Podcasts about embassies

Dan hits the road and takes listeners on a trip to NYC's premier recording space, Embassy Studios, to sit down with the CEO and owner,Frank Babar, an absolute legend in the music recording business. Frank shares the big swings and microscopic details that have powered his success. From trusting your instincts and adapting when the path takes a sharp turn, to treating people well and protecting the value of every asset. He and Dan dig into how to spot opportunity before everyone else does and why artists (and entrepreneurs) need to build real income-producing work instead of just chasing marketing hype. It's a fast-moving master class in hustle, strategy, and turning creative passion into lasting value. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On Sept. 14, 2026, German federal prosecutors charged a German-Ukrainian woman identified as Ilona W. with spying for Russia. She is accused of maintaining contacts since at least October 2023 with an intelligence officer at the Russian embassy in Berlin and gathering information on German defense policy and industry by befriending former defense ministry staff. Arrested in January 2026 and still in pre-trial detention, her case sits inside Berlin's broader push against what it calls an escalating Russian hybrid threat.

Top AI researchers seem to be increasingly convinced that AI is about to kill us all, so why isn't our President more concerned? After an Anthropic researcher quit the company warning that continued AI development could end the world, Trump brushed off worries over AI attributing concerns to a “sick conspiracy.” Alondra Nelson of the Institute of Advanced Study joins David Rothkopf to analyze where the truth really lies and how concerned we should all really be about an AI armageddon.  This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

www.embassycity.com

Top AI researchers seem to be increasingly convinced that AI is about to kill us all, so why isn't our President more concerned? After an Anthropic researcher quit the company warning that continued AI development could end the world, Trump brushed off worries over AI attributing concerns to a “sick conspiracy.” Alondra Nelson of the Institute of Advanced Study joins David Rothkopf to analyze where the truth really lies and how concerned we should all really be about an AI armageddon.  This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brought to you by the English Programme. Featuring news, politics, popular culture, celebrity trivia, quizzes, book readings, and a whole host of fun.Support Our Rescue Cats | Our Blog | Get New Episodes By Email | Rumble | X | YouTube | NewsK365 on Spreaker | Get New Blog Posts By Email | Throne Wishlist |

Brought to you by the English Programme. Featuring news, politics, popular culture, celebrity trivia, quizzes, book readings, and a whole host of fun.Support Our Rescue Cats | Our Blog | Get New Episodes By Email | Rumble | X | YouTube | NewsK365 on Spreaker | Get New Blog Posts By Email | Throne Wishlist |

Venture capitalists and Silicon Valley have been riding high on the artificial intelligence wave. Yet with this runaway enthusiasm comes the risk for an even more calamitous bubble burst. Newcomer founder Eric Newcomer joins David Rothkopf to discuss why a reality check is much needed. They also explore Silicon Valley's dramatic political shift, the growing public skepticism towards the tech oligarchs, and more.  This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

www.embassycity.com

Venture capitalists and Silicon Valley have been riding high on the artificial intelligence wave. Yet with this runaway enthusiasm comes the risk for an even more calamitous bubble burst. Newcomer founder Eric Newcomer joins David Rothkopf to discuss why a reality check is much needed. They also explore Silicon Valley's dramatic political shift, the growing public skepticism towards the tech oligarchs, and more.  This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

CAPTION 1894 KREMLINAmerican Embassy Seeks Ukrainian Peace DealGaius and Germanicus: Set in autumn 92 AD in Londinium, the hosts discuss the declining institutions of the modern American empire, drawing historical parallels. They focus first on the Ukraine war, analyzing the recent "embassy" sent by the American emperor, Donald Trump, to Moscow and Kyiv. Germanicus explains this diplomatic mission, consisting of Kushner and Witkoff, was not a true negotiation but a means to convey the emperor's sentiments. The emperor desperately wants to end the conflict because Ukraine is on the verge of collapse. Allowing an imminent collapse while the United States is actively managing deep strikes would result in a massive public humiliation. By securing a ceasefire or peace deal, Trump hopes to fulfill a major campaign promise before the crucial election and free up strategic maneuver room to focus entirely on the conflict in Persia. The proposed peace terms would likely require Ukraine to yield contested territories, including parts of Donbas, Zaporizhzhia, or even the historic prize of Odesa. Germanicus asserts that European client states, including Poland and the Baltics, will ultimately fall in line. Furthermore, Poland might view a Ukrainian collapse as an opportunity to reclaim historic western territories they controlled for many centuries. (1)

It's Wednesday, September 2nd, A.D. 2026. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com. I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark Another state in India passed anti-conversion law India's state of Maharashtra became the 13th in the country to enact an “anti-conversion” law last week. It's the country's second-most populous state. This has prompted thousands of churches in the area to have worshippers sign a form. The form simply says the person is attending freely and not under coercion.  India's “anti-conversion” laws are often used to target Christians. Hindu nationalists have attacked churches in Maharashtra 11 times in the last six months. India is ranked 12th on the Open Doors' World Watch List of the most dangerous places to be a Christian.  In John 15:18-19, Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet, because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” Send a polite, 4-sentence note to Vinay Kwatra, the Indian Ambassador to America, asking that he urge his government not to pass these anti-conversion laws which target Christians. Address it to the Embassy of India, 2107 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008. You'll find the correct spelling of the ambassador's name and the address in our transcript today at www.TheWorldview.com. Australia's new assisted suicide law ABC News Australia reports Australia's Northern Territory passed a bill legalizing assisted suicide last week. The territory was the first in the world to legalize voluntary euthanasia in the 1990s. Australia's federal government overturned the law within a couple years. But in 2022, the government reversed its decision, allowing the territory to legalize assisted suicide once again.  Now, all states and territories in Australia allow for this form of killing. Over 7,200 people have died this way in the country since 2019. Trump's Venezuelan oil deal gives access to 65 billion barrels The Trump administration announced a major oil deal with Venezuela on Friday.  The deal would give the United States access to 17 oil fields in Venezuela with proven reserves of 65 billion barrels of oil. That's about 20 percent of the country's reserves. By comparison, the U.S. has 46 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.  President Donald Trump hopes the deal will lower gas prices for Americans. However, analysts suggest that the deal will not relieve prices in the short-term.  Homeland Security investigates voter fraud in 9 states CNN reports that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is investigating voter fraud in nine states ahead of the midterm elections in November. These states include California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin. The Trump administration is pushing for states to phase out certain electronic voting systems and move to paper ballots. The administration has threatened to withhold significant homeland security funds from states that do not adopt such election changes.  ICE arrested 51,000 immigration arrests in July U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement made 51,000 immigration arrests in July. That's up from 43,000 arrests in June. Both months set records for the agency.  Nearly 20,000 of July's arrests were in Texas and Florida. Both states have been very cooperative with the Trump administration's mass deportation efforts.  Gallup poll: Americans supportive of marriage if couple has kids A new Gallup poll found that more Americans are supportive of marriage when children are involved. Thirty-nine percent of U.S. adults say it is very important for a couple to be legally married if they have a child together. That's up from 29 percent in 2020. However, it's down from 49 percent in 2006. Gallup noted, “Weekly church attendees show one of the largest increases since 2020 in the belief that couples, who have a child together, should be married, up 24 points, from 41% to 65%.” Bible societies distributed 148 million Scriptures in 2025 And finally, the United Bible Societies distributed over 148 million printed Scriptures in 2025.  The top countries for Bible distribution last year were Brazil, China, India, Nigeria, and the Philippines.  Rev. Dirk Gevers, Secretary General of the United Bibles Societies, said, “While printed Scriptures continue to reach hundreds of millions of people each year, digital engagement is growing, opening new opportunities to connect with the Bible through mobile devices and online platforms.” This year is the organization's 80th anniversary. Since 1946, the Bible society has distributed 25 billion Scriptures, including 1.1 billion complete Bibles.  Malachi 1:11 says, “From the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; in every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering; for My name shall be great among the nations.” Close And that's The Worldview on this Wednesday, September 2nd, in the year of our Lord 2026. Subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com. Plus, you can get the Generations app through Google Play or The App Store. I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Daejon Love posed as a San Francisco 49ers receiver and took more than a million dollars from at least 26 women. Fake jerseys. Fake bank apps. An 18-year-old playing financial adviser. The internet was right there. People still paid. Kehinde Wiley's Obama-era girl-power canvas hung in the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo until Trump's State Department tarped it and ripped it down. Same fraud, nicer frame. Men told to sit. Women take the chair. Jason Whitlock on the costumes, the embassy art, and a culture that cannot smell a lie. ➢ Show Outline 0:00 - The Daejan Love NFL Impersonator Scam 3:05 - Red Flags Everywhere, But Women Believed the Fantasy 3:23 - Kehinde Wiley: Obama's Portrait Artist 7:35 - What the Scam Reveals About "High Value" Men 11:17 - Obama, Wiley, and the "Weak Black Man" Archetype 15:58 - Athletes, Materialism, and Social Media Expectations 23:08 - Final Thoughts: Modern Relationships and the Obama Legacy ➢ Follow Our GUESTS https://www.youtube.com/@TheShemekaMichelle  https://www.youtube.com/@DreAllDay ➢ Subscribe to Jason's other channel https://www.youtube.com/JasonWhitlock?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.youtube.com/@JasonWhitlockHarmony?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.youtube.com/@JasonWhitlockBYOG?sub_confirmation=1 https://www.youtube.com/@JasonWhitlockClips?sub_confirmation=1 ➢ Connect with Jason on Social Media:  https://x.com/JasonWhitlock  https://www.instagram.com/realjasonwhitlock/ https://www.facebook.com/jasonwhitlock ➢ Send Jason an Email FearlessBlazeShow@gmail.com ➢ Support The Blaze Visit https://TheBlaze.com. Explore the all-new ad-free experience and see for yourself how we're standing up against suppression and prioritizing independent journalism. Support Conservative Voices! Subscribe to BlazeTV at https://www.fearlessmission.com and get $20 off your yearly subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

www.embassycity.com

August 2026Bletchley Park Trust was proud to celebrate our first 'Polish Codebreaking Festival' in July 2026 with over 2,000 members of the public, musicians and Polish community groups on site. We also welcomed a group of experts whose works bring attention to tales of Polish wartime heroism and intelligence achievements. Of course, Team Podcast took the opportunity to speak to some of them! This episode is a compilation of fascinating short interviews with podcast producer Mark Cotton, helping us continue to shine a light on these lesser-known Polish stories.• Bletchley Park's CEO, Iain Standen, gives us the background to the weekend and shares news of forthcoming exhibitions.• Award-winning author Clare Mulley discusses her research into two women who risked their lives working in espionage and resistance for the Polish cause.• Historian, cryptologist and author Dr Marek Grajek considers the Polish work on German Enigma in the context of the later Allied victory.• Sir Dermot Turing delves deeper into the famous 1939 Pyry conference and its legacy within British codebreaking.• And Dr Maksym Kempinski from the Enigma Cipher Centre in Poznan reveals more about those Polish codebreakers that tend to get overlooked.Grateful thanks to the Polish Cultural Institute in London, and the Embassy of the Republic of Poland for their support of the Polish Codebreaking Festival.Music performed by the Mazury Dance Company Choir.©Bletchley Park Trust 2026#BPark, #Bletchleypark, #WW2, #Enigma, #Codebreaker,#Poland,

Vice President Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang has urged Ghanaians in Rwanda to register with the Ghanaian Embassy to help government respond swiftly and effectively during emergencies.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a surprise visit to Moscow to meet with Russian intelligence officials, but without President Putin attending. The last CIA director to visit Moscow was William Burns in November 2021, three months before Russia's war against Ukraine started. With no details released by the White House, the CIA or the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, what did the intelligence counterparts speak about? FOX's John Saucier speaks with Dan Hoffman, former CIA Chief of Station in Moscow and a FOX News contributor, who says the secret CIA channel with Russian intelligence, that avoids public scrutiny, has been used to solve serious problems in the past. Click Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a surprise visit to Moscow to meet with Russian intelligence officials, but without President Putin attending. The last CIA director to visit Moscow was William Burns in November 2021, three months before Russia's war against Ukraine started. With no details released by the White House, the CIA or the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, what did the intelligence counterparts speak about? FOX's John Saucier speaks with Dan Hoffman, former CIA Chief of Station in Moscow and a FOX News contributor, who says the secret CIA channel with Russian intelligence, that avoids public scrutiny, has been used to solve serious problems in the past. Click Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Politics makes strange bedfellows, and AI is making things stranger still. AI data centers are just one of the many ways that artificial intelligence and its by products are taking an increasingly large role in American politics at every level and creating new and bizarre alliances even among traditionally opposing factions. WIRED's Molly Taft joins David Rothkopf to examine the rapid evolution of our politics — and why things are only getting weirder.  This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Politics makes strange bedfellows, and AI is making things stranger still. AI data centers are just one of the many ways that artificial intelligence and its by products are taking an increasingly large role in American politics at every level and creating new and bizarre alliances even among traditionally opposing factions. WIRED's Molly Taft joins David Rothkopf to examine the rapid evolution of our politics — and why things are only getting weirder.  This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin: Russia crosses a dangerous new threshold in Ukraine, deploying a fully autonomous, AI-guided drone that selected its final target without human approval in an attack that killed three civilians. Despite continuing hostilities between the United States and Iran, Washington prepares to return diplomats to Middle Eastern embassies evacuated during the war—a sign the administration does not expect full-scale fighting to resume soon. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President's Daily Brief by visiting https://PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief.  YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Goldbelly: Impress your family and friends - get free shipping and 20% off your first order at https://GOLDBELLY.com with code PDB. Cardiff: Get fast business funding without bank delays—apply in minutes with Cardiff and access up to $500,000 in same‑day funding at https://Cardiff.co/PDB  HomeServe: Protect your home systems from expensive repairs with https://HomeServe.com/dailybriefand get 50% off your first year of coverage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

www.embassycity.com

Trey Herweck (Pastor of Refuge Church in St. Charles) and I talk about the use of AI and other technologies and how we can choose to act out of our humanity. As always, these podcasts are based on a dispatch from The Embassy - Thanks for listening! Tell us what you think or if you have any questions.Here are a couple of related pieces:The Embassy is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to The Embassy at theembassy.substack.com/subscribe

After the U.S. and Israel launched the war in Iran, and Iran responded by attacking U.S. targets in the region, hundreds of U.S. diplomats were evacuated from embassies in Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E. and half a dozen other countries. Some of those embassy staff may start returning to their posts soon, however the State Department is still limiting the number of personnel in the Middle East as the war in Iran drags on. NPR's Diplomatic Correspondent tells us what that reduced presence means for U.S. interests.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show's perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Episode 540 / Hidenori Ishii Hidenori Ishii is an artist born in Yonezawa, Japan, who resides and works in LIC, New York. He holds a BFA from George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, and an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD. His work traverses painting, screen-printing, installation and public art. His solo exhibitions include venues like Erin Cluley Gallery in Dallas, TX, C. Grimaldis Gallery in Baltimore, MD and Hub-Robeson Gallery in Penn State University, PA. His work has been featured in group exhibitions worldwide, including at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art in TX, Tian Contemporain, Montreal, Canada and Art in Embassies in Ankara, Turkey. He has received awards such as 2024 and 2019 FST Studio Project Funds in NYC, 2024 Finalist in MTA Arts & Design Program and was previously a Keyholder Resident at the LES Printshop in New York City. His work is part of collections such as the Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection, TD Bank Art Collection, Morgan Stanley Art Collection, the Microsoft Art Collection and the University Texas Southwestern Medical Center Art Collection.

A major hotel brand doesn't need to make every property feel the same. I toured the Embassy Suites Downtown Asheville with Jack Benton, Area Director of Sales & Marketing, and this hotel takes plenty of inspiration from its surroundings. Appalachian textures, mountain-inspired design, open public spaces, meeting areas that connect naturally with the rest of the hotel and guest rooms with unobstructed views give the property a strong sense of #Asheville. The hotel also packs in more than you might expect. Its 188 suites include flexible connecting-room configurations, its meeting spaces handle groups of up to 300 people, and the Michelin Guide recommends its rooftop restaurant. What I really wanted to understand was how a major #HotelBrand creates this much individuality within a familiar flag. Jack explains how the hotel team worked with the brand to develop an experience that connects directly to Asheville and the surrounding mountains. Take the tour and see how this #EmbassySuites uses design, location and the Asheville experience to give guests something much more specific than a standard branded hotel. Subscribe to No Vacancy for more hotel tours, conversations and behind-the-scenes looks at the people and properties shaping hospitality. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

Why can't the US and China just get along when it comes to artificial intelligence? As the two nations jockey for an edge in AI, President's Trump and Xi prepare for a consequential summit where the tech race may play a bigger role than ever. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Scott Singer joins David Rothkopf to discuss why in the race for AI dominance between China the US, the best way to win might just be to work together. This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amy Gross was born on Long Island, New York, and received her BFA from the Cooper Union in New York City. After a residency at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, she started a graphic design company, and worked as a surface designer, specializing in textiles, children's products and toy design. In 2000 she moved to South Florida, and fascinated by the subtropical environment and the intricate natural growth there, began making hand-beaded jewelry. Her work expanded to embroidered canvases, then sculpture merging observed natural elements with invented life forms. In 2006, Gross received a grant from the South Florida Cultural Consortium, was the finalist for the Southern Prize in 2019, and received an Artist Innovation Fellowship in 2020. Her mixed media sculpture is represented by Momentum Gallery in Asheville, NC. Selected exhibits include the Craft and Folk Art Museum of Los Angeles, The Minnesota Museum of Art, the Mesa Contemporary Art Museum, the Asheville Art Museum, the Boca Raton Museum of Art, The Bascom Center, and fairs Art Wynwood and SOFA. Her shadowboxes are part of the permanent collection of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and, as part of the Art in Embassies program, installed in the new American Embassy in Papua New Guinea. Her work has appeared in Fiber Arts Magazine, American Craft Magazine, The Washington Post, Luxe Magazine, Create Magazine and the art and culture blogs Colossal TreeHugger, ArtMag and The Jealous Curator. She was featured in an article in the Spring 2016 issue of Fiber Art Now Magazine, and was the issue's cover artist. She appears in three Schiffer Press books, Artistry in Fiber, Sculpture, Dimensional Cloth, Sculpture by Contemporary Textile Artists, and Stitched: Journeys with Birds. Her work will appear in the upcoming Phaidon book Fungi: The World of Mushrooms. She lives and works in Delray Beach, Florida. Amy Gross amygross.com Instagram: amyla174 momentumgallery.com

Today on Ascend: The Great Books Podcast, Dcn. Garlick, Dr. Larson, Dr. Grabowski, and Mr. Thomas Lackey discuss the short, strange, and forgotten dialogue of HIppias Minor or "On the Lie."8 Questions on Hippias Minor Study GuideCheck Ascend out on X, YouTube, Facebook, and More!Plato's Hippias Minor is a short, strange dialogue with a traditional subtitle that cuts straight to the point: “On the Lie.” After the boastful sophist Hippias finishes a public speech ranking Achilles the best and Odysseus the most polytropos—the man of twists and turns—Socrates is drawn into a conversation that begins with Homer and ends in one of the deepest aporias of the early dialogues. What starts as a dispute over who is the better man, the straightforward Achilles or the wily Odysseus, quickly becomes a rigorous examination of voluntary versus involuntary wrongdoing, the nature of knowledge and power, and the unsettling claim that the man who does injustice on purpose is better than the one who does it by accident.Deacon and the guests work through the dialogue's sharp arguments and its surprising relevance. The conversation exposes the limits of treating virtue as mere knowledge plus power, raises the question of whether a just person might ever speak falsely for a good end, and serves as a genuine appetizer for the noble lie in the Republic. Come listen—and discover why even Socrates, at the end, cannot agree with himself.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Hippias Minor and its Context04:55 Setting the Scene: Hippias' Speech and Socrates' Role09:22 Hippias' Boasts and Socrates' Irony17:55 The Homeric Heroes: Achilles and Odysseus25:04 Knowledge, Power, and the Art of Lying36:15 The Distinction Between Capacity and Action44:53 The Nature of Truth and Falsehood in Socratic Dialogue46:43 Conclusion: What Socrates Reveals About Knowledge and Lies02:39 Socrates' questioning of Hippias and the nature of virtue04:55 The analogy of athletic competitions and the concept of justice07:57 Socrates' discussion on voluntary and involuntary actions12:05 The role of knowledge and capacity in moral actions15:34 Hippias' understanding of justice and its relation to power19:50 The concept of noble lies and pedagogical deception25:04 The absence of forms and gods in the dialogue30:14 The deeper meaning of Socratic ignorance and self-awareness34:54 The significance of the question: Is justice knowledge or power?39:51 Conclusion: What we learn about virtue, knowledge, and truthKeywordsPlato's Hippias Minor, Lesser Hippias, On the Lie, Hippias of Elis, Achilles and Odysseus, polytropos, voluntary and involuntary wrongdoing, voluntary liar, Socratic dialogue, aporetic dialogue, forgotten Platonic dialogues, noble lie, Republic, virtue is knowledge, knowledge and power, sophist, polymath, Eudicus, Embassy scene Iliad, teleology, Forms, Socratic irony, beneficial falsehood, Dr. Frank Grabowski, Dr. Brett Larson, Thomas Lackey, Ascend the Great Books Podcast, political philosophy, Allan Bloom, Roots of Political Philosophy.Next week we discuss Plato's Ion!

Why can't the US and China just get along when it comes to artificial intelligence? As the two nations jockey for an edge in AI, President's Trump and Xi prepare for a consequential summit where the tech race may play a bigger role than ever. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Scott Singer joins David Rothkopf to discuss why in the race for AI dominance between China the US, the best way to win might just be to work together. This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A now forgotten incident about an attempt to have a second hostage crisis during the Carter administration, only narrowly averted by heroic of the embassy staff. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

www.embassycity.com

Here We Are, is the 2023 musical by Stephen Sondheim and David Ives, it was Sondheim's last musical, produced posthumously. In this conversation we discuss surrealism in musical theater, the relationship of the main characters Marianne and Fritz, if this is this an unfinished work, and more. Music Featured: “The Road 1 (Part 1)” from Here We Are “Oh, Look, Here's the Embassy” from Here We Are “Bistro a la Mode (Toast 2)” from Here We Are “The Road 1 (Part 1)”  from Here We Are “Shine” from Here We Are “The Soldier's Dream” from Here We Are “Interlude 1: Marianne and The Bear” from Here We Are “Dear Bill” from Operation Mincemeat You can write to scenetosong@gmail.com with a comment or question or to be a guest. Follow on Instagram @‌ScenetoSong and on Facebook at "Scene to Song with Shoshana Greenberg Podcast." Sign up for the monthly e-newsletter at scenetosong.substack.com and consider supporting on Patreon. Theme music by Julia Meinwald.

According to explosive reports emerging from Washington and Israeli media, Israel passed on intelligence info to U.S. officials regarding an Iran assassination threat against President Trump during last month's NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey. The reported operation to protect the President included extraordinary deception tactics, a possible surface-to-air missile threat, and intelligence that allegedly originated with Israel. If true, this story should reshape how Americans view Israel's role as one of the United States' closest strategic allies.In this episode of Pulse of Israel, Avi Abelow analyzes what these reports could mean for U.S.-Israel relations, the growing Iranian threat, and why this incident should force Washington to rethink its policies toward Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. If Iranian intelligence truly possessed highly detailed information about President Trump's movements—and if Israeli intelligence helped expose the threat—it highlights how closely American and Israeli security interests overlap in confronting common adversaries.This video also examines the broader strategic picture: Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar, Turkey, and the proposed Gaza roadmap. Can governments that have supported Hamas be trusted to shape Gaza's future? Why does Israel continue warning the free world about the dangers posed by jihadist movements? And what lessons should President Trump draw from this reported assassination plot as he shapes future Middle East policy?While President Trump has made historic decisions benefiting Israel, including moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, standing firmly against Iran, and helping secure the release of Israeli hostages, Avi explains why this reported incident should serve as another reminder that Israel is not merely America's ally, but its frontline partner against common terrorist threats.Join Our Whatsapp Channel: https://chat.whatsapp.com/GkavRznXy731nxxRyptCMvFollow us on Twitter: https://x.com/AviAbelowJoin our Telegram Channel: https://t.me/aviabelowpulseFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pulse_of_israel/?hl=enPulse of Israel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IsraelVideoNetworkVisit Our Website - https://pulseofisrael.com/Donate to Pulse of Israel: https://pulseofisrael.com/boost-this-video/

Trump's new 15-point Gaza roadmap has sparked headlines around the world—but is it really a path to peace, or a dangerous repeat of the mistakes that led to October 7?In this Pulse of Israel episode, Avi Abelow explains why Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was right to reject the proposal and why every Israeli must understand what is actually in this new plan. While President Trump has been one of the greatest friends Israel has ever had, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, standing up to Iran, and helping bring our hostages home, friendship does not require silence when Israeli lives are at stake.The new proposal envisions a phased Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a Palestinian technocratic government, Palestinian police, an International Stabilization Force, and international oversight, with Qatar and Turkey playing key roles in shaping the framework. Can Israel really entrust its security to governments that have supported Hamas for years?This video also examines shocking reports that Hamas terrorists have already begun testing Israel's resolve by crossing the "Yellow Line," stealing IDF equipment, and probing Israeli defenses while ceasefire restrictions limited the military's response. Have we learned nothing from October 7?Avi also explains why international guarantees have repeatedly failed, from the Oslo Accords, to UNIFIL in Lebanon, to the United Nations' inability to prevent Hamas from turning Gaza into a terrorist fortress. Israel cannot afford another experiment that leaves our security in the hands of others.The only lasting solution is one where Israel remains in Gaza forever, jihadis live elsewhere in the Middle East, ensuring that jihadis can never rebuild in Gaza, Israeli security remains in Israeli hands, and the Jewish people never again depend on international promises for their survival.Join Our Whatsapp Channel: https://chat.whatsapp.com/GkavRznXy731nxxRyptCMvFollow us on Twitter: https://x.com/AviAbelowJoin our Telegram Channel: https://t.me/aviabelowpulseFollow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pulse_of_israel/?hl=enPulse of Israel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IsraelVideoNetworkVisit Our Website - https://pulseofisrael.com/Donate to Pulse of Israel: https://pulseofisrael.com/boost-this-video/

Are we being too laissez-faire in our approach to artificial intelligence? Rarely has there been a technology so profoundly important, yet so concentrated in the hands of a few private citizens. "National security experts Ivo Daalder and Graham Allison join David Rothkopf to explore the terrifying implications of hands-off policymaking, and why—as with nuclear weapons—we probably shouldn't leave private companies in charge of such explosive technology." This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When Friday is stuck in transit at Geneva airport, she makes a deal with the Swiss authorities. She'll solve their robbery in exchange for a passport.Come along to the Book Launch Show for ‘Friday Barnes 14, Nothing to Lose'. I'll be telling the stories behind the ideas in the book, doing a live reading and probably singing a song about it. Books will be available for purchase and I will be signing them after the show.Arts Theatre (Adelaide)20th September 2026, 2pmDarling Quarter (Sydney)26th September 2026, 2pmPowerhouse Theatre (Brisbane) If you enjoyed the podcast please like, review and/or subscribe!Support the showTo buy one of my books use this link... https://amzn.to/3sE3Ki2To buy me a coffee use this link... https://buymeacoffee.com/storiesrasprattTo book a ticket to a live show use this link... https://raspratt.com/live-shows/

Are we being too laissez-faire in our approach to artificial intelligence? Rarely has there been a technology so profoundly important, yet so concentrated in the hands of a few private citizens. "National security experts Ivo Daalder and Graham Allison join David Rothkopf to explore the terrifying implications of hands-off policymaking, and why—as with nuclear weapons—we probably shouldn't leave private companies in charge of such explosive technology." This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

00:00 Intro00:56 US Embassy Issues Alert for Citizens in China01:50 China Can Treat Normal Business Data as Espionage: Advisory02:20 Unprecedented Han Kuang Drills in Taiwan: Day 603:04 Taiwan Drills for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Attacks03:49 Taiwan Simulates More Realistic War Drills: Newsham07:26 Murder Suspect's Arrest Sparks Outpouring of Sympathy08:50 Former Prosecutor: Growing Dissent Could Lead to Tragedy09:22 Vietnam, Australia Strengthen Ties Amid China Rivalry10:15 US Rejects Beijing's South China Sea Coercion11:04 Patel: FBI Targeting Transnational Repression Across US12:44 Typhoon Dolphin Makes Landfall in China14:05 Senate Passes Sweeping Sanctions on Russia, Iran15:55 Cloud-Connected AI Devices Create New Risks18:13 Connected Cars Could Enable Remote Surveillance

Great leaders don't always have the answers. But they know how to build teams that do. SUMMARY In this episode of Long Blue Leadership, Mitch Torrel '14 discusses the power of mentorship, constructive feedback, humility and creating an environment where everyone can contribute. His leadership lessons are just as relevant in the boardroom as they are on the battlefield.   MITCH TORREL'S TOP 10 LEADERSHIP TAKEAWAYS Lead Through Fear, Not Around It Even when you're anxious or scared, keep moving forward and executing the mission; courage is acting despite fear, not waiting for fear to disappear. Trust Your Preparation When you hit uncertainty, fall back on the work you've already put in — physical, mental, and technical — rather than spiraling about what's coming next. Focus on the Team to Get Out of Your Own Head Shifting your attention from your own anxiety to how you can support and elevate others makes hard environments more endurable and improves performance. Discover You Have “More in the Tank” Don't treat real missions or selections like workouts; push past your comfort ceiling and you'll find reserves of mental and physical capacity you didn't know you had. Break Big Fears into Small, Daily Gains You don't need to be the best today — just better than yesterday; attack weaknesses with small, consistent, incremental progress. Leverage Mentors and Learn Aggressively Assume you're not the first to face a challenge. Seek out people who've done it before and copy their mindset, preparation and frameworks to shorten your learning curve. Make Feedback Normal, Specific, and Frequent Build team habits where everyone gets clear strengths and weaknesses surfaced (even anonymously at first), then use trends in that feedback to drive personal change. Balance Urgency with Deliberate Planning In crises, don't rush in just because the situation is urgent. Pause to gather facts, build a simple plan and avoid making the emergency worse. Use Your Team's Brains — Don't Lead Alone As a leader, your job is to facilitate: Draw out the quiet voices, aggregate the best ideas, and delegate execution rather than trying to be the sole problem-solver. Set Clear Standards and Red Lines Early Explicitly communicate what you will and won't tolerate so you can enforce discipline fairly and consistently, protecting both people and mission over the long haul.   CHAPTERS 00:00:00 – Opening: Leading Through Fear 00:01:27 – Special Tactics Pipeline: Anxiety, Night Sweats and Uncertainty 00:03:50 – Trusting Preparation and Learning to Hate the Water Less 00:05:40 – Shared Hardship and Team Bonding in the Pipeline 00:07:27 – “More in the Tank”: Rucks, Mental Toughness and Selection 00:11:14 – Learning from Others, Mentorship and Owning Weakness 00:15:36 – Five Traits Torrel Looks for in Leaders 00:19:49 – Feedback Culture, Blind Spots and High-Performing Teams 00:25:34 – Thai Cave Rescue: First Mission and Leading Under Pressure 00:29:59 – New Leaders, Delegation and Facilitating the Team 00:36:34 – Failing, Standards and Command Red Lines 00:40:24 – Advice to Younger Self and Enjoying Each Season 00:43:25 – Transition to Business, Ongoing Service and Final Leadership Charge   ABOUT MITCH BIO Mitch Torrel, U.S. Air Force Academy Class of 2014, is a former Division I hockey player, Air Force Special Tactics officer, entrepreneur and founder of Sentry Operations. After beginning his Air Force career in pilot training, Torrel found his calling in special operations, completing the demanding Special Tactics training pipeline and serving in operational and leadership roles. While stationed in Okinawa, Japan, Torrel served as operations officer for the U.S. team supporting the 2018 rescue of 12 young soccer players and their coach from a flooded cave complex in Thailand. The experience, his first operational mission, became one of several defining chapters in a career shaped by high-stakes decision-making, teamwork, resilience and leadership under pressure.   CONNECT WITH MITCH LINKEDIN  |  SENTRY OPERATIONS   CONNECT WITH THE LONG BLUE LINE PODCAST NETWORK TEAM Ted Robertson | Producer and Editor:  ted.robertson@usafa.org Send your feedback or nominate a guest: socialmedia@usafa.org   < ----- > Ryan Hall | Director:  ryan.hall@usafa.org  Bryan Grossman | Copy Editor:  bryan.grossman@usafa.org Wyatt Hornsby | Executive Producer:  wyatt.hornsby@usafa.org     ALL PAST LBL EPISODES  |  ALL LBLPN PRODUCTIONS AVAILABLE AT USAFA.ORG/LONGBLUELEADERSHIP AND ON ALL MAJOR PODCAST PLATFORMS     TRANSCRIPT OUR SPEAKERS:  Guest, Mitch Torrel '14 | Host, Lt. Col. (ret.) Naviere Walkewicz '99 Lt. Col. (Ret.) Naviere Walkewicz 0:01 Sometimes leadership isn't about eliminating fear; it's about learning how to move forward, even if fear is sitting right next to you. I'm Naviere Walkowicz, Class of '99. Long Blue Leadership starts now. Today's guest is Mitch Teorrel, 2014 graduate of the Air Force Academy, former Division I hockey player, Air Force special tactics officer, also an entrepreneur near the founder of Century Operations. You know you've had a unique career. In fact, many probably know a lot of your work when it comes to an international rescue event, and we'll talk about that later on. But I think what's most exciting about this time with you, Mitch, is how you continue to lead, but you've done it through what some would call overcoming fear or maybe leading through fear. And so I think we're going to have a fantastic conversation today, and I welcome you to Long Blue Leadership. Mitch Torrel 0:53 Naviere, I appreciate you for having me out. Humbled to get the opportunity to kind of share some stories today, and so I'm looking forward to it. Thank you. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 1:01 Well, thanks for the time. We're going to jump right in with the time that you know when we had a chance to talk, Mitch. It was something that kind of surprised me, and I think others will really appreciate this. You know, when you're going through your Air Force special tactics training to kind of be in that role, you experience like night sweats and literally having to change your clothes at night. And I'm looking across to you. You're not sweating right now. You're looking pretty cool and calm. And so take me back to that experience, and let's just start there. Mitch Torrel 1:28 Yeah, pipeline is a pretty arduous process. It's two years; every day is a grind. It's difficult. You're not really sure what tomorrow holds, and they keep it that way, pretty close hold. You don't know what you got tomorrow. You just know it's going to be an early rise, and it's going to be really physically taxing. It's going to be mentally demanding, and you're not sure if. I think part of the anxiety is, do I mentally have what it takes to withstand and with withhold another day? Do I physically have what it takes to continue to drive on, and I think that unknown, the unknown on what's to come, am I going to be enough? The two years is a selection process, so you're getting assessed and selected every day, and it's a lot of anxiety to take on because you're not sure how you're going to perform. I think a lot of us have such internal pressures on ourselves to perform in and out every day that it makes it very difficult to get out of your mind and not worry about the anxiety of what's coming tomorrow. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 2:29 Well, it makes me think the closest thing that I can think of right at this moment is you know basic cadet training, which is six weeks, and you just talked about two years of uncertainty and not you know waking up early and not knowing what's next. You know, how did you kind of navigate through that? I think we all know how we navigated through BCT, but I think certainly this is much when it's something that's so enduring. I think that's a different situation. Mitch Torrel 2:51 I think a part of goes back to just trusting in your preparation. Did I do what it took to prepare? And if you did, if you didn't, there's not much you can change the night before, and so trusting in your abilities, your ability to adapt, your ability to withstand. I think I hated the water, and they always told you going through the pipeline. If you don't love the water, you're not going to make it through. And I'm a testament to I hated the water every day, dreaded it almost on a daily basis. But you know, learn to overcome and deal with that anxiety and just pressure that it brought. But every day is an opportunity to kind of build that wall up. Your ability to withstand, your ability to deal with anxiety, your ability to deal with the unknown, and I think the pipeline was a really good opportunity for me to kind of grow. I remember when we were in Mississippi, one of the earlier schools. It's three months. Every day was again very arduous. You didn't know it was coming. Are they going to put us in a pool tomorrow? Am I going to drown? You know, am I going to be able to make it through? Am I going to do a good job of leading the team? I think being able to focus on the team allowed me to not worry about myself and kind of focus on something else. And I think worrying about others allowed me to really make it through some of those arduous times, and that was very helpful to me. I remember I probably took a lot longer to grow to the point where you know you're not worried about tomorrow. I used to have to wake up at night, change my sheets, change what I was wearing, you know, and that happened every night because I would just wake up in a dead sweat and I was soaking wet, and eventually, you know, through exposure and through time, you learn to just exist and not worry about what's coming tomorrow. And it's a constant evolution. You know, that's not to say I don't get anxiety about things that are happening tomorrow today, but you start to learn to head off those thoughts early on and allow yourself to just take what comes tomorrow. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 4:57 So I'm thinking about you being in those moments, and when you said it was probably later on, I'm curious as how you know that every night you're changing your sheets, you're going through that. But I'm curious, were there others that were experiencing the same thing, or were others even helping you through navigating those thoughts that you had? Mitch Torrel 5:14 I think just being in a team environment makes things so much better. Sharing in in in the suffering, sharing in the stories, and getting to reflect on that. When I look back on the pipeline, what an amazing time and something that I think our entire team looks fondly about. We're very close still, and I think that shared hardship, that shared experience, is something that bonds you together for life. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 5:41 So that two-year journey, and obviously you graduated and became an Air Force Special Tactics Officer. You know what was, I guess, the moment that it clicked for you. You know, you said you got to that point. Do you remember that day? Do you remember what was different, or you just all of a sudden didn't sweat the same? Mitch Torrel 5:57 I think it probably lasted for me longer than a lot of people, and you know, it seems like I learned a lot of the lessons hard myself. You know, and but I think it's just something that gradually over time, you know, the way I remember it is one day it stopped, but I'm sure it was a little bit more gradual than that. Like I think over time you just learn to just, hey, tomorrow's going to be no different than it was today. Today was fine. We made it through. The team did great. You know, I performed up to my standard, or maybe if I didn't, tomorrow's another opportunity in which I can go back and get after it again. And there's plenty of times where I look back, and I think it's easy to learn and roll when you're being put in those situations each and every day. And so it was a very growth-oriented couple of years for me, and I really enjoyed it. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 6:52 I would have loved to have been working with you on the day after you didn't have to wake up and change the sheets. Whatever you had, you know, you know, you were more alert that day. You actually had better sleep. Mitch Torrel 7:01 Yeah, I think definitely had to drink a substantially less amount of water each night before going to bed. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 7:09 Oh goodness! Well, let's talk about — I think you know, there was something that you shared before about kind of uncovering in yourself that you had more in your tank than you thought, and I'm curious that that was during pipeline in those moments that were like you know forced experiences, or if you found that at other times when you kind of surprised yourself in learning that about. Mitch Torrel 7:28 I think the entire 10 years was a constant lesson of you've got more in the tank, both physically and mentally. I think when I first decided today, I was going through pilot training, and I just felt like it was more of a hobby than a job. And I got to meet guys in special operations, and was very impressed by the camaraderie, by the caliber of guys that were there. And to me, it was like a hockey team, and I missed that. I missed that group because you wanted to be a pilot first, correct? Is that what you're planning? Yeah, I think my family wanted me to be a pilot. I think they kind of pushed me that direction. I always enjoyed flight, you know. But for me, I just thought that some of my skills and abilities would better translate, and I would have a more fulfilling career, getting to be around you know that type of environment. And I think too, there's always you know, can I make it through the training? Do I have what it takes? You know, what will I learn about myself? And so that was a little bit of kind of just the unknown was alluring, you know. But I think there's just so much every day. Where I remember one of the first selection events, you do a long ruck event, and leading up to training, I was so focused on passing the initial fitness test to just start the assessment that I didn't rock, I didn't do underwater stuff. I was just focused on can I do push-ups? Can I do pull-ups? Can I do the 3-mile run? You know, and that took all my time and energy. And when I got to the ruck, it's unknown time, unknown distance, and they just tell you to go. And I remember I was like, all right, I'm going to treat this like a workout, and I'm going to run for a couple minutes, and then I'll walk for a few minutes, and I'll run for a couple minutes, and that'll help get me through. And I remember Master Sergeant came up to me, and he's like, “Why, why are you walking? And I remember being embarrassed at that moment, where it's do I not have it in the tank where I could have just been running this whole time? Do I want it enough where I can just dig a little bit deeper and showcase that? And I remember that fed me through the next two years, where it's like, do I have the mental hardness? Do I have the toughness? Have I prepared physically, you know, for these events? And so I think that was kind of a good wake-up call. Where it's not a workout, you know, what do you have left in the tank? And I think throughout two years there, went through another direction halfway through my career, and that was another opportunity to kind of dig in the dig in the tank a little bit. Did you approach that one differently? I did, and very proud of you know what I had learned throughout the years, what I was able to showcase. We did a much longer rec event, and I ran the whole thing, and was pretty proud of myself about that. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 10:22 What a fantastic example! Because I'm thinking about you know in in in our work and our profession, we do we think about how can I create something to be distinct, right? How can I do something for the long haul? But you're right. If we don't, if we aren't thinking about how can we perform at our best as part of that, you know, that that equation, then we might not even get to the long haul, right? And so I think that's really powerful that you kind of shared, you know, giving your all and realizing that there was more in there than you originally were trying to like, you know, save. Yeah. Wow, that's a really cool story. I bet there are many examples of that. It was quite. Oh my Did you see others? You know, as you had these moments where you kind of learned these things about yourself, and obviously, I think you know in hockey you probably saw this as well. But have you been able to pull others along with you in these experiences that you've had that you've seen? Maybe others are struggling the same way. Mitch Torrel 11:15 I think everybody struggles in different areas, especially in the pipeline. You're learning a lot of different skill sets. You're working on a lot of different things. Cardio is a part of it. Strength is a part of it. Determination. I mean, just — and there's so much. I think you pick up some really good traits from others. Hey, I really like what you're doing, or how you having such success, or how do you navigate this portion? I was always terrible in the water, bad swimmer, horrible underwater. I think when I went through initial selection, somebody pulled me out of the pool after we did underwaters, which is you go down, do a completely underwater, you know, swim underwater, swim underwater for the distance of the pool, and then come back up at a 45-degree angle. And I remember one of the cadre. He pulled me out of the pool, and he said, "You are terrible. Like I wanted to pass out watching you.   Col. Naviere Walkewicz 10:22 And you're like, "Thank you for that feedback.   Mitch Torrel 12:08 And so it's getting with people who are really good at it and getting advice. I think something throughout my career that I've been very blessed to have is really good mentorship. And you're typically not the first one to go through a process, find a new job, you know, and having a good network of people who, hey, how did you prepare? What set you up for success, or especially in business now, it's a completely new world for me. And having mentors who are able to help think of it this way, or there's a better way to orient your situation, or prepare yourself, and that's really important to surround yourself with people who, you know, are able to elevate you, make you rethink kind of your approach to things, and then give you tips and advice.   Col. Naviere Walkewicz 12:52 So I have to ask, do you like the water today? Mitch Torrel 12:54 I like being on the water, you know, on a boat, you know? Just hanging out. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 12:59 There's some material between you and the water, so that leads me to this question. I know that was a little comical, but I'm curious when someone, as that's you know a developing leader or wherever they're at in their leadership journey, if they really want to be part of something, but there is something that is fundamentally part of that that they just don't like or they're just not good at, what would be the advice you give them? Because you know some people might be like, I just hate that so much, I won't pursue the thing that I love because that component's in there. Mitch Torrel 13:28 I think there's kind of two factors in that. If you hate something so much that you know in your heart that it's not something that you can overcome or you want to deal with on a day-to-day basis, then then maybe that that's not worth you know getting through. But I would also argue that until you give yourself the opportunity to progress and grow and learn to get through whatever that difficulty or whatever that is that you don't like, you won't know. And I think there's a lot of ways to incrementally. You don't have to be the best swimmer today. You just have to be a little bit better than you were yesterday, and I think that was something that we and our team learned throughout the pipeline. Is hey, you don't have to be the best at everything today, but everything that you do today is just making you a little bit better for tomorrow. And so I think breaking down things into manageable and you know smaller bite-sized things that you can you can do. You know hey, when I first started swimming, I couldn't believe people swam multiple laps at a time. You know, and I was like, “All right, I'm going to swim two, you know, 50s at a time tomorrow, and then, you know, next week I'm going to build up to 100,” or, you know, and it doesn't have to all happen overnight. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 14:45 Right. For a moment, I thought two to 100 but you're talking 50s. Well, that's fantastic, and thank you for sharing that because I think what I also gleaned from that is there's some self-discovery that comes from, I really don't like something, a part of you starts to learn, “Really, did I really not like that?” Right? Maybe feared that because I'm not good at that. And so I think I really appreciated your thoughts of you haven't really given your chance to truly assess that. Mitch Torrel 15:10 And I think we build things up so much in our head. You know, I think dive school is one of those — “Oh, it's terrifying.” You know?   Col. Naviere Walkewicz 15:16 I mean, it probably is, I'm not gonna lie.   Mitch Torrel 15:19 And it really wasn't. I think we throughout training did a good job. And in preparation, again, you fall back on your preparation. Worked really hard to get there. Put in the extra And it just makes you know those hurdles that at once seem like mountains, you know, just small little hills that you have to go over. Yeah. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 15:38 Well, you mentioned some of those in your life that you realize when you're going through something, you're probably not the first person that's gone through it, and you have that network of mentors. What are some of the traits that— And I think you alluded to, there are five traits in a leader that you really kind of look to, you know, to see. What are those? Mitch Torrel 15:56 So drive, you know, and a lot of people that were surrounded with, especially at the academy, or in you know in the soft community, or in the military in general, have drive, and so that's not necessarily a unique characteristic, but it's something that you need in order to make you successful. Interpersonal effectiveness, and so how do I integrate with a team? How do I relate to others? And it can't be cookie cutter for everybody, and because team environments, people you know are different, and that's it's one of those soft and fuzzy skills that you need to work on and develop the way that you communicate, and so can I get my message across? Do people understand it? And that's both in writing, spoken. You know, be nonverbal, verbal, the way that you carry yourself, body language, super important. Problem solving. So that's something that the academy does a good job of exposing you to routinely. Can I solve this problem? How do I get my team to you know get after this complex problem? And so that's another one of those characteristics that we typically assess and select for. I think stress tolerance. You know, Pipeline does a really good job of building you up with that. The Academy, basic training, all of that is just another iteration at how am I handling things when I'm getting yelled at, when there's a timeline, when there's you know things at stake. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 17:19 So I'm curious, were those you've just over time recognized that when I see things or leaders succeeding really well or being able to accomplish things that maybe that others would think impossible, they carry those traits. Is that how you have kind of derived them down to five? Mitch Torrel 17:37 I think there's the foundation of it. Obviously, there's a lot of subfacets that go into each of those traits and characteristics and some leaders have you know all five of them in spades. Some of them are much more heavily reliant on some of their characteristics than others, but it's always a good thing to develop the traits that you're lacking. I think feedback is a really important trait and really important characteristic of well-functioning teams, and so how did I do this week? If I didn't do great, you know, like I don't need to be beaten down about it. But people typically want to be high performers, and everybody has blind spots, and so being able to call out those blind spots in a healthy and functional manner is super important because people want to be high performers. And I had the privilege of running and getting to work some of our selection events, and what we found was a really cool trend, which is we used to do weird feedback, and so guys would show up to selection, and right away the first day you'd have a bunch of tasks and events, and we'd bring everybody together and be like, all right, go down the row. Who is the two highest performing guys today? And that's really easy. People love to give praise, and then you go down the line, and you're like, all right, call out the two lowest performing guys and tell them why. And people go, I don't want to do that, and it's like, why? Like, do you not want them to get better? Do you not want them to have the opportunity? We're in Day 1 of day X, and it's not too early to turn their train around. What we saw is typically the guys who are the lowest performing early on are never the lowest performing at the end of the year, and they take that feedback, they internalize it, and they adopt and you know overturn that. And it's really fun to see that progression, but none of that happens if they don't get called out, if they don't get constructive feedback. “Hey, when we were working as a team, you were doing X and Y and Z by yourself, or you know, there's a million reasons why either an action is perceived as hey, you weren't for the team, or you didn't perform the standard.” I think people getting that feedback is what turns that train around. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 19:49 Right, it's almost probably like exactly what they needed. So I'm curious because feedback is challenging. It's hard to I think for some to give feedback. It's hard for some to receive feedback, I'm fascinated because when I think about the pace in which you have had to operate and do things, that you make time for feedback. I'm curious if you could talk about how you guys do that in a way that's received well. Mitch Torrel 20:13 I think it, again, it goes back to interpersonal effectiveness, and so you've got to know who do I have on my team? Are they somebody who's going to internalize this or not take it very well? There's a bunch of different ways in which you can get feedback and then provide it to somebody. Where we used to early on in the pipeline, as guys were learning to get feedback and you know not you know get too shaken up about it. Is we would have guys write, all right, hey, everybody on our team, we're going to do three things they do well, three things you wish they'd improve on, and then we strip out the names and we provide just a list of hey, here your three things that you're doing really well, and then here are your three weaknesses that you know everybody said we go around we talk about it, and that was a really good kind of introduction, where it's not tanked to anybody. Right. And then what's really nice is you start to see trends. So it's really easy for people to be like, “Oh, you know, Mitch doesn't like me,” or, “That's Mitch's opinion.” But when you start to see that correlation of, well, I got this five times. Is hey, my body language day to day is probably not where it needs to be, or I'm constantly putting others down, or I'm just you know not showing up on time, just small things, and I think drawing awareness to that and getting buy-in from guys to change it, and you see that transition all the time, where, all right, like, now I'm aware of it, I can fix it, I can identify it, and then you get the team to hold you accountable with it. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 21:44 Well, in the way that you just described that, I'm curious how often you think that it's, you know, relevant or should be practiced. Is it, like, in the moment? Is it something, like, that where it's weekly? But I think, what I think is really neat about that — it was never attacking, and it was never something they had to defend. It just seemed like it was just information. Like it's what you do really well. This is what you need to work on. And taking the attribution away from it, like who said it? I think just made it, you know. Mitch Torrel 22:09 And I think everybody got to understand that you're a student, you know, of life and a student of your job. You're a student of life. You're a student of you know whatever position you're in. And I had a mentor growing up and played professional sports, and there was a conversation where, hey, “How do how do you know when it's time to retire? How do you know when you're done?” And it's when I stop improving and I stop learning. And so having that mentality where, no matter how long you've been around, there's things to improve upon, there's things to learn, is really hard to have because people, you know, you get comfortable in a position. It's like I've seen it all, I've done it all, I've been there. But the people who are the best at their jobs, and especially in the military, the people who show up every day, work on their trade, work on their skills and seek to improve, and I've been blessed to be surrounded by just, I mean, some of the most decorated warriors that the Air Force has put out on the battlefield. And it was a humbling experience, but even more so humbling was the approach they took every day. As they came into work every day and got better at something. They didn't sit on their laurels and “Hey, I did this two years ago, and now I can kind of walk through the rest of my career.” It was— they came in every day to work, and it was impressive. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 23:30 Oh man! What is something that and normally asks at the end, but it just seems so fitting right now. Like, how are you getting better and learning every day? Mitch Torrel 23:38 I think every day is new problem sets, and I think it's you know trying to expand my education. I think there's a lot of new tools out there. There's a lot of new opportunities and think the world's constantly changing. And so, staying informed is one of the ways in which I'm trying to be a better leader. I think business is this completely new hurdle. I think being in the military, there's a very different type of leadership that you're able to bring. And two, I mean, everybody is there for the mission generally and believes in the task and purpose. And business now, you kind of need to appeal to people in a lot more of a well-rounded manner. And so, I think having conversations with mentors, you know, I'm maintaining that. I try and just meet as many people as I can and glean information from them, experiences from them, because I'd like to think I'm getting smarter as I get older. I'm trying to learn all the lessons myself. So… Col. Naviere Walkewicz 24:39 Well, I'm grateful for that because the reason why we're talking here is because you answered, you know, and we're willing to talk about it. So I think that's you know just proof right there of that stretching and outreach. So before we shift into, I'm curious on you know you talk about you asked your mentor when does he know it's time to retire. I would love Kind of the business world, but before that, I'd like to visit actually one of your experiences while you're in in service, and you know it's something there's you know there's a movie on it. We actually featured in our 2018 checkpoint, but you were instrumental in rescuing the boys' soccer team in Thailand when they had a huge monsoon. And I was wondering if you kind of take me not so much. Maybe you can share with others in case they aren't familiar with it. But I'm really curious about the leadership piece of that because it was a huge operation, and it was dealing with water. So let's talk about that. Mitch Torrel 25:34 Yeah, exactly — my nightmare. You know what? I just happened to be in the right time at the right place. There was a team of pararescue men and combat controllers stationed out in Okinawa, Japan. There was a group of soccer players who got stranded in a cave after the monsoons came early and had flooded out a section. The Thai leadership and parks team, and then eventually the Thai Navy tried to attempt a rescue, and they weren't able to action it. So they reached out to the U.S. Embassy and asked if we had anybody in in the region who could come help. And that just happened to be our team out in Okinawa. I think it was definitely a challenge. There wasn't a lot of information when we left out the door. It was either, you know, is 13 individuals stuck in a cave. We don't know what the hurdles are. We don't know what's been tried. We don't know anything. We don't even know if they're alive. Oh my goodness. And so, getting on the ground, there was a lot of information to take in. There's a lot of people who were trying to help, trying to facilitate a rescue, working, you know, their own agendas, and I think coordinating and making sense of all that chaos was kind of the first task. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 26:47 And so, what was your role? So, you know, obviously, like the call came in, and then you know, you were — that was, you know, your, you know, was assigned to that. What was your piece, and like, how did you navigate that chaos? Mitch Torrel 26:58 So I felt like I had the best job out of you know anybody there. I got to be the operations officer, and so I was kind of the troop commander for the team that we had out. And you know, meanwhile, my leadership had to you know liaise with the other leaders. I got to be kind of down and in focused. All right, what plans are we working? How are we coordinating and liaising with our Thai counterparts? And got to be a little bit more down and in. And so I really enjoyed that part, and that was kind of why I got into special operations in general as I wanted to be, you know, working with a team of really, really high-functioning individuals on very hard problems. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 27:38 Right, and this was one of the first kind of very hard problems that you were, you know, working on. Mitch Torrel 27:43 It was. So this was my first operational mission, you know, coming out of the pipeline. I got stationed in Okinawa, and this was kind of the first opportunity to showcase what I'd learned and employ. And it was kind of, you know, everybody's dream is to go through training and then get to action some of those skills and traits that they've developed. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 28:02 Well, I imagine it was quite busy, you know, around the clock because you know time wasn't on their side, and so you were really working against the clock. But I'm curious how you, you know, how do you navigate with urgency as a leader, but still safely? You know, like how do you manage that? Mitch Torrel 28:21 I think, sometimes you got to know when to kind of pull the reins, and it's very easy— it was a very urgent situation, right? There's 13 kids trapped. They don't have food or water. We don't know if they're alive. The cave is continually flooding more and more every hour. But you got to have a plan to go off of. You got to be able to not rush into an emergency and make things worse. And I think off the start, nobody was monitoring who came and went from the cave, and that generated issues. John and Rick, the U.K. and British divers, stumbled on you know two would-be rescuers who got subsequently stranded in another section of the cave, and they were able to get them out. And then, and so we realized that taking a step back, generating a plan. When we arrived, there was a key leaders contingent that went into the cave to kind of get information first and foremost. And then we spent the rest of the team, all right download the gear, stage everything, prep everything, go get some rest, and then we're going to generate and come up with a plan in the morning. But sometimes you got to realize that you can't move them out in overnight, and so you need to take time, you know, do a little five-minute huddle and make sure that you have a plan that's not going to get you further into trouble. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 29:38 Yes, well, it's such an important role, and I'm thinking about you know those moments where your like, “Get some rest,” as the leader in this, and you know, kind of organizing this. What are the thoughts going through some of your in your head? And I ask that because I'm thinking about leaders who are experiencing something difficult for the first time, and maybe there's some doubt, or you know, how do you how do you calm yourself through some of those questions? Mitch Torrel 30:00 I think, for new leaders, you don't have to have all the answers yourself, and that is first and foremost. I on team, and probably one of the most junior guys. Yes, I'm in charge as the officer, but the guys who are working with me have been in the Air Force, have done rescue missions, have been doing the job for 15, 18, you know, upwards of 20 years, and so I think understanding that no matter where you're at in a team, you you're a part of a team for a reason, and you should be able to leverage input, leverage ideas, and you shouldn't be beholden to coming up with everything on yourself. I think delegation is super important. I think getting input and opinions from others is extremely important because sometimes the quietest guy in the room is going to have the best idea, and you need to enable and empower them to speak up, put them on the spot. You know, “Hey, what do you think? What do you— How do you think we should approach this?” And then your job as a leader is to take all these good ideas, is to empower the team to do its best, and so your job isn't to carry the water, come up with a plan, and do everything on your own. Like, you were there as a facilitator, and I think that that is the biggest takeaway. I spend, especially young cadets, please, please, please leverage you know the experience that that you're going to go out and be on team with. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 31:22 I think that's fantastic advice. And as you look back on it today, I know we chatted a little bit earlier. I said, gosh, you know, it probably it's a while ago, but maybe it feels like yesterday, and you said no, it feels like forever ago. You know, have you seen yourself? You learn from that, but have you grown in the way that you continue to do things now because of that experience? Mitch Torrel 31:43 I think everything is additive. You know, I mean that was a huge learning experience. It was I learned a ton. I think there are several things that having a second shot at it that would have done substantially different. I think the outcome ended up in a very happy manner; I think it's very easy now that we've developed this framework. Here's how we tackle this problem, but that's been applicable in other means and other avenues as well. And so again, you know, as you build your toolbox of experience, as you build kind of these traits, and you get to refine that, it's something that you continually get to bring out in other manners. And so yeah, I grew a lot from the event, learned a lot, and have been able to apply it since. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 32:29 Well, as I've been sitting across from you, one of the things that I'm just feeling in spades is that as a leader, you are somebody that's really humble, and you know you approach it, like, through humility. And so I'm curious, you know, how you've seen that carry you, and what you might share with others when they're thinking about, you know, how do I, you know, as I'm leading, how do I lead? Like how do I lead with humility? Because it seems like it's working very well for you. Mitch Torrel 32:51 I think it was easy to be humble when you're surrounded by the caliber of individuals that I was blessed to be around mean, every team I was on, it was. I mean, they were phenomenal guys who have done phenomenal things in their career and were just so impressive. And so I was just always just thrilled to be a teammate of theirs. I think, really going back to you know, again, your job as a leader is to facilitate the team, is to you know drive you towards mission accomplishment. I think if you always put things back onto why we here, it's not for leadership's sake, leaders don't exist, you know, outside of facilitation, and you know it's not to downplay the job of the leader. It's not at all. It's a big responsibility. You have the authority. You have the — you know all of that, and so now it's your job to delegate that accordingly and efficiently. And I think it's going back to just understanding that again, we exist for the mission. We exist to enable that team to accomplish whatever its task or business you know directive is, and so I think having an understanding of that, and then it's just fun to see people progress, right? You know that the cave rescue was my first mission, but that didn't mean because I hadn't had real world experience that I didn't have things that I could bring to the table, and I think it's understanding that as well as humility is important. Like maybe you know not jumping across the table and you know declaring yourself the king of whatever's going on, but individuals have a lot that they bring to the table. You know, having an ability to you know see other things that aren't being looked at, bring other perspectives to the table, even just making sense of the chaos. You know, and that's not something that you need to be a leader or in a leadership position to do. And being forward leaning enough to anticipate hurdles, second, third order effects. What else needs to be accomplished or taken care of? I mean, there's a lot of ways in which you can provide value. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 34:56 Mitch, have you always kind of been this way? Have you always kind of operated in that space or is it something that you've kind of learned over time about yourself, or taken on from others you've seen? Mitch Torrel 35:06 I think it's something that's developed. You know, I don't think you know. I think there's a little bit of nurture and nature into it, where you know you're born a certain orientation where it's like, hey, you're comfortable being you know in charging groups, and some people aren't, and that's OK. But a lot of people develop into it, and I think I've just been blessed with a lot of opportunities to try things out, fail, come back to the drawing board, work on it, improve, and you know the pipeline was monumentally developmental for me. I'm sure there's a lot of teammates who you know listen to this and laugh pretty hard about you know some of the stupid things that I did going through the pipeline, but they're learning experiences, and we had a really good group, and we pushed each other so hard, and so I had an assistant troop commander who was going through with me, and we had really healthy camaraderie, but a really healthy. I mean, we were constantly competing, and it just drove me to be so much better. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 36:07 So, you know, we were talking about how you are continually working on being better, right? Being better than you were yesterday, so that it's always kind of an additive improvement. I'm curious on when you've seen yourself fail. You talked about you failed and you've gotten better. Can you share an example of when you have failed and that literally shaped something very quickly instead of being additive, but quickly that you changed in the way that you already did. Mitch Torrel 36:34 I think just failures and take care of people, I think is one of the biggest things to learn is, you know, going through the pipeline, it's easy to you know lose sight of the overall end state. And at the end of the day, it's your goal is to there be there to make people better incrementally every day. I think there's been a couple situations in which maybe I was a little ax on some enforcement of rules or standard that came back to kind of bite us a little bit, you know. And so, and this this will probably feel free to cut this, you know. But I think there was an opportunity guys going through a pipeline. They're really young. I grew up, you know, in northern Minnesota, and you know, people drink underage. I was hey I'm OK hearing about it or you know like I'm you know as a commander it's like if it happens it happens you know but I think what's hard is how do you enforce the rules if you're looking the other way if you're not enforcing that standard and so I think what's really hard is you can be there be one of the guys but you got to set your red lines you got to set hey here's what I will and will not tolerate and so I think I learned early in the pipeline that if I'm OK or if I let the standard slip on certain things, you know, like guys drink underage, like guys do you know stupid things, and then they get in trouble for it. How do I, as a commander, enforce it? And so it was one of those learning experiences where going through the pipeline, guy had you know you know got found drinking underage, and it's like, “Hey, it's on you as the, you know, officer to discipline them.” It's like, “Well, I'm also a part of the problem because I didn't set that standard. I, you know, allowed it.” And so I think that was one of those heavy learning experiences where, you know, you're — yes, you're the quarterback of the team, but you got to there has to be some delineation between you know between what you allow and what you can't. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 38:49 I'm really glad you shared that because I think that's real. I think that is something a challenge that you know, especially when I think about the Class of '26 that just graduated and they just finished their six days of leave, and they're soon to head onto their bases, right? You know, the world doesn't always turn out, and so how do they navigate some of those things that they're going to inevitably come across? So I think that's a real conversation, and I really appreciate you sharing that. Mitch Torrel 39:14 And I think what I started doing, you know, from then on is, is you as a commander, you as a officer, should have you know your command guidance. It should be your checklist. Hey, here's what I value. Here's what my red lines are, and you gotta set the standard immediately to just let people know, “Hey, like here's what I'm gonna be irritated about if you show up late to meetings.” If, you know, here's what you know I'm not gonna handle any moral, legal, or ethical issues. Like if it's not moral or legally or ethically a problem, like my job is to you know delegate that down to you and allow you guys to do it. And so setting that standard early as leaders is extremely important because then it allows you to enforce, uphold the standard, and be like, "Hey, we talked about this. This is the expectation. You understood the expectation, and now I can hold you accountable.” And it's not me coming after you because we sat down and had a conversation. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 40:13 That's right. That's excellent advice. So one of the things that we like to do is ask you if you were sitting across, not Navid now, if you're sitting across young Mitch. What was what piece of advice you'd share with him? Mitch Torrel 40:25 I think, enjoy the period in which you're in every stage. I feel like every four years, I look back on the previous four years and just think about what an amazing time period that was. And you know, getting to play hockey, going to the academy, the academy was amazing. You're hanging with your friends. You're in college, and you know, increasingly as you age, it's going to be increasing responsibility. There's going to be a lot more you know burden on your shoulders, but it's fun, you know. And progression is fun, moving on to the next stage. But I think enjoy where you're at in life a little bit more. It would kind of be my advice. And then, you know, I don't necessarily regret anything, but it's you know continually to just work hard, progress, and you know have those cups coffee, learn from other mentors, you know, expand your network, and just grow.   Col. Naviere Walkewicz 41:20 What are you doing now that helps you enjoy life? Mitch Torrel 41:25 I think right now, so just moved, and you know, right now I'm trying to focus on a little bit more me, you know, be a little healthier with sleep, eating, you know, and just I think it's easy to kind of burn the candle at both ends, and now it's kind of taking a step back and understanding that you need to be rejuvenated, you need to you know unplug periodically to be able to bring your all to you know what you're working on, and sometimes things get monotonous, and sometimes you know you just need to take a step back and reinvigorate yourself. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 41:58 I love that. That's fantastic. So, today, in today's terms, what are you most proud about yourself when it comes to? And if I word this right, maybe I say, what are you most proud about in being a facilitator? I want to say being a leader, but I wonder if you're going to answer that. I'm really good at facilitating high-performing teams. I'm curious how it goes. Mitch Torrel 42:19 I think what I'm most proud about is just looking back at the people I've had the blessing of coming across and just seeing them grow in their life. You know, like I think we allow sometimes in in the military where everybody's going to leave the military at some point, and that's OK. You know, I've got friends who stayed in for 2030, years and done phenomenal things. I've got friends who've gotten out, and you know progressed in their professional careers, and to me, it's just fun to see where everybody ends up. Like I love seeing people have success, and especially people who, you know, I may or may not have helped at least a little bit. You know, or you know, at least been a bad example of what not to do. But I think, yeah, it's the relationships that I look back on, and I'm just very happy to have you know gotten to know the people that I've come across. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 43:13 Well, you yourself made that transition, I think, from you know active service and obviously an entrepreneur. You know, what's some advice you might give someone in in that kind of decision calculus of transitioning their career? Mitch Torrel 43:26 I think it just goes back to again, am I am I continually am I student of the game? Am I showing up every day invigorated to learn and be better at my job? And you know maybe if the answer is if not, you need to step away for a little bit, reinvigorate yourself, reprioritize your life. And sometimes it's just, hey, I've got some goals that I've set out to get after, and sometimes your path diverges, and that's OK. And I think in my case it was I had some things that I wanted to accomplish in life that the — it was just time for me to, you know, change my path, of course. And so it wasn't. I loved the military. I loved the team environment, the camaraderie, the units that I got to be part of were phenomenal, and I miss that every day. But sometimes you just got to, you know, understand where you're going and you know set out and accomplish those goals. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 44:20 Well, I think there's been a theme across many of the graduates I get to speak with, and service continues even out of uniform. So I think that that definitely speaks volumes. So Mitch, was there anything today that we didn't cover that you would love to share with our graduate community, even if it's just words of encouragement? Mitch Torrel 44:37 No, I think it's just you know continue to build your skill set, build your toolbox, understand that every day is an opportunity to learn to better communicate, to invest in yourself, to professionalize you know your approach to things and building discipline, building you know your approach to complex problems, and I think a lot of us just want to check the box and move on and get you know. But every day again is an opportunity to better yourself, and so I think that that's what I would impart on, you know, younger next generation who are going to solve tomorrow's hard problems, who are going to be in these complex positions that we can't even fathom. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 45:21 Well, there are so many amazing things that we covered today that I think many can take back and internalize and find the way that it connects to them. But something that really stood out to me, just first and foremost, with you mentioned that you're more authentic and you just live with your heart. And so I think that came out in spades. I loved learning that you know leadership to you started with really kind of looking inward and what you really wanted, right? You could have gone a path of a pilot, and you could have done well, but you recognize that there is something that you wanted to do that might be more fulfilling with your skill set and align better with you. I think that that is that awareness as a leader is really important. I also really appreciate how you continue on focus on better every day, and you don't have to be the best tomorrow. But you need to be better than you were, and you're competing against yourself every day while lifting others up. I think the other thing that I really just enjoyed about you is remembering that the leader, yes, does have responsibilities to make decisions and you know, you know, advocate and empower others, but you're a facilitator and making sure that you help others have their voices bring out the best so that you actually can bring out the mission to success. So it's been an incredible conversation. I've thoroughly enjoyed this. So I just truly appreciate you being on Long Blue Leadership. Mitch Torrel 46:33 No, thank you. Col. Naviere Walkewicz 46:35 Absolutely. And so, for any of you that are still watching and listening to this, be sure to share this with others because the leadership journey is one that it never ends. Right? We're always growing and evolving, and this conversation and all of our conversations on Long Blue Leadership with the lives of Air Force Academy graduates can just help you in your own personal journey. So, see you next time on Long Blue Leadership. I'm Naviere Walkowicz. Thank you. Mitch Torrel 46:56 Thank you.   KEYWORDS Leadership, fear, resilience, mental toughness, preparation, adaptation, team cohesion, shared hardship, humility, mentorship, feedback, continuous improvement, self-awareness, stress tolerance, problem solving, interpersonal effectiveness, communication, delegation, accountability, standards, courage, growth mindset, trust, mission focus, servant leadership.   The Long Blue Line Podcast Network is presented by the U.S. Air Force Academy Association & Foundation    

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In this episode, Dale tags in to help Nick save hostages in Rescue: The Embassy Mission for the NES! How many agents will we lose? What city is this embassy in, anyway? Will Jumbo ever make it to his sniper spot? Listen in or the POLITICAL TERRORISTS will win!

This month on the Immigration Lawyers Toolbox Podcast, host John Q. Khosravi, Esq. skips the interview format for a rapid-fire rundown of the news, memos, and courtroom curveballs immigration attorneys need on their radar right now from USCIS quietly closing affirmative asylum cases without an interview and a judge denying a marriage-based green card under a new discretion memo, to the $100,000 H-1B fee proposal resurfacing for F-1 students, a biometrics-rescheduling trick that can save your client weeks, and a fresh court order pausing parts of USCIS's TPS and asylum-fee enforcement. It's the practice-management update that keeps you ahead of USCIS before your clients call you first. Timestamps: 00:00 Opening 00:33 Intro 02:57 my.USCIS.gov website glitch (false approvals/denials) 04:10 OPT denials tied to arrests & good moral character 05:24 FT report: 80% of US embassies lack an ambassador 06:07 Join the free private attorney community (Circle) 07:14 SB-1 returning resident visa risks 08:46 USCIS closing affirmative asylum cases without interview 10:49 Ciudad Juárez getting strict on affidavit of support 13:27 Sponsor: Constellation (websites/marketing for law firms) 15:07 TPS-to-marriage adjustment withdrawal trap 16:34 Immigration judge denies adjustment citing discretion memo 17:07 WebEx possibly leaving immigration court 17:39 $100K H-1B fee may extend to F-1 students 18:01 Biometrics rescheduling trick (switch ASC location) 19:14 DC court pushes back on 75-country travel pause (EB-5 case) 19:52 New civil penalties for contempt in immigration court 20:11 Court stays USCIS TPS EAD & asylum fee policies (Venez v. USCIS) 22:37 NVC shuffling Iranian cases between Embassies. 23:20 Lawsuit blocks travel ban on Afghan I-730 cases 23:50 Wrap-up & how to join the community/courses 24:11 Outro Spotify | iTunes | YouTube Music | YouTube Follow eimmigration by Cerenade: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn Start your Business Immigration Practice! (US LAWYERS ONLY - SCREENING REQUIRED): E-2 Course EB-1A Course Get the Toolbox Magazine!  Join our community (Lawyers Only) Get Started in Immigration Law! The Marriage/Family-Based Green Card course is for you Our Website: ImmigrationLawyersToolbox.com Not legal advice. Consult with an Attorney. Attorney Advertisement. #podcaster #Lawyer #ImmigrationLawyer #Interview #Immigration #ImmigrationAttorney #USImmigration #ImmigrationLaw #ImmigrationLawyersToolbox  

A Michelin-recommended restaurant on top of an Embassy Suites changes the conversation pretty quickly. I spoke with Bonnie Campagnolo, Global Head of Embassy Suites, from the rooftop of the brand's Asheville hotel, where the restaurant draws customers seven nights a week. The property combines two-room suites, breakfast and the evening reception with meeting space, serious food and beverage, and a rooftop experience befitting the Asheville market. Bonnie explains how Embassy Suites gives developers more flexibility to shape each hotel around local demand while protecting the elements that keep guests choosing the brand. That approach lets owners add restaurants, bars, meeting space and other revenue drivers without turning every Embassy Suites into the same building. Click through and watch my latest #NoVacancyNews video to see how this Asheville property pushes the brand in a new direction and hear where Bonnie plans to take Embassy Suites next. Want the weekly roundup of news, videos, and what you might've missed from #NoVacancyNews? Text HOTEL to 66866.

The tech bros have made their bed, and soon it's going to be time to lie in it. From Palantir to OpenAI, the figureheads of the major AI companies have endeared themselves to the Trump administration. Financial Times correspondent Joe Miller joins David Rothkopf to discuss how the impending midterms and not too distant presidential election could bring a reckoning to the tech industry.  This material is distributed by TRG Advisory Services, LLC on behalf of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the U.S.. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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//The Wire//2100Z July 31, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: GIBRALTAR CRISIS CONTINUES AS 60,000 MIGRANTS FLOOD INTO SPAIN. ITALY TO SUSPEND SCHENGEN AGREEMENT WITH SPAIN DUE TO MIGRANT CRISIS. IRAN CONTINUES TARGETING KUWAIT AS UNITED STATES CONSOLIDATES POSITIONS IN MIDDLE EAST AMID IRANIAN TARGETING EFFORTS.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Spain: The situation regarding the migrant wave has continued to deteriorate sharply. After the perimeter fence was breached yesterday, the sheer waves of people crossing the border have devastated the enclave of Ceuta. Spanish authorities estimate that over 60,000 people have crossed the border since the perimeter breach last night, and most residents of the peninsula have been barricading themselves inside their homes as the sheer number of people in this small town is staggering. Home invasions and forced-squatting instances have been reported all around the peninsula, along with mass looting and destruction taking place. Throughout this morning, many migrants have also been observed crossing back into Morocco, after realizing that the small peninsula cannot sustain this many people, as water and food sources have been expended throughout much of the city.Analyst Comment: Additionally, videos surfaced overnight confirming that this effort is not entirely organic. Truckloads of migrants are deliberately being driven to the border fence and released into Spain with the active participation of the Moroccan government. Moroccan border guards have also been observed opening the fence from their side as well, allowing large crowds through gates separating the peninsula from the mainland.Europe: This morning, the Italian government has suspended their Schengen Agreement with Spain, cutting off free travel between the two nations. The Interior Minister for Finland also voiced support for Italy's decision, urging other EU member states to likewise close their borders with Spain.Analyst Comment: Spain losing visa-free access to Italy is a big deal, as Italy one of the largest economies in Europe and cross-border trade between Spain and Italy amounts to roughly €70 billion per year. The Schengen agreement does specifically allow for the temporary halting of the pact as a measure of last resort, which Italy has enacted. If more nations follow suit, Spain could be in quite a tough spot that will probably result in a complication of trade in the short term. -----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: In the Middle East, the war remains much the same as before, with most strikes targeting American bases in Kuwait. No strikes have been reported in Jordan yet today, but satellite imagery is still pending coverage since the strikes on al Salti a few days ago. The United States has reportedly turned around a few vessels in the Gulf of Oman, which if true, confirms that the American blockade is still in effect to some degree. Similarly, Iranian sources claim to have struck two more tankers somewhere in the Gulf or Strait of Hormuz, but the UKMTO has not confirmed this yet (which they might not do, as they also underreported successful strikes a few weeks ago). In Iraq, Arab news sources are reporting that the drawdown of the American presence in Erbil is nearly complete, and that all missile defenses have been withdrawn from this installation and relocated elsewhere. Though the scale of the American withdrawal in Iraq is not exactly being openly advertised, moving the remains of that Patriot battery are a big clue that the U.S. is looking to cede Iraq to Iran's sphere of influence. The Erbil airport was the last official American position in the nation (aside from the Embassy in Baghdad), so if the US has departed this base, this would be the first time in 23 years the US has not had a conventional military presence in Iraq. Now, the closest positions to Iran (from the western side), are in Kuwait. This is probably why Iranian strikes continue to focus on Kuwait, and the American bases within. This is not just intended to reduce the potential for more American ATACMS missile launches from the border region, but also to keep pressure on the United States, preventing the staging of aircraft at the handful of airbases in Kuwait.Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269 Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report. //END REPORT//

Let's go through the most recent spate of warnings, arising primarily from the Iran war, issued by the U.S. State Department and the embassies of several different countries.

Kyle Morgan spent over twenty years in the Army. Infantry, then Green Beret, then more than a decade in the nation's premier special missions unit running hostage rescue. In 2015 he was advising the U.S. Embassy in Mali when terrorists took the Radisson Blu hotel. He built a team on the fly and went in. The award for that was the Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor. Today he runs Blu Bearing, trains police and civilians, and serves on the board of Frontline Healing Foundation. When the job ends the machine has already forgotten about you, and he'll tell you that isn't cruel because it has to forget you to keep moving. The guys who come apart are the ones still trying to replace something that can't be replaced. He didn't leave the way he wanted to. There was addiction, a DUI he hid, and an overdose that nearly ended it, and his old command circled the wagons around him more than once before he finally made it out. Sobriety and faith are what brought him back, almost five years of it now, and he spends his time pointing at the cost so the next guy doesn't pay it blind. He'll tell you he's more proud of the husband and father he is today than anything he ever did downrange.  Blu Bearing Solutions: ⁠https://blubearing.com/⁠ Join the Cleared Hot Newsletter: ⁠https://www.clearedhot.com⁠ Take the Operator Code Assessment: ⁠https://www.theoperatorcode.com⁠ Today's Sponsors:  Black Rifle Coffee:  ⁠https://www.blackriflecoffee.com⁠ LMNT: ⁠https://www.drinklmnt.com