Podcasts about Galston

When most people think of 4-H, they picture the fairgrounds—livestock shows, ribbons, and maybe a few arts and crafts. But the organization is so much more, offering hands-on learning experiences that spark curiosity, build confidence, and meet youth where they are. That’s exactly the approach Alex Galston is taking as the Jackson County 4-H Educator. With a fresh perspective and a passion for making 4-H accessible beyond the traditional mold, Galston is working to expand the program’s reach into after-school spaces and underserved communities.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From today, drivers of overlength vehicles attempting to use Galston Gorge will face significantly harsher penalties, with fines rising from $2,818 to $4,633 and demerit points doubling from six to 12.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Interview with Dr. David Galston Some obvious differences between Plato and Jesus would include the fact that Plato preceded Jesus by three and a half centuries. Jesus was a Jewish teacher; Plato was a Greek philosopher. Plato taught with dialogues; Jesus taught with parables. But they are both figures of wisdom. Both styles are placed in everyday life, and yet both teachers encourage their students to exercise critical thinking and to discover reality beyond the obvious. David Galston is the CEO Executive Director of the Westar Institute, which defines itself as “pursuing honest and rigorous inquiry on the origins and cultural implications of the Christian tradition through critical, collaborative, and cumulative scholarship.” Galston is a theologian and has authored three books: Archives and the Event of God (McGill-Queens Press, 2010), Embracing the Human Jesus (Polebridge Press, 2012), and God's Human Future (Polebridge Press, 2016). A transcript is available here: https://earlychristiantexts.com/jesus-and-plato/

Small Biz Matters: People, Policy, Purpose ~ Episode #247 Broadcast date: 10 Sep 2024 Host: Alexi Boyd, Small Business Advocate & Policy Advisor Guests: Janelle McIntosh (Labor), Nathan Tilbury (Independent), Warren Waddell (Liberal) If you were to ask a small business owner which level of government has the most impact on their business, to be honest, it would depend when you ask them. Right now small businesses are thinking about interest rates, rising complexities in compliance around hiring and keeping staff, cost of doing business and of course, the state of the economy right now. But frequently the decisions made by your local council can have an enormous impact on your ability to run a business. They are responsible for much of the red tape which can suffocate small business growth. Development planning of residential and commercial areas, parking, foot traffic, events, rubbish and recycling disposal, and increasingly finding the right people with the right skills who can afford to live locally. Small Biz Matters asked a number of businesses right here what they thought were the main concerns facing their small businesses at a local level and what they would like to see the new Hornsby mayor change to improve their economic outlook and make it easier to do business in Hornsby. Joining us live in the studio we have: Janelle McIntosh - Labor Nathan Tilbury - Independent Warren Waddell - Liberal PEOPLE –   What do you think is the number one issue for small business people right now? How will you improve engagement with local small business representatives?  Will you support the council creating a new role of economic development manager? POLICY -   Beyond the Hornsby After Dark campaign, how will you improve foot traffic for areas tenanted by predominantly small business? What policies will you implement in the first 12months for small businesses in Hornsby? PURPOSE - How many Chamber of commerce or other business events have you attended in the last 3years? Councillor Janelle McIntosh Janelle was born and raised in Hornsby Shire and together with her husband is raising her son here. She is passionate about local government, returning for her third term at Council after being first elected in 2004. Janelle is proud to have initiated many key issues and strategies such as Aboriginal Acknowledgement in Hornsby, the Economic Development & Tourism Strategy, Public Domain Guidelines, Dementia Friendly Hornsby, Street Library Grant program and the Healthy Ageing Strategy. She is well known for fostering engagement with the community and for active promotion of local businesses and organisations, Council issues, programs and events. To find out more about Janelle McIntosh's campaign to be your local Mayor, click HERE Councillor Nathan Tilbury Nathan Tilbury was first elected as Councillor representative in 2012 and has served since. He genuinely knows and cares for his community. He is well known for his empathetic approach and his ability to listen to all residents, no matter how large or small their issue may be. To find out more about Janelle McIntosh's campaign to be your local Mayor, click HERE Councillor Warren Waddell As a fifth-generation resident of Hornsby and a proud second-term Shire Councillor, I have a deep-rooted connection to our community. Growing up in Galston, attending Macquarie University, and managing my family's historic orchard have all shaped my commitment to our Shire. My experience with local organizations such as the Hornsby Kuring Gai Women's Shelter and Habitat for Humanity has reinforced my dedication to creating a safe and thriving environment for everyone To find out more about Warren Waddell's campaign to be your local Mayor, click HERE  

Galston Road is closed in both directions at Galston Gorge due to a bus stuck on a bend, the 2nd in 2 days.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Principal of Northholm Grammar Christopher Bradbury joins Ray to discuss the school bus that has become stuckSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yascha Mounk and William Galston discuss why neither the Democrats or Republicans have been able to build a durable governing majority. William Galston is an author and academic who holds the Ezra K. Zilker Chair in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. Galston was also deputy assistant for domestic policy to President Bill Clinton. His latest book is Anti-Pluralism: The Populist Threat to Liberal Democracy. In this week's conversation, Yascha Mounk and William Galston discuss why cultural questions have become as important as economic issues in deciding elections; why the period following the 2024 election will afford political opportunities to ideological upstarts in both parties; and the outsized influence of “dark passions" like humiliation and resentment in voting behavior. This transcript has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity. Please do listen and spread the word about The Good Fight. If you have not yet signed up for our podcast, please do so now by following this link on your phone. Email: podcast@persuasion.community  Website: http://www.persuasion.community Podcast production by Jack Shields, and Brendan Ruberry Connect with us! Spotify | Apple | Google Twitter: @Yascha_Mounk & @joinpersuasion Youtube: Yascha Mounk LinkedIn: Persuasion Community Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Denise Brady has been a food photographer for two and a half years. She is based on the East coast of the UK in Suffolk. Before this she was doing weddings and family photography, but Covid meant Denise had to pivot her business and moved to food photography. Denise's photography journey began on her wedding day. When she got the images back from her wedding day she didn't like them, and said she could have done better herself, which her husband laughed at. Denise had done photography in her youth but stopped. The next Christmas her husband bought her a Nikon digital camera. Later that year she was asked to photograph a wedding for a friend of her daughter. Denise tried to turn it down but her husband said no, this is your chance to show you can do better. So, Denise shot the wedding for free. The couple were pleased with the photos and paid Denise for them. It then built from there until Covid. Marcus says in fashion the photographers are often not that interested in fashion. So he wondered if she liked food. Denise loves food and was as up with great home cooked food as a child. Marcus asks if Denise has read the book Toast by Nigel Slater. Denise says her cook book shelf is about a meter and a half long. She says if a food photo doesn't make your mouth water and invoke a memory then it's not doing it's job.   Denise loves to use natural light. She can use lighting but uses natural light for all her photos. She will use bounce boards to get light into a shot and blackboards to take light out of a shot. She will use foils and scrims to block out and filter bright direct light on sunny days. On a flat light day her works becomes easier. The hardest days to work on are ones with sunshine and showers so the sun is constantly coming in and out. Denise likes to get the white balance right in shot rather than afterwards. There is a show all about lighting, the ten principles of flash photography. Denise's preference is to take dark and moody shots. Some clients need light and airy shots and she is. Sam asks how she found it finding clients with the move to food. This was very challenging at the start as Covid hit the entertainment industry so hard. Denise has found that she has to be flexible in her approach and work within a clients budget, which can be limited. Denise's son in law is a chef. He has been very helpful to her and means she has someone to go to, to ask questions when she doesn't understand things within the industry. Denise says plating is important and changing all the time. Denise has a particular style. She tried other things like the floating burgers and stop motion, but she prefers to work in her style. Marcus refers back to the recent Joe Giacomet show  as he has been making the gif style stop motion food animations. Marcus asks about working with food stylists. Denise often does the styling herself but she has worked with food stylists. Sam asks what food stylists do. The summary is that they move the peas around the plate and arrange the knife and fork tastefully and things like that. Denise also takes props with her for shoots. They also discuss planning and hot food. When hot food comes out it needs to be photographed very quickly. That means there needs to be lots of planning in place so that when the food comes out the photos are able to be done very quickly.   Denise's influences include: Jonie – The Bite Shot Sarah - Broma bakery Her influences also comes from going to restaurants and looking at their photography. Her ambitions include working on a cook book and getting into a major food magazine. She has been published with other shots, but not food. Her ideal chef to make a cook book with would be Gordon Ramsey or a local chef Galston at Morston Hall.    

How has the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade affected the course of the 2022 midterm elections? How has it affected the standing of the two political parties? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Brookings Institution Senior Fellow William Galston. According to Galston, the galvanizing effect of the Dobbs decision on Democratic voters has eaten into the advantage the out-of-power party typically has in an off-year election. Swing voters who view Republicans as too far from the mainstream on abortion, and other issues, threaten to upend GOP hopes of a “Red Wave” in November. At the same time, Galston reflects on the Democrats own vulnerabilities, particularly on cultural issues, which could hurt their electoral chances in November and beyond.

How has the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade affected the course of the 2022 midterm elections? How has it affected the standing of the two political parties? To discuss these questions, we are joined by Brookings Institution Senior Fellow William Galston. According to Galston, the galvanizing effect of the Dobbs decision on Democratic voters has eaten into the advantage the out-of-power party typically has in an off-year election. Swing voters who view Republicans as too far from the mainstream on abortion, and other issues, threaten to upend GOP hopes of a Red Wave in November. At the same time, Galston reflects on the Democrats own vulnerabilities, particularly on cultural issues, which could hurt their electoral chances in November and beyond.

Transport for NSW Chief Howard Collins provides an update to Jim.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I was delighted and excited to chat to Billy Kay: writer, broadcaster, multi-linguist, and champion of the Scots language - most notably through his book 'The Mither Tongue', which is quite rightly regarded as a classic of contemporary Scottish culture. Billy is a much-honored individual but, for many people, he came to prominence recently for his address to the Scottish parliament - the first ever to have been presented in Scots. Scots in the Scottish Parliament - heaven forbid! In this episode we chat about Billy's early life in his beloved Galston in Ayrshire, his education, his love of the Scots language and his passion for Scottish independence, which, as he sees it, is the only route to saving the language and culture of Scots. With his deep knowledge of Scottish history he effortlessly roams across several centuries of Scottish witers and characters: Burns, Sir Walter Scot, James Boswell, the painters JD Ferguson, Allan Ramsay and more. The thing about Billy is that - just talking to him - made me feel more intelligent than I am. that's a talent! Enjoy. Links Billy Kay. Pat's Guide to Glasgow West End. @glasgowswestend @billykayscot   Music by Jim Byrne

Locals near the Gorge explain their daily struggles of the road being closed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1989, in the wake of Republican president Ronald Reagan's landslide reelection, political scientists Elaine Kamarck and Bill Galston issued a wake-up call to the Democratic Party. It came in the form of a widely discussed paper entitled “The Politics of Evasion: Democrats and the Presidency,” which called upon Democrats to bring their party back to the political center. “The Politics of Evasion” became the intellectual and political manifesto for the moderate New Democrat movement and its organizational base, the Democratic Leadership Council. In 1992, the DLC's president, Arkansas governor Bill Clinton, won the presidency by running on a New Democrat platform. In February of this year, with moderate Democrats worrying anew that the party has drifted too far from the political center, Elaine Kamarck and Bill Galston issued a paper entitled “The New Politics of Evasion: How Ignoring Swing Voters Could Reopen the Door for Donald Trump and Threaten American Democracy.” Once again, Kamarck and Galston warn Democrats that they are evading political reality in ways that may lead to durable Republican majorities. This time around, they write, Democrats have fallen under the sway of three persistent myths: the myth that people of color think and act in the same way, that economics always trumps culture, and that a progressive majority is emerging. But the stakes are much higher than they were 33 years ago. If the new politics of evasion leads to another era of Republican dominance under Donald Trump's populist-authoritarianism, the result this time could be the end of American democracy. In this episode, podcast host Geoff Kabaservice talks with Elaine Kamarck of the Brookings Institution about “The New Politics of Evasion” and what Democrats need to do to regain electoral competitiveness with much of the American working class, including Hispanic voters. The episode also explores Elaine Kamarck's career in the Clinton White House when from 1993 to 1997 she created and managed the National Performance Review, also known as the Reinventing Government Initiative. The conversation surveys the achievements of that initiative and raises the question of what needs to be done to reinvent government under the present circumstances.

In this episode of “Keen On”, Andrew is joined by William Galston. William Galston holds a Chair in the Brookings Institution's Governance Studies Program, where he serves as a Senior Fellow. A participant in six presidential campaigns, he served from 1993 to 1995 as Deputy Assistant to President Clinton for Domestic Policy. Galston is also an award-winning author and has appeared on all the principal television networks and is frequently interviewed on NPR. He writes a weekly column for the Wall Street Journal. Visit our website: https://lnkd.in/gZNKTyc7 Email Andrew: a.keen@me.com Watch the show live on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ajkeen Watch the show live on LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/gatW6J8v Watch the show live on Facebook: https://lnkd.in/gjzVnTkY Watch the show on YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gDwPgesS Subscribe to Andrew's newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gzwFsxPV Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In September 1989, the brand-new Progressive Policy Institute published The Politics of Evasion: Democrats and the Presidency. Nearly 33 years later, this political study maintains more than just historical interest today as the Democratic Party once again must wrestle with basic questions of political outlook and electoral strategy. Written by political scholars William Galston and Elaine Kamarck, their analysis refuted the principal “myths” that the party's establishment embraced to explain away recent losses and avoid confronting the fundamental reasons voters were rejecting its candidates. The Politics of Evasion laid the political predicate for the rise of the “New Democrats” and Bill Clinton and their successful efforts to infuse new ideas into a stale governing agenda and snap the string of presidential defeats. Today, Democrats obviously face a very different political environment and set of electoral challenges. What hasn't changed, however, is the need for unflinching honesty about the party's struggles to consolidate a broad and a durable majority — even after four years of Donald Trump's chaotic, divisive and lawless presidency. Facing a difficult midterm election and the ominous prospect of a second Trump run for the White House, Democrats are once again in need of a political reality check. Galston and Kamarck have obliged with a fresh analysis of the party's predicament: The New Politics of Evasion: How Ignoring Swing Voters Could Reopen the Door for Donald Trump and Threaten American Democracy. In this episode of the Radically Pragmatic podcast, William and Elaine sit down with PPI President Will Marshall to unpack the contents of their new report and discuss what changes Democrats need to make in order to stop Republicans from taking back control of Congress this November and the White House in 2024. Read the report here. Learn more about the Progressive Policy Institute here.

Remembering climate champ Arthur W. Galston—who coined the Word "Ecocide," plus can ecocide become international law? Climate champion Polly Higgins, and tiny nation of Vanuatu asks the ICC to make ecocide a crime.

This week on the feed we're featuring the Chicago Capital Podcast.Chicago Capital is hosted by Matt Castellini and explores the Venture Capital and Entrepreneurial ecosystem in Chicago.Matt is currently getting his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business while working in early stage VC.He grew up in the Chicagoland area and attended Notre Dame for undergrad. He became obessesed with podcasts and podcasting after college. He finally decided to start one when I saw an opportunity to spotlight a city that I felt was not receiving the national recognition it deserved.Matt is also the author of Venture Scenes, where I blog about Startups, Venture Capital, and Movies.Ezra Galston is the Founding Partner at Starting Line, a Chicago-based early-stage venture capital firm that invests in leading consumer products and brands.In this episode, they cover: Fundraising Resiliency Starting Line Fund II Building to Conviction Post-Investment Value-Add The Challenges of the VC Feedback Loop State of Chicago Tech Subscribe to Chicago Capital PodcastFollow Matt Castellini on TwitterLearn more about Starting LineFollow Ezra Galston on TwitterFollow upside on TwitterJoin the upside network

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine We’ll talk about the history and the future of the two major parties, How parties change and evolve, how/why they splinter. Are the parties too strong or too weak? Are the two major parties in this moment so polarized that the system itself is undermined? Has the modern two-party system made us ungovernable? What reforms and options might be realistic? — multi-member districts, proportional representation, ranked choice voting? Guest: Lee Drutman, senior fellow at New America. He is the author of Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America Sandy Maisel, Goldfarb Family Distinguished Professor of American Government at Colby College (emeritus) To learn more about this topic: “Quiz: If America Had Six Parties, Which Would You Belong To?” by Lee Drutman in the New York Times, September 8, 2021 “Have Democrats become a party of the left?” William A. Galston and Elaine Kamarck, for Brookings, July, 2021 “The Decline of the GOP,” Norm Ornstein in The Atlantic, August, 2020 Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America, by Lee Drutman, March, 2020. Watch an interview with the author at Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop – Political Reform. Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process. by Mark D. Brewer and L.Sandy Maisel, ninth edition, 2020 The Parties Respond: Changes in American Parties and Campaigns (Transforming American Politics) Mark D. Brewer and L. Sandy Maisel, fifth edition, 2018 (essay collection) “This Maine Initiative Could Shake Up the Two-Party System,” by Hendrik Hertberg in The Nation, October, 2016. It’s Even Worse Than It Looks by Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, April, 2016. “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: America’s Love Affair with the Two-Party System,” Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, Marc Horger, July 2013. Prerecorded on 9/15 using Zoom technology. The mostly volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: Martha Dickinson, Starr Gilmartin, Maggie Harling, Ann Luther, Judith Lyles, Wendilee O'Brien, Maryann Ogonowski, Pam Person, Lane Sturtevant, Leah Taylor, Linda Washburn About the host: Ann currently serves as Treasurer of the League of Women Voters of Maine and leads the LWVME Advocacy Team. She served as President of LWVME from 2003 to 2007 and as co-president from 2007-2009. In her work for the League, Ann has worked for greater public understanding of public policy issues and for the League's priority issues in Clean Elections & Campaign Finance Reform, Voting Rights, Ethics in Government, Ranked Choice Voting, and Repeal of Term Limits. Representing LWVME at Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, she served that coalition as co-president from 2006 to 2011. She remains on the board of MCCE and serves as Treasurer. She is active in the LWV-Downeast and hosts their monthly radio show, The Democracy Forum, on WERU FM Community Radio -which started out in 2004 as an recurring special, and became a regular monthly program in 2012. She was the 2013 recipient of the Baldwin Award from the ACLU of Maine for her work on voting rights and elections. She joined the League in 1998 when she retired as Senior Vice President at SEI Investments. Ann was a founder of the MDI Restorative Justice Program, 1999 – 2000, and served on its Executive Board. The post Democracy Forum 9/17/21: The Two-party System and the Future of Our Democracy first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

Host: Ann Luther, League of Women Voters of Maine We’ll talk about the history and the future of the two major parties, How parties change and evolve, how/why they splinter. Are the parties too strong or too weak? Are the two major parties in this moment so polarized that the system itself is undermined? Has the modern two-party system made us ungovernable? What reforms and options might be realistic? — multi-member districts, proportional representation, ranked choice voting? Guest: Lee Drutman, senior fellow at New America. He is the author of Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America Sandy Maisel, Goldfarb Family Distinguished Professor of American Government at Colby College (emeritus) To learn more about this topic: “Quiz: If America Had Six Parties, Which Would You Belong To?” by Lee Drutman in the New York Times, September 8, 2021 “Have Democrats become a party of the left?” William A. Galston and Elaine Kamarck, for Brookings, July, 2021 “The Decline of the GOP,” Norm Ornstein in The Atlantic, August, 2020 Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America, by Lee Drutman, March, 2020. Watch an interview with the author at Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop – Political Reform. Parties and Elections in America: The Electoral Process. by Mark D. Brewer and L.Sandy Maisel, ninth edition, 2020 The Parties Respond: Changes in American Parties and Campaigns (Transforming American Politics) Mark D. Brewer and L. Sandy Maisel, fifth edition, 2018 (essay collection) “This Maine Initiative Could Shake Up the Two-Party System,” by Hendrik Hertberg in The Nation, October, 2016. It’s Even Worse Than It Looks by Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, April, 2016. “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: America’s Love Affair with the Two-Party System,” Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, Marc Horger, July 2013. Prerecorded on 9/15 using Zoom technology. The mostly volunteer team at the League of Women Voters – Downeast who plan and coordinate this series includes: Martha Dickinson, Starr Gilmartin, Maggie Harling, Ann Luther, Judith Lyles, Wendilee O'Brien, Maryann Ogonowski, Pam Person, Lane Sturtevant, Leah Taylor, Linda Washburn About the host: Ann currently serves as Treasurer of the League of Women Voters of Maine and leads the LWVME Advocacy Team. She served as President of LWVME from 2003 to 2007 and as co-president from 2007-2009. In her work for the League, Ann has worked for greater public understanding of public policy issues and for the League's priority issues in Clean Elections & Campaign Finance Reform, Voting Rights, Ethics in Government, Ranked Choice Voting, and Repeal of Term Limits. Representing LWVME at Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, she served that coalition as co-president from 2006 to 2011. She remains on the board of MCCE and serves as Treasurer. She is active in the LWV-Downeast and hosts their monthly radio show, The Democracy Forum, on WERU FM Community Radio -which started out in 2004 as an recurring special, and became a regular monthly program in 2012. She was the 2013 recipient of the Baldwin Award from the ACLU of Maine for her work on voting rights and elections. She joined the League in 1998 when she retired as Senior Vice President at SEI Investments. Ann was a founder of the MDI Restorative Justice Program, 1999 – 2000, and served on its Executive Board. The post Democracy Forum 9/17/21: The Two-party System and the Future of Our Democracy first appeared on WERU 89.9 FM Blue Hill, Maine Local News and Public Affairs Archives.

On episode 5, season 2 of the Founders Forward Podcast, we welcome Ezra Galston. Ezra is the founder and partner at Starting Line, a consumer-focused VC fund located in Chicago. As someone who has faced the ups and downs of being a founder (plus the stresses of fundraising), Ezra and the team at Starting Line has made mental health a focus. Every founder in the Starting Line portfolio receives a subsidy for "their first three sessions of therapy, executive coaching, or co-founder counseling (up to $200 each)." Ezra joins the Founders Forward to break down fundraising, founder health, and the consumer market/what excites the team at Starting Line. Our CEO, Mike Preuss, had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Ezra. You can give the full episode a listen below:

This is NOT a typical environmentalist discussion! In this exciting episode, we discuss Baby Boomers, environmentalists, science deniers, hippies, fringe groups and much, much more. YouTube

Ezra Galston is the Founding Partner at Starting Line, a Chicago-based early-stage venture capital firm that invests in leading consumer products and brands.In this episode, we covered Fundraising Resiliency  Starting Line Fund II Building to Conviction  Post-Investment Value-Add The Challenges of the VC Feedback Loop State of Chicago Tech And much more.... Please Enjoy!You can find Ezra on Linkedin & Twitter and Starting Line on Linkedin, Twitter.Manifold Group is a venture holding company based in Chicago with offices in Dallas, Los Angeles, and soon Atlantic Canada. Early stage private investments represent an extraordinary investment opportunity, but existing investment models in the space leave much to be desired.Manifold is a new model for growth in the new economy, designed to create and capture value at the early stage through synergies across its venture fund, incubation and acceleration studio, and advisory firm. Learn more about Manifold at https://www.manifold.group.

Starting Line is an early-stage Chicago-based Venture Capital fund investing in premier consumer startups & brands. The firm started in 2018 with $17 million in its first fund. One of its first investments was Cameo, a Chicago internet-commerce startup that was recently valued at $1 Billion. Investors in the second fund ($30M) include an array of high-profile entrepreneurs from Grubhub, M1 Finance, Tovala, and a host of others. Ezra Galston Founder & CEO. He works to bring transparency to a dark industry; you will always know where you stand with him. Learn More

Starting Line is an early-stage Chicago-based Venture Capital fund investing in premier consumer startups & brands. The firm started in 2018 with $17 million in its first fund. One of its first investments was Cameo, a Chicago internet-commerce startup that was recently valued at $1 Billion. Investors in the second fund ($30M) include an array of high-profile entrepreneurs from Grubhub, M1 Finance, Tovala, and a host of others. Ezra Galston Founder & CEO. He works to bring transparency to a dark industry; you will always know where you stand with him. Learn More

In this episode, we hear from leaders of No Labels and others as they discuss what is next for Congress. We’re joined by: Bill Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, former Congressman Tom Davis, Steve Pearlstein, a business and economics columnist with the Washington Post, and AB Stoddard, columnist and associate editor at RealClear Politics. In a broad consensus that this is No Labels’ moment. Because the new House and Senate will be governed by such small margins, bipartisan groups like the Problem Solvers Caucus will be essential. As Dr. Galston points out, few presidents have come into office with the kinds of challenges facing Joe Biden and he’ll need all the help he can get from congressional Democrats and Republicans committed to working with him to solve problems. Go to NoLabels.org to learn more about how we are bringing together a bipartisan group of public and private leaders working to solve America’s toughest problems.

The person elected president of the United States this November will have enormous influence over America’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated recession. To discuss the differences in how President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden approach these issues, and lessons from the first presidential debate, David Dollar is joined by William A. Galston, a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings and expert on campaigns and political theory. Dollar and Sense is a part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Send feedback email to BCP@Brookings.edu, and follow us at @policypodcasts on Twitter.

Join in on the conversation as Jeremy Todd from The Positive Side Podcast joins me today. We talk about what its like to find your self through the process of book writing. Want to touch base with Jeremy? Want to let him know how great he was to come on here and share the truth of who he is? Please email him jeremy@jeremytodd.com ! Brandon Handley 0:00 4321 Hey there spiritual dope. This is Brandon Handley, the voice of a generation. I am on with my good friend, Jeremy Todd from the positive side, you may ask yourself the positive side of what of everything. positive side of everything Jeremy Todd and I, we go way back. So you've got the podcast positive side, you've got your coaching, you know, just high level executive success coaching, that you've been running for years now. And I've loved watching you kind of grow that business and continue to grow yourself. And we're going to talk today a little bit about leading your life from a spiritual angle and doing it so that you're having a more fulfilling more successful life. How's that sound to you? Jeremy Todd 0:48 Oh, that sounds perfect. Thanks for letting me on your Brandon Handley 0:50 show. jacked up and fired up. Yeah. Yeah, I decided that Jeremy I think was my very first podcast and and man We couldn't GS Remember, we're trying to figure out how to even like talk to each other. I think you had to record on your side, I had to record on my side on a child, like the cast was terrible. But the conversation was magic. And the magic continues before before we get going, right, so the first thing I like to start us off with is, you and I were conduits for you know, the creative source energy of the universe, right? And when we when we put these podcasts together, when you and I are connecting, we're not connecting because you and I, like have a good conversation and we like each other. Yeah, it's because some type of message it's got to come out of this. And it's got to come through you by being here today. What's that message that the university Sangeeta? Jeremy Todd 1:44 Well, for me, it's, it's it's a message that I've been really resonated with recently. I've always been resonating with this message, but recently, it's more important than ever that you know, it's that authenticity and being comfortable with myself and really being with everybody out there. It's, you know, the spirituality part. to even be comfortable with that. I think there's so many obstacles in our way and so many negative things that pop up on a day to day basis in our life with craziness going on. And it takes away from who we truly are. And it takes away our message. It takes away our spiritual spirituality. And you know, I'm tired of it. I'm ready to go the other way. I'm ready to really double down on my spirituality and double down on the positivity. Yeah. Because dammit, I'm tired of the negativity. And the only way we're going to do it is we're going to lead from the other side. And, you know, that's the side I want to be on. I don't want to be on the negativity side. I want to just, you know, trust and believe in myself with thee with the powers that I have already within that, I think, and they've been clouded for years. They've been clouded in the now with the craziness. They're even more clouded. But not anymore. Dammit, I'm tired. I'm sick and tired of this stuff. And you know, we talked briefly before this started about one of the things and again, I'm going on tangent, so I apologize but Brandon Handley 2:54 other things as a message that somebody needs here. It's coming through you. Jeremy Todd 2:57 Yeah, you know, we talked about you know, I'm ready to That book and I'm not here to talk about the book, but really here I'm talking about is the exercise of writing. I've never done it. I've never wrote more than three pages in my entire life. And now that I'm actually trying to put ideas down on paper, it's allowing me to go through this process in my head that I've never really been able to truly, not only just understand, but comprehend. Because things happen in my life and things happen in your life and in everyone's life that they're so hard for us to understand. And I try my small little brain, try and figure it out. And then you know, you lose topics, you lose organization in your own mind, because you go off on tangents, you think about other things. But as this writing process happens, and this is I guess, the biggest thing for everybody listening is write down some of those ideas. I recently had a piece of paper and pen next to my bed. So when I'm sleeping, I get an idea, boom, I write it down. But it's just being more organized and then being able to revisit that same thought, when I will. When typically in the past, when I would have an idea. I would struggle my way through it or fight my way through it. And another Understand why is this thought in my head right now? And then I'd be done with it, I move on with it, and then it would come back. And then I wouldn't be as clear as I am. Right. So throughout this writing process process and writing these things down that I've gone through in my life, it's given me a better opportunity to understand, you know, what the meaning was, at the time in my life. Why was it brought to me at that time in my life? And what have I actually learned and where I can build from that at this point in my life? So, man, it's just in the last few weeks, last few months, I've just been really magical. And you know, that's why it just ties right into this podcast. I was excited to get on the show to really talk about these things and talk about the things that typically other people don't want to talk about it don't know how to talk about it, or they know how to talk about it, but they're scared to talk about it. And I think that's a bigger thing. How am I going to get judged? Are these Yeah, Brandon Handley 4:44 am I weird? You know, to me, this is a you know this. So first of all, thanks for sharing that message. To me. It sounds like a message of you know, trying to reacquaint yourself with yourself. Yeah, exactly. And it's also trying to capture Those images that you create in your mind when they're clear, and they're vivid, and they're fresh on a piece of paper so that at least when you come back to them, you capture the full essence of what that image was. And because those, those little flashes of insight are just so powerful. And if you don't write them down, like you're saying, when you come back to it, it's a faded version of what it was when you first saw Yeah, you're like, this doesn't seem nearly as potent as it was, like, 45 minutes ago, right? Yeah, Jeremy Todd 5:30 exactly. Or I could completely forget about it. And then I'm like, damn it. What was that idea that I have? It's so powerful, for sure. Now, I can't remember it. All right, Brandon Handley 5:38 that's Tammy. It's amazing. Like I'm just like little little short bursts of like, capacitor energy, like, you know, that's the I don't know what you know about electronics, right? But uh, so there's little capacitor there that the energy gets stored in so that when you take a picture with the flash, right, it's a high burst of energy in that capacitor. Okay. But then it dissipates. And it takes a while for it to fill back up. Jeremy Todd 6:03 Right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly. Oh, this isn't. And, you know, I just think that the journey that I'm on now it's one of the most powerful and exciting journeys I've ever been on my entire life because this is exactly like that. It's those ideas that I've never been really, really processed throughout, in my own head. And I've also mentioned this a lot lately is that, you know, I believe I have all the right answers already within me. But when I'm clouded by the darkness, or the negativity or just being busy, or all the other bullshit excuses, I can put in my own head and give myself away out. It just I've never really had the opportunity to sit down and be within myself and work my way through this and discover the answers that are right there in front of me. You know, like meditation. Brandon Handley 6:44 You know, first of all my own throws out at you right? In this book. I love this book. It's called a more beautiful question, right? We have been taught to have answers, right. But one thing that we haven't really been taught well, and I haven't been taught well, right is how to ask better questions how to ask like those. Sure, deep questions. And if we don't ask those if we don't if we don't learn how to ask, we don't learn how to kind of do that deep seeking, right? I mean, that's part of coaching though, too, right? Like the reflective aspect of coaching. I want to I do want to lean back here for a second because you talked about being afraid to lead with like that. That's spirituality, right with that, because that could be perceived weird. And that was really kind of something I had held myself back with. Right. And I'm super glad to hear like that, you know, you you've been looking for a place to have that conversation. You've been looking for a place to have that kind of it's not necessarily exposed, but who can I talk to? That is going to understand where I'm coming from with this stuff. Unknown Speaker 7:49 Hey, Brittany Haley. Absolutely. Hundred Brandon Handley 7:51 percent. Right. Absolutely. And, and, and then like, you know, there's zero judgment from that, too. It's like, all right, yeah. I hear what you're saying. And I I agree with, you know, everything you're saying. And and the question becomes like, Okay, this is where you're at, just like coaching, right? Where do you want to go? What do you want to do with this knowledge? You know it, right? Yeah. Now it's, you know, that's what you want to do. So you're doing it through a process a book, right? Jeremy Todd 8:18 Yeah, you know, and I think it's also understanding and just really have the mental capacity of understanding that, and I love this quote is vulnerability. vulnerability is my strength. By being vulnerable, being who I am and being being weird and quirky, that's my strength. And I've always shied away from that, like, you know, it's, it's, it's maybe not what so and so thinks I am or I don't want to get judged and all those other bullshit things that come in your head, but at the end of the day, none of that matters. And actually, the more authentic you are with yourself, the more powerful you become. And it's taken me a long time to even understand that point of it because, gosh, I mean, all these answers that I'm thrown out there within my life, people are attracted to me more now than they've ever been because it is different. It's what people have always wanted to do but they can't they don't have the power now they see, you know, they see you and they see me doing it. They're like, you know what, maybe it's okay. Yeah, those conversations are awesome to Brandon Handley 9:08 know. It's always awesome to you know, and I know that even when I started on the father for the rest of us podcast, I was like, Alright man, step into your power. Yeah. Right. And, and but this is so when I met Jeremy guys, ladies and girls, ladies and ladies and gentlemen, I met Jeremy in person years ago at a, you know, a podcast meetup. And one of the things that stood out to me about Jeremy was, you know, you talked about having to have 100% faith in yourself, and belief in yourself. Sounds to me and you know, I'm not trying to be judged. You're not though it sounds to me like you kind of got disrupted with some of that, like over the past couple years, right. And that's been something that's kind of been eating you away, but now you're finding kind of a Marie Newell. of this. I'll call it you know, faith and self, you know, self belief. Is that what I'm here coming? Because I mean, you're bringing the energy so Jeremy Todd 10:08 well, there's no question about it. And I think the biggest thing is, you know, it's that old saying act as if, And hey, if I'm gonna be honest, completely honest with myself, I've always tried to just keep telling myself Hey, everything's gonna be fine. If it's gonna be good. I'm gonna be super positive, but I've never really dealt with the reality of what I'm actually dealing with in within my soul. So, yeah, yeah, hey, that's me. And yes, I strive to stay motivated to stay positive. But man, it's those darker things that I've never really faced in the past. And now I'm to a point in my life that I just don't give a shit. Now. I mean, I just the more and more I self analyze myself, the better I become, and the stronger I become, and the happier I am. I've had this realization recently to it, and I'm doing right, a lot of writing about fear. And one of my fears was always about fear of being alone. And I really analyzed that about, you know, there's two ways, the initial way I looked at that Was selfishly the eagle Tell me why don't want to be by myself physically, like, like, I always want to have a partner with me. You know, I want to have a girlfriend, I want to be married, I want to have all this stuff. So I always felt like ask me, who what am I gonna do if I'm alone? I mean, how can I take care of myself? So it was all physical. Really the hard part of that one of the what I've really understood now is it's not the physical part of being alone. It's the mental part of being alone. How can I be alone with myself my own thoughts, I've got more time than ever now I've actually got to face these things. face these things that have always been right in front of me. All these things that I you know, my self doubt myself. You know, I'm critical of myself constantly. I don't think I'm this or I don't think I'm good enough or smart enough. So all these things now that I've understood that the fear of being alone wasn't the physical part is the mental part. And now that I'm facing that part of it, it's allowed me to grow exponentially. Because as I go through these things, I become happier with myself. I'm becoming my own best friend. Sure. And I think That's so powerful that you know we always and again this is me, I always thought I had to have that person Sure. Instead of understanding that I'm good enough and I can be my best friend and that was Brandon Handley 12:10 that I think that there's a there's a huge there's a huge that that's how we're brought up man right we're brought up the chaser relationship once you've got that great relationship you become whole type of thing and you know two people complete each other and all this other jazz right but you know, that may be the end and then then the end result but those two people come together I love I think it's Wayne Dyer that talks about Thank you don't come together as two halves and create a whole you come together as two people. You're still two people. Right? With with Yeah, individuality is you got to come together as two whole people, right, loving yourself as for who you are and and before other people can love you. Correct. You Jeremy Todd 12:55 can't come in halfway. You got to come in 100% because no one's ever gonna fill that void. That's something that's taking me a long time to really just wrap my head around that concept because I don't know what it was. I don't know if it's just a switch one day. I'm like, you know what, that doesn't make any sense. I mean, I kind of enjoy being alone, actually. I mean, it's all good. But man, oh, man, the more you get, you know, alone and you start thinking your way through Why don't you like little stuff? Jeremy, why don't you know why don't you give yourself excuses for not going to the gym? I enjoy the gym. Brandon Handley 13:25 I heard you know, so here's what I mean. Let's talk a little bit about it. I know that I heard you kind of busting your balls on on your podcast about like, you know, setting up excuses for yourself and realizations and you know, your own but yeah, and weighs out more than anything. But let's talk about you know, endless I mean, that's, that's, that's, that's everybody, right? That's every human that's out there does this to a certain degree. What I want to talk about those like, you know, kind of what you're talking about is is kind of leading with spirituality where you you know, you've accepted the power within you, right? Yeah. And, and so let's talk about What that means to you? Jeremy Todd 14:02 Well, I mean, it's almost for accepting the power of me is is tough because I don't know if I've accepted all the power within me. It's almost like I'm hitting, you know, analogy. I'm going going down a big hill and I still hold my hands on the brakes, not willing to completely let go. I'm going fast. We talked about earlier, take the hands off the steering wheel and just let it go. Right, right. I am. I'm getting closer. I believe in myself more now than ever. And, you know, you know, just to say, you know, I wouldn't enjoy some wins, and not that I've never had wins in the past, but I want to enjoy a win on the spiritual journey that I'm on now. Maybe it is when I get that book out. That'd be a winner in the accomplishment. Maybe I don't even know what what will it be, but it's almost like I'm just, this is the path I need to go on. Yeah, I feel comfortable with this path. I don't know what the end result looks like. But I've never felt so good about this path that I'm on that I've ever been in my entire life. Brandon Handley 15:04 So let's talk. Like, let's talk a little about, like, so it's like you're kind of you're kind of shading your own light is what I'm hearing. Right? So you're kind of shading your own light. Because it's, it's a little scary to admit that what you feel inside is greater than anything that you've ever felt before. Jeremy Todd 15:21 So exactly, right. Right. It is it is. You know, it's the self, you know, then you have the self, where am I worthy enough? You know, and these things are just there. And again, I'm not trying to say who was me and but believe me, it's the positive side guy, you know, I'm all good. But you know, in a different space, right? You're just so you're feeling when you dial down deep into it. Mm hmm. start identifying different things. It doesn't change who I am as a motivational guy, inspirational guy, but it's this new journey that I love picking this part about just to get better. And I love it. And love is challenging. It's difficult. It's extremely hard. And it's the best challenge I've ever been on in my entire life and Because of the decisions I've made in my life, they all brought me to this exact point for a specific reason. And I'm excited about where this is gonna go. Brandon Handley 16:08 Would you call it the serve resurrection of Jeremy Todd? Jeremy Todd 16:11 I kind of feel like that man I really do. It's it's doing things that I enjoy doing. If I don't want to do something, I just don't do stuff. I don't know how to even explain it. Brandon Handley 16:20 But don't do things that don't bring you life. Right. Why would you? Unknown Speaker 16:22 Yeah, yeah, exactly. Brandon Handley 16:24 And I think that though, you know, there's also there's a precipice here, there's a there's a, there's definitely caveats to this message, right? This is once you kind of step into this space that you're in, because prior to that people would take that as meaning Well, I'm gonna go out and I'm gonna get wasted. I'm not going to do work yada, yada yada. That's not what we're talking about here. Correct. We're not talking about going out and doing whatever you want. I'm gonna go streak and I'm gonna windows and all this other stuff. You can do that. Don't get me wrong. I have a blast right there. Done that right. Don't be a jerk. Um, but talking about, you know, what are the things ones that are fulfilling you right and looking for those and then adding more of those moments in your life is that we're talking about here Jeremy Todd 17:07 is exactly what I'm talking about and it's doing little stuff that I want to do like I you know, I went on that trip to Ireland by myself. Yeah, man, that was the coolest thing in the world but no plans just hit said hey, I'm going by myself I don't know anything. I don't know anybody. I don't know where I'm going but I'm just gonna go do it I'm gonna handle and it was a blast. I'm trying to plan my next trip and this is totally totally off the wringer but I want to go hunting for some reason never been hunting in my entire life. Right. Well, my buddy Dustin bond working you know, Dustin. Yeah, so I'm gonna go out and see Dustin Vaughn warranty and he doesn't know it yet. But I'm sure to plan a trip down to go go down to Texas and go haul Connie. Nice. I mean, I've never shot a rifle before in my life. But it just sounds interesting to go out and and again, I'm not trying to sound horrible but kill an animal. But actually not just killing the same. See, let it like actually consume the animal. And again, you know, hey, I'm eating you know, we all eat hamburger and cheese. And we don't actually see the beginning process. I mean I'm excited about the the mental journey I go on when I physically kill another animal and then consume that animal. What does that do with my perspective on day to day life with what may go and do you know, whatever, go to the restaurant get a hamburger. No. Brandon Handley 18:18 It's a rite of passage for you is What is Jeremy Todd 18:21 it? Yeah, it's just something different that I've always thought about to see what that process is actually, like, instead of just Hey, I'll take a hamburger. The hamburger comes you don't ever see any of that you don't see the cow Walker? You don't see it as a baby cow. Come on. Oh my god. It's so pretty and it grows up and you don't see any of that. Yeah. And I'm just really trying to get in touch with everything into my life. And that's just one small area that I can do it and hey, let's see how it goes. I don't I Brandon Handley 18:45 mean, that can be that could that could very well turn you into a vegetarian you never know. Well, because I'll tell you I had an experience growing up as a kid I got the BB gun and there was sitting in the backyard of my grandparents house. There's a was like a little bird said On the mulberry tree, right? Yeah. And I shot it, but then when I shot it like there was this thing that kind of just went through me it was so weird, right? Like when you Yeah, you know you're ending something else's life that look, we all step on bugs, right? we all we all flesh ticks. But yeah, it has something to do with like this this this bird right and and you know other lives. So you know it's an interesting it is definitely an interesting experience to take another life and I mean, it's very different than fishing. Right fishing Yeah, sure, sure. Same thing, but you don't the same thing, right? You're taking something out. Take taking something that was natural element and eventually you're killing it and consuming it. Yeah, right. I mean, there's no, there's no way to sugarcoat that's exactly what you know. But at the same time, it's really, I think important. What it sounds like is you want to go on or that process and experience it for yourself. I mean, yeah, Unknown Speaker 19:59 exactly. And Brandon Handley 20:00 how's that any different than mine ground beef? Jeremy Todd 20:05 Yeah, exactly. Oh, yeah, I would never shoot an animal but I'm gonna go buy chicken or meat. Okay, I have a big have a big steak, okay, hey, I get all that but it's just something I've thought about and I'd be really interested about the spiritual part about that is in how emotional is it going to be for me because I'm a big, I'm a big nerd. I'm a big softy. I mean, I'll probably cry Brandon Handley 20:26 like a little baby. I think it's interesting. Um, Jeremy Todd 20:28 but you know, if I'm going to kill it, I'm going to consume it. And I'm not going to just leave it out there and just waste it. But I'm also a big believer of everything you eat that you take the spirit of that animal to so the garbage food you do take on that animal spirit and that soul in that process, so if I go out to an animal and kill it, I'm taking on that animal soul. And I'm interested to see how that's gonna make me feel a little bit differently when I actually eat the meat is gonna be a little bit different, like, the whole process is just something Brandon Handley 20:59 I'll never know. Doesn't, I'm definitely interested to see kind of how that turns out for you. Right. And and the thing is main thing is, is not everybody's journey is the same, right? Your journey is your journey. And like I said, I'm enjoying, I'm joined kind of the space that you're in. Because it sounds like you're kind of at this front end of it, exploring it more, you expose the, you know, call it the light, your spirit, whatever, within you accepted it. And again, now you're like, Jeremy Todd 21:29 now what? Yeah, yeah. And that, and that's, I don't know if there's a right or wrong answer or direct explanation. But you know, it's interesting, you know, and obviously, you don't be pretty well in full disclosure, you know, coming out of a long term marriage. And, you know, it's interesting when you're in a long term marriage, and again, my perspective, no one else's perspective, but you begin to and this isn't all marriages, this is again, I'm just being very vague with this, but you begin to not develop as the person that you truly Are you almost become two people into developing and as one not this isn't anything wrong with that totally cool. But I feel like I've went down that farce down the road for so many years and so long that I'd never really identify with who I actually am because getting married at a young age, you develop each other's lives through each other through through each other's experiences and preferences and opinions and, and again, not to say there's nothing wrong with because it's shaped me to who I am today. But going through that whole process and now being and again, go back to that fear of being alone. That's part of this process is figuring out who am I actually, what do I actually enjoy? What actually does scare me? I don't know those answers yet. And again, I'd love it that I don't know the answers. Yeah. And I don't know if I'll ever know the answers because part of that process of trying to figure it out, develops the person that I truly am going to become Sure. It's like chasing, you know, chasing the sunset. You're never going to get But it's always bright and always looks good and I'm all for it. Yeah, but I mean, but hey, man, I it's exciting Dude, I I couldn't be happier. I couldn't be more excited about the future scared about the future all at the same time. But, man, if anybody out there, listen to the show, it's just an opportunity to really dive down deep within yourself and figure out who you truly are. And there's and the other thing about that is not that I have to say, but there's no right or wrong answer to that. It's not about I'm the right person or this is the wrong person. I was right. No, right or wrong. It's Who am Brandon Handley 23:33 I? The important thing is what you're saying there is eliminate the judgment. Right? Don't judge don't judge who you are. Don't judge the experience. Just Unknown Speaker 23:45 be Brandon Handley 23:47 right and it's really and again, that's something that unless and until you do it, it's a very it's very, it's a that's a very interesting experience. Um, and I you know, I picked that up through headspace, right and meditation and it was like, Don't judge. It was like it was there was a I forget one of the meditations, but even at the very, very beginning, like, Don't judge XYZ don't judge this. And while I'm sure I never thought of myself as judging before, I recognize the difference between judging my thoughts and experiences versus not. And when you're not judging them either good or bad. There's like an elimination of like weight on attachment to that, because when you judge something as good or bad, you're investing emotional energy into that. And that's a hook. Jeremy Todd 24:33 Yeah, that's well said. I mean, you're exactly right. Because when you use explain to court exactly perfect, because when you do put those emotions on things, they are heavy, and you don't need to put any emotion on them. These are the things that have happened. These This is what the decisions I've made in my past. This is who I am not right, they're not wrong. And it's interesting when you talk about judging people because we're judging. The first thing you always automatically is thinking about judging other people, but the first person you can't judge yourself. And we always skip ourselves, you know, it's like, oh, man, I'm gonna judge that person. I won't judge that person. But this person, we got to not judge ourselves and what has brought us to this point in our life is all the good decisions and the quote unquote bad decisions. Brandon Handley 25:14 Well, I'll tell you, I'll tell you, you know, what I kind of what I kind of got it down to was, you know, I tried really hard and made a lot of stupid mistakes. Right, and, and growing up, and the things that I did the things that I put in my body, the experiences I put myself through, and if I'm still here today, yeah, there's a reason. Reason. Yeah. And so I'm exploring that my purpose changes. My purpose changes the month the meanings change, but I investigate that right. I investigate that and it sounds like again, this is kind of where you're at, right? You're investigating Jeremy's purpose. You're investigating Jeremy's self identity. And I'd like to, you know, separate those two words. myself right your yourself those are two separate words right those are two ways now when you separate those two words and you break down what is your self that's your inner being I mean you look up the dictionary self is like your inner being right yeah and and so that's the piece that gets so neglected man and you know we show up in our you know late later ages nothing is all beat the hell it's like it's like it's like you show up with a used car lot there's the one that's like got leftover because because they didn't even want to take this wasn't one it's another Unknown Speaker 26:33 is yeah Brandon Handley 26:36 nothing left on it right. And now we're like, I can resurrect this bitch. Yeah, Jeremy Todd 26:41 yeah hundred percent. Well I think one of the biggest things like you were talking about there is that when when you are 100% comfortable with yourself. It gives you the ability to when other people come into your area. If you have a high level of your you know, your energies are super high. And then they're clean too, because you can have a high energy and not even understand your high energy. So when you're high energy and you've cleaned you have got no clouds of your head, and then someone else comes, approaches you you can sense their energies in one second. You know exactly what's going on. Hey, I can tell you're going through some stuff What's up? No, I'm not. Yeah, er, because I can feel it. Unknown Speaker 27:19 Right, right. And then Jeremy Todd 27:20 all of a sudden it starts spewing all these things that's going on because when you're super, super clean, and you have that high energy, man, you just see life differently. That's a different perspective. There's a lot of things that come to you that you're Yeah, you're blank, your brain would block before but now it doesn't block cc more you're more aware you're more alert and you just see the world in different way. It's it's powerful. It's it's the same as Brandon Handley 27:45 saying the two is when you kind of release the fear and come at it with a clean energy. You're open and receptive things because you're you're not goes back to judgment. You're not cringing yourself. You're not afraid of that person. Because you're good with who you are Jeremy Todd 28:03 correct? Yeah, you know, it's so funny having conversations with people now that you male, female, whatever the case is, and they don't want to tell you a story. I don't want to tell you that because I don't want you to think of me as this. I truly would never think of any differently than what we have right here. Right? I don't care what you did in your past. I don't care what happened because hey, what the past what you brought you to me, and now we're having this conversation. I don't judge. But people don't people. You know, it's almost like Brandon Handley 28:30 if your story is funny and crazy, I'll tell you. Yeah. It was crazy, though. Yeah, but you did you did that. Exactly. Okay. Right. Jeremy Todd 28:39 But again, there's no reason to charge anybody anything because we're all of our spirits are completely different. But we're all here. Like you said, we're all here. Everything just bad decisions. I made, quote unquote, bad decision. This brought me to this point right now and I couldn't be any happier. Brandon Handley 28:52 Right? So I mean, talk to me how you feel, you know, a big part of this is leading with spirituality to for a more fulfilling life. Tell me how you feel like you're doing that now? Jeremy Todd 29:03 Well, I think it's direct reflection of, of, of my podcast. I mean, I and again, I'm not here to promote promote my podcast but that's that's really what I do is I really promote a peaceful spirit, a peaceful body peaceful soul and being authentic and be comfortable who I am and experiencing that and telling people, it's going to be okay. Hey, I've got this podcast that I tell people, the most honest, brutal stories in my life. But I don't expect any judgment from anybody. I don't judge myself for the experiences I've made. But I'm living from a spiritual peaceful place them coming out just to help others. And I can't tell you how many emails responses I get from people all over the world that just call me randomly email me randomly Jeremy changed my life. Thank you so much. That you know I was going through tough times with the COVID I had a young lady that's in Las Vegas she emailed me two weeks ago and said Jeremy changed my life. I was searching for a motivational podcasts. I searched positivity and yours came up. And I was blown away. I lost my job. You know, I have no money. I've got a young child at home. I don't know what to do, right? But just having that mental spirituality, that peacefulness well come over to you, man, I'm telling you just makes a big difference and we will talk about it enough. Brandon Handley 30:23 I think that um, you know, a piece a piece of that, right? Like, can talk to me like a little bit about what you're feeling when you say spirituality because here's another thing that, you know, I'm, I'm kind of tripping over the past few days, is when somebody says they're spiritual, but like, they don't believe in God or a higher source. There's like, I'm spiritual. I'm like, no, not. Because like that answers. It's void of weight and substance right sometimes. Sure. And so, you know, that's why, you know, I saved you. So when you're saying spiritual, to me, what do you what are you saying? Jeremy Todd 31:00 I have a secret question. I am agnostic at best. I believe there's a higher power that I believe there's a higher source. I believe everything in my life happens for a specific reason. This is why I'm here. I don't think my mind is or my brain is big enough to comprehend what all is going on. What I do know is that everything that's happened in my life has happened for a specific reason. Whether that being a higher being whether that being God, whether that be Butoh, I mean, I've studied every possible type of religion in the world. But I believe there is something else out there, there has to be. And and again, I don't know what that answer is it. It's hard for me to comprehend. It's hard for me to work my way through it. But what I do know is that I continue to do what I believe is the right thing to do. Everything always has worked its way out every single time in my life. It always has and always will. So when you talk about my spiritual for a specific, you know, white God on top of the cloud with a white beard, right, that's not my spirituality Brandon Handley 31:58 now, but it sounds like you've got a There's a grand design greater great. There's got to be like a universal intelligence that has kind of a design aspect. Otherwise you would have driven off the road that night. Otherwise you wouldn't have made it home safely that one time. Otherwise, you know, I mean, I do Jeremy Todd 32:17 know. Okay, so it's it's a tricky thing to think about. Because, you know, typically when you hear the word spiritual, you're on Jesus and God and then well, that's the thing is that my spirituality? I'm sorry. I mean, it's great. And I and I respect that. I respect all religions respect everybody, but it's just not what I believe I Brandon Handley 32:36 was just not the one that speaks to you right now. Right. So Jeremy Todd 32:40 yeah, no judgment, obviously. no judgment. Yeah. So Brandon Handley 32:42 so for me more and more recently, right. It's come to kind of my attention, right that this, every one of these religions is just kind of a framework to the place where you've gotten to right now place where I've gotten to right now. So we've got a set of have potential instructions. If we were to arrive at this point in our lives right now and be like, I'm freaking out, man, I know there's something inside me it's coming out. I liken it to like being a seed to write like, our bodies are spiritual seeds, right? This is this cell right here, right? And that you know sounds to me too like again I'm just I'm just coming pulling shit on my butt but like it sounds to me like you know that that spirit within you is starting to on fertile right just like a C correct and a show and there's no stopping it right it's like it's like asphalt doesn't stop like a grass seed from cracking through it, right? Yeah, exactly. And so you've got like this you've got like this life energy right now that is just unfolding, and you're letting it unfold within you right now. Jeremy Todd 33:49 Right? And you know, there I've also you know, looked into there's a lot of studies or a lot of free legends have said that, that there is no god we are all our own God. Our God is within ourselves. We have all greatness we all we are everything that we want to be in candy. We just have to access that and work our way through it. That's another thing that you know, again, maybe that's the answer. Brandon Handley 34:12 So so I can help you out with this one. Right and you just just from personal experience, right. So I'm in, But to your point earlier to what degree like you know, like I like you know, I'm holding the wheel just in case, right I actually got this number right, right, right. But it actually Joe dispenza Oh no, I think it was rah rah Robin Sharma or Joe dispenza. I've got 210 minute pieces that I listen to all the time from both of those guys to send them to me. Absolutely man. So one of his like you if you rise to your level of thinking, Okay, okay. So, if you rise to your level of thinking and your current level thinking is that you are a human being What's your maximum potential? Right here? maximum potential is your whom human being potential, which sometimes seems limited. Okay with that, well, if God is everything or you know, is it even within me then there's something godlike within me, right? At least I'm attached to God somehow and I'm a part of that. Now I've got a different level of thinking. Right? Because now my being has changed. Right? Or, you know, again, you know, we can you can play with like, which beingness are you right now? Yeah. hanging out in divine being right. I salute the Divinity within you right now. mistake. Sure, Unknown Speaker 35:40 sure. So, Brandon Handley 35:42 if you're a divine being, then you also are willing to accept grace, which is divine strength, outside strength, right, and kind of so that changes your level of thinking, I look at everybody as a divine being, right. So can we agree more, if we've got that and that's my level. Thinking, what's to stop me? Jeremy Todd 36:02 Nothing. So I mean yourself. I mean, your your, your ego? I mean, I don't know. I mean, Unknown Speaker 36:08 if you let that go, I mean, that's all stuff, you gotta let go. Jeremy Todd 36:11 There's no question. You know, I think it's all those things that that that continue to work on is letting that go. But it's not. It's not like hitting a switch. It's not like often, you know, it's a process. Yeah, it's, that's what I love about it. Brandon Handley 36:22 It's a slow build, you know, it's just like anything else. This is kind of a you know, and you can change again, you're like, Alright, well, you know, ratchet that different thinking, but if you rise to your level of thinking, What are you thinking about yourself? Right? Again, I'll separate those two words. Sure. What are you thinking about yourself? Is that is that an XYZ nature if it you know, what, what nature of the self? Are you sure? Yeah, Jeremy Todd 36:48 no, I get it. It's a tough topic to talk. I mean, I don't want to say it's even tough. It's just for me, it's just working my way through that mental process. And I think to myself, Well, imagine what you know, like Three years ago, you know where I'm at now versus three years ago, were just gonna be three years from now. I mean, man, it's just working your way through this and getting better and getting smarter and getting stronger, and getting more free. I just I just love I just love life, man. I love the love the journey. I love the conversations. I love the deep topics. I just miss what we're here for. Right? Bam. So, again, I Brandon Handley 37:22 feel like that's kind of where you're at. Right? you're you're you're working on this kind of determining, yeah, who the self is right? And then like, how are you harnessing it right, you're stepping into your power and making that determination for yourself every day? Yeah, I mean, tell me like I'll place you. Where's the practical application for this for yourself? Like where someplace you've applied this like way of thinking. Jeremy Todd 37:48 I did everything. I mean, literally, I literally I mean I go to work. I'm that weird guy. I do my podcast. I'm not different do as a parent. I think that's one of the most powerful places you can do. It is not get caught up with Like being you know, I'm not I'm not a guy that's gonna like, I guess parenting is different for me than a lot of other people that I see because I had these deep conversations with my kids. And I tell them that, hey, it doesn't matter what happened, you know, if you made a mistake, it's okay. It's not a mistake. It's a learning process. It's becoming the better person that you are. My kids are weird. And I love it. I love them for it weird to society. You know, they're weird. Yeah. But they're brilliant. They're smart. And we have these deep conversations. And that's probably the most important thing that I can push on to them is that you know that the power of who they are the power of what they look like the power of their, their selves. The more with kids getting beat down over social media, their friends, and we're talking to them about different stuff that other parents aren't talking to our kids about. They can deal with this every day and this is not an easy conversation for them either. But the more we have it, the more we understand that that is okay and the stronger they become at a younger age. I would you know, no disrespect to My parents, but I would never had these conversations with my kids when I was a kid. You know, it wasn't even thought Brandon Handley 39:04 of you never had that conversation. different times. Right? Jeremy Todd 39:07 Correct. But you know, hey imagine 30 years from now what are my kids gonna be look like by having these conversations now? Hopefully I'm around for but my kids are gonna be so much more well off more happier within themselves more comfortable with who they are, and not get caught up in the craziness. That is that is life. So, right. That's by far the number one thing by far Brandon Handley 39:29 your parenting so your planet, you know, and your parenting life. This is Jeremy Todd 39:32 weird parenting, though it's just different and not weird, or it's just different parenting different from what you grew up with. Right? Yeah, and as many people do, but man, I just think it's the most powerful thing you can do right now is to teach that to your children. about spirituality. What does it mean? What does it mean to them? What does it look like? What do they believe? And then not bashing them? Like, you know, I was born and raised Catholic. That's the that's the only way you thought was born, raised Catholic. Unknown Speaker 39:54 Sure. Jesus died on the cross God blah, blah, blah, Jeremy Todd 39:57 Heaven and Hell and all that good stuff. That was all Have you thought anything different? You were on Galston? Unknown Speaker 40:03 Yeah. But what literally? Jeremy Todd 40:05 Yeah, literally Yeah. Yeah. I mean, literally you were, I mean, kicked out of school, this kid, this kid's got something wrong with them. But in reality, that's not the case. And again, I think that's one of the most powerful things that that I'm doing right now. And, you know, the mother of my children does, we're on the same page for that, too. So it's great. I mean, it couldn't be any better right now. Brandon Handley 40:24 That's cool. So just integrating it with your daily life is kind of how you're applying it practically. And Jeremy Todd 40:30 yeah, you know, again, it's it's it's easier said than done. I know, but I'm doing so often. I love the reactions i get i give such different opinions on different topics in different situations that I don't care what anybody says, This is how I truly feel. This is my opinion. It's not right or wrong, right. But I may see something different than may open someone's up someone's eyes instead of falling in line. That's what we get to do. This is what this is, you know, going to church on Sunday. You're doing this you're doing it. Oh, I mean, I am and I support that to do your thing. Brandon Handley 40:59 Well, yeah. Yeah, look man, like, like we said, Yeah, everybody's path is their own path. Right. Yeah. I think that that's I think that you know, when they created this country that was the pursuit of happiness right the the freedom was a religion was those things right was you know, hey listen this is a true thing. A lot of us Christians here but uh you know Jeremy Todd 41:23 that now religion one of the greatest the constitution one of Brandon Handley 41:26 the greatest things ever and I love it Listen man I think there was a powerful document right and i think that that's just another one of those things that we take for granted. Jeremy Todd 41:33 Right? It is and it's freedom of speech freedom of I mean for women they carry handgun freedom, you name it freedom. I just love it because I can be who I am and we're very, very blessed. But what are the chances? This is another thing what are the chances of us being born in this country at this time out of any other country on any other planet in any other situation? I mean, how lucky and blessed are we? Brandon Handley 41:56 Well, I think that that's a huge part of the story. huge part of the entire outlook Jeremy, what you're saying right there is that, you know, if you look at where you are, and everything you do is what I'm here to say is like as a miracle, Unknown Speaker 42:11 it is miracle that we're blessed Brandon Handley 42:14 right then. And could you could you imagine a better time in the anytime to become yourself? Jeremy Todd 42:22 No, no. I mean, can you imagine me being born with a horse and carriage? I would have been dead 25 years ago. You could survive. You Brandon Handley 42:31 know, I'll tell you, man, I know. I know. Definitely growing up. I did a lot of like things that, you know, I should have gotten my ass kicked for. But I definitely would have gotten a shot for like an 1800s type of thing. Like, Jeremy Todd 42:42 I mean, exactly. I am so soft and so fragile. I would have no chance 100 years ago, but I wasn't I mean, but hey, even now, I could have been born in South America or North Korea or meat. I mean, you name the country. Well, you could be born anywhere but Unknown Speaker 42:59 here it is. Man, I'm just Brandon Handley 43:02 so blessed. I think it's a beautiful time, man. I think it's a beautiful time we're in so Brother, listen, I know. I mean, we always love catching up on loving hearing your journey and you know how you're just you know, loving on your spiritual self and you keep growing that right and you're leading with that. Tell me like yeah, listen, people never heard you before. So where should they go check you out? If you haven't heard me, Jeremy Todd 43:23 come on, come on rapidly for obviously, you remember the positive side podcast. It's the positive side podcast. You check out the positive side podcast calm, but more importantly, just hop on the show. And again, the intentions of the show truly, truly, truly are just to just tell my random stories through life, the stuff that I struggle with, to share those messages to understand that hey, if you are struggling, you are going through these tough times. You're not alone and we're all going to get to this together. We're all going to get better we're all gonna get stronger. So that's the biggest thing. Or you can always email Jeremy Jeremy at Jeremy Todd COMM But then, more importantly, Brandon, I love this show. Man. This is like the perfect show for you. It's this is like you wheelhouse bro. I've just been a long time ago. That's Unknown Speaker 44:04 right. I was afraid. Unknown Speaker 44:06 Sure. I get Brandon Handley 44:07 it. I was afraid. I was afraid. And but it's where I wanted to be, which is the funny thing, right. And so what's what's funny is that it is opened up but is blown up and opened up like the reception. Yeah. And so me just going and doing that thing that I was so afraid to do so many years ago. Self permission. Yeah. Yes. I mean, I think that you know, listen, if you made it to the end of the podcast, that was the message that you need to hear today, man, this is like, self permission. So Exactly. Alright guys. Thank you so much, Jeremy. And we'll chat next time. Oh, hell yeah, Jeremy Todd 44:45 brother. Thank you. Transcribed by https://otter.ai

William A. Galston writes the weekly Politics & Ideas column in the Wall Street Journal. He holds the Ezra K. Zilkha Chair in the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies Program, where he serves as a senior fellow. A former policy advisor to President Clinton and presidential candidates, Galston is an expert on domestic policy, political campaigns, and elections. His current research focuses on designing a new social contract and the implications of political polarization. Galston is the author of eight books and more than 100 articles in the fields of political theory, public policy, and American politics. His most recent books are Liberal Pluralism (Cambridge, 2002), The Practice of Liberal Pluralism (Cambridge, 2004), and Public Matters (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005). A winner of the American Political Science Association’s Hubert H. Humphrey Award, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Caitlin Ruppert is lucky enough to not have corona and have a Galston in the house specifically Christina Galston! She came all the way from Florida to review Episode 9 of Season Life After Lockup, which is of course the Love After Lockup spin off we all love.  This episode is titled The Wife The Girlfriend and The Side chick. We open the episode with Sarah probably pregnant by Michael again, Maria thinking Sarah held Michael hostage and Michael trying to lie to producers. Angela sends Tony out with Tommy to go shopping for a suit and a new excuse to cheat on Angela in the form of a love lorn best friend. Brittany and Marcelino waste beer. Clint makes it clear why dog brother is the favorite. Lamar agrees to anything to get off a cold mountain. And Lacey makes It so none of us can watch this show in public! That and so much in this special long episode because none of us can leave our houses anyway! Follow the whole show on Instagram! @CaitlinRuppert, @PodAfterLockup @FreakinJewrican 

Happy May Day! Today, the tradition in France is to give a sprig of Lily of the Valley to loved ones.   Originally from Japan, Lily of the Valley has long been considered lucky. It's sweet scent, belies it's high toxicity.   Other names for Lily of the Valley include May Bells, Our Lady's Tears, and Mary's Tears. The French name, muguet, is a diminutive form mugue or muguete and means “musk”.       Brevities   #OTD Today we celebrate the May 1st birthday of French BotanistAimee Antoinette Camus ("kah-MEW") in 1879.   In terms of ranking among female scientists, Camus is second in authoring land plants - with a total of 677 species. It's especially impressive given that only 3% of land plants are authored by women!   Best known for her study of orchids, Camus was the daughter of botanist and pharmacist Edmond Gustave Camus.   Together, Camus and her father collected more than 50,000 specimens for their family herbarium.   Her father sparked her passion for orchids and plant anatomy. More than that, he offered connections with some of the best French botanists of her day.   She gave the name of Neohouzeaua ("Neo-who-zoh-ah")to a genus of seven tropical bamboo, in honor of the lifelong work that Jean Houzeau de Lehaie ("Who-zoh-do-lou-ay")had devoted to the understanding of the botany and propagation of bamboo in Europe and Africa. Camus also authored horticulture books to appeal to the masses and she was always forecasting the latest in botany. When plants arrived from the French colonies, she would attempt to calculate the economic value of the plants. She spent her entire professional career at the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. To this day, Camus's monumental work remains the most comprehensive classification of the oak genus Quercus ("Qirkus"). Her book is simply called, The Oaks, and Camus wrote this in her introduction, “The oak forest that enabled our ancestors to fight against hunger, cold, darkness, that gave them shelter, weapons, construction materials, furniture, boats, means of transport, is today in part free from these obligations. Coal, iron, cement, concrete are all replacing wood; but the Oak with its qualities remains of great usefulness to man and its protection is of the utmost importance. Further, while industrial expansion has brought ugliness to so many places, is not the forest one of the last havens of beauty?”   #OTD On this day in 1893, The Chicago World's Fair opened and drew in more than 27 million visitors.    Frederick Law Olmsted, of Central Park fame, designed the Exposition’s landscape.   The vision for Chicago was to have it live up to its founding motto, “urbs in horto,” or “City in a Garden”.   Flower Painter Augusta Dohlmann's  work was displayed at the Fair.   The Fair itself was a display of flora the likes of which the world had never seen.   Designed by the inventor of the skyscraper, William LeBaron Jenney, the Horticultural building covered more than 4 acres of the fair grounds.   There were eight different greenhouses at the Fair to help coordinate the elaborate schedule of flowers to be displayed over the Fair's six-month run.   The various state buildings brought their own native flowers and fruits.   The Midwest exhibit had a building made from corn-on-the-cob and Missouri created a St. Louis Bridge made entirely out of sugar cane. In the Agricultural Building, the Japanese exhibit included a garden. Denise Otis wrote in her book Grounds for Pleasure: “After Americans saw the Japanese garden ..., they became prized features on the estates of those who collected gardens in different styles.”   #OTD On this day in 1943, botanist Arthur Galston realizes that excessive use of a plant growth hormone causes catastrophic defoliation.   Galston recognized that the effects of using the hormone could be harmful to humans and the environment. Nonetheless, the Army moved forward, using Galston's work to develop herbicides during war to destroy enemy crops and it would be shipped in steel drums marked with an orange stripe; inspiring in the common term for the herbicidal weapon: Agent Orange.   Galstondecried the use of his early research saying:“I thought it was a misuse of science. Science is meant to improve the lot of mankind, not diminish it - and its use as a military weapon I thought was ill-advised.” #OTD It's the birthday of Wolcott Andrews, a New York City landscape architect who lived in Wiscasset ("Wis-cass-it"), Maine.   Andrews received a master's degree in landscape architecture from the Harvard School of Design in 1930.   Andrews started out working with New York City's Parks Department. That experience afforded him the chance to partner with Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. in designing and constructing Fort Tryon Park in upper Manhattan, the site of the Cloisters.   Andrews eventually became the senior landscape architect for the New York City Housing Authority for more than 20 years, retiring in 1966.    A noted NYC landscape architect, Andrews was president of the New York chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects and of the American Federation of Fine Arts of New York City. He was also a trustee of the Municipal Arts Society. Back home in Wiscasset, Maine's prettiest town , Andrews left his mark.  He teamed up with fellow Wiscasset resident Marguerite Spilsbury Rafter; a direct lineal descendant of José Maria Castro Madriz, the first president of Costa Rica. Together, they accomplished their proudest achievement in 1977, registering Wiscasset in the National Register and creating the Wiscasset Historic District.     Today - The Buffalo Cherry Blossom Festival in Buffalo, New York kicks off. The festival runs May 1st - 5th.     Unearthed Words Today is the birthday of the poet Phoebe Hinsdale Brown, poet, was born at Canaan, New York in 1783, of New England parentage.   A religious woman, she was the first notable American female hymn-writer.   The story of how she came to composethe lines, " I love to steal awhile away from every cumbering care," will pierce your gardener's heart.   She'd developed a ritual of going to the edge of neighbor's garden for meditation and prayer. When her well-worn path along her neighbor's garden was discovered, she was ridiculed.In tears later that evening, Brown wrote "Twilight Hymn" and she recalled,   "After my children were all in bed, except my baby, I sat down in the kitchen, with my daughter in my arms, when the grief of my heart burst forth in a flood of tears. I took pen and paper, and gave vent to my oppressed heart... In the original the first stanza was: 'I love to steal awhile away from little ones and care.' This was strictly true. I had four little children; a small, unfinished house; a sick sister in the only finished room; and there was not a place, above or below, where I could retire for devotion, without [being] interrupted... But there was no dwelling between our house and the one where that lady lived. Her garden extended down a good way below her house, which stood on a beautiful eminence,... I used to steal away... going out of our gate, [strolling] along under the elms that were planted for shade on each side of the road. And, as there was seldom any one passing that way after dark, I felt quite retired and alone with God. I often walked quite up to that beautiful garden, and sniffed the fragrance of the peach, the grape, and the ripening apple, if not the flowers. I never saw any one in the garden, and felt that I could have the privilege of that walk and those few moments of uninterrupted communion with God without encroaching upon any one; but, after once knowing that my steps were watched and made the subject of remark and censure, I never could enjoy it as I had done. I have often thought Satan had tried his best to prevent me from prayer, by depriving me of a place to pray."   Here is the original version of her poem. Yes, when the toilsome day is gone, And night, with banners gray,  Steals silently the glade along  In twilight's soft array, I love to steal awhile away From little ones and care,  And spend the hours of setting day  In gratitude and prayer. I love to feast on Nature's scenes When falls the evening dew,  And dwell upon her silent themes.  Forever rich and new. I love in solitude to shed The penitential tear,  And all God's promises to plead  Where none can see or hear. I love to think on mercies past. And future ones implore,  And all my cares and sorrows cast  On Him whom I adore. I love to meditate on death! When shall his message come  With friendly smiles to steal my breath  And take an exile home?   Today's book recommendation  Straight from the Des Moines Botanic Garden - hosting their first-ever Botanical Book Club today on May 1st, they will discuss “The Orchid Thief: A True Story of Beauty and Obsession” by Susan Orlean. It's a fascinating story - why would someone steal orchids?The Orchid Thief is based on Orlean's investigation of the 1994 arrest of John Laroche ("La Rōsh")  and a group of Seminoles in south Florida for poaching rare orchids in the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve. The book is based on an article that Orlean wrote for The New Yorker, published in the magazine's January 23, 1995 issue. Plant dealer Laroche was determined to find and clone the rare ghost orchid for profit.      Today's Garden Chore Learn to plant bare root roses.  There's a first time for everything and once you get comfortable with planting bare root stock, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.  Chris Van Cleve over at The Redneck Rosarian has a nice step by step guide.And, I love this piece of advice he shares - a good general reminder for us all: When you are working with bare root stock, "Notice the large and then small fibrous type roots. The fibrous roots are feeder roots. Do not remove them, they are essential for taking in nutrients to the plant."     Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart While I was researching the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, I learned that it was the origin for the concept of  the state flower.   At the Fair, each state was asked to chose an emblematic flower for a national garland. Remember, this was the floweriest Fair the world had ever seen.   After the Fair, states began adopting floral emblems. Some states acting quickly, others taking their time. Some picking flowers that other states had already adopted. Others insisting on something unique.  Seldom were the selections made without some controversy.   May 1st has seen the adoption of State Flowers for two states: Illinois and Massachusetts.    On this day in 1908, Illinois adopted the Purple Violet as the State Flower.   On this day in 1918 Massachusetts adopted the Mayflower (Epigaea repens) also commonly known as trailing arbutus or ground laurel, as the flower or floral emblem of the Commonwealth.   And, here's a quick final thought about the trailing arbutus. It  is often mentioned as a sweet harbinger of spring.   Longfellow referred to the arbute in his lines "To a Child," from 1846.   He tells how an Indian peasant made a discovery of silver, when he fell and accidentally grabbed the trailing arbutus to break his fall: In falling, clutched the frail arbute, The fibres of whose shallow root, Uplifted from the soil, betrayed The silver veins beneath it laid,   Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Interview begins: 05:47Debrief begins: 47:55Ezra Galston is the Founding Partner at Starting Line. Starting Line is a thematic early stage venture capital fund focused on investing in consumer services and products that are both cheaper and better. They want to be the number one stop for any entrepreneur building a consumer brand outside of the coast.Starting Line was founded in 2018 and based in Chicago, Illinois.Learn more about Starting Line: https://www.startingline.vc/Follow Ezra on Twitter: https://twitter.com/EzraMoGeeFollow upside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/upsidefm

Classical Dressage and Showjumping With a Strong Focus on Effective Execution and Elegance in Execution to Maximise Results (Listeners' Choice)   Time Stamps and Contact Details for this Episode are available on  www.HorseChats.com/PaulCairnsLC   Music - BenSound.com   Interviewed by Glenys Cox

Immigration has played an uncommonly prominent role in elections and on Americans’ TV screens since the 2016 presidential campaign. Recent coverage has been non-stop due to family separations and zero-tolerance policies at the border. Heading into a highly contested election season, campaign strategists contend that immigration is the single issue that could move the conservative base and save GOP majorities in Congress. Yet polling shows a larger share of people say immigration is good for the nation than at any point since 2001. What role is immigration likely to play in the November mid-terms? Underneath national debates, the immigration landscape continues to fracture under the pressure of communities embracing different policies of cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, protection of vulnerable immigrants, and more. The federal government is pushing back by threatening to withhold federal dollars and heading into court to challenge state and local policies it views as harmful. This panel--with MPI Senior Fellow Doris Meissner, Democratic Political Strategist Maria Cardona, the New Center's Co-Chair William A. Galston, Vox Senior Reporter Dara Lind, and Barry Jackson, Former Chief of Staff for Speaker Boehner and Senior Staff to President George W. Bush--assesses these and associated political and policy trends.

On September 4, Hudson Institute hosted a discussion between Mr. Hazony and William A. Galston.

On September 4, Hudson Institute hosted a discussion between Mr. Hazony and William A. Galston.

On this encore edition of Press Conference USA, William (Bill) Galston, senior fellow in the governance studies program at the Brookings Institution, discusses his recent book "Anti Pluralism: The Populist Threat to Liberal Democracy," with host Carol Castiel and VOA Senior National Correspondent Jim Malone. Galston tells VOA that populists embrace a restricted notion of "the people." They draw a distinction between the "real people" and "the less real people." Populists tend to characterize "the less real people" as "enemies" and "scapegoats" for whatever is going wrong in society.

"Aujourd'hui, il y a une urgence à laquelle les décideurs, les dirigeants - qu'ils soient politiques, financiers, économiques - ne répondent pas. L'accord de Paris était non contraignant : Donald Trump peut sortir de l'accord de Paris sans craindre une justice internationale même s'il prend une décision qui aura un impact sur l'humanité tout entière. Et il est impératif de cadrer cette activité industrielle qui est dangereuse. Le droit pénal fait partie de ces mesures dissuasives."   Porte-parole du mouvement En Ecocide on Earth, Valérie Cabanes lutte pour que soit reconnu un cinquième crime international, le crime d’écocide. Aujourd'hui, la Cour pénale internationale reconnaît le crime contre l'humanité ou le génocide. Mais pas le crime contre l'environnement. Selon la juriste, "il est important qu'un nouveau crime soit créé pour aller au-delà : sortir d'une vision anthropocentrée du droit". Elle publie "Homo natura" (éd. Buchet/Chastel), où elle invite à changer de regard sur la nature, et à considérer les espaces naturels "pour leur valeur intrinsèque au-delà des bienfaits rendus à l'humanité".   "Si on ne réfléchit pas à protéger le droit de la nature à exister", c'est "le droit à l'eau, le droit à l'alimentation, le droit à la santé, le droit à l'habitat" qui "ne pourront plus être garantis aux générations futures"   La législation, champ de bataille des écologistes Juger pour écocide passe notamment par la nécessite de conférer une personnalité juridique aux écosystèmes. Depuis une dizaine d'années on voit émerger les effets d'une prise de conscience. En tête l'Équateur, qui a reconnu dès 2008 les droits de la nature dans sa constitution, suivi par la Bolivie en 2009 ou le Mexique en 2017. Aux États-Unis, des municipalités ont pu stopper des projets de fracturation hydraulique en adoptant les droits de la nature dans leur législation locale. Et, dernier cas en date qui intéresse particulièrement la juriste, celui du fleuve Colorado - surexploité, extrêmement pollué - dont la voix est défendue devant le juge fédéral par une équipe d'avocats de l'ONG Deep Green Resistance (DGR). Pour Valérie Cabanes, l'histoire récente a montré que les sanctions financières ne sont pas efficaces pour protéger la biodiversité et lutter contre le réchauffement climatique. Son action met en lumière un autre moyen de pression, le combat juridique. En 2016, elle faisait partie du comité d’organisation du Tribunal Monsanto, un procès fictif organisé à La Haye où la firme était jugée pour écocide.   ÉCOUTER ► Laudato Si', quand un pape rejoint les écologistes   Cela fait 50 ans qu'on est au courant "Ça fait maintenant depuis 1972 qu'on sait que l'on porte atteinte aux limites de la planète." Le terme "écocide" (du grec oïkos qui signifie "maison" et du latin caedere, "tuer") existe depuis le début des années 1970. Il a été formulé par le le biologiste et activiste américain Arthur W. Galston (1920-2008) et repris par Olof Palme (1927-1986), au moment de la Conférence des Nations unies sur l'environnement humain (CNUEH) en 1972 à Stockholm, aussi désignée comme le premier Sommet de la terre. Le premier ministre suédois qui considérait comme écocide la dispersion par l'armée américaine de l'agent orange et de la dioxine contenue dans ce gaz sur les forêts du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viet Nam. Le GIEC (Groupe d'experts intergouvernemental sur l'évolution du climat) nous alerte sur le climat depuis 1988. Et que "tout le monde est au courant depuis 1988", et que "les dirigeants des 100 entreprises qui émettent 71% des gaz à effet de serre sur terre agissent donc en connaissance des conséquences probables de leurs décisions". Pour Valérie Cabanes il y a là un "principe de finitude qu'on est en train de refuser".   ÉCOUTER ► COP 23, les entreprises changent-elles vraiment le climat ?   Pourquoi c'est urgent "Le monde sera totalement nouveau d'ici 2100." On a déjà perdu presque 60% des vertébrés, 80% des insectes. Et avec trois ou quatre degrés de plus, on va revenir à un climat que la terre a connu, et où le niveau des mers était plus haut d'environ 10 mètres. De quoi reconfigurer la géographie terrestre. "En 2100 deux personnes sur sept devront quitter leur domicile, qui sera soit inondé soit asséché." On pense que la terre est un puits de ressources inépuisable. On pense que la planète et la nature s'adapteront à ces extinctions. Or l'histoire montre que si la nature s'est adaptée, cela s'est fait sur le temps très long. "Il faudra des millions d'années pour que notre biodiversité telle que nous la connaissons se reconstitue." Pour Valérie Cabanes, "ce facteur temps est essentiel à comprendre". Aujourd'hui, ce sont "les droits fondamentaux des humains qui commencent à être véritablement menacés". Et "si on ne réfléchit pas à protéger le droit de la nature à exister", c'est "le droit à l'eau, le droit à l'alimentation, le droit à la santé, le droit à l'habitat" qui "ne pourront plus être garantis aux générations futures".   Émission enregistrée en novembre 2017  

On this edition of VOA's Press Conference USA, William Galston, senior fellow in the governance studies program at the Brookings Institution discusses his latest book "Anti Pluralism: The Populist Threat to Liberal Democracy," with host Carol Castiel and VOA Senior National Correspondent Jim Malone. Galston asserts that failed efforts to effectively address immigration, along with institutional dysfunction and a growing divide between urban and rural areas, have paved the way for a populist backlash in America and around the world.

Some unpleasant truths for liberals, from William Galston: The rise of anti-pluralist populist movements is caused by a combination of economic factors and migration; we need to take these concerns seriously, instead of feeling morally superior. In the U.S., this will require reintegrating our economy so that small towns and rural areas thrive again; breaking through government gridlock; and purging the "poison" of our immigration policies.

Some unpleasant truths for liberals, from William Galston: The rise of anti-pluralist populist movements is caused by a combination of economic factors and migration; we need to take these concerns seriously, instead of feeling morally superior. In the U.S., this will require reintegrating our economy so that small towns and rural areas thrive again; breaking through government gridlock; and purging the "poison" of our immigration policies.

Classical Dressage and Showjumping With a Strong Focus on Effective Execution and Elegance in Execution to Maximise Results   Time Stamps and Contact Details for this Episode are available on  www.HorseChats.com/PaulCairns   Music - BenSound.com

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: Stuart Larkins & Ezra Galston Ben Einstein Bilal Zuberi  Each investor describes the most unusual situation or pitch that they've encountered as an investor.   To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following Investors are featured: -Ben Einstein -Ezra Galston & Stuart Larkins -David Cowan Each investor discusses sectors, drivers and/or trends that may have significant impact in the future and are potentially positioned for outsized-returns.   To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

For the past 25 years, Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard and Bill Galston of the Brookings Institution have been debating the meaning of presidential elections. But in 2016, they found themselves agreeing much more frequently on issues such as immigration, the tech industry, and tax reform. These men, on opposite sides of center, decided to develop a plan to recenter American politics. Galston and Kristol’s new project is the New Center. In the Spiel, a librarian rejected books donated by Melania Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For the past 25 years, Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard and Bill Galston of the Brookings Institution have been debating the meaning of presidential elections. But in 2016, they found themselves agreeing much more frequently on issues such as immigration, the tech industry, and tax reform. These men, on opposite sides of center, decided to develop a plan to recenter American politics. Galston and Kristol’s new project is the New Center. In the Spiel, a librarian rejected books donated by Melania Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump won the election largely by making grand promises of radical change. William Galston argues that, ultimately, talk is cheap and results are what counts. William Galston is Ezra K. Zilkha Chair and Senior Fellow in the Brookings Institution’s Governance Studies Program.  He is also a former Deputy Assistant to President Clinton for Domestic Policy. Additionally, he writes a weekly column for the Wall Street Journal. Galston’s academic work focuses on value pluralism and civic renewal. 

Donald Trump won the election largely by making grand promises of radical change. William Galston argues that, ultimately, talk is cheap and results are what counts. William Galston is Ezra K. Zilkha Chair and Senior Fellow in the Brookings Institution's Governance Studies Program. He is also a former Deputy Assistant to President Clinton for Domestic Policy. Additionally, he writes a weekly column for the Wall Street Journal. Galston's academic work focuses on value pluralism and civic renewal.  The "Why We Argue" podcast is produced by the Humanities Institute at the University of Connecticut as part of the Humility and Conviction in Public Life project.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following investors are featured: - Triest & DeMarrais - Tsai - Larkins & Galston Each investor highlights a situation where they decided not to invest, why they passed, and how it played out.           To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow William A. Galston shares his perspective on American politics today, including the factors that led to the election of Donald Trump, the state of our parties after his election, and the prospects for the Trump presidency. A former senior aide to President Clinton, Galston considers the significance of the 2016 elections for the Democrats and outlines potential conflicts between what he calls “pro-growth progressives” and “populist progressives” within the party. Galston also describes his work with President Clinton and reflects on Clinton's political gifts.

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow William A. Galston shares his perspective on American politics today, including the factors that led to the election of Donald Trump, the state of our parties after his election, and the prospects for the Trump presidency. A former senior aide to President Clinton, Galston considers the significance of the 2016 elections for the Democrats and outlines potential conflicts between what he calls “pro-growth progressives” and “populist progressives” within the party. Galston also describes his work with President Clinton and reflects on Clinton's political gifts.

Brookings Institution Senior Fellow William A. Galston shares his perspective on American politics today, including the factors that led to the election of Donald Trump, the state of our parties after his election, and the prospects for the Trump presidency. A former senior aide to President Clinton, Galston considers the significance of the 2016 elections for the Democrats and outlines potential conflicts between what he calls “pro-growth progressives” and “populist progressives” within the party. Galston also describes his work with President Clinton and reflects on Clinton’s political gifts.

On this special segment of The Full Ratchet, the following investors are featured: - Heltzer - Larkins and Galston - McClure Each investor illustrates a critical lesson learned about startup investing and how it's changed their approach.             To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

David Galston is a university chaplain, adjunct professor of philosophy at Brock University in St. Catherine’s, Ontario, Academic Director at Westar Institute, and speaker at the Quest Learning Centre. David was on Progressive Spirit about three years ago. We discussed his book Embracing the Human Jesus: A Wisdom Path for Contemporary Christianity. Today we are discussing his newly released book, God’s Human Future: The Struggle to Define Theology Today.  Check out his piece on Christian Atheism. We are thrilled to welcome David along with Joseph Bessler to Southminster Presbyterian Church in Beaverton (Portland), Oregon, November 4th and 5th for a Jesus Seminar on the Road. The topic will be The Future of Religion.

Today we cover Part 2 of Underserved Startup Ecosystems with Stuart Larkins & Ezra Galston of Chicago Ventures. In this segment we address: Their opinion on why the majority of HNW accredited investors have never invested in venture. How Chicago ventures has been so successful yielding follow-on funding for their...   To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Stuart Larkins & Ezra Galston of Chicago Ventures join Nick to cover Underserved Startup Ecosystems, Part 1. We will address questions including: What do you think are the key ingredients for a startup ecosystem? In what ways do you feel that some ecosystems are underserved? Can you talk about some...   To listen more, please visit http://fullratchet.net/podcast-episodes/ for all of our other episodes. Also, follow us on twitter @TheFullRatchet for updates and more information.

Ezra Galston is a VC at Chicago Ventures. At CV, Ezra focuses on consumer facing investment and is actively involved with BloomNation, Kapow Events, Luxury Garage Sale, Shiftgig, SpotHero, Zipments, and Havenly. He writes one of my favorite VC blogs at BreakingVC.com and his thoughts on startups have also been published in the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, and Re/code. Before becoming a venture capitalist, Ezra was a professional poker player and the Director of Marketing for CardRunners Gaming.  Listen on itunes listen on stitcher In This Episode You Will Learn: How Ezra got into angel investing?  What motivates Chicago Ventures? What's the one question every founder should ask of their VCs? Why Ezra prefers growing a business over starting one? Where Ezra sources his investments from? Why producing content as a VC is important?  How they look for outliers in the entrepreneurs they back? How Ezra finds and cultivates his mentors? Hint: cold emailing  Why Ezra thinks e-commerce companies are underestimated? What Ezra wishes he knew when he first got into the venture industry? Why some venture capital investments never get announced? Why Ezra thinks Chicago is so good at building great business?  What we can do to make Chicago even better for startups?  Favorite Books: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Ayn Rand Sweet Pickles by Richard Hefter Seeing What Others Don't: The Remarkable Ways We Gain Insights by Gary Klein E-Commerce Companies: Stitch Fix Trunk Club Wayfair Zulily Investors Ezra Admires: Bill Gurely, VC at Benchmark Fred Wilson, VC at Union Square Ventures Brad Feld, VC at Foundry Group Stuart Larkins, VC at Chicago Ventures Miscellaneous Things Mentioned:  Taylor Caby, founder of CardRunners Chris Fargis, founder of Instant Fantasy Sports  John Tough, COO at Choose Energy Report Says Chicago Has the Highest Percentage of Female Entrepreneurs The Little Prince (2015 film) The Counterintuitive Thing About Counterintuitive Things by Startup L. Jackson Tilt (poker term) The Big Short (2015 film) Dear Brad, Fred & Mark: How The Hell Do You Do It? by Ezra Galston

On The Gist, an important update on the Brexit. Then, William Galston joins us to discuss the practical considerations for executing a Bernie Sanders agenda. Can it be done from the executive branch alone? Galston is a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings, and a regular columnist for the Wall Street Journal. For the Spiel, why does Morning Joe hate Marco Rubio? Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On The Gist, an important update on the Brexit. Then, William Galston joins us to discuss the practical considerations for executing a Bernie Sanders agenda. Can it be done from the executive branch alone? Galston is a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings, and a regular columnist for the Wall Street Journal. For the Spiel, why does Morning Joe hate Marco Rubio? Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at slate.com/gistplus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In his new book, "Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence," Rabbi Jonathan Sacks examines the recent phenomenon of violent extremism by exploring the origins of violence and its relationship to religion. Rabbi Sacks challenges the assertion that religion is an intrinsic source of violence and describes how theology can be central to combating religious violence and extremism. Through analysis of biblical texts tied to the three Abrahamic faiths, Rabbi Sacks illustrates how religiously-inspired violence stems from a critical misreading of these texts. On November 12, Governance Studies at Brookings hosted a discussion addressing Rabbi Sacks’ book and other important issues related to the roots of religious violence. This event is part of the long-running Governing Ideas book series, which is hosted by William A. Galston.

Ezra Galston is a VC @ Chicago Ventures, where he focuses on consumer facing and marketing tech investments and is actively involved with Blitsy, BloomNation, Kapow Events, Luxury Garage Sale, Shiftgig, SpotHero, and Zipments. Ezra’s thoughts on startups, have been published in the Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, VentureBeat and Re/code.Prior to Chicago Ventures, Ezra was a Young Entrepreneur at Foundation Capital. Before business school, Ezra served as the Director of Marketing for CardRunners Gaming – the parent company of CardRunners, Hold’em Manager and DraftDay – and before then earned a living as a professional poker player. If that wasn't enough he is also the author of one of our fave VC blogs www.breakingvc.com. In Today's Episode You Will Learn: How Ezra became a Poker Player and then transitioned to the world of Venture Capital? What is the mission with Chicago Ventures? Average ticket size? Preferred sector?  How important is it for startups to be close to their investors, geographically and relationship wise? For marketplace startups, what metrics does Ezra really deep dive on? With the likes of Instacart raising huge rounds, why are we seeing this huge increase in food tech? In hugely crowded markets, how does Ezra sort the wood from the trees? What advice would Ezra recommend to individuals looking to enter the VC industry? Items Mentioned In Today's Episode: Ezra's Fave Book: The Little Prince Ezra's Fave Blog or Newsletter: Stratechery by Ben Thompson, Carpool.vc Ezra's Fave Productivity Tools: Rapportive, Bitmoji Ezra's Most Recent Investment: Luxury Garage Sale, Attendant Bill Gurley: 10 Factors To Consider When Evaluating Digital Marketplaces HungryRoot: Charlie O'Donnell, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Ezra on Twitter right here! 

The author is interviewed by Ron Way about his book. Galston proposes that the trajectory of the ancient wisdom of Jesus can be grasped in the contemporary world and can find life in the thinking and practices of a new church.

In this special edition of the Brookings Cafeteria, Senior Fellows ,, and  offered their insights and analysis about the 2014 midterm election results. Listen to find out why Mann called the results "a red tsunami"; why Binder said it was "oddly predictable"; and why, for Galston, the outcome was "challenging" in a variety of ways. Mann is the W. Averell Harriman Chair in American Governance and co-author of . Binder is a professor of political science at George Washington University, a contributor to the  blog, and author of many books including . Galston, the Ezra K. Zilkha Chair in Governance Studies, was a policy advisor to President Bill Clinton and presidential candidates. He authored the recent essay, "." Send your feedback about this or any other podcast to .  or .

Since the rise of revealed religion, the relation between civil and religious authority has been a central question. In modernity, religious authority has often been seen in individual terms, as the conscience of the believer. In a constitutional democracy such as ours, how can we deal with the conflict between the aims of public law and the demands of individual conscience, which may require non-compliance or resistance? Galston will explore some of the ways in which this conflict plays out in jurisprudence and public policy.

What happens when you bring the historical Jesus to church? In other words, if we strip away the myth from the man and develop a community based on humanistic principles, what would it look like? It might look like the Quest Learning Centre for Religious Literacy, a community founded on the historical Jesus, in Hamilton, Ontario. My guest, Dr. David Galston, is the leader of this community. He is a fellow of the Jesus Seminar and the author of an exciting new book, Embracing the Human Jesus: A Wisdom Path for Contemporary Christianity. David speaks with me about his book, his community, and explores the phrase, "post-atheism." It is part of my "future of faith" series on Religion For Life!

David Boaz is the executive vice president of the Cato Institute, and has played a key role in both the Institute's development and the growth of the American libertarian movement at large.Charles Murray is a political scientist, author, and scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.William A. Galston currently holds the Ezra Zilkha Chair in the Brookings Institution's Governance Studies Program, where he serves as a senior fellow.Robert J. Shapiro is co-founder and chairman of Sonecon, LLC, and former Undersecretary of Commerce in the Clinton administration.In this 1997 policy forum at the Cato Institute, Boaz and Murray present their books, respectively titled Libertarianism: A Primer and What it Means to be a Libertarian. Galston and Shapiro offer their comments. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This episode are highlights from my conversation with Ezra Galston. Ezra Galston, is the founding partner of Starting Line. a seed stage, consumer tech focused fund based in Chicago. Previously he was a Principal at Chicago Ventures. Some of his investments include Cameo, Flyhomes, and Spothero. Links: Click here to listen to my full conversation with Ezra ( https://www.theconsumervc.com/68-ezra-galston-starting-line-benefits-of-chicago-managed-vs-lightly-managed-marketplaces-and-consumer-for-the-99/ ) Click here on Mobile to join our Community. ( https://link.upstreamapp.com/eEoV65h1U6 )

Our guest today is Ezra Galston ( https://www.startingline.vc/team ) , Founding partner of Starting Line ( https://www.startingline.vc/ ) , a seed stage consumer tech focused fund based in Chicago. Previously he was a Principal at Chicago Ventures. Some of his investments include Cameo, Flyhomes, and Spothero. One book that inspired Ezra personally is The Little Prince ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0156012197?camp=1789&creativeASIN=0156012197&ie=UTF8&linkCode=xm2&tag=theconsumervc-20 ) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. One book that inspired him professionally is Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804137382?camp=1789&creativeASIN=0804137382&ie=UTF8&linkCode=xm2&tag=theconsumervc-20 ) by Greg McKeown. I highly recommend following Ezra on Twitter @EzraMoGee ( https://twitter.com/EzraMoGee ). You can also follow your host @mikegelb ( https://twitter.com/MikeGelb ). Some of the questions I ask Ezra - * What initially attracted you to venture capital and how did Starting Line come about? * What makes Chicago special as a startup ecosystem? * I've had on investors that say if you start a company outside the coasts or the main venture ecosystems, that's ok, but there needs to be a plan to move to the main venture ecosystem because of recruiting and hiring. I've other investors that love investing in secondary markets (it's weird to consider Chicago a secondary market) or not obvious markets. How do you think about this? * Talk to me a little bit about your due diligence process and your stage? * What are some of the differences between managed and lightly managed marketplaces? * For entrepreneurs that are thinking about starting marketplace, what are some things they should consider when approaching marketplace design that would influence whether they should have a managed vs. un-managed marketplace? * Now, decision making on the internet in some ways is hard because there is so much choice. How do you think about curation? * I'd love to learn a little bit about consumer technology that you are focused on that are for the 99% * What opportunities in consumer tech are you focused on and gets you excited? * What is one thing that you would change when it came to venture capital? * What's one book that inspired you personally and one book that inspired you professionally? * What's your most recent investment and what makes you excited about it? * What's one company on your anti-portfolio and did you learn anything from passing? * What's one piece advice that you have for consumer tech founders?