Podcasts about Dutch

When you visit Disneyland or Disney World, something subtle happens in the parking lot both when you arrive and when you leave. Most people never notice it, yet it reflects a simple insight Walt Disney understood about human behavior — one that can make everyday experiences feel better and more memorable if you apply it in your own life. Source: Tom Peters author of The Little Big Things (https://amzn.to/4cmUMaZ). We often talk about the “chemistry of love,” but the reality goes much deeper. Our attraction to others, the way relationships form, and even why love sometimes falls apart are strongly shaped by biology. Dr. Liat Yakir, a biologist specializing in genetics and science communication, explains how hormones, brain chemistry, and evolutionary forces influence who we fall for and how relationships unfold. She is the author of A Brief History of Love: What Attracts Us, How We Fall in Love and Why Biology Screws it All Up (https://amzn.to/3vkyiqn), and she shares fascinating insights into what's really happening inside our brains and bodies when we experience love — along with a surprisingly practical prescription for building stronger relationships. Many of us pay fees, higher prices, and miss opportunities simply because we never ask for something better. Yet asking for a waiver, a discount, or a different option can often save real money. Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at LendingTree and author of Ask Questions, Save Money, Make More: How to Take Control of Your Financial Life (https://amzn.to/4a1xIgt), explains why so many people hesitate to ask, when asking works best, and how small conversations can lead to surprisingly big financial wins. For some people, walking barefoot feels freeing and natural. For others, the idea seems unhealthy or even dangerous. Humans have been wearing shoes for tens of thousands of years, which raises an interesting question: are shoes protecting us — or weakening our feet? https://time.com/6284245/walking-barefoot-health-risks/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS POCKET HOSE: Text SYSK to 64000 for your two free gifts with the purchase of any Pocket Hose Ballistic hose! DUTCH: If your pet is still scratching and you've tried everything at the pet store –it's time to stop guessing and go prescription.Support us and use code SYSK for $40 off your membership at ⁠https://Dutch.com⁠ RULA: Thousands of people are already using Rula to get affordable, high-quality therapy that's actually covered by insurance. Visit ⁠https://Rula.com/sysk⁠ to get started. QUINCE: Don't keep settling for clothes that don't last! Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Quince.dom/sysk ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too! SHOPIFY: See less carts go abandoned with Shopify and their Shop Pay button! Sign up for your $1 per month trail and start selling today at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Shopify.com/sysk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ EXPEDITION UNKOWN: We love the Expedition Unknown podcast from Discovery! Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Greg Jenner is joined by historian Dr David Veevers and comedian and quizzer Paul Sinha to learn all about the global history of spices and the spice trade. Nowadays, we take spices for granted, and our kitchen cabinets are full of ginger and cinnamon, cumin and coriander, pepper and nutmeg. But despite their contemporary status as a staple of diets around the world, the majority of spices are native only to Asia (barring notable exceptions like chilli peppers). In this episode, we tell the story of how spices went global, from the very earliest days of the spice trade within Asia, through the empires of Alexander the Great and Rome as spices made their way into Europe, and into the colonial period, as the Dutch and British East India Companies vied to monopolise this lucrative trade. Along the way, we focus on five of the most commonly traded spices – pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and chilli – asking how their use changed across time, and as they were traded from place to place. From pharaohs possibly being embalmed with cinnamon, to medieval kings demanding rent in peppercorns, and nutmeg as a cure for plague, we look at the varied uses to which people all over the world have put these precious and expensive commodities.If you're a fan of food fads of the past, histories of globalisation and cultural exchange, and surprising ancient beliefs, you'll love our episode on the History of Spices. If you want to learn more about the history of commodities, listen to our episodes on the history of chocolate or coffee. And for more on global trade, check out our episode on the Columbian Exchange. You're Dead To Me is the comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Every episode, Greg Jenner brings together the best names in history and comedy to learn and laugh about the past. Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Emma Mitchell and Adam Simcox Written by: Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Dr Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner Produced by: Dr Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Production Coordinator: Gill Huggett Senior Producer: Dr Emma Nagouse Executive Editor: Philip Sellars

Nusantara is a new Dig series on the history of Indonesia: a hinge in the world system where colonialism and revolution have decisively shaped the trajectory of global history. This episode traces a long period of European plunder and domination that began with the Portuguese and then continued, for centuries, under the Dutch—a story stretching from the murderous mercantilism of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) seeking to monopolize the spice trade to a modern colonial administration profiting from plantations, petroleum, and countless commodities. The first installment features Rianne Subijanto and Made Supriatma. Other scholars of the archipelago will join us in the episodes that follow. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Sign up for SUDAN: Confront Empire Together by April 5th at comrades.education Find Boom to Bust: How Streaming Broke Hollywood Writers at UCPress.edu

Junk mail seems like a relic of another era. Physical ads showing up in your mailbox feel easy to ignore in a world dominated by digital marketing. Yet companies still spend billions sending those mailers every year. Why? Because for certain groups of people, those pieces of mail are surprisingly effective — far more than you might expect. https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2023-01/RISC-WP-20-009.pdf Artificial intelligence is suddenly everywhere — writing emails, answering questions, summarizing documents, and even helping people make decisions. But should we trust it? Linguist Emily Bender, a professor at the University of Washington and one of the world's leading voices urging caution about AI hype, argues that we may be misunderstanding what these systems actually do. Named to the inaugural TIME 100 list of the most influential people in AI, she explains why tools like ChatGPT can appear intelligent while operating very differently from human thinking. She is co-author of The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech's Hype and Create the Future We Want (https://amzn.to/3P1v6tn) and she offers an important perspective on how we should — and shouldn't — rely on AI. Humans have been drinking alcohol for thousands of years, and despite the well-known risks, it remains deeply embedded in cultures around the world. Why do people drink in the first place? Is alcohol simply a dangerous toxin, or does it serve psychological or social purposes that help explain its enduring appeal? Dr. Charles Knowles, Professor of Surgery at Queen Mary University of London and Chief Academic Officer at Cleveland Clinic London, brings both scientific expertise and personal experience to the discussion. Having struggled with alcohol dependency himself, he explores what alcohol does inside the body and brain, why some people develop problems while others do not, and how our culture shapes the way we think about drinking. He is the author of Why We Drink Too Much: The Impact of Alcohol on Our Bodies and Culture (https://amzn.to/4b8HHCd). Razor blades are small, simple pieces of metal — yet they often cost far more than people expect. You may even notice they're locked behind glass at many stores. Why are they so expensive, and why haven't competitors driven prices down? Several companies have tried to disrupt the razor business but it hasn't gone as well as many consumers hoped. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andriacheng/2018/01/24/pgs-gillette-woes-have-translated-to-this-good-news-for-consumers/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS POCKET HOSE: Text SYSK to 64000 for your two free gifts with the purchase of any Pocket Hose Ballistic hose! DUTCH: If your pet is still scratching and you've tried everything at the pet store –it's time to stop guessing and go prescription.Support us and use code SYSK for $40 off your membership at ⁠https://Dutch.com⁠ RULA: Thousands of people are already using Rula to get affordable, high-quality therapy that's actually covered by insurance. Visit ⁠https://Rula.com/sysk⁠ to get started. QUINCE: Don't keep settling for clothes that don't last! Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Quince.dom/sysk ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too! SHOPIFY: See less carts go abandoned with Shopify and their Shop Pay button! Sign up for your $1 per month trail and start selling today at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Shopify.com/sysk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ EXPEDITION UNKOWN: We love the Expedition Unknown podcast from Discovery! Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

BONUS: How to Build Teams That Think, Own, and Execute Without Burnout What if the problem isn't your people—but how your leadership shows up? In this episode, Sid Jashnani unpacks how Agile thinking, EOS (the Entrepreneurial Operating System), and his DELTA Delegation Ladder can help leaders build teams that truly own outcomes, execute without micromanagement, and grow the business—without burning out leaders or teams. The Breaking Point: When Smart People Don't Own Outcomes "I realized that I was the system, I was the bottleneck. And I was the one orchestrating everything. And if I were to step away for just going for dinner with my family, I would still get a call from someone."   Around 2014, Sid was running a thriving systems integration company with great people—people he trusted and loved working with. But they weren't owning outcomes. They were busy, but not always productive. Every decision fell back on Sid, and when the calls kept coming during family dinners, he started responding with irritation and sarcasm—a leadership pattern he knew was unsustainable. That moment of self-awareness became the catalyst for change. Sid realized the problem wasn't his team's competence; it was his inability to get them aligned, accountable, and clear on expectations.  That's when he discovered EOS—a business operating system created by Gino Wickman that orchestrates how you set priorities, run meetings, connect with your team, and track your numbers. Over the next few years, implementing EOS across his organization brought the clarity, accountability, and discipline his business needed. Where Agile and EOS Overlap: Trust Through Structure "The real overlap is trust through structure. If there's no structure, then I'm not accountable to you. I can do whatever."   Sid sees deep parallels between Agile and EOS. Both are allergic to hero culture. Both push decisions as close to the work as possible. Both rely on cadence—sprints, weekly meetings, daily stand-ups—to create rhythm without micromanagement. And both use visibility, numbers, and scorecards to keep teams aligned. But the real overlap, as Sid frames it, is trust through structure. In EOS, teams are structured through an accountability chart: who owns what outcome, who reports to whom, and how success is defined for each role. Without that structure, accountability becomes optional, and without accountability, trust never forms. Sid connects this directly to Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team—where trust sits at the base of the pyramid, enabling healthy conflict, commitment, accountability, and ultimately results. The key anti-pattern Sid warns about: people picking only the comfortable parts of a system and relaxing the parameters so much that it becomes "SOS—Sid's Operating System—which is just an emergency call for help." In this episode, we also refer to Traction, by Gino Wickman, a foundational book for Sid in his career.  The DELTA Delegation Ladder: From Command-and-Control to Co-Founder Mode "Delegation fails because leaders skip levels."   Sid introduces his DELTA Delegation Ladder—a five-level framework for understanding where your team members sit and how to delegate accordingly:   D — Do as I say: Pure execution of instructions. Sid notes this level is increasingly being replaced by AI. E — Explore the possible solutions: Research and present options, but the leader still makes the decision. Also increasingly delegable to AI. L — Lead with a recommendation: The entry point for real human value. The person researches, forms a hypothesis, and recommends a path forward. Sid considers this the minimum hiring bar. T — Take action with oversight: The person takes decisions and acts, keeping the leader in the loop. Trust has been built through coaching and mentoring. A — Autonomous execution: Co-founder mode. The person owns the outcome end-to-end. Full trust, full ownership.   Delegation fails when leaders skip levels—expecting someone at "D" to operate at "A." It also fails when leaders abdicate rather than delegate, throwing someone into a role without investing time in coaching, clarifying expectations, or showing them what "great" looks like. As Sid puts it: delegation only works if you spend time with the person you're delegating to. Remote Teams: Written Clarity Beats Verbal Alignment "Trust comes from predictability, not proximity. I can be 1,000 miles across the world from you and trust you, because I can predict what your actions are gonna be."   For distributed and cross-timezone teams, Sid's non-negotiables are clear: get good at writing, and over-communicate. Written clarity beats verbal alignment every time, especially across cultures where tone and directness vary widely—from British politeness to Dutch directness. Over-communication isn't a flaw; it's the standard for remote teams. Without it, accountability vanishes and culture erodes. Sid points out that trust in remote settings comes from predictability—can you predict that someone will hit their milestones, complete their to-dos, and follow through?—not from physical proximity. Someone sitting next to you who consistently misses deadlines will never earn your trust, while someone across the world who reliably delivers will.   Self-reflection Question: Where on the DELTA Delegation Ladder are the people you're currently delegating to—and are you investing the time and coaching they need to move up, or are you skipping levels and hoping for miracles?   About Sid Jashnani Sid is a founder, operator, and growth advisor who scaled a systems integration firm into a portfolio of IT businesses. After struggling with delegation and predictability, EOS transformed how he led. Through Outgrow, Sid helps founders drive 15–30% predictable growth with disciplined execution and proactive customer communication.   You can link with Sid Jashnani on LinkedIn.   You can also read his weekly newsletter, Leadership Bytes Weekly on Substack.

Memory feels dependable — we rely on it to tell the story of our lives. But the truth is, memory behaves in some surprisingly strange ways. For one thing, your brain forgets far more than it remembers, and that's not a flaw — it's actually part of how memory is designed to work. At the same time, certain moments stick with remarkable clarity while others fade almost instantly. Think about how vividly many people remember events from their late teens and early adulthood compared with other periods of life. So why do some experiences become unforgettable while others disappear? And if our memories are so selective and imperfect, can we do anything to improve them? Cognitive psychologist and memory expert Megan Sumeracki says yes. She explains how memory actually forms, why we often misunderstand how it works, and what science reveals about the best ways to strengthen it. Megan is an associate professor of psychology at Rhode Island College and author of The Psychology of Memory (https://amzn.to/4cCOAuK). In our conversation, she shares fascinating insights about why our brains forget so much, why certain years of life seem packed with memories, and simple techniques anyone can use to remember more of what truly matters. PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS POCKET HOSE: Text SYSK to 64000 for your two free gifts with the purchase of any Pocket Hose Ballistic hose! DUTCH: If your pet is still scratching and you've tried everything at the pet store –it's time to stop guessing and go prescription.Support us and use code SYSK for $40 off your membership at ⁠https://Dutch.com⁠ RULA: Thousands of people are already using Rula to get affordable, high-quality therapy that's actually covered by insurance. Visit ⁠https://Rula.com/sysk⁠ to get started. QUINCE: Don't keep settling for clothes that don't last! Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Quince.dom/sysk ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada, too! SHOPIFY: See less carts go abandoned with Shopify and their Shop Pay button! Sign up for your $1 per month trail and start selling today at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Shopify.com/sysk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ EXPEDITION UNKOWN: We love the Expedition Unknown podcast from Discovery! Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

⁠The World Athletics Indoor Championships descend on Toruń, Poland this weekend. Here's your event-by-event preview via Chris Chavez and Preet Majithia.- Men's 60m: Defending champion Jeremiah Azu faces the deepest field in recent memory, led by American Jordan Anthony (world list leader, 6.43) and Jamaica's Kishane Thompson (6.46).- Women's 60m: Julien Alfred vs. Zaynab Dosso, both at 6.99 and both in career form. Alfred seeks history as a two-time world indoor champion; Dosso has silver and bronze but never gold.- Men's 60m hurdles: A three-way tie at 7.37 between Poland's unbeaten home favorite Jakub Szymański and Americans Dylan Beard and Trey Cunningham, with three-time defending champion Grant Holloway absent for the first time in years.- Women's 60m hurdles: Devynne Charlton can become the first woman to win three consecutive world indoor titles in the event, having won in Glasgow and Nanjing. Swiss world champion Ditaji Kambundji has been just 0.01 behind her twice this season.- Men's 400m: Two of the three fastest short-track 400m runners ever, Khaleb McRae (world record pending, 44.52) and Christopher Morales Williams (44.49 all-time best, unratified), meet in a new split-final format using only lanes 3 to 6.- Women's 400m: Several top seeds are absent, opening the door wide for Norway's Henriette Jæger and the Netherlands' Lieke Klaver, who beat Jæger at last year's European Indoors.- Men's 800m: Belgium's Eliott Crestan enters as the top seed chasing history, but American teenager Cooper Lutkenhaus, just 17, set a world U20 short-track record of 1:44.03 last month and could become the youngest men's 800m medalist in World Indoor Championships history.- Women's 800m: Keely Hodgkinson is the story of the meet. The British Olympic champion broke a 24-year-old world record last month, running 1:54.87 on the very day she was born. Three injuries have kept her from the World Indoors. She finally arrives healthy and dangerous.- Men's 1500m: World champion Isaac Nader looks to finally convert after two consecutive fourth-place finishes, chasing Portugal's first title here since 2001. Dutch 800m specialist Sam Chapple brings a dangerous finishing kick.- Women's 1500m: Georgia Hunter Bell leads a deep field stacked against Ethiopia's three-athlete squad, with Nikki Hiltz's big kick a wildcard in the final lap.- Men's 3000m: The entire Paris Olympic 1500m podium, Cole Hocker, Josh Kerr, and Yared Nuguse, races together, making this arguably the meet's marquee event.- Women's 3000m: Freweyni Hailu is chasing a third straight world indoor distance title, representing a broader Ethiopian dynasty that has won 10 of the last 12 world indoor 3000m crowns.____________Hosts: Chris Chavez | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@chris_j_chavez⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ + Preet Majithia | @preet_athleticsProduced by: Jasmine Fehr |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@jasminefehr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠____________SUPPORT OUR SPONSORSOLIPOP: Olipop's Tropical Punch tastes like a vacation in a can. It has the perfect balance of pineapple, passionfruit, mandarin, and apple. You get that nostalgic fruit punch flavor, but way more crisp and way more refreshing. Every can contains their Olismart blend, which includes ingredients designed to support digestive health and help feed your gut microbiome. If you haven't had tried Olipop yet, grab a can and see what the hype is all about!⁠⁠ Head to DrinkOlipop.com and use code CITIUS25 at checkout to get 25% off your orders.⁠⁠XENDURANCE: When you finish a hard workout, the work isn't actually done. That's when recovery starts. Xendurance Protein is designed specifically to help your body recover, rebuild, and get stronger after training. It combines four different types of protein, so your body gets both fast absorbing protein for immediate recovery and slower release protein to support muscle repair over time. ⁠⁠Check it out at Xendurance.com and use code CITIUS for 25% off your first order.

What if your metabolism isn't broken—but your body's communication system is? In this multi-part deep dive, Debbie Potts—Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, Metabolic Health Coach, and host of The Coach Debbie Potts Show—explores why so many high-performing individuals feel stuck despite doing everything "right." This series goes beyond calories, workouts, and surface-level hormone advice. Instead, it uncovers the deeper physiology of metabolic health by focusing on how the body functions as an integrated system of signals. Your metabolism is not just about food or exercise. It is about communication between your cells, hormones, gut, brain, and nervous system. When that communication becomes disrupted, the body adapts in ways that feel like dysfunction—fatigue, weight gain, hormone imbalance, and poor recovery. Debbie calls this state "Metabolic Chaos." In this series, you will learn how to shift from metabolic chaos to metabolic harmony by understanding and restoring the key signals that drive energy, fat metabolism, and resilience as you age. In this series, you will learn: What metabolic dysfunction really is—and why it often shows up in midlife How hormones, mitochondria, muscle, and the nervous system are interconnected Why cell membrane health and receptor sensitivity determine whether your body responds to signals The role of gut health in fat metabolism, inflammation, and energy production How chronic stress, overtraining, and under-recovery disrupt metabolic signaling Why traditional approaches stop working after 40 This series also introduces Debbie's "test, not guess" approach to health optimization. Rather than relying on generic protocols, she uses functional lab testing and metabolic analysis to identify where your system is breaking down. You will learn how tools such as functional blood chemistry, DUTCH hormone testing, GI-MAP stool analysis, 3x4 genetics, PNOĒ metabolic testing, and mitochondrial markers can provide insight into your body's internal communication system. At the core of this series are the nine key signals that restore metabolic harmony, including blood sugar stability, cell membrane health, mitochondrial function, hormone signaling, gut microbiome communication, oxygen utilization, inflammation control, detoxification pathways, and recovery. After age 40, the body becomes more sensitive to disruptions in these systems. When signals are out of alignment, fat loss becomes more difficult, muscle is harder to maintain, energy becomes inconsistent, and hormones feel imbalanced. The goal is not to fight your body, but to understand how it works. Debbie's core message is simple: you do not fix metabolism by working harder—you fix it by improving how your body communicates. If you are listening and recognizing that something feels off despite your best efforts, the next step is not more guessing. It is gaining clarity. To learn more or schedule a FutureYou Blueprint Discovery Call, visit: www.debbiepotts.net Your body is not broken. It is adapting to the signals it is receiving. When you change the signals, you change your future.

Today's post was contributed by Larry Tomczak. We encourage you to visit his website (LarryTomczak.com) for free videos, podcasts, books, and other valuable resources. ​​Larry Tomczak is a best-selling author of 10 books, a cultural commentator of 50 years, Intercessors for America board member, and a public policy advisor with the Liberty Counsel. Go to www.larrytomczak.com to watch 30 amazing, free on demand, brief videos done by some of America's top leaders to confidently address today's tough issues.Learn more about the podcast hereLearn more about Give Him Fifteen hereSupport the show

Ever heard of the unsuccessful Dutch painter who decided to humiliate his critics by forging Vermeers, which the artworld subsequently dubbed 'masterpieces'? Or the businessman who bought a Marc Chagall painting that he displayed with pride for years, before a television investigation revealed to his horror that it was a fake? Today we're exploring the scientific techniques used to reveal forged artworks - and bring down scammers still trying to make millions from fake masterpieces. Jehane Ragai is an Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the American University in Cairo, with a passion for science matched by her love of arts and culture. Early in her career Jehane helped analyse the Great Sphinx of Giza and later became fascinated by the world of art forgery, leading to her acclaimed book, ‘The Scientist and the Forger'. Her life has not been without its difficulties, but - perhaps unsurprisingly, as the daughter of renowned Egyptian feminist Doria Shafik - she's not one to shy away from a challenge. And as she tells Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Jehane feels priveleged to have been able to integrate her twin passions into a career; advice she now passes on to her students

Dutch political economist Kees van der Pijl analyzes the volatile shifting of global power, focusing on the Middle East conflict involving Israel, Iran, and the U.S. He argues Israel has superseded the EU in the Atlantic relationship with the U.S., leading to a strategy where the U.S. increasingly fights wars to benefit Israeli interests. Van der Peel explores the possibility of false flag operations and the use of technological control systems to manage domestic populations through a state of permanent emergency. He also suggests hypersonic missile technology and drone warfare have fundamentally altered military superiority, potentially signaling the decline of Western imperial dominance. Furthermore, the discussion touches on the historical context of Israeli investments in global IT and intelligence sectors as a means of maintaining geopolitical leverage. Overarching themes include popular resistance in Europe and the emergence of a new multipolar world order led by BRICS. Watch on BitChute / Brighteon / Rumble / Substack / YouTube *Support Geopolitics & Empire! Become a Member https://geopoliticsandempire.substack.com Donate https://geopoliticsandempire.com/donations Consult https://geopoliticsandempire.com/consultation **Listen Ad-Free for $4.99 a Month or $49.99 a Year! Apple Subscriptions https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/geopolitics-empire/id1003465597 Supercast https://geopoliticsandempire.supercast.com ***Visit Our Affiliates & Sponsors! Above Phone https://abovephone.com/?above=geopolitics American Gold Exchange https://www.amergold.com/geopolitics easyDNS (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://easydns.com Escape The Technocracy (15% off with GEOPOLITICS) https://escapethetechnocracy.com/geopolitics Outbound Mexico https://outboundmx.com PassVult https://passvult.com Sociatates Civis https://societates-civis.com StartMail https://www.startmail.com/partner/?ref=ngu4nzr Wise Wolf Gold https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=geopolitics Websites States of Emergency (BOOK) https://www.claritypress.com/product/states-of-emergency-keeping-the-global-population-in-check Flight MH17, Ukraine and the New Cold War (BOOK) https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526131096 X https://x.com/KeesvdPijl1 Academia.edu https://independent.academia.edu/KeesVanderPijl About Kees van der Pijl Kees van der Pijl (1947) taught at the University of Amsterdam and was professor at the University of Sussex, UK, from 2000. He made his name with The Making of an Atlantic Ruling Class (1984, reprint 2012) and was awarded the 2008 Deutscher Prize for Nomads, Empires, State, Vol. I of a trilogy on Modes of Foreign Relations and Political Economy (2007-2014). He also wrote novels and edited a number of works, most recently STATES OF EMERGENCY: Keeping the Global Population in Check (2022) and The Militarization of the European Union (2021). His previous monograph, Flight MH17, Ukraine and the New Cold War (2018) has been translated into four other languages. *Podcast intro music used with permission is from the song “The Queens Jig” by the fantastic “Musicke & Mirth” from their album “Music for Two Lyra Viols”: http://musicke-mirth.de/en/recordings.html (available on iTunes or Amazon)

Hello everyone,Today's episode is called “The Boar with the Golden Bristles,” a classic Dutch fairy tale by William Elliot Griffis.This relaxing sleep story and bedtime fairy tale is perfect if you're looking for a calming podcast to help you unwind, relax your mind, and drift gently into sleep. Settle in, get comfortable, and let this timeless folk tale carry you into a peaceful night.If you enjoy listening to these bedtime stories and relaxing sleep tales, please consider leaving an Apple Podcasts review.Your support helps the podcast grow and reach more listeners who are searching for soothing stories to fall asleep to.Sweet dreams.Lucy ❤#SleepStories #BedtimeStories #GuidedMeditation #Relaxation #Calm #Mindfulness #MeditationPodcast #SleepPodcast #Folktales #FairyTales #Storytelling #SoothingVoices #SleepAid #RelaxingStories #Tranquility #DriftOffToSleep

Episode 1614: Captured MAGA

Mr's P. looks at the history of gardening and how everything is political. From tulips in the Ottoman Empire, to English cottages, American war gardens to the lawns of French aristocracy. Mrs. P looks at how gardening practices can topple empires, start wars, end wars and create an extraordinary amount of waste. See Alex 4/18 in Pottstown, PA - https://souljoels.com/shop/tickets/alexpearlman/ Social Media Workshop 4/18 in Pottstown, PA - https://souljoels.com/shop/merch/socialmediaworkshop/ See Alex 3/19 on The Dollop Live https://www.livenation.com/event/vv1AeZkuvGkdMwbZ4/the-dollop-the-dollop-podcast-live JOIN OUR PATREON COMMUNITY -

Fluent Fiction - Dutch: Amsterdam Sunlight: Lessons in Trust and Collaboration Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/nl/episode/2026-03-15-07-38-19-nl Story Transcript:Nl: Het was een zonnige lentedag in Amsterdam.En: It was a sunny spring day in Amsterdam.Nl: De hoge ramen van het klaslokaal lieten de zon binnenstromen.En: The tall windows of the classroom let the sun stream in.Nl: De eeuwenoude school had houten tafels en prachtige architectuur.En: The centuries-old school had wooden tables and beautiful architecture.Nl: In dat klaslokaal zaten Jasper en Femke.En: In that classroom sat Jasper and Femke.Nl: Ze werkten samen aan een groepsproject.En: They were working together on a group project.Nl: Jasper was een ambitieuze jongen.En: Jasper was an ambitious boy.Nl: Hij wilde altijd de beste zijn.En: He always wanted to be the best.Nl: Femke hield van creativiteit, maar geloofde niet altijd in zichzelf.En: Femke loved creativity, but didn't always believe in herself.Nl: Ze hadden een project dat belangrijk was voor hun cijfer.En: They had a project that was important for their grade.Nl: Jasper wilde een tien halen, en Femke wilde laten zien dat ze goede ideeën had.En: Jasper wanted to get an A, and Femke wanted to show that she had good ideas.Nl: De twee zaten tegenover elkaar.En: The two sat across from each other.Nl: Jasper had een plan.En: Jasper had a plan.Nl: Hij wilde alles zelf doen.En: He wanted to do everything himself.Nl: Hij schreef en organiseerde.En: He wrote and organized.Nl: Maar Femke had haar eigen ideeën.En: But Femke had her own ideas.Nl: Jasper luisterde eerst niet.En: Jasper didn't listen at first.Nl: "Laten we het zo doen," zei hij vaak, terwijl hij Femke's gedachten opzij schoof.En: "Let's do it this way," he often said, pushing Femke's thoughts aside.Nl: Femke voelde zich soms onzeker.En: Femke sometimes felt insecure.Nl: Maar ze liet zich niet zomaar wegduwen.En: But she didn't let herself be easily pushed away.Nl: Tijdens een brainstormsessie haalde ze diep adem.En: During a brainstorming session, she took a deep breath.Nl: Ze vertelde Jasper over haar idee.En: She told Jasper about her idea.Nl: Het was uniek en vernieuwend.En: It was unique and innovative.Nl: Het kon hun project bijzonder maken.En: It could make their project special.Nl: Jasper stopte even.En: Jasper paused for a moment.Nl: Hij dacht na.En: He thought about it.Nl: Misschien was Femke's idee wel goed.En: Maybe Femke's idea was good.Nl: Hij zag haar creativiteit en haar moed.En: He saw her creativity and her courage.Nl: "Laten we jouw idee proberen," zei hij.En: "Let's try your idea," he said.Nl: Voor het eerst werkten ze echt samen.En: For the first time, they really worked together.Nl: Ze combineerden hun krachten.En: They combined their strengths.Nl: Het project werd een succes.En: The project was a success.Nl: Toen ze het presenteerden, straalden ze.En: When they presented it, they shone.Nl: Hun leraar was onder de indruk.En: Their teacher was impressed.Nl: Ze kregen samen een hoog cijfer.En: They received a high grade together.Nl: Jasper leerde om anderen te waarderen.En: Jasper learned to appreciate others.Nl: Hij zag nu dat samenwerken beter was dan alles alleen doen.En: He saw now that working together was better than doing everything alone.Nl: Femke voelde zich zelfverzekerd.En: Femke felt confident.Nl: Ze wist nu dat haar creatieve ideeën belangrijk waren.En: She now knew that her creative ideas were important.Nl: Zo kwam er een einde aan hun project.En: So their project came to an end.Nl: Terwijl ze de historische school uitliepen, speelde de lentezon over hun gezichten.En: As they walked out of the historic school, the spring sun played across their faces.Nl: Hun vriendschap was gegroeid.En: Their friendship had grown.Nl: Samen hadden ze iets bereikt wat ze alleen niet hadden gekund.En: Together, they had achieved something they couldn't have done alone.Nl: Het was een les over vertrouwen en samenwerken, in een oud klaslokaal in Amsterdam.En: It was a lesson about trust and collaboration, in an old classroom in Amsterdam. Vocabulary Words:sunny: zonnigestream: binnenstromencenturies-old: eeuwenoudeambitious: ambitieuzecreativity: creativiteitinsecure: onzekerunique: uniekinnovative: vernieuwendcourage: moedshone: straaldenimpressed: onder de indrukappreciate: waarderencollaboration: samenwerkenhistoric: historischecompetition: competitiearchitecture: architectuurbrainstorming: brainstormsessieproject: projectgroup: groepsplan: planbelieve: gelovenpresented: presenteerdenreceived: kregensuccess: succesopposite: tegenoverthought: dachtbreathed: ademstrengths: krachtenimportant: belangrijktrust: vertrouwen

Cheesy and Fondue celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a deep dive into Irish cheese. We meet a one-horned cow, discover knitting needle cheesemaking, and find out how a Dutch couple changed Cork forever. And of course, we tell a very cheesy joke! Find us at www.justcheesy.com and everywhere you enjoy social media! https://linktr.ee/JustCheesy***Newsly is the sponsor of this episode! Go to https://newsly.me to download the free app and listen to articles, podcasts and digital radio! Get a FREE 1-Month Premium Subscription by using promo code CHEESY. Start listening today! *** Why is cheddar the most dangerous of all the cheeses? Because it is very sharp! Show Notes Bord Bia — History of Irish Farmhouse CheeseSheridan's Cheesemongers — Irish Farmhouse Cheese HistoryHistory Ireland — Food Exports from Ireland 1846-47Ireland's Great Hunger Museum — LearnWikipedia — Great Famine IrelandWikipedia — Economic History of IrelandIrish Central — Facts About the Great Hungerhttps://letters.cookingisfun.ie/2017/01/14/tribute-to-veronica-steele/TasteAtlas — Best Rated Cheeses in IrelandCashel Blue — Irish CheeseBibliocook — Cashel BlueCulture Cheese Mag — Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers

Today, I'm thrilled to reconnect with my friend and colleague, Dr. Carrie Jones. She is a naturopathic physician and hormone expert with over 20 years of clinical experience in women's health and endocrinology. In our discussion, we unpack the limitations of traditional hormone testing and explore the benefits of saliva, urine, and blood testing for gaining a more accurate picture of hormone activity. We explore the critical importance of lab timing and how the DUTCH test evaluates estrogen, metabolism, and cortisol rhythms. We also examine how liver detoxification affects the active form of thyroid hormone, T3, across phases one through three, highlight signs and symptoms that indicate an imbalanced gut microbiome, and wrap things up with some rapid-fire questions about the things you've probably wanted to ask. Stay tuned for another invaluable, humorous, and fun conversation with Dr. Carrie Jones. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: How blood tests give only a snapshot in time without clarifying hormone pulses or tissue utilization How testing hormones at the wrong time can temporarily skew test results The optimal timing for testing in women with regular cycles and those in perimenopause What the DUTCH test measures How regular vs. irregular cycles affect which hormones should be tested Why the way that estrogen is metabolized matters more than the estrogen itself  How phases one, two, and three of liver detoxification influence estrogen, cortisol, and thyroid hormone activity Why free T3 is critical for eliminating cortisol What gut symptoms reveal about hormone elimination Connect with Cynthia Thurlow   Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn Check out Cynthia's website Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow  Cynthia's Menopause Gut Book is on presale now! Cynthia's Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book The Midlife Pause Supplement Line Connect with Dr. Carrie Jones On Instagram Estrogen Detox Made Easy Hello Hormones with Dr. Carrie Jones - Podcast

Adam and Ryan open Episode 10 with a week that flipped expectations heading into WrestleMania.Cody Rhodes walks away with the championship after a result that few fans expected. The hosts break down the booking decision and what it means for collectors who track championship momentum and long term hobby demand tied to top WWE stars. The conversation then shifts to one of the biggest hobby announcements of the week. Topps revealed that the first ever WWE Topps Chrome First Day Issue release will be sold through a Dutch auction. Adam and Ryan talk through what this format means for collectors, how they plan to approach buying, and why demand for the product will likely be strong.They also spend time discussing the Topps Now dual autograph featuring John Cena and Shohei Ohtani. The hosts explain why crossover cards like this matter and how a card like this could become one of the most important wrestling card sales of the year.Later in the episode they welcome Chad Weldon of Sports Card Junction to the show.Chad shares what he is seeing on the ground from the shop side of the hobby. The conversation covers collector demand for wrestling cards, how modern wrestling products perform at the shop level, and what products collectors are asking for most right now.Topics in this episode includeWrestleMania storylines and their hobby impactCody Rhodes and championship driven demandTopps Chrome First Day Issue auction strategyThe John Cena and Shohei Ohtani dual autograph cardWrestling card sales moving the marketA shop owner perspective with Chad Weldon of Sports Card JunctionCheck out RbiCru7 for all your wrestling and sports card needs!Join Adam's Main Event Wrestling Cards group for freeGet exclusive content, promote your cards, and connect with other collectors who listen to the pod today by joining the Patreon: Join Stacking Slabs Podcast PatreonFollow Ryan: | Instagram | Website | YouTubeFollow Adam: | X | InstagramFollow Stacking Slabs: | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tiktok ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

(Presented by TLPBLACK: High-fidelity threat intelligence and research tools for modern security teams. From curated Passive DNS and real-time C2 monitoring to actionable IOC feeds and daily malware samples, we help defenders detect, hunt, and disrupt threats faster, with seamless integration into SIEM and SOAR workflows.) Three Buddy Problem - Episode 89: We discuss Iran hacktivist group 'Handala' wiper attacks against US medical device maker Stryker, Microsoft Intune MDM tool abuse, and whether Iran's cyber retaliation is as scary as the headlines suggest. Plus, ESET's discovery that Russia's APT28 original implant developers are back after years of silence, Dutch intelligence warnings on Russian campaigns targeting Signal and WhatsApp accounts, Apple finally patching Coruna exploit kit vulnerabilities for older iPhones, and Google sharing Coruna samples that raise new questions about the exploit kit's proliferation chain. Cast: Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade, Ryan Naraine and Costin Raiu.

Fluent Fiction - Dutch: Storm on the Amalfi Coast: Love Beyond the Clouds Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/nl/episode/2026-03-14-07-38-19-nl Story Transcript:Nl: Het was een prachtige lentedag aan de Amalfikust, waar de zon de zee liet schitteren en de geur van citroenbomen de lucht vulde.En: It was a beautiful spring day on the Amalfikust, where the sun made the sea sparkle and the scent of lemon trees filled the air.Nl: Maarten en Tess liepen samen op een smal pad, hoog boven de kliffen.En: Maarten and Tess walked together on a narrow path, high above the cliffs.Nl: "Kijk eens hoe mooi!"En: "Look how beautiful!"Nl: riep Tess enthousiast, terwijl ze haar armen de lucht in gooide.En: Tess exclaimed enthusiastically, throwing her arms into the air.Nl: Maarten glimlachte.En: Maarten smiled.Nl: Hij hield van deze avonturen, maar maakte zich altijd zorgen over hun veiligheid.En: He loved these adventures, but always worried about their safety.Nl: De lucht begon langzaam te veranderen.En: The sky slowly began to change.Nl: Donkere wolken verschenen aan de horizon, en de wind werd sterker.En: Dark clouds appeared on the horizon, and the wind grew stronger.Nl: "We moeten teruggaan," zei Maarten met een bezorgde blik.En: "We have to go back," Maarten said with a concerned look.Nl: "Dit gaat mis."En: "This is going to go wrong."Nl: Tess lachte.En: Tess laughed.Nl: "Het is maar een klein wolkje, maak je geen zorgen," antwoordde ze luchtig.En: "It's just a little cloud, don't worry," she replied lightly.Nl: Ze geloofde dat de storm snel zou wegtrekken.En: She believed the storm would soon pass.Nl: Voorzichtig probeerde Maarten haar te overtuigen.En: Cautiously, Maarten tried to convince her.Nl: "De paden zijn glad, en het weer is onvoorspelbaar."En: "The paths are slippery, and the weather is unpredictable."Nl: Maar Tess deed zijn zorgen af.En: But Tess dismissed his concerns.Nl: Ze had er vertrouwen in dat ze het aankonden.En: She was confident they could handle it.Nl: Plotseling brak de storm los.En: Suddenly, the storm broke loose.Nl: Regen stroomde als watervallen van de lucht, en de wind gierde om hen heen.En: Rain poured like waterfalls from the sky, and the wind howled around them.Nl: Tess schrok.En: Tess was startled.Nl: Haar avontuurlijke geest ontmoette nu de harde realiteit van de natuur.En: Her adventurous spirit now met the harsh reality of nature.Nl: "Misschien had je gelijk, Maarten," riep ze door de wind.En: "Maybe you were right, Maarten," she shouted through the wind.Nl: Maarten voelde zijn hart sneller kloppen.En: Maarten felt his heart race.Nl: Het was nu geen tijd meer voor twijfels.En: It was no longer a time for doubts.Nl: "We moeten schuilen," riep hij.En: "We have to find shelter," he shouted.Nl: Samen keerden ze om, de handen stevig in elkaar.En: Together they turned around, holding each other's hands tightly.Nl: Ze maakten hun weg langs de gladde rotsen en probeerden voet te houden op het glibberige pad.En: They made their way along the slippery rocks, trying to keep their footing on the slick path.Nl: Eindelijk bereikten ze een klein stenen hutje, een toevluchtsoord voor vermoeide wandelaars.En: Finally, they reached a small stone hut, a refuge for weary hikers.Nl: Ze stortten zich naar binnen, hijgend en doorweekt.En: They rushed inside, panting and drenched.Nl: "Ik had je moeten geloven," gaf Tess toe, haar ogen groot van spijt.En: "I should have believed you," Tess admitted, her eyes wide with regret.Nl: Maarten keek haar aan, zijn blik zachter.En: Maarten looked at her, his gaze softer.Nl: "Ik was gewoon bang om je te verliezen," zei hij, eindelijk open over zijn angst.En: "I was just afraid of losing you," he said, finally open about his fear.Nl: Tess kneep in zijn hand.En: Tess squeezed his hand.Nl: "Je hebt mijn leven gered," glimlachte ze, met tranen in haar ogen.En: "You saved my life," she smiled, tears in her eyes.Nl: Buiten raasde de storm nog steeds, maar binnenin was er rust.En: Outside, the storm still raged, but inside there was calm.Nl: Maarten en Tess zaten dicht tegen elkaar aan, dankbaar en opgelucht.En: Maarten and Tess sat close together, grateful and relieved.Nl: Tess realiseerde zich dat een evenwicht tussen avontuur en veiligheid belangrijk was.En: Tess realized that a balance between adventure and safety was important.Nl: En Maarten leerde dat het oké was om te zeggen wat hem zorgen baarde.En: And Maarten learned that it was okay to voice his concerns.Nl: In die kleine hut, met de regen die op het dak trommelde, was hun band dieper en sterker dan ooit.En: In that small hut, with the rain drumming on the roof, their bond was deeper and stronger than ever.Nl: De storm die hen bijna uit elkaar had gedreven, had hen uiteindelijk dichter bij elkaar gebracht.En: The storm that almost drove them apart had ultimately brought them closer together. Vocabulary Words:sparkle: schitterenscent: geurnarrow: smalcliffs: kliffenenthusiastically: enthousiastconcerned: bezorgdeslippery: gladunpredictable: onvoorspelbaardismissed: deed afshelter: schuilenholding: de handen stevig in elkaarfooting: voet te houdenslick: glibberigehut: hutjerefuge: toevluchtsoordweary: vermoeidepanting: hijgenddrenched: doorweektregret: spijtgaze: blikrelieved: opgeluchtadventurous: avontuurlijkebond: banddrumming: trommeldebalance: evenwichtraged: raasdestorm: stormhorizon: horizonhowled: gierdeadmit: toegeven

Fluent Fiction - Dutch: Finding Courage on the Amalfikust: A Journey of Self-Discovery Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/nl/episode/2026-03-14-22-34-01-nl Story Transcript:Nl: De zon scheen helder over de kliffen van de Amalfikust.En: The sun shone brightly over the cliffs of the Amalfikust.Nl: Bloemen bloeiden overal en de zee glinsterde onder het zachte lentezonlicht.En: Flowers bloomed everywhere, and the sea glistened under the soft spring sunlight.Nl: Sander stond stil en keek om zich heen.En: Sander stood still and looked around.Nl: Hij was op een schoolreisje met zijn klas, maar voelde zich vaak als een buitenstaander.En: He was on a school trip with his class but often felt like an outsider.Nl: Het was moeilijk voor hem om contact te maken met anderen.En: It was difficult for him to connect with others.Nl: Lieke en Jan waren al druk bezig met het maken van selfies tegen het prachtige decor.En: Lieke and Jan were already busy taking selfies against the beautiful backdrop.Nl: Sander wilde meedoen, maar zijn verlegenheid hield hem tegen.En: Sander wanted to join in, but his shyness held him back.Nl: Zijn gedachten waren altijd vol twijfels.En: His thoughts were always full of doubts.Nl: Wie was hij echt?En: Who was he, really?Nl: Waar hoorde hij thuis?En: Where did he belong?Nl: De leraar besloot een wandeling te maken langs een bekende wandelroute.En: The teacher decided to take a walk along a well-known trail.Nl: Sander liep mee, stil en op de achtergrond.En: Sander walked along, quiet and in the background.Nl: De weg slingerde langs de kust met een adembenemend uitzicht over de zee.En: The path wound along the coast with a breathtaking view over the sea.Nl: Maar al snel raakte de groep in de war en verloren ze het pad.En: But soon, the group got confused and lost track of the path.Nl: Paniek sloeg toe.En: Panic set in.Nl: Dit was het moment dat Sander ergens diep van binnen een vonk van moed voelde.En: This was the moment Sander suddenly felt a spark of courage deep within.Nl: Hij kende de weg beter dan hij had gedacht.En: He knew the way better than he thought.Nl: In het geheim had hij kaarten bestudeerd en zich voorbereid op deze reis.En: In secret, he had studied maps and prepared for this trip.Nl: Hij stapte naar voren, zijn hart klopte in zijn keel.En: He stepped forward, his heart pounding in his throat.Nl: "Ik weet de weg," zei hij zacht, zijn stem aarzelend maar vastberaden.En: "I know the way," he said softly, his voice hesitant but determined.Nl: Lieke en Jan keken verbaasd op.En: Lieke and Jan looked up in surprise.Nl: De groep stond stil, afwachtend.En: The group stood still, waiting.Nl: Sander begon te praten, zijn handen gebarend naar de juiste richting.En: Sander began to speak, his hands gesturing toward the right direction.Nl: Langzaam maar zeker leidde hij de groep langs het pad.En: Slowly but surely, he led the group along the path.Nl: Zijn onzekerheden verdwenen terwijl ze elkaar hielpen en samen lachten.En: His insecurities vanished as they helped each other and laughed together.Nl: Na een paar uur kwamen ze uit op een uitzichtpunt.En: After a few hours, they emerged at a viewpoint.Nl: Het was spectaculair.En: It was spectacular.Nl: De zon hing laag aan de hemel, kleurend in warme tinten die weerkaatsten op het water.En: The sun hung low in the sky, casting warm hues that reflected on the water.Nl: De klas applaudisseerde voor Sander, en hij glimlachte breed.En: The class applauded for Sander, and he beamed.Nl: Hier, tussen bloeiende bloemen en eindeloze hemel, vond hij zijn plek.En: Here, among blooming flowers and an endless sky, he found his place.Nl: Sander had niet alleen de weg gevonden, maar ook zichzelf.En: Sander had not only found the way, but also himself.Nl: Hij besefte dat hij contact kon maken en ertoe deed.En: He realized that he could connect and that he mattered.Nl: Het was goed om uit zijn schulp te kruipen.En: It was good to come out of his shell.Nl: Terug bij het hotel stelde Lieke voor om samen foto's te maken.En: Back at the hotel, Lieke suggested taking photos together.Nl: De glimlach op Sander's gezicht was nu zelfverzekerd en oprecht.En: The smile on Sander's face was now confident and genuine.Nl: De avond viel zachtjes over de Amalfikust.En: Evening fell gently over the Amalfikust.Nl: Sander zag het veranderen in het licht van de sterren, vol nieuwe vrienden en bijzondere herinneringen.En: Sander watched it transform under the starlight, full of new friends and special memories.Nl: De lessen die hij had geleerd gingen verder dan theorie en boeken; hij had geleerd wat het betekende om deel uit te maken van een gemeenschap.En: The lessons he had learned went beyond theory and books; he had learned what it meant to be part of a community.Nl: En dat was de meest waardevolle ervaring van allemaal.En: And that was the most valuable experience of all. Vocabulary Words:cliffs: kliffenglistened: glinsterdeoutsider: buitenstaandershyness: verlegenheidhesitant: aarzelenddetermined: vastberadengesturing: gebarendbreathtaking: adembenemendpanic: paniektrail: wandelroutesecret: geheimspark: vonkinquisitive: nieuwsgierigenthusiasm: enthousiasmeincredulous: ongelovigsilenced: stilgemaaktmomentarily: eventjespounding: kloptevanished: verdwenenviewpoint: uitzichtpuntspectacular: spectaculairhues: tintenapplauded: applaudisseerdegenuine: oprechttransform: veranderenstarlight: licht van de sterrenbelong: thuis hoordenperseverance: doorzettingsvermogenbravery: moedcommunity: gemeenschap

AP correspondent Rica Ann Garcia reports on the police hunt for the suspects who set off an explosion outside a Jewish school in Amsterdam.

You can find out more about Gina at GinaGholston.com.Learn more about the podcast hereLearn more about Give Him Fifteen hereSupport the show

In this special crossover episode—recorded at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary—Camden Bucey joins Jonathan Master, President of Greenville Seminary, for a conversation on the life, method, and enduring relevance of Geerhardus Vos (1862–1949). Vos stands as a remarkable bridge figure: Dutch by birth, deeply shaped by continental Reformed theology and close friendship with Herman Bavinck, yet firmly planted in the American confessional Presbyterian tradition as the first chair of biblical theology at Old Princeton Seminary alongside B. B. Warfield. Drs. Bucey and Master explore Vos's foundational distinction between biblical theology and systematic theology—and why both are indispensable for faithful exegesis and preaching. Biblical theology, which Vos himself preferred to call "the history of special revelation," reads Scripture as the organic, progressive unfolding of God's redemptive acts in history—from the protoevangelium in Genesis 3:15 to the consummation of all things in Christ. That redemptive-historical framework opens up notoriously difficult passages (Hebrews 6, the unforgivable sin) in ways systematics alone cannot. The conversation also covers Vos's two-age eschatology, his key works (Biblical Theology, The Pauline Eschatology, Grace and Glory, The Teaching of Jesus Concerning the Kingdom of God and the Church), and the question of why Vos remained at Princeton when Machen and others departed. Chapters 0:00 Introduction: Camden at Greenville Seminary 1:08 Greenville Seminary Launches Confessional.org 3:47 Geerhardus Vos: Bridge Figure Between Princeton and the Continent 9:03 What Is Biblical Theology? The History of Special Revelation 13:49 Why We Need Both Biblical Theology and Systematics 16:33 "You Cannot Do Either Without the Other" 22:19 Why Did Vos Remain at Princeton? 27:48 Vos's Key Works 31:39 The "Vibe of Vos": Redemptive History in Practice 37:44 The Two-Age Eschatology: Already and Not Yet 40:33 Closing Remarks Participants: Camden Bucey, Jonathan Master

Fluent Fiction - Dutch: Finding Strength Among Tulips: A Team-Building Tale Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/nl/episode/2026-03-13-07-38-20-nl Story Transcript:Nl: De lucht was helder blauw boven de Keukenhof en de tulpen stonden in volle bloei.En: The sky was a clear blue above Keukenhof and the tulips were in full bloom.Nl: Het was een perfecte lentedag voor de team-building oefening.En: It was a perfect spring day for the team-building exercise.Nl: Bram, Sanne en Thijs waren onderdeel van een groep collega's die zich had verzameld in de beroemde tuinen.En: Bram, Sanne, and Thijs were part of a group of colleagues who had gathered in the famous gardens.Nl: Bram stond aan de rand van de groep.En: Bram stood at the edge of the group.Nl: Zijn blik dwaalde over alle bloemen.En: His gaze wandered over all the flowers.Nl: De felle kleuren prikkelden zijn zintuigen.En: The bright colors stimulated his senses.Nl: Hij vond het moeilijk om zich te concentreren.En: He found it difficult to concentrate.Nl: Sanne, altijd enthousiast, probeerde de groep op te warmen met opzwepende woorden.En: Sanne, always enthusiastic, tried to warm the group up with rousing words.Nl: Thijs, een natuurtalent in sportieve activiteiten, lachte luidkeels vanaf de andere kant van het veld.En: Thijs, a natural talent in sports activities, laughed loudly from the other side of the field.Nl: “We gaan vandaag samenwerken,” zei de teamleider.En: “We are going to work together today,” said the team leader.Nl: Een reeks opdrachten stond hen te wachten.En: A series of tasks awaited them.Nl: Bram voelde de druk op zijn schouders.En: Bram felt the pressure on his shoulders.Nl: Hij wilde erbij horen, maar zijn introverte natuur maakte hem stil.En: He wanted to belong, but his introverted nature made him quiet.Nl: Terwijl de rest van het team zich voorbereidde, keek Bram goed om zich heen.En: While the rest of the team prepared, Bram looked around carefully.Nl: Ze begonnen met een fysiek spel, maar Bram deed alleen met halve interesse mee.En: They started with a physical game, but Bram participated with only half interest.Nl: Zijn gedachten waren bij de schoonheid van de bloemen om hem heen.En: His thoughts were with the beauty of the flowers around him.Nl: Plotseling merkte hij iets op wat anderen ontging.En: Suddenly he noticed something that others missed.Nl: Er was een patroon in waar de bloemen groeiden.En: There was a pattern in where the flowers grew.Nl: Een idee begon te groeien in zijn gedachten.En: An idea began to grow in his mind.Nl: Toen ze de volgende opdracht kregen, een complexe puzzel die samenwerking vereiste, stapte Bram naar voren.En: When they received the next task, a complex puzzle that required collaboration, Bram stepped forward.Nl: "Kijk daar," wees hij, "de bloemen zijn gerangschikt als de oplossing die we zoeken."En: "Look there," he pointed, "the flowers are arranged like the solution we're looking for."Nl: Zijn observaties gaven het team het ontbrekende stukje dat ze nodig hadden.En: His observations provided the team with the missing piece they needed.Nl: Sanne keek op met een nieuw respect in haar ogen.En: Sanne looked up with a new respect in her eyes.Nl: Thijs klopte Bram op de schouder.En: Thijs patted Bram on the shoulder.Nl: "Goed gezien, Bram," zei hij.En: "Well spotted, Bram," he said.Nl: "Je hebt ons echt geholpen."En: "You really helped us."Nl: Aan het einde van de dag zaten ze samen op een bankje, genietend van de zonsondergang over de tulpenvelden.En: At the end of the day, they sat together on a bench, enjoying the sunset over the tulip fields.Nl: Bram voelde zich ontspannen.En: Bram felt relaxed.Nl: Hij had bijgedragen op zijn eigen manier en dat werd erkend.En: He had contributed in his own way, and that was acknowledged.Nl: Bram glimlachte, een warme voldoening vulde zijn hart.En: Bram smiled, a warm satisfaction filling his heart.Nl: Hij besefte dat hij waardevolle verbindingen had gemaakt zonder zichzelf te verliezen.En: He realized he had made valuable connections without losing himself.Nl: In de kleurrijke wereld van Keukenhof, vol levendige bloemen en levendige mensen, had Bram zijn plek gevonden en zijn eigen stille kracht ontdekt.En: In the colorful world of Keukenhof, full of vibrant flowers and lively people, Bram had found his place and discovered his own quiet strength. Vocabulary Words:clear: helderbloom: bloeiexercise: oefeninggaze: blikwandered: dwaaldestimulated: prikkeldenenthusiastic: enthousiastrousing: opzwependenatural talent: natuurtalentawaited: wachtenpressure: drukintroverted: introverteparticipated: meedoenbeauty: schoonheidnoticed: opmerktemissed: ontgingpattern: patrooncollaboration: samenwerkingobservations: observatiesmissing piece: ontbrekende stukjerespect: respectrelaxed: ontspannencontributed: bijgedragenacknowledged: erkendsatisfaction: voldoeningconnections: verbindingenlosing: verliezenvibrant: levendigequiet strength: stille krachtdiscovered: ontdekt

Buccaneer Henry Morgan (1635–88) was born in Wales. Kidnapped as a child in Bristol, England and shipped to Barbados, he joined the buccaneers, leading many raids against the Spanish and Dutch in the Caribbean and Central America. His most famous exploit was the sacking of Porto Bello (Panama) and the city of Panama in 1671. Check out the YouTube version of this episode at https://youtu.be/g4NYlUzQbIk which has accompanying visuals including maps, charts, timelines, photos, illustrations, and diagrams. Henry Morgan books at https://amzn.to/4ddRppx Books about Pirates available at https://amzn.to/4aMr1ld Pirate mystery novel (Seeking Sasha) at https://amzn.to/4oqp7Ku ENJOY Ad-Free content, Bonus episodes, and Extra materials when joining our growing community on https://patreon.com/markvinet SUPPORT this channel by purchasing any product on Amazon using this FREE entry LINK https://amzn.to/3POlrUD (Amazon gives us credit at NO extra charge to you). Mark Vinet's HISTORICAL JESUS podcast at https://parthenonpodcast.com/historical-jesus Mark's TIMELINE video channel: https://youtube.com/c/TIMELINE_MarkVinet Website: https://markvinet.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.vinet.9 X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MarkVinet_HNA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denarynovels Mark's books: https://amzn.to/3k8qrGM Audio credit: LibriVox Historical Tales by C. Morris, read by KalyndaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Locals EP 274: Kings Of Trash

Welcome to One Bright Book! Join our hosts Frances, Dorian, and Rebecca as they discuss ORLANDO by Virginia Woolf and chat about their current reading. For our next episode, we will discuss THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE by Gloria Naylor, a choice Rebecca has made based upon some love Hanif Abdurraqib shared for the novel in a recent podcast. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you in April. Want to support the show? Visit us at Bookshop.org or click on the links below and buy some books! Books mentioned: Orlando by Virginia Woolf The Waves by Virginia Woolf To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf Jacob's Room by Virginia Woolf Three Guineas by Virginia Woolf Harriet Hume by Rebecca West The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster Wax Child by Olga Ravn, translated from the Danish by Martin Aiken The Witch by Marie Ndiaye, translated from the French by Jordan Stump The Remembered Soldier by Anjet Daanje, translated from the Dutch by David McKay Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur, translated from the Persian by Faridoun Farrokh Taiwan Travelogue by Shuang-zi Yang, translated from the Mandarin Chinese by Lin Ling Small Comfort by Ia Genberg, translated from the Swedish by Kira Josefsson There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas Trouble Maker: The Fierce, Unruly Life of Jessica Mitford by Carla Kaplan Shattered: A Memoir by Hanif Kureishi The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Stern Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor Read Rohan Maitzen on Orlando at her blog Novel Readings. Further resources and links are available on our website at onebrightbook.com. Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org. Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail Find us on Bluesky at https://bsky.app/profile/onebrightbook.bsky.social Frances: https://bsky.app/profile/nonsuchbook.bsky.social Dorian: https://bsky.app/profile/ds228.bsky.social Rebecca: https://bsky.app/profile/ofbooksandbikes.bsky.social Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/ Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/ Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

In this episode of our 'Learn Dutch' series, we focus on the workplace. Joyce Diebels from 'Dutch with Joyce' teaches you useful words and phrases relevant to this theme. - In deze aflevering van onze talenserie Leer Nederlands staat het thema 'de werkvloer' centraal. Joyce Diebels van Dutch with Joyce leert je nuttige woorden en zinnen die van toepassing komen op je werk.

While being raised in the Dutch bible belt contemporary artist Martine Johanna was in a fight to break free from the frame built around her. Using art as an escape and an unwillingness to give in Martine forged a path all her own.Bonus Episodes on Patreon: https://patreon.com/myartisrealCollect our limited edition prints: www.myartisreal.com Martine Johanna's website: https://martinejohanna.com/Music Credit: Theme music by A Kid Named Red, additional sounds by CUE Shop

Today's West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy Podcast for our especially special Daily Special, Blue Moon Spirits Fridays, is now available on the Spreaker Player!Starting off in the Bistro Cafe, Trump had a 12:30am meltdown as the nightmare of war scares the living shi* out of him.Then, on the rest of the menu, Live Nation employees pulled an Enron by mocking customers as ‘so stupid' in internal messages released in the multi-state antitrust court case; the Trump administration sued California over the state's nation-leading vehicle-emission rules; and, Montana halted permitting on all weekend rallies at the Capitol in a brazen move to thwart the massive upcoming ‘No Kings' event.After the break, we move to the Chef's Table where Dutch police are investigating an arson attack after a fire broke out at a Rotterdam synagogue; and, an Australian jury convicted a Sydney business consultant over deals with Chinese spies.All that and more, on West Coast Cookbook & Speakeasy with Chef de Cuisine Justice Putnam.Bon Appétit!The Netroots Radio Live Player​Keep Your Resistance Radio Beaming 24/7/365!“Structural linguistics is a bitterly divided and unhappy profession, and a large number of its practitioners spend many nights drowning their sorrows in Ouisghian Zodahs.” ― Douglas Adams "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe"Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/west-coast-cookbook-speakeasy--2802999/support.

Join us to hear the remarkable and inspiring life story of Corrie ten Boom—a groundbreaking, female Dutch watchmaker, whose family unselfishly transformed their house into a hiding place straight out of a spy novel to shelter Jews and refugees from the Nazis during Gestapo raids. Learn how Corrie’s ability to forgive is just one of the myriad lessons that her life story holds for people today.Become a Parshall Partner: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/inthemarket/partnersSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn more about the podcast hereLearn more about Give Him Fifteen hereSupport the show

Join an active community of RE investors here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen Build Generational Wealth Before the Next Market Crash

Alan Lucas always wanted to be an architect or a firefighter — as CISO of Worldstream and Greenhouse Datacenters, he has become both. In this episode, he joins host Steve Moore to explore leading cybersecurity at the intersection of design and crisis response.Alan traces his path from Fox-IT through a Dutch cryptocurrency exchange where he arrived post-breach to an organization under near-constant attack from nation-state threat actors. Leading a technically sophisticated but security-anxious leadership team, he learned the lasting power of transparency and directness — and his most memorable measure of success was not a technical control, but a CTO who finally slept through the night.The conversation goes deep into crisis communication. Alan and Steve discuss how the industry has matured from reflexive silence around breaches to embracing transparency as a trust-building tool, the danger of well-meaning legal edits that send customers chasing the wrong narrative, and why the CISO should hold final review over all public incident communications. He also shares his Security Champions Program, tabletop exercise design, and why knowing who to call in a crisis must be mapped out before that crisis arrives.Alan also covers his volunteer work with the DIVD, coaching ethical hackers and supporting responsible disclosure worldwide — an extension of his belief that security, done well, creates trust and enables growth for everyone.The episode closes on "bouncing forward" — the idea that true resilience means using every incident as a forcing function for improvement, not just a return to baseline. Alan frames lessons learned as the most important resilience KPI a security team can own. A masterclass in leading through both calm and chaos. Key Topics• The architect-and-firefighter mindset: building security programs while fighting live fires• Alan's career path from Fox-IT (MSSP) to post-breach CISO at a cryptocurrency exchange• Leading security post-breach — and what "sleeping well again" actually means• The unique threat landscape facing cryptocurrency companies, including nation-state adversaries• The Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD): coordinated, ethical vulnerability disclosure worldwide• Mentoring young ethical hackers: communication, confidence, and responsible disclosure process• Crisis communication: balancing transparency with operational security during active incidents• Why legal edits to breach notifications can mislead customers and create dangerous distractions• The CISO's role as final reviewer of all incident communications• Security Champions Programs: bridging the gap between security and non-technical departments• Tabletop exercise design: running effective simulations in under an hour with non-technical staff• Writing the breach notification letter before the breach happens• Bouncing forward, not bouncing back: using lessons learned as a resilience KPI• Security as a business enabler: positioning the CISO role for organizational growth and confidenceGuest BioAlan Lucas is CISO at Worldstream and Greenhouse Datacenters, two of the Netherlands' leading cloud and data center infrastructure providers. With over a decade of cybersecurity experience, he leads security strategy for mission-critical IT and cloud environments. Prior roles include Fox-IT (MSSP) and LiteBit, a Dutch cryptocurrency exchange where he served as CISO post-breach. Alan also volunteers as a coach at the Dutch Institute for Vulnerability Disclosure (DIVD), mentoring ethical hackers and supporting responsible disclosure globally. He is passionate about security as a catalyst for innovation — and about building a safer digital society, one step at a time.LEARN MORE:

#TNA #TNAonAMC #TNAWRESTLING The action intensifies on Thursday Night iMPACT! on AMC as championship stakes and rising tensions take center stage. Thursday Night iMPACT! on AMC was live from the Gateway Center Arena in Atlanta, GA. The TNI Crew is here to discuss everything that goes down, covering results, news & more! RESULTS: Arianna Grace (w/ Channing Lorenzo) (c) defeated Jody Threat to retain the TNA Knockouts World Championship The System (Brian Myers & Bear Bronson) defeated BDE & Rich Swann and The Righteous (Vincent & Dutch) and Sinner And Saint (Judas Icarus & Travis Williams) in a Four Way Tag Team Match to become the #1 Contenders for the TNA World Tag Team Championship Elayna Black defeated Mara Sadè Leon Slater (c) defeated Nic Nemeth to retain the TNA X-Division Championship Help Joe Doering Pin Cancer: 3x the charm! https://gofund.me/e96fb90fe Donate to Chris Bey's GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/a09e8a55 Music by Jacob Lizotte CONNECT WITH TOTAL NONSTOP IMPACT: Social Media: Twitter - www.twitter.com/WETALKIMPACT Twitch - www.twitch.tv/TotalNonstopIMPACT Instagram - www.instagram.com/WETALKIMPACT Facebook - www.facebook.com/WETALKIMPACT Connect with us now on our Discord: / discord Streaming Audio: Apple iTunes - apple.co/2NpzbqF Stitcher Radio - bit.ly/2DjPznT Google Play - tinyurl.com/ybh29sfp TuneIn Radio - bit.ly/2NreA57 iHeart Radio: ihr.fm/laugeb Spotify: spoti.fi/2B1zBeL Soundcloud - @user-625858195 Pandora - pandora.app.link/07JHdVjfc9 Official Merchandise: Pro Wrestling Tees: www.prowrestlingtees.com/totalnonstopimpact Spreadshop Merchandise: Featuring Caps, Hoodies, Mugs, & MORE! total-nonstop-impact.myspreadshop.com Follow JAYBONE'S Journey on his other Podcast: / @smashthispodcast

Horses have never played a big role in Taiwan's history – or have they? Eryk and John start Season Six of Formosa Files and celebrate the Year of the Fire Horse by uncovering a series of surprising equine stories. We have prehistoric horses, Dutch cavalry, and Indigenous riders hunting wild cattle in the 1700s. And this will be a revelation to most; horse racing was hugely popular across the island during the later part of the Japanese colonial period. In the 1930s, tens of thousands flocked to the tracks, fortunes were wagered, and the Japanese colonial government even linked betting to imperial patriotism.Follow us on IG or FB.

Fluent Fiction - Dutch: A Floral Resolution: Family, Legacy, and Love at Keukenhof Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/nl/episode/2026-03-12-22-34-01-nl Story Transcript:Nl: De lucht was fris en helder boven de Keukenhof, waar een tapijt van tulpen de aarde kleurde met rood, geel en paars.En: The air was fresh and clear above the Keukenhof, where a carpet of tulips colored the earth in red, yellow, and purple.Nl: Vogels zongen vrolijk terwijl de wind zachtjes door de bomen ruiste.En: Birds sang cheerfully while the wind softly rustled through the trees.Nl: Hier, tussen de bloemen, stonden Bram, Sanne en Maartje.En: Here, among the flowers, stood Bram, Sanne, and Maartje.Nl: Ze waren samen gekomen om te spreken over de toekomst van het huis van hun vader, maar de schaduw van verdriet hing nog steeds over hen heen.En: They had come together to talk about the future of their father's house, but the shadow of sadness still loomed over them.Nl: Bram, de oudste, keek uit over de zee van bloemen.En: Bram, the eldest, looked out over the sea of flowers.Nl: "We moeten het huis verkopen," zei hij.En: "We have to sell the house," he said.Nl: Zijn stem was vast, zoals altijd.En: His voice was firm, as always.Nl: Hij wilde geen gedoe en vooral geen pijnlijke herinneringen.En: He wanted no hassle and especially no painful memories.Nl: Sanne schudde haar hoofd, haar blik vol zachtheid.En: Sanne shook her head, her gaze full of gentleness.Nl: "Het is het huis van papa.En: "It's papa's house.Nl: We kunnen het niet zomaar weggedaan.En: We can't just get rid of it.Nl: Het moet in de familie blijven."En: It should stay in the family."Nl: Maartje, haar ogen glanzend van emotie, keek naar een veldje vol paarse tulpen.En: Maartje, her eyes shimmering with emotion, looked at a patch of purple tulips.Nl: "Ik wil het huis omtoveren in een kunstretreat.En: "I want to transform the house into an art retreat.Nl: Papa zou dat mooi vinden," voegde ze zachtjes toe.En: Papa would love that," she added softly.Nl: De spanning groeide terwijl ze door de tuin liepen.En: The tension grew as they walked through the garden.Nl: Ze probeerden te genieten van de bloemen, maar hun gedachten kwamen steeds terug bij het huis.En: They tried to enjoy the flowers, but their thoughts kept returning to the house.Nl: Bram hoopte dat de schoonheid en rust van de Keukenhof hen zou helpen een oplossing te vinden.En: Bram hoped that the beauty and tranquility of the Keukenhof would help them find a solution.Nl: Maar hoe meer ze praatten, hoe moeilijker het werd.En: But the more they talked, the harder it became.Nl: Plotseling, terwijl de zon verdween achter dikke wolken, begon het te sneeuwen.En: Suddenly, as the sun disappeared behind thick clouds, it began to snow.Nl: Onverwacht voor de lente!En: Unexpected for spring!Nl: De sneeuw bedekte snel de bloemen en de paden.En: The snow quickly covered the flowers and paths.Nl: Ze renden naar een paviljoen voor beschutting.En: They ran to a pavilion for shelter.Nl: Ze zaten vast, omringd door de witte wereld buiten.En: They were stuck, surrounded by the white world outside.Nl: Zittend daar, samen en alleen, kwam hun ingehouden verdriet naar boven.En: Sitting there, together and alone, their suppressed grief surfaced.Nl: Sanne begon te praten over herinneringen aan hun vader - verhalen over hem die hen leerde schaatsen op bevroren kanaaltjes of hoe hij dol was op tuinieren, net zoals hun moeder.En: Sanne began to talk about memories of their father - stories about him teaching them to skate on frozen canals or how he loved gardening, just like their mother.Nl: Bram luisterde en voelde een frisse bries van inzicht.En: Bram listened and felt a fresh breeze of insight.Nl: Voor het eerst zag hij niet alleen het huis, maar de herinneringen en liefde die erin zaten.En: For the first time, he saw not just the house, but the memories and love within it.Nl: Maartje fluisterde hoe ze hoopte dat hun vader trots zou zijn op wat zij met zijn huis wilde doen.En: Maartje whispered how she hoped their father would be proud of what she wanted to do with his house.Nl: Haar woorden raakten zijn hart.En: Her words touched his heart.Nl: "Dames," zei Bram uiteindelijk, zijn stem zachter, "misschien kunnen we beide wensen verenigen.En: "Ladies," Bram finally said, his voice softer, "maybe we can unite both wishes.Nl: Laten we het huis behouden, zoals Sanne wil, maar met een kleine studio voor Maartje's kunst."En: Let's keep the house, like Sanne wants, but with a small studio for Maartje's art."Nl: De sneeuwstorm kalmeerde, net zoals de spanningen tussen hen.En: The snowstorm calmed, just as the tensions between them did.Nl: De zon brak weer door de wolken en de tuin straalde in al zijn kleurenpracht.En: The sun broke through the clouds again, and the garden shone in all its colorful splendor.Nl: Ze verlieten de Keukenhof met een nieuw plan.En: They left the Keukenhof with a new plan.Nl: Samen hadden ze beslist het huis te renoveren.En: Together, they had decided to renovate the house.Nl: Het zou een plek zijn waar Sanne familie herdenkt en Maartje kunst schept.En: It would be a place where Sanne remembers family and Maartje creates art.Nl: En Bram, nu, hij zag de waarde van dieper liggende banden en ging weg met een hernieuwd begrip van familie.En: And Bram, now, he saw the value of deeper ties and left with a renewed understanding of family.Nl: De lucht in de lente was koud, maar niet meer kil.En: The air in the spring was cold, but no longer chilly.Nl: Samen liepen ze weg van het paviljoen, geïnspireerd door de bloemen en elkaars liefde.En: Together they walked away from the pavilion, inspired by the flowers and each other's love. Vocabulary Words:loomed: hingfirm: vasthassle: gedoeshimmering: glanzendtransform: omtoverentension: spanningtranquility: rustunexpected: onverwachtshelter: beschuttingsuppressed: ingehoudensurfaced: kwam naar boveninsight: inzichtunite: verenigenstudio: studiosnowstorm: sneeuwstormcalmed: kalmeerdesplendor: kleurenprachtrenovate: renoverenremember: herdenktunderstanding: begripfresh: frissadness: verdriettulips: tulpengaze: blikgentleness: zachtheidretreat: retreatsolution: oplossingfrozen: bevrorenbreeze: briesthick: dikke

Fluent Fiction - Dutch: Secrets and Blooms: A Spring Adventure in de Keukenhof Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/nl/episode/2026-03-12-07-38-19-nl Story Transcript:Nl: De dag begon met een lichte lentezon die de wereld opwarmde.En: The day began with a gentle spring sun warming the world.Nl: Onze klas stond op het punt de Keukenhof te verkennen.En: Our class was about to explore de Keukenhof.Nl: De lucht rook fris, en overal zagen we zachte kleuren van bloeiende bloemen.En: The air smelled fresh, and everywhere we saw soft colors of blooming flowers.Nl: Tulpen, narcissen en hyacinten maakten het landschap onbeschrijfelijk mooi.En: Tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths made the landscape indescribably beautiful.Nl: Mijn hart sloeg sneller van opwinding, maar ook van zenuwen.En: My heart was racing with excitement, but also with nerves.Nl: Sander was ik, een stille jongen met een geheim: mijn bewondering voor Femke.En: I was Sander, a quiet boy with a secret: my admiration for Femke.Nl: Femke wandelde voor me uit, haar camera in de aanslag.En: Femke walked ahead of me, her camera at the ready.Nl: Ze lachte en maakte overal foto's.En: She laughed and took photos everywhere.Nl: Haar avontuurlijke geest fascineerde me, maar ik was te verlegen om het haar te vertellen.En: Her adventurous spirit fascinated me, but I was too shy to tell her.Nl: Toch had ik een plan.En: However, I had a plan.Nl: Ik had gelezen over een zeldzame bloem die hier zou bloeien.En: I had read about a rare flower that was supposed to bloom here.Nl: Het was mijn kans om Femke te imponeren.En: It was my chance to impress Femke.Nl: De Keukenhof was druk met toeristen.En: De Keukenhof was crowded with tourists.Nl: Overal klonken stemmen in verschillende talen, en het was soms moeilijk om de weg te vinden.En: Voices in different languages could be heard everywhere, and it was sometimes hard to find the way.Nl: Maar ik wist precies waar ik heen moest.En: But I knew exactly where I needed to go.Nl: Er was een afgelegen deel van de tuinen waar niet veel mensen kwamen.En: There was a secluded part of the gardens where not many people went.Nl: Misschien vond ik daar de bloem waar ik zo veel over gelezen had.En: Maybe I would find the flower I had read so much about there.Nl: Mijn hart bonsde terwijl ik naar Femke liep.En: My heart pounded as I walked up to Femke.Nl: "Femke," zei ik zachtjes, "wil je met me meegaan?En: "Femke," I said softly, "would you like to come with me?Nl: Ik wil je iets laten zien."En: I want to show you something."Nl: Ze keek verrast op en knikte enthousiast.En: She looked up surprised and nodded enthusiastically.Nl: "Natuurlijk, Sander.En: "Of course, Sander.Nl: Waar gaan we heen?"En: Where are we going?"Nl: We liepen over kronkelige paden, omringd door kleuren en geuren.En: We walked along winding paths, surrounded by colors and scents.Nl: Elke stap was een avontuur, en mijn verlegenheid begon langzaam te verdwijnen.En: Every step was an adventure, and my shyness slowly began to fade.Nl: Na een korte wandeling bereikten we een rustig hoekje.En: After a short walk, we reached a quiet corner.Nl: Daar, midden in een zee van groen, ontdekte ik eindelijk de zeldzame bloem.En: There, in the middle of a sea of green, I finally discovered the rare flower.Nl: Het was prachtig, met delicate bloemblaadjes die in de zon glansden.En: It was beautiful, with delicate petals shining in the sun.Nl: "Femke, kijk!"En: "Look, Femke!"Nl: riep ik uit.En: I exclaimed.Nl: "Dit is de bloem waar ik je over vertelde."En: "This is the flower I told you about."Nl: Haar ogen werden groot van bewondering.En: Her eyes widened in admiration.Nl: Ze bukte zich en legde het moment vast met haar camera.En: She bent down and captured the moment with her camera.Nl: "Wauw, Sander, dit is echt prachtig!"En: "Wow, Sander, this is truly stunning!"Nl: We bleven daar, pratend over bloemen en fotografie.En: We stayed there, talking about flowers and photography.Nl: Femke vertelde me verhalen over haar avonturen en ik deelde mijn kennis over planten.En: Femke told me stories about her adventures, and I shared my knowledge about plants.Nl: Het was alsof de wereld om ons heen vervaagde.En: It felt as if the world around us faded away.Nl: In dat moment voelde ik me eindelijk op mijn gemak.En: In that moment, I finally felt comfortable.Nl: Toen we terugliepen naar de rest van de klas, besefte ik dat ik iets had gewonnen.En: As we walked back to the rest of the class, I realized I had gained something.Nl: Niet alleen de bewondering van Femke, maar ook een beetje zelfvertrouwen.En: Not only the admiration of Femke, but also a little bit of confidence.Nl: Vanuit mijn hart was ik dankbaar voor deze dag vol kleuren, gesprekken en de schoonheid van vriendschap.En: From my heart, I was grateful for this day full of colors, conversations, and the beauty of friendship.Nl: De zon zakte langzaam, en ik wist dat dit uitstapje naar de Keukenhof anders was dan alle andere.En: The sun slowly set, and I knew that this trip to de Keukenhof was different from all the others.Nl: Het was een avontuur dat ik nooit meer zou vergeten en een stap naar een nieuwe vriendschap die misschien iets meer zou kunnen worden.En: It was an adventure I would never forget and a step towards a new friendship that might become something more. Vocabulary Words:gentle: lichteexplore: verkennenlandscape: landschapindescribably: onbeschrijfelijkadmiration: bewonderingadventurous: avontuurlijkefascinated: fascineerdesecluded: afgelegenwinding: kronkeligedelicate: delicatepetals: bloemblaadjesenthusiastically: enthousiastimpress: imponerenpounded: bonsdeadmiration: bewonderingnodded: kniktecaptured: legde vaststunning: prachtignerves: zenuwenshyness: verlegenheidadventure: avontuurcorner: hoekjefaded: vervaagdecomfortable: op mijn gemakconfidence: zelfvertrouwenconversations: gesprekkenfriendship: vriendschapset: zaktetrip: uitstapjerealized: besefte

Episode 1613: Primary Mistakes

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On this week's show, Patrick Gray, Adam Boileau and James WIlson discuss the week's cybersecurity news. They cover: The Coruna exploits were L3 Harris, but it seems Triangulation… was not! Iran's cyber HQ hit by Israeli (kinetic) strikes Trump's cyber “strategy” is … well, all we've got is jokes cause there's no serious content NSA and CyberCom finally get a leader after Lt Gen Joshua Rudd gets Senate nod DOGE (remember them?!) employee walked a social security database out on a USB stick This episode is sponsored by open source cloud security scanner Prowler. Creator and CEO Toni de la Fuente talks to Pat about some of the enterprise features Prowler is growing, while remaining true to its open source roots. This episode is also available on Youtube. Show notes Inside Coruna: Reverse Engineering a Nation-State iOS Exploit Kit From JavaScript GitHub - matteyeux/coruna: deobfuscated JS and blobs US military contractor likely built iPhone hacking tools used by Russian spies in Ukraine APT36: A Nightmare of Vibeware State-linked actors targeted US networks in lead-up to Iran war Iranian cyber warfare HQ allegedly hit by Israel Last 2 names of 6 US soldiers who died in Kuwait attack identified by the Pentagon Signal, WhatsApp users face Russian phishing push, Dutch warn Samuel Bendett on X: "Russian military told it couldn't use Telegram messaging app" FBI investigating ‘suspicious' cyber activities on critical surveillance network Risky Bulletin: New White House EO prioritizes fight against scams and cybercrime President Trump's CYBER STRATEGY for America Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Combats Cybercrime, Fraud, and Predatory Schemes Against American Citizens UK plans to shift fraud fight onto telecoms, tech companies Trump to hit Anthropic with executive order to remove "woke" AI Claude Anthropic launches code review tool to check flood of AI-generated code CrowdStrike reports record quarter amid investor concerns about AI impact Critical defect in Java security engine poses serious downstream security risks Gen. Joshua Rudd confirmed as NSA, Cyber Command head Plankey's nomination as CISA director now in jeopardy DOGE employee stole Social Security data and put it on a thumb drive, report says Taming Agentic Browsers: Vulnerability in Chrome Allowed Extensions to Hijack New Gemini Panel Cel mai mare exportator român de carne, deținătorul brandului Cocorico, a intrat în restructurări, alături de Casa de Insolvență Transilvania

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Dan examines the mad new Dutch taxation of paper on unrealised gains that will probably end up being adopted everywhere else and kill early stage companies.

I recently had a long conversation with a very successful professional. He's 58 years old. Highly educated. Respected in his field. Financially sophisticated — in fact, his job depends on understanding money. If you looked at his résumé, you would assume he was completely set for life. He wasn't. A couple of bad investments. Some concentration risk. A few decisions that looked reasonable at the time. And suddenly he's essentially back at ground zero — trying to start a new business at 58. This story is far more common than people realize. The Dangerous Assumption is that many successful professionals assume they'll be fine. Doctors. Lawyers. Executives. Entrepreneurs. They make high incomes. They understand finance. They know about markets and interest rates and diversification. They focus on their career. They focus on income. They even focus on investing. What they don't focus on is their own financial future with the same intensity they focus on their profession. There's a difference. Being financially literate is not the same thing as being financially intentional. Especially when you assume you always have more time. The Good News at 58 is that he still has time. A lot of time. For entrepreneurs especially, it doesn't take 25 years to rebuild. It can take five. There's a quote often attributed to Bill Gates: “Most people overestimate what they can accomplish in one year and underestimate what they can accomplish in five.” That quote is brutally accurate. In one year, starting a business feels overwhelming. Progress feels slow. Revenue is inconsistent. Doubt creeps in. But five years? Five years of focused effort, smart strategy, capital discipline, and experience compounded? That can change your entire financial trajectory. I've Seen This Movie Before. I have a very good friend who was worth over $40 million in his early 30s during the real estate boom. Then 2008 happened. The real estate debacle didn't just dent him — it wiped him out. For years, he struggled. Pride gone. Lifestyle reset. Just trying to survive. Most people would have mentally retired at that point. They would have blamed the market, blamed the system, blamed bad luck. But about six or seven years ago, he found his rhythm again. New strategy. New focus. New discipline. Today, he's worth over $60 million. I get that's not normal. But it proves something important. It Doesn't Take a Lifetime. The examples I just gave are extreme. Most people don't lose $40 million. Most people aren't rebuilding at 58. But the principle is universal: It doesn't take a lifetime to secure your future. It takes a focused season. A defined period where you are intensely clear about your objective. A stretch where: • You work harder than you're comfortable with • You manage risk better than you used to • You stop assuming income equals security • You align your decisions with a specific financial target for the future There's another quote I love: “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” Luck isn't random. It compounds around preparation, visibility, and persistence. When you are laser-focused on a financial goal, you start seeing opportunities others miss. You make better introductions. You ask sharper questions. You move faster when something makes sense. And over time, it looks like “luck.” The story of the 58-year-old professional isn't a warning about markets. It's a warning about complacency. Success in your profession does not automatically translate into security in your future. Income is not wealth. Financial literacy is not financial strategy. And intelligence does not eliminate risk. But here's the good news. If you're in your 40s or 50s and feel behind — you're not done. If you made a bad investment — you're not finished. If you took a hit — that's not your final chapter. You may just be at the beginning of your five-year season. The key is focus. Direct yourself to a destination you can visualize. That's the only way you will get there. Because in the end, securing your future rarely requires a lifetime of perfection. It requires a concentrated period of intensity. And the sooner you decide to enter that season — the sooner your next five years will start compounding in your favor. There is no one who knows this reality more than this week's guest on Wealth Formula, Rod Khleif . Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qogQNGbK9wk Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/549-youre-successful-until-youre-not-with-rod-khleif/id718416620?i=1000753860685 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7mTzyRJxjnkeiVFGCXfOni Transcript Disclaimer: This transcript was generated by AI and may not be 100% accurate. If you notice any errors or corrections, please email us at phil@wealthformula.com.  welcome everybody. This is Buck Joffrey with Dwell Formula Podcast. Coming to you from Montecito, California, I wanna remind you that there is a website associated with this podcast called wealthformula.com. That’s where you go if you wanna. Become, uh, more, uh, involved with this community, including our accredited investor club, AKA investor club, uh, very easy to join. It’s free. All you do is you get onboarded and you see lots of, uh, potential deal flow that you wouldn’t otherwise see again, that is wealthformula.com. Simply click on investor club and get onboarded. Now, as for today’s show, I had a, uh, a long conversation with a very successful professional, recently 58, highly educated, respected, financially sophisticated, in fact, in the money business. Uh, and if you look at his resume, you would assume he was completely set for life, but he wasn’t. A couple of bad investments, some concentration risk. A few decisions that looked reasonable at the time, and suddenly he’s back pretty much to ground zero trying to figure out what to do, and he’s thinking about starting a new business or maybe buying a business. Well, that got me thinking because the reality is this story is far more common than people realize, and I actually hear it fair amount. Right? Many successful professionals assume they’re gonna be fine. Doctors, lawyers, executives, entrepreneurs, making high incomes. Maybe they understand finance, they know about markets, interest rates and diversification in theory. But here’s the trap. You focus on your career. You focus on income. What they don’t focus on is their own financial future with the same intensity. They focus on the profession, and that’s. The difference, right? The issue is that being financially literate is not the same thing as being financially intentional. Now, I actually hate that word because it’s a very, uh, uh, neo agey word intentional. But in this case, I will use it because that it’s very, it’s very appropriate. But here’s the good news, even at 58, right, you still have time. You have a lot of time for, especially for entrepreneurs, it doesn’t take 25 years to rebuild. It can take five. And there’s this quote, um, it’s often attributed to Bill Gates, who, who’s been in the news lately for a lot of other stuff, but this is a good quote. He says, most people overestimate what they can accomplish in one year and underestimate what they can accomplish in five. And that quote is so true. I will, it’s incredibly powerful and it’s very, very useful to think about and. Put in the back of your mind because in a year, like you’re saying, you’re starting a business, it’s gonna feel overwhelming. You may lose money, you know, slow progress, revenue, inconsistent five years, you know, with focused effort and you know, good strategy and discipline. The financial trajectory of your life could completely change over that five years. In fact, I will say that with my first business that I ever started, that is absolutely what happened. I was just pretty much outta residency, didn’t have any money, and within five years I was rocking and rolling. You know, it was a, it was, you know, it wasn’t worth, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars. But I, I, I was, I was doing way better. If you look over five years, it’s an incredible trajectory. And it’s not just me. I mean, there’s guys who’ve done it more extreme ways. I talk about this friend, a lot of times he was worth like 30 or $40 million in his early thirties, and then 2008 happened. It didn’t just kinda dent him, it wiped him out, and for years he struggled. Lifestyle kind of reset a little bit, just trying to survive. You know, there’s this saying in business that the key to su success in business is to stick around long enough until you get lucky again. Well, sometimes that’s true. And a lot of people might have, uh, kind of mentally retired at that point. But the reality is he stuck with it. He rebuilt about six or seven years. He was kind of sideways, then another six or seven years, new focus, new discipline, and today worth 60 million bucks. Now, that’s not normal, right? But it does provide, uh, it does, it does kind of provide an important point. It doesn’t take a lifetime always. Now most people don’t lose $40 million, and most people aren’t rebuilding necessarily from zero at 58, but the principle really is universal. It doesn’t take a lifetime to secure your future. It takes a focus season to find period where you’re intensely clear about your objective. It’s a stretch where you work harder than you’re comfortable with, and maybe it’s not fun to do that in your fifties or sixties. You manage risk better than you used to. You stop assuming income equals security. You align your decisions with a specific financial target. You know what, there’s a another line I love, another quote, and I don’t know where this one comes. I, I, I think it was some hockey coach of mine way back. It’s that the harder you work, the luckier you get. The thing is that luck isn’t random, right? It compounds. Around preparation and visibility and persistence. And when you’re laser focused on a financial goal, you’re gonna start seeing opportunities that are out there that others might miss. You’re gonna make, you know, better introductions, ask sharp questions. You move faster when something makes sense, and over time it starts to look like luck. I think the real lesson, um, about the situation that people get into, like this person I was talking about is. That it, it’s not a warning about markets per se, although markets have a lot to do with it. It’s a warning about complacency. You know, success in your profession does not automatically translate into security in your future. You know, income as you know, is not really wealth and financial literacy is not financial strategy. Although literacy is really, really important. You gotta have a strategy. And you can be really, really smart and not eliminate, you know, or mitigate risk enough. So if you’re in your forties or fifties and feel behind, you’re not done. Okay? You made a bad investment, you’re not finished. If you took a hit, I’ve taken plenty of heads, especially the last few years. It’s not your final chapter. You may just be looking at the beginning of your next five year season. And the key is focus clear goals, define targets, discipline, action. The sooner you decide to enter that season, the sooner your next five years will start compounding in your favor. Man, I gotta tell you, this is a, an ongoing story I hear a lot about, so again, think about that Bill Gates quote, you, you know, people tend to way overestimate what they can do in a year. Grossly underestimate what they could do in five. Anyway. There’s no one who knows this better than my guest on this week’s Wealth Formula podcast. Rod Cleef. Many of you already know him. We’ll have that conversation right after these messages. Wealth Formula banking is an ingenious concept powered by whole life insurance, but instead of acting just as a safety net, the strategy supercharges your investments. First, you create a personal financial reservoir that grows at a compounding interest rate much higher than any bank savings account as your money accumulates. You borrow from your own bank to invest in other cash flowing investments. Here’s the key. Even though you’ve borrowed money at a simple interest rate, your insurance company keeps paying you compound interest on that money even though you’ve borrowed it. At result, you make money in two places at the same time. That’s why your investment. Get supercharged. This isn’t a new technique. It’s a refined strategy used by some of the wealthiest families in history, and it uses century old rock solid insurance companies as its backbone. Turbocharge your investments. Visit wealthformulabanking.com. Again, that’s wealthformulabanking.com. Welcome back to the show everyone. Today my guest on Wealth Formula podcast is Rod Thief. He’s a real estate investor, author, and mentor with decades of experience in multifamily investing. Uh, he’s built and sold hundreds of millions, uh, in, in apartment assets and teaches thousands of investors through coaching masterclasses and his life. Uh, lifetime Cash Flow Academy. Uh, rod, how you doing? Good, brother. Good to see you, my friend. Let’s review, but you know a little bit about you, your background. Sure. You know, uh, sure. We have an interesting story. Okay, well I’m a Dutch immigrant, you know, think wooden shoes and windmills. I immigrated to this country, uh, when I was six years old with my brother Albert, my mother’s cia. Um, and we ended up in Denver, Colorado. Uh, struggled initially. Really struggled actually. And, and I remember, uh, wearing hand me down clothes all the way through junior high school until I finally lied about my age when I was 14 ’cause I was tall and said I was 15 so I could flip burgers at Burger King. You know, and I’m sure you’ve got listeners that had it harder than I did, but I knew I wanted more. And luckily my mom had an incredible work ethic and so she babysat kids so we’d have enough money to eat. And with her babysitting money, she was an entrepreneur and invested in real estate. Um, and her first real estate acquisition was the house right across the street from us. When I was 14, she paid about $30,000. And then when I was 17, she told me she’d made $20,000 in her sleep. It had gone up in value. And I’m like, what? Forget college. I’m getting into real estate. So I. Went and got my real estate broker’s license right when I turned 18, which you could do back then with education. Now they got, they got smart you, they need some, you need some experience. But, uh, I was a broker. I was smart enough to go work for a broker. But, um, you know, my first year in real estate I made about eight grand. My second year, maybe 10 grand, but my third year I made over a hundred thousand dollars, which back in 1980 was some pretty decent money. And so what happened between year two and year three? Uh, the 10 x my income was what? What happens? I met a, a guy, he was a broker. I was working for actually, it taught me about the importance of mindset and psychology and how really 80 to 90% of your success in anything is just that your mindset and psychology. So fast forward to today, I’ve, I’ve owned over 2000 houses that I’ve rented long term. I own thousands of apartments now, and I’m also buying senior housing now, which I’m excited about. And you know, in 2006, my net worth went up $17 million while I slept. And you might say, wow. I said, wow, I got a head so big I could barely fit it through a door. And I thought I was a real estate God. And you know, when that happens, God of the universe will give you a nice little SmackDown. Well, that was 2008. I conservatively lost $50 million in 2008 and nine. What I’m known for talking about on my podcast, which I’m blessed to say at this point’s, the largest, uh, commercial real estate podcast really in the world at this point is, and, and the reason being is I spend time talking about mindset. You know, people don’t remember what you said, but they remember how you make him feel. And I do little clips every week called Own Your Power, their motivational clips. And, and I think that’s the reason it’s been so well received. But, uh, you know, I’m known for talking about the. Mindset it took to have 50 million to lose in the first place. And you know, maybe more importantly, the mindset it took to recover from losing it. But, uh, you know, I’d love to, we can chat about that if you like, or I’d love to talk about the state. Yeah. Whatever you It’s a, it’s, I think it’s appropriate to talk about that right now, rod. I mean, I think Okay. You know, in this, in this market with what we had, you know, um, you know, there’s been a, there’s been a lot of pain in multifamily and Yeah. You know, it’s, you know, you and I have talked about this before where. Part of success is, is trying to recognize particular situations. Um, you know, you talk about Warren Buffet and how Warren Buffet says be greedy, when others are fearful and all that, that’s great, but it’s really hard to do. Right? And so help us understand like, sure. You know, uh, how, how do you, how do you do that? Sure. How did you go and how bad did it get? Well, I lost 50 million. I lost $50 million, so it got pretty freaking bad. Okay. I call ’em seminars. That was an expensive seminar. Yeah. Yeah. And very little, uh, so it was, it was ugly. It was ugly, but. It was, it’s, I, I’ll be, I’ll be candid. The strategies I’ll share very briefly here, the strategies, I’ll share the same strategies you would use to get started. Okay. You know, if, if you know you need to do something, and we talked about this, uh, uh, before we started recording, you know, the. With ai, a lot of jobs are going away. You know, if you heard of Elon Musk on, on Joe Rogan’s last epi episode, or the last interview he did with Joe Rogan, you know, he said any job in front of a computer is pretty much gonna be gone like lightning, like a year or two. I mean that fast. It’s crazy. And so, you know, and even, you know, surgeons are, are, are, are gonna be replaced by robotics and, and on and on and you know, and I think there’s gonna be it professionals, uh, you know, there’s gonna be a lot of. Pain for the people that don’t proactively, you know, reinvent themselves, start thinking about what they’re gonna do to reinvent themselves. Maybe it’s an ai, maybe you’ll learn ai, but, but you better think about it now or if you’re in one of these positions. So when the shoe drops, you’re ready because. Uh, there’s a lot of opportunity. I mean, there’s 10,000 people a day turning 65 in this country. You could buy businesses, um, you know, uh, I’m in, I’m, I’m excited about senior housing. They need beds, you know, and, and there’s a huge shortage of beds, but, so there’s a lot of opportunity, but you better pick something if you’re in one of these fields and get busy starting to study it and learn it, and do it on the side so that when the shoe drops, you’re ready. That’s, I don’t wanna scare you, but I just wanna open your eyes. To that fact. But so how, how I recovered from losing $50 million again, is the same strategy I would tell you to use to get started. And it’s first thing, it starts with goals. You gotta figure out what it is you want. ’cause how do you get anything if you don’t know what it is? Because with the goals you create a burning desire or a hunger and you’ve gotta have that to push through fear and limiting beliefs and so on and so forth. And, um. You know, I, I, that’s, if you come to one of my bootcamps, I do a virtual bootcamp every couple of months. It’s two days. I don’t sell anything there. And I’ll tell you later how you can come for 47 bucks. So it’s no excuse. But, but the first thing we do is goal setting on steroids, uh, because you’ve got, again, you’ve gotta create that hunger. Now, I’ll, I’ll say this to you, if you have no interest in, in, uh, learning what I teach. At my link tree, I did my goal setting workshop. It’s an hour. There’s a guide you can download if you go to rodslinks.com or text the word links if you’re driving, uh, to 7, 2, 3, 4, 5 at the bottom. My, is my goal setting workshop. And you know, here’s the thing, buck, people spend more time planning a freaking birthday party than they do designing their lives. Doing your goals is designing your life. So you know, if, if, uh, if you haven’t done ’em in a while, go to Rods, links, go at the bottom. There’s my workshop, there’s a guide. You can download ’em. Not gonna try to sell you anything. Spend an hour with me. Have your spouse do it. Have your kids do it if they’re over 10 years old, and design their lives. So again, it starts with goals. So that’s the first thing I did was reassociate with my goals. Then the second piece is you gotta make a decision. And I don’t mean dip your toe in the water. I don’t mean one foot in, one foot out. I mean, you decide it’s done. Okay. The Latin root for the word decision means to cut off. If you’re gonna attack the island, you burn your ships ’cause you’re taking their ships home. That’s a decision. And, and that’s what I did. I said, okay, enough, quit feeling sorry for yourself. Pick yourself up and go make something happen. And that’s, that’s what I did back then when I lost everything. But it’s the same thing again. If you’re, if you’re in a job and you’re. You’re just not where you want to be. So we make that decision and then you gotta take the first step, uh, you know, buck. And that’s, that’s pretty much it. You know, Dr. Martin Luther King said, you take that first step in faith, the next step will be revealed. And you know, LA Sue said the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. But, you know, in our business and, and, and the investors that we deal with and, and the, you know. Uh, active investors and, and, and passive both, as many of ’em are very analytical and you know who you are. If that’s you and I love you, you’re some of the most successful students that I have and successful people in our businesses. However, I also know how you have to check off every single box before you make a move, and you can’t do that here. Okay? You’ve got to, you’ve got to recognize that you’ve gotta have enough faith. To get started, you know, you can go all the way across the United States at night with your headlight only seeing 50 feet in front of you. And, you know, you can make it, you know, other people have done it before you, you know, there’s a, there’s a, there’s a, a road. And, uh, it’s the same way. You may have some obstacles, but, uh, it’s the same way with this business or really any business. But you, you, you’ve got to take that first step. And, you know, a, a lot of people fear failure, and I’m gonna tell you, don’t fear failure. Fear being in the same place you are right now, a year or two from now, unless you absolutely freak. Love where you are right now. Fear, fear, regret. That’s what I would fear if I were you. I, I, there was this nurse in Australia, a hospice nurse, uh, and her name was Bronny Ware. She asked patients when, who were about to die, if they had any regrets, and she wrote a book about it as a national bestseller. Something like The Five Regrets of Dying. You know what the number on regret was? It was Living the, not Living the Life I could have lived living someone else’s life, not doing what I know. I’m capable of fear that don’t fear failure, you know? Well, the next piece is fear and limiting beliefs. So fear, you know, every successful person have has fear. Now we, we, we, entrepreneurs call it stress, but it’s fear. And, you know, action mitigates fear. You wanna mitigate fear, take action. Go do something. If I’m, if I’m laying in bed at night, it’s three in the clock in the freaking morning and something stresses me out again, stress is fear. That’s what we achievers call stress. Uh, it’s fear. Uh, and, and, um. If something wakes me up and I’m stressed about it, I literally will get outta bed and just go write down some notes. I used to have a pen with an electrical pen that drove my ex-wife crazy and I’d, I’d write notes sometimes fill up pages of notes in bed so that I’m taking some action so I can go back to sleep. So there’s a, there’s a very simple example of it, but anytime that I am fearful about something, I take massive action towards it. Just, just taking steps, doing things. That will mitigate it. And it’s just how it works. So, I mean, it’s, it’s, it’s as simple as that buck. I mean, you just have to do some things. Towards that fear now. Now, the other thing is, if you don’t take action, the fear expands. So that’s the, uh, uh, that’s the antithesis there. So, so you, you need to take action because that’ll, that’ll mitigate it. The, the next piece really is limiting beliefs. You know, when I immigrated this country, I didn’t speak English. I got thrown into school, found out what bullies were for the first time. So I got my butt kicked occasionally, hadn’t learned how to fight back, and then my mom, this is the prop, sent me to school in these wooden shoes. And these are the actual wooden shoes. We found them. When we put her in senior house, senior living in, and these leather shorts, the Germans wear for October Fest, I had to wear that to school. And of course that was crack cocaine for the fricking bully. So I got my ass kicked again. And don’t wooden shoes, rod Or, or those, yeah. Yeah. Wooden shoes. Wooden shoes. Yeah. These are from Holland, man. That’s where I was born. Yeah. My mom. Proud Dutch woman. Yeah. This is, they’re wood. They’re real wood. The farmers still wear these things, uh, ’cause they’re good to go through mud, but they’re crack cocaine for bullies. Okay? And so, yeah, you know, uh, I, I, I got my butt kicked again and, and I came up with this belief system that I wasn’t good enough. I used to ask myself, how can I show them I’m good enough? And a lot of people have these limiting belief systems. I’m not good enough. I’m not courageous enough. I’m not strong enough. I’m not old enough. I’m not young enough. Here’s the thing to remember. There’s a reason the acronym for Belief Systems is BS because 99% of them are bs, but we believe they’re real. I mean, I used to be afraid to raise my hand in front of 10 kids in a classroom, and because of fear of rejection, now I speak in front of thousands of people a year, usually in flip-flops. Okay, so you know, you can mitigate this. So if you’re aware of one of these. Limiting beliefs, BS belief systems, drag it out into the daylight. Look at it with your adult rational mind. You’ll recognize that it’s BS and it will dissipate. But you gotta, you gotta think about it consciously and it’ll, it’ll go away. Um, the, the next piece is focus. Um, you know, focus really is power and whatever we focus on gets bigger, both positive or negative. Okay? So it’s very important that you focus on what you want, not what you don’t want. I’ll get, people call me and say, how do I get outta my student loan debt? I’m like, wrong question. How do you make so much money? The debt’s irrelevant, is the question you need to be asking. They asked Mother Theresa if she was anti-war. She said, no, I’m pro peace. I mean, you get it, right? And, and so, and in fact, I’ll give you another example. So I, I, my podcast is over, I believe, over 30 million downloads, which doesn’t sound like a lot in our social media world, but in, in the podcasting space, it’s not bad. But I listened to two podcasts, Joe Rogan and Tim Ferris. I try to get both sides of the aisle. I’m definitely on, on one side. Uh, but, but, um. They get, and the reason I bring that up is they get about 30 million a week, you know, but that big podcast. But, but, um, on, on Tim Ferriss’ show, he interviews the best of the best in the world. You know, the best athletes like Michael Phelps, NFL players and NFL players, NBA players, actors like Hugh Jackman, ed Norton, Jamie Fox, Arnold billionaires like Ray Dalio, heads of the biggest companies on the planet like Zuckerberg. And he deconstructs their success. It’s very intelligent conversation. I mean, I, I love listening to it. I started to hear a pattern, uh, they almost all meditate. What does meditation enhance? Focus, right? So focus is a really important piece of, of, of success. And just a couple more. One is playing, the next one is playing to your strengths. You know, when, when you, when you go to reinvent yourself or if you’re struggling, you know, or, or gonna start something. Play to your strengths and hire a align or partner for your weaknesses. Like in our world, you know, there’s lots of different hats you can wear. It’s a team sport. You could be the person that finds the deals and analyzes them. If you’re analytical, you could be the mouthpiece like me or you, and you’re, you know, raising money, talking to brokers and, and getting the word out. You could be the. You know, the um, asset manager, if you’ve got some project management experience, construction experience, there’s lots of different hats you can wear, but you wanna play to your strengths. Your strengths are your greatest assets. Don’t try to maximize your fears. You’re gonna get much further. Like I said, if you hire aligner partner for your weaknesses, you know, some of the most successful. Um, partnerships I see in the business are an analytical, introverted person with an extroverted, outgoing person. I mean, that’s a match made in heaven in our business. ’cause our business is primarily empirical. You ask the right questions, uh, and, and you get the numbers right. You know, it’s kind of hard to make a big mistake. Um, and so. You know, just make sure you’re playing to your strengths and when you’re playing to your strengths, you’re gonna have passion and passion’s required to influence people. Right? ’cause you love what you do, so you’re passionate about it. So again, real heavy duty argument to play to your strengths. Yeah, I think the last piece, the last piece is, is peer group. Um, you know, who you hang out with is who you become. You’ve heard it, you’ve heard it before. So if you’re gonna get into something, get around people that are doing it. Like my Warrior Coaching program, I’m, I’m gonna brag. I, I, like I said, they own 300,000 multifamily units that we know of. I’m, I, it’s, we’re counting, uh, we know it’s close to 300,000. We’re at like 275,000 or something. I know there’s a lot we’re missing. And, you know, tons of senior housing, tons of self storage, tons of industrial flex space, um, retail mixed use, you name it. Uh, mobile home parks, and. Almost all of those deals were done between warriors, between my students. So you know, ha, who you hang out with is who you become. You know, if you show me your three best friends, I’ll show you who you are in your relationships, your happiness, your health, and definitely your finances. But see, so many people default to a peer group they went to school with or they work with, and those people with their own fears or limiting beliefs might hold you back, you know, afraid of losing you, afraid of feeling less than if you succeed. And sometimes it’s family. I’m gonna tell you, love your family, but proactively choose your peers. Right? You know, and when I was losing everything in 2008 and oh nine, I was in Tony Robbins Platinum Partnership and there were people there that were killing it in that crash, uh, you know, thriving. And they’re like, get up, you puss. 50 million Schmill. Go make something happen. That’s who you wanna be around, not only while you’re building, but certainly when the proverbial stuff hits the fan, right? Uh, so anyway. I, that those are, those are some of the big pieces. Yeah. Well, that, I mean, that’s, let, let’s talk a little bit about the, the business that you’re in. Um, you know, you’re, you’re heavily involved with real estate. Obviously these, uh, mindset things are a great place to start. Now you go out there, let’s talk about where the market actually is and what you’re seeing in this market right now. Does your represent opportunity to you? There’s a ton of opportunity because there’s a ton of people in trouble, sadly. Right. Okay. A lot, a lot of people got adjustable bridge debt. You know, these rates have gone through the moon. I’ll give you a small example. We were looking at a small asset in San Antonio where I’ve got some assets and I. And there, the lender reserve payment that this guy had to pay to prepare for a refinance went from 8,000 a month to 80,000 a month. Do you think that’s painful? Right. And you know, and, and when you’ve got a multi tens of millions of dollar loan on a property and the interest rates adjust several points, you’re done. And, and so that’s just on the interest rate piece. Uh, mentioning my SEC attorney had six foreclosures in one day, apartment complexes, uh, clients, new clients that came to him, he told me like three weeks ago. So who knows how many since then. But you know, there’s a lot of deals and trouble and it’s sad. It’s very sad. But, uh, that’s just one piece is the loans. Uh, the expenses have gone through the thick and roof. I mean, I’ve got maintenance supervisor that’s making $40 an hour at this point, which is crazy. Uh, you know, I, I teach at my bootcamps. Uh, I used to teach a 50% expense ratio. That’s what you want to have. Now I teach 60% ’cause they’ve gone up that much. And so, you know, there’s a lot of pain in the market. But with crisis comes opportunity. There’s incredible deals. I’ve got a a, a 200 unit asset in San Antonio. Um. That is on a lake, and right next door is a 300 unit, 300 plus unit asset. Um, it’s sold the 300 units sold for 43 million in 21 or 22. It’s, it’s with the bank, it’s down to 28 million now. And I’m not even interested unless it gets to 24, unless the rates drop significantly. And so 43 to 24. So that’s what’s out there right now. And di I think you just bought a, a deal at like a 40% discount, didn’t you? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And here’s the thing, which is what I wanted to get into as well, and I I just bring, bring people’s attention to it, is that these times in history don’t happen that frequently. Right? Right. And it, and it’s interesting what the, the last multiple, uh, opportunities we’ve, we’ve, we’ve capitalized on, they have been all these situations where it’s a debt problem, right? It’s, it’s an asset that’s performing fine. But someone’s got a month, uh, to go and they just need to get out. They’re gonna lose all their equity, their debts due. Um, yeah, their debts do, there’s like this, this wall of debt, like, I think it’s like a trillion dollars of debt due by the end of this year. So what we’re seeing is, you know, the last several opportunities, 30 to 40% discounts on basis, uh, compared to just two or three years ago. And I think the challenges for investors is that like. In the background, those of us who’ve been through the pain are still feeling the pain and you feel very gun shy about it, right? Yeah. Yeah. Um, and you also start thinking, well, 30 to 40% discounts. Uh, you know, this, this is, this sounds very scary, but in, in reality, I, I’m trying to get people to understand that, that those discounts only last for so long, right? I mean, that if you look at like the, the debt. That’s out there. Most of that really bad debt washes away at the end of this year. At 2026. Yeah. After that, like those 30 to 40% discounts that like people are hearing so often, they’re not gonna be there anymore. No, that’s, and what I, and what I hate to see is people wait two or three years from now and all of a sudden there’s a frothy market and everybody’s jumping on the bwa. ’cause that’s what they always do. That’s not, you wanna be a net seller in that market. That’s right. And, and you know, it’s like you mentioned Warren Buffet’s famous quote, be greedy when others are fearful and fearful when they’re greedy. And, and so right now they’re fearful, which is making harder to raise money. And I’m, I’m having the same conversations. It’s like, Hey, if there was ever a time, it’s right now and now. Now the key, now the key. Differentiator or key factor is it’s all about cash flow. You know, like I said, that that deal at 43 is down to 28. 28 still doesn’t make sense for me. So it’s all about cash flow. And so, you know, I wrote a bestselling book. I’ll brag about, hang on, I’ll show it here. It’s called How to Create Lifetime Cash Flow through Multifamily Properties. The reason I bring this up is the subtitle is The New Rules of Real Estate Investing IE The new rules is it’s all about cash flow. I don’t, you know, I can brag about what you, you know, the discounts you can buy a property for, but it, it’s all about the numbers. It’s got a pencil, it, so cash flow is king. Um, so would you agree with that? Oh, a hundred percent. No. The interesting thing is though, that like, that’s a, that’s actually in real estate. That’s a principle I think a lot of people had, and I think what ends up happening is when the market gets frothy, you kind of skip that step, right? Because then what you’re, then what happens is that the market becomes so competitive that you’re trying to project, okay, I can get this from here to here and I can make it cash flow pretty quickly. And that’s when it gets dangerous, right? Yeah, yeah. Because listen, when Mark, when, when, when rates were, were as low as they were, you could do that. Now what? As soon as they started accelerating, well then you just got behind and, and you, you couldn’t catch up. And that’s kind of what happened. No, that’s it. And the expenses. Yeah. Yeah. They, the business about this market though, and maybe you can get some perspective on this, is what happens. You’ve experienced multiple real estate cycles and one of the opportunities that real estate investors have had throughout the decades is investing in a market where interest rates start to fall. What happens? Well, what happens is, is, is, is, is values As values go up, you know, and here’s the other thing, you know, uh, uh, with inflation, inflation’s not going away. And when you buy a property, the debt’s locked unless you do the adjustable rate thing. But if, if you get a normal, a normal mortgage. The, the rent, the debt is locked, but your, your interest, your rents are gonna continue to climb here. They’re going up, they’re gonna keep going up. And, you know, and, and of course the value of, of what we do is based on a multiple of the net income, the NOI, the net operating income. So any increase of the rents is gonna go to the bottom line. And, and so your values are gonna go up. So again, incredible opportunity to get into this real estate now. With the debasement of the US currency, with with, with all the money they’re printing and everything else, you’re, you’re seeing incredible rises in, in hard assets like gold, silver, of course, we saw a crash in Bitcoin ’cause it’s ethereal, it’s air, but, but real estate, uh, is, is you look at it over, over, you know, 50 years and, and it only goes one direction. It has some dips, but it continues to go one direction. And, and so, you know, I, I love real estate. I always have and. And, and always will. And so, you know, that’s why I teach it, you know, I do, I teach multi and I now teach multiple asset classes. I just taught multifamily for a long time, but now I teach pretty much every asset class and I’m, yeah. So what’s, uh, housing too? Yeah. Tell us a little bit about senior housing and um, yeah, what you’re doing there. I, I, I’ve only purchased one assisted living facility so far, but my students, my God, I can’t even count how many assisted living facilities and memory care units they have. But I, I’m, I’m gearing up. I have a whole team doing it. Uh, we’re cold calling and, and, and the, the, the out, the goal is. Is, uh, uh, 12 units in the next 18, I’m sorry, 12 separate facilities in the next 18 months. And we’re growing up to do that. Uh, we’ve got a ton of interest. And here’s the, here’s the reason why they call it the silver tsunami. There’s, there’s six, 10,000 people a day turning 65, and it goes forever. And it seems like forever. I mean like literally a over a decade and. And again, um, you know, those people. Uh, so there’s a lot of opportunity with that. There’s an opportunity to buy businesses as well. A lot of ’em wanna retire and own businesses, so there’s an opportunity there. But, but, um, in senior housing, there’s, there’s a huge shortage of beds. And, and I’m quite candidly, I’m not sure we’re gonna be able to match the need in the shortage of beds, but there’s a huge shortage of beds and, and so, um, you know, and to build new. The about the least you can build a place for is $200,000 a bed. Well, there are facilities that got crushed by COVID where you can buy. Facilities for sub a hundred dollars a bed. So there’s, there’s a, there’s an opportunity there that we’re capitalizing on. It’s very exciting. Uh, that won’t be around there a lot of, is there a lot of competition from, you know, big money institutions, that kind of thing in this space that are sort of pushing prices up? Because I would think if they would have to, yeah. Yeah. I would think they would have the same sort of thesis overall. So the larger facilities, yes. The, you know, I, I’m not doing the, the 200 bed facilities, you know, I’m in the 50 to a hundred range, you know, uh, kind of the mom and pop range as it were. Uh, and. So, at least to start, I mean, at some point I’ll compete with the larger ones, but we’re starting there and, and there’s just an incredible opportunity to, to get to, and the returns are fantastic. I mean, we’re seeing 15% cash on cash, 25% IRR, realistically not BS returns. And so, you know, it’s very exciting, honestly. And, and, and, and, and again, it’s got legs. It’s not going anywhere. It’s not like one of these things that’s cyclical. There’s, there’s the, these people are retiring. They’ve impacted everything from Pampers diapers to suburbia, and they’re gonna impact, you know, senior housing in a big way. So, um, you know, it’s, it’s that, that’s exciting. Yeah. I got crushed by that wave in 2008. I got crushed by that wave. I’m surfing this wave. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Good for you. So tell us, you know, a little bit more about how people can get involved. It sounds like you got a lot going on there. So tell us about Well, I, I, I teach, you know, I teach this stuff. I have, I’ve had, I dunno, upwards of 20,000 people attend my bootcamps by the way. Really never had a complaint except that the breaks are too short. ’cause I, I packed three days into two days, but I teach this business and soup to nuts, how to find deals, how to pick a market, how to pick a team, how to underwrite them, how to finance them, how to raise all the money for them, on and on. And so if you go to Rods. links.com. That’s my link tree. That’s where my goal setting workshop is. If you want to do your goals, do it there. But, uh, if you come to my bootcamp, that’s the first thing we do. Uh, ’cause I, I need to have you get very focused on what you want. But, um, you know, it’s two days of training. I don’t sell anything and you can come for $47. So tell me your excuse. Okay? And the bonus, the bonuses are thousands of dollars. You get my deal evaluator software, my document library. You get all this stuff. And you know, and candidly, if you come to the bootcamp and. On Monday, you decide it wasn’t worth it, you didn’t love it. I don’t mean like it, I mean, love it. I’ll give you your 47 bucks back. It’s never happened, but it’s first time for everything. So, yeah, no, I, I, I love what I do. It comes out and what I do, and I, I spend time on mindset too, because again, that’s 80 to 90% of it. That’s why my students are so freaking successful. They actually do it. Um, and so. I, I, I really love it, and that’s where I’ll continue to do it. So I’m, I’m doing one of these virtual events pretty much every month and a half. I’ve got one coming up, I don’t know when this’ll air. I’ve got one coming up in March, March 7th and eighth, and there’ll be one, you know, 60, 45, 60 days after that. So, yeah. Fantastic. Rod, thanks so much for being on the show today. Oh, I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Uh, thank you. And, and again, it’s Rod’s links or text links to 7 2 3 4 5. Matt, thanks. Thanks for having me on. Buck, it’s great to see you again. You make a lot of money, but are still worried about retirement. Maybe you didn’t start earning until your thirties, now you’re trying to catch up. Meanwhile, you’ve got a mortgage private school to pay for and you feel like you’re getting further and further behind. Now, good news, if you need to catch up on retirement, check out a program put off by some of the oldest and most prestigious life insurance companies in the world. It’s. Called Wealth Accelerator and it can help you amplify your returns quickly, protect your money from creditors, and provide financial protection to your family if something happens to you. The concepts here are used by some of the wealthiest families in the world, and there’s no reason why they can’t be used by you. Check it out for yourself by going to wealthformulabanking.com. Welcome back to the show everyone. Hope you enjoyed it. We talked about a lot of things, but I think the mindset step is really important. So if you’re one of those people. Who is worried about, you know, a time in your life right now, or that that things aren’t going well? Things can turn around really quickly. You just gotta have some, you know, you gotta have the right mindset. You gotta have the right goals. That’s it for me this week on Wealth Formula Podcast. This is Buck Joffrey sign now. If you wanna learn more, you can now get free access to our in-depth personal finance course featuring industry leaders like Tom Wheel Wright and Ken McElroy. Visit wealthformularoadmap.com.

What does a Roman emperor's craving for cucumbers have to do with feeding eight billion people? How did a 15th-century Korean cookbook quietly invent heated agriculture centuries before Europe's glass palaces? And how did Victorian spectacle, world wars, hydroponic ambition, and Dutch engineering transform the greenhouse from aristocratic indulgence into global infrastructure?Join John and Patrick as they trace the extraordinary history of climate control in the service of fresh produce - from Tiberius's selenite-covered cucumber beds, to the heated ondol systems of the Joseon Dynasty, the imperial glasshouses of Palace of Versailles and Royal Botanic Gardens, and the hydroponic battlefields of the Second World War.Because this is not just a story about architecture. It is a story about anxiety, empire, science, and survival. About humanity's refusal to let winter - or war, or geography - dictate what ends up on our plates.From Roman villas to vertical farms... this is the history of the greenhouse, and the quiet revolution that changed how the world grows its food.----------In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business-----------Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.Support us!Share this episode with your friendsGive a 5-star ratingWrite a review-----------Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter here for extra stories related to recent episodes, book recommendations, a sneak peek of upcoming episodes and more.-----------Instagram, TikTok, Threads:@historyoffreshproduceEmail: historyoffreshproduce@gmail.com

Today's post was contributed by my brother, Tim Sheets. You can learn more about Tim here.Learn more about the podcast hereLearn more about Give Him Fifteen hereSupport the show

Last time we spoke about the end of the battle of khalkin gol. In the summer of 1939, the Nomonhan Incident escalated into a major border conflict between Soviet-Mongolian forces and Japan's Kwantung Army along the Halha River. Despite Japanese successes in July, Zhukov launched a decisive offensive on August 20. Under cover of darkness, Soviet troops crossed the river, unleashing over 200 bombers and intense artillery barrages that devastated Japanese positions. Zhukov's northern, central, and southern forces encircled General Komatsubara's 23rd Division, supported by Manchukuoan units. Fierce fighting ensued: the southern flank collapsed under Colonel Potapov's armor, while the northern Fui Heights held briefly before falling to relentless assaults, including flame-throwing tanks. Failed Japanese counterattacks on August 24 resulted in heavy losses, with regiments shattered by superior Soviet firepower and tactics. By August 25, encircled pockets were systematically eliminated, leading to the annihilation of the Japanese 6th Army. The defeat, coinciding with the Hitler-Stalin Pact, forced Japan to negotiate a ceasefire on September 15-16, redrawing borders. Zhukov's victory exposed Japanese weaknesses in mechanized warfare, influencing future strategies and deterring further northern expansion.   #192 The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Despite the fact this technically will go into future events, I thought it was important we talk about a key moment in Sino history. Even though the battle of changkufeng and khalkin gol were not part of the second sino-Japanese war, their outcomes certainly would affect it.  Policymaking by the Soviet Union alone was not the primary factor in ending Moscow's diplomatic isolation in the late 1930s. After the Munich Conference signaled the failure of the popular front/united front approach, Neville Chamberlain, Adolf Hitler, and Poland's Józef Beck unintentionally strengthened Joseph Stalin's position in early 1939. Once the strategic cards were in his hands, Stalin capitalized on them. His handling of negotiations with Britain and France, as well as with Germany, from April to August was deft and effective. The spring and summer negotiations among the European powers are well documented and have been examined from many angles. In May 1939, while Stalin seemed to have the upper hand in Europe, yet before Hitler had signaled that a German–Soviet agreement might be possible, the Nomonhan incident erupted, a conflict initiated and escalated by the Kwantung Army. For a few months, the prospect of a Soviet–Japanese war revived concerns in Moscow about a two-front conflict. Reviewing Soviet talks with Britain, France, and Germany in the spring and summer of 1939 from an East Asian perspective sheds fresh light on the events that led to the German–Soviet Nonaggression Pact and, more broadly, to the outbreak of World War II. The second week of May marked the start of fighting at Nomonhan, during which negotiations between Germany and the USSR barely advanced beyond mutual scrutiny. Moscow signaled that an understanding with Nazi Germany might be possible. Notably, on May 4, the removal of Maksim Litvinov as foreign commissar and his replacement by Vyacheslav Molotov suggested a shift in approach. Litvinov, an urbane diplomat of Jewish origin and married to an Englishwoman, had been the leading Soviet proponent of the united-front policy and a steadfast critic of Nazi Germany. If a settlement with Hitler was sought, Litvinov was an unsuitable figure to lead the effort. Molotov, though with limited international experience, carried weight as chairman of the Council of Ministers and, more importantly, as one of Stalin's closest lieutenants. This personnel change seemed to accomplish its aim in Berlin, where the press was instructed on May 5 to halt polemical attacks on the Soviet Union and Bolshevism. On the same day, Karl Schnurre, head of the German Foreign Ministry's East European trade section, told Soviet chargé d'affaires Georgi Astakhov that Skoda, the German-controlled Czech arms manufacturer, would honor existing arms contracts with Russia. Astakhov asked whether, with Litvinov's departure, Germany might resume negotiations for a trade treaty Berlin had halted months earlier. By May 17, during discussions with Schnurre, Astakhov asserted that "there were no conflicts in foreign policy between Germany and the Soviet Union and that there was no reason for enmity between the two countries," and that Britain and France's negotiations appeared unpromising. The next day, Ribbentrop personally instructed Schulenburg to green-light trade talks. Molotov, however, insisted that a "political basis" for economic negotiations had to be established first. Suspicion remained high on both sides. Stalin feared Berlin might use reports of German–Soviet talks to destabilize a potential triple alliance with Britain and France; Hitler feared Stalin might use such reports to entice Tokyo away from an anti-German pact. The attempt to form a tripartite military alliance among Germany, Italy, and Japan foundered over divergent aims: Berlin targeted Britain and France; Tokyo aimed at the Soviet Union. Yet talks persisted through August 1939, with Japanese efforts to draw Germany into an anti-Soviet alignment continually reported to Moscow by Richard Sorge. Hitler and Mussolini, frustrated by Japanese objections, first concluded the bilateral Pact of Steel on May 22. The next day, Hitler, addressing his generals, stressed the inevitability of war with Poland and warned that opposition from Britain would be crushed militarily. He then hinted that Russia might "prove disinterested in the destruction of Poland," suggesting closer ties with Japan if Moscow opposed Germany. The exchange was quickly leaked to the press. Five days later, the first pitched battle of the Nomonhan campaign began. Although Hitler's timing with the Yamagata detachment's foray was coincidental, Moscow may have found the coincidence ominous. Despite the inducement of Molotov's call for a political basis before economic talks, Hitler and Ribbentrop did not immediately respond. On June 14, Astakhov signaled to Parvan Draganov, Bulgaria's ambassador in Berlin, that the USSR faced three options: ally with Britain and France, continue inconclusive talks with them, or align with Germany, the latter being closest to Soviet desires. Draganov relayed to the German Foreign Ministry that Moscow preferred a non-aggression agreement if Germany would pledge not to attack the Soviet Union. Two days later, Schulenburg told Astakhov that Germany recognized the link between economic and political relations and was prepared for far-reaching talks, a view echoed by Ribbentrop. The situation remained tangled: the Soviets pursued overt talks with Britain and France, while Stalin sought to maximize Soviet leverage. Chamberlain's stance toward Moscow remained wary but recognized a "psychological value" to an Anglo–Soviet rapprochement, tempered by his insistence on a hard bargain. American ambassador William C. Bullitt urged London to avoid the appearance of pursuing the Soviets, a view that resonated with Chamberlain's own distrust. Public confidence in a real Anglo–Soviet alliance remained low. By July 19, cabinet minutes show Chamberlain could not quite believe a genuine Russia–Germany alliance was possible, though he recognized the necessity of negotiations with Moscow to deter Hitler and to mollify an increasingly skeptical British public. Despite reservations, both sides kept the talks alive. Stalin's own bargaining style, with swift Soviet replies but frequent questions and demands, often produced delays. Molotov pressed on questions such as whether Britain and France would pledge to defend the Baltic states, intervene if Japan attacked the USSR, or join in opposing Germany if Hitler pressured Poland or Romania. These considerations were not trivial; they produced extended deliberations. On July 23, Molotov demanded that plans for coordinated military action among the three powers be fleshed out before a political pact. Britain and France accepted most political terms, and an Anglo-French military mission arrived in Moscow on August 11. The British commander, Admiral Sir Reginald Plunket-Ernle-Erle-Drax, conducted staff talks but could not conclude a military agreement. The French counterpart, General Joseph Doumenc, could sign but not bind his government. By then, Hitler had set August 26 as the date for war with Poland. With that looming, Hitler pressed for Soviet neutrality, or closer cooperation. In July and August, secret German–Soviet negotiations favored the Germans, who pressed for a rapid settlement and made most concessions. Yet Stalin benefited from keeping the British and French engaged, creating leverage against Hitler and safeguarding a potential Anglo–Soviet option as a fallback. To lengthen the talks and avoid immediate resolution, Moscow emphasized the Polish issue. Voroshilov demanded the Red Army be allowed to operate through Polish territory to defend Poland, a demand Warsaw would never accept. Moscow even floated a provocative plan: if Britain and France could compel Poland to permit Baltic State naval operations, the Western fleets would occupy Baltic ports, an idea that would have been militarily perilous and diplomatically explosive. Despite this, Stalin sought an agreement with Germany. Through Richard Sorge's intelligence, Moscow knew Tokyo aimed to avoid large-scale war with the USSR, and Moscow pressed for a German–Soviet settlement, including a nonaggression pact and measures to influence Japan to ease Sino–Japanese tensions. On August 16, Ribbentrop instructed Schulenburg to urge Molotov and Stalin toward a nonaggression pact and to coordinate with Japan. Stalin signaled willingness, and August 23–24 saw the drafting of the pact and the collapse of the Soviet and Japanese resistance elsewhere. That night, in a memorandum of Ribbentrop's staff, seven topics were summarized, with Soviet–Japanese relations and Molotov's insistence that Berlin demonstrate good faith standing out. Ribbentrop reiterated his willingness to influence Japan for a more favorable Soviet–Japanese relationship, and Stalin's reply indicated a path toward a détente in the East alongside the European agreement: "M. Stalin replied that the Soviet Union indeed desired an improvement in its relations with Japan, but that there were limits to its patience with regard to Japanese provocations. If Japan desired war she could have it. The Soviet Union was not afraid of it and was prepared for it. If Japan desired peace—so much the better! M. Stalin considered the assistance of Germany in bringing about an improvement in Soviet-Japanese relations as useful, but he did not want the Japanese to get the impression that the initiative in this direction had been taken by the Soviet Union."  Second, the assertion that the Soviet Union was prepared for and unafraid of war with Japan is an overstatement, though Stalin certainly had grounds for optimism regarding the battlefield situation and the broader East Asian strategic balance. It is notable that, despite the USSR's immediate diplomatic and military gains against Japan, Stalin remained anxious to conceal from Tokyo any peace initiative that originated in Moscow. That stance suggests that Tokyo or Hsinking might read such openness as a sign of Soviet weakness or confidence overextended. The Japanese danger, it would seem, did not disappear from Stalin's mind. Even at the height of his diplomatic coup, Stalin was determined not to burn bridges prematurely. On August 21, while he urged Hitler to send Ribbentrop to Moscow, he did not sever talks with Britain and France. Voroshilov requested a temporary postponement on the grounds that Soviet delegation officers were needed for autumn maneuvers. It was not until August 25, after Britain reiterated its resolve to stand by Poland despite the German–Soviet pact, that Stalin sent the Anglo–French military mission home. Fortified by the nonaggression pact, which he hoped would deter Britain and France from action, Hitler unleashed his army on Poland on September 1. Two days later, as Zhukov's First Army Group was completing its operations at Nomonhan, Hitler faced a setback when Britain and France declared war. Hitler had hoped to finish Poland quickly in 1939 and avoid fighting Britain and France until 1940. World War II in Europe had begun. The Soviet–Japanese conflict at Nomonhan was not the sole, nor even the principal, factor prompting Stalin to conclude an alliance with Hitler. Standing aside from a European war that could fracture the major capitalist powers might have been reason enough. Yet the conflict with Japan in the East was also a factor in Stalin's calculations, a dimension that has received relatively little attention in standard accounts of the outbreak of the war. This East Asian focus seeks to clarify the record without proposing a revolutionary reinterpretation of Soviet foreign policy; rather, it adds an important piece often overlooked in the "origins of the Second World War" puzzle, helping to reduce the overall confusion. The German–Soviet agreement provided for the Soviet occupation of the eastern half of Poland soon after Germany's invasion. On September 3, just forty-eight hours after the invasion and on the day Britain and France declared war, Ribbentrop urged Moscow to invade Poland from the east. Yet, for two more weeks, Poland's eastern frontier remained inviolate; Soviet divisions waited at the border, as most Polish forces were engaged against Germany. The German inquiries about the timing of the Soviet invasion continued, but the Red Army did not move. This inactivity is often attributed to Stalin's caution and suspicion, but that caution extended beyond Europe. Throughout early September, sporadic ground and air combat continued at Nomonhan, including significant activity by Kwantung Army forces on September 8–9, and large-scale air engagements on September 1–2, 4–5, and 14–15. Not until September 15 was the Molotov–Togo cease-fire arrangement finalized, to take effect on September 16. The very next morning, September 17, the Red Army crossed the Polish frontier into a country collapsed at its feet. It appears that Stalin wanted to ensure that fighting on his eastern flank had concluded before engaging in Western battles, avoiding a two-front war. Through such policies, Stalin avoided the disaster of a two-front war. Each principal in the 1939 diplomatic maneuvering pursued distinct objectives. The British sought an arrangement with the USSR that would deter Hitler from attacking Poland and, if deterred, bind Moscow to the Anglo–French alliance. Hitler sought an alliance with the USSR to deter Britain and France from aiding Poland and, if they did aid Poland, to secure Soviet neutrality. Japan sought a military alliance with Germany against the USSR, or failing that, stronger Anti-Comintern ties. Stalin aimed for an outcome in which Germany would fight the Western democracies, leaving him freedom to operate in both the West and East; failing that, he sought military reassurance from Britain and France in case he had to confront Germany. Of the four, only Stalin achieved his primary objective. Hitler secured his secondary objective; the British and Japanese failed to realize theirs. Stalin won the diplomatic contest in 1939. Yet, as diplomats gave way to generals, the display of German military power in Poland and in Western Europe soon eclipsed Stalin's diplomatic triumph. By playing Germany against Britain and France, Stalin gained leverage and a potential fallback, but at the cost of unleashing a devastating European war. As with the aftermath of the Portsmouth Treaty in 1905, Russo-Japanese relations improved rapidly after hostilities ceased at Nomonhan. The Molotov–Togo agreement of September 15 and the local truces arranged around Nomonhan on September 19 were observed scrupulously by both sides. On October 27, the two nations settled another long-standing dispute by agreeing to mutual release of fishing boats detained on charges of illegal fishing in each other's territorial waters. On November 6, the USSR appointed Konstantin Smetanin as ambassador to Tokyo, replacing the previous fourteen-month tenure of a chargé d'affaires. Smetanin's first meeting with the new Japanese foreign minister, Nomura Kichisaburö, in November 1939 attracted broad, favorable coverage in the Japanese press. In a break with routine diplomatic practice, Nomura delivered a draft proposal for a new fisheries agreement and a memo outlining the functioning of the joint border commission to be established in the Nomonhan area before Smetanin presented his credentials. On December 31, an agreement finalizing Manchukuo's payment to the USSR for the sale of the Chinese Eastern Railway was reached, and the Soviet–Japanese Fisheries Convention was renewed for 1940. In due course, the boundary near Nomonhan was formally redefined. A November 1939 agreement between Molotov and Togo established a mixed border commission representing the four parties to the dispute. After protracted negotiations, the border commission completed its redemarcation on June 14, 1941, with new border markers erected in August 1941. The resulting boundary largely followed the Soviet–MPR position, lying ten to twelve miles east of the Halha River. With that, the Nomonhan incident was officially closed.  Kwantung Army and Red Army leaders alike sought to "teach a lesson" to their foe at Nomonhan. The refrain recurs in documents and memoirs from both sides, "we must teach them a lesson." The incident provided lessons for both sides, but not all were well learned. For the Red Army, the lessons of Nomonhan intertwined with the laurels of victory, gratifying but sometimes distracting. Georgy Zhukov grasped the experience of modern warfare that summer, gaining more than a raised profile: command experience, confidence, and a set of hallmarks he would employ later. He demonstrated the ability to grasp complex strategic problems quickly, decisive crisis leadership, meticulous attention to logistics and deception, patience in building superior strength before striking at the enemy's weakest point, and the coordination of massed artillery, tanks, mechanized infantry, and tactical air power in large-scale double envelopment. These capabilities informed his actions at Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk, and ultimately Berlin. It is tempting to wonder how Zhukov might have fared in the crucial autumn and winter of 1941 without Nomonhan, or whether he would have been entrusted with the Moscow front in 1941 had he not distinguished himself at Nomonhan. Yet the Soviet High Command overlooked an important lesson. Despite Zhukov's successes with independent tank formations and mechanized infantry, the command misapplied Spanish Civil War-era experience by disbanding armored divisions and redistributing tanks to infantry units to serve as support. It was not until after Germany demonstrated tank warfare in 1940 that the Soviets began reconstituting armored divisions and corps, a process still incomplete when the 1941 invasion began. The Red Army's performance at Nomonhan went largely unseen in the West. Western intelligence and military establishments largely believed the Red Army was fundamentally rotten, a view reinforced by the battlefield's remoteness and by both sides' reluctance to publicize the defeat. The Polish crisis and the outbreak of war in Europe drew attention away from Nomonhan, and the later Finnish Winter War reinforced negative Western judgments of Soviet military capability. U.S. military attaché Raymond Faymonville observed that the Soviets, anticipating a quick victory over Finland, relied on hastily summoned reserves ill-suited for winter fighting—an assessment that led some to judge the Red Army by its performance at Nomonhan. Even in Washington, this view persisted; Hitler reportedly called the Red Army "a paralytic on crutches" after Finland and then ordered invasion planning in 1941. Defeat can be a stronger teacher than victory. Because Nomonhan was a limited war, Japan's defeat was likewise limited, and its impact on Tokyo did not immediately recalibrate Japanese assessments. Yet Nomonhan did force Japan to revise its estimation of Soviet strength: the Imperial Army abandoned its strategic Plan Eight-B and adopted a more defensive posture toward the Soviet Union. An official inquiry into the debacle, submitted November 29, 1939, recognized Soviet superiority in materiel and firepower and urged Japan to bolster its own capabilities. The Kwantung Army's leadership, chastened, returned to the frontier with a more realistic sense of capability, even as the Army Ministry and AGS failed to translate lessons into policy. The enduring tendency toward gekokujo, the dominance of local and mid-level officers over central authority, remained persistent, and Tokyo did not fully purge it after Nomonhan. The Kwantung Army's operatives who helped drive the Nomonhan episode resurfaced in key posts at Imperial General Headquarters, contributing to Japan's 1941 decision to go to war. The defeat of the Kwantung Army at Nomonhan, together with the Stalin–Hitler pact and the outbreak of war in Europe, triggered a reorientation of Japanese strategy and foreign policy. The new government, led by the politically inexperienced and cautious General Abe Nobuyuki, pursued a conservative foreign policy. Chiang Kai-shek's retreat to Chongqing left the Chinese war at a stalemate: the Japanese Expeditionary Army could still inflict defeats on Chinese nationalist forces, but it had no viable path to a decisive victory. China remained Japan's principal focus. Still, the option of cutting Soviet aid to China and of moving north into Outer Mongolia and Siberia was discredited in Tokyo by the August 1939 double defeat. Northward expansion never again regained its ascendancy, though it briefly resurfaced in mid-1941 after Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. Germany's alliance with the USSR during Nomonhan was viewed by Tokyo as a betrayal, cooling German–Japanese relations. Japan also stepped back from its confrontation with Britain over Tientsin. Tokyo recognized that the European war represented a momentous development that could reshape East Asia, as World War I had reshaped it before. The short-lived Abe government (September–December 1939) and its successor under Admiral Yonai Mitsumasa (December 1939–July 1940) adopted a cautious wait-and-see attitude toward the European war. That stance shifted in the summer of 1940, however, after Germany's successes in the West. With Germany's conquest of France and the Low Countries and Britain's fight for survival, Tokyo reassessed the global balance of power. Less than a year after Zhukov had effectively blocked further Japanese expansion northward, Hitler's victories seemed to open a southern expansion path. The prospect of seizing the resource-rich colonies in Southeast Asia, Dutch, French, and British and, more importantly, resolving the China problem in Japan's favor, tempted many in Tokyo. If Western aid to Chiang Kai-shek, channeled through Hong Kong, French Indochina, and Burma could be cut off, some in Tokyo believed Chiang might abandon resistance. If not, Japan could launch new operations against Chiang from Indochina and Burma, effectively turning China's southern flank. To facilitate a southward advance, Japan sought closer alignment with Germany and the USSR. Foreign Minister Yosuke Matsuoka brought Japan into the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, in the hope of neutralizing the United States, and concluded a neutrality pact with the Soviet Union to secure calm in the north. Because of the European military situation, only the United States could check Japan's southward expansion. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appeared determined to do so and confident that he could. If the Manchurian incident and the Stimson Doctrine strained U.S.–Japanese relations, and the China War and U.S. aid to Chiang Kai-shek deepened mutual resentment, it was Japan's decision to press south against French, British, and Dutch colonies, and Roosevelt's resolve to prevent such a move, that put the two nations on a collision course. The dust had barely settled on the Mongolian plains following the Nomonhan ceasefire when the ripples of that distant conflict began to reshape the broader theater of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The defeat at Nomonhan in August 1939, coupled with the shocking revelation of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, delivered a profound strategic blow to Japan's imperial ambitions. No longer could Tokyo entertain serious notions of a "northern advance" into Soviet territory, a strategy that had long tantalized military planners as a means to secure resources and buffer against communism. Instead, the Kwantung Army's humiliation exposed glaring deficiencies in Japanese mechanized warfare, logistics, and intelligence, forcing a pivot southward. This reorientation not only cooled tensions with the Soviet Union but also allowed Japan to redirect its military focus toward the protracted stalemate in China. As we transition from the border clashes of the north to the heartland tensions in central China, it's essential to trace how these events propelled Japan toward the brink of a major offensive in Hunan Province, setting the stage for what would become a critical confrontation. In the immediate aftermath of Nomonhan, Japan's military high command grappled with the implications of their setback. The Kwantung Army, once a symbol of unchecked aggression, was compelled to adopt a defensive posture along the Manchurian-Soviet border. The ceasefire agreement, formalized on September 15-16, 1939, effectively neutralized the northern front, freeing up significant resources and manpower that had been tied down in the escalating border skirmishes. This was no small relief; the Nomonhan campaign had drained Japanese forces, with estimates of over 18,000 casualties and the near-total annihilation of the 23rd Division. The psychological impact was equally severe, shattering the myth of Japanese invincibility against a modern, mechanized opponent. Georgy Zhukov's masterful use of combined arms—tanks, artillery, and air power—highlighted Japan's vulnerabilities, prompting internal reviews that urged reforms in tank production, artillery doctrine, and supply chains. Yet, these lessons were slow to implement, and in the short term, the primary benefit was the opportunity to consolidate efforts elsewhere. For Japan, "elsewhere" meant China, where the war had devolved into a grinding attrition since the fall of Wuhan in October 1938. The capture of Wuhan, a major transportation hub and temporary capital of the Nationalist government under Chiang Kai-shek, had been hailed as a turning point. Japanese forces, under the command of General Shunroku Hata, had pushed deep into central China, aiming to decapitate Chinese resistance. However, Chiang's strategic retreat to Chongqing transformed the conflict into a war of endurance. Nationalist forces, bolstered by guerrilla tactics and international aid, harassed Japanese supply lines and prevented a decisive knockout blow. By mid-1939, Japan controlled vast swaths of eastern and northern China, including key cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing, but the cost was immense: stretched logistics, mounting casualties, and an inability to fully pacify occupied territories. The Nomonhan defeat exacerbated these issues by underscoring the limits of Japan's military overextension. With the northern threat abated, Tokyo's Army General Staff saw an opening to intensify operations in China, hoping to force Chiang to the negotiating table before global events further complicated the picture. The diplomatic fallout from Nomonhan and the Hitler-Stalin Pact further influenced this shift. Japan's betrayal by Germany, its nominal ally under the Anti-Comintern Pact—fostered distrust and isolation. Tokyo's flirtations with a full Axis alliance stalled, as the pact with Moscow revealed Hitler's willingness to prioritize European gains over Asian solidarity. This isolation prompted Japan to reassess its priorities, emphasizing self-reliance in China while eyeing opportunistic expansions elsewhere. Domestically, the Hiranuma cabinet collapsed in August 1939 amid the diplomatic shock, paving the way for the more cautious Abe Nobuyuki government. Abe's administration, though short-lived, signaled a temporary de-escalation in aggressive posturing, but the underlying imperative to resolve the "China Incident" persisted. Japanese strategists believed that capturing additional strategic points in central China could sever Chiang's lifelines, particularly the routes funneling aid from the Soviet Union and the West via Burma and Indochina. The seismic shifts triggered by Nomonhan compelled Japan to fundamentally readjust its China policy and war plans, marking a pivotal transition from overambitious northern dreams to a more focused, albeit desperate, campaign in the south. With the Kwantung Army's defeat fresh in mind, Tokyo's Imperial General Headquarters initiated a comprehensive strategic review in late August 1939. The once-dominant "Northern Advance" doctrine, which envisioned rapid conquests into Siberia for resources like oil and minerals, was officially shelved. In its place emerged a "Southern Advance" framework, prioritizing the consolidation of gains in China and potential expansions into Southeast Asia. This pivot was not merely tactical; it reflected a profound policy recalibration aimed at ending the quagmire in China, where two years of war had yielded territorial control but no decisive victory over Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists. Central to this readjustment was a renewed emphasis on economic and military self-sufficiency. The Nomonhan debacle had exposed Japan's vulnerabilities in mechanized warfare, leading to urgent reforms in industrial production. Tank manufacturing was ramped up, with designs influenced by observed Soviet models, and artillery stockpiles were bolstered to match the firepower discrepancies seen on the Mongolian steppes. Logistically, the Army General Staff prioritized streamlining supply lines in China, recognizing that prolonged engagements demanded better resource allocation. Politically, the Abe Nobuyuki cabinet, installed in September 1939, adopted a "wait-and-see" approach toward Europe but aggressively pursued diplomatic maneuvers to isolate China. Efforts to negotiate with Wang Jingwei's puppet regime in Nanjing intensified, aiming to undermine Chiang's legitimacy and splinter Chinese resistance. Japan also pressured Vichy France for concessions in Indochina, seeking to choke off aid routes to Chongqing. War plans evolved accordingly, shifting from broad-front offensives to targeted strikes designed to disrupt Chinese command and supply networks. The China Expeditionary Army, under General Yasuji Okamura, was restructured to emphasize mobility and combined arms operations, drawing partial lessons from Zhukov's tactics. Intelligence operations were enhanced, with greater focus on infiltrating Nationalist strongholds in central provinces. By early September, plans coalesced around a major push into Hunan Province, a vital crossroads linking northern and southern China. Hunan's river systems and rail lines made it a linchpin for Chinese logistics, funneling men and materiel to the front lines. Japanese strategists identified key urban centers in the region as critical objectives, believing their capture could sever Chiang's western supply corridors and force a strategic retreat. This readjustment was not without internal friction. Hardliners in the military lamented the abandonment of northern ambitions, but the reality of Soviet strength—and the neutrality pacts that followed—left little room for debate. Economically, Japan ramped up exploitation of occupied Chinese territories, extracting coal, iron, and rice to fuel the war machine. Diplomatically, Tokyo sought to mend fences with the Soviets through the 1941 Neutrality Pact, ensuring northern security while eyes turned south. Yet, these changes brewed tension with the United States, whose embargoes on scrap metal and oil threatened to cripple Japan's ambitions. As autumn approached, the stage was set for a bold gambit in central China. Japanese divisions massed along the Yangtze River, poised to strike at the heart of Hunan's defenses. Intelligence reports hinted at Chinese preparations, with Xue Yue's forces fortifying positions around a major provincial hub. The air thickened with anticipation of a clash that could tip the balance in the interminable war—a test of Japan's revamped strategies against a resilient foe determined to hold the line. What unfolded would reveal whether Tokyo's post-Nomonhan pivot could deliver the breakthrough so desperately needed, or if it would merely prolong the bloody stalemate. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. In 1939, the Nomonhan Incident saw Soviet forces under Georgy Zhukov decisively defeat Japan's Kwantung Army at Khalkin Gol, exposing Japanese weaknesses in mechanized warfare. This setback, coupled with the Hitler-Stalin Nonaggression Pact, shattered Japan's northern expansion plans and prompted a strategic pivot southward. Diplomatic maneuvers involving Stalin, Hitler, Britain, France, and Japan reshaped alliances, leading to the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact in 1941. Japan refocused on China, intensifying operations in Hunan Province to isolate Chiang Kai-shek.   

In this episode of Gangland Wire, I sit down with retired FBI agent Geoff Kelly, a specialist in art theft investigations who inherited one of the most notorious unsolved cases in American history—the 1990 robbery at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. He recently wrote a book about this theft titled 13 Perfect Fugitives: The True Story of Mob, Murder, and the World’s Largest Art Heist. Kelly's law enforcement career began as a New York City transit police officer before transitioning to the FBI. Like many agents, he initially sought violent crime work. Instead, he was assigned to economic crimes before eventually transferring to a violent crime squad. It was there that he encountered the Gardner case—a cold case largely untouched by senior agents at the time. The robbery itself remains extraordinary: two men posing as police officers gained entry to the museum and stole 13 works of art, including masterpieces by Rembrandt. More than three decades later, none of the works have been recovered. Inside the Gardner Heist Geoff explains how art theft is often misunderstood. Popular culture portrays refined, sophisticated criminals orchestrating elaborate capers. The reality, he says, is usually more opportunistic and frequently violent. Art theft often intersects with organized crime, drug trafficking, and even homicide. Massachusetts has a documented history of art-related crimes, and several individuals connected to the Gardner investigation met violent ends. The criminal underworld surrounding stolen art is less about wealthy collectors hiding paintings in private vaults and more about leverage—using artwork as collateral in criminal negotiations. The FBI's Art Crime Evolution Following the 2003 looting of Iraq's National Museum during the Baghdad invasion, the FBI formalized its Art Crime Team. Kelly discusses how intelligence gathering, informants, and international cooperation became central tools in recovering stolen artifacts. He emphasizes that solving art crimes often depends less on forensic breakthroughs and more on human intelligence. Informants remain essential, especially in cases where organized crime overlaps with high-value theft. Kelly also discusses his upcoming book, 13 Perfect Fugitives, which explores the intersections of mobsters, murder, and the illicit art market. Organized Crime and the Reality of Stolen Art Drawing on my own experience working organized crime in Kansas City, I found clear parallels between traditional mob rackets and art theft networks. The same structures—intimidation, secrecy, and violence—apply. Once a painting disappears into criminal circulation, it becomes a liability as much as an asset. Kelly challenges the myth that thieves profit easily from masterpieces. High-profile works are difficult to sell. The black-market art world is volatile and dangerous. In many cases, the artwork becomes bargaining collateral rather than a cash windfall. A Case Still Waiting for Closure More than 30 years later, the Gardner Museum still displays empty frames where the paintings once hung. Kelly remains committed to the idea that public awareness may eventually generate new leads.  The Gardner heist stands as both a cultural tragedy and a criminal mystery—one that continues to intersect with organized crime, violence, and international intrigue. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” Subscribe to the website for weekly notifications about updates and other Mob information. To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here To rent ‘Brothers against Brothers’ or ‘Gangland Wire,’ the documentaries click here.  To purchase one of my books, click here. Transcript [0:00] Hey, you guys, Gary Jenkins back here in studio Gangland Wire. Y’all know me. I’m a retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit detective and now podcaster and documentary filmmaker. I have in the studio today… Jeff Kelly, he’s a now-retired FBI agent. He was an expert in recovering stolen artifacts and art pieces. He was involved. He wasn’t involved in the original theft of the Boston art theft, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, but he ended up inheriting that case. So welcome, Jeff. Hi. Thanks, Gary. Nice to be here. And guys, I need to mention this right off the bat. Jeff has a book, 13 Perfect Fugitives, The True Story of the Mob, Murder, and the World’s Largest Art Heist. Be out on Amazon. I’ll have links down below in the show notes if you want to get that book. I think it would be pretty interesting. I was telling Jeff, I just interviewed Joe Ford, the million-dollar detective, the guy that goes after classic cars, and I read that book. I love these kind of caper kind of books and caper crimes. Those are the ones I like the best is the caper crimes. And Jeff is an expert at working caper crimes. And that’s what these are, capers. So Jeff, how did you get into this? Now you came on the FBI. You were a policeman before, I believe. So tell the guys a little bit about yourself and your FBI career. Yeah, I started out with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police in New York City. It was a transit cop. I did that for three years. And then I got into the FBI in October of 95. [1:30] And my goal was always, I wanted to work violent crime. That’s what drew me to law enforcement in the first place, working bank robberies and kidnappings and fugitives. I had to do my five years on working economic crime, telemarketing fraud. It was interesting, but not all that exciting. And finally in 2000, I got my transfer to the violent crime squad. And I loved working it. And I did it for my entire career from then on, right up until my retirement in 2024. But back then, art theft was considered a major theft violation, [2:01] and it was worked by the Violent Crime Squad. And so in 2002… My supervisor dumped this old moribund cold case in my lap. It was the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist. [2:15] Nobody wanted it on the squad, so they figured, let’s give it to the new guy. I was ecstatic to get it because I’d heard about it. I went to school in Boston. I went to Boston University and graduated the year before it happened, but I knew about it. [2:28] That’s how I started working this case, this particular case, and then the following year during the U.S., there was a, the U.S. And coalition forces invaded Baghdad in Iraq. And during a 36-hour period, more than 15,000 objects of very, very important cultural history were looted from the National Museum of Iraq. And it’s really one of the most important museums in the world in terms of our shared history. Kind of the cradle of civilization over there in the Tigers and Euphrates River. Yeah, and that was the time when the FBI kind of belatedly realized that there was no art crime team to investigate this. And of course, FBI agents have been working art theft like any other property crime since the beginning of the FBI’s existence, but there was no codified team. So they did a canvas for the team in 2004 and I applied for it because at this point I’d been working the Gardner case for a couple of years and really was fascinated by it and made the team. And so then over the next 20 years, we continued to expand the team both in size and in scope and in our intelligence base and knowledge base. And when I left the Bureau in 2024, it was and still is a tremendous team with a lot of very dedicated and professional agents and professional support. [3:51] Now, guys, if you don’t know about the Isabella Stewart Gardner case, there was a Netflix documentary on it a few years ago. It was an art museum in Boston. [4:01] Two guys showed up. They had Boston police uniforms on, and they got in. They basically, it was an armed robbery, and they took control of the museum. The guards were in there late at night and took these really valuable paintings out. I believe you told me earlier they were Remington paintings. We’ll get into that. And it was a violent crime. It was an armed robbery of paintings, and you told me about other armed robberies of paintings. I think you got into some other armed robberies of paintings. You always think of, as you mentioned before, the Thomas Crown Affair character that goes out and does these sophisticated art thefts. That’s not always true, is it? It’s never that way, but it doesn’t matter. Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story. Everybody wants to believe that art thefts are pulled off by the Thomas Crown Affairs and these gentlemen thieves repel in through skylights and do all that fancy stuff, put it in their underground lair. That’s just not the way it works. But if you look to art theft. [4:55] Massachusetts really is a cradle of art theft in this country, and it’s very unique. The first armed robbery of a museum occurred in Boston in 1972. It was committed by a guy named Al Monday, who was a prolific art thief. And they stole four pieces from the Worcester Art Museum in central Massachusetts with a gun. They ended up shooting the guard. And one of the pieces that they stole was a Rembrandt called St. Bartholomew. [5:26] And in keeping with the milieu of true art thieves, the paintings were stored on a pig farm just over the state line in Rhode Island. And when this Connecticut safecracker by the name of Chucky Carlo, who was looking at some serious time in prison for some of the crimes that he committed, when he found out that Al Monday had these paintings, he just simply kidnapped Al Monday and stuck a gun in his ribs and said he would kill him if he didn’t give him the paintings. which is no honor among thieves. And Al turned over the paintings, Chucky returned them, and he got a very significant break on his pending jail sentence. Right here in 1972, Boston thieves see Rembrandt as a valuable get-out-of-jail-free card. [6:09] And then if we jump forward three years to 1975, there was a very skilled art thief, really a master thief by the name of Miles Conner. I interviewed Miles for my book. It was very gracious of him to sit down with me for it. And he had robbed or committed a burglary of the Woolworth estate up in Maine, the family, the five and dime family magnets. And he got caught for it because he tried to sell those paintings to an undercover FBI agent. And so he was looking at 12 years in prison for it. And he was out on bail. And he reached out to a family friend who was a state trooper. And he asked him, how can I get away with this one? How can I get out of this? Because he was in serious trouble. The trooper’s response was meant to be hyperbolic. The trooper said, Miles, it’s going to take you a Rembrandt to get out of this one. [6:57] And so Miles said, okay, I’ll go get a Rembrandt. And he got a crew together and they did a daylight smash and grab at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, just across the street from the Gardner. And they stole Rembrandt, the girl in a gold-trimmed cloak. [7:12] And he was able to return that painting. Instead of doing 12 years, he did 28 months. And he even managed to, he told me he even managed to get the $10,000 reward in the process. So you have this atmosphere in Massachusetts that Rembrandts are a valuable commodity, right? They can help you out in a jam. And so I think it’s no coincidence that in 1990, when the Gardner Museum heist came down, the Gardner Museum had this array of motion sensors all throughout the museum. It would alert to wherever you went, every gallery, hallway, whatever. [7:49] And we know from these motion sensors that after, as you said, the two guys went in disguised as cops and bluffed their way into the museum, they made a beeline for the Dutch room, which is the room of all things Rembrandt. They stole three Rembrandts. They stole a fourth piece called Landscape with an Obelisk, which was actually by Govard Flink, but it had been misattributed to Rembrandt until the mid 80s. And then they took a large Rembrandt oil-on-panel off the wall and it was recovered the next morning leaning against a piece of furniture. We believe they just overlooked it in the dark. So out of the 13 pieces taken, three were Rembrandt, a fourth was misattributed to Rembrandt, and there was going to be a 14th piece taken, which was also Rembrandt. It definitely falls into that theory that this was going to be a hold-on to these pieces for a while and see if you can use them for a break. [8:48] Interesting. Now, back in the 70s, for example, when somebody would work in an art robbery like that or an art theft, you got your tried and true ways of working a crime. You got to have sources, you got to have witnesses, and hopefully you can get a crime like this. You can get a source that says, hey, this guy, we had a guy in Kansas City that he was a fence for these kinds of guys. He had an antique auction and he took all this stuff and got it somewhere else. So at the time, just use your regular police methods. And what changed over the years as you’ve done this? Yeah, certainly we’ve become much more sophisticated with the techniques that we use. But at the end of the day, it’s always still going to be intelligence. But I found from working my entire career in violent crime, virtually my whole career in violent crime, the sources are crucial. Having a good informant can make and break a case. And working art theft investigations, you’re certainly going to have the same types of fences of informants, fences for stolen property and what they’re hearing about what organized crime guys are doing and what drug guys are doing. But it also opened up a whole new avenue of sources for me as working in art investigations, because now you’ve got pawn shops and gallery owners and auction houses, and they’re in a position to know when not only when stolen artwork is coming in, but also fakes and forgeries. We spoke about this, that. [10:16] Somebody comes in with one valuable piece that would be very difficult for somebody in his or her position to come across one piece like this, let alone a dozen of them. That really points to probably a fake. And so that’s really the key to solving these things is just having a good intelligence base who’s going to let us know about when something comes up that’s either stolen or it’s been forged. [10:43] Brings up a question. In my mind, did you ever work a gallery owner or a gallery [10:48] that then would filter in, knowingly filter in some fakes every once in a while? They couldn’t do it 100% of the time, but you could certainly make some extra money by filtering fakes out of it because many people would get it and they’d never know. Nobody would ever know. Listen, it is a really difficult thing when you’re working these types of crimes because unlike bank robber, you go into a bank and you stick them up with a gun and take them on. It’s not up to the government to be able to prove at trial that you knew that the bank was insured by the FDIC. You went in and you robbed it, you committed the offense. When you’re talking about interstate transportation of stolen property or possession of stolen property, there are what’s called specific intent crimes, meaning you have to prove the element of knowledge. You have to be able to prove that the person knew that that item was stolen. Not that it said it was stolen. and you had to show that they knew it. And that’s a really high hurdle to overcome. And typically what we do to try and prove that specific intent is we’re going to go through. [11:53] Recorded statements made to a source or to an undercover or emails or texts or something that we can show that this person knew that item was stolen. And so we would see that a lot in auction houses and galleries. There’s a lot of willful blindness where a lot of gallery owners and auction houses, they’re going to look the other way because it’s too lucrative to pass up. And in fact, in 2015, the art crime team, once we received information that ISIL or ISIS was using looted cultural property from Syria and Iraq as a form, a viable form of terrorism financing. And we put auction houses and gallery owners on notice in 2015, and we basically told them that if you’re selling objects of cultural patrimony or cultural heritage with a dubious provenance, like a wink and a nod, you may be unwittingly or wittingly funding terrorism. While we never charged anybody with it, hopefully it was an eye-opener that when you’re getting into this world, it’s not a victimless crime. There are very real victims involved. [13:07] And that’s one of the things that really is interesting about working our crime investigations. And I used to get ribbed by my friends who were not on the art crime team about [13:18] where like the wine and cheese squad were raised and everything. But our subjects are far from it. We’re dealing with organized crime, gangs, terrorists. This is no joke. These are serious individuals and the stakes are high. And in the Gardner case, three or four people that we believe were involved in the heist were murdered a year after the Gardner case crime occurred. Yeah, I was just going to go back to that a little bit, as we said before, a little bit like the Lufthansa case. All of a sudden, everybody that was involved in the theft. Started dropping like flies. So tell the guys about that. That is really interesting. [14:00] Yeah. So the two individuals that we believe went into the museum dressed as cops, just a week shy of the one-year anniversary, one of the guys was found dead in his apartment of an acute overdose of cocaine, intravenous. And his family admitted that he used Coke, but they said he was terrified of needles. He was scared of needles. So it really looked to be like a hotshot, an intentional overdose of cocaine. Two weeks later, the other guy who we believe went into the museum with him, his wife reported him missing. And a couple of weeks later, his bullet riddled body was recovered in the trunk of his car out by Logan Airport in East Boston. There was another member of that crew. These were all part of the same crew. This Carmelo Merlino, who was a Boston mobster, had an auto shop down in the Dorchester section of Boston. Another member of his crew, a guy named Bobby, six weeks after the heist, he brought in, he visited a jeweler in the downtown crossing jewelry district in Boston. He came in with this object and he unwrapped it. It was an eagle. [15:03] It was the finial from the Napoleonic flag that was stolen in the Gardner heist. And he asked the jeweler, how much is this thing worth? And the jeweler looked at it and he said, it’s worth nothing. Because he immediately recognized it as one of the people that had been stolen six weeks earlier from the Gardner heist. And then a few months later, Bobby was stabbed to death and nearly decapitated on the front porch of his house. And the responding police saw that his house had been broken into and ransacked like his killers had been looking for something. There was a fourth guy, Jimmy, who bragged to his girlfriend a few months after the heist that he had a couple of pieces from the Gardner Museum hidden in his attic. [15:47] And in February of 1990, 11 months after the heist, he was executed on his front porch in what the local police called a mob hit. So, yeah, these are the types of crimes that have a tendency to have a chilling effect on anybody who harbors any aspirations to come forward with information. Yeah, and we talked earlier a little bit about, like, the crime itself, and the statute of limitations is up on that, what you said, and the crime itself, but how we talked a little bit and explained to them about how this could be part of a RICO case. And you’ve got the murders and you’ve got the actual theft and whatever they did with the paintings, then maybe you could get over after a Bob boss as a Rico case. Tell the guys a little bit about doing that. Yeah. [16:32] I’ve heard it so many times in more than two decades that I worked the case and people would say, geez, why don’t people come forward? They’re just paintings. There are so many times they’re just paintings. They’re like, yeah, they are, but there’s two things about that. Number one, there’s some dead bodies on these paintings, three or four, and that there’s no statute of limitations for murder. And so if you implicate yourself in the theft or you implicate yourself in possessing or transporting these paintings at any time, the fear is that you’re then implicating yourself in a homicide. And the other aspect of this, which I think has a chilling effect, is the fact that transportation of stolen property is one of the predicate acts for RICO, racketeering influence corrupt organization case. And RICO is basically, Gary, is basically an entire organization is corrupt. Yeah. There’s no legitimate purpose. It’s what we think about the mob and the [17:27] FBI has taken down the mob in the past. So if you implicate yourself in stolen property and you’re part of organized crime, that’s one of the predicate acts for a RICO. And that’s basically life sentences. And so one of my goals in the years and years that I worked in this case was to try and convince people that you could come forward with information and the U S attorney’s offices, whether it’s up in Boston or new Haven or Philadelphia. [17:58] Would be willing to figure out a way to get the paintings back with immunity from prosecution for a RICO case. Look, that’s a high hurdle. That’s a high hurdle to convince somebody that if you come forward, you’re not going to get charged and you’re eligible for millions of dollars in reward. That’s a tough bill to swallow, but it’s the truth. I’m retired from the FBI now. I can tell you that it was, it’s a, it was, and still is a bona fide offer. And that’s one of the goals that I’ve always tried to impress on anyone is the opportunity to become a millionaire without going to jail. There you go, Jeff. Can you, now you’re not with the Bureau anymore. Can you go out, if you could go out and find them and bring them in, could you collect that reward? I would certainly hope so. [18:48] I can’t tell you how many of my friends thought that I had some of these paintings stashed in my basement. Waiting for retirement to go turn them in the next day. I think half the guys I worked with were expecting to see me pull into the parking lot of the FBI. [19:01] Big package, but no. But yeah, I suppose I could. By this point, I can tell you the amount of my very being that I put into this case over two days. Yeah. I just would love to see these paintings go back just because they need to be back at the museum. That’s where they belong. Now, these crimes, they seem, You said there’s a lot of murders attached to this. They seem a little boring. Did you have any exciting moments trying to pop anybody or do any surveillances? I know we did a big surveillance of a bunch of junkies that were going around stealing from small museums around the Midwest. And we follow them here in Kansas City. And they would have been pretty exciting had we had a confrontation with them. Did you have any exciting moments in this? It actually was a fascinating case. And for the first, there’s the really boring aspects of this job and tedious aspects. And I would say that in my, two decades working this case, I probably did, I don’t know, 50, 60, 70 consent searches, searching in attics and basements and crawling through crawl spaces and just getting sweaty and covered in cobwebs. But the break in the case for me came in 2009 when one of the guys who was part of Merlino’s crew who was deceased, his niece came forward to me and told me that the paintings. Some of them had been hidden up in this guy’s hide at his house up in Maine. I went up to Maine with Anthony Amore, who’s the director of security for the Gardner Museum. We worked on this case together for years. [20:29] And then we found that hide. And then we interviewed, right from there, we went and interviewed Guarenti. That’s the guy, Bobby Guarenti. We interviewed his widow and she broke down and admitted that he once showed her the paintings and she gave them to a guy down in Connecticut. And we identified that guy and we interviewed him. My name is Bobby Gentile. He’s a made member of the Philly Mob. He got straightened out with his crew back in the late 90s. [20:54] And he refused to cooperate. And then that’s where we really just started getting, using a lot of ingenuity to try and break it. And an agent down in the New Haven office, a guy by the name of Jamie Lawton, he joined our team and we started working this case. And he had a source who knew Gentile, Bobby Gentile, and the source started buying drugs from Gentile. Ah, there we go. We ended up arresting Gentile and we did a search warrant at his house. And it was crazy. Like we recovered, I want to say seven handguns, loaded handguns lying all over the place. He had a pump action shotgun hanging by the front door. He had high explosives. We had to evacuate the house and call him the bomb squad. But the interesting thing was he had the March 19th, 1990 edition of the Boston Herald with headlines about the Gardner heist and tucked inside that newspaper was a handwritten list of all the stolen items. With what looked like their black market values. This is in the house of a guy who swore up and down that he’d never heard of the Gardner Museum. And we were able to figure out who wrote the list. It was written by none other than Al Monday, who’s the guy that did the first armed robbery of a museum, of a Rembrandt. And we interviewed him and he told us that he wrote that list for Bobby Gentile and his buddy up in Maine, Bobby Garanti, because they had a buyer for the paintings and they wanted to know what they were worth. [22:24] So yeah, and then Gentile took 30 months. [22:28] He wouldn’t cooperate. And while he was incarcerated, we turned two of his closest friends to becoming sources. And so when he got out of prison in February or April of 2014, they started talking to him and talked about the gardener and they said they might know somebody who’d want to buy him. That’s how we then introduced an undercover agent. Gentile was introduced to Tony, this undercover FBI agent. Over six months, they had long talks about selling the paintings. Unfortunately, before Gentile would sell the paintings, he wanted to do a drug deal first, which we couldn’t allow to happen. We can’t let drugs walk on the street. So we had to take it down. And although we’d seized all these guns from Gentile back in 2012, he told the sources the FBI didn’t get all of his guns. Because of that disturbing comment, one of the sources asked Gentile if he could buy a gun for him. And Gentile sold him a loaded 38. So we arrested him again. And he still refused to cooperate. I don’t respect what he did for a living or a lot of the things that he did, but you do have to respect his adherence to his values. However, misguided they may have been, he took the code of omerta, the code of silence to heart, and he took it to his grave. He died, I think, in 2021 after going to prison a second time. [23:50] While we never got any paintings back, it was a tremendous ride, and I’m confident they will come back. It’s just going to be a question of when. Yeah, that kind of brings up the question that you hear people speculate. Did you ever run across this? Is there actually any rich old guys or an Arab sheik or somebody that buys stuff like this and then really keeps it and never shows it to anybody? Does that unicorn really exist? everybody wants that to be true i know virtually it’s not yeah there’s there’s never been a case of some wealthy what we call the doctor no theory some some reclusive billionaire with his underground lair filled with all the illicit stolen treasures of the world yeah that’s it’s never happened yeah i guess you never say never but but no look the majority statistically about three-quarters of everyone that collects art in this country does it for, and I assume it’s probably worldwide, does it for the investment potential. There’s a lot of money to be made in collecting art. It rarely, if ever, drops in value. So that’s why people collect art. If there’s somebody who has a particular piece that they want so badly that they’re going to commission its theft, it’s more the stuff of Hollywood. It could happen, but we’ve never seen that happen yet. Interesting. [25:14] We did have one case here where we had a medical doctor and he had it on the wall of his house. And it was, I believe it was a Western artist named Remington that these junkies stole out of Omaha. But it was such a minor piece that he could show it to anybody and they wouldn’t. They would say, oh, that’s cool. You got a Remington. [25:30] There’s plenty of those around. And he could afford a real deal Remington anyhow. So it wasn’t that big a deal. And that’s really what it comes down to is that art, high-end art does get stolen. It gets stolen quite often. The art market is about $60 billion, and the FBI, we estimated about $6 to $8 billion of that is illicit, whether it’s theft or fakes and forgeries. It’s a tremendous market, but it’s mostly second and third tier items. [26:02] Really valuable, well-known pieces. They do get stolen, but that’s the easy part. The easy part is stealing it. The hard part is monetizing it. That’s why you very rarely see recidivism among art thieves, high-end art thieves, because you do it once, and now you’re stuck with the thing. It’s easier to steal something else. You got to go out and boost fur coats and stuff to make a living. Exactly. Do a jewelry store robbery down there and make a living. And that’s exactly the point. That’s why you’re seeing a sea change in terms of art thefts, museum thefts. The Louvre was a great example of that. Dresden green vault robbery where 100 million euros in gems were stolen back in 2019 yeah. [26:45] Gems and jewelry, it can be broken down. It’s going to greatly diminish their value, but you can recut a gem. You can melt down the setting. You can monetize it for a greatly diminished value, but at least you can monetize it. You can’t cut up a Rembrandt into smaller pieces. [27:02] It’s only valuable as a whole complete piece. Yeah. I’m just thinking about that. We got a couple of guys, Jerry Scalise and Art Rachel in Chicago, flew to London, robbed a really valuable piece, the Lady Churchill’s diamond or something, I don’t remember, but really valuable piece and mailed it to somebody on their way to the airport and then got caught when they got back to Chicago and brought back to London and did 14 years in England and they never gave up that piece and nobody could, it never appeared anywhere, but it was just cut up and they didn’t make hardly any money off of it. Yeah. Look, there’s a, there’s much more profitable ways to. Yeah. To make an illicit living than stealing high-end artwork, but it does still get stolen. And that’s one of the cruel ironies when you’re talking about art theft is if somebody has a $20,000 piece of jewelry or a very expensive watch, they’re most likely going to lock it up in a safe in their bedroom or something. But you have a $10 million piece of artwork, you probably got it on the mantle. You’ve got it over the fireplace or in the front foyer of your house and probably doesn’t have a passive alarm system protecting it or security screws to keep it from being taken off the wall because people want to show it off. Yeah. It’s way too enticing. [28:24] Really? So, yes, you need to keep the word out there and keep this in people’s minds. And I’m sure the museum tries to do this in some ways in order, hopefully, that maybe somebody will say, oh. Yeah. [28:38] I think I saw that somewhere in this news program or on this podcast. [28:42] I’ll put some pictures on the podcast when I end up editing this. No, please do, Kerry. And that’s the thing. That’s the basis for the title of my book is it really is a fugitive investigation. And that’s how I work this case is fugitives and perfect fugitives because they’re not like their human counterparts. They’re not going to get tripped up on the silly things that we need to do as human beings, getting a driver’s license or whatnot. Yeah. [29:09] And so that’s how I worked the case. The FBI was really, I was always impressed with the FBI’s support that they gave me on this investigation. We did billboard campaigns and social media and a lot of things to get these images out there to the public, hoping it might resonate with somebody. And that’s really my goal for this book. I felt it should be written. I felt it’s an important case. Certainly, it’s something that I wanted to write about. It’s something that’s very important to me. [29:42] But it’s yet another attempt to apprehend these fugitives. And I’m hopeful that somebody, it might resonate with somebody. Somebody’s going to see something. And there’s so much disinformation and misinformation that’s out there in the media about this case. People are endlessly, all these armchair detectives, and I don’t say it in a deprecating way. Good for them. Work as hard as you can. But if you want to work this case from your armchair, great. but you should be going off accurate information because there’s a lot of bad information that’s out there on the internet. And if you want to help out, if you want to collect that $10 million reward, great, but you should be going off the most accurate factual information that’s available. Yeah. And you probably ought to go down to the deep seamy underbelly of Philadelphia or Boston or somewhere and get involved with a mob and then work your way up and make different cocaine deals and everything. And eventually you might be trusted enough that some might say, oh yeah, I’ve got those in this basement. I would suggest there’s better hobbies. [30:47] That could be hazardous to your health. I wouldn’t recommend it. Yes, it could. All right. Jeffrey Kelly, the book is 13 Perfect Tuesdays. Those are the paintings that were stolen that you’ll see on the podcast on the YouTube channel. The true story of the mob, murder, and the world’s largest art heist. Jeffrey, thanks so much for coming on to tell us about this. Thanks, Gary. Thanks for having me.

This week, Scott sat down with his Lawfare colleagues Benjamin Wittes, Daniel Byman, and Ari Tabatabai for an in-depth discussion of the U.S. military operations against Iran, including:“Isn't it Iran-ic.” Trump's decision to join Israel in removing Ayatollah Khamanei reflects a deep reversal by the president, who has spent years criticizing his predecessors' own experiences with regime change and other overseas adventurism. What drove Trump to proceed this time, after stopping short twice in the past year? What can we learn from the way the Trump administration has proceeded? And how far will Trump let things go?“Bibi's Big Adventure.” Regime change in Iran is something Israel and the Arab Gulf states have advocated for frequently in the past. But they had all adopted a more cautious and even conciliatory posture toward Iran in the months before the current offensive, at least in public. How has the region approached this conflict? And what will it do moving forward?“MIGA.” The death of Ayatollah Khamenei is a major shift in Iran, but we don't know where it is going to lead. One concern that people have always had about regime change in Iran is that it will be highly destabilizing, resulting in a failed state in a crucial corner of the Middle East. On the other end, other people have asserted that removing the Ayatollah and his regime will give Iran the opportunity to flourish back into a democracy, or at least something closer to a state that's more stable and free than Iran has been for the last several decades. Between the two is a mass spectrum of possibilities. What does the future hold for Iran in the post-Ayatollah era, if that's the era that we're heading into?In object lessons, Ben is vibe-coding his way through Lawfare's litigation tracker, as well as vibing his way through The Rest is History's four-part series, Revolution in Iran. Dan is war-gaming his way through the attack on Iran with Next War: Iran. Scott is consuming as much Iran content as he can get his hands on with (another) Scott Anderson's “King of Kings,” Roy Mottahedeh's “The Mantle of the Prophet,” Gary Sick's “All Fall Down,” and Dutch documentary “The Birthday,” finally discovered online by Lawfare's own Anna Hickey. And Ari, not to be outdone in Iran content, recommends the graphic novel “Persepolis,” but really is escaping it all with Final Fantasy VII Remake.To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.