Podcasts about Full scale

TJ Joosten is the co-founder of RevFixr, a pricing and monetization consultancy that helps SaaS companies improve pricing, packaging, and revenue growth. Before starting RevFixr, TJ spent a decade building and selling software, helping early-stage companies find customers, refine product-market fit, and navigate pricing decisions from small startup deals to multi-million-dollar enterprise contracts. Today, he works with SaaS founders, private equity firms, and software companies ranging from $1M ARR to $20M+ in revenues. TJ and his team have worked with more than 100 software companies, helping them identify monetization gaps, redesign packaging, move upmarket, and capture more of the value they create without necessarily building new products. In our practical conversation, TJ explains why most founders systematically underprice their software, why private equity firms often see pricing opportunities founders miss. We also discuss what's changing (and not changing) in pricing and packaging with AI and agents this year. He shares savvy advice on usage-based pricing, hybrid pricing models, AI agents, and why founders should continuously test pricing rather than treating it as a fixed decision. Key Takeaways Monetization Gap - Most SaaS companies create more value every year but fail to capture it through pricing and packaging. Pricing Courage - Founders procrastinate price increases while private equity buyers immediately look for pricing opportunities. Hybrid Pricing - Combining fixed fees with usage pricing often increases expansion revenue while reducing buyer risk. Founder Ownership - Pricing works best when one person owns it while sales, product, and finance actively contribute. Constant Testing - Pricing is not fixed; every new quote is an opportunity to validate a better monetization strategy. Quote from TJ Joosten, Co-founder of RevFixr "If you rarely get friction on pricing, it's rarely a barrier to entry and closing sales, then you have a pricing opportunity. If at least 20% of your deals in the negotiating stage don't push back on pricing then you're probably charging way too little. "If let's say 40 % keeps giving you pushback then of course you might want to go down. At that stage they have already invested time so they'll always also be honest about are you simply too expensive and therefore I'm not buying your solution?  "Or is there a different reason? You can just straight up ask someone like why didn't you buy? And if they don't give the reason of price, then you probably don't have a pricing problem." Links Tjitte (TJ) Joosten on LinkedIn RevFixr on LinkedIn RevFixr website Podcast Sponsor – Full Scale This podcast is sponsored by Full Scale, one of the fastest-growing software development companies in any region. Full Scale vets, employs, and supports over 300 professional developers, designers, and testers in the Philippines who can augment and extend your core dev team. Learn more at fullscale.io. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding.  A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.

Serhii Plokhy describes how by October 20, the Joint Chiefs, led by Curtis LeMay, were pushing for Oplan 312 (a full-scale invasion), accusing Kennedy of "appeasement." Kennedy feared an invasion would trigger a Soviet takeover of West Berlin. He successfully hid the crisis from the media for a week to weigh his options. Choosing the term "quarantine" to avoid a legal act of war, he bought critical time. Meanwhile, Khrushchev fell into a panic in Moscow, fearing an imminent U.S. strike and even considering a false-flag claim that the missiles were under Cuban control. (4)1920

AP Washington correspondent Sagar Meghani reports Israel and Iran have traded strikes.

This edWeb podcast is sponsored by Logitech.The edLeader Panel recording can be accessed here.For many students, confidence gaps, language barriers, and limited access to the right tools can make it hard to fully participate in today's digital learning environment. Addressing these challenges requires a thoughtful, student-centered approach to edtech integration.Richard J. Lee Elementary, an Apple Distinguished School in Coppell ISD, offers a compelling example of what's possible when students have access to the right tools. Educators there are using iPad devices alongside headsets, styluses, and keyboard cases to remove barriers, increase focus, and unlock new possibilities for creativity and project-based learning.The results are striking: over 90% of students surveyed after the edtech pilot felt more confident using common tools and platforms, with significant gains in participation and academic growth, especially for emergent bilinguals and newly enrolled students.In this edWeb podcast, Dwight Goodwin, Executive Director of Technology for Coppell ISD, and Madeleine Mortimore, Global Education Innovation and Research Lead at Logitech, share what worked for Richard J. Lee Elementary alongside new research from FullScale and THE Journal. Listeners leave with actionable practices to help all students overcome confidence gaps, engage more deeply with digital tools, and express themselves fully throughout their learning journey.This edWeb podcast is of interest to K-12 librarians, school leaders, district leaders, and education technology leaders.LogitechSpark innovation and open up possibilities so students of all learning styles and locations thrive.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Learn more about viewing live edWeb presentations and on-demand recordings, earning CE certificates, and using accessibility features.

Artificial intelligence is no longer a future issue for schools. It is already shaping how educators plan, teach, lead, and prepare students for the workforce. In this episode of The Rural Voice, Dr. Christopher Silver and Dr. Bill Chapman are joined by Dr. Beth Rabbitt, Co-Chief Executive Officer of FullScale, for a timely conversation about AI, rural education, and the future of learning. Dr. Rabbitt explains why rural schools may be positioned not as late adopters, but as potential leaders in thoughtful AI implementation. Drawing from FullScale's national work with rural districts, she discusses how AI can expand access, build operational capacity, support teachers, and help students develop the adaptability needed for a rapidly changing economy. She also addresses the practical concerns educators are facing, including student data privacy, FERPA, AI misuse, teacher readiness, and the limits of generative AI. The conversation offers concrete guidance for school leaders, including the use of red-light, yellow-light, and green-light protocols for classroom AI use, the importance of district-level policy, and the value of allowing teachers to safely tinker with new tools before using them with students. Dr. Rabbitt also encourages educators to approach AI not as an expert replacement, but as a “helpful, coachable, smart, but young intern” that still requires human judgment, oversight, and ethical decision-making. This episode is especially relevant for rural educators, school administrators, district leaders, and anyone thinking about how schools can prepare students for an uncertain future while protecting the human relationships, creativity, and local wisdom that remain central to education.

An Andover company is on the cutting edge, showing you your dream home before it even exists.

Adrian Carrillo, Master's Student at the University of Washington focusing on computational plasma physics, gives today's global fusion news update. Links to all of the stories mentioned are included below.1. CFS announces an agreement with Singapore's A*STAR to develop technologies for commercial fusion deviceshttps://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/worlds-largest-nuclear-fusion-firm-partners-astar-to-develop-commercial-power-plant-tech2. Thea Energy Announces Successful Operation of Full-Scale Planar Shaping Coilshttps://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/05/13/3293984/0/en/Thea-Energy-Announces-Successful-Operation-of-Full-Scale-Planar-Shaping-Coils.html3. NIF researchers project over 10x increase in fusion yields after planned laser energy upgradehttps://www.aip.org/scilights/a-look-back-at-over-a-decade-of-inertial-confinement-fusion-experiments https://pubs.aip.org/aip/pop/article/33/5/050503/3391665/Key-metrics-of-progress-in-the-NIF-ignition 4. Xcimer Energy Builds Leadership Team for Industrial Fusion and National Security Applicationshttps://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260512727044/en/Xcimer-Energy-Builds-Leadership-Team-for-Industrial-Fusion-and-National-Security-ApplicationsBonus stories:https://www.axios.com/2026/05/22/fusion-energy-simpler-federal-review?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosgenerate&stream=tophttps://www.fusionindustryassociation.org/fia-submits-response-to-nrcs-proposed-rulemaking-and-draft-guidance-for-us-fusion-regulations/https://www.avalanchefusion.com/machines/landohttps://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/05/20/nuclear-fusion-without-massive-land-use-huge-fuel-costs.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSmSVYm0eT4https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/germany-joins-eu-s-nuclear-fusion-push-europe-looks-energy-security

Marc Sanderson is the founder and CEO of INNERGY, but he didn't start as a software founder. After earning his MBA and searching for a company to buy, he and partner Walter Wilkie acquired a small architectural woodworking business in Minnesota in 1997. Running that business revealed a deep operational problem: there was no software built for how custom woodworking shops actually operated. So Marc built his own. That internal tool eventually became Innergy, a vertical SaaS ERP platform for architectural woodworking and high-end residential millwork businesses. Today, Innergy handles everything from CRM and estimating to project management, engineering, fabrication, and field installation. In 2025, the company reached roughly $25M in revenue, is growing more than 50% annually, and expects to approach $40M in 2026. After bootstrapping growth for years using profits from the original woodworking business, Marc sold 51% of Innergy to growth equity firm MainSail Partners in 2025 for more than $40M, while remaining CEO. In this episode, he shares practical lessons about vertical SaaS, customer intimacy, onboarding complex ERP systems, finding the right growth equity partner, and why strategy still matters more than AI. Key Takeaways Deep Domain — Marc built software from firsthand pain inside his own woodworking business, not from an outside startup idea. Education Matters — INNERGY advantage isn't only software. Customer education and operational thinking drive adoption and retention. Growth Equity Fit — Marc rejected investment several times before choosing a partner that could help scale—not just provide cash. Meet Customers — ERP success came from meeting customers where they are instead of forcing "best practices" immediately. Customer Intimacy — INNERGY's onboarding, benchmarking, and peer learning approach helped create ~95% retention. Quote from Marc Sanderson, Founder and CEO of INNERGY "AI is just a tool. I see organizations creating a chief AI officer. I don't have a chief Outlook officer. I don't have a chief Internet officer. I don't have a chief Web officer. It's just a tool at the end of the day." "Just because you can cook rice infinitely at no cost doesn't make you a Michelin star restaurant. It's all the other aspects of these integrated activities that make you who you are. And at the end of the day, as long as we are creating value for our customer, they will continue to write a check to us." "A lot of the AI efforts that are going on across the industry is focused on cost reduction, expense reduction internal to the software firm. Great. That helps us get to a breakeven or beyond. It helps with the rule of 40. However, it does not create more intimacy with the customer." Links Marc Sanderson on LinkedIn INNERGY on LinkedIn INNERGY website MainSail Partners website Podcast Sponsor – Full Scale This podcast is sponsored by Full Scale, one of the fastest-growing software development companies in any region. Full Scale vets, employs, and supports over 300 professional developers, designers, and testers in the Philippines who can augment and extend your core dev team. Learn more at fullscale.io. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding.  A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.

https://expatmoney.com/antiwarPhone bank for Defend the Guard: https://defendtheguard.us/phonebankSign up for our newsletter: https://www.antiwar.com/newsletter/

As the US-Iran ceasefire teeters on the brink of collapse following the US introduction of Project Freedom , residents in Middle East states are now wondering if a full-scale resumption of hostilities is inevitable and if so, what form it will take. KAN's Mark Weiss spoke with Marc Zell, Chair of Republicans Overseas, Israel, about the attempt to end the Iranian blockade in the Strait of Hormuz and President Trump’s strategy moving forward. (Phone: Reuters)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sharon Nouh built ProSpend, a spend management SaaS platform for mid-market companies, after seeing firsthand how broken expense processes were in corporate travel. Starting with an expense tool, focused on her home market in Australia, she bootstrapped the company and landed a global enterprise as her first customer with a simple but powerful product vision. Over 10 years, she expanded ProSpend into a full spend management system covering expenses, accounts payable, purchase orders, and budgets. The company grew to about 1,000 customers and 50 employees, with annual contracts ranging from roughly $15K to $40K, driven by strong mid-market focus and channel partnerships.   In 2025 Sharon sold ProSpend to ISH (Invincible Software Holdings), a strategic acquirer. She still runs ProSpend but can now accelerate expansion into the UK. After years of staying independent, she chose a acquisition partner over VC funding to maintain control and execute her long-term vision, showing how a sale can be a strategic move—not an endpoint. Key Takeaways Bootstrap Reality — It took five to six years before taking meaningful income, with constant cash flow pressure early on. Product Expansion — Growth came from adding adjacent modules CFOs needed, not chasing unrelated features or markets. Channel Leverage — Partnering with MYOB and resellers now drives about 50% of new customers efficiently. Control Matters — Avoiding VC preserved full control over timing and terms of exit decisions. Quote from Sharon Nouh, CEO and Founder of ProSpend "A couple of years ago, one of the visions that I had for ProSpend was to expand from Australia into the UK. The UK was always going to be the market that we wanted to move into, rather than the US, because it's a very aligned, very similar market.  "And also because one of our competitors, WebExpenses, had been bought and sold about four times, and they were the incumbent in the UK. They were suffering. They hadn't been developing their product. There was a real gap for us to go into the UK and start picking up the mid-market there.  "So the question was, do I get VC funding, even though we've always been bootstrapped. Or do I look for an acquiring partner, somebody from the UK who could take us in there with boots on the ground and market intelligence? And I chose the latter and sold the business that I still run." Links Sharon Nouh on LinkedIn ProSpend on LinkedIn ProSpend website ISH website Podcast Sponsor – Full Scale This podcast is sponsored by Full Scale, one of the fastest-growing software development companies in any region. Full Scale vets, employs, and supports over 300 professional developers, designers, and testers in the Philippines who can augment and extend your core dev team. Learn more at fullscale.io. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding.  A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.

This show has been flagged as Clean by the host. Basic-Filtering 01 Introduction This is the second episode in a four part series on a simple way to create your own HPR podcast episode. 02 This episode will cover the following topics: Basic filtering.. De-essing to improve voice quality. And normalizing to adjust audio levels for easier reviewing. 03 Filtering is removing unwanted noise from an audio signal. There are several ways of doing this. It is possible to do this with Audacity, but I don't know how so I won't try to describe that method. It is possible however to filter using command line tools such as FFMPEG and Sox. When assembled into shell scripts, these tools can become part of an automated process that you can use over and over again for each HPR episode that you record. 04 In a later episode I will discuss how to analyze audio signals to find the sources of noise that can be reduced or eliminated with filters. In this episode however I will discuss basic filtering that you can apply routinely without doing any analysis beforehand. 05 Sources of Noise A question that you may have is "why is there noise in the recording?" There are many sources of undesirable noise. 06 A very common one that you may not be aware of is electrical noise that works its way into the electronic recording circuits and is imperceptible to you until you play back the recorded audio. The most common noise signal is what is commonly called "line noise" and is a low frequency hum at 50 or 60 Hz from the electric power lines and reflects the 50 or 60 Hz frequency of the AC power lines feeding your recording hardware. 07 You may be familiar with this low frequency hum from when it emanates from large electrical hardware such as transformers as it makes the laminations vibrate. However, it can also work its way indirectly into electronic equipment as well. Good quality audio hardware may filter all or most of this out, but it is present in a lot of consumer grade hardware. 08 Other sources of electrical noise may reflect specific problems in your recording hardware. I will discuss one such problem with my microphone that I had to address. Still other sources of noise may reflect actual physical audio noise around you, such as fans. Placing the microphone close to your face will help in dealing with a lot of these problems, but you may find filtering to be of some help here as well. 09 Audio Frequency Range Let's start with some basics. A good quality stereo of the type you may have at home is typically rated to perform between 20 Hz and 20 kHz. This is the widest possible range that we need to consider. In reality, this is a far wider range than is needed for a voice oriented podcast. It is also well beyond the range of the hardware that many of your listeners will be using to listen to the podcast. 10 For example, the speakers that I have connected to my PC and a number of headphones and earphones that I have tested drop off drastically below 80 Hz or above 8 kHz, or even above 6 kHz in many cases. This is not audiophile quality hardware, but it is representative of the sort of hardware that a lot of your listeners will be using when listening to podcasts. And to be honest here, a lot of people will have difficulty hearing anything above 8 kHz even with the best quality audio hardware due to hearing loss from environmental noise exposure or age. 11 You can get a good idea of what different frequencies sound like by generating sine waves using either FFMPEG or Sox. Here's an example of generating a 1 kHz sine wave using FFMPEG. A copy of this will be in the show notes. ffmpeg -f lavfi -i "sine=frequency=1000:sample_rate=44100:duration=3" 01000hz.flac This creates a sine wave at 1 kHz and at a sample rate of 44.1 kHz for a duration of 3 seconds and saves it to a flac file named 01000hz.flac 12 Here's the same using Sox. sox -n -r 44100 -b 16 01000hz.flac synth 3 sine 1000 The -b 16 specifies using 16 bit audio to encode it, and the "sine 1000" element specifies the frequency in hertz. 13 You can test this out at different frequencies to get a feel for how your hardware responds. What the effective limits on typical hardware audio range means is that we can quite safely filter out a large part of what is considered to be the "audio range" without any noticeable loss of quality. For the purposes of our discussion here then I will limit the frequency range to between 80 Hz and 12 kHz, and that is being generous. You can probably narrow that, particularly at the top end, without any problems. 14 At the low end, the typical rule of thumb recommended by most people seems to be that for the average male voice you can set the lower threshold at 80 Hz, and for the average female you can set it at 160 Hz. Note that you don't *have* to set the threshold higher for a female. Rather, it is just that you typically *can* set it higher if you wish. Note also that these are averages, and may not reflect an actual individual. 15 Simple Filters We will now create some simple filters using the same command line software mentioned in a previous episode in this series. These are FFMPEG and Sox. 16 First let's define some terminology. A high pass filter passes through frequencies which fall above a certain threshold and blocks frequencies which are below that frequency. A low pass filter passes through frequencies which fall below a certain threshold and blocks frequencies which are above that frequency. 17 In reality there isn't an abrupt cut-off in the filters. Instead there is a gradual roll off or sloping off of amplitude below or above the specified filter frequency. This is for two reasons. One is that if there was an abrupt cut off then it would risk introducing audible distortion in the signal for frequencies on the margin. 18 The other reason is that this is how hardware filters traditionally inherently worked when they were made out of electronic components such as resistors, capacitors, and inductors. The sharpness of this cut off can be adjusted, but we won't be fiddling with it in that sort of detail. You will sometimes see filters specified in terms of "poles". This has to do with describing how filters were constructed using electronic components. Don't worry about it, it doesn't really matter. 19 Here is a typical high pass filter using ffmpeg which filters out frequencies below 80 hertz. # High pass filter. ffmpeg -i inputfile.flac -af "highpass=f=80" outputfile.flac Here is a typical low pass filter using ffmpeg which filters out frequencies above 12 kHz. # Low pass filter. ffmpeg -i inputfile.flac -af "lowpass=f=12000" outputfile.flac 20 Here is a filter which combines the two. # Combined filters. ffmpeg -i inputfile.flac -af "highpass=f=80, lowpass=f=12000" outputfile.flac And here is the same thing using Sox. sox inputfile.flac outputfile.flac highpass 80 lowpass 12000 21 Filtering Out Specific Frequencies Recall that I mentioned that a common source of noise is the 50 or 60 Hz AC power line frequency working its way through the electronics of your recording device. Because filters operate gradually and the 80 Hz lower filter threshold is close to 60 Hz, the high pass filter may not deal with this adequately. 22 Now it happens that your listeners may not be able to hear this 50 or 60 Hz noise anyway because their audio hardware won't reproduce it. That by the way includes you not being able to hear it either when you review your recording before uploading it. However, there may be some HPR listeners who are sitting back sipping a glass of wine and listening to your episode on their stereo and who can hear it. That suggests that we ought to do something about it just in case. 23 I will get into how to analyze audio signals in a later episode, but for now just accept that I looked at the frequency spectrum of a sample recording using my hardware and found a large 60 Hz noise spike which I wanted to address. 24 Experimenting with additional high pass frequencies up to 120 Hz did not improve things much with respect to the 60 Hz problem. There are other parameters which could be tweaked, but at this point it would seem most promising to attack the 60 Hz spike problem directly using a different filter method. To deal with the this 60 Hz spike we can use a "band reject" filter, which removes a specific band of frequencies. We will use this in combination with the filtering that we have already done above. 25 After a small amount of experimenting I came up with the following. I also added in a 50 Hz filter while I was at it, for the benefit of those living in areas with 50 Hz electrical supply. These filters will be included in the show notes, so don't worry if you can't quite understand all the details from a verbal description. 26 Here's the FFMPEG version. # Using ffmpeg ffmpeg -i input.flac -af "highpass=f=80, lowpass=f=12000, bandreject=f=60:width_type=h:w=20, bandreject=f=50:width_type=h:w=20" output.flac 27 This as the following elements A high pass filter at 80 Hz, A low pass filter at 12 kHz, A band reject filter centred at 60 Hz and with a width of 20 hertz. A similar band reject filter centred at 50 Hz. 28 Here's the Sox version. # Sox version. sox input.flac output.flac highpass 80 lowpass 12000 bandreject 60 20 bandreject 50 20 Note that with sox, don't quote the filter definition strings or else it will result in an error as sox doesn't see enough parameters. This is not a problem with ffmpeg. 29 The band reject filter knocks the stuffing out of the 60 Hz line noise, and the 50 Hz parameter should do the same for that frequency as well. This basic filter should be able to be applied to any podcast audio recording without causing any problems. You can probably reduce the low pass frequency from 12 kHz down to 8 kHz without any problems, but I would suggest that you test it with your voice before making that decision. 30 I will come back to filtering out specific frequencies again later when I discuss how I solved a specific problem with the hardware that I am using. However, we have to discuss how to analyze audio signals before we can do that sort of technical troubleshooting, and I will cover that in a later episode. -------------------- 31 De-Essing An additional type of filtering is "de-essing". When recording audio, the microphone or environment may result in "s", "sh", "ch" and possibly other sounds to be exaggerated. These are all higher frequency elements of voice recordings. "De-essing" attempts to soften these sounds by selectively reducing the volume on the frequency band which contains these sounds. 32 Software Filters De-essing is accomplished via software filters. FFMPEG and Sox both have de-essing filters. For FFMPEG, the de-essing filter is built in. For Sox however, we must install an optional plug-in. I will cover this is more detail when I discuss using Sox for de-essing. 33 Do You Need De-Essing? The first thing to make clear however, is that you may not need to worry about this. If you think the audio sounds just fine the way it is, you don't need to do any de-essing to it. De-essing is a very subtle change, and you would probably need to do some careful before and after comparisons of audio samples to tell the difference. I didn't know that a thing called de-essing even existed before I started doing the research to make this podcast episode. However, at this point we are doing things more for fun than out of necessity, so I'll describe it anyway. 34 De-Essing with FFMPEG De-essing with FFMPEG is relatively simple. The filter is built in, and there are just three values to adjust. On the other hand, it is not really obvious what these values mean in practical terms. 35 I will however warn you to not rely on the AI search results from Google to understand this feature. The AI, in my experience, just makes stuff up about it and tells you to use options that don't exist and values that are not valid. I found that the only useful information came from FFMPEG's own web site, and from examples written by actual humans. 36 I then experimented with different values to see what effects they had. Since the results are rather subtle, fine tuning isn't really that necessary and I found that I could arrive at some reasonable values fairly quickly. I will provide the parameters that I found useful for me, and I suspect they would probably work for you as well. 37 Here is a typical de-essing command. ffmpeg -i inputfile.flac -filter_complex "deesser=i=0.5:m=0.5:f=0.5:s=o" -b:a 336k -sample_fmt s16 outputfile.flac 38 The important arguments are i, m, and f. i is intensity for triggering de-essing. The allowed range is 0 to 1. The default is 0. By experimentation I found that "0" means no de-essing, and "1" is maximum de-essing. I found that setting it to "0.5" gave satisfactory results. 39 m is the amount of "ducking on the treble part of sound". The allowed range is 0 to 1. The default is 0.5. By experimentation I found that "1" means no de-essing, and "0" is maximum de-essing. I found that setting it to "0.5" gave satisfactory results. 40 f is how much of the original frequency content to keep when de-essing. The allowed range is 0 to 1. The default is 0.5. By experimentation I found that "1" means no de-essing, and "0" is maximum de-essing. I found that setting it to "0.5" gave satisfactory results. 41 Setting "m" or "f" too high can result in a distorted output as too much of the original sound is cut out. The defaults of 0.5 in both cases gave audible improvements without noticeable distortion. 42 There is an additional parameter called "s". This controls whether the de-essing filter does anything. Setting it to "o" is the normal and default mode. Setting it to "e" causes it to output just the components that it would normally have filtered out. This is useful for testing purposes so you can see what and how much is being filtered. You only use this when experimenting with different values. Setting it to "i" causes the input to be passed through without de-essing. This would be useful in scripts where you want to use a variable to control whether or not to use the de-esser while still creating the expected output file. 43 There are two other elements of the command which were included but are not strictly speaking part of the de-essing filter itself . These are " -b:a 336k" and "-sample_fmt s16". " -b:a 336k" sets the audio bit rate to 336k. "-sample_fmt s16" sets the audio sample format to 16 bit. I found it necessary to specify these in order to prevent the de-essing filter from changing formats. They are not part of de-essing however. 44 De-Essing with Sox You can also de-ess with Sox. However, this is more complex for several reasons. One reason is that Sox does not have its own de-essing filters. Instead it uses optional plug-ins, and you must find and install these. The actual plug in may vary depending on what operating system you are using. The other reason is that it deals with the issue in fairly low level parameters, and so is a bit more complex to describe. Because of this I will skip over describing this in detail and just give a very brief overview. If anyone would like me to describe in more detail how to de-ess with Sox, then send in a comment and I will do a short episode on it later. 45 Sox De-Essing Overview To de-ess with Sox, you first need to install the plug-ins. On Linux, these will be the TAP ladspa plug-ins. TAP stands for "Tom's Audio Processing" plugins. ladspa stands for "Linux Audio Developer's Simple Plugin API" To install the TAP plugins on Ubuntu, using the following command. sudo apt install tap-plugins The plug-in we need is called "tap_deesser.so". 46 In order to use the plug-ins, you need to set the path as a variable. On Ubuntu this is. export LADSPA_PATH="/usr/lib/ladspa:" I put the above in the shell script which calls the Sox de-esser. 47 To use the Sox de-esser, you do the following: sox inputfile.flac outputfile.flac ladspa tap_deesser tap_deesser -30 4500 48 tap_deesser tap_deesser tells it which plugin to use. We need to state tap_deesser twice because the first is the name of the ".so" file and the second is the name of the plugin. A single "so" file can contain multiple filters, although in this case there is only one. -30 is the threshold in dB at which to start to apply the filter. 4500 is the frequency in Hz that the filter centres around. 49 The TAP web page has a table of recommended frequencies. These are: Male 'ess' 4500 Hz Male 'ssh' 3400 Hz Female 'ess' 6800 Hz Female 'ssh' 5100 Hz You will need to do some trial and error to find what works best for you. 50 De-Essing Summary De-essing can be used to make minor improvements to voice quality by reducing certain harsh sounds which may be exaggerated by a microphone. If it sounds like a lot of work you can probably simply not bother with it and not really miss it. -------------------- 51 Normalizing Normalizing a signal means adjusting it to meet a specified level. For audio it means adjusting the volume or sound level. You may wish to normalize the audio of your recording to make it easier to listen to when reviewing it. The copy that you send to HPR however should be the original un-normalized version. 52 Sound level is measured in two ways, dB and LUFS. The latter is a more sophisticated way of measuring things which takes into account how the human ear perceives loudness. I won't go into a lot of detail in that regards, other than to say that just accept LUFS as a unit of perceived loudness that is the international standard. LUFS stands for "Loudness Units referenced to Full Scale", and is part of the EBU R128 standard, where EBU stands for European Broadcast Union. In both cases the measured value is a negative number, with numbers smaller in magnitude being louder. Smaller in magnitude means closer to zero. 53 HPR will adjust the sound level for publication, but if you wish to check the audio before uploading it can help to adjust it to something close to what HPR will do so that you can listen to it at a volume which most listeners will hear. In my case full volume on the audio system input produced a sound level which was much lower than a typical HPR episode. However, the volume level in the flac file itself can be adjusted using ffmpeg. 54 Measuring Volume Level First we need to see what the volume level is for a typical HPR podcast. To do this we use ffmpeg. In this example we are using an episode named "hprpodcast.mp3". Pick an episode which you think is suitable and copy the file to the working directory. 55 In the following script we use a volumedetect filter. The text we want normally outputs to standard error, so we have to do a bit of bashery to redirect this to standard output so it will go through a pipe. We then grep for the string "I:". This will have the average volume level in "loudness units" (LUFS). Then we extract the number, giving us a target LUFS level. 56 ffmpeg -i hprpodcast.mp3 -filter:a ebur128=framelog=quiet -f null /dev/null 2>&1 | grep "I:" | cut -d: -f2 57 Unfortunately I can't find a Sox feature which handles EBU loudness, so we need to work in dB instead. Here is the sox version. However, note that this may not work on mp3s if sox mp3 handing is not installed. 58 sox hprpodcast.mp3 -n stats 2>&1 | grep "RMS lev dB" | rev | cut -d" " -f1 | rev 59 You can use either of these for measuring the volume or sound level of an audio file. However, note that individual episodes from HPR may vary a bit in terms of loudness. In the samples that I looked at, this however was less than 1 LUFS or dB while my own recording was roughly 5 LUFS lower in volume than a typical HPR episode. -------------------- 60 If you Google for the EBU R128 standard the AI result will confidently tell you to use a target of -23 LUFS. However, this is wrong, which shouldn't be of any surprise if you are familiar with using AI. 61 The -23 LUFS figure is for broadcast television. There is in fact no standard level for podcasts. However, there is apparently a general industry convention of using somewhere around -17 LUFS. If I look at the first two HPR episodes that I did, HPR normalized them to -16.8 LUFS and -17.8 LUFS, while the original FLAC files that I submitted were -21.6 LUFS and -22.3 LUFS respectively. 62 So HRP appear to be targeting somewhere around -17 LUFS as well. We will therefore use -17 LUFS as our target for our own copy for review. -------------------- 63 The nice thing about using the EBU filter in FFMPEG is that this is very simple. Here is the FFMPEG version. 64 ffmpeg -i inputfile.flac -af loudnorm=I=-17:TP=-2.0:LRA=7.0 -ar 44.1k outputfile.flac 65 "I" is the LUFS target. LRA is the loudness range target. The default value is 7.0 so I used that. TP sets the maximum true peak. The default value is -2.0. so I used that. -------------------- 66 With Sox things are a bit more difficult. There is no direct method of setting the loudness that I am aware of, so we need to measure the current sound level in dB, do some calculations, and then apply that as a gain factor to the output. 67 First we need to subtract the measured db level from our flac file from the target db level from the HPR episode we decided to use as a sample. Bash by itself normally just does integer math. However, we would like to have at least one decimal point of resolution to work with. The simple solution is to do this calculation using bc, the shell arbitrary precision calculator. 68 Then take this new value and use it in a "volume" filter. The number which we give sox is the amount to increase or decrease the volume by. Sox will then output a new file with the new volume level. You can now listen to this file under conditions more closely approximating what it will be like after HPR have done their own audio adjustments and normalizaton on it This helps when listening to the file for any problems before you upload it. 69 Rather than reading 5 lines of complex shell script to you, I will put a copy of it in the show notes. level=$( sox $inputfile -n stats 2>&1 | grep "RMS lev dB" ) leveldb=$( echo "$level" | rev | cut -d" " -f1 | rev ) targetdb="-18.9" volumechange=$(echo "scale=2 ; $targetdb - $leveldb" | bc ) sox $inputfile $outputname gain "$volumechange" -------------------- 70 Normalization should be the last thing you do to the file. It should be done after any noise filtering, such as low pass, high pass, bandreject, etc. If you normalize first, you will be amplifying the noise as well as the desired signal. 71 The exact normalization level used for review purposes doesn't matter, as HPR will apply their own later. All we are doing at this point is adjusting the volume to something which approximates a normal episode so you can listen to it for final review. 72 When you send your file to HPR, send the original *unnormalized* version, not the normalized version. When you normalize an audio signal, if you are not careful you may introduce things which cause problems with later additional processing. HPR probably do more things to the audio than just normalizing and so they need the unnormalized file so that they can do their own normalizing last. -------------------- 73 If at this point you are happy with the recording as is, you are ready to send the *unnormalized* version to HPR. The scripts to implement the features discussed in this episode will be in the show notes. 74 Conclusion In this episode we covered basic filtering using ffmpeg and sox. We discussed what noise was and some of the origins of noise. We talked about the audio frequency range and the limitations of common hardware used to record and listen to podcasts. We covered basic high and low pass filters used to limit the audio frequency range in order to remove possible low and high frequency noise. 75 We discussed specific filters to eliminate 50 and 60 Hz electrical power noise. We talked about de-essing, what it was, why you may wish to use it, and some basic de-essing filter implementation details. We discussed normalizing, what it is, why you may wish to use it, and how it relates to podcasting conventions. 76 In the next episode we will discuss analyzing audio signals to help find the sources of noise problems. We will also discuss creating filters to eliminate any problems that we found. In my case I had a problem with the microphone that I use, and I describe how I used filters to deal with that problem. 77 This has been the second episode in a four part series on simple podcasting. -------------------- EBU R128 Loudness Measurement using FFMPEG #!/bin/bash echo "EBU r128 loudness measurement using FFMPEG" for inputfile in *.flac *.mp3 ; do level=$( ffmpeg -i $inputfile -filter:a ebur128=framelog=quiet -f null /dev/null 2>&1 | grep "I:" | cut -d: -f2 ) echo $inputfile $level done -------------------- DB Sound Level Measurement using Sox #!/bin/bash # Sox version. May not work for mp3 if an mp3 format handling is not installed. echo "dB sound level measurement using Sox." for inputfile in *.flac *.mp3 ; do level=$( sox $inputfile -n stats 2>&1 | grep "RMS lev dB" ) leveldb=$( echo "$level" | rev | cut -d" " -f1 | rev ) echo $inputfile $leveldb done -------------------- EBU R128 Loudness Normalization using FFMPEG #!/bin/bash # Adjust the volume to a desired level. for inputfile in *.flac ; do j=$( basename $inputfile ".flac" ) outputname="$j""-normff.flac" ffmpeg -i $inputfile -af loudnorm=I=-17:TP=-2.0:LRA=4.0 -ar 44.1k $outputname echo $outputname done -------------------- DB Sound Level Normalization using Sox #!/bin/bash # Adjust the volume to a desired level. for inputfile in *.flac ; do j=$( basename $inputfile ".flac" ) outputname="$j""-normff.flac" # Measure the volume level and extract the mean volume. level=$( sox $inputfile -n stats 2>&1 | grep "RMS lev dB" ) leveldb=$( echo "$level" | rev | cut -d" " -f1 | rev ) # Calculate the difference in dB desired. Scale specifies the number of decimal places. # Target db is the volume measured on hpr4506 (UCSD-P-System). targetdb="-18.9" volumechange=$(echo "scale=2 ; $targetdb - $leveldb" | bc ) echo "Using sox: File: $inputfile Original level: $leveldb Change by: $volumechange" # Adjust the volume. sox $inputfile $outputname gain "$volumechange" done -------------------- Full processing pipeline for making simple podcasts using FFMPEG #!/bin/bash #!/bin/bash # Full processing pipeline for making simple podcasts. # ====================================================================== # Concatenate multiple flac files into a single flac file. # This is used to combine podcast recorded segments into a single # flac file for uploading to HPR. concataudio () { outputname="$1" # First create the list file. printf "file '%s'n" [0-9][0-9].flac > podseglist.txt # Now concatenate them ffmpeg -f concat -safe 0 -i podseglist.txt "$outputname" rm podseglist.txt } # ====================================================================== # Basic filters. filter () { inputfile=$1 outputname=$2 # Using ffmpeg. # The high and low pass filters. hlpfil="highpass=f=80, lowpass=f=12000" # Band reject filters filter for 60Hz and another for 50Hz. linefil="bandreject=f=60:width_type=h:w=20, bandreject=f=50:width_type=h:w=20" # Using ffmpeg ffmpeg -i $inputfile -af "$hlpfil, $linefil" $outputname } # ====================================================================== # De-Essing. deessing () { inputfile=$1 outputname=$2 option=$3 # De-essing filter. ffmpeg -i $inputfile -filter_complex "deesser=i=0.5:m=0.5:f=0.5:s=$option" -b:a 336k -sample_fmt s16 $outputname } # ====================================================================== # Normalizing the audio to EBU R128 standard for review using ffmpeg. normffmpeg () { inputfile=$1 outputname=$2 # Normalize to EBU R128 standard. ffmpeg -i $inputfile -af loudnorm=I=-17:TP=-2.0:LRA=4.0 -ar 44.1k $outputname } # ====================================================================== # Output an MP3 version to help with reviewing. mp3convert () { inputfile=$1 # Get the name of the file and then create the output file name. j=$( basename $inputfile ".flac" ) outputname="$j"".mp3" # Convert to MP3. ffmpeg -i $inputfile $outputname } # ====================================================================== # Concatenate the separate audio files. concataudio fullpod-unfiltered.flac # Basic filtering. filter fullpod-unfiltered.flac filtered.flac # De-essing. This is the version to send for publishing. # The third argument should be "o" for de-essing, or "i" for pass through without de-essing. deessing filtered.flac fullpod.flac o # Normalized for review. normffmpeg fullpod.flac fullpod-norm.flac # Output an MP3 copy for review. mp3convert fullpod-norm.flac -------------------- -------------------- Provide feedback on this episode.

In this episode, we unpack a major shift happening inside modern businesses: AI is no longer experimental—it's operational. Drawing from insights shared by Denise Dresser at OpenAI, we explore how enterprises are rapidly moving toward fully integrating AI across their organizations. What used to be isolated copilots and tools is evolving into something much bigger: a unified intelligence layer powering entire companies. We break down what this “next phase” of enterprise AI actually looks like—from multi-agent systems doing real work, to the emergence of an AI “superapp” that employees interact with throughout their day. Key topics:Why enterprise AI adoption is accelerating faster than expectedThe shift from AI tools → AI coworkers → AI-managed workflowsWhat “Frontier” means as a company-wide intelligence layerHow agents are being deployed across systems, teams, and functionsThe rise of the AI superapp as the new workplace interfaceWhy companies are moving away from fragmented AI tools toward unified ecosystemsWe also explore the broader implication: companies that successfully integrate AI at the system level—not just the tool level—will define the next generation of winners. If you're building, investing, or simply trying to understand where work is headed, this episode offers a clear lens into how AI is reshaping the structure of modern organizations.

Chad Ingram is the founder of Distro, an AI recruiting software company that helps mid-market and enterprise companies automate candidate screening, vetting, ranking, and scheduling. He previously built Jump, a venture-backed customer engagement software company, through a stressful growth and sale process that taught him painful lessons about fundraising, control, and acquisition pressure.    Distro started as a marketplace to help companies hire software engineers globally, then evolved into an AI-first recruiting platform that integrates with applicant tracking systems and helps recruiters handle far more open roles. When Chad sold the company,  Distro had 14 employees and about $3.5M ARR, with revenue shifting from marketplace margins toward SaaS subscription and consumption-based contracts.  Distro was acquired by Vensure Employer Solutions, a large private HR platform company that wanted Distro both for its own recruiting needs and for its 161,000 customers.  Chad explains why strategic buyers cared more about healthy financials than SaaS vanity metrics, why he said no to the first offer, what he learned from selling Jump too early, and why a daily cash flow forecast gave him the freedom to choose instead of react. Key Takeaways First Offers are not always the right offers, and founders with real options can politely say no and keep building. Manual First is often the smartest way to start, proving demand with spreadsheets, email, and humans before writing software. Product Evolution happened by following customer demand, turning a hiring marketplace into an AI recruiting SaaS platform. Cash Visibility gave Chad optionality, because daily cash flow tracking removed surprises and helped him make harder decisions earlier.  Quote from Chad Ingram, founder of Distro "You gotta know your numbers in detail. There are so many founders who don't know their freaking numbers. How do you not know your numbers? You just hope it all works itself out in six months? That's not how it works. You will go out of business.  "I learned how to do a daily cash flow forecast when we started my 2nd company, Distro. And I've been running one every day. That might seem a little too microscopic for many, but guess what? There's no freaking surprises.  "I could tell you nine months from now, the day that we would go out of business if we didn't have enough cash, unless there was some change. It's a lot less stressful knowing the facts. When you know the facts, you can make things happen. You don't have to sit and wonder and hope it works out. "I don't care if you have zero mathematical aptitude or your background is sales or something else. You have to know the basics of accounting. If you don't, you are at a huge, huge disadvantage, especially when you go to sell." Links Chad Ingram on LinkedIn Distro on LinkedIn Distro website Vensure Employer Solutions website Podcast Sponsor – Full Scale This podcast is sponsored by Full Scale, one of the fastest-growing software development companies in any region. Full Scale vets, employs, and supports over 300 professional developers, designers, and testers in the Philippines who can augment and extend your core dev team. Learn more at fullscale.io. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding.  A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.

Jack welcomes Big Jon Bass back to the show to discuss how we desperately need to brush ourselves off and go again after the Forest disaster. We start by addressing the deeply uncomfortable feelings directed towards the squad this week. Seeing the players post jubilant, smiling social media updates while away on the international break has struck a massive nerve with a fanbase still reeling from a relegation scrap. The conversation then turns to the people running the club. With the pressure mounting, we analyse the massive decision Vinai Venkatesham and Johan Lange have on their hands regarding Igor Tudor's future. If they pull the plug on the interim boss, who is actually brave or foolish enough to step into the dugout right now to save us from the drop? Finally, Jon answers your listener questions. We debate what it will actually take to spark full-scale protests against the owners, ask how Vinai and Lange are still in their jobs given the current mess, and end on a necessary lighter note by getting Jon's favourite whiskies to help soothe the pain of yet another Tottenham defeat. Theme is Ghost Cat by Gillen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Israel's defence minister has announced that his country is expanding its ground campaign in Lebanon. Israel Katz warned of a prolonged operation against the Iran-backed group, Hezbollah, after the Israeli government ordered the destruction of all crossings over the Litani River. The Israeli military also says it expects several more weeks of fighting against Iran. Meanwhile, Tehran has warned it will fully close the Strait of Hormuz if Washington follows through with President Trump's threat to "obliterate" power plants in Iran. Also: in France's local elections, the Socialist candidate, Emmanuel Grégoire, claims victory in Paris, while in a boost for the nationalist right, an ally of Marine Le Pen is set to become mayor of Nice; hundreds of Syrians protest in Damascus against strict new alcohol laws; the new AI robots that can repair themselves and adapt to their environment; and a critic's view of Saturday Night Live UK's debut.The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk

Vivek Bhaskaran is the founder and CEO of QuestionPro, a bootstrapped survey and customer-experience research software platform they have been building for more than 25 years. Based in the Bay Area, Vivek has grown the company globally without venture capital, staying deeply involved in product and running the business as both CEO and de-facto chief product officer. As QuestionPro crossed $10M then $30M in revenue years ago, private equity firms and acquirers started calling. Vivek chose not to sell and instead kept building. Over the years he has completed about ten small acquisitions and expanded the platform while staying nimble as an independent company. In this conversation, Vivek explains why having fun, liking your team, and taking some profits along the way makes it possible for founders to play the long game. He also shares how AI is changing market research and why most AI use cases still need experimentation. Key Takeaways Founder Product Ownership – Vivek still acts as chief product officer, believing founders should stay close to the product and customer problems. Small Acquisitions Strategy – Rather than selling, QuestionPro grew through about ten small acquisitions that expanded capabilities and distribution. Practical AI Adoption – Most AI experimentation fails early, so the team tests many use cases and keeps the ones customers actually adopt. Sales Efficiency Gains – AI dramatically improves painful processes like RFP responses and compliance questionnaires that previously took hours. Synthetic Research Data – Vivek believes AI-generated personas and synthetic respondents will transform early-stage market research within a few years. Quote from Vivek Bhaskaran, founder and CEO of QuestionPro "Two things matter to me that have allowed me to be the founder and CEO for 25 years. Number one, can I wake up every day and have the same level of energy, enthusiasm, and fun? Work and fun, and everything has to be correlated at this point. There is just one life. "Number two is the people around me. I love the team that works with me and hopefully they like working with me too. These are the two things that matter to me: Am I having fun? Am I having fun with the people around me? You got one life, so can you mesh those two things together?  "Ask yourself, am I personally in the game? Do I really want to do this? If those two things are true, then I'd say keep going. How you feel, what you're doing in the morning, how you show up all day, and then who you work with. These are not external. You control both these variables reasonably well." Links Vivek Bhaskaran on LinkedIn QuestionPro on LinkedIn QuestionPro website Podcast Sponsor – Full Scale This podcast is sponsored by Full Scale, one of the fastest-growing software development companies in any region. Full Scale vets, employs, and supports over 300 professional developers, designers, and testers in the Philippines who can augment and extend your core dev team. Learn more at fullscale.io. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding.  A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.

On today's episode, Ed Calderon returns to Borderland: Narcosis to examine the operation that reportedly killed CJNG leader El Mencho. The conversation covers the details of the raid, inconsistencies in the official narrative, cartel responses across Mexico, and potential power shifts inside CJNG. Borderland is an IRONCLAD Original Chapters: (00:00 ) Intro (01:00) Deep Dive: The Raid on El Mencho's Compound (03:50) How the Mexican Army Found Him (05:51) Suspicious Evidence: Why the Scene Doesn't Add Up (08:45) Secret Operations & Government Incompetence (11:15) The Truth: Was the Death Faked? (13:41) Cartel Power Vacuum: Who Takes Control? (18:49) Forensic Proof: The Body and the Funeral (23:23) The Secret Ledger System (28:02) US Involvement: Delta, Seals, and High-Altitude Jumps (31:21) The Next Targets: Chapo's Sons and Remaining Bosses (37:54) Insurgency Risk: The Future of Mexican Violence (42:56) Is Mexico Safe for Travel Right Now? Sponsors: 1st Phorm: Go to⁠ ⁠https://www.1stphorm.com/borderland⁠⁠ and get free shipping on any orders over $75, free 30 days in the app for new customers, and 110% money back guarantee on all of our products. GHOSTBED: Go to https://www.GhostBed.com/IRONCLAD and use code IRONCLAD for an extra 15% off sitewide. Norwood Sawmills: Learn more about Norwood Sawmills and how you can start milling your own lumber at https://norwoodsawmills.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this powerful geopolitical podcast, Jason Vaidya, a leading geopolitical analyst and commentator, breaks down the Iran war analysis and the broader Israel Iran conflict shaping today's Middle East crisis. We explore the key events that led to the current Iran war, the strategic implications of high-profile assassinations, and whether there is a realistic chance of the war ending. The conversation expands into global power dynamics, including the role of the USA in the Middle East, the impact of USA leaving Ukraine, and how shifting US foreign policy is influencing global geopolitics. Jason also examines India's foreign policy, India Israel Iron Dome cooperation, and India's evolving defense strategy amid rising regional instability. We dive deep into the Pakistan Afghanistan war, Afghanistan Pakistan tensions, and their connection to South Asia security and the wider Iran Israel latest news cycle. From Israel's defense system to India's national security calculus, this episode unpacks how the Middle East war explained today could reshape global power balances in 2026 and beyond. If you're interested in geopolitical podcast discussions, Middle East crisis analysis, Ukraine war impact, and strategic global affairs, this episode delivers expert insight you won't want to miss. GET CONNECTED WITH Jason Vaidya: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/jason.baidya.5/ Twitter - https://x.com/JasonDBaidya Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@GeoPoliticalCrossroad  

LTPetClub: http://ltpetclub247.com Support your body's immune response sand immune system functions today - Watch last interview: https://tinyurl.com/yk82ppxu —————— WAVwatch, the World's first Sound Frequency Therapy watch: https://WAVwatch.com/awk —————— Protect your investments with And We Know http://andweknow.com/gold Or call 720-605-3900, Tell them “LT” sent you. ————————— ➜ Our AWK Website: https://www.andweknow.com/ ➜ AWK Shirts and gifts: https://shop.andweknow.com/ ------- *DONATIONS SITE: https://bit.ly/2Lgdrh5 *Mail your gift to: And We Know 30650 Rancho California Rd STE D406-123 (or D406-126) Temecula, CA 92591 ➜ AWK Shirts and gifts: https://shop.andweknow.com/ ➜ Audio Bible https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/kjv/1John.3.16 Connect with us in the following ways: + DISCORD Fellows: https://discord.gg/kMt8R2FC4z

Livestream with Yuri RashkinLINKS:https://rashkinreport.substack.com/https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/rashkin-report/id1183073638----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------Silicon Curtain is a part of the Christmas Tree Trucks 2025 campaign - an ambitious fundraiser led by a group of our wonderful team of information warriors raising 110,000 EUR for the Ukrainian army. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/christmas-tree-trucks-2025-silicon-curtainThe Goal of the Campaign for the Silicon Curtain community:- 1 armoured battle-ready pickupWe are sourcing all vehicles around 2010-2017 or newer, mainly Toyota Hilux or Mitsubishi L200, with low mileage and fully serviced. These are some of the greatest and the most reliable pickups possible to be on the frontline in Ukraine. Who will receive the vehicles?https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/christmas-tree-trucks-2025-silicon-curtain- The 38th Marine Brigade, who alone held Krynki for 124 days, receiving the Military Cross of Honour.- The 1027th Anti-aircraft and artillery regiment. Honoured by NATO as Defender of the Year 2024 and recipient of the Military Cross of Honour.- 104th Separate Brigade, Infantry, who alone held Kherson for 100 days, establishing conditions for the liberation of the city.- 93rd Brigade "Kholodnyi Yar", Black Raven Unmanned Systems Battalion ----------SILICON CURTAIN LIVE EVENTS - FUNDRAISER CAMPAIGN Events in 2025 - Advocacy for a Ukrainian victory with Silicon Curtainhttps://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasOur events of the first half of the year in Lviv, Kyiv and Odesa were a huge success. Now we need to maintain this momentum, and change the tide towards a Ukrainian victory. The Silicon Curtain Roadshow is an ambitious campaign to run a minimum of 12 events in 2025, and potentially many more. Any support you can provide for the fundraising campaign would be gratefully appreciated. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrasWe need to scale up our support for Ukraine, and these events are designed to have a major impact. Your support in making it happen is greatly appreciated. All events will be recorded professionally and published for free on the Silicon Curtain channel. Where possible, we will also live-stream events.https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras----------TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND:Save Ukrainehttps://www.saveukraineua.org/Superhumans - Hospital for war traumashttps://superhumans.com/en/UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukrainehttps://unbroken.org.ua/Come Back Alivehttps://savelife.in.ua/en/Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchenhttps://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraineUNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyyhttps://u24.gov.ua/Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundationhttps://prytulafoundation.orgNGO “Herojam Slava”https://heroiamslava.org/kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyslhttps://kharpp.com/NOR DOG Animal Rescuehttps://www.nor-dog.org/home/-----------

Day 1,461.Today, as world leaders gather in Kyiv to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we report live from two different regions of the country, covering the latest attacks from air and land and assessing the current battlefield picture. We reflect on the resilience of Ukrainians after years of war, and bring updates on an explosion in Moscow as well as reports suggesting that Moscow is now losing more soldiers on the frontline than it can recruit to sustain Vladimir Putin's war effort.ContributorsFrancis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.Adélie Pojzman-Pontay (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @adeliepjz on X.The Lord Dannatt (former head of the British Army)Orysia Lutsevych OBE (Head of the Ukraine Forum at Chatham House)NOW AVAILABLE IN VIDEO WITH MAPS & BATTLEFIELD FOOTAGE:Every episode is now available on our YouTube channel shortly after the release of the audio version. You will find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbOESRLia8oCONTENT REFERENCED:The kill ratio that can sink Putin's war (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/24/the-kill-ratio-that-can-sink-putin-war/ Moscow train station explosion kills police officer (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/24/explosion-outside-moscow-train-station-kills-police-officer/ Russian soldiers being killed faster than Kremlin can recruit them (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/02/24/russian-soldiers-killed-faster-than-kremlin-can-recruit/ Britain on ‘collision course' with Russia, head of Army warns (The Telegraph):https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/24/britain-on-collision-course-with-russia-head-of-army-warns/WEEKLY NEWSLETTER:Our weekly newsletter includes maps of the frontlines and diagrams of weapons, answers your questions, provides recommended reading, and gives exclusive analysis and behind-the-scenes insights.. It's free for everyone, including non-subscribers. Join here – http://telegraph.co.uk/ukrainenewsletter EMAIL US:Contact the team on ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk . We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many on air and in our newsletter as possible.Subscribe: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatestEmail: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today marks four years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and one Ukrainian MP says the daily bombings have become “normal.” Also, the Ukraine war has sparked the largest forced migration that Europe has seen since  World War II. Most EU countries welcomed Ukrainian refugees at first but, in the past year, that support has started to fade. And, a look at how volunteers have filled the gap in caring for pigeons after Berlin's animal welfare budget was cut by 96% in 2024. Plus, celebrating the rhythms and storytelling of maloya music from Reunion Island. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

2026-02-21 | UPDATES #137 | A War Foretold — And Still Ignored. Four years ago, Europe woke up to missile trails over Kyiv and the lie many had been telling themselves: “Putin won't do it.” That's not just the public, but also experts, historians, politicians and diplomats. Today, The Guardian publishes a deeply sourced reconstruction of the months before 24 February 2022 — how the CIA and MI6 pieced together the invasion plan, why much of Europe didn't buy it, and why Kyiv didn't want to hear it. (The Guardian) The piece was authored by journalist Shaun Walker. In November 2021, CIA Director William Burns tries to see Putin in person — but gets a phone call instead. Burns tells Putin the US believes Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine; Putin shrugs it off and pivots to his own grievances. Burns comes away convinced war is coming. (The Guardian)----------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformation----------A REQUEST FOR HELP!I'm heading back to Kyiv this week, to film, do research and conduct interviews. The logistics and need for equipment and clothing are a little higher than for my previous trips. It will be cold, and may be dark also. If you can, please assist to ensure I can make this trip a success. My commitment to the audience of the channel, will be to bring back compelling interviews conducted in Ukraine, and to use the experience to improve the quality of the channel, it's insights and impact. Let Ukraine and democracy prevail! https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extrashttps://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtainhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/scaling-up-campaign-to-fight-authoritarian-disinformationNONE OF THIS CAN HAPPEN WITHOUT YOU!So what's next? We're going to Kyiv in January 2026 to film on the ground, and will record interviews with some huge guests. We'll be creating opportunities for new interviews, and to connect you with the reality of a European city under escalating winter attack, from an imperialist, genocidal power. PLEASE HELP ME ME TO GROW SILICON CURTAINWe are planning our events for 2026, and to do more and have a greater impact. After achieving more than 12 events in 2025, we will aim to double that! 24 events and interviews on the ground in Ukraine, to push back against weaponized information, toxic propaganda and corrosive disinformation. Please help us make it happen!----------SOURCES: The Guardian (Shaun Walker), A war foretold: how the CIA and MI6 got hold of Putin's Ukraine plans and why nobody believed them (20 Feb 2026). The Guardian live coverage (Europe/Ukraine), including European defence ministers discussing a potential “European Five Eyes”. Explainer.ua (UA), summary of the Guardian investigation (20 Feb 2026). Big Kyiv (UA), recap noting claim that Putin's decision was made earlier (20 Feb 2026). LinkedIn: Klaus Dodds reacting to the piece (21 Feb 2026). Bluesky: Jana Puglierin sharing the investigation (21 Feb 2026). t-online (DE), report summarising the Guardian findings and noting the “right call / wrong trajectory” dynamic (21 Feb 2026). ----------

Liam Nolan speaks to young Ukrainian men who have left the country since the war

Masterpiece Podcasts: Collection of Chinese Classic Novels

Robin Eissler is the founder and CEO of BoosterHub, a vertical SaaS platform built for high school booster clubs. After selling her prior business as a private jet broker, Robin volunteered to run a local booster club and discovered a messy problem run with spreadsheets, emails, and manual accounting. She decided to build a single system that could actually handle it. BoosterHub now serves nearly 600 booster programs, representing over 100,000 users. With just two full-time employees and a small dev team, the company processes more than $40M in transactions across payments, fundraising, merchandise sales, and accounting. Annual contract value typically runs $1,500–$2,000 per customer, with strong retention and expanding usage. Still independently-owned and bootstrapped, BoosterHub is approaching $1M ARR and profitability. Robin shares lessons on building complex software with a tiny team, selling to volunteer buyers, surviving seasonal revenue swings, and why slow, compounding growth can create durable SaaS businesses without venture capital. Key Takeaways Tiny Teams Work - Two employees plus contractors can build serious SaaS with focus, systems, and modern tooling. Sticky Beats Big - Hundreds of small customers compound more reliably than a handful of enterprise deals. Seasonality Is Real Education-adjacent - SaaS must survive cash spikes and winter slowdowns without panic. Founder-Led Marketing - Consistent content from the founder still drives inbound growth in niche markets. All-In-One Wins in Verticals - Being the system of record makes churn low and customer value expand naturally over time. Quote from Robin Eissler, Founder and CEO of BoosterHub "The numbers are much better than what we projected. so we're starting to see that compounding effect is really what's happening is there's just enough users and enough people in the system that they're using more of the add-on products and we're processing more volume.  "So it's starting to have that compounding effect. And so I really just admitted to myself this month, like, I think we're seeing it.  "I think we're finally seeing it. I feel like, OK, maybe for me, it's almost that I can exhale. I've been holding my breath for four years, so maybe I can breathe." Links Robin Eissler on LinkedIn BoosterHub on LinkedIn BoosterHub website Podcast Sponsor – Full Scale This podcast is sponsored by Full Scale, one of the fastest-growing software development companies in any region. Full Scale vets, employs, and supports over 300 professional developers, designers, and testers in the Philippines who can augment and extend your core dev team. Learn more at fullscale.io. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app or view on our YouTube channel. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com. Practical Founders CEO Peer Groups Be part of a committed and confidential group of practical founders creating valuable software companies without big VC funding.  A Practical Founders Peer Group is a committed and confidential group of founders/CEOs who want to help you succeed on your terms. Each Practical Founders Peer Group is personally curated and moderated by Greg Head.

What does it take to build truly product-driven engineering teams? In this episode, Matt Watson — founder and CEO of Full Scale and author of Product Driven — joins Lily and Randy to challenge the longstanding silos between product and engineering. Drawing on 25+ years of experience and four tech ventures, Matt makes the case for why developers need more than just code to care about: they need context, ownership, and clarity.From redefining “done” to the evolving role of AI in software teams, this conversation dives into how product leaders can foster a culture where engineers aren't just implementers, but co-creators of customer value.Chapters0:00 – Why “no feedback” is a warning sign, not success1:46 – Matt's journey: from developer to founder2:58 – Thinking outside the code: how the book Product Driven started4:50 – Why many engineers don't think about the customer5:57 – The rise of product managers and the walling off of engineers6:56 – Redefining the role of PMs in cross-functional teams9:01 – Metrics, measurement, and the illusion of progress10:57 – Ownership as the root of productivity13:04 – Code monkeys, culture, and killing creativity14:55 – Communicating context: five minutes that save weeks17:04 – AI and the changing definition of developer productivity20:32 – External value vs internal tech debt22:48 – The Product Driven model: Vision, Focus, Clarity, Shared Ownership, Courage27:08 – Why courage is the starting point for changeOur HostsLily Smith enjoys working as a consultant product manager with early-stage and growing startups and as a mentor to other product managers. She's currently Chief Product Officer at BBC Maestro, and has spent 13 years in the tech industry working with startups in the SaaS and mobile space. She's worked on a diverse range of products – leading the product teams through discovery, prototyping, testing and delivery. Lily also founded ProductTank Bristol and runs ProductCamp in Bristol and Bath. Randy Silver is a Leadership & Product Coach and Consultant. He gets teams unstuck, helping you to supercharge your results. Randy's held interim CPO and Leadership roles at scale-ups and SMEs, advised start-ups, and been Head of Product at HSBC and Sainsbury's. He participated in Silicon Valley Product Group's Coaching the Coaches forum, and speaks frequently at conferences and events. You can join one of communities he runs for CPOs (CPO Circles), Product Managers (Product In the {A}ether) and Product Coaches. He's the author of What Do We Do Now? A Product Manager's Guide to Strategy in the Time of COVID-19. A recovering music journalist and editor, Randy also launched Amazon's music stores in the US & UK.

The All Local Afternoon Update for Monday, December 15th 2-25

AI can scaffold an app in seconds, but can it refactor that thousand-line React file when the first bug hits production? In this episode, I sit down with Brian Jenney software engineer and program owner of the coding bootcamp Parsity, to draw a hard line between “code that runs” and “code that lasts.” From mentoring career-switchers to stress-testing AI in real-world pipelines, Brian shares why craftsmanship and product judgment still beat copy-paste prompts.

Rising Tensions: Hezbollah's Rearmament and Hamas's Defiance: Colleague Jonathan Schanzer warns that Hezbollah has rebuilt its strength in Lebanon using Iranian weapons, prompting Israeli threats of a full-scale attack, noting that Hamas refuses to disarm in Gaza, supported by Turkey and Qatar, while the U.S. moves to designate Muslim Brotherhood branches as terrorist organizations. 1953

2. The Colossal Misjudgment: Underestimating Ukraine and Putin's Imperial Ambitions. Serhii Plokhy (Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvard University) covers the lead-up to the 2022 full-scale invasion, noting Russia's military buildup in 2021 while President Biden publicly stated that no US troops or weapons would be sent to Ukraine, which constituted a "colossal misjudgment of Putin." Despite the lack of meaningful preparatory military aid for Ukraine, US intelligence performed exceptionally well, accurately predicting the timing of the war and releasing this intelligence in real time, hoping to "shame" Putin. The expectation that Kyiv would fall within days reflected a profound misjudgment: underestimating the resolve of the Ukrainian state and people, and overestimating the Russian military's capacity. To justify his actions, Putin built an argument to the Russian people based on a "misreading of history," reviving 19th-century Russian imperial ideas that claimed Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians constituted a single whole. This false belief led to the expectation that Ukrainians would welcome Russian troops with flowers, rather than weapons. Putin's consistent goal since 2014 was to stop Ukraine's Western trajectory and integrate it into the Russian-controlled Eurasian Union. When President Zelensky refused Putin's demands regarding the implementation of the Minsk agreements in Paris in December 2019, many observers mark this moment as the countdown to the 2022 invasion.