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Lithium ion batteries power our everyday lives and are at the heart of the green electric revolution. But there's a very dirty story behind the clean image - the minerals and rare earths that go into making our phone and EV batteries are as geopolitically important as oil once was. Journalist Nicolas Niarchos' The Elements of Power starkly outlines the ravaging cost to the people and the environment where they're mined, and the global machinations by superpowers including China and the USA as they vye for world dominance. Nicolas Niarchos tells Susie extractive capitalism and its supply chain wreaks havoc across the globe, not least on the messy reality of a greener future.
THE SHOW NOTES Fossil words Intro News gets old so fast The History Chunk - February 12th Ask George - Introductions? from Kelsey Interesting Fauna - Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) Damian Handzy's Facts That'll Fuck Y'up - A bunch of stuff and turkeys Religious Moron of the Week - Rep. Andy Ogles Tell Me Something Good - Puppy Bowl! Un-Valentines this Friday at Red Stag Elements March 7th Show close ......................... MENTIONED IN THE SHOW Elements tickets ......................... UPCOMING SCHEDULE George solo UNVALENTINE'S DAYMcCarthy's Red Stag Pub Friday, February 13th 534 Main St., Bethlehem, PA Free George Hrab's Occasional Songs for the Periodic Table 118 Elements • 118 Songs • 90 Minutes Saturday, March 7th, 2026 The Icehouse Bethlehem, PA Geo & SGU: Extravaganza & Private Show Madison, Wisconsin Saturday, May 16, 2026 TICKETS CSICON Center for Inquiry 50th Anniversary Conference Geo & SGU: Extravaganza & Live PodcastAwards Dinner & Variety Show Buffalo, New York June 11-14th 2026 csiconference.org Geo & SGU: Not-A-Con Sydney / NZ Skeptics Conference July 2026 Australian & New Zealand Episode 1000 of The Geologic Podcast Saturday, January 9, 2027 The Icehouse Bethlehem, PA ......................... SUBSCRIPTION INTERFACE You can now find our subscription page at GeorgeHrab.com at this link. Many thanks to the sage Evo Terra for his assistance. ......................... Get George's Music Here https://georgehrab.hearnow.com https://georgehrab.bandcamp.com ................................... SUBSCRIBE! You can sign up at GeorgeHrab.com and become a Geologist or a Geographer. As always, thank you so much for your support! You make the ship go. ................................... Sign up for the mailing list: Write to Geo! Check out Geo's wiki page, thanks to Tim Farley. Have a comment on the show, a Religious Moron tip, or a question for Ask George? Drop George a line and write to Geo's Mom, too!
With Valentine's Day just around the corner, love is everywhere, on our screens, in shop windows, and throughout marketing campaigns. Yet for many of us, this time of year can feel complicated, tender, or even disconnecting. In this episode, Colette explores what Ayurveda really teaches about love, not the fleeting or idealized version we're often sold, but the steady, nourishing love that begins within. Drawing on Ayurvedic wisdom, this episode reframes love as a state of balance, regulation, and inner union, rather than something we chase or seek outside ourselves. You'll learn how daily habits, digestion, rhythm, and self-care practices quietly shape our capacity to give and receive love in all areas of life. This episode is an invitation to return to a more grounded, sustainable, and compassionate understanding of love, starting with your relationship with yourself. In this episode, you'll learn: Why Ayurveda views love as a state of balance and nourishment, not a performance or achievement Why true self-love in Ayurveda looks less dramatic and more consistent How rhythm, boundaries, and daily structure create safety and emotional resilience What "inner union" means in Ayurveda and yogic philosophy How imbalance between the Vata subdoshas of prana and apana can show up in relationships and self-care Why grounded energy supports healthier, more spacious relationships How Valentine's Day can become a reminder of inner union rather than external validation Mentioned in this episode: Episode 16 - Ayurvedic Dinacharya or Daily Routines Check out Colette's online services: Online Consultations https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/consultations At-home Digestive Reset Cleanse https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/digestive-reset-cleanse Online Daily Habits for Holistic Health Program https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/daily-habits Reset-Restore-Renew Program https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/reset-restore-renew Have questions on Colette's online services? Book a FREE 15 min Services Enquiry Call here. https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/consultations Do I have an accumulation of ama/toxins in my body? Take this quiz to find out https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/resources Stay connected on the Elements Instagram https://www.instagram.com/elementsofayurvedapodcast/ and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/elementshealingandwellbeing Thank you for listening! If this episode supported you, please consider leaving a review and if you think this information would be helpful to family or friends, please share this episode so we can spread this wisdom of Ayurveda. Stay tuned and stay aligned with the Elements of Ayurveda Podcast. Thanks for listening!
Episode: 2556 Euclid's Elements, David Hilbert, and modern notions of mathematical abstraction. Today, making a point.
Rajeunir les neurones de la mémoire, le pari expérimental de l'EPFL Les brèves du jour Ariane 6 décolle avec quatre réacteurs pour la première fois La science en chanson : « The Elements »
Members of the SWAT team confront the remaining robber and finally end the North Hollywood Shootout. Elements of the 44-minute gunbattle spark immediate controversy, and the event accelerates major changes in police departments across America. Go to Surfshark.com/infamous or use code INFAMOUS at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN! Thanks to our sponsor, Quince! Use this link for Free Shipping and 365-day returns: Quince.com/infamousamerica Thanks to our sponsor, Rocket Money! Use this link to start saving today: RocketMoney.com/InfamousA Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ banner on Apple to get started with a 3-day free trial. On YouTube, subscribe to INFAMOUS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage. For more details, please visit www.blackbarrelmedia.com. Our social media pages are: @blackbarrelmedia on Facebook and Instagram, and @bbarrelmedia on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this episode, we sit with Dr. Tarik Alkasab, Heather Chase and Dr. C. Michael Hood to talk about recent developments in the worlds of Common Data Elements (CDS, see https://www.rsna.org/practice-tools/data-tools-and-standards/radelement-common-data-elements), Open Imaging Data Model (OIDM, see https://www.openimagingdata.org/) and other developments such as the Imaging Problem List (IPL).
>> Gelareh: Got an idea that keeps you up at night or one that makes people say, hm, that will never work.>> Dave: Perfect. That's what we talk about here on Innovation Fuel. So let's get that conversation started. Welcome back to Innovation Fuel. Hey guys, we're here. We've got exciting journey ahead of us today. We've got some really interesting things. We're talking about AI and AI in healthcare. But AI and healthcare, Gelareh has been around for a long period of time and only recently because of what we've been exposed to with generative AI, we're now seeing it. And you even actually had a personal experience with Nava?>> Gelareh: Yes, AI is here for 40 years and data, is here for a long time. The problem is how we can use that one. So, for example, Nava and I went to the hospital and she had to do EEG. And I had some questions with the technicians about what's the age range of using EEG? Is a criteria, is related to gender, is related age or any races. You can say these things, except you don't have those data. And I was like, why you don't have that data means you are creating a lot of data, a lot of data right now just by looking at this EEG. No, we cannot use that data. I don't know how to use it either. So for me was like, oh my God, how's possible? Because that can help a lot of predictions about health of a patient. As you said, generative AI became more accessible for any individuals. But pure AR and AI by itself or data modeling, why is not incorporated in our healthcare?>> Dave: Well, hey, AI is great for getting us our Amazon products, but it's not, hey, it still has some challenges and it has some challenges, regulatory challenges, some things around involvement the customer. Who is the customer, where does these things lie and how do we collect.>> Gelareh: This information and data? Privacy.>> Dave: And we look at the privacy and so I think we might have someone today that actually is wrestling with this today.>> Gelareh: Yes, we have Dr. Meriam Abedi the founder of Aplicare. AI. She's here to explain her product and her journey from scientist to an entrepreneur.>> Dave: Hello, Dr. Abedi Let's start at the very beginning before we get into AI and the business. What initially led you to explore the intersection of healthcare and artificial intelligence?>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: From 2017 to 2021, I had the opportunity to do my postdoctoral research at the University of Montreal in Quebec. By the end of my postdoctoral research I got the idea to explore scientific entrepreneurship because I had this unique mix of expertise in informatics, AI and data analysis. Especially with time series data like continuous vital science. So during my postdoc I had the chance to work with doctors and web device company. But I wanted to take it a step further, see my research make a real world impact more. Not just writing papers and programs but truly supporting doctors and approving patient journeys by the end to turn my expertise into something that could create value. But here is the thing. I didn't have any business skill and I didn't know where to start.>> Gelareh: I just want to know that what particle incidents or insight that highlighted that need for AI driven digital healthcare.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: First about my expertise because I got this expertise that combine AI and healthcare. Then it come from my personal experience because when I had this expertise in continuous data monitoring and the importance of continuously monitoring vital signs data the patient and from my personal experience my grandfather died with stroke and he had diabetes. But when I see that continuous monitoring can help even see these patterns and size before stroke happens because in general population are not aware about the signs and symptoms and wearable devices can help to detect these signs to be able to intervene before stroke happens.>> Gelareh: And is your product is a new system or it's a whole new product or is already built up and something.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Is there having getting insights from continuous data is something that is emerging. I am using scientific approach so I am looking at paper what is going on? What is new technologies is still not implemented in health care really so it's still in research stage and it takes time to really in real world application. So it's really an emerging field.>> Dave: One of the biggest insights you've discovered so far that have started to shape this perspective around AI how it can be effectively used in this, this sort of world.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: It's because I have this unique mix of expertise on AI, informatics and healthcare. So I was confident that I am able to develop a product, an AI system that can really have an impact on Patriot Journey and could help doctors.>> Gelareh: During your research have you saw similar products while you're working with doctors?>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Yes, very similar. Having this idea of wanting to explore continuous vital signs Data is an emerging opportunity and there is a lot of research about it. So we can predict death in ICU, we can predict hypoxemia, we can predict health outcome. So there is a lot of opportunity that we can explore and it really depend on the data and the healthcare.>> Gelareh: Professional need but they are not incorporated in our healthcare system. And why is that?>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Because the journey to commercialize AI in healthcare take time. We not need FDA approval. Even the data availability is a real challenge.>> Gelareh: Because of this all the regulations that's a problem.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: I will just formulate about the data, electronic health record, collect data. But these data are not aimed to develop AI models. So they are often shaped more by workflow constraint than by actual medical need. So we face problems like missi ng and incomplete data issue with interoperability data not being collected consistently so that make the patient trajectory modeling available and the there is also ethical and privacy concerns. We had to navigate all these challenges while developing a solution that really feeds the active needs of the healthcare system.>> Dave: So it's almost the balance of the UI and the UX. Like the UI mentioned, user integration of this element. Like the data is coming, the information. But how does it then apply to the scenario and those scenarios and how are we going to adopt those scenarios?>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Definitely because right now that exists and having insights from data is something that is going to shape the future of health care. But the implementation really is implementing this kind of solution. Need to have this stakeholder all joined around the table to be able. So there is a data scientist, the AI expert, the healthcare professionals, the healthcare institution, the government. They need to be around the table to be able to develop this kind of solution.>> Dave: So with that in mind, what are the challenges you face? Because that's a lot of pieces and a lot of pieces having to be on the same page.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: The first challenge is, was at the beginning of my entrepreneurship journey. I am a technical entrepreneur and I had a solution but I was still looking for the right problem to solve test minimum viable product and show that it truly addressed a real issue in a specific market. So my goal was to figure out where my solution could create value but understanding the value chain, not just pushing it onto the market. This was really a challenge as a technical founder and then come the issue of the question of the business model. So we need to understand existing business model of AI in healthcare companies specifically digital biomarker company to innovate in our business model. Also because in our approach we are co developing our solution with healthcare professional. We need their input and insight to ameliorate our AI system. I think this is the two big challenges. Problem solution fit and the business model of AI in healthcare.>> Gelareh: So why you want to start a business, you had a great research idea, you tested your research in the lab. It works.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: I am a person that love challenges. I wanted to have unpacked. I am a technical person that develop programs. A researcher also that is behind its computer. So I wanted to go to see the world, to network, to see how I can make impact and have value through my expertise.>> Gelareh: When you created your business Aplicare. AI which is a beautiful name. So how important has collaboration with clinicals and researcher been developing and refining this business?>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: So we are in the early stage of development and it's really important to involve doctors in the early stage of development. Having their insights is really important to ameliorate the algorithm and having doctors involved early in our journey has been key. Understanding also the patient workflow, the value chain and mapping out the stakeholder has really shaped our, our approach. It's about ensuring we meet needs while also looking for ways to bring new solution to the table.>> Gelareh: Again you're working with algorithm, right? So how this professional can help you to understand what market looks like and what type of product they actually need.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: So it's more about understanding the need and the gap. So how the actual workflow is going on and what value the AI solution will add to the doctor and the patient and how we will integrate it in the workflow. Our approach is not just pushing the product, it's really understanding the need, working together and then understanding how we will implement the solution in the actual workflow.>> Dave: So again coming down to let's really dive into the problem, let's look at the problem, let's get the information from the problem and then let's map out solutions towards that element.So when you're going through this Meriam, like one of the biggest things especially in AI is about cost. AI can be a really expensive development and implementation element. What have you discovered about balancing cost effectiveness while maintaining high quality outcomes that you need in order to deliver the right solution?>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: So Applicare AI is in the early stage of development. So we are in the scientific validation step and going through the clinical validation with real world data. So I can say that Applicare AI is more a scientific company, a research company because our approach is really evidence based. So we want to align with the latest guidelines, best practice and quality standards for predictive model in healthcare to have from the beginning an AI system that align with this guidelines and that is baked with scientific research.>> Gelareh: To my understanding is that you're trying to say that my value proposition is I am solving market needs by scientific approach. And I am offering the most accurate model regarding the data about the health of patients. And you can predict some outcomes of a patient like an incident death or about a stroke. But the problem you have is actually commercialize your product because right now we.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Are collaborating with doctors and we are following co development approach but they are not the ones that are going to buy our AI system. That has been one of our big challenges. So figuring out who is going to buy it and how it will fit into the doctor's workflow. Adding to that getting an AI system into healthcare takes time. Especially with the need for FDA approval as a medical device. It's all still pretty new and the guidelines are still evolving. So staying updated on those is super important in the, in this field. I also have this challenge to balance everything while raising capital to keep the business going, continue the development because we cannot commercialize it. Take almost five years to commercialize an AI system as a medical device. And just to add a personal note, I am also a mom with two kids. So that jangling act too. So between the business and motherhood.>> Gelareh: Yeah, tell me about it.>> Dave: So the core elements that we see here is that number one is that we have to balance this element out. Meaning that we're running towards getting accreditation or approval by the FDA and other elements out there. But we're also trying to figure out how to sync this into operation. Who's going to be the primary user, who's going to be the buyer of this software and how is it going to instinct into the doctor's flow elements. So there's a number of challenges. And then of course we're wrestling over here with this is new and the new piece is probably the challenge is how do you change the trajectory of these regulation parties that know this system over here and have no ideas of these new systems. And they're probably evolving as you're evolving.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: How we keep updated with evolving guidelines and all research based. So we need to be up to date to the sound guidelines. It's really having this awareness system of what is happening to be up to date and to be able to be agile. Also it's about our approach that we don't want just to buy a solution and push it to the market. We want a solution that is really answer the need and that will be integrated to the system. We didn't want to add another user interface, another mobile app, another web application. We wanted to integrate the system, the existing system, the existing workflow. But this existing system it's not ready to adopt AI solutions.>> Gelareh: Just try to understand in terms of you be commercialized. You need to deal with regulatory body such as FDA. Right. First you get the FDA and then after you got the FDA now you have to wondering who's going to buy it.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Definitely. But if we had the FDA, it will be a competitive edge.>> Gelareh: Absolutely. So you don't know if it's a government or it's a healthcare solutions we.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Have this stakeholder mapping but we need to try and to figure out how even approach them. Yes, it's a collective responsibility for me. We are working closely with various stakeholders so the doctors, the wearable device, the developer of centralized platforms and we answering real world needs. But it's not about just building something and selling it. For me I have this dream that applicator AI becomes a nonprofit because our approach is all about collaboration and then we want, we have this shared accountability with everyone involved with Adventure and we want to ensure that our innovation are accessible, ethical and focused on improving healthcare outcomes. so it's about building trust and working together to make a real impact. Just following a business model.>> Dave: Miriam. Absolutely aspiring. Like it's a. I could see the passion, I see where you want to go and I see the opportunity but I also see all the different types of roadblocks that have been set up by past elements that are and how do we navigate these new elements into past structures that are past structures that may not work. Elements which we see.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Digital health is something new and it's about centralizing all the data in one platform, getting the data from electronic health records. It's also not just about AI. For example, sometimes the solution is just in data analysis. We don't need to have AI and the time to analyze the data. getting insight from it before developing a model take more time than developing the model itself. So I think it's the whole approach. It's not just pushing for using AI and it's the ultimate solution. No, I think it's about business intelligence, data analysis, doctors, expertise. We need all to work together to have this something that is working, that is helpful and that is that will have an impact. And the answer really need not just pushing AI for just for AI.>> Gelareh: We are at the end of our podcast. We need you through a challenge that you are facing and you think that a student can help you. So you give us a challenge.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Digital biomarker company's business model. I'm lucky to be working with professor, Bruce Iber at University Canada West with these MBA students. So in developing the business strategy for applicator AI, we are exploring existing models and analyzing competitors and it has been such a valuable experience. What I really love is that we are losing collective intelligence to rethink and push by on traditional business model. So shaping APK's AI business model has definitely been a challenge, but a rewarding one.>> Dave: I love it. Meriam, if people want to follow your work or collaborate with you or want more to learn more about Applicare AI, where should they reach you? How can they reach you?>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: so we have a website. It's Applicare AI.>> Dave: Wonderful. Thank you again, Miriam for sharing this. all these discoveries and it's so interesting. It's clear that AI is an instant solution. We see some opportunities there, but there's some really cool things that are being uncovered in the healthcare and for listeners out there, if this conversation got you thinking about the power of AI, don't forget to subscribe to Innovation for Fuel and share this episode to anybody interested in the future of healthcare. And let's keep the conversation going. Thank you very much, Miriam.>> Dr. Meriam Abedi: Thank you so much.>> Gelareh: That's a wrap up for today's episode of Innovation Fuel. Keep those engines running, stay curious and fuel your mind with innovation. Until next time, I'm Gelareh Refarhotian with Dave signing off. Big thanks to our guests, our listeners, and of course, the dream team behind the scene, Thomas Reynoso. Making us fans, sound like pros. Jennifer Lee Gonzon Ensuring every note is pitch perfect. Dave, are we officially out of refuel for today?>> Dave: Well, Gelareh, for today, yes. But we'll be back to refuel next time. Love this episode. Share it with someone who needs a little innovation in their lives. And remember, whether you discover opportunities or create them, just keep moving forward. See you next time on Innovation Fuel.>> Gelareh: Big ideas don't grow by themselves.>> Dave: Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Share and let's fuel the next one together.>> Gelareh: Innovation Fuel is produced by JPAD Creations. Find out more about the show at theinnovationfuel.
Our heroes get trapped within the Ruins of Berez as they navigate a maze.Featuring: Joseph as the DMMark as the Dragonborn Paladin "Arkundax"Bun as the Elf Bard "Vio"Sam as Orc Druid "Grude"Steph as the Human Artificer "Minerva"Jess (Nemir) as the Tiefling Sorcerer "Romaia"Please note: While the FrogCast often aims for a "PG-13" rating, this module contains elements of horror and mature themes that might be uncomfortable to some. Elements of body horror, implied mistreatment of children (such as child ghosts), and mature themes commonly associated with vampires and gothic settings will be present throughout the adventure.This adventure is based off of "Curse of Strahd Reloaded" by "DragnaCarta"https://www.patreon.com/DragnaCarta/postsCharacter art by: https://linktr.ee/melthehoneybeeEnjoy!Podcast: https://anchor.fm/lfrogdndYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/josephblanchetteBlue Sky: https://bsky.app/profile/josephlfrog.bsky.socialturesPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/legendaryfrog"Blue Feather"Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Stop overcomplicating your practices. In this episode, we break down a "Four Quarter" basketball practice plan designed to eliminate distractions and build game-ready toughness, pressure defense, and high-volume shooting.Ready to simplify your coaching? Get instant access to our SAVI Basketball Membership with a 7-day free trial. Unlock our full classroom of courses, weekly live coaching calls, and exclusive community support here: https://www.skool.com/savi-coachMost coaches try to fix too many things at once and leave the gym wondering if they actually got better. We discuss how to use "the process of elimination" to prioritize what your team needs right now, whether it's disruptive full-court pressure or hitting a 200-shot daily goal.In this video, you'll learn:How to structure a 4-Quarter Practice Plan to maximize game-like transfer.The difference between Pre-Practice (building habits) and Prime (high-level teaching).Specific small-sided games like 3-on-4 Keep Away and Streak Shooting to build mental toughness.Why a "neat and tidy" practice plan is often less effective than one that addresses immediate team needs.Chapters: 0:00 - The secret to a good practice plan 1:09 - Improving practice through the process of elimination 2:01 - Challenge: Practice WITHOUT offense, rebounding, or layups 3:42 - How to get every player 200 shots per practice 5:52 - Elements of the 4-Quarter Practice Plan 8:06 - Pre-Practice: Tune shooting and defensive stance vitamins 10:05 - Prime: Teaching the trap and recovery 13:00 - Priming toughness: The Tough One-on-One drill 14:32 - Quarter 1: 3-on-4 Keep Away game 15:39 - Quarter 2: 4-on-4 Passing out of a trap 16:50 - Quarter 3: 5-on-5 "And One" (Press & Press Break) 17:31 - Quarter 4: Streak Shooting and Crack Back/Skip Backs 19:57 - Final thoughts: Coach the team you have, not the one you saw at a clinicStay SAVI! Subscribe for more weekly coaching insights, practical tools, and drills that translate to wins. https://savi.beehiiv.com/SAVI Shooting Tune Up Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTqP8AYSjLg&list=PLzZDMmtdN3QO2_JQLRHcXtUUu2dsBxdVl Youth Shooting: https://youtu.be/8R219feDhGk?si=EE-sAe_KKHt0W1kw #BasketballCoaching #PracticePlanning #BasketballDrills #YouthBasketball #HighSchoolBasketball #CoachingTips #BasketballTraining
Hart, Fitzy, Dan and Stiz discuss the other elements of the Patriots-Seahawks game on Sunday, including the halftime show, the commercials and the quality of the broadcast.
We dive into Stuart Ortiz's creepy AF True Crime Mockumentary Strange Harvest. This one got under all of our skins, let us tell you why!Watch the visual episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/4skYgdtvVi4Check out The Horror Vision on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehorrorvision/Join our exclusive Facebook Horror Fan Community: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/18LsUmWw5n/Check out our merch! https://the-horror-vision.creator-spring.com
THE SHOW NOTES Am I really helping? Intro What has two thumbs and is in the Epstein files? Interesting Fauna - Coastal or Humboldt Marten Ask George - Historical Antibiotics? from Mark Rupert McClannahan's Indestructible Bastards - Australian Swimming Lad Religious Moron of the Week - Rev. Michael W. Mohr Tell Me Something Good - Atomic Respite Tickets available for March 7th Show Close ......................... MENTIONED IN THE SHOW Interesting Fauna ......................... UPCOMING SCHEDULE George solo UNVALENTINE'S DAYMcCarthy's Red Stag Pub Friday, February 13th 534 Main St., Bethlehem, PA Free George Hrab's Occasional Songs for the Periodic Table 118 Elements • 118 Songs • 90 Minutes Saturday, March 7th, 2026 The Icehouse Bethlehem, PA Geo & SGU: Extravaganza & Private Show Madison, Wisconsin Saturday, May 16, 2026 TICKETS CSICON Center for Inquiry 50th Anniversary Conference Geo & SGU: Extravaganza & Live PodcastAwards Dinner & Variety Show Buffalo, New York June 11-14th 2026 csiconference.org Geo & SGU: Not-A-Con Sydney / NZ Skeptics Conference July 2026 Australian & New Zealand Episode 1000 of The Geologic Podcast Saturday, January 9, 2027 The Icehouse Bethlehem, PA ......................... SUBSCRIPTION INTERFACE You can now find our subscription page at GeorgeHrab.com at this link. Many thanks to the sage Evo Terra for his assistance. ......................... Get George's Music Here https://georgehrab.hearnow.com https://georgehrab.bandcamp.com ................................... SUBSCRIBE! You can sign up at GeorgeHrab.com and become a Geologist or a Geographer. As always, thank you so much for your support! You make the ship go. ................................... Sign up for the mailing list: Write to Geo! Check out Geo's wiki page, thanks to Tim Farley. Have a comment on the show, a Religious Moron tip, or a question for Ask George? Drop George a line and write to Geo's Mom, too!
On this week's Tech Nation, ever wondered what's inside the lithium-ion batteries we use every day? Journalist Nicolas Niarchos joins Moira to talk about the minerals that power our modern life, and how the global race to control them is impacting the planet. Then, Dr Daniel Kraft tells us about the launch of ChatGPT Health. And, a fast-acting treatment for flare-ups of common inflammatory conditions could be around the corner.
Elizabeth Baird Hardy, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts Professor, the genius behind AppalachianInkling.com, Hunger Games expert, and author of Milton, Spenser and the Chronicles of Narnia: Literary Sources for the C.S. Lewis Novels, joined Nick and John to discuss the Charm Bracelet that J. K. Rowling posted on her Twixter home page as a Christmas gift to her readers. She said that that the thirteen charms on nine links were a set of clues about the next Strike novel, the ninth in a ten book series.In the first Part of Elizabeth, Nick, and John's conversation, they discussed Rowling's charm bracelet history, speculated about why she posted this picture when she did, decided to look at each charm on the bracelet for its stand-alone meaning and its place in the nine link set, and to read the whole series as if it were a ring composition, one reflecting a nine Part structure in Strike 9. They then made deep dives into the details of each charm: the heart shaped box containing a ‘You and Me' engagement ring, a golden diamond-laden egg, a foul anchor, two angels, and a Trojan horse.In this second Part of that conversation, the trio of Serious Strikers continue with the remaining charms on the bracelet, namely, a Jack-in-the-box, an Hourglass, a White Rose and Crocodile, a Corvid head, and a Psalter paired on the last link with the Head of Persephone. They share their thoughts, too, about the bracelet as a symbolic integer and its ring meaning.The notes below are in support of references they make mid-flight and to other resources of interest to Magic Charm Decoders! Enjoy.Thank you to all our subscribers with special gratitude and appreciations for our paid subscribers; you are the wind in our sails, the heat from our vents… Serious Strikers are reading Browning's The Ring and the Book, charting Hallmarked Man Part Six, and reviewing the Myth of Cupid and Psyche to look for parallels in the Strike-Ellacott series. See you soon!Jack-in-the-Box Charm* Rowling claims this as her favorite charm (Nick and John in the conversation mistakenly attribute this preference to the Psalter charm):* Badly Wired Lamp ID'd it* Is it a devil — or a Racoon?* The jack in the box toy, the 'Jack' being a devil, was invented in Germany in the 16th century as a mockery of the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. * The shape of this charm, the golden circular center in the inside of the open box top, represents the transcendent spiritual realm and the square bottom with its four directions, the fallen world. The ‘jack' devil lives in the latter but is from the former.* The charm is the third latched object in the chain, the heart box and Trojan horse preceding it and the psalter at chain's end following it — which means the ring latch and center are latched objects with surprises inside. The two interior objects at center have deadly surprises and the beginning and end eternal life interiors. The symbolism here is of the human being and its capacity via choice for either spiritual perfection in sacrificial love (anteros) or consumption by individual desires (eros). The thing hidden inside, man's spiritual capacity or heart, is either light or darkness, the inside bigger than the outside. (John)* What is the Strike 9 connection, the analogue to the demonic Jack in the box? Is it RFM? Uncle Ted? Ilsa's husband Nick? Polworth?* The Jack's position is at the center of the bracelet and between the hourglass and the Trojan horse. So it's placed between cleverness and craftiness and things that we can control and bad surprises, but also time, because we can't control time. (Elizabeth)Hourglass Charm* tempus fugit ‘like sand in an hourglass'* memento mori* infinite symbol* The Strike series may be a collection of mystery-story genres, each one illustrating a unique type of story, different from all the others while keeping the same core of characters and overarching narrative (cf., Rowling's note in The Running Grave acknowledgements that that book was her “cult” book). The hourglass, then, may be Rowling's pointer to Strike9 being a suspense drama in which the good guys not only have a challenging mission (find and rescue the missing Robin, Strike, Lucy, Pat, whomever) but have to do it before a literal deadline arrives. The Ticking Clock plot device.* If the Jack at link five is the center of the bracelet ring of nine links, how does the hourglass mirror the Trojan horse? It's two parts? The deadline aspect? “Reveal the crazies inside before the hourglass empties”?White Rose Charm* White Rose of Yorkshire* The interior of the flower charm is a literal Turtleback or ring composition diagram.* White Rose of Dante: Paradiso Cantos XXXI and XXXIIThe true home of all the blessed is with God in the Empyrean, a heaven of pure light beyond time and space. Dante sees the blessed systematically arranged in an immense white rose: like a hologram, a three-dimensional image, the rose is formed from a ray of light reflected off the outer surface of the Primum Mobile (30.106-17). The queen of this white rose is the Virgin Mary, traditionally represented as a rose herself (see Par. 23.73-4). This celestial rose recalls large rose windows of Gothic cathedrals, many of which are dedicated to Mary. The image of the rose, often red, is also used to represent Christ or, in other contexts, earthly love. The white rose is symmetrically structured according to various criteria, including belief, age, and gender. One half of the rose, already full, holds those who, according to Christian tradition, believed in Christ to come (the blessed of the Hebrew Bible); the other half, with only a few seats still unoccupied, contains those who believed in Christ already come (saved Christians). Two gendered rows mark this division of the rose in two halves. In the row below Mary appear women of the Hebrew Bible (Eve, Rachel, Sarah, Rebecca, Judith, Ruth, and unnamed others); Beatrice is seated next to Rachel, on the third row from the top. Opposite Mary, John the Baptist heads a row of men containing Francis, Benedict, Augustine, and other Christian fathers. Mary is flanked by Adam (first man) and Moses on one side, and Peter (first pope) and John the Evangelist on the other. John the Baptist is flanked by Lucy on one side and Anna, the mother of Mary, on the other. While only adults are seated in the upper section of the rose, below a certain line the rose contains souls of blessed children, their precise location based not on their own merits (since they lacked the power of free will) but on predestination. As physical laws do not apply in the Empyrean, Dante's ability to see these figures is not diminished by distance (30.118-23; 31.76-8).* White Rose of Mockingjay (Hunger Games finale)The prevailing symbol of Catching Fire and the most meaningful token the Christ figure of the series gives Katniss is a pearl, the solid-light symbolism of which we've discussed before. I think Commander Paylor's name may be our last Madge-Pearl-Mags name reference in being a “pale orb.” That gold and pearls have a similar translucency and metaphysical correspondence with the ‘Light of the World' make the twin possibilities that much more rich — and Commander Paylor's ascending to Panem's Presidency that much more meaningful and appropriate.Katniss steps into the Garden with the Pearl's blessing (“on my authority”) and discovers roses of every possible color. There are red, of course, and “lush pink, sunset orange, and even pale blue.” She knows what she wants, though; the rose colored like light, the white rose, Dante's symbolic prelude to the beatific vision and transcendence. Just as she cuts the “magnificent white bud just about to open” “from the top of a slender bush” (ibid, p. 355), the manacled, “pale, sickly green” President Snow, our snake in the Garden, speaks.“The colors, are lovely, of course, but nothing says perfection like white.”Our story Satan, you recall, left her a white rose in District 12 in chapter 1 and dropped roses with the bunker buster bombs in Part 1 to terrify Katniss. Now we know why. He was taunting her with her end, that as a seeker's soul he knew her goal was perfection in Christ and taunted her with it, especially when he held Peeta-Christ and understood the cartharsis and chrysalis she would have to pass through to claim it herself. Now that she is in the inner sanctuary, the High Place, he tells her the truth she could not hear anywhere else, the final, ugly truth about the cause for which Katniss had sacrificed everything. Snow reveals, just as Peeta had told her at the story's start, that she was deceived by those she trusted. President Coin killed Primrose with a weapon designed by Gale.Having been to the Absolute center, the world navel, and taken away the beatific vision as a white rose, Katniss is no longer a seeker but the resolution of contraries, an androgyn of justice and mercy. She is above right and wrong now as the phoenix-mockingjay and hears the voice of the “murderer” on the Hanging Tree at last. She deceives President Coin at the Victors Meeting as something of an avenging angel; she becomes a murderer herself by assassinating President Coin. Peeta-Christ comes down from the tree as her savior once again and prevents her suicide via Nightlock by his out-of-nowhere intervention.* Why does the White Rose share the seventh bracelet link with a crocodile? Faerie Queene!Crocodile Charm* The Crocodile in Shed, crocodile skin handbags (Hallmarked Man) “Maybe the4 crocodile or whatever they're keeping in the shed's chewed its way out,” said Strike. “ (Chapter 22, p 176; center chapter of Part 2)* Crocodile entry, Cirlot's Dictionary of SymbolismCrocodile Two basically different aspects of the crocodile are blended in its symbolic meaning, representing the influence upon the animal of two of the four Elements. In the first place, because of it viciousness and destructive power, the crocodile came to signify fury and evil in Egyptian hieroglyphics (19); in the second place, since it inhabits a realm intermediate between earth and water, and is associated with mud and vegetation, it came to be thought of as an emblem of fecundity and power (50). In the opinion of Mertens Stienon there is a third aspct, deriving from its resemblance to the dragon and the serpent, as a symbol of knowledge. In Egypt, the dead used to be portrayed transformed into crocodiles of knowledge, an idea which is linked with that of the zodiacal sign of Capricorn. Blavatsky compares the crocodile with the Kumara of India (40). Then, finally, come the symbols of Inversion proper and of rebirth. (67)* Lyndy Abraham's Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery entry for ‘Crocodile:'Crocodile The mercurial *serpent or transforming arcanum in its initial chthonic aspect during the dark, destructive opening of the opus alchymicum. Like the *bee, the crocodile was classified as a serpent in te bestiaries of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The amphibious nature of the crocodile made it an apt symbol for the dual-natured *Mercurius. When Lepidus in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra says, ‘Your serpent of Egypt is bred of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile' (2.7.26-7), he is referring to the generation of gold in the earth, and the generation of the mercurial serpent through the heat of the secret *fire or ‘sun'. With the phrase ‘operation of your sun' Lepidus also alludes to the final law of the alchemical Emerald Table: ‘That which I had to say about the operation of the Sun is completed' (48)* Sandy Hope on Crocodile symbolismIsis Church crocodile in Faerie Queene: Book 5, Canto VIIBook V Canto vii. The speaker praises the virtue of justice and cites Osyris as an example of the just man. His wife, Isis, represented equity and to the Temple of Isis Britomart and Talus come to spend the night. Talus, however, is not allowed into the temple. Britomart enters and sees a statue of Isis with her foot on a crocodile. The temple is also full of the priests of Isis who are not allowed to drink wine as it leads to rebellion. Britomart sleeps under the statue of Isis and dreams that the crocodile comes alive and threatens the Goddess. The Goddess subdues the crocodile and it becomes meek and then impregnates the Goddess. She gives birth to a lion which conquers all other beats. Britomart awakes and tells her troubling dream to a priest. He tells her that the crocodile represents Arthegall, Isis represents Britomart, and the lion their son whom they will conceive. Grateful for the interpretation, Britomart leaves and comes to Radigund's castle. Radigund and Britomart battle, Britomart is wounded in the shoulder, and finally Britomart beheads Radigund. Talus enters the castle and wreaks carnage on the Amazon women inside. Britomart finds Arthegall dressed, like other, in women's clothing. she is shamed by the sight, and it is not quite clear whether her suspicions that Arthegall has been unfaithful are confirmed or refuted. She finds Arthegall some armour, arms him, and the rest in the castle. during this time Britomart rules as a princess and reforms the Amazon society so that women are restored to proper subjection to men. Finally, Arthegall leaves to complete his quest against Grantorto. Britomart lets him leave because she knows that his success in this quest is important to restore his ego. After residing further at the Amazon castle she finally leaves to help keep her mind off the absent Arthegall.* The Spenser Encyclopedia entry for ‘Church of Isis:' (408) Clifford DavidsonWhen Britomart spends the night in the temple, she sees a ‘wondrous vision' in which she participates first as a votary of Isis and then as the goddess herself. Her devotion to the statue causes her to become Isis in her dream: she is serving at the altar when she sees herself transformed into Isis but wearing the royal robe. The crocodile awakens, devours the flames which threaten to destroy the temple, and threatens to eat Isis/Britomart until it is driven back by her rod. Then it seeks her ‘grace and love,' she yields, it impregnates her, and from their union she gives birth to a lion. As the Priest explains, the crocodile is Osiris (the Egyptian god of Justice) who sleeps under the feet of Isis ‘To shew that clemence oft in things amis,/ Restraines those sterne behests, and cruell doomes of his' (22), and who shows thereby the proper relation of justice and judgment to equity. The Priest also explains to Britomart that the crocodile is Artegall, ‘The righteous Knight,' who will settle the storms and ‘raging flames, that many foes shall reare' and restore to her the heritage of her throne, and who will give her a ‘Lion like' son (23), the new British monarchy of the Tudors.The crocodile is a symbol both of guile and of a regeneration that will affect future history. As guile, its relation to Isis is reminiscent of Vice figures under the feet of triumphing Virtues in medieval art. An iconographic association between the crocodile in its demonic aspect and medieval saints' legends derives ultimately – significantly for Spenser – from the classical figure of Britomartis (Miskimin 1978). In Plutarch's Isis and Osiris 50, it is linked to Typhon, the enemy of justice and order, while in Renaissance iconographic tradition it is often symbolic of the need for prudence (for one must be prudent to avoid the wily crocodile). Cesare Ripa's Iconologia (sv Lussuria) shows the nude Luxury (or Lechery) seated upon a crocodile, an interesting analogy to its phallic sexuality in Britomart's dream. Yet along with these primarily negative associations, there are also positive ones in the crocodile's identification with Osiris/Artegall/Justice and in the implication that Isis/Britomart/Equity is incomplete without her partner. The image contains its own contradiction, unresolved by the Priest.* Troubled Blood and Faerie Queene: Where Britobart and Artegall are used as stand-ins for Robin and Cormoran:Troubled Blood features several embedded texts, the most important of which is never mentioned in the book: Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queen. Serious Strikers enjoyed the luxury of not one but two scholars of Edmund Spenser who checked in on the relevance and meaning of Rowling's choice of the greatest English epic poem for her epigraphs, not to mention the host of correspondences between Strike 5 and Queen. Elizabeth Baird-Hardy did a part by part exegesis of the Troubled Blood-Faerie Queen conjunctions and Beatrice Groves shared her first thoughts on the connections as well. Just as Lethal White's meaning and artistry is relatively unappreciated without a close reading of Ibsen's Rosmersholm, so with Strike 5 and Faerie Queen.Elizabeth Baird-Hardy* Day One, Part One: The Spenserian Epigraphs of the Pre-Released Troubled Blood Chapters* Day Two, Part Two: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Eight to Fourteen* Day Three, Part Three: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Fifteen to Thirty* Day Four, Part Four: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Thirty One to Forty Eight* Day Five, Part Five: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Forty Nine to Fifty Nine* Part Six: The Spenserian Epigraphs of Troubled Blood Chapters Sixty to Seventy One* Spenser and Strike Part Seven: Changes for the BetterBeatrice Groves* Trouble in Faerie Land (Part 1): Spenserian Clues in Troubled Blood Epigraphs* Trouble in Faerie Land (Part 2): Shipping Robin and Strike in the Epigraphs of Troubled Blood* Trouble in Faerie Land (Part 3): Searching for Duessa in Troubled BloodJohn Granger:* How Spenser Uses Cupid in Faerie Queen and Its Relevance for Understanding Troubled Blood* Reading Troubled Blood as a Medieval Morality PlayCorvid Charm* Rowling Twixter headers: 12 January 2016, 9 April 2017 (Nick)* Fantastic Beasts reference? The Lestrange Family Motto features a crow and the ‘Lost Child' of that series is named ‘Corvus'* Crow Symbolism per Cirlot, Dictionary of Symbols:Crow Because of its black colour, the crow is associated with the idea of beginning (as expressed in such symbols as the maternal night, primigenial darkness, the fertilizing earth). Because it is also associated with the atmosphere, it is a symbol for creative, demiurgic power and for spiritual strength. Because of its flight, it is considered a messenger. And, in sum, the crow has been invested by many primitive peoples with far-reaching cosmic significance. Indeed, for the Red Indians of North America it is the great civilizer and the creator of the visible world. It has a similar meaning for the Celts and the Germanic tribes, as well as in Siberia (35). In the classical cultures it no longer possesses such wide implications, but it does still retain certain mystic powers and in particular the ability to foresee the future; hence its claw played a special part in rites of divination (8). In Christian symbolism it is an allegory of solitude. Amongst the alchemists it recovers some of the original characteristics ascribed to it by the primitives, standing in particular for nigredo, or the initial state which is both the inherent characteristic of prime matter and the condition produced by separating out the Elements (putrefactio) … In Beaumont's view, the crow in itself signifies the isolation of him who lives on a superior plane (5), this being the symbolism in general of all solitary birds. (71-72)* Lyndy Abraham's Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery entry for ‘Crow:' (49)Crow, crow's head, crow's bill A symbol of the *putrefaction and *black nigredo which is the first stge of the opus alchymicum. The old body of the metal or matter for the Stone is dissolved and putrefied into the first matter of *creation, the *prima materia, so that it may be regenerated and cast into a new form. The Hermetis Trismegisti Tractatus Aureus said of this initial stage of death and dissolution in the work: ‘The First is the Corvus, the Crow or Raven, which from its blackness is said to be the beginning of the Art' (bk. 2, 235). In his Aurora, Paracelsus wrote that when the matter has been placed in the gentle heat of the secret fire it passes through corruption and grows black: ‘This operation they call putrefaction, and the blackness they name the head of the Crow' (55). Thomas Charnock likewise wrote of the putrefaction: ‘The Crowes head began to appere as black as Jett' (TCB, 296). In Zoroaster's Cave the matter produced during this stage is identified with the name of the process: ‘When the matter has stood for the space of forty dayes in a moderate heat, there will begin to appear above, a blacknesse like to pitch, which is the Caput Corvi of the Philosophers, and the wise men's Mercury' (80). According to Ripley the terms ‘crows head' and ‘crows bill' are synonymous: ‘The hede of the Crow that tokeyn call we,/And sum men call hyt the Crows byll' (TCB, 134) (see ashes). In A Fig for Momus Thomas Lodge listed the crow's head amongst other alchemical enigmas: ‘Then of the crowes-head, tell they weighty things' (Works, 3:69). When Face in Jonson's The Alchemist says that the matter of the Stone has become ‘ground black', Mammon enquires of him, ‘That's your crowes-head? And Subtle replies, ‘No, ‘tis not perfect, would it were the crow' (2.3.67-8).Psalter Charm* In ‘Charms, Psalms & Golden Clues: A brace(let) of clues for Strike 9,' Prof Groves discusses the psalm as charm:Charm first meant the incantation itself, and then the amulet that carried that incantation to protect the wearer and then – from the 19th century – the small ornamental trinkets, fastened to girdles, watch-chains and bracelets, that resembled those original, talismanic charms. This means that Rowling's clue-charm of a Psalm book (which can actually carry a sacred text) circles back beautifully to the original meaning of the word – in which a charm was an amulet carrying a holy text. These charms do not always hold texts but Rowling has confirmed that this one does: ‘The book is a psalm book and holds real, miniature psalms' I think this protective hinterland of charms make it likely that the specific psalm that such a psalm-book charm would carry would be the most comforting and talismanic of psalms – Psalm 23. This psalm famously describes the Lord's love as protective, even unto the valley of the shadow of death* John argues that, in addition to the 23rd Psalm, Psalm 90 (91 in Masoretic or KJV reckoning), the so-called ‘Soldier's Psalm' is at least as likely as an insert for this charm, which is to say, as a talisman a soldier might give a woman about to enter Hades to beg a gift from Persephone…The Head of Persephone Charm* Rowling's clarifying picture* Psyche's Last Task from Venus:One final task is then given to Psyche, one in which Psyche is commanded to bring back a bit of Persephone's beauty from the Underworld. In Greek mythology no living soul is meant to be able to enter the Underworld, let alone leave it, and so Aphrodite felt that she would be rid of Psyche once and for all. Indeed, it seemed that Aphrodite would be proved right, for Psyche's only idea about entering the Underworld was to kill herself. Before Psyche can commit suicide a voice whispers to her instructions about how to complete the task. Thus Psyche finds an entrance to the Underworld and is soon crossing the Acheron upon the skiff of Charon, and the princess even manages to gain an audience with Persephone. Persephone on the surface appears to be sympathetic to the quest of Psyche, but Psyche has been warned about accepting food or a seat in the palace of Hades, for both would bind her to the Underworld for all time. But eventually, Persephone gives Psyche a golden box, said to contain some of the goddess' beauty.* The Head of Persephone charm is paired with the Psalter on the ninth and last link; again, if the Psalm is 22 (23) or 90 (91), then the connection is an invocational prayer for help traveling through the “valley of death,” for protection from the “asp and basilisk,” the “lion and dragon.”* As above, note that the beginning, middle, and end of the bracelet feature clasped objects, with the Psalter being a codex that opens and Psyche's journey to Persephone is in pursuit of a “golden box” containing the means to otherworldly beauty. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit hogwartsprofessor.substack.com/subscribe
Ayurveda can feel deeply nourishing and also overwhelming especially when you've been learning for a long time and don't know where to begin, how to stay consistent, or how to soften self-pressure along the way. In this solo Ayurveda Q&A episode, Colette answers thoughtful questions from the Elements of Ayurveda Podcast Community, exploring how to work with overwhelm, perfectionism, and stress through the lens of daily habits, nervous system health, and rhythm rather than rigidity. This episode is an invitation to approach your health with more awareness, curiosity, and compassion, and to remember that healing doesn't require doing everything perfectly, it asks us to show up gently and consistently. In this episode, you'll learn: Where to begin with Ayurveda when you've absorbed a lot of information and feel overwhelmed Why daily habits are one of the most underestimated, yet powerful tools for long-term healing How perfectionism can arise from different doshic patterns, especially Vata nervous system instability and Pitta rigidity or intensity Practical ways to soften perfectionism and support the nervous system through grounding, rhythm, and compassion How to stay consistent with Ayurvedic routines during busy or stressful periods without relying on willpower Why community, shared reflection, and support play a vital role in sustainable healing A contemplative closing reflection on shifting from self-criticism to curiosity Mentioned in this episode: Elements of Ayurveda Podcast Community A conscious, supportive online space to deepen your Ayurvedic journey together, including: Early access to podcast episodes Monthly live Zoom meetups Member forums for discussion and Q&A Mindfulness and self-care practices Seasonal group challenges Check out all the details on the community here... https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/community Daily Habits for Holistic Health A 28-day self-paced online program designed to help you bring Ayurvedic wisdom into lived, daily practice. Click here for details on this program https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/daily-habits Online Ayurvedic Consultations Personalised guidance for diet, lifestyle, and daily rhythms tailored to your unique constitution and life circumstances. Book your consulation here... https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/consultations Episode 8 - Ayurveda and the Circadian Rhythms Sponsor: This episode is supported by Kerala Ayurveda Academy, offering comprehensive Ayurvedic education for beginners, advanced students, and wellness professionals online, in person, and through their immersive ALL Levels India Immersion Trip (Summer 2026) where you'll learn and heal through authentic Ayurvedic traditions in their place of origin. Early bird registrants receive $500 off when you enroll by March 1. As a special bonus, receive $50 off tuition for a beginner long-term Ayurvedic Training Program, or 10% off any short program, when you apply or register using the code ELEMENTS. Links Visit keralaayurveda.us/courses. India Immersion: https://www.keralaayurveda.us/courses/indiaimmersion/ Certification Trainings: https://www.keralaayurveda.us/courses/ayurvedic-certifications/ Short Programs: https://www.keralaayurveda.us/courses/programs/continuing-education/ Check out Colette's online services: Online Consultations https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/consultations At-home Digestive Reset Cleanse https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/digestive-reset-cleanse Online Daily Habits for Holistic Health Program https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/daily-habits Reset-Restore-Renew Program https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/reset-restore-renew Have questions on Colette's online services? Book a FREE 15 min Services Enquiry Call here. https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/consultations Do I have an accumulation of ama/toxins in my body? Take this quiz to find out https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/resources Stay connected on the Elements Instagram https://www.instagram.com/elementsofayurvedapodcast/ and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/elementshealingandwellbeing Thank you for listening! If this episode supported you, please consider leaving a review and if you think this information would be helpful to family or friends, please share this episode so we can spread this wisdom of Ayurveda. Stay tuned and stay aligned with the Elements of Ayurveda Podcast. Thanks for listening!
Send us a textTrade the contemporary hype for a deep concern with holiness! What if your youth ministry felt unmistakably sacred and still radically welcoming?In this episode of Youth Ministry Booster, Zac Workun sits down with Ribbin Dorado to explore a youth ministry model built on formation over frenzy, one that helps teenagers love the church they're actually growing into.Together, we unpack a fresh durable, and repeatable, youth ministry framework designed for long-term faith formation:A two-hour Sunday night gathering that prioritizes formation over gamesA monthly rhythm that includes a Student Sabbath at home, complete with table liturgiesA mid-month Worship in the Round, where students lead and testifySacred worship spaces using incense, kneelers, and iconography to signal reverence. Elements of signs, symbols, and wonder. Memorizing creeds, spontaneous testimonies, and students “fighting for the mic” to name where they see God at workTeaching shaped by the lectionary, offering a balanced diet of Scripture and resisting cherry-pickingWe also talk about rethinking leadership in student ministry:Hospitality leaders who cultivate belongingFormation leaders who guide 30-minute Bible circlesThoughtful training, interviews, and resources that treat leaders as ministers—not just volunteersLanguage that dignifies the calling and responsibility of those shaping students' faithAt the core is the soul of the youth pastor. Ribbin challenges leaders to abide in Christ (John 15), practice the daily Examen, read Scripture beyond sermon prep, and develop a living rule of life. Teenagers don't just hear what we teach, they catch what we love. We lead from overflow, not exhaustion.Finally, we reframe success in youth ministry:Are students worshiping with the broader church?Are families practicing prayer and Scripture at home?Two years after graduation, are students rooted in a local church?Formation is a long obedience in the same direction—formed inwardly and sent outwardly.Subscribe, rate, and review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. Check out Lifeway.com/Essentials for free roundtable days this spring in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Virginia, and North Carolina. Sign up and bring your team.Support the showJoin the community!
Stay informed on current events, visit www.NaturalNews.com - Introduction and Segment Overview (0:00) - Dog Video and Belgian Malinois Breed (1:27) - Introduction of Brighte Videos and AI Avatars (6:16) - Jane Lynn's Report on Protein Powders (7:44) - Ethical Use of AI Avatars and Social Media Platforms (12:09) - Impact of GLP Weight Loss Drugs on Mental Health (29:13) - Valentine's Day Sale and Health Ranger Store (56:19) - Financial Advice and Counterparty Risk (56:37) - Project Vault and Critical Mineral Shortages (1:11:55) - Conclusion and Final Thoughts (1:21:59) - Critical Minerals Shortage and Technological Challenges (1:22:16) - Unique Properties of Elements and the Limits of Substitution (1:25:57) - The Long-Term Gap in Technological Advancement (1:28:21) - Health and Economic Implications of Unhealthy Population (1:31:06) - The Role of Big Pharma and the Federal Reserve in America's Decline (1:33:30) - The Fight for Access to Natural Medicine (1:42:09) - The Impact of Legislative Bans on Consumers (1:47:24) - The Science and Safety of Hemp Products (2:05:39) - The Role of Education and Self-Responsibility in Health (2:11:57) - The Future of Hemp and Natural Medicine (2:29:11) Watch more independent videos at http://www.brighteon.com/channel/hrreport ▶️ Support our mission by shopping at the Health Ranger Store - https://www.healthrangerstore.com ▶️ Check out exclusive deals and special offers at https://rangerdeals.com ▶️ Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed: https://www.naturalnews.com/Readerregistration.html Watch more exclusive videos here:
If the 20th century was defined by oil, journalist and author Nicolas Niarchos bets that the 21st century will be defined by batteries. In his book, The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth, Niarchos unpacks the hidden costs behind the world’s battery boom. In this episode, he and Oz trace how the race for cobalt and other critical metals is reshaping global power—why China dominates refining and battery innovation, what the U.S. would actually have to build to compete, and whether trade deals can realistically “clean up” the system. Additional Reading: The Elements of Power by Nicolas Niarchos| PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Fred returns for the second-ever Great Wrestling Primer, where he gathers together a bunch of people smarter than him to talk about non-AEW promotions. This bad boy checks in at over eight hours of discussion of different promotions. Less than 10% of that is Fred mispronouncing things and messing up plugs for his lovely guests.Guests include:Case Lowe of Open the Voice Gate, discussing Dragon GateChris Samsa of Sport of Pro Wrestling, discussing NJPWJoe Gagne of Five Star Match Game, discussing EVOLVE and WWE IDKelly Harass of Jumping Bomb Audio, discussing Stardom, Marigold, TJPW, and the joshi scene in generalIan Hamilton of many places (but primarily on socials as IanWrestling), discussing RevPro, wXw, and the Euro scene in generalWill Young, discussing WWE & RoHMike Gilbert of The Mike & JD Show, discussing TNAGerard di Trolio of Emerald Flowshow, discussing AJPW, NOAH and DDTcubsfan of luchablog and so much more, discussing CMLL & AAAThis year's theme song is Tom Lehrer's "The Elements," released in the public domain by the artists.Our Sponsors:* Sign up and get 10% off at BetterHelp: https://www.betterhelp.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Contains: Mild Gore, Elements of Body HorrorIn an effort to get in close to The Mother of Wickedness, the team agree to a trial to earn an audience with her: finding and retrieving her cat...and surviving to tell the tale.Cast:Ben Magnet - GMJordan Nelson - "The Spider"Aaron Kaufhold - "The Huntsman""Danger" Dan Jerz - "The Prince"Grayson Norman - "The Knight"Daniel Cruz - Pinocchio: "The Real Boy"Cover Art by Jordan NelsonEditing by "Danger" Dan JerzTheme Song/Outro by Nicole CarinoAdditional Music provided by: Monument Studios
We're joined by the four authors of *Digital Theory* — M. Beatrice Fazi, Alexander R. Galloway, Matthew Handelman, and Leif Weatherby — for a roundtable on their new collaborative work.Digital Theory (University of Minnesota Press, 2025) makes a deceptively simple but far-reaching claim: the digital is theoretical. Not in the sense that we theorize about it, but that digitality itself — mediation through discrete units — is a condition for thinking as such.Just to get it out of the way, listeners to the pod know that these four thinkers need no introduction. This is literally the cohort that we've held in our minds over the past few years (there's probably nobody whose shaped our brains as formatively on this subject than Alexander Galloway, whose writing was the subject of Marek's en route masters thesis and the first PDF sent between Marek and Roberto). The conversation opens up a series of productive disagreements within the group. What's the relationship between the digital and computation? For Fazi, the digital is discretization — "the cut" — while computation is systematization, building, constructing. This distinction allows the book to think the digital before and beyond the computer, back to proto-writing tokens and forward to whatever comes next. A major target here is what Galloway calls "analog philosophy," the dominant strain of theory over the last few decades that privileges affect, sensation, intensity, immanence. Deleuze is named directly as the great philosopher of the analog: obsessed with the fold, hostile to structuralism, drawn to "a language of breaths and screams." The authors aren't throwing Deleuze overboard entirely (to them the "Postscript on the Societies of Control" still hits) but they're skeptical that his ontology can account for digital technology as a form of thought. REFERENCES:*Digital Theory* (In Search of Media series), University of Minnesota Press, 2025 https://www.upress.umn.edu/9781517920197/digital-theory/M. Beatrice Fazi - *Contingent Computation: Abstraction, Experience, and Indeterminacy in Computational Aesthetics*, Rowman & Littlefield, 2018 https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781786606082/Contingent-Computation-Abstraction-Experience-and-Indeterminacy-in-Computational-AestheticsAlexander R. Galloway - *Uncomputable: Play and Politics in the Long Digital Age*, Verso, 2021 https://www.versobooks.com/products/2656-uncomputable - "Golden Age of Analog," *Critical Inquiry* 48, no. 2 (2022) https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/717324 - Galloway's website and blog https://cultureandcommunication.org/galloway/Matthew Handelman - *The Mathematical Imagination: On the Origins and Promise of Critical Theory*, Fordham University Press, 2019 https://www.fordhampress.com/9780823283842/the-mathematical-imagination/Leif Weatherby - *Language Machines: Cultural AI and the End of Remainder Humanism*, University of Minnesota Press, 2025 https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/language-machines (our book of the year, for what it's worth) - *Transplanting the Metaphysical Organ: German Romanticism between Leibniz and Marx*, Fordham University Press, 2016 - Digital Theory Lab at NYU https://as.nyu.edu/faculty/leif-allison-reid-weatherby.htmlSome References Discussed:Gilles Deleuze, "Postscript on the Societies of Control" (1992)Theodor Adorno & Max Horkheimer, *Dialectic of Enlightenment*Euclid, *Elements*, Book V (on analog/logos)Jacques Lacan, *Seminar II: The Ego in Freud's Theory and in the Technique of Psychoanalysis* (on cybernetics)François Laruelle and Alain Badiou, on the genericEve Tuck, "Breaking Up with Deleuze"Hito Steyerl, "How Not to Be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational .MOV File" (2013)
Fred returns for the second-ever Great Wrestling Primer, where he gathers together a bunch of people smarter than him to talk about non-AEW promotions. This bad boy checks in at over eight hours of discussion of different promotions. Less than 10% of that is Fred mispronouncing things and messing up plugs for his lovely guests.Guests include:Case Lowe of Open the Voice Gate, discussing Dragon GateChris Samsa of Sport of Pro Wrestling, discussing NJPWJoe Gagne of Five Star Match Game, discussing EVOLVE and WWE IDKelly Harass of Jumping Bomb Audio, discussing Stardom, Marigold, TJPW, and the joshi scene in generalIan Hamilton of many places (but primarily on socials as IanWrestling), discussing RevPro, wXw, and the Euro scene in generalWill Young, discussing WWE & RoHMike Gilbert of the The Mike & JD Show, discussing TNAGerard di Trolio of Emerald Flowshow, discussing AJPW, NOAH and DDTcubsfan of luchablog and so much more, discussing CMLL & AAAThis year's theme song is Tom Lehrer's "The Elements," released in the public domain by the artists.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-good-the-bad-and-the-hungee-aew-podcast/donations
DJ and Hoots are BACK and on this episode of the OTB College Lacrosse Show the duo recap the full-blown indoor weekend we had to start the season, some standout teams like Michigan, Syracuse, Denver, and Rutgers. They also discuss the broadcast issues with the Duke game. Then they look ahead to the upcoming matchups and discuss what's on the horizon this week in the college game.Voicemails: speakpipe.com/OTBLaxPodSupport our partners!Merch: Code UNDERGROUND for 10% off at phiapparel.co/shop'47 BrandShop for your favorite sports fan and get FREE SHIPPING on ALL orders with '47 Brand!47.sjv.io/e1NyorRiversideGet your podcast looking and sounding pristine with Riverside!https://riverside.sjv.io/QjBBVMFollow Us!TwitterUnderground: https://twitter.com/UndergroundPHIOTB: https://twitter.com/OTBLaxPodKB: https://twitter.com/KBizzl311DJ: https://twitter.com/Scs_nextgreatHoots: https://twitter.com/HootSportsMediaInstagram:https://www.instagram.com/otblaxpod/https://www.instagram.com/undergroundphi/SUBSCRIBE on YouTube: youtube.com/@UndergroundSportsPhiladelphiayoutube.com/@OTBLaxPodIntro/Outro Music: Arkells "American Screams"#Lacrosse #NCAALax #NCAALacrosse #CollegeLacrosse #Week1 #LacrossePodcast #Subscribe #fyp
Standby Airlines and The Non-Rev Lounge: Navigating Crazy Days, Hospital Stays and MoreIn this episode of The Non-Rev Lounge, Monique and Tyler discuss the unpredictable life of standby airline employees, including personal stories, recent travels, and challenges faced by airline staff. The hosts share humorous anecdotes, address the recent changes in Southwest Airlines' seating assignments, and provide insights into handling escalations and irritations at work. They also highlight the benefits of hotel points and travel perks, making travel rewarding despite the occasional chaos. Additionally, they reflect on the disruptions caused by winter storms and the unique experiences brought by hospital visits. This engaging chat offers listeners a blend of travel tips, personal stories, and industry insights.00:00 Welcome to Standby Airlines00:20 Voice Impersonations and Cher Memories01:27 Recording the February Episode02:45 Japan Travel Plans and Excitement08:47 Medical Emergencies and Hospital Stays16:50 Winter Storm Fern and Airline Chaos25:57 Using Staff Traveler for Passenger Assistance31:41 Southwest Airlines Seating Changes37:57 Unexpected Upgrade Drama38:57 Southwest Airlines Seating Policies39:29 Flying to Colorado Springs40:54 Pilot Punches Co-Pilot41:42 Influencers in the Cockpit45:32 Workplace Conflicts and Frustrations54:09 Navigating Airline Lounges01:06:44 Airline Mergers and Route Oddities01:11:20 Concluding Thoughts and Listener EngagementStaffTraveler is offering a 10% code for any of our listeners who buy their eSIM.Use the Promo code ST10NONREVLOUNGE https://share.stafftraveler.com/nrl-esim✈StaffTraveler is a great app that can assist your non-rev travels! Use it to find the loads for your non-rev travel! Use this to sign up:https://stafftraveler.com/nonrevlounge
This video reviews two new passenger tire launches from Nexen Tire, offering a detailed Nexen N'Priz S and N'Fera Sport review while also explaining how the company is using artificial intelligence in modern tire development.Nexen N'Priz S ReviewThe Nexen N'Priz S is a grand touring all-season tire designed for modern vehicles, including electric vehicles, hybrids, and internal-combustion vehicles. Nexen identifies the N'Priz S as its first EV-compatible tire, engineered to manage higher vehicle weight, instant torque delivery, and reduced noise expectations common to electric vehicles. The tire features a wider contact patch compared to the previous generation, which helps distribute load more evenly for improved braking, stability, and wear. Nexen also incorporated variable-pitch shoulder blocks to reduce pattern noise. Plus, its 4D compound technology and 3D sipe design help maintain traction across temperature changes and light winter conditions. The N'Priz S replaces the Roadian GTX, Aria AH7, and N'Priz AH8 in Nexen's lineup. It carries an 80,000-mile treadwear warranty for ICE vehicles and a 60,000-mile warranty for EV applications.Nexen N'Fera Sport ReviewThe Nexen N'Fera Sport is a premium ultra-high-performance summer tire developed to meet European OE performance expectations. Nexen focused on high-speed stability, wet braking, and steering precision by using a stiffer shoulder design, a reinforced center block, and a new tread compound with increased silica content and updated polymer chemistry. The tire uses a four-channel longitudinal groove design to evacuate water efficiently at speed. Elements such as a jointless bead wire, high-hardness bead filler, and high-tensile steel belt help maintain stability under load. The N'Fera Sport is offered in 63 sizes and includes a 30,000-mile treadwear warranty. The tire has also received a Red Dot Design Award.How is Nexen Tire Using AI?Beyond the product reviews, the video explains how Nexen Tire is applying artificial intelligence and machine learning in tire development. Nexen engineers describe AI as a tool that analyzes large datasets from tire specifications, compounds, construction variables, simulations, and testing.Nexen maintains a global database with data from approximately 190,000 tire designs. This database allows proprietary AI systems to predict outcomes, evaluate design changes, and help engineers reach targets faster.Aaron Neumann, head of Nexen's America's Technical Center, explains that AI does not replace engineers. It does not make independent design decisions. Instead, AI supports development by accelerating analysis and improving early-stage decision-making.This Nexen N'Priz S and N'Fera Sport review provides dealers, industry professionals, and performance-focused drivers a detailed look at Nexen's latest all-season and UHP tire technology with Nexen N'Priz S and N'Fera Sport review. It also explains how AI influences tire design, testing, and future product development at Nexen Tire.
Reformed Brotherhood | Sound Doctrine, Systematic Theology, and Brotherly Love
In this episode of The Reformed Brotherhood, Tony and Jesse continue their deep dive into the Parable of the Prodigal Son by examining the often-overlooked character of the elder brother. While the younger son's rebellion is obvious, the elder brother's self-righteous moralism represents a more subtle—and perhaps more dangerous—form of lostness. Through careful exegesis of Luke 15:25-32, the hosts explore how religious performance, resentment of grace, and merit-based thinking can keep us far from the Father's heart even while we remain close to the Father's house. This conversation challenges listeners to examine their own hearts for traces of elder brother theology and calls us to celebrate the scandalous grace that restores sinners to sonship. Key Takeaways Two ways to be lost: The parable presents both flagrant rebellion (the younger son) and respectable self-righteousness (the elder son) as forms of spiritual lostness that require God's grace. The elder brother's geographic and spiritual position: Though physically near the house and faithful in service, the elder brother was spiritually distant from the father's heart, unable to celebrate grace extended to others. Moralism as a subtle distance: Self-righteous religion can be more deceptive than open rebellion because it appears virtuous while actually rejecting the father's character and values. The father pursues both sons: God's gracious pursuit extends not only to the openly rebellious but also to the self-righteous, demonstrating that election and grace are sovereign gifts, not earned rewards. The unresolved ending: The parable intentionally leaves the elder brother's response unstated, creating narrative tension that challenges the original audience (Pharisees and scribes) and modern readers to examine their own response to grace. Adoption as the frame of obedience: True Christian obedience flows from sonship and inheritance ("all that I have is yours"), not from a wage-earning, transactional relationship with God. Resentment reveals our theology: When we find ourselves unable to celebrate the restoration of repentant sinners, we expose our own need for repentance—not from scandal, but from envy and pride. Key Concepts The Elder Brother's Subtle Lostness The genius of Jesus' parable is that it exposes a form of lostness that religious people rarely recognize in themselves. The elder brother never left home, never squandered his inheritance, and never violated explicit commands. Yet his response to his brother's restoration reveals a heart fundamentally opposed to the father's character. His complaint—"I have served you all these years and never disobeyed your command"—demonstrates that he viewed his relationship with the father transactionally, as an employer-employee arrangement rather than a father-son bond. This is the essence of legalism: performing religious duties while remaining distant from God's heart. The tragedy is that the elder brother stood within reach of everything the father had to offer yet experienced none of the joy, fellowship, or security of sonship. This form of lostness is particularly dangerous because it wears the mask of righteousness and often goes undetected until grace is extended to someone we deem less deserving. The Father's Gracious Pursuit of the Self-Righteous Just as the father ran to meet the returning younger son, he also went out to plead with the elder brother to come into the feast. This detail is theologically significant: God pursues both the openly rebellious and the self-righteous with the same gracious initiative. The father's response to the elder brother's complaint is not harsh correction but tender invitation: "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours." This reveals that the problem was never scarcity or the father's favoritism—the elder brother had always possessed full access to the father's resources and affection. The barrier was entirely on the son's side: his inability to receive sonship as a gift rather than a wage. This mirrors the historical situation of the Pharisees and scribes who grumbled at Jesus for receiving sinners. They stood adjacent to the kingdom, surrounded by the promises and covenant blessings of God, yet remained outside because they could not accept grace as the principle of God's dealing with humanity. The invitation still stood, but it required them to abandon their merit-based system and enter the feast as recipients of unearned favor. The Unresolved Ending and Its Challenge to Us Luke deliberately leaves the parable unfinished—we never learn whether the elder brother eventually joined the celebration. This narrative technique places the reader in the position of the elder brother, forcing us to answer for ourselves: will we enter the feast or remain outside in bitter resentment? For the original audience of Pharisees and scribes, this unresolved ending was a direct challenge to their response to Jesus' ministry. Would they continue to grumble at God's grace toward tax collectors and sinners, or would they recognize their own need and join the celebration? For contemporary readers, the question remains equally pressing. When we hear of a notorious sinner coming to faith, do we genuinely rejoice, or do we scrutinize their repentance with suspicion? When churches extend membership to those with broken pasts, do we celebrate restoration or quietly question whether they deserve a place at the table? The parable's open ending is not a literary flaw but a pastoral strategy: it refuses to let us remain passive observers and demands that we examine whether we harbor elder brother theology in our own hearts. Memorable Quotes The father's household is a place where grace produces joy, not just merely relief. The elder brother hears the joy before he sees it. That's often how resentment works, isn't it? We're alerted to the happiness of others and somehow there's this visceral response of wanting to be resentful toward that joy, toward that unmerited favor. — Jesse Schwamb There is a way to be near the house, church adjacent, religiously active, yet to be really far from the father's heart. The elder brother is not portrayed as an atheist, but as a moralist. And moralism can be a more subtle distance than open rebellion. — Jesse Schwamb God doesn't keep sinners from repenting. The reprobate are not prohibited or prevented by God from coming to faith. They're being kept out by their own stubborn refusal to come in. That's where this punchline hits so hard. — Tony Arsenal Full Transcript [00:00:44] Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 477 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I'm Jesse. [00:00:51] Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey brother. [00:00:55] Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. [00:00:56] Parables and God's Word [00:00:56] Jesse Schwamb: Speaking of ears to hear, it struck me that this whole thing we've been doing all this parable talk is really after the manner of God's words. And one of the things I've really grown to appreciate is how God speaks to the condition of those whom he addresses. He considers our ability, our capacity as his hearers to process what he's saying, and that leads into these amazing parables that we've been talking about. He doesn't speak as he is able to speak. So to speak, but I didn't mean that to happen. But as we were able to hear, and that means he spoke in these lovely parables so that we might better understand him. And today we're gonna get into some of the drama of the best, like the crown jewel as we've been saying, of maybe all the parables. The Parable of the Lost Son. We spoke a little bit about it in the last episode. Definitely want to hit that up because it's setting you up for this one, which is the definitive episode. But now we're gonna talk about this first, this younger lost son. Get into some of all of these like juicy details about what takes place, and really, again, see if we can find the heart of God. Spoiler. We can and we'll, [00:02:04] Tony Arsenal: yeah, [00:02:04] Affirmations and Denials [00:02:04] Jesse Schwamb: but before we do both of those things, it's of course always time at this moment to do a little affirming with or denying against. Of course, if you haven't heard us before, that's where we take a moment to say, is there something that we think is undervalued that we wanna bring forward that we'd recommend or think is awesome? Or conversely, is there something that's overvalued that's just, we're over it. The vibe is done. We're gonna deny against that. So I say to you, as I often do, Tony, are you affirming with or deny against? [00:02:31] Tony's Nerdy Hobby: Dungeons and Dragons [00:02:31] Tony Arsenal: I'm affirming tonight. Um, I don't know how much the audience realizes of a giant ridiculous nerd I am, but we're about to go to entirely new giant nerd depths. [00:02:43] Jesse Schwamb: All right. I [00:02:43] Tony Arsenal: think, [00:02:44] Jesse Schwamb: let's hear it. [00:02:44] Tony Arsenal: So, um, I was a huge fan of Stranger Things. Some, there's some issues with the show, and I understand why some people might not, um, might not feel great about watching it. You know, I think it falls within Christian liberty. But one of the main themes of the show, this is not a spoiler, you learn about this in episode one, is the whole game. The whole show frames itself around Dungeons and Dragons, right? It's kind of like a storytelling device within the show that the kids play, Dungeons and Dragons, and everything that happens in the Dungeons and Dragons game that they're playing, sort of like, um, foreshadows what's actually gonna happen in the show. Which funny if, you know Dungeons and Dragons lore, you kind of learn the entire plot of the story like ahead of time. Um, but so I, stranger Things just finished up and I've kind of been like itching to get into Dungeons and Dragons. I used to play a little bit of tabletop when I was in high school, in early college and um, I just really like the idea of sort of this collaborative storytelling game. Um, whether it's Dungeon Dragons or one of the other systems, um, Dungeons and Dragons is the most popular. It's the most well published. It's the most well established and it's probably the easiest to find a group to play with. Although it is very hard to find a group to play with, especially, uh, kind of out in the middle of nowhere where I live. So this is where the ultra super nerdy part comes in. [00:04:02] Jesse Schwamb: Alright, here we [00:04:03] Tony Arsenal: go. I have been painstakingly over the last week teaching Google Gemini. To be a dungeon master for me. So I've been playing Dungeons and Dragons more or less by myself with, uh, with Google Gemini, and I'm just having a lot of fun with it. Um, you can get a free copy of the rules online if you, I think it's DND, the letter NDND beyond.com. They have a full suite of like tools to create your character. Access to a basic set of the core rules. Um, you can spend a lot of money on Dungeons and Dragons, uh, and if you want to like really get into it, the books are basically textbooks. Like you're buying $300 or 300 page, $300, 300 page textbooks, um, that are not all that differently costs than like college textbooks. You'll buy a 300 page Dungeon master guide that's like $50 if you want a paper copy. So, but you can get into it for free. You can get the free rolls online, you can use their dungeon, the d and d Beyond app and do all your dice rolls for free. Um, you, you can get a free dice roller online if you don't want to do their, their app. Um, but it's just a lot of fun. I've just been having a lot of fun and I found that the, I mean. When you play a couple sessions with it, you see that the, the um, the A IDM that I've created, like it follows the same story beats 'cause it's only got so much to work with in its language model. Um, but I'm finding ways to sort of like break it out of that model by forcing it to refer to certain websites that are like Dungeons and Dragons lore websites and things like build your, build your campaign from this repository of Dungeons and Dragons stuff. So. I think you could do this with just about any sort of narrative storytelling game like this, whether you're playing a different system or d and d Pathfinders. I mean, there's all sorts of different versions of it, but it's just been a lot of fun to see, see it going. I'm trying to get a group together. 'cause I think I would, I would probably rather play Dungeons and Dragons with people, um, and rather do it in person. But it's hard to do up here. It's hard to get a, get a group going. So that's my super nerdy affirmation. I'm not just affirming Dungeons and Dragons, which would already be super nerdy. I'm affirming playing it by myself on my phone, on the bus with Google Gemini, AI acting like I'm not. Just this weird antisocial lunatic. So I'm having a lot of fun with it. [00:06:20] Jesse Schwamb: So there are so many levels of inception there. Yeah. Like the inception and everything you just said. I love it. [00:06:27] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Well, what I'm learning is, um, you can give an, and, and this is something I didn't realize, what ai, I guess I probably should have, you know, it's not like an infinite thing. Um, you can give an AI instructions and if your chat gets long enough, it actually isn't referring back to the very beginning of the chat most of the time. Right. There's a, there's like a win context window of about 30 responses. So like if you tell the AI, don't roll the dice for me, like, let me roll dices that are related to my actions, eventually it will forget that. So part of what I've been doing is basically building, I'm using Google Gemini when the AI does something I don't want it to do, I say, you just did something I don't want it to do. Gimme a diagnostic report of why you did that. It will explain to me why it did what it did. Right. Why it didn't observe the rules. And then I'm feeding that into another. Prompt that is helping me generate better prompts that it refers back to. So it's kind of this weird iterative, um, yeah, I, I don't, I'm like, I maybe I'm gonna create the singularity. I'm not sure. Maybe this is gonna be possible. We should sit over the edge. It's gonna, it's gonna learn how to cast magic spells and it's gonna fire bolt us in the face or something like that. Right. But, uh, again, high risk. I, I, for one, welcome our AO AI dungeon masters. So check it out. You should try it. If you could do this with chat GPT, you could do it with any ai. Um, it, it, it is going to get a little, I have the benefit because I have a Google Workspace account. I have access to Google Pro or the Gemini Pro, which is a better model for this kind of thing. But you could do this with, with chat GPT or something like that. And it's gonna be more or less the same experience, I think. But I'm having a, I'm having a ton of fun with it. Um. Again, I, I, there's something about just this, Dungeons and Dragons at its core is a, it's like a, an exercise in joint storytelling, which is really fascinating and interesting to me. Um, and that's what most tabletop RPGs are like. I suppose you get into something like War Hammer and it's a little bit more like a board. It's a mixture of that plus a board game. But Dungeons and Dragons, the DM is creating the, I mean, not the entire world, but is creating the narrative. And then you as a player are an actor within that narrative. And then there's a certain element of chance that dice rolls play. But for the most part, um, you're driving the story along. You're telling the story together. So it's, it's pretty interesting. I've also been watching live recordings of Dungeons and Dragon Sessions on YouTube. Oh, [00:08:50] Jesse Schwamb: wow. [00:08:51] Tony Arsenal: Like, there's a, there's a channel called Critical Role. Like these sessions are like three and a half hours long. So, wow. I just kinda have 'em on in the background when I'm, when I'm, uh, working or if I'm, you know, doing something else. Um, but it's really interesting stuff. It's, it's pretty cool. I think it's fun. I'm a super nerd. I'm, I'm no shame in that. Um, I'm just really enjoying it. [00:09:09] Jesse Schwamb: Listen, nerdery is great. That's like part of the zeitgeist now. Listen to culture. It's cool to be a nerd. I don't know much about d and d. I've heard a lot about this idea of this community that forms around. Yeah. The story, correct me if I'm wrong, can't these things go on for like years, decades? [00:09:25] Tony Arsenal: Oh yeah, yeah. Like, you can do there. There, some of this has made its way into the official rule books, but basically you could do what's called a one shot, which is like a self-contained story. Usually a single session, you know, like you get a Dungeon master, game master, whichever you wanna call the person. Three to four, maybe five characters, player characters. And one session is usually about two hours long. So it's not like you sit down for 20 minutes, 30 minutes at a time and play this right. And you could do a one shot, which is a story that's designed to, to live all within that two hour session. Um, some people will do it where there isn't really any planned like, outcome of the story. The, the DM just kind of makes up things to do as they go. And then you can have campaigns, which is like, sometimes it's like a series of one shots, but more, it is more like a long term serialized period, you know, serialized campaign where you're doing many, um, many, many kinds of, uh, things all in one driving to like a big epic goal or battle at the end, right? Um, some groups stay together for a really long time and they might do multiple campaigns, so there's a lot to it. Game's been going on for like 50, 60, 70 years, something like that. I don't remember exactly when it started, but [00:10:41] Jesse Schwamb: yeah. [00:10:41] Tony Arsenal: Um, it's an old game. It's kinda like the doctor who of of poor games and it's like the original tabletop role playing game, I think. [00:10:47] Jesse Schwamb: Right. Yeah, that makes sense. Again, there's something really appealing to me about not just that cooperative storytelling, but cooperative gameplay. Everybody's kind of in it together for the most part. Yeah. Those conquest, as I understand them, are joint in nature. You build solidarity, but if you're meeting with people and having fun together and telling stories and interacting with one another, there's a lot of good that comes out of that stuff there. A lot of lovely common grace in those kind of building, those long-term interactions, relationships, entertainment built on being together and having good, clean, fun together. [00:11:17] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Well, and it's, you know, it's, um. It's an interesting exercise. It's it, in some ways it's very much like improv. Like you, you think of like an improv comedy like show I've been to somewhere. Like, you know, you go to the show and it's an improv troupe, but they're like calling people from the crowd up and asking them for like different scenarios they might do. It's kind of like that in that like the GM can plan a whole, can plan a whole thing. But if I as a player character, um. And I've done this to the virtual one just to see what it does, and it's done some interesting things. One of the campaigns I was playing, I had rescued a merchant from some giant spiders and I was helping, like, I was helping like navigate them through the woods to the next town. And we kept on getting attacked and just outta nowhere. I was like, what if I sort of act as though I'm suspicious of this merchant now because why are we getting attacked all the time? And so I, I typed in sort of like a little. A mini role play of me accusing this guy. And it was something like, Randall, we get, we're getting attacked a lot for a simple merchant, Randall merchant. What happens if I cast a tech magic? What am I gonna find? And he's like, I don't know what I'm gonna find. I know I don't know anything. And then I cast a tech magic and it shifted. I mean, I don't know where the campaign was gonna go before that, but it shifted the whole thing now where the person who gave him the package he was carrying had betrayed him. It was, so that happens in real life too in these games, real life in these games. That happens in real, in-person sessions too, where a player or a group of players may just decide instead of talking to the contact person that is supposed to give them the clue to find the dungeon they're supposed to go to, instead they ambush them and murder them in gold blood. And now the, the dungeon master has to figure out, how do I get them back to this dungeon when this is the only person that was supposed to know where it is? So it, it does end up really stretching your thinking skills and sort of your improvisational skills. There's an element of, um, you know, like chance with the dice, um, I guess like the dice falls in the lot, but the lot is in the handle. Or like, obviously that's all ordained as well too, but there is this element of chance where even the DM doesn't get to determine everything. Um, if, if I say I want to, I want to try to sneak into this room, but I'm a giant barbarian who has, you know, is wearing like chain mail, there's still a chance I could do it, but the dice roll determines that. It's not like the, the GM just says you can't do that. Um, so it's, it's a, I, I like it. I'm, I'm really looking forward to trying to, getting into it. It is hard to start a group and to get going and, um, there's a part of me that's a little bit. Gun shy of maybe like getting too invested with a group of non-Christians for something like this. 'cause it can get a little weird sometimes. But I think that, I think that'll work out. It'll be fun. I know there's actually some people in our telegram chat. Bing, bing, bing segue. There we go. There's some people in our telegram chat actually, that we're already planning to do a campaign. Um, so we might even do like a virtual reform brotherhood, Dungeons and Dragons group. So that might be a new sub channel in the telegram at some point. [00:14:13] Jesse Schwamb: There you go. You could jump right in. Go to t.me back slash reform brotherhood. [00:14:18] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse, what are you affirming since I just spent the last 15 minutes gushing about my nerdy hobby? [00:14:23] Jesse Schwamb: Uh, no, that was great. Can I, can I just say two things? One is, so you're basically saying it's a bit like, like a troll shows up and everybody's like, yes. And yeah. So I love that idea. Second thing, which is follow up question, very brief. What kind of merchant was Randall. [00:14:39] Tony Arsenal: Uh, he was a spice trader actually. [00:14:42] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. I don't trust that. [00:14:43] Tony Arsenal: And, and silk, silk and spices. [00:14:45] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. That's double, that's too strict. [00:14:47] Tony Arsenal: He was actually good guy in the, in the story that developed out of this campaign. He actually became part of my family and like, like, like got adopted into the family because he lost everything on his own. Randy we're [00:15:00] Jesse Schwamb: talking about Randy. [00:15:01] Tony Arsenal: Randy Randall with one L. Yeah. The AI was very specific about that. [00:15:05] Jesse Schwamb: There's, there's nothing about this guy I trust. I, is this still ongoing? Because I think he's just trying to make his way deeper in, [00:15:11] Tony Arsenal: uh, no, no. It, I'll, I'll wait for next week to tell you how much, even more nerdy this thing gets. But there's a whole thing that ha there was a whole thing out of this That's a tease. Tease. There was a, there was a horse and the horse died and there was lots of tears and there was a wedding and a baby. It was, it's all sorts of stuff going on in this campaign. [00:15:27] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. And I'm sure. Randy was somewhere near that horse when it happened. Right? [00:15:32] Tony Arsenal: It was his horse. [00:15:33] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, exactly. That's [00:15:35] Tony Arsenal: exactly, he didn't, he didn't kill the horse. He had no power to knock down the bridge The horse was standing on. [00:15:40] Jesse Schwamb: Listen, next week, I'm pretty sure that's what we're gonna learn is that it was all him. [00:15:45] Tony Arsenal: Alright, Jesse, save us from this. Save us from this, please. Uh, [00:15:49] Jesse Schwamb: no. What [00:15:50] Tony Arsenal: you affirming, this is [00:15:50] Jesse Schwamb: great. [00:15:50] Jesse's Affirmation: Church Community [00:15:50] Jesse Schwamb: It's possible that there is a crossover between yours and mine if we consider. That the church is like playing a d and d game in the dungeon Masters Christ, and the campaigns, the gospel. So I was thinking maybe is it possible, uh, maybe this is just the, the theology of the cross, but that sometimes, like you need the denial to get to the affirmation. Have we talked about that kind of truth? Yeah, [00:16:14] Tony Arsenal: yeah, [00:16:15] Jesse Schwamb: for sure. So here's a little bit of that. I'll be very, very brief and I'm using this not as like just one thing that happened today, but what I know is for sure happening all over the world. And I mean that very literally, not just figuratively when it comes to the body of Christ, the local church. So it snowed here overnight. This was, this is the Lord's Day. We're hanging out in the Lord's Day, which is always a beautiful day to talk about God. And overnight it snowed. The snow stopped relatively late in the morning around the time that everybody would be saying, Hey, it's time to go and worship the Lord. So for those in my area, I got up, we did the whole clearing off the Kai thing. I went to church and I was there a little bit early for a practice for music. And when I pulled in, there weren't many there yet, but the whole parking lot unplowed. So there's like three inches of snow, unplowed parking lot. So I guess the denial is like the plow people decided like, not this time I, I don't think so. They understood they were contracted with the church, but my understanding is that when one of the deacons called, they were like, Ooh, yeah, we're like 35 minutes away right now, so that's gonna be a problem. So when I pulled in, here's what I was. Like surprise to find, but in a totally unexpected way, even though I understand what a surprise is. And that is that, uh, that first the elders and the deacons, everybody was just decided we're going to shovel an entire parking lot. And at some point big, I was a little bit early there, but at some point then this massive text change just started with everybody, which was, Hey, when you come to church, bring your shovel. And I, I will tell you like when I got out of the car. I was so like somebody was immediately running to clear a path with me. One of those like snow pushers, you know what I mean? Yeah. Like one, those beastly kind of like blade things. [00:17:57] Tony Arsenal: Those things are, those things are the best. [00:17:59] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. You just run. And so you have never met a group of people that was more happy to shovel an entire large asphalt area, which normally shouldn't even be required. And. It just struck me, even in hindsight now thinking about it, it was this lovely confluence of people serving each other and serving God. It was as if they got up that morning and said, do you know what would be the best thing in the world for me to do is to shovel. And so everybody was coming out. Everybody was shoveling it. It was to protect everyone and to allow one into elaborate, one access. It was just incredible. And so I started this because the affirmation is, I know this happens in, in all of our churches, every God fearing God, loving God serving church, something like this is happening, I think on almost every Lord's day or maybe every day of the week in various capacities. And I just think this is God's people coming together because everybody, I think when we sat down for the message was exhausted, but. But there was so much joy in doing this. I think what you normally would find to be a mundane and annoying task, and the fact that it wasn't just, it was redeemed as if like we, we found a greater purpose in it. But that's, everyone saw this as a way to love each other and to love God, and it became unexpected worship in the parking lot. That's really what it was, and it was fantastic. I really almost hope that we just get rid of the plow company and just do it this way from now on. Yeah, so I'm affirming, recognize people, recognize brothers and sisters that your, your church is doing this stuff all the time and, and be a part of it. Jump in with the kinda stuff because I love how it brings forward the gospel. [00:19:35] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. That's a great story. It's a great, uh, a great example of the body of Christ being, what the body of Christ is and just pulling together to get it done. Um, which, you know, we do on a spiritual level, I think, more often than a physical level these days. Right, right. But, um, that's great. I'm sitting here going three inches of snow. I would've just pulled into the lot and then pulled out of the lot. But New Hampshire, it hits different in New Hampshire. Like we all d have snow tires and four wheel drive. [00:20:02] Jesse Schwamb: It's, it's enough snow where it was like pretty wet and heavy that it, if, you know, you pack that stuff down, it gets slick. You can't see the people, like you can't have your elderly people just flying in, coming in hot and then trying to get outta the vehicle, like making their way into church. [00:20:14] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:20:15] Jesse Schwamb: So there was, there was a lot more of that. But I think again, you would, one of the options would've been like, Hey, why don't we shovel out some sp spaces for the, for those who need it, for, you know, those who need to have access in a way that's a little bit less encumbered. Oh, no, no. These people are like, I see your challenge and I am going to shovel the entire parking lots. [00:20:35] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. It used to happen once in a while, uh, at the last church, uh, at, um, your dad's church. We would, where the plow would just not come on a Sunday morning or, or more often than not. Um, you know, what happens a lot of times is the plows don't want to come more than once. Right. If they don't have to. Or sometimes they won't come if they think it's gonna melt because they don't want to deal with, uh, with like customers who are mad that you plowed and that it all melts. But either way, once in a while. The plow wouldn't come or it wouldn't come in time. And what we would do is instead of trying to shovel an entire driveway thing, we would just went, the first couple people who would get there, the young guys in the church, there was only a couple of us, but the younger guys in the church would just, we would just be making trips, helping people into the, yeah. Helping people into the building. So, um, it was a pretty, you know, it was a small church, so it was like six trips and we'd have everybody in, but um, we just kind of, that was the way we pulled together. Um, yeah, that's a great, it's a great story. I love, I love stuff like that. Yeah, me too. Whether it's, whether it's, you know, plowing a, a parking lot with shovels instead of a plow, or it's just watching, um, watching the tables and the chairs from the fellowship, you know, all just like disappear because everybody's just, uh, picks up after themselves and cleans and stuff. That's, that's like the most concrete example of the body of Christ doing what the body of Christ does. Um, it's always nice, you know, we always hear jokes about like, who can carry the most, the most chairs, [00:22:04] Jesse Schwamb: most [00:22:04] Tony Arsenal: chairs. Uh, I think it's true. Like a lot of times I think like I could do like seven or eight sometimes. [00:22:10] Jesse Schwamb: Uh, you, that's, so, one more thing I wanna say. I, I wanted to tell you this privately, Tony, 'cause it just cracked me up 'cause I, you'll appreciate this. But now I'm realizing I think the brothers and sisters who listened to us talk for any length of time and in the context of this conversation, but the church will appreciate this too. On my way out, I, I happened because I was there early and the snow was crazy. I parked way further out, way on the edge of the lot to just allow for greater access because of all the shoveling that was happening. And by the way, I really hope there were a ton of visitors this morning because they were like, wow, this, this church is wild. They love to shovel their own lot and they're the happiest people doing it. Some sweaty person just ushered me in while they were casting snow. Like, [00:22:47] Tony Arsenal: is this some new version of snake handling? You shovel your own lot and your impervious to back injuries. [00:22:53] Jesse Schwamb: Uh. So I was walking out and as I walked past, uh, there was a, uh, two young gentlemen who were congregating by this very large lifted pickup truck, which I don't have much experience with, but it looked super cool and it was started, it was warming up, and they were just like casually, like in the way that only like people with large beards wearing flannel and Carhartt kind of do, like casually leaning against the truck, talking in a way that you're like, wow, these guys are rugged. And they sound, they're super cool, and they're probably like in their twenties. And all I hear as I pass by is one guy going, yeah, well, I mean that's, I was, I said to them too, but I said, listen, I'd rather go to a church with God-fearing women than anywhere else. [00:23:36] Tony Arsenal: Nice. [00:23:37] Jesse Schwamb: I was just like, yep. On the prowl and I love it. And they're not wrong. This is the place to be. [00:23:42] Tony Arsenal: It is. [00:23:43] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. This is the place to be. Yeah. So all kinds of, all kinds of good things I think going on in that in the house of the Lord and where wherever you're at, I would say be happy and be joyful and look for those things and participate in, like you said, whether it's physical or not, but as soon as you said like the, our young men, our youth somehow have this competition of when we need to like pack up the sanctuary. How many chairs can I take at one time? Yeah. It's like the classic and it just happens. Nobody says like, okay, everybody line up. We're about to embark on the competition now. Like the strong man usher competition. It's just like, it just happens and [00:24:17] Tony Arsenal: it's [00:24:17] Jesse Schwamb: incredible. [00:24:18] Tony Arsenal: I mean, peacocks fan out their tail feathers. Young Christian guys fan out. All of the table chairs, chairs they can carry. It's uh, it's a real phenomena. So I feel like if you watch after a men's gathering, everybody is like carrying one chair at a time because they don't wanna hurt their backs and their arms. Oh, that's [00:24:36] Jesse Schwamb: true. That's [00:24:37] Tony Arsenal: what I do. Yeah. But it's when the women are around, that's when you see guys carrying like 19 chairs. Yeah. Putting themselves in the hospital. [00:24:42] Jesse Schwamb: That's what I, listen, it comes for all of us. Like I, you know, I'm certainly not young anymore by almost any definition, but even when I'm in the mix, I'm like, oh, I see you guys. You wanna play this game? Mm-hmm. Let's do this. And then, you know, I'm stacking chairs until I hurt myself. So it's great. That's, that is what we do for each other. It's [00:25:01] Tony Arsenal: just, I hurt my neck getting outta bed the other day. So it happens. It's real. [00:25:05] Jesse Schwamb: The struggle. Yeah, the struggle is real. [00:25:07] The Parable of the Lost Son [00:25:07] Jesse Schwamb: Speaking of struggle, speaking of family issues, speaking of all kinds of drama, let's get into Luke 15 and let me read just, I would say the first part of this parable, which as we've agreed to talk about, if we can even get this far, it's just the younger son. [00:25:24] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:25:25] Jesse Schwamb: And again, don't worry, we're gonna get to all of it, but let me read beginning in, uh, verse 11 here. This is Luke chapter 15. Come follow along as you will accept if you're operating heavy machinery. And Jesus said, A man had two sons and the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me. So he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country. And there he squandered his estate living recklessly. Now, when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country and it began to be impoverished. So he went and hired himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. So he went and as he was desiring to be fed with the pods that the swine were eating because no one was giving anything to him. But when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger. I'll rise up and go to my father, and I'll say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired men. So he rose up, came to his father, but while he was still a long way off. His father saw him and felt compassion and ran and embraced him. And the son said to him, father, I've sinned against heaven and before you, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his slaves, quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fat in calf and slaughter it and let us celebrate. For the son of mine was dead and has come to life again. He was lost and he has been found and they began to celebrate. [00:27:09] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. This is such a, um, such a, I don't know, like pivotal seminal parable in the Ministry of Christ. Um, it's one of those parables and we, we mentioned this briefly last week that even most. It, it hasn't passed out of the cultural zeitgeist yet. A lot of biblical teaching has, I mean, a lot, I think a lot of things that used to be common knowledge where, where you could make a reference to something in the Bible and people would just get it. Um, even if they weren't Christian or weren't believers, they would still know what you were talking about. There's a lot of things in the Bible that have passed out of that cultural memory. The, the parable of the prodigal son, lost son, however you wanna phrase it, um, that's not one of them. Right. So I think it's really important for us, um, and especially since it is such a beautiful picture of the gospel and it has so many different theological touch points, it's really incumbent on us to spend time thinking about this because I would be willing to bet that if you weave. Elements of this parable into your conversations with nonbelievers that you are praying for and, and, you know, witnessing to and sharing the gospel with, if you weave this in there, you're gonna help like plant some seeds that when it comes time to try to harvest, are gonna pay dividends. Right. So I think it's a really, it's a really great thing that we're gonna be able to spend, you know, a couple weeks really just digging into this. [00:28:40] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, and to define the beginning, maybe from the end, just slightly here, I like what you said about this cultural acknowledgement of this. I think one of the correctives we can provide, which is clear in the story, is in the general cultural sense. We speak of this prodigal as something that just returns comes back, was lost, but now is found. And often maybe there is this component of, in the familial relationship, it's as if they've been restored. Here we're gonna of course find that this coming to one senses is in fact the work of God. That there is, again, a little bit of denial that has to bring forward the affirmation here that is the return. And so again, from the beginning here, we're just talking about the younger son. We have more than youthful ambition. [00:29:19] The Essence of Idolatry and Sin [00:29:19] Jesse Schwamb: This heart of, give me the stuff now, like so many have said before, is really to say. Give me the gifts and not you, which is, I think, a common fault of all Christians. We think, for instance of heaven, and we think of all the blessings that come with it, but not necessarily of the joy of just being with our savior, being with Christ. And I think there's something here right from the beginning, there's a little bit of this betrayal in showing idolatry, the ugliness of treating God's gifts as if there's something owed. And then this idea that of course. He receives these things and imme more or less immediately sometime after he goes and takes these things and squanderers them. And sin and idolatry, I think tends to accelerate in this way. The distance from the father becomes distance from wisdom. We are pulled away from that, which is good. The father here being in his presence and being under his care and his wisdom and in his fear of influence and concern, desiring then to say, I don't want you just give me the gifts that you allegedly owe me. And then you see how quickly like sin does everything you, we always say like, sin always costs more than you want to pay. And it always takes you further than you want to go. And that's exactly what we see here. Like encapsulated in an actual story of relationship and distance. [00:30:33] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And I, you know, I think, um. It's interesting to me. [00:30:39] The Greek Words for Property [00:30:39] Tony Arsenal: You know, I, I, I'm a big fan of saying you don't need to study Greek to understand your Bible, but I'm also a big fan of saying understanding a little bit of Greek is really helpful. And one of the things that I think is really intriguing, and I haven't quite parsed out exactly what I think this means, but the word property in this parable, it actually is two different Greek words that is translated as property, at least in the ESV. And neither one of them really fit. What our normal understanding of property would be. And there are Greek words that refer to like all of your material possessions, but it says, father, give me the share of property. And he uses the word usia, which those of us who have heard anything about the trinity, which is all of us, um, know that that word means something about existence. It's the core essence of a person. So it says, father, give me the share of usia that is coming to me. And then it says, and he divided his bias, his, his life between them. Then it says, not many days later, the younger son gathered all that he had took a journey into the far country. There he squandered his usia again. So this, this parable, Christ is not using the ordinary words to refer to material, uh, material accumulation and property like. I think probably, you know, Christ isn't like randomly using these words. So there probably is an element that these were somehow figuratively used of one's life possessions. But the fact that he's using them in these particular ways, I think is significant. [00:32:10] The Prodigal Son's Misconception [00:32:10] Tony Arsenal: And so the, the, the younger son here, and I don't even like calling this the prodigal sun parable because the word prodigal doesn't like the equivalent word in Greek doesn't appear in this passage. And prodigal doesn't mean like the lost in returned, like prodigal is a word that means like the one who spends lavishly, right? So we call him the prodigal son because he went and he squandered all of his stuff and he spent all of his money. So it doesn't even really describe the main feature or the main point of why this, this parable is here. It's just sort of like a random adjective that gets attached to it. But all of that aside, um. This parable starts off not just about wasting our property, like wasting our things, but it's a parable that even within the very embedded language of the parable itself is talking about squandering our very life, our very essence, our very existence is squandered and wasted as we depart from the Father. Right? And this is so like, um, it's almost so on the head, on the on the nose that it's almost a little like, really Jesus. Like this is, this is so like, slap you in the face kind of stuff. This is right outta like Romans, uh, Romans one, like they did not give thanks to God. They did not show gratitude to God or acknowledge him as God. This is what's happening in this parable. The son doesn't go to his father and say, father, I love you. I'm so happy to stay with you. I'm so happy to be here. He, he basically says like. Give me your very life essence, and I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go spend it on prostitutes. I'm gonna go waste your life, father, I'm gonna waste your life, your existence, your bias. I'm gonna go take that and I'm gonna squander it on reckless living. And I guess we don't know for sure. He, it doesn't say he spends it on prostitutes. That's something his brother says later and assumes he did. So I, I don't know that we do that. But either way, I'm gonna take what's yours, your very life, your very essence. And also that my life, my essence, the gift you've given me as my father, you've given me my life. In addition now to your life or a portion of your life. And I'm gonna go squander that on reckless living, right? Like, how much of a picture of sin is that, that we, we take what we've been given by God, our very life, our very essence, we owe him everything, and we squander that on sinful, reckless living. That that's just a slap in the face in the best way right out of the gate here. [00:34:28] Jesse Schwamb: Yes, that, that's a great point because it's, it would be one thing to rebel over disobedience, another thing to use the very life essence that you've been given for destructive, self-destructive purposes. And then to use that very energy, which is not yours to begin with, but has been imbued in yours, external, all of these things. And then to use that very thing as the force of your rebellion. So it's double insult all the way around. I'm with you in the use of Greek there. Thank you. Locus Bio software. Not a sponsor of the podcast, but could be. And I think that's why sometimes in translations you get the word like a state because it's like the closest thing we can have to understanding that it's property earned through someone's life more or less. Yeah. And then is passed down, but as representative, not just of like, here's like 20 bucks of cash, but something that I spent all of me trying to earn and. And to your point, also emphasizing in the same way that this son felt it was owed him. So it's like really bad all around and I think we would really be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn't think that there's like a little bit of Paul washer saying in this, like I'm talking about you though. So like just be like, look at how disrespectful the sun is. Yeah. Haven't we all done this? To God and bringing up the idea of prodigal being, so that, that is like the amazing juxtaposition, isn't it? Like Prodigal is, is spent recklessly, parsimonious would be like to, to save recklessly, so to speak. And then you have the love the father demonstrates coming against all of that in the same way with like a totally different kind of force. So. [00:36:02] The Famine and Realization [00:36:02] Jesse Schwamb: What I find interesting, and I think this is like set up in exactly what you said, is that when you get to verse 14 and this famine comes, it's showing us, I think that like providence exposes what Sin conceals. [00:36:16] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:36:16] Jesse Schwamb: And want arrives. Not just because like the money ran out, but because again, like these idols, what he's replaced the father with, they don't satisfy. And repentance then often begins when God shows the emptiness of light apart life apart from him. That's like the affirmation being born out of the denial. And so I think that this also is evolving for us, this idea that God is going to use hardship, not as mere punishment, but as mercy that wakes us up and that the son here is being woken up, but not, of course, it's not as if he goes into the land, like you said, starts to spend, is like, whoa, hold on a second. This seems like a bad idea. It's not until all of that sin ever, like the worship of false things collapses under its own weight before it, which is like the precursor of the antecedent, I think, to this grand repentance or this waking up. [00:37:05] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I also think it's, um. [00:37:08] The Depths of Desperation [00:37:08] Tony Arsenal: A feature of this that I haven't reflected on too deeply, but is, is worth thinking about is the famine that's described here only occurs in this far country that he's in. [00:37:17] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. [00:37:17] Tony Arsenal: Right. So even that's right. And this is like a multitude of foolish decisions. This is compounding foolish decisions that don't, don't make any sense. Like they don't really actually make any sense. Um. There's not a logic to this, this lost son's decision making. He takes the property. Okay. I guess maybe like you could be anxious to get your inheritance, but then like he takes it to a far country. Like there's no reason for him to do that. If at any point through this sort of insane process he had stopped short, he would not have been in the situation he was in. Yes. And that, I love that phrase, that providence, you know, reveals, I don't know exactly how you said it, but like providence reveals what our sin can bring to us. Like he first see sins against his father by sort of like demanding, demanding his inheritance early. Then he takes it and he leaves his country for no reason. He goes to this far country, then he spends everything and then the famine arises. Right? And the famine arises in this other country. [00:38:13] Jesse Schwamb: Right. [00:38:13] Tony Arsenal: And that's, I think that is still again, like a picture of sin. Like we. We don't just, we don't just take what the father has and, and like spend it like that would be bad enough if we weren't grateful for what we have and what we've been given, and we just waste it. But on top of that, now we also have taken ourselves to a far country. Like we've gone away from the good, the good land of the Lord, as those who are not regenerate. We've gone away from the, the Lord into this far country. And it's not until we start to have this famine that we recognize what we've done. And again, this is, this is where I think we get a picture. There's so many theological, like points in this parable particular that it almost feels a little bit like a, like a. Parable that's intended to teach some systematic theology about for sure, the oral salus, which I think there's probably a lot of like biblical theology people that are ready to just crawl through the screen and strangle me for saying that. But this is such a glorious picture of, of regeneration too. [00:39:16] The Journey Back to the Father [00:39:16] Tony Arsenal: Like he comes to himself, there's nothing, there's nothing in the story that's like, oh, and the servant that he was, the other servant he was talking to mentioned that the famine, like there's nothing here that should prompt him to want to go back to his home, to think that his father could or would do anything about it, except that he comes to himself. He just comes to the realization that his father is a good man and is wise and has resources, and has takes care of his, of his servants on top of how he takes care of his sons. That is a picture of regeneration. There's no, yeah. Logical, like I'm thinking my way into it, he just one day realizes how much, how many of my father's servants have more than enough bread. Right. But I'm perishing here in this, this foolish other country with nothing. Right. I can't even, and the, the pods that the pigs ate, we can even, we can get into the pods a little bit here, but like. He wants to eat the pods. The pods that he's giving the pigs are not something that's even edible to humans. He's that destitute, that he's willing to eat these pods that are like, this is the leftover stuff that you throw to the pigs because no, no, nobody and nothing else can actually eat it. And that's the state he's in at the very bottom, in the very end of himself where he realizes my father is good and he loves me, and even if I can never be his son again, surely he'll take care of me. I mentioned it last week, like he wasn't going back thinking that this was gonna be a failing proposition. He went back because he knew or he, he was confident that his father was going to be able to take care of him and would accept him back. Right. Otherwise, what would be the point of going back? It wasn't like a, it wasn't like a, um, a mission he expected to fail at. He expected there to be a positive outcome or he wouldn't have done it. Like, it wouldn't make any sense to try that if there wasn't the hope of some sort of realistic option. [00:41:09] Jesse Schwamb: And I think his confidence in that option, as you were saying, is in this way where he's constructed a transaction. Yeah. That he's gonna go back and say, if you'll just take me out as a slave, I know you have slaves, I will work for you. Right. Therefore, I feel confident that you'll accept me under those terms because I'll humble myself. And why would you not want to remunerate? Me for the work that I put forward. So you're right, like it's, it's strange that he basically comes to this, I think, sense that slavery exists in his life and who would he rather be the slave of, [00:41:38] Tony Arsenal: right? [00:41:39] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. And so he says, listen, I'm gonna come to the father and give him this offer. And I'm very confident that given that offer and his behavior, what I know about how he treats his other slaves, that he will hire me back because there's work to do. And therefore, as a result of the work I put forward, he will take care of me. How much of like contemporary theology is being preached in that very way right now? [00:41:58] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:41:59] Jesse Schwamb: And that's really like why the minimum wages of sin is all of this stuff. It's death. It's the consequences that we're speaking about here. By the way, the idea about famine is really interesting. I hadn't thought about that. It is interesting, again, that sin casts him out into this foreign place where the famine occurs. And that famine is the beginning of his realization of the true destruction, really how far he's devolved and degraded in his person and in his relationships and in his current states. And then of course, the Bible is replete with references and God moving through famine. And whereas in Genesis, we have a local famine, essentially casting Joseph brothers into a foreign land to be freed and to be saved. [00:42:39] Tony Arsenal: Right. [00:42:40] Jesse Schwamb: We have the exact opposite, which is really kind of interesting. Yeah. So we probably should talk about, you know, verse 15 and the, and the pig stuff. I mean, I think the obvious statement here is that. It would be scandalous, like a Jewish hero would certainly feel the shame of the pigs. They represent UNC cleanliness and social humiliation. I'm interested again, in, in this idea, like you've started us on that the freedom that this younger brother sought for becomes slavery. It's kind of bondage of the wills style. Yeah. Stuff. There's like an, an attentiveness in the story to the degrading reversal in his condition. And it is interesting that we get there finally, like the bottom of the pit maybe, or the barrel is like you said, the pods, which it's a bit like looking at Tide pods and being like, these are delicious. I wish I could just eat these. So I, I think your point isn't lost. Like it's not just that like he looked at something gross and was so his stomach was grumbling so much that he might find something in there that he would find palatable. It, it's more than that. It's like this is just total nonsense. It, this is Romans one. [00:43:45] Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And these pods, like, these aren't, um, you know, I guess I, I don't know exactly what these are. I'm sure somebody has done all of the historical linguistic studies, but the Greek word is related to the, the word for keratin. So like the, the same, the same root word. And we have to be careful not to define a Greek word based on how we use it. That's a reverse etymology fallacy. Like dunamis doesn't mean dynamite, it's the other direction. But the Greek word is used in other places, in Greek literature to describe like the horns of rhinoc, like, [00:44:21] Jesse Schwamb: right, [00:44:21] Tony Arsenal: this, these aren't like. These aren't pea pods. I've heard this described like these are like little vegetable pods. No, this is like they're throwing pieces of bone to the pigs. [00:44:31] Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. [00:44:31] Tony Arsenal: And the pigs, the pigs can manage it. And this is what this also like, reinforces how destitute and how deep the famine is. Like this isn't as though, like this is the normal food you give to pigs. Like usually you feed pigs, like you feed pigs, like the extra scraps from your table and like other kinds of like agricultural waste. These are, these are like chunks of bony keratin that are being fed to the pigs. So that's how terrible the famine is that not even the pigs are able to get food. [00:45:00] Jesse Schwamb: Right? [00:45:00] Tony Arsenal: They're given things that are basically inedible, but the pigs can manage it. And this, this kid is so hungry, he's so destitute that he says, man, I wish I could chew on those bony, those bony pods that I'm feeding them because that's how hungry and starved I am. You get the picture that this, um. This lost son is actually probably not just metaphorically on the brink of death, but he's in real risk of starvation, real risk of death that he, he can't even steal. He can't even steal from the pigs what they're eating, right? Like he can't even, he can't even glean off of what the pigs are eating just to stay alive. He, he's literally in a position where he has no hope of actually rescuing himself. The only thing that he can do, and this is the realization he has, the only thing he can do is throw himself back on the mercy of his father. [00:45:50] Jesse Schwamb: That's [00:45:50] Tony Arsenal: right. And, and hope, again, I think hope with confidence, but hope that his father will show mercy on him and his, his conception. I wanna be careful in this parable not to, I, I think there's something to what you're getting at or kinda what you're hinting at, that like his conception of mercy is. Not the full picture of the gospel. Yes. His conception of mercy is that he's going to be able to go and work and be rewarded for his laborers in a way that he can survive. And the gospel is so much broader and so much bigger than that. But at the same time, I think it's, it's actually also a confident hope, a faith-filled hope that his father's mercy is going to rescue him, is going to save him. So it is this picture of what we do. And, and I think, I think sometimes, um, I want to be careful how we say this 'cause I don't wanna, I don't want to get a bunch of angry emails and letters, but I think sometimes we, um, we make salvation too much of a theology test. And there's probably people that are like, Tony, did you really just say that? I think there are people who trust in the Lord Jesus thinking that that means something akin to what. This lost son thinks [00:47:03] Jesse Schwamb: Right. [00:47:03] Tony Arsenal: Exactly. They trust. They trust that Jesus is merciful and, and I'm not necessarily thinking of Roman Catholics. I'm not thinking of Roman Catholic theology for sure. I do think there are a fair number of Roman Catholic individuals that fall into this category where they trust Jesus to save them. Right. They just don't fully understand exactly what Jesus means, what that means for them to be saved. They think that Christ is a savior who will provide a way for them to be saved by His grace that requires them to contribute something to it. Arminians fall into that category. Right. I actually think, and I, I think there's gonna be if, if there's, if the one Lutheran who listens to our show hears this is gonna be mad, but I actually think Lutheran theology kind of falls into this in a sort of negative fashion in that you have to not resist grace in order to be saved. So I think. That is something we should grapple with is that there are people who fit into that category, but this is still a faith-filled, hope-filled confidence in the mercy of the father in this parable that he's even willing to make the journey back. Right? This isn't like right, he walks from his house down the street or from the other side of town. He's wandering back from a far country. He, he went into a far country. He has to come back from a far country. And yes, the father greets him from afar and sees him from afar. But we're not talking about like from a far country. Like he sees him coming down the road, it, he has to travel to him, and this is a picture of. The hope and the faith that we have to have to return to God, to throw ourselves on the mercy of Christ, trusting that he has our best interest in mind, that he has died for us, and that it is for us. Right? There's the, the knowledge of what Christ has done, and then there's the ascent to the truth of it. And then the final part of faith is the confidence or the, the faith in trust in the fact that, that is for me as well, right? This, this is a picture of that right here. I, I don't know why we thought we were gonna get through the whole thing in one week, Jesse. We're gonna spend at least two weeks on this lost son, or at least part of the second week here. But he, this is, this is also like a picture of faith. This is why I say this as like a systematic theology lesson on soteriology all packed into here. Because not only do we have, like what is repentance and or what does regeneration look like? It's coming to himself. What does repentance look like? Yes. Turning from your sins and coming back. What is, what is the orde solis? Well, there's a whole, there's a whole thing in here. What is the definition of faith? Well, he knows that his father is good. That he has more than enough food for his servants. He, uh, is willing to acknowledge the truth of that, and he's willing to trust in that, in that he's willing to walk back from a far country in order to lay claim to that or to try to lay claim to it. That's a picture of faith right there, just in all three parts. Right. It's, it's really quite amazing how, how in depth this parable goes on this stuff, [00:49:54] Jesse Schwamb: right? Yeah. It's wild to note that as he comes to himself, he's still working. Yeah, in that far off country. So this shows again that sin is this cruel master. He hits the bottom, he wants the animal food, but he's still unfed. And this is all the while again, he has some kind of arrangement where he is trying to work his way out of that and he sees the desperation. And so I'm with you, you know, before coming to Christ, A person really, I think must come to themselves and that really is like to say they need to have a sober self-knowledge under God, right? Yeah. Which is, as we said before, like all this talk about, well Jesus is the answer. We better be sure what the question is. And that question is who am I before God? And this is why, of course, you have to have the law and gospel, or you have to have the the bad news before you can have the good news. And really, there's all of this bad news that's delivered here and this repentance, like you've been saying, it's not just mere regret, we know this. It's a turning, it's a reorientation back to the father. He says, I will arise and go to my father. So yeah, also it demonstrates to me. When we do come to ourselves when there's a sober self-knowledge under God, there is a true working out of salvation that necessarily requires and results in some kind of action, right? And that is the mortification of sin that is moving toward God again, under his power and direction of the Holy Spirit. But still there is some kind of movement on our part. And so that I think is what leads then in verse 19, as you're saying, the son and I do love this 'cause I think this goes right back to like the true hope that he has, even though it might be slightly corrupted or slightly wa
Author Nicolas Niarchos discusses his new book, "The Elements of Power." He traces the development of the lithium ion battery and the resources needed to make them. But he also explains how these crucial elements are mined with terrible political, environmental and social consequences.
We look at one of the more talked-about issues of the Five-Year-Later Legion in this week's Legion Clubhouse. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts RSS Feed Keep this show going by becoming a Major Spoilers Patron! (https://patreon.com/MajorSpoilers) Want to talk about this episode with other Spoilerites? Join the Major Spoilers Discord server (for free) (https://discord.gg/JWF9BbF) LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES V4 Annual #3 "Full Moon Fever" July 1992 On Sale May 14, 1993 w: Al Gordon a: Rob Haynes/Ian Montgomery/Al Gordon Furball no more! But is the 20th Century ready for the all-new Timber Wolf? LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES V4 #31 "The Elements of Heartbreak" July 1992 On Sale May 21, 1992 w: Keith Giffen/Tom Bierbaum/Mary Bierbaum a: Curt Swan/Colleen Doran/Karl Kesel/Al Gordon Amid a universe in chaos, Shvaughn and Jan revisit their lost love... At Major Spoilers, we strive to create original content that you find interesting and entertaining. Producing, writing, recording, editing, and researching require significant resources. We pay writers, podcast hosts, and other staff members who work tirelessly to provide you with insights into the comic book, gaming, and pop culture industries. Help us keep Major Spoilers strong. Become a Patron (and our superhero) today. Thanks for listening to the Legion Clubhouse! This post is public so feel free to share it.
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THE SHOW NOTES You don't debate with cancer Intro The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Religious Moron of the Week - St. Mary Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Church The History Chunk - January 29th Ask George - Post 1000? from Sarah in Washington Tell Me Something Good - What a crock! Last-minute booking: Saturday at P&P Show Close ......................... MENTIONED IN THE SHOW George solo at Palette and Pour Saturday, January 31 8 – 11 pm ......................... UPCOMING SCHEDULE George Hrab's Occasional Songs for the Periodic Table 118 Elements • 118 Songs • 90 Minutes Saturday, March 7th, 2026 The Icehouse Bethlehem, PA Geo & SGU: Extravaganza & Private Show Madison, Wisconsin Saturday, May 16, 2026 TICKETS CSICON Center for Inquiry 50th Anniversary Conference Geo & SGU: Extravaganza & Live PodcastAwards Dinner & Variety Show Buffalo, New York June 11-14th 2026 csiconference.org Geo & SGU: Not-A-Con Sydney / NZ Skeptics Conference July 2026 Australian & New Zealand Episode 1000 of The Geologic Podcast Saturday, January 9, 2027 The Icehouse Bethlehem, PA ......................... SUBSCRIPTION INTERFACE You can now find our subscription page at GeorgeHrab.com at this link. Many thanks to the sage Evo Terra for his assistance. ......................... Get George's Music Here https://georgehrab.hearnow.com https://georgehrab.bandcamp.com ................................... SUBSCRIBE! You can sign up at GeorgeHrab.com and become a Geologist or a Geographer. As always, thank you so much for your support! You make the ship go. ................................... Sign up for the mailing list: Write to Geo! Check out Geo's wiki page, thanks to Tim Farley. Have a comment on the show, a Religious Moron tip, or a question for Ask George? Drop George a line and write to Geo's Mom, too!
What does it mean to heal when the nervous system no longer feels safe in the body or the world? In this episode, Colette is joined by Sita Severson, Director of the Soul of Yoga Institute in San Diego, Ayurvedic Practitioner, Certified Yoga Therapist, and Vedic counselor. Sita's work lives at the intersection of ancient wisdom and modern trauma science, supporting people through grief, addiction recovery, burnout, and chronic stress with compassion and practicality. Drawing from her own lived experience as well as decades of teaching and clinical work, Sita shares how Ayurveda, yoga, and pranayama can gently support regulation without overwhelming the system and why healing is not about fixing what's broken, but restoring relationship with the body and self. This conversation is especially meaningful for anyone navigating grief, recovery, exhaustion, or a sense of disconnection, and for practitioners interested in trauma-sensitive, embodied approaches to wellbeing. In this episode, you'll hear: How Sita's personal healing journey informs the way she teaches and works with trauma today What it means to rebuild trust in the body when the nervous system has learned that the world isn't safe How chronic stress, grief, and burnout show up in the body's physiology The role of Ayurveda, yoga, and pranayama in gently supporting nervous system regulation What truly defines a trauma-informed yoga practice Why Ayurveda and yoga emphasize gradual, participatory healing rather than quick fixes How healing can open the door to self-actualization, not just symptom relief A simple reflection and practice listeners can explore in their own time Visit the Soul of Yoga website here. The New Elements of Ayurveda Podcast Community is Live! Over the years, this podcast has blossomed into a global community, a gathering of seekers, healers, and lifelong learners. And now, I'm delighted to share that our revitalized community space is officially open! This new online home was created for those who wish to go deeper into Ayurveda, together. Inside, you'll find: Early access to podcast episodes Member forums for discussion and Q&A Mindfulness and self-care practices Monthly live Zoom meetups Seasonal group challenges and reflections It's a conscious, supportive space to connect, learn, and grow with others walking the Ayurvedic path. Come say hello, introduce yourself, and be part of this living, breathing sangha. Join the new Elements of Ayurveda Podcast Community here: https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/community I look forward to connecting with you soon! Check out Colette's online services: Online Consultations https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/consultations At-home Digestive Reset Cleanse https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/digestive-reset-cleanse Online Daily Habits for Holistic Health Program https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/daily-habits Reset-Restore-Renew Program https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/reset-restore-renew Have questions on Colette's online services? Book a FREE 15 min Services Enquiry Call here. https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/consultations Do I have an accumulation of ama/toxins in my body? Take this quiz to find out https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/resources Thank you for listening! If this episode supported you, please consider leaving a review and if you think this information would be helpful to family or friends, please share this episode so we can spread this wisdom of Ayurveda. Stay tuned and stay aligned with the Elements of Ayurveda Podcast.
More than 100,000 Tennesseans remain without power as of Wednesday after ice from Winter Storm Fern swept through the state. Beef cattle and poultry farmer Phillip Berry of Wayne County is among those still without electricity. He has been pulling double duty—working to keep his family warm while also ensuring his livestock are fed—while battling bitter cold temperatures.
Can we get the names right.... Hey even I struggled this week! We have a new Region 5 alum in the broadcast booth, History made at Western Michigan, doing some jumping jacks behind the scenes at NIU. The stick drill as an XCEL dismount? A hot mic moment we needed, way to much to mention at Utah State but we will, Denver's head coach manifests a good routine oh and did you know the events are called Elements, and an MVP i didn't expect that and more from NCAA Week 4.
How do you upgrade the new five-color Lorwyn Eclipsed precon? Elementally, my dear viewers! This episode, we're giving the “Dance of the Elements” Commander deck some new moves with our $50 upgrade guide. We've got 10 new cards to stoke its flames and 10 cuts to extinguish from the list. Once your Ashling list is all souped-up, your winning streak will be Limitless! -------- SUPPORT OUR PATREON: Support the show and become a Patron! Be a part of our community, receive awesome rewards, and more! https://www.patreon.com/commandzone -------- FACTOR: Eat smart with Factor. To get 50% off your first box plus free breakfast for one year, use code command50off at: https://www.factormeals.com/command50off WARBY PARKER: Our listeners get 15% off plus free shipping when they buy two or more pairs of prescription glasses at https://www.WarbyParker.com/COMMAND — using our link helps support the show. #WarbyParker #ad SHOPIFY: Power your business with Shopify. Start your one-dollar-per-month trial period today by going to: https://www.shopify.com/tcz -------- CARD KINGDOM: The Command Zone is sponsored by Card Kingdom! If you want to receive your cards in one safe package and experience the best customer service, make sure to order your Magic cards, sealed product, accessories, and more at Card Kingdom: http://www.cardkingdom.com/command ARCHIDEKT: Discover, build, catalog, and playtest on Archidekt, the deck-building website that makes it easy to brew brand new lists or manage your old favorites. Go to http://www.archidekt.com/commandzone to get started today! ULTRA PRO: Huge thanks to Ultra PRO for sponsoring this episode! Be sure to check out their amazing APEX sleeves and super classy MANA 8 product line. If you want to keep your cards protected and support the show, visit: https://ultrapro.com/command -------- Relevant Links: Jake Boss: Twitter: @JakeBossMTG Bluesky: @jakeboss.bsky.social Instagram: @jakebossmtg "Dance of the Elements" Precon Upgrade Deck List: https://archidekt.com/decks/19013296/cz_724_dance_of_the_elements_precon_upgrade Commander Deckbuilding Template for the New Era | The Command Zone 658: https://youtu.be/OSNV6224cHg?si=sCOUBOTATX7PITtl Lorwyn Eclipsed w/Gabriel Luna | Game Knights 83: https://youtu.be/lNtqI3r4xiE?si=nCpQLm8nFx07_kLs Lorwyn Eclipsed's Most Powerful New Commanders | The Command Zone 721: https://youtu.be/iqjLbIJOMlw?si=xR6SRVKL7APPsUAW -------- Follow us on TikTok: @thecommandzone Follow us on Instagram: @CommandCast Follow us on Bluesky: @commandcast.bsky.social Follow us on Twitter: @CommandCast @JoshLeeKwai @jfwong @wachelreeks Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/commandcast/ Email us: commandzonecast@gmail.com -------- Commander Rules and Ban List: https://magic.wizards.com/en/banned-restricted-list -------- Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Show Notes: slpnow.com/245Narrative graphic organizers are a simple tool that can unlock stronger storytelling, richer language samples, and better generalization across therapy sessions. In this episode, I'm sharing four practical ways to use a narrative graphic organizer with students across grade levels—whether you're targeting personal narratives, story retells, or literacy-based therapy goals. These strategies are easy to implement, highly flexible, and designed to reduce overwhelm while supporting clear narrative structure.In this episode, you'll learn how to:Use graphic organizers to scaffold personal narrativesBuild pre-story knowledge before reading a book or articleSupport accurate and meaningful story retellsCreate parallel stories to promote generalizationIf you want to see these strategies in action and grab free graphic organizers, check out my on-demand SLP Summit course for a deeper dive.
January is National Mentoring Month — a time to celebrate the transformative power of mentorship and spotlight the essential role park and recreation professionals play in fostering youth development in communities across the country. On our first episode of 2026, we chat with JaCory Bazell, CPRP, CYSA, CPO, the center supervisor at Bloomfield-Gilead Recreation Center in Macon-Bibb County, Georgia, to explore how mentoring takes shape in his community. Through the Macon-Bibb County Recreation Department, JaCory leads two youth mentoring programs: a teen media program focused on topics such as photography and videography, as well as leadership skills and teamwork, and Macon Ambitious Young Men, a group mentoring program that prioritizes holistic youth development. What began with just a handful of participants has grown over nearly five years into programs that equip more than 100 young people with real-world skills, confidence and meaningful connections. As JaCory shares, mentorship isn't just about teaching, it's about showing up consistently, advocating for youth, and creating spaces where young people feel seen, supported and empowered to thrive. We're also joined by Olivia Peterson a program manager at NRPA on our youth mentoring team. Olivia reflects on how park and recreation agencies are uniquely positioned to integrate mentorship into everyday programs and interactions, from workforce development and sports to after-school and community events. Olivia also shares the importance of adults investing in young people's well-being and growth, as well as some helpful resources from NRPA. Listen to the full episode to hear how mentorship is shaping futures in Macon-Bibb County and what it means for communities everywhere. You'll also learn: How mentorship relationships built through consistent support make a difference. How even small beginnings can grow into long-lasting impact. How parks and recreation naturally supports youth development and helps young people build confidence, belonging and leadership. How mentors who show up through the good times and bad times help youth build resilience and trust. How self-care, shared leadership and community backing help sustain mentoring efforts. Helpful Mentoring Month Resources National Mentoring Month — NRPA: Learn more about the month-long celebration and access resources to support your youth mentoring programs. NRPA's Youth Mentoring Framework offers a 16-week curriculum of sample topics and activities that can be used in 1:1 or group settings. Other resources such as Career Pathways Through Youth Mentoring and Community Service Through Youth Mentoring offer best practices and ideas for local programs. NRPA's Building Local Partnerships to Support Youth in Parks and Recreation resource offers strategies and case studies for connecting youth to services to support their overall mental health and well-being. NRPA's Amplifying Youth Voice in Parks and Recreation resource equips park and recreation professionals with practical strategies to embed youth voice in programs. NRPA's Mentoring Through Youth Sports guide aims to help weave mentoring into all youth sports programs. MENTOR's Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™ highlights six evidence-based standards that are intended to be applicable for any type of mentoring program. The National Mentoring Resource Center is the nation's premier source of training, technical assistance, tools, research summaries and other information for youth mentoring programs. This season of Open Space Radio is sponsored by: For more than 105 years, BCI Burke has worked alongside park and recreation professionals to design outdoor environments that support well-being, inclusion and Play That Moves You®. That focus aligns closely with NRPA and the purpose of Open Space Radio — sharing insights and stories that strengthen parks, recreation and open spaces in communities everywhere. BCI Burke approaches play and movement with intention, believing that connection, learning and community all thrive outside. Through Open Space Radio, Burke is proud to support the sharing of ideas and experiences across the parks and recreation field. Thanks to BCI Burke for supporting this episode and for their continued commitment to Play That Moves You®.
A tough few days and still more to come for farmers and rural folks hit by winter storm Fern across the Volunteer State.
Is age merely a number? time to change that narrative! Embrace your resilience and approach life with energy, purpose, and excitement! ✨ Join us next week on Marketing with Russ…aka #RussSelfie, Episode 587January 26, Monday, 8am PacificFeaturing Janet McConnell Janet is our dynamic keynote speaker and champion of healthy longevity! As a passionate fitness educator, she motivates you to transform your perspective on aging with evidence-based wisdom. Check out her book “Elements of Aging Well” on Amazon and kickstart your path to a lively lifetoday! Connect with Janet:LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/janet-mcconnell-65703a1b2Website: ignitefitnesswithjanet.comYouTube: @AgingStrongforLife Connect with Me:Website: https://www.russhedge.com #Aging #Fitness #longevity #inspiration #community #connection #Marketing NOTE: THE MUSIC BY CONNOR HEDGE (PRODUSENT), IS USED WITH PERMISSION. Watch Here:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/events/7419394278633783296?viewAsMember=trueFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/740688982032658YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAAKRPXC1og
Part 1 of 2. OA 1229 - What happens when a government worker does you wrong? How is it different to prosecute and sue them? When does qualified immunity come in to play? We discuss the steps involved in prosecuting and suing someone for a simple battery, and how that differs for a regular person versus a state actor. We cover how and when defenses can be raised, federal and state sovereign immunity, suing in official versus personal capacity, the difference between absolute and qualified immunities, and the ways this will apply differently to criminal prosecution versus civil litigation. Siegell v Herricks Union Free School District, 7 AD3d 607 [2d Dept 2004] (Elements of civil battery in NY) N.Y. Penal Law § 120 (NY criminal “battery”) Fla. Stat. § 776.032 (Florida self-defense as an affirmative defense and immunity) Ohio Rev. Code § 2901.05 (Ohio self-defense as a standard defense) N.Y. Penal Law § 35 (NY justification defenses) Roger Fairfax, The Grand Jury's Role in the Prosecution of Unjustified Police Killings - Challenges and Solutions, 52 Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 397 (2017). Michael Gentithes, Harvesting the Grand Jury's “Lay Expertise” in Officer-Involved Shootings, U. Ill. L. Rev. 989 (2025). In re Neagle, 135 U.S. 1 (1890) Gregory C. Sisk, A Primer on the Doctrine of Federal Sovereign Immunity, 439 Okla. L. Rev. 58 (2005). 28 U.S.C. § 2680(h) Miles McCann, State Sovereign Immunity, National Association of Attorneys General (Nov. 11, 2017) State Sovereign Immunity - Generally, Interstate Commission for Juveniles, https://www.juvenilecompact.org/bench-book/chapter-6-1 Ex Parte Young, 209 U.S. 123 (1908) Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232 (1974) Moor v. County of Alameda, 411 U.S. 693 (1973) O'Shea v Littleton, 414 U.S. 488 (1974) Judicial Immunity at the (Second) Founding: A New Perspective on § 1983, 136 Harvard L. Rev. 1456 (2023). Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do! To support the show (and lose the ads!), please pledge at patreon.com/law!
It's time for neutral-site NFL conference championship games to avoid the elements after Sunday's AFC Championship game turned into a joke and something that wasn't really football.
Air Date: 1/25/2026 Today we examine education as the battleground for democracy itself. We'll hear how authoritarians erase history to maintain power, why liberal arts colleges don't exist in authoritarian societies, how the administration is punishing universities for their political views, and what the detention of student protesters reveals about the cost of dissent in Trump's America. Be part of the show! Leave us a message or text at 202-999-3991, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com Full Show Notes Check out our new show, SOLVED! on YouTube! In honor of our 20th birthday, we're giving new Members 20% OFF FOR THE LIFETIME OF YOUR MEMBERSHIP...this includes Gift Memberships! (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Use our links to shop Bookshop.org and Libro.fm for a non-evil book and audiobook purchasing experience! Join our Discord community! KEY POINTS KP 1: Rewriting Reality How the Battle for History Shapes the Future - WhoWhatWhy's Podcasts - Air Date 9-26-24 KP 2: Fighting Fascism with Education - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 9-26-25 KP 3: 'Abandoning' Kids' Futures AFT Pres. Slams Trump Dept. of Education Changes - MS NOW - Air Date 11-19-25 KP 4: 50 Years After the Birth of Special Education, Some Fear for Its Future Under Trump - All Things Considered - Air Date 12-3-25 KP 5: How Trumps Agenda Hurts College Students - Right Now With Perry Bacon - Air Date 11-19-25 KP 6: Trump Set to Garnish Wages for Student Loan Defaults - Democracy Now! - Air Date 12-30-25 (00:46:40) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR On the American and Chinese Cassandras of authoritarianism DEEPER DIVES (00:54:44) SECTION A: EDUCATION AND DEMOCRACY A1: Rewriting Reality How the Battle for History Shapes the Future Part 2 - WhoWhatWhy's Podcasts - Air Date 9-26-24 A2: Fighting Fascism with Education Part 2 - The Brian Lehrer Show - Air Date 9-26-25 A3: Because Democracy Depends On It - Ralph Nader Radio Hour - Air Date 11-29-25 A4: The Great US Brain Drain - Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - Air Date 1-9-25 (01:31:21) SECTION B: EDUCATION AND MONEY B1: Republicans Plan to Overhaul the Federal Student Loan System. Here's What to Know - Trump's Terms - Air Date 4-30-25 B2: How Trumps Agenda Hurts College Students Part 2 - Right Now With Perry Bacon - Air Date 11-19-25 B3: Federal Student Loans Are Changing. Here's What to Expect in 2026 - Morning Edition - Air Date 12-23-25 B4: Community Colleges Face New Challenges as Trump Battles with Higher Education - PBS NewsHour - Air Date 11-18-25 B5: Trump Officials Loosen Strings on Federal Education Money for Iowa. More States Could Follow - Latest Stories From The Associated Press - Air Date 1-7-26 (01:56:44) SECTION C: EDUCATION AND FREE SPEECH C1: 'If You Can Keep It' Trump Takes Aim At Academic Freedom Part 1 - 1A - Air Date 10-20-25 C2: Student Detained for Foreign Policy Views Speaks - Brian Lehrer A Daily Podcast - Air Date 12-22-25 C3: 'If You Can Keep It' Trump Takes Aim At Academic Freedom Part 2 - 1A - Air Date 10-20-25 C4: Student Detained for Foreign Policy Views Speaks Part 2 - Brian Lehrer A Daily Podcast - Air Date 12-22-25 (02:27:06) SECTION D: EDUCATION AND THE DOE D1: Inside the Trump Administrations Plan to Change Public Education - ProPublica - Air Date 1-6-25 D2: Trump Hurts His Base Again Education Cuts Hit Red States More, Ending Help for Most Vulnerable - The Briefing - Air Date 7-16-25 D3: Inside the Trump Administrations Plan to Change Public Education Part 2 - ProPublica - Air Date 1-6-25 SHOW IMAGE CREDITS Description: Close up photo of the seal of the US Department of Education with a sign over it that says "CLOSED" Credit: Internal composite design. Elements from Pixabay | Pixabay License Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere! Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads | X Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Ep 730: Ethical Broads PRIVATEWe kick off FOLLOW UP with California's AG sending a cease-and-desist to xAI over Grok generating creepy deepfakes of minors, while regulators finally notice Elon Musk's xAI datacenter illegally running methane turbines in Memphis. The FTC is also appealing its loss in the Meta monopoly case, because apparently breaking up Zuckerberg's data empire is still the hill they want to die on.IN THE NEWS, Washington joins the age-verification-for-porn parade, the UK considers an Australia-style social media ban for kids under 16, and governments everywhere continue demanding your ID before you're allowed to enjoy the internet. OpenAI rolls out age prediction for ChatGPT accounts ahead of a rumored adult mode—though hey, at least you can now group tabs in ChatGPT's Atlas browser. Anthropic rewrites Claude's “constitution” to make it more vibes-based, Nevada moves to block Polymarket because gambling is only legal when the house owns the house, and YouTube promises even more AI features in 2026. Elsewhere, a Swiss suicide pod gets an AI “mental fitness” upgrade, Microsoft's CEO begs AI developers to do something useful before the grid collapses, Musk hunts for a $134 billion payday from OpenAI and Microsoft, and makes yet more Davos predictions about robotaxis and aliens that are absolutely happening this year. On the bright side, A-list creatives push back on AI and Comic-Con bans AI art, buying humans a little more time.MEDIA CANDY finds us slogging through Wish, The Pitt, and the “Mel's Diner in Space” look of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. We confirm 20-year-old CGI wargs still look terrible, get cautiously excited for 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, and note that Fallout Season 2's weekly drops may not be working for a binge-rotted audience.In APPS & DOODADS, X launches Bluesky-style starter packs—presumably to help you find more Nazis—while ICE becomes one of the most-blocked accounts on Bluesky. Threads edges out X in daily mobile users, proving the “federated future” is just another Zuck app. And yes, we think we know what the Apple AI pin is—and definitely what it isn't.AT THE LIBRARY, we check out The Elements, Jet Tila's 101 Thai Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die, Half Baked Harvest: Quick & Cozy, and Southern Living's A Southern Gentleman's Kitchen. Scott reports back from a Jim Butcher talk, where we learn Harry Dresden sounds suspiciously like Han Solo.We close with THE DARK SIDE WITH DAVE, who is juggling five podcasts while reading Going to the Top: The Story of Videopolis, plus teasers for Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord and a baffling Masters of the Universe trailer, a rant on what “remastered” even means anymore, a dishwasher follow-up, and the grim news that a lot of snow is coming.Sponsors:DeleteMe - Get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to JoinDeleteMe.com/GOG and use promo code GOG at checkout.SquareSpace - go to squarespace.com/GRUMPY for a free trial. And when you're ready to launch, use code GRUMPY to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.Private Internet Access - Go to GOG.Show/vpn and sign up today. For a limited time only, you can get OUR favorite VPN for as little as $2.03 a month.SetApp - With a single monthly subscription you get 240+ apps for your Mac. Go to SetApp and get started today!!!1Password - Get a great deal on the only password manager recommended by Grumpy Old Geeks! gog.show/1passwordShow notes at https://gog.show/730Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/LiwVkLKr8CoFOLLOW UPCalifornia AG sends cease and desist to xAI over Grok's explicit deepfakesElon Musk's xAI datacenter generating extra electricity illegally, regulator rulesZuck stuck on Trump's bad side: FTC appeals loss in Meta monopoly caseIN THE NEWSWashington is the latest state pursuing an age verification law for porn sitesThe UK is mulling an Australia-like social media ban for users under 16OpenAI is launching age prediction for ChatGPT accountsYou can now group tabs on OpenAI's ChatGPT Atlas browserAnthropic Updates Claude's 'Constitution,' Just in Case Chatbot Has a ConsciousnessNevada files to block Polymarket from offering ‘unlicensed wagering' in the stateYouTube CEO promises more AI features in 2026Controversial Swiss Suicide Pod Gets an AI-Powered Mental Fitness UpgradeMicrosoft CEO urges AI developers 'to get to a point where we are using this to do something useful,' or 'lose even the social permission...to generate these tokens'Elon Musk is looking for a $134 billion payout from OpenAI and MicrosoftElon Musk Sure Made Lots of Predictions at DavosA-List creatives sign up to fight AI, say it enables 'theft at a grand scale'Comic-Con Bans AI Art After Artist PushbackMEDIA CANDYWishThe PittStar Trek: Starfleet Academy28 Years Later: The Bone Temple'Fallout' Season 2's Weekly Drops May Not Be WorkingAPPS & DOODADSX is also launching Bluesky-like starter packsICE becomes one of the most-blocked accounts on Bluesky after its verificationThreads edges out X in daily mobile users, new data showsI think I know what the Apple pin is, and definitely know what it isn'tApple Developing AirTag-Sized AI Pin With Dual CamerasNot to be outdone by OpenAI, Apple is reportedly developing an AI wearableSiri's iOS 27 upgrade sounds exactly right. Apple's AI pin sounds exactly wrongAT THE LIBRARYThe Elements by John Boyne101 Thai Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die by Jet TilaHalf Baked Harvest Quick & Cozy: A Cookbook by Tieghan GerardPestleSouthern Living A Southern Gentleman's Kitchen: Adventures in Cooking, Eating, and Living in the New South by Matt MooreTHE DARK SIDE WITH DAVEDave BittnerThe CyberWireHacking HumansCaveatControl LoopOnly Malware in the BuildingGoing to the Top: The Story of Videopolis—Part OneStar Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord | Official Teaser Trailer | Streaming April 6 on Disney+Masters of The Universe – Official Teaser TrailerCLOSING SHOUT-OUTSClassic-Era Scorpions Bassist Francis Buchholz Dies at 71See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Today's guests are Daniel Lidar, Holder of the Viterbi Professorship of Engineering at USC, Director of the USC Center for Quantum Information Science & Technology, co-founder and CSO of Quantum Elements, Inc., and Izhar Medalsy, Co-founder and CEO of Quantum Elements. Quantum Elements develops tools to reduce noise in quantum computers for scalable performance. Daniel and Izhar join Emerj Editorial Director Matthew DeMello to explore why quantum computing is entering enterprise strategy now, explaining qubits, quantum simulation, and practical applications beyond hype. Daniel and Izhar also share practical takeaways like quantum simulation for accurate materials and drug design, optimization for financial portfolios, post-quantum encryption for data centers, and assessing business impact by identifying problems quantum solves today. Want to share your AI adoption story with executive peers? Click emerj.com/expert2 for more information and to be a potential future guest on the 'AI in Business' podcast!
THE SHOW NOTES East Coast Skiing Intro John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs Rupert McClanahan's Indestructible Bastards - Charles Jackson French Ask George - Over-produced? from Diego RIP Rob Hirst Religious Moron of the Week - Hank Kunneman Tell Me Something Good - 70th Wedding-Anniversary Wedding Tickets now available for OSftPT Show Close ......................... MENTIONED IN THE SHOW Something Good Occasional Songs for the Periodic Table Tickets and Info ......................... UPCOMING SCHEDULE George Hrab's Occasional Songs for the Periodic Table 118 Elements • 118 Songs • 90 Minutes Saturday, March 7th, 2026 The Icehouse Bethlehem, PA Geo & SGU: Extravaganza & Private Show Madison, Wisconsin Saturday, May 16, 2026 TICKETS CSICON Center for Inquiry 50th Anniversary Conference Geo & SGU: Extravaganza & Live PodcastAwards Dinner & Variety Show Buffalo, New York June 11-14th 2026 csiconference.org Geo & SGU: Not-A-Con Sydney / NZ Skeptics Conference July 2026 Australian & New Zealand Episode 1000 of The Geologic Podcast Saturday, January 9, 2027 The Icehouse Bethlehem, PA ......................... SUBSCRIPTION INTERFACE You can now find our subscription page at GeorgeHrab.com at this link. Many thanks to the sage Evo Terra for his assistance. ......................... Get George's Music Here https://georgehrab.hearnow.com https://georgehrab.bandcamp.com ................................... SUBSCRIBE! You can sign up at GeorgeHrab.com and become a Geologist or a Geographer. As always, thank you so much for your support! You make the ship go. ................................... Sign up for the mailing list: Write to Geo! Check out Geo's wiki page, thanks to Tim Farley. Have a comment on the show, a Religious Moron tip, or a question for Ask George? Drop George a line and write to Geo's Mom, too!
Winter is often misunderstood in modern wellness culture as a season to simply endure, yet Ayurveda recognizes it as a powerful time for nourishment, restoration, and deep tissue building. In this episode, Colette is joined by experienced Ayurvedic physician Dr. Sujatha Kekada for a classical and clinical exploration of winter wellness. Together, they move beyond surface-level seasonal advice to examine how winter influences the doshas, dhatus (tissues), srotas (channels), and ojas. Dr. Sujatha explains why aligning diet, routine, and mindset with this season is essential for long-term health and resilience. In this episode, you'll learn about: Why winter is considered a prime season for tissue nourishment and rebuilding in Ayurveda Which doshas and dhatus become most vulnerable when winter diet and routines are misaligned How winter impacts srotas (channel) integrity, with a focus on rasavaha srotas (plasma and lymph channels) and medovaha srotas (fat channel) The connection between winter emotions, mental heaviness, and manovaha srotas (mind channel) Influence of winter on ojas, our prime energy reserve, vitality and immunity Balancing nourishment and heaviness with the risk of stagnation in modern lifestyles Practical Ayurvedic food guidelines to support digestion, tissues, and vitality during winter Join the Group Digestive Reset Cleanse – Starting January 23rd, 2026 Ayurvedic cleansing is not about restriction, fasting or punishment it's about restoring balance and flow. This discounted group Digestive Reset Cleanse is designed to: Rekindle digestive fire (agni) Clear ama (toxins) from the digestive tract and rasa dhatu Support lymphatic health and immunity Gently restore balance to the doshas What's included: Private 90-minute consultation with Colette Recorded coaching webinars Dosha-specific yoga videos Meditation & pranayama tutorials Easy, nourishing whole-food recipes Ongoing online support Private community for accountability and connection Learn more and register at: Elements Healing and Wellbeing https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/group-cleanse The New Elements of Ayurveda Podcast Community is Live! Over the years, this podcast has blossomed into a global community, a gathering of seekers, healers, and lifelong learners. And now, I'm delighted to share that our revitalized community space is officially open! This new online home was created for those who wish to go deeper into Ayurveda, together. Inside, you'll find: Early access to podcast episodes Member forums for discussion and Q&A Mindfulness and self-care practices Monthly live Zoom meetups Seasonal group challenges and reflections It's a conscious, supportive space to connect, learn, and grow with others walking the Ayurvedic path. Come say hello, introduce yourself, and be part of this living, breathing sangha. Join the new Elements of Ayurveda Podcast Community here: https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/community I look forward to connecting with you soon! Check out Colette's online services: Online Consultations https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/consultations At-home Digestive Reset Cleanse https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/digestive-reset-cleanse Online Daily Habits for Holistic Health Program https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/daily-habits Reset-Restore-Renew Program https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/reset-restore-renew Have questions on Colette's online services? Book a FREE 15 min Services Enquiry Call here. https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/consultations Do I have an accumulation of ama/toxins in my body? Take this quiz to find out https://www.elementshealingandwellbeing.com/resources Thank you for listening! If this episode supported you, please consider leaving a review and if you think this information would be helpful to family or friends, please share this episode so we can spread this wisdom of Ayurveda. Stay tuned and stay aligned with the Elements of Ayurveda Podcast.
In part two of the "Come Back to God" podcast mini-series, Lisa Whittle challenges the culture of "revival hype" and invites listeners to consider revival's deep, holy roots. While stadiums and tents may symbolize revival, Lisa emphasizes that true revival is about heart transformation—marked by conviction, discomfort, and unity. She reflects on biblical examples like Pentecost and the Moravian Revival to highlight the importance of unified prayer, confession, and God's presence. Lisa encourages us to seek authentic revival—not for show, but for lasting change—and invites listeners to reflect on how they can foster revival within their own hearts and communities. The episode concludes with practical steps to pursue revival, including prayer, reconciliation, and justice.Listen in to learn more:(1:10) Revival hype vs. true revival(1:45) The sacredness of personal revival and its unseen work(3:47) Rocky analogy: Revival isn't for public show, it's deep and gritty(7:42) How Global Christian Relief is sparking revival(8:32) Biblical foundation: Acts 1 & 2, unity in prayer, and the early church(10:00) The Moravian Revival of 1727: A 100-year prayer movement that sparked global missions(11:33) Elements of authentic revival: Unified hunger, extraordinary prayer, confession and reconciliation, sincere worship, centered on God's presence(16:15) The role of justice and righteous living in revival (Amos 5:24)(16:50) Practical steps for fostering revival in your life and community(17:44) Closing encouragement: Pray, unite, invite others, and seek revival nowMentioned in the episode:Come Back to God Bible Study: https://www.lisawhittle.com/comebackGlobal Christian Relief: http://link.globalchristianrelief.org/lisaCoaching with Lisa: https://www.lisawhittle.com/coaching-with-lisa Connect with Lisa:Website: https://www.lisawhittle.comSubstack: https://letsbeclear.substack.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lisawhittleofficialInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisawhittleFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisawhittleofficial
In this episode of Breaking Math, Autumn and Nicolas Niarchos critique the "green" narrative of lithium-ion technology. Tracing the industry from its 1991 commercialization to modern geopolitical tensions, the hosts expose the exploitation and environmental degradation inherent in global mining, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. By challenging the presumed sustainability of electric vehicles, they emphasize the need for supply chain transparency and urge listeners to adopt a more informed, ethically-conscious approach to modern consumption.Takeaways What does it really cost to power the future? The bargain as stated is clean energy in one part and at the other end, you have corruption, pollution, and human suffering. The greenest vehicle is not always the electric one; it depends on the entire lifecycle of the product. We need to improve conditions on the ground, not just extract resources. Corruption is unfortunately a fact of life and is very closely related to extraction.Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 03:24 The Journey to Congo and Corruption 07:13 The Birth of Lithium-Ion Batteries 09:35 The Uneven Global Bargain 12:16 Mining vs. Oil: A Different Kind of Harm 13:56 Onshoring Battery Production: Challenges and Opportunities 17:13 China's Dominance in Battery Manufacturing 18:51 The Race in Battery Technology 21:39 Corruption and Poverty in the Congo 24:31 The Human Cost of Mining 29:12 Health Impacts of Mining 31:52 Colonial Legacy and Modern Mining 34:00 The Future of Battery Technology 39:12 Introduction to Complex Narratives 39:53 The Reality of Resource Extraction 39:59 Embracing Curiosity and ReflectionFollow Nick on Twitter, and you can get his book here.Subscribe to Breaking Math wherever you get your podcasts.Follow Breaking Math on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Website, YouTube, TikTokFollow Autumn on Twitter, BlueSky, and InstagramBecome a guest hereemail: breakingmathpodcast@gmail.com