on Air. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

I had a quick call with Linda Tay Esposito from @flavor_explosions, who organized a bake sale to fundraise for earthquake relief efforts in Myanmar.  Here in San Francisco, Linda has gathered over 35 bakers who are donating some goods towards the relief effort. Each item will be $5 or $10, with 100% of the proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders in Myanmar. It's Sunday, April 13th, from 10AM-1PM only!  @18reasons (located at 18th St / Dolores street). Come by and load up on amazing and yummy goods, while supporting those affected gravely by the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that has devastated central Myanmar. If you can't make it personally, you can still donate using this link: https://tinyurl.com/BakeforMyanmarDonate Every little bit counts!   

This week Doctors without Borders condemned Israel's strike on Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. It says two people were killed in the hospital's inpatient surgical department and several injured. The BBC reported that they were a senior Hamas leader and his aide. That hospital is where our next guest, Australian emergency nurse Jafaar Yusof was heading. Jafaar, who normally works for Mercy hospitals in Melbourne is currently volunteering for PANZMA - the Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association. A non-profit organisation who's sole focus is providing medical aid to Palestinians in need.

We've mentioned pre-parties on the show before, but what are they exactly? This week, we're joined by Eurovision fan and organizer of the MancHagen pre-party, James Penrose, who tells us everything we need to know about the history of pre-parties, how they get started, and maybe a detail or two about MancHagen. Jeremy worries over an American in Manchester, Dimitry covets a vintage cassette, James is still waiting for the mail, and Oscar experiences a week of shocking revelations.MancHagen is April 10th through the 13th, with dozens of Eurovision acts, past and present, drag artists, songwriter panels, fashion runways and more! Proceeds from the show go to support Doctors Without Borders and selected LGBT charities in the UK and elsewhere. Tickets are available here: https://www.manchagen.uk/ticketsAlso tune in to the MaxFun YouTube channel on Friday, March 28th at 6pm PDT to catch Jeremy co-hosting the MFD Finale Livestream! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDEnsIk2Grbqf9vUw737VGwThis week's companion playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/22U81L3i9CJ7k2srCci9nj?si=8jA43-AZTl644q_XZGBokw MaxFunDrive ends on March 28, 2025! Support our show now and get access to bonus content by becoming a member at maximumfun.org/join.---The Eurovangelists are Jeremy Bent, Oscar Montoya and Dimitry Pompée.The theme was arranged and recorded by Cody McCorry and Faye Fadem, and the logo was designed by Tom Deja.Production support for this show was provided by the Maximum Fun network.The show is edited by Jeremy Bent with audio mixing help was courtesy of Shane O'Connell.Find Eurovangelists on social media as @eurovangelists on Instagram and @eurovangelistspod.bsky.social on Bluesky, or send us an email at eurovangelists@gmail.com. Head to https://maxfunstore.com/collections/eurovangelists for Eurovangelists merch. Also follow the Eurovangelists account on Spotify and check out our playlists of Eurovision hits, competitors in upcoming national finals, and companion playlists to every single episode, including this one!

Fady Joudah is an esteemed Palestinian Poet/Activist. And we had a great long conversation with him about poetry and resistance, conditions in Gaza, the difficulty of describing the Palestinian struggle in English, the failure of the west to defend Gaza, and much more. And we finished with Fady reading and deconstructing some of his poetry for us. Bio// Fady Joudah is a Palestinian American physician, poet, and translator. He was born in Austin, Texas, and grew up in Libya and Saudi Arabia. He was educated at the University of Georgia, the Medical College of Georgia, and the University of Texas Health Sciences in Houston. In 2002 and 2005 he worked with Doctors Without Borders in Zambia and Sudan, respectively.Joudah's debut collection of poetry, The Earth in the Attic (2008), won the 2007 Yale Series of Younger Poets competition, chosen by Louise Glück. Joudah followed his second book of poetry, Alight (2013) with Textu (2014), a collection of poems written on a cell phone wherein each piece is exactly 160 characters long. His fourth collection is Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance (2018). In 2014, Joudah was a Guggenheim Fellow in poetry. As critic Charles Bainbridge observed in a 2008 Guardian review of The Earth in the Attic, “Joudah's poetry thrives on dramatic shifts in perspective, on continually challenging received notions.”Joudah translated several collections of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish's work in The Butterfly's Burden (2006), which won the Banipal prize from the UK and was a finalist for the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation; and in If I Were Another, which won a PEN USA award in 2010. His translation of Ghassan Zaqtan's Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me (2012) won the Griffin International Poetry Prize in 2013. His other translations include Amjad Nasser's Petra: The Concealed Rose and A Map of Signs and Scents.Joudah lives with his family in Houston, where he works as a physician of internal medicine.—————-Outro- "Green and Red Blues" by MoodyLinks//+ Fady Joudah: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/fady-joudahFollow Green and Red// +G&R Linktree: ⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast⁠⁠⁠ +Our rad website: ⁠⁠⁠https://greenandredpodcast.org/⁠⁠⁠ + Join our Discord community (https://discord.gg/vgKnY3sd)+Follow us on Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/podcastgreenred.bsky.social)Support the Green and Red Podcast// +Become a Patron at https://www.patreon.com/greenredpodcast +Or make a one time donation here: ⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/DonateGandR⁠⁠⁠ Our Networks// +We're part of the Labor Podcast Network: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.laborradionetwork.org/⁠⁠ +We're part of the Anti-Capitalist Podcast Network: linktr.ee/anticapitalistpodcastnetwork +Listen to us on WAMF (90.3 FM) in New Orleans (https://wamf.org/) This is a Green and Red Podcast (@PodcastGreenRed) production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969). Edited by Isaac.

Aaron hosts five contestants in specialized topics to see if they can complete their list to collect a jackpot for the charity Doctors Without Borders.The Gateleapers Audra, Jenn, and Matt team up with BFYTW's Augie and Stevie to complete five lists on: Words, Movies, Chemistry, US Cities, and Sitcoms.https://www.instagram.com/gateleaperspod/Promos @MarriedwTV @Infectious_PodProudly Sponsored by Peace, Love, & Budhttps://www.plbud.com/Shoutouts to our Patrons; Mexi, Justin B, Kristin F ,Jeramey F ,Flaose, Todd, Jim, Flaos, Bridget F., David M., Dave A, Erin S, Donna/Colin Maggs,The GateLeapers, Kacey S., William M., Crunchie, DJ Xanthus, Crystal D.Free Followers on Patreon: Joáo C, Joep, Leonardo, Irsya Cahyo, Teanna Cm Lucho D.Founding Members of @OddPodsMedia https://www.patreon.com/BFYTWShow Music by @KeroseneLetter and @Mexigun Our Merch Available by contacting us.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyJG-PDn6su32Et_eSiC6RQwww.BFYTWpod.com

What do Fareed Zakaria, Nikki Haley, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Vinod Khosla and Kamala Harris all have in common? They are all, of course, highly successful Americans of Indian descent. According Meenakshi Ahamed, author of Indian Genius, one reason for what she calls the “meteoric rise” of Indians in America are their humble beginnings here. Arriving with minimal resources (what she calls the "$8 club"), Ahamed attributes their success to "jugaad" (resourcefulness), competitive spirit, family values, and an emphasis on education. She notes Indians are America's fastest-growing immigrant group, with traditionally Democratic voting patterns, though a 10% shift toward Republicans occurred in recent elections. So what are the chances that Trump will read Indian Genius to understand the upside of immigration to America? Less than zero, of course. 5 Key Takeaways * Successful Immigration Counter-Narrative: Ahamed's book presents a counter-narrative to anti-immigrant rhetoric, showcasing how Indian Americans have made significant contributions to American society, particularly in medicine, technology, and business.* The "$8 Club" Phenomenon: Many successful Indian immigrants came to America with extremely limited resources (just $8 due to India's currency restrictions) yet achieved remarkable success through determination, education, and hard work.* "Jugaad" Mindset: Ahamed attributes much of Indian immigrants' success to "jugaad" - a resourcefulness and ability to create something from nothing, developed in India's competitive environment where people must constantly find ways to get ahead.* Generational and Class Dynamics: Earlier Indian immigrants (1965-2010) typically came from upper castes with access to education, though this is changing. Additionally, Ahamed notes differences between first-generation immigrants like Vinod Khosla and later arrivals like Nadella and Pichai.* Shifting Political Allegiances: While Indian Americans traditionally voted 75% Democratic, Ahamed notes a recent 10% shift toward Republicans, particularly among younger Indian American men born in the US, reflecting broader demographic voting patterns.Meenakshi Ahamed was born in 1954 in Calcutta, India. After finishing school in India, she obtained an MA from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in 1978. She has had a varied career as a journalist, and prior to that, as a development consultant. She has worked at the World Bank in Washington, DC, as well as for the Ashoka Society. In 1989, she moved to London and became the foreign correspondent for New Delhi Television (NDTV). After returning to the United States in 1996, she worked as a freelance journalist. Her op-eds and articles have been published in the Asian Age, Seminar, Foreign Policy, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. She has served on the board of Doctors Without Borders, the Turquoise Mountain Foundation, and Drugs for Neglected Diseases. She divides her time between the United States and India.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Ethan Weber is a renowned lighting designer and director, best known for his decades-long work with The Rolling Stones and an extensive career spanning U2, John Mayer, Green Day, P!nk, and more. Starting at See Factor in 1984, he joined the Stones in 1994's Voodoo Lounge Tour, evolving into a key creative force behind their legendary shows.With a work-hard, ego-free approach, Ethan blends technical expertise with artistic vision, shaping some of the world's biggest tours. Passionate about giving back, he supports Doctors Without Borders and other charities. His motto? “Never half-ass anything.”This episode is brought to you by Main Light and Elation

In this episode of the Inspiring Brave Leaders Podcast, Christina interviews Jimmy Westerheim, a mental health advocate, Ashoka fellow, and founder of "The Human Aspect"."The Life Experience Librarian" shares his personal journey far beyond these job descriptions, including his own struggles with mental health, the impact of his upbringing, his time in Afghanistan with "Doctors Without Borders", and how these experiences shaped his mission to destigmatize mental health issues.It's about how we fuel the "generation performance", the importance of vulnerability, emotional intelligence, the right vocabulary and the need for open conversations about mental health. The episode highlights the significance of storytelling in healing and the role of community support in overcoming challenges, amidst global crises.Also, Christina and Jimmy explore the significance of understanding one's true self beyond societal roles and the unique mental health struggles faced by men, advocating for patience and emotional openness, and much more.Trigger warning: This episode contains talks of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, abuse, domestic violence and war scenes.Our guest:Jimmy Westerheim on LinkedInJimmy Westerheim on InstagramLinks to things mentioned in the episode:The Human AspectDoctors Without Borders

In a Cabinet meeting, Elon Musk defended the actions his team has made to cut government jobs, but public health experts say Musk is wrong. USAID's Ebola prevention efforts have been largely frozen since the agency was mostly shuttered last month. Laura Barrón-López discussed more with Dr. Craig Spencer, who survived Ebola after treating patients in Guinea with Doctors Without Borders in 2014. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

In a Cabinet meeting, Elon Musk defended the actions his team has made to cut government jobs, but public health experts say Musk is wrong. USAID's Ebola prevention efforts have been largely frozen since the agency was mostly shuttered last month. Laura Barrón-López discussed more with Dr. Craig Spencer, who survived Ebola after treating patients in Guinea with Doctors Without Borders in 2014. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Regina Yuen took a leap of faith when she accepted her first mission with Doctors Without Borders, stepping into the unknown in South Sudan. Faced with a new culture, limited resources, and the challenges of humanitarian nursing, she quickly learned the power of adaptability and teamwork. Her experience reshaped her perspective on global healthcare and solidified her passion for making a difference in the world's most vulnerable communities. Connect with Sigma: Tweet us at @SigmaNursing Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn Share your A Nurse First story

How scholars around Europe created an international network of intellectual exchange. As examples we consider the activities of Mersenne, Peiresc, Leibniz, Calvet, and Hartlib.

Doctors Without Borders emergency coordinator Caroline Seguin reports that lifesaving medical equipment inside the hospitals in northern Gaza has been methodically destroyed, “smashed to pieces, one by one, to make sure no medical care could be provided anymore.” “You have to ask: What is the motivation of such action? These machines are made to save people's lives, mothers, fathers, children,” Seguin writes. But we all know the motivation. The motivation is to make the Gaza Strip unlivable for Palestinians. I mean, what excuses could the Israel apologists possibly produce for this one? Were Hamas hiding in the ventilators? Were the MRI machines being used as human shields? Was there a weapons stockpile in the defibrillator? Was the incubator moving in ways that made IDF troops feel unsafe? What's the hasbara line on this, exactly? Doesn't look like there is one. After all the lies about Israel's reasons for systematically destroying Gaza's healthcare facilities, they've now dropped all pretenses and are openly targeting medical equipment itself for destruction. The goal was always to make the Gaza Strip uninhabitable in order to facilitate the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Reading by Tim Foley.

“ A lot of women are living in uncertainty about their health — so most of us are in a really weird situationship with our health. And that to me is quite sad.” Dr. Varuna Srinivasan is the Founder & CEO of Fluid Health — she is a sexual health expert, writer, and speaker based in Brooklyn. For the past decade, Varuna has worked on improving reproductive health access with organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Planned Parenthood, and more. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post, Paper, Health, and Parents, and has been recognized by the NHS, Bumble, and even Serena Williams. Varuna + Fluid Health's mission is to leverage education and technology to provide inclusive and personalized sexual health care. Varuna's actually a “friend of a FrieMMd of the Pod” - first introduced to us by past guest Dr. Nzinga Harrison - Hi Nzinga. You'll enjoy this conversation that follows many cups of chai - chatting work, life entrepreneurship, India, and family. LEARN MORE myfluidhealth.com/ instagram.com/drvarunasrinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A judge temporarily blocks part of Trump's plans to freeze federal aid. North Korean soldiers are using near-suicidal tactics in battle in Russia's war on Ukraine. America's answer to Concorde completes its first supersonic flight. Plus, the CEO of Doctors Without Borders, USA discusses the ongoing crisis in Gaza.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Taylor brings Captain Aria Godey to the table. Captain Aria is a pirate who touched a gold piece that is slowly consuming her and turning her into gold.Taylor and I discuss belonging as a Black creator in the TTRPG space, learning to accept that plus size bodies can be desired, and how cosplay informs character building.This character is built for Thirsty Sword Lesbians by April Kit Walsh.Taylor is a Black variety content creator and TTRPG performer located on the east coast. She loves to cosplay to bring her characters to life.You can learn more about Taylor at:https://www.characterswithoutstories.com/guests/taylorA Haunting, Beloved is a cinematic actual play by Numinous Productions using the system Bluebeard's Bride.Game Master Monday is the podcast that plays a new one shot in a new system with a new cast EVERY EPISODE.https://linktr.ee/grant_nordineMentioned in the episode:Gloria (glowpinkstah)thetinytacoSend us a textPlease donate to the TTRPGTok Charity Drive to support Doctors Without Borders' relief efforts in Gaza. Support my team - the Tabletop Titans.Give NowCover art by The CuriographerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecuriographer Sign up for my Newsletter to stay up-to-date on the podcast:https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/760760/109867356957705889/shareSupport the PodcastYou can find Star at:Website: http://www.characterswithoutstories.comTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@starmamacYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@characterswithoutstoriesThreads: https://www.threads.net/@characterswithoutstoriesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/characterswithoutstoriesBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/characterswithoutstories.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/characterswithoutstoriesThanks for listening, and may all your characters find their stories!

 Would you like to make a difference in someone's life? How do you know the best place to donate either time or money? Where will it help the most? Today's guest is Marc Gold who is the founder and director of the 100 Friends Project based in San Francisco and Bangkok. Marc collects donations, then travels to Third World Countries and looks for the neediest people. He then puts the money to work in the most compassionate, appropriate, culturally compatible, constructive, and practical manner possible and reports back to the donors. At a very young age, Marc's father taught him the importance of trying to make the world a better place. There are so many people who need so much worldwide. He goes looking for people not served by anyone and chose to work overseas. Marc has taught high school in Harlem and has taught classes at numerous community colleges around the country. He teaches half the year and lives with his sister, then travels as inexpensively as possible. Marc also talks about the way people rate top organizations such as Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders and how they utilize their resources very effectively in getting a large percentage of donations to those with the most need.  In his travels, he has also met and worked with Mother Teresa. He talks about how any donation, no matter how large or small, can make a significant difference in someone's life. Info: www.100friends.org

Welcome to another episode of Perspective Checks where I sit down with friends and folks from the TTRPG world and discuss what they love about this wonderful hobby!   This month's episode is a late upload from last year, but it fits perfectly well to kick off 2025 - we're talking about getting into TTRPGs with Amber & Jess from DMs After Dark, my original RPGs on the internet homies! We talk about how to approach playing as a new player, where to find games, how to best communicate and find a good group, as well as tips for new GMs to avoid common early pitfalls.   Go check out the EXTENSIVE backlog of great RPG actual plays on the DMs After Dark channel (podcast & YouTube)!    TTRPG Charity Event for Doctors Without Borders! Please please please check out friend of the podcast Star from Characters Without Stories and her friends' charity event going on all through January over at: https://tinyurl.com/TabletopTitan . You can donate however you'd like, but you can also redeem great things with your donation like TTRPGs, a seat at professionally GM'd tables, and more! It's a great cause, so consider going and donating. If you do, send me proof and I'll send you a free copy of MECH or some stickers or something!   ----more----   If you haven't but you'd like to, get yourself some stickers or give me some feedback by filling out my poll here.   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark MECH | One Last Quest email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands

Please consider donating to Doctors Without Borders to help with their continuing work in Gaza. https://tinyurl.com/tabletoptitan Thank you!

We're back for season 2 of Ironsworn: Sundered Isles and this time the story will be taking place shortly after the conclusion of Dyne's story from last year in a very different location - The Heart of the Kyrody Dominion itself!   Rene goes through the campaign creation steps to adjust some of the Truths from season 1 to reflect for the new part of the world this story takes place in, creates his character for the game - Cassidy McCabe, a Haunted Cutthroat Spy - and makes a map of the Myriads we'll be exploring in this season!   TTRPG Charity Event for Doctors Without Borders! Please please please check out friend of the podcast Star from Characters Without Stories and her friends' charity event going on all through January over at: https://tinyurl.com/TabletopTitan . You can donate however you'd like, but you can also redeem great things with your donation like TTRPGs, a seat at professionally GM'd tables, and more! It's a great cause, so consider going and donating. If you do, send me proof and I'll send you a free copy of MECH or some stickers or something!   ----more----   If you haven't but you'd like to, get yourself some stickers or give me some feedback by filling out my poll here.   I made a Ko-Fi if you feel absurdly generous and want to help cover podcast hosting costs & all the upkeep. I'm still working on whether I want to offer anything special over there or just give my extreme gratitude (maybe some stickers or something in the mail) to those who donate, but no pressure whatsoever :)   Where to Follow Rene Plays Games: LinkTree |  BlueSky | Threads | Instagram | Facebook | DMs After Dark MECH |  email: RenePlaysGamesPod@gmail.com   Music in the Episode: Theme Song written & produced by Dan Pomfret | @danfrombothbands Downtime Acoustics by Monument Studios Trireme by TabletopAudio.com Pirates by TabletopAudio.com Map Chamber by TabletopAudio.com Windswept Realms, Volume III by Vindsvept

One of the organization's first missions was in Nicaragua following the devastating 1972 earthquake. Since then, MSF has expanded its operations worldwide, responding to emergencies such as the Rwandan Genocide, the Ebola outbreaks in West Africa, and refugee ...

This  episode of the Social Change Career Podcast features a powerful conversation with Mike Brand, a leader in atrocity prevention and human rights advocacy. As the final episode of 2024, this discussion dives deep into careers at the intersection of peacebuilding, advocacy, and strategic change-making. Mike  brings years of expertise, having worked across the U.S., Rwanda, South Sudan, and other conflict zones. He has supported civil society organizations with strategic planning, program development, and policy advocacy. Currently, Mike teaches mass atrocity prevention at Georgetown University and the University of Connecticut. Why Listen to This Episode? Career Advice for Changemakers Mike offers practical tips for navigating careers in advocacy, human rights, and peacebuilding. Whether you're just starting or looking to pivot, his insights can help you identify the right path and build meaningful connections. From Medical Aspirations to Advocacy Leadership Learn how Mike transitioned from aspiring to join Doctors Without Borders to becoming a leader in atrocity prevention, fueled by personal experiences and a deep sense of purpose. Insights into Advocacy Discover the many layers of advocacy work, from grassroots organizing to influencing policymakers in Washington, D.C., and beyond. Navigating Complex Challenges Hear Mike's perspective on working with civil society in high-risk zones and addressing ethical dilemmas in funding and program implementation. Optimism Amid Darkness Despite the challenges of atrocity prevention, Mike shares how hope and idealism remain central to driving positive change. Bio: Mike Brand is a human rights, atrocities prevention, and peacebuilding professional with experience in policy, advocacy, organizing, and education. Throughout his career, Mike has worked for various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the United States, Rwanda, and South Sudan, and has done fieldwork in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. Mike supports civil society organizations and diaspora networks in strategic planning, program development, and achieving their advocacy and organizing objectives. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, national and international publications, and has been quoted in international news outlets as an expert in his field. Mike is also an Adjunct Professor of mass atrocities prevention and human rights at Georgetown University and the University of Connecticut. He holds a Master of Arts in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University, with a concentration in human rights and atrocities prevention, and Bachelors of Arts in History and Political Science with a minor in human rights from the University of Connecticut. Resources  Sudanese American Physicians Association (SAPA): A non-profit organization of Sudanese-American medical professionals providing humanitarian aid and healthcare services in Sudan. Visit SAPA Rotary Peace Fellowship: Offers fully funded fellowships for dedicated leaders to study at Rotary Peace Centers, focusing on peace and development issues. Learn more about Rotary Peace Fellowship Scoville Peace Fellowship: Provides recent college and graduate school alumni with the opportunity to work with organizations in Washington, D.C., on international peace and security issues. Discover the Scoville Fellowship International Crisis Group: An independent organization working to prevent wars and shape policies that will build a more peaceful world. Explore the International Crisis Group Global Dispatches Podcast: Hosted by Mark Leon Goldberg, this podcast offers insights into foreign policy, geopolitics, sustainable development, and the United Nations. Listen to Global Dispatches PCDN Resources PCDN Free Weekly Impact Newsletter: Explore global social impact jobs, funding, and opportunities. Sign up here Social Change Career Podcast: Access over 170 episodes featuring changemakers worldwide. Available at https://pcdn.global/listen or any major podcast platform.  

Join us as we talk with Gillian Burkhardt, an obstetrician-gynecology physician currently on assignment with Doctors Without Borders in South Darfur. We explore the devastating impact of the ongoing conflict in Sudan, which has created one of the world's largest displacement crises. Gillian shares firsthand accounts of the maternal and neonatal health crisis, the challenges of providing care amidst violence, medical supply shortages, and the urgent need for international support to address these critical issues affecting millions of displaced people. Gillian Burkhardt is an obstetrician-gynecologist. She discusses the KevinMD article, "The maternal and child health crisis in Sudan: a call to action." Our presenting sponsor is DAX Copilot by Microsoft. DAX Copilot, by Microsoft, is your AI assistant for automated clinical documentation and workflows. DAX Copilot allows physicians to do more with less and turn their words into a powerful productivity tool. DAX Copilot automates clinical documentation—making it available in the EHR within minutes—and clinical workflows, including referral letters, after-visit summaries, style and formatting customizations, and more. 70 percent of physicians who use DAX Copilot say it improves their work-life balance while reducing feelings of burnout and fatigue. Patients love it too! 93 percent of patients say their physician is more personable and conversational, and 75 percent of physicians say it improves patient experiences. Discover AI-powered solutions for clinical documentation and workflows. Click here to see a 12-minute DAX Copilot demo. VISIT SPONSOR → https://aka.ms/kevinmd SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST → https://www.kevinmd.com/podcast RECOMMENDED BY KEVINMD → https://www.kevinmd.com/recommended GET CME FOR THIS EPISODE → https://www.kevinmd.com/cme I'm partnering with Learner+ to offer clinicians access to an AI-powered reflective portfolio that rewards CME/CE credits from meaningful reflections. Find out more: https://www.kevinmd.com/learnerplus

The future of abortion access is uncertain right now. But here in Pittsburgh, there's a small but mighty team trying to make sure people have the information and supplies they need for safe and self managed reproductive care. And they're doing it all from a ratty old van.  Thanks so much to chief van lady Alecia Ott, owner and founder of the Auto(nomous) Body Shop, and Alexa Pierce, co-founder of the Pittsburgh Abortion Access Network, now known as the Auto(nomous) Body Shop Student Vanbassador Program. Have more questions about self-managed abortions? Check out protocols from the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders. Learn more about the sponsors of this December 3rd episode: City Theatre - use code CityCast for $5 off BetterHelp - get 10% off at betterhelp.com/CITYCAST Autism Pittsburgh Become a member of City Cast Pittsburgh at membership.citycast.fm. Want more Pittsburgh news?  Sign up for our daily morning Hey Pittsburgh newsletter. We're on Instagram @CityCastPgh. Text or leave us a voicemail at 412-212-8893. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Quick question: What does innovation mean to you, and why is it so crucial for organizations today to embrace it? If you have been pondering about this and don't know where and how to start, then this episode is for you. Welcome to today's episode, where we're diving into the world of innovation with Nick Jain, CEO of IdeaScale, the leading innovation software company. If you've ever wondered how organizations like NASA, Comcast, NASCAR, and Doctors Without Borders stay at the forefront of their industries, IdeaScale is often the force driving their most groundbreaking initiatives. As the core platform behind these global giants' innovation efforts, IdeaScale enables organizations to source, develop, and implement ideas from within and beyond their teams. Nick's journey is just as impressive as his company's impact. Graduating at the top of his class from Harvard Business School and holding a degree in mathematics from Dartmouth, he's a visionary leader with a sharp analytical mindset and a passion for innovation. Today, we'll explore his approach to fostering creativity, sustaining innovation in complex organizations, and what it takes to lead in an ever-evolving tech landscape. Get ready for insights into the future of innovation, the power of ideas, and the critical role that visionary leadership plays in turning ambition into reality. In this episode, Nick will be sharing: 1) The biggest challenges organizations face when it comes to cultivating a culture of innovation. 2) The key ingredients for transforming raw ideas into actionable, successful projects 3) The Trends in the innovation space Learn more about Nick: Website- https://ideascale.com/ LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickjain/ X- https://x.com/NickMJain