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Carrie Hopkins, senior director of business development and sales for Exclusive Networks Canada Exclusive Networks describes itself as a specialist distributor — hyper-focused on cybersecurity and advanced networking, deliberately not trying to be everything to everyone. As the company makes a serious push into the Canadian market, In The Channel sat down with Carrie Hopkins, senior director of business development and sales for Canada, to talk about what that actually means in practice for Canadian partners. Hopkins walks through what Exclusive is building in Canada specifically — in-country finance and operations, and a prescriptive approach to partner recruitment that goes beyond adding names to a portal. Rather than waiting for partners to come to them, Exclusive analyzes what existing partners buy, what they conspicuously don’t buy, and builds outreach strategy around those gaps. We also get into Ignition, Exclusive’s newly launched cybersecurity channel incubator, which arrived in North America earlier this year. The program is designed to bring emerging vendors to channel partners with the vetting and enablement baked in — addressing a real problem for MSPs and VARs who are being pitched constantly by early-stage vendors and don’t have the bandwidth to evaluate them all. And then there’s the Westcon thread. Hopkins spent years at Westcon and Comstor before moving through vendor-side channel roles at Ixia, Infoblox, and Sisense. When asked whether Exclusive feels like the evolution of what Westcon was doing before North American distribution consolidated, her answer is worth a listen. – UPLOAD AUDIO Read Full Transcript ROBERT DUTT: Hello and welcome to In The Channel from ChannelBuzz.ca, bringing news and information to the Canadian IT channel community for the last 16 years. I’m Robert Dutt, editor of ChannelBuzz.ca and your host for the show. If you’ve been paying attention to the distribution landscape in Canada, you may have noticed that Exclusive Networks has been quietly building something. Exclusive is a global cybersecurity specialist distributor, and the emphasis on “specialist” is deliberate. They’re not trying to be everything for everyone. They focus specifically on cybersecurity and advanced networking, and they’re making a real push to make that model mean something in the Canadian market. My guest today is Carrie Hopkins, senior director of business development and sales for Canada at Exclusive Networks. Carrie’s background is worth noting. She spent years at Westcon and Comstor before moving through a series of vendor-side channel roles, and she brings that perspective to bear on what Exclusive is trying to build here. We talk about the state of play in Canada, the distributor’s recently launched Ignition cybersecurity incubator program, and whether what Exclusive is doing today is the evolution of what the specialist distributor used to look like in the market, or something genuinely new. Let’s get right into it. My chat with Carrie Hopkins. ROBERT DUTT: Carrie, thanks for taking the time. I appreciate it. CARRIE HOPKINS: Thank you, Robert. Great to see you. ROBERT DUTT: For listeners who may not be familiar with Exclusive Networks, how do you describe what you do differently from the broadliners? What does specialist distribution look like in practice, especially in a modern context? CARRIE HOPKINS: Yeah. So, Exclusive Networks Canada is hyper-focused on a very curated line card. We’re able to provide the right support structure to scale faster and win faster for our partners. We have programs both for our core vendor lines, as well as our new Ignition vendor lines, that will provide combined deep channel expertise, as well as hands-on enablement through our engineering team. ROBERT DUTT: You joined Exclusive, I guess, coming up a year now. What was the pitch that brought you in, and what were they asking you to build in Canada? What’s kind of the big goal? CARRIE HOPKINS: So, the big goal, obviously, with any business is revenue generation, but it’s also to improve our footprint geographically, nationally. We are also from an in-region support perspective, as well as improving the number of vendors that are selling into our partner community. To do that, we have to bring our partner community to the right vendors that will help them grow their business. So, that’s really what we’re focused on. ROBERT DUTT: You touched on geography and that. What were the gaps, both geographical and otherwise? Like, what did the Canadian market look like for Exclusive when you showed up? What were the gaps, and where has your focus been in this first year? CARRIE HOPKINS: Yeah, I think the biggest gaps were really more vendor alignment. Geographically, we do have people based from Montreal out to Calgary. So, we do have physical presence there to help our partners with feet on the street, but we tended to be a little bit more hyper-focused on a few of our top vendors. I think for the whole team, and what we’re seeing, is that by curating a better cybersecurity and network security vendor list, we’re able to give our partners more. We’re able to reach new partners that we haven’t talked to in the past because maybe they weren’t aligned to our top vendors. So, growing that vendor list has really helped us expand across the country. ROBERT DUTT: You spent quite a bit of time at Westcon and Comstor, which is probably the closest model I can think of to what Exclusive is doing that’s existed in the North American market. When you look at Exclusive now, do you see it sort of as the evolution of that model, or is it something genuinely different given the changing times? CARRIE HOPKINS: It’s actually funny that there’s a number of ex-Westcon-ers here now, and that’s what brought us all together, is that this is — it feels like the Westcon of the mid-2000s aughts. When we all were working there before 2010, it was just such a great vibe. We had great people that were aligned to vendors and to partners, and we all worked together really collaboratively. That’s what I’m seeing now. While Exclusive Networks Canada is our own entity — we have Canadian footprint, we have Canadian finance, we have Canadian operations and sales — we do work really collaboratively with our North American team, which includes people like Heather Allen and Andrew Warren, who are also ex-Westcon. We’re able to really remember the great times of building up that business and then to also bring it into this new era with all these great new vendors who are bringing something new and innovative to the market, as opposed to just the old traditionals. ROBERT DUTT: It’s not every day you get a chance to run it back, as it were. Keep it in that lane. Westcon obviously got absorbed into broadline here in North America, at least. Do you think the market lost something when that happened? And is what Exclusive is doing filling that gap? CARRIE HOPKINS: Agreed. I think so. I think with the broadline, of course, there’s some great people still there today who are really great at holding those relationships. But what happens with the broadline, of course, is you have so many vendors and you have so many partners, and you can’t possibly give the same level of touch and care and commitment that we can here when we’re keeping it under that 20-vendor mark. We’re able to really go after our partners with the right mix of vendors that aren’t over-distributed, I would say. ROBERT DUTT: So to that point, one of the fun things you’re able to do in the specialty distribution mode is embrace vendors who are a little bit earlier in the game, which brings us to Ignition, which just launched in North America. Cybersecurity channel incubator. Can you walk me through what that actually means? What does a vendor get out of being in Ignition, and what does a partner get access to? CARRIE HOPKINS: Yeah. For the vendors, we’re giving them — again, we’re giving our vendors a team of highly skilled distribution people that knows the market. Most of my employees here have been either in distribution or in service provider and resale in Canada for anywhere from six years to 15, actually, or more, for a couple of us. And so they’re getting a strong team. They’re getting a team with the right support structure. They’re getting dedicated SE support. So we have dedicated SEs aligned to each one of these vendors. And then they’re also getting an integrated hyperscaler pathway as well as we build out our hyperscaler go-to-market motion. So the partners that we align with, we will help them nurture, grow, and scale well, and also enabling our channel partners to differentiate because they’re bringing on something really cool and unique to be relevant and bring new value, whether it’s from vendor platform visibility or network detection and response, but done in a more unique way. We’re hoping that we can bring them that value. ROBERT DUTT: Looking at the initial North American cohort with ExtraHop, Zluri, Docker, Sendmarc, PagerDuty, Meter — that’s not all pure-play cybersecurity in the traditional sense. I’m curious, how are you defining the scope of what Ignition is about? CARRIE HOPKINS: Yeah. I think it has to fit with our partner mix as well. In Canada, our partners are possibly not as verticalized as in some other larger regions. In Canada, most of our partners, if they’re selling networking, they also will sell security, or they’re looking for that vendor that’s going to bridge the gap. So even though a vendor, for example, like ExtraHop — you might think of them as network detection and response, but there is a security play in there. There’s a security SOC play that works really well, and it helps our Canadian partners who are talking to the network team introduce a vendor that also connects them with the SOC. That could be said for Sendmarc as well. Again, you think of that as email demarcation points, which could lean into the networking team, but we need to talk to everybody. Our Canadian partners are talking to both sides of the fence, so we need to give them those vendors. ROBERT DUTT: Well, and yeah, it speaks to the moment too, in that security is part of every sale, but particularly every networking sale. CARRIE HOPKINS: Exactly. Yeah. ROBERT DUTT: From the Canadian partner perspective specifically, what does Ignition mean for them? Is it about giving them earlier access to emerging vendors, de-risking those bets with players who may be less familiar, something else? CARRIE HOPKINS: I think you hit the nail on the head. We’re doing all the research for them. I was speaking to a partner just yesterday at the Winnipeg Western Canada Information Security Conference, and he was saying that his inbox for his LinkedIn is filled with vendors reaching out saying, “Please, sell us.” How does an MSP or service provider decide which vendors they should engage in? We’ve done that heavy lifting for them. We’ve researched, we’ve determined that these are the right fit for the Canadian market and the US market, and we’re happy to bring them a more curated list. Again, let us do the heavy lifting. We also are getting our engineers trained, so it’s not just a team of people sitting in a room deciding that monetarily this is a good fit. These are our engineers who can speak to their engineers and show them exactly how this fits with what they’re selling. It also provides our partners with a really unique differentiated approach. They’re not selling that one vendor, they’re selling a combined solution. ROBERT DUTT: Yeah, I was going to say, how prescriptive, how in the weeds do you guys get in terms of, “Dear MSP, think about this vendor along with this vendor,” piggybacking the core vendors with the Ignition folks? CARRIE HOPKINS: That’s exactly the play. We’ve done extensive research on what are our partners currently buying from us, but also what aren’t they buying from us, maybe because we don’t sell it or they’ve chosen to go a different direction. What are their websites saying that they sell? We’ve taken all of that information, we’ve compared it with the new vendors that we’re bringing on, so we have an extensive list of top-priority partners that we feel are a great fit for multiple of these vendors. Then we have the next level down, so we’ve completely curated a target list of partners that we’re going to reach out to say, “We know you’re a business, we understand it. We think that Docker is the right next step for you,” or, “We believe that Zluri really fits when you’re selling A, B, and C.” ROBERT DUTT: This is North American in scope. How are you getting in front of those vendors and assessing where they are at currently in Canada and where you can step in, make introductions, ease path to market, those kinds of things? CARRIE HOPKINS: That’s one of the things that we find with the Canadian market is there’s not always feet on the ground with new vendors. That’s, again, where we step in. We do have feet on the ground. We’re learning about their solutions, so if they don’t have a local CAM, that’s us. That’s our job is to help them build their business and help them build the right business. Recruiting a lot of partners isn’t always the right first step. It’s recruiting the right partners who will embrace the technology, learn the technology, and help it lift. Then we can see what is the right number of partners for the technology in Canada today. We don’t want to flood the market. We want to make sure that all of our vendors have the right partners to properly serve the market. ROBERT DUTT: I’d imagine that dynamic’s also working in the other direction, in so much as you say, MSPs and other solution providers are being flooded with new vendors, especially in the security space. The fact that you guys are, to a degree, backstopping them — that you’ve done the vetting and you’re standing behind them — has to add something. CARRIE HOPKINS: Exactly. Yeah. ROBERT DUTT: Beyond Ignition, what can you tell me about the broader push for Exclusive in Canada right now? In terms of, you said you want to stay pretty strategic on vendor lines. What are you thinking about partner recruitment, headcount? Basically, where are you building right now? CARRIE HOPKINS: Yes. Building with headcount. Where we’re adding right now — in fact, this morning, we’re adding to our quoting and order management team because we never want to lose sight of one of our biggest values, which is our speed and efficiency and accuracy of our quoting. When it comes to distribution, you have to do the basics really brilliantly. We do that here. Sub-[time] turnaround on quote request, sub-[time] order management process. We are quick and efficient, full stop. We’re going to keep doing that. We’re going to add headcount to that. We’re opening up headcount in the second half of the year to help us really embrace all of the new vendors that we have on board. In the last six months, we’ve also onboarded vendors like A10 and Infoblox who are going to make a big impact in the coming year. We’re fully supporting them with extra headcount. ROBERT DUTT: What’s the long-term vision for structure? I know distributors in particular tend to vacillate somewhat over time between a heavily North Americanized model and independent Canadian. Just curious what the long-term thinking is there for you guys. CARRIE HOPKINS: Long-term is that we will always have feet on the ground here in Canada. That gets reinforced to me, and I reinforce it with my leadership every time, every chance I get. I am also a big advocate for having in-country vendor business managers so they can have those channel business conversations. They’re talking to the peers who know the market. They know the FX challenges. They know that we’re provinces instead of states. It’s like that. The great news is with our Ignition team is that the leader of that team, Michael Compizzi, he’s located just in Rochester, New York, which is a short two-hour drive from where I’m based. He will be in Canada quite often as well. We will have North American support, but in-country dedicated resources. ROBERT DUTT: I would add he’d be closer if it weren’t for a rather inconveniently placed lake. CARRIE HOPKINS: [laughs] ROBERT DUTT: Canadian partners have a lot of choices in terms of distribution, maybe not quite as many as 10 years ago, but still there’s a number of choices there. What’s the honest pitch for why a Canadian MSP or VAR who isn’t already working with Exclusive right now should take a look at you guys? CARRIE HOPKINS: Our partners will never be lost in the shuffle. They will have dedicated support. They will have quick and efficient turnaround, and they will have a vendor line card that supports their business. Simple to the point. ROBERT DUTT: That works. The last one for me: what should Canadian partners be paying attention to over the next six to 12 months, either from you guys exclusively or in the market more broadly? CARRIE HOPKINS: I don’t think that a podcast about technology can end without saying the word AI. [laughs] Didn’t get your [nerd/name] achievement unlocked. ROBERT DUTT: There you go. CARRIE HOPKINS: I think that it’s important to note that there’s so many vendors and so many technologies coming out saying that they support AI, saying that they support different security functions around AI. It’s important that you work with a distributor who’s going to take the time to research each of those vendors on your behalf and have a fully engaged engineering staff who can speak to what it’s doing. Do you need it yet? Is it something that’s going to actually sell to the Canadian market? We’re going to make sure that our Canadian resellers have fully vetted solutions, that they’re not chasing rabbit holes. The number one important thing is that they know their business, they know their customer’s business, and where all those assets are. What does your Canadian partner need? We feel like we have the line card to fulfill that. ROBERT DUTT: Well, look forward to seeing how things roll out with the initial Ignition cohort and beyond, as you continue to develop Exclusive here in Canada. Carrie, thanks for taking the time. CARRIE HOPKINS: Thank you so much, Robert. I appreciate you. [Music transition] ROBERT DUTT: There you have it. Carrie Hopkins from Exclusive Networks. I’d like to thank Carrie for her time today. It was a genuinely good conversation, and I appreciated that she was willing to get beyond the talking points and into what the model actually means in practice for Canadian partners. If there’s one thing I take away from the conversation, it’s that the specialist distribution model Exclusive is building — and Ignition is probably the clearest expression of this — is trying to solve a real problem. Canadian MSPs and resellers are being pitched by an enormous number of emerging vendors, and they don’t have the bandwidth to vet each and every one of them. What Exclusive is saying, essentially, is: we’ll do that work. We’ll bring you the vendors we believe in. We’ll backstop the relationship. You focus on your customers. Whether they can deliver on that promise at scale is something we’ll be watching, but the thesis is certainly sound. The Westcon thread that came up in the conversation stuck with me too. There was something that worked about that model before consolidation rolled through North American distribution. It sounds like at least some of the people who built it think there’s a second act here. Thanks for listening. If you’re finding the podcast useful, please follow or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We’re on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and most of the major directories. Ratings and reviews are always appreciated and really help other people in the channel find the show. Until next time, I’m Robert Dutt for ChannelBuzz.ca, and I’ll see you in the channel. [Music] A couple of quick flags: “Sub-[time] turnaround” – I couldn’t decipher the exact numbers she threw out there. Worth a quick listen on your end to fill in the blank. “Didn’t get your [nerd/name] achievement unlocked” – MacWhisper clearly mangled this. Sounds like some kind of gaming joke about saying the word AI on a tech podcast. “Nerd achievement unlocked” is the most common internet phrase, but if you remember what she actually said, drop it in. “monetarily” – I left it as-is since it could be correct, though it scans a bit awkwardly. Could also be “more than merely” if you want to give it a listen. Otherwise this should be ready to go. Good batch recording session?

Good morning from Pharma Daily: the podcast that brings you the most important developments in the pharmaceutical and biotech world. Today, we delve into the latest news and insights that are shaping the landscape of patient care and drug development. The U.S. FDA has expanded the label for Pfizer and Astellas' Padcev, in combination with Merck's Keytruda, to include all muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients. This significant regulatory update broadens access to a combination therapy that merges an antibody-drug conjugate with a PD-1 inhibitor, offering enhanced treatment options for patients unable to tolerate cisplatin, a common chemotherapy drug. The decision marks a pivotal step forward in providing more inclusive and effective treatment regimens for bladder cancer. In Scotland, Roche's Columvi has been endorsed by the Scottish Medicines Consortium for use in treating relapsed or refractory diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. This approval highlights the growing importance of bispecific antibodies in oncology, which can simultaneously engage two different antigens to enhance anti-tumor responses. Such innovations underscore the ongoing transformation of cancer treatment through combination therapies. Across the Atlantic, Health Canada has approved Clinuvel's Scenesse for erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), a rare condition causing extreme light sensitivity. Scenesse acts as a melanocortin receptor agonist, offering photoprotection and improving quality of life for those affected by this debilitating disorder. On the business front, Bayer's strategic partnership with Apollo has secured a €3 billion equity deal for its long-acting reversible contraceptives business. This move underscores a growing emphasis on women's health and contraceptive innovation. Likewise, CMS and Insilico's collaboration aims to harness artificial intelligence for CNS drug discovery, promising to accelerate drug development through AI-driven target identification. Clinical trials continue to reveal promising developments. Eisai's Etalanetug is showing potential in reducing tau tangle biomarkers in dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease. Similarly, Eisai and BioArctic's Leqembi subcutaneous autoinjector demonstrates comparable efficacy to its intravenous counterpart, potentially improving compliance and accessibility for early Alzheimer's patients through less invasive administration methods. Financially, Apnimed is planning an IPO to support its sleep apnea pill's commercial launch, while Velogene Biotechnology has secured Series A funding to advance its gene-editing platform. These financial activities highlight ongoing investments in innovative solutions aimed at addressing unmet clinical needs. Yet, challenges persist as well. The FDA has rejected Hengrui and Elevar Therapeutics' combination treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma for a third time, emphasizing the difficulties of meeting regulatory standards and demonstrating efficacy. Additionally, Germany's new healthcare cost-saving law has doubled pharmaceutical rebate rates, sparking industry concern over potential impacts on profitability and innovation investment. The regulatory landscape continues to evolve with the FDA proposing streamlined registration processes under the "hub-and-spoke" model to enhance transparency and security within supply chains. Meanwhile, recent FDA transparency actions have led to the release of 14 drug rejection letters, underscoring ongoing challenges in securing approvals due to stringent regulatory requirements. Geographically, emerging biotech hubs like Basel and Beijing are gaining prominence as global talent hotspots due to their conducive environments for research and development collaboration. These regions are becoming increasingly attractive for biopharmaceutical innovation. Amid fierce competition in obesity management solutions, Lilly's launch of its oral GLP-1 receptor agonist Foundayo faces stiff competition from Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill. The race reflects broader trends toward developing patient-centric therapies that offer convenience alongside therapeutic efficacy. Intellectual property strategies are also evolving as companies employ new patent tactics to maintain competitive advantages in crowded markets. Safety remains a top priority as exemplified by Lupin Pharmaceuticals' recall of contaminated eye drops, highlighting ongoing challenges in ensuring product safety. Lastly, advancements in wearable technology offer promising improvements in patient care; however, integration into clinical practice is met with infrastructural hurdles—a sentiment echoed by healthcare professionals surveyed by the AMA. Overall, these developments paint a complex picture of scientific innovation intersecting with regulatory evolution and strategic industry adaptations aimed at enhancing patient outcomes while navigating economic pressures. As the industry evolves, stakeholders must remain vigilant and adaptable to seize opportunities and address challenges effectively.Support the show

The UK is one of the most geographically unequal countries in the developed world. People living in London and the South East tend to have higher incomes, higher levels of education and better health outcomes than people elsewhere in the country.But why did Britain become so regionally unequal? How much of the divide is driven by the shift away from industry and towards services? What role has public investment, infrastructure and decades of regional policy played? And what can policymakers realistically do to change things?In this episode, part of our mini-series on inequalities, we look at the scale of the UK's regional divides, why London has become so dominant, and whether stronger cities, devolution, better coordination and more stable policy could help narrow the gap.Helen speaks with IFS economists Jonathan Cribb and Xiaowei Xu to ask what “levelling up” should mean in practice, whether improving opportunities outside London could boost national productivity, and how politicians should think about places that may not benefit directly from big-city growth.This episode draws on work done as part of the IFS-Deaton Review, funded by the Nuffield Foundation.Become a member: https://ifs.org.uk/individual-membershipFind out more: https://ifs.org.uk/podcasts-explainers-and-calculators/podcasts Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Look at the ancient world globally, and you find a consistent, strange anomaly. Geographically isolated civilizations, separated by oceans and continents, all independently developed identical religious behaviors. They built massive mortuary architecture, they fed and clothed statues, and they organized their societies around the daily commands of invisible deities..."Learn more by reading "Conversations on Consciousness and the Bicameral Mind," currently on sale for a limited time:https://www.amazon.com/Conversations-Consciousness-Bicameral-Mind-Interviews/dp/1737305534https://www.julianjaynes.org/book/conversations-on-consciousness-and-the-bicameral-mind/Video produced by Marcel Kuijsten using generative AI tools and reviewed by human editors for accuracy and clarity.

The Israelites had left Egypt behind and were camped at a place "by the sea." Geographically speaking, there were interesting aspects about this location which made it a precarious and curious place for them to be. Could this be why Pharoah thought he could catch and capture the Israelites (besides the fact that he had Egyptian chariots and they did not)? What was so special about the Egyptian chariots? And what about those pillars, one of fire and one a cloud, which went before the Israelites? We also find them mentioned later in Isaiah and in Revelation!

You can listen wherever you get your podcasts or check out the fully edited transcript of our interview at the bottom of this post.In this episode of The Peaceful Parenting Podcast, my guest is Dr. Justin Coulson, an Australian parenting expert and father of 6 who has his PhD in psychology and is the author of 10 books on parenting and the co-host of the Happy Families podcast with his wife, Kylie. We discuss the psychology behind peaceful parenting, including how self-determination theory explains kids' challenging behavior. Dr. Justin also shared his three E's of discipline.Know someone who might appreciate this episode? Share it with them!And if you love the podcast, FREE ways to help us out:1- Rate and review the podcast in your podcast player app2- “Like” this post by tapping the heart icon ♥️3- Share this with a friend. THANK YOU!We talk about:* 1:45 – Introduction to Dr. Justin Coulson and his personal parenting turning pointHow struggles with anger and discipline led him to rethink everything and study psychology.* 08:20 – Learning to regulate ourselves, practicing repair, and growing over time.* 15:50 – Why peaceful parenting starts with the parent's self-awareness and regulation.* 19:50 – Understanding behavior through compassion and curiosity.* 20:50 – The HALTS frameworkHow hunger, anger, loneliness, tiredness, and stress impact children's behavior.* 23:00 – Self-determination theory and parenting* 33:00 – The 3 E's of Effective Discipline* 41:50 – How to use the 3 E's in everyday parenting moments.Real-life examples: screens, sibling conflict & collaboration* 49:00 – Building trust and the “goodwill bank” with kidsWhy collaborative parenting pays off when tough limits are needed.* 53:30 – Advice to his younger parenting self: “soft eyes”A powerful reflection on kindness, connection, and showing up with compassion.* 56:30 – Where to find Dr. Justin CoulsonHis podcast, books, and upcoming work on boys and healthy masculinity.Resources mentioned in this episode:* Dr. Justin's website and podcast* Yoto Screen Free Audio Book Player* The Peaceful Parenting Membership* Evelyn & Bobbie brasConnect with Sarah Rosensweet:* Instagram* Facebook Group* YouTube* Website* Join us on Substack* Newsletter* Book a short consult or coaching session callxx Sarah and CoreyYour peaceful parenting team- click here for a free short consult or a coaching sessionVisit our website for free resources, podcast, coaching, membership and more!>> Please support us!!! Please consider becoming a supporter to help support our free content, including The Peaceful Parenting Podcast, our free parenting support Facebook group, and our weekly parenting emails, “Weekend Reflections” and “Weekend Support” - plus our Flourish With Your Complex Child Summit (coming back in the summer for the 3rd year!) All of this free support for you takes a lot of time and energy from me and my team. If it has been helpful or meaningful for you, your support would help us to continue to provide support for free, for you and for others.In addition to knowing you are supporting our mission to support parents and children, you get the podcast ad free and access to a monthly ‘ask me anything' session.Our sponsors:YOTO: YOTO is a screen free audio book player that lets your kids listen to audiobooks, music, podcasts and more without screens, and without being connected to the internet. No one listening or watching and they can't go where you don't want them to go and they aren't watching screens. BUT they are being entertained or kept company with audio that you can buy from YOTO or create yourself on one of their blank cards. Check them out HEREEvelyn & Bobbie bras: If underwires make you want to rip your bra off by noon, Evelyn & Bobbie is for you. These bras are wire-free, ultra-soft, and seriously supportive—designed to hold you comfortably all day without pinching, poking, or constant adjusting. Check them out HERESarah: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Peaceful Parenting Podcast. Today's guest is Dr. Justin Coulson. He's an Australian parenting expert with a PhD in psychology, the author of 10 books on parenting, the co-host of the Happy Families podcast with his wife, Kylie, the father of six children, and, last but not least, grandfather of one.We discuss the psychology behind peaceful parenting, including how self-determination theory explains kids' challenging behavior. Dr. Justin also shared his three E's of discipline, which I just loved.If you like this episode, please share it with a friend so more parents can learn about peaceful parenting. If you're a fan of the podcast, you can help us out not only by sharing it, but by leaving a review and a five-star rating in your podcast player app. While you're there, don't forget to follow the show so you don't miss an episode.If you'd like to support us even more, you can become a supporter on Substack to help us offset the cost of making the show. We'll put a link in the show notes.Let's meet Dr. Justin. I hope you enjoy this conversation and get as much out of his insights as I did.Sarah: Hello, Dr. Justin, and welcome to the podcast.Dr. Justin: Sarah, I'm so glad to be with you. Thanks for having me on.Sarah: Yeah, and it's morning for you, evening for me—nice—and I'm just glad that we could make this time to talk to each other. I really appreciate it. Thank you. So, could you just tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do?Dr. Justin: Sure. I grew up on the east coast of Australia, about an hour north of Sydney. Geographically, that kind of locates where I was. I was the teenage boy that every parent hopes they will not have. I don't think I was a particularly bad kid, but I certainly wasn't a good kid.My parents were spending a small fortune—I'm a 1975 baby, I turned 50 last year—but this was in the late '80s and early '90s. My parents were spending so much money to send me to a private school. Because we were on the coast—a very quintessentially Australian thing—I was wagging school.Do you say “wagging school” in Canada? Is that a term Canadians use?Sarah: No, but I think we get the context. I think it means not going to school.Dr. Justin: Yeah, I was truant. They thought I was there, but I wasn't.Sarah: We say skipping.Dr. Justin: I was skipping school. Okay, yeah. We call it a school wag.So I would go to school in the morning and get my name marked off in roll call. Then I would sneak out of the school. Across the road from the school, there were bushes—kind of a forest, or whatever you might call it in Canada and America. I would get changed out of my tie, long pants, and black school shoes, throw on some board shorts and a T-shirt.My surfboard was stashed in the bush, and I'd grab it from the hiding place. Then I'd jump on a bus, go to the beach, and surf all day. Afterward, I'd get a bus back to school in the afternoon, change back into my uniform, and race into the school just in time to get my name marked off, looking like I'd been at school all day.This was in the days before schools communicated with parents via email and text, because none of that existed. I was able to get away with it.So I finished high school. I scored in the bottom 15%—Sarah: Goodness.Dr. Justin: Not just my class, but of the entire state of New South Wales. My parents were devastated.I didn't care. I wanted to have a media career. I wanted to be a radio announcer. So I got into radio. If you've ever listened to the radio—and no offense to radio people—you know you don't have to do well at school to be good at radio. You just have to be able to sit on the microphone and say things that make sense.I knew I could do that, so school didn't matter to me. I didn't care about it. That's what I did.But this is where it intersects with parenting.About 10 years into my radio career, my wife and I were having some challenges, particularly around my parenting. We had a threenager and a newborn baby.That three-year-old—I had always held the opinion that my children would do as they were told, and if they didn't, I would make sure they understood that I was the father and that their job was to do as I said.So I was very punitive. I basically made all of the parenting mistakes you can imagine when I would get angry, frustrated, and ill-tempered. It's not that I was a bad father—I spent a lot of high-quality time loving my kids—but I was also really short-fused and highly aggressive.Frankly, I went from threatening to hitting really fast. You call it spanking; we would call it smacking. I was very, very quick to smack or spank my three-year-old, and it wasn't working.After one particularly bad incident where things escalated, I really did lose control. I didn't just spank her once. There were multiple spankings. This was like a 10-minute escalation session where it just got worse and worse and worse.My wife was out at the time. When she came home, I said to Kylie, “I'm a bad father. I'm not doing this well. I'm making a lot of mistakes, and here's what happened while you were out.”Full confession: Kylie has always been this wonderfully supportive wife—very kind, gentle, compassionate, soft-spoken, thoughtful, considerate, empathic—all of those beautiful attributes that I prize and treasure in my good wife.She was none of those things that day.She had fire in her eyes and said, “You are not living up to the father that I hoped you would be, and you're also not living up to the husband I need you to be.”And it took me back, because I was already feeling downcast. I felt like I was failing anyway, and she just—it was like she picked up a great big lump of wood and whacked me over the head with it and said, “No.”Of course, she didn't actually do that, but that's how it felt. It felt physical. Visceral. Like, Ow. This is serious.I left my radio career shortly thereafter.I was working at one of the biggest radio stations in Australia at the time, and I gave up all the backstage passes with global superstars and hanging out with record company executives at the best restaurants, eating their food so they could bribe me to play their music on the radio station. I went back to school.I became a full-time student. I worked part-time at three different jobs while studying full-time. I'd sleep under the desk at university so I could do the study and the work—Sarah: No surfing this time?Dr. Justin: No surfing this time, no. I was just so committed to it.After eight and a half years of full-time study, I graduated with a doctorate. I had to do a couple of other qualifications first, including a psychological science degree. I graduated with a doctorate in psychology and became a university lecturer.Along the way, Sarah, we went from having our two kids at that point to having our third child in my first year of study, our fourth child in my fifth year of study, and our fifth child while I was doing my doctorate. Shortly after I left the university setting, stopped lecturing, and started writing books and giving talks, we had our sixth child.So we're the parents—Sarah: Amazing.Dr. Justin: —of six daughters. Today, they range in age from 12—the youngest—to the oldest, who is in her mid-to-late 20s. She and her husband have a baby now. They've been married for a few years.Sarah: Wow. You're a grandpa.Dr. Justin: A grand—I'm a grandpa. We have a two-and-a-half-year-old grandbaby, four adult children, one in her teens, and a 12-year-old.So that's kind of my very short version of the journey.Along the way, I've written a bunch of books. We've got a TV show in Australia called Parental Guidance. We've had three seasons of that show on primetime TV. I've got a website and all the things that you'd expect—a podcast and so on.Sarah: What did you do when you had that aha moment—that realization that you weren't being the kind of dad you wanted to be, and your wife also agreed that you weren't being the kind of dad she wanted you to be? What did you change?Because you just mentioned that you spent eight and a half years going back to school. I imagine that you made some changes before you had six kids. So what did you do right away, maybe for anyone listening who can relate to those feelings of rage and feeling triggered by your child?Dr. Justin: Sarah, the first thing I'd say is that there was no linear change, and there were no immediate changes, because I didn't know what to do.I was unskilled. I was uneducated. I didn't know anything about psychology, and I clearly didn't know anything about parenting.But I found a mentor. I have a faith background, and there was a writer who wrote eloquently and compassionately. I just felt like he understood me, and he became a mentor to me.I also discovered a guy called Alfie Kohn. You might be familiar with Alfie Kohn.Sarah: Oh, Alfie Kohn was the first thing I ever read about parenting—Dr. Justin: Oh, great.Sarah: —before I even had kids. And he was on the podcast last year, which felt like a full-circle moment between how influential—I told him on the podcast, “You have probably had the biggest influence on me—not only in my parenting, but in my life's direction—of any single person out there.”So, sorry, fan-girl moment. I'm right there with you with Alfie Kohn.Dr. Justin: Yeah. I've gotten to know Alfie over the years as my academic career advanced and I began to understand where he took his research from.I read his book Punished by Rewards—I think it was a 1993—Sarah: That was my first one too.Dr. Justin: Yeah, it's a 1993 publication or something.Sarah, it was just so influential.What happened was, I was doing my university degree and learning things, and honestly, I'd be sitting there thinking, Hang on, the things they're teaching me in these university courses seem to clash with what Alfie Kohn taught me in Punished by Rewards.So I spent a lot of time in the notes section at the back—you know, all the references nobody ever reads?Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: As I went through them, I discovered researchers named Edward Deci and Richard Ryan from the University of Rochester in upstate New York.They had developed a theory known as self-determination theory.A large portion of Alfie Kohn's work is based on self-determination theory.So I really dug deep into that. I still love Alfie, but I moved very much into the academic side because I became a university lecturer and really got into the nitty-gritty of understanding the deepest depths of what self-determination theory is all about. That has become the foundation of the work that I do.And to your question: nothing is linear when you are trying to make improvements.Whether you're trying to change your diet, exercise, get your finances in order, or improve your relationships, you have insights. You have moments where you think, Oh my goodness, this is what I need to do. I need to show up with warmth on my face and soft eyes.And then three hours later, one of your children does something, and you forget what soft eyes look and feel like. You look at them with hard eyes, frustration in your voice, and short, clipped sentences.Then half an hour later, you think, Oh, self-awareness. I missed that.So it's this gradual process: two steps forward, one step back. Three steps forward, one step back. Four steps forward, three steps back. Eight steps forward, no steps back.Over the years, I had this beautiful experience—and maybe you've had a similar experience in your family as you've raised your kids.We were maybe in my third or fourth year of study. My wife has an early childhood background. She knows child development. She knows what kids need.She was a little skeptical about a lot of the things I was starting to talk about and discover as I went through university and got into the depths of what the research meant—comparing and contrasting it with what was mainstream, but actually not always quite right.We had some tension around how we should respond to the children. I was moving away from that authoritarian bent and developing ideas around exploring their world more.One night, I came home from university a little late. It was probably around 9:00 p.m. Our three children were still awake.As I drove into the driveway, all the lights in the house were on. The windows were open. Looking through the living room window, I could tell the house was—to put it politely—a mess.And as I stepped into the house, the kids—it was just awful.I walked over to Kylie and said, “Honey, it looks like it's been a pretty tough day.”I was trying to be compassionate and empathic. I was really trying to do what psychology says is the right thing to do.Kylie looked at me without hesitation and said, “Don't give me any of that psychology crap. I've had the worst day in the world.”Then she stormed out and said, “You fix it,” and walked into the bedroom and closed the door.Again, this is not how my wife usually is, but it had been a really rough day. The kids were feral. The house was a mess.I looked at my priorities. I sat down with the child who was struggling the most and worked with her for two or three minutes. She calmed down, I gave her a little food, and put her to bed.Within about 20 minutes, I had all three kids in bed, and I was so proud of myself.I stepped into the kitchen and started tidying up. I thought, I'll just give Kylie some space.After another 30 or 40 minutes of tidying, I stepped into the living room and said, “Honey, I know you're really upset. It's been a pretty tough day. I wasn't trying to be judgy or anything.”And she said, “It's fine for you. You're not dealing with it all day. You walk in and think you can just snap your fingers and everything's fine.”Then she looked at me and said, “But tonight, you walked in and it feels like you snapped your fingers and everything's fine.”And we had this beautiful conversation where she said, “I've been resenting the things you've been trying to tell me because it felt like you were telling me I was wrong.“But I've been watching, and I'm actually seeing that the things you're doing are working, and our family is feeling better.”It took four or five years to get there, Sarah.It's not like I had this epiphany—I'm a bad father, I need to change—and suddenly I was a good dad.There were many embarrassing, shameful moments after that epiphany where I still made terrible decisions and treated the children badly.Even today, I still lose my temper, say things I shouldn't, and get frustrated, because kids are kids and we're fallible humans.But we call parenting parenting because it's about us. If it were about children, we'd call it childrening.Which sounds silly, right?Dr. Justin: But what I've really discovered is that if I can learn how to regulate myself—high emotions equal low intelligence—then I can regulate my emotions, turn them up or down appropriately for the context, and keep them in harmony with my long-term goals, which are to have loving, kind relationships with my children.If I can do that, I'm going to approach them with a tremendously different focus than I will if I'm looking for a short-term fix.And that is something—Anger is a habit. Yelling is a habit. Time-out is a habit. Reward charts are a habit.We can create other habits. We just have to understand the processes and principles behind those habits and then practice them, like we practice a song on the piano, until we finally get it right.Sarah: I love that.So you and Kylie really had a journey—a back-and-forth dance of your own processes and your own development.I do love how you say it's really about us. Whenever I'm working with clients, after a couple of sessions they'll say, “You know what? This isn't even about my kid. This is just about me.”Dr. Justin: Yes. Yes.Sarah: Nobody wants to believe that at first, because it's so much easier to think, I've just got to change them and what they're doing.But it's really all about what we're bringing to the moment and what we're bringing to the relationship.Dr. Justin: I get in trouble sometimes for being overly provocative and saying things that are insensitive, so a quick warning:I want to say what I'm about to say with all the compassion in the world and all the tenderness and care in the world, because I work with people every single day who are dealing with exactly the struggles you're talking about.I want to step into the world of neurodiversity—ADHD, autism, trauma—those kinds of areas.What we're talking about applies there as well. It's just harder.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: But ultimately, if I'm raising an ADHD child or a child who's been through a traumatic experience, once again, parenting is not about them. It's about how I show up for them.So I can say, “Well, my child's like that,” or, “I'm like this because of the diagnosis,” or because of the label, or because of the trauma, or because of the neural networks doing what they're doing.I can say all of those things, and many people do. It's understandable, and I have all the compassion in the world for them when they do.But the key thing I want to highlight is that in spite of all of those challenges your child might be facing—or even that you might be facing—today begins now.It begins with what you put on your face and what you think in your mind.If we can soften our features and go to our children with kindness and compassion while still holding appropriate limits—or working with them to develop appropriate limits—then what we can say is:“Yes, that bad thing happened,” or, “Yes, we are dealing with this difficulty, so what are we going to do about it?”We can fall into the I can't do anything way of thinking, which is really ineffective and doesn't help at all.Or we can step into I have this incredible thing psychologists call agency, or self-efficacy, where I can make a decision now, and if we work on it, we can actually improve things.It might be a longer, harder road. There may be more obstacles to climb over than a typical family without those challenging circumstances.It may be harder.But we can always improve.I never want to be the person who puts limits on what kids can do or what parents can do.If we change our language, change our focus, and recognize that this is a long game—Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: —which requires sustained effort every single day, it's extraordinary the progress we can make and the changes we can create in our home and our family.Sarah: For sure. Yeah.And unfortunately, it's a long game, right? Because I think today we always want quick answers and solutions.Really, it's just showing up every day as best you can and repairing when you don't show up the way you wish you had.And I think another really important part of it—which you were talking around a little bit—is trying to understand our child's experience and see things from their perspective.I was just talking to a client about that today:What's the most emotionally generous explanation you can come up with for their behavior?Because we don't actually know why anyone does anything, since we're not in their brain.But we often jump to, They're being rude on purpose, or They're trying to annoy me.Really, if we can think, Well, I don't know why they're doing this, but there's probably a reason, because kids want to be good. They want to be connected with us.And just reminding ourselves that they're not giving us a hard time—they're having a hard time.That actually makes it easier, I think, to show up as your best, most compassionate self—with, as you say, soft eyes and warm features.Dr. Justin: Yeah.No child wakes up in the morning thinking, Today's the day. I'm just going to ruin everything.This is the perfect opportunity. My parents are tired and frazzled. There's a cost-of-living crisis. There are all these challenges happening, and if ever there was a moment—it's now. I'm going to do it today.They don't wake up thinking that.Like you said—and you said it so perfectly—kids really do want to please us.I know some parents listening to me say that right now are thinking, No, no. My child does not want to please me.And so the question becomes: Why? Why are they struggling?And maybe this is a nice way for me to bring in some of the principles I learned as I went deeper into self-determination theory.There are a couple of times when children are almost guaranteed to be challenging, and this has nothing to do with self-determination theory. This is just general psychology and wellbeing.I always think of Germany. A police officer tells you to stop, but they don't say the word stop because they're German.In German, the word for stop is halt—H-A-L-T.So we add an S to the end, and the acronym becomes:Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired, or Stressed.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: Those are the five times when you can all but guarantee your children are not going to be doing well.If they are hungry, get some food into them—ideally a little protein, because it's satiating and helps them feel full quickly.If they're angry, then we've got to remember: high emotions equal low intelligence.You can't think straight in a high emotional state.So our job is to get curious, not furious, because if we fight fire with fire, we end up with a scorched-earth policy and everything gets burned.Dr. Justin: Lonely.I could be sitting right next to you, Sarah, and feel disconnected and lonely—Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: —even if we were very close.Our children are sometimes literally sitting at our kitchen bench, and they feel alone. They feel a little lost. Because of the way we're responding to them—with hard commands, correction, and direction rather than connection—they feel lonely.Tired.I don't even need to explain that.Even as adults, I don't know any couple who, at the end of witching hour—or whatever you might call it in North America, that 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. stretch when the kids—Sarah: Yeah.Dr. Justin: —are just oof…It's the end of that period, and you're exhausted, the kids are exhausted, and you look at your husband or wife and say, “You know what? We are so tired. We're shattered. But boy, are we nailing it tonight.”Nobody ever says that when they're tired—Sarah: Yeah.Dr. Justin: —because you're not nailing it. You're just hanging in there.And it's the same with kids.Then the S is for stressed, and that includes sickness, because sickness is a stress on the body as well.Those five indicators are going to let you know when your child is likely to be challenging, and I think they're really good to watch out for.But if we go a little deeper and talk about self-determination theory, it says that each of us has these needs.You have them, Sarah, and I have them, and our children have them—even your mother-in-law has them.We have three basic psychological needs.When we're in environments where those needs are supported, oh my goodness, we thrive. These are environments we're drawn to and attracted to. We approach them with a smile on our face and can't wait to be there.But if the environment is what researchers call need-thwarting or need-frustrating—meaning it frustrates and thwarts those needs—then we avoid it.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: Or, if we're in those environments, we act in ways that are challenging.So the basic psychological needs are:Number one: a sense of relationship, or relatedness. That's the technical term they use.Relatedness is a sense of mutual belonging.Sarah: So would it be similar to mattering? Like you feel like you matter to somebody?Dr. Justin: Yeah. There's been a lot of talk recently about mattering.But it's reciprocal mattering. It's not just one-way.It's I matter to you, but you matter to me.Sarah: Yeah.Dr. Justin: Let me use Mother's Day as an example.We just had Mother's Day in Australia at the start of May.If I've got a great relationship with my mother-in-law, and it's Mother's Day, I'm probably going to spend the morning with my wife and family while my children celebrate their mum. Then maybe at lunchtime, we head over to the in-laws to celebrate my wife's mum.If I feel like that relationship need is supported at my mother-in-law's—meaning there's mutual belonging, I matter to her, she matters to me, we enjoy one another's company, and it feels good—I'm going to say:“Great. Let's get in the car. Let's go. What do we need to do?”But if I'm going to a need-frustrating environment—if there's tension, antagonism, snide remarks, eye rolls, silence, defensiveness, or wounds from bad things that happened in the past—that environment doesn't feel good to me.So I'm going to say to Kylie:“Honey, why don't you take the kids to your mum's? Have a great lunch. We've made a big mess this morning, and I think the best thing I can do for your Mother's Day”—and I'll frame it nicely, of course—“is stay home, tidy the house, clean up the kitchen, get everything ready, and put dinner on for tonight so you can have your perfect Mother's Day dinner. I'll see you in four hours.”And then I send her out the door.Why?Because my in-laws' home has become a need-thwarting or need-frustrating environment. I just don't want to be there.And if I am there, I'm going to be sullen and sulky. I might try my best for half an hour and then say, “Oh, this is too hard,” and retreat—Sarah: Or text. The adult version of misbehavior.Dr. Justin: Yes, exactly. Exactly.But if I'm a child in a need-thwarting or need-frustrating environment, I'm going to get into fights with the kids I don't like.Or I'm going to say, “I don't want to go to school because everyone picks on me because I don't regulate my behavior properly because I've got ADHD.”Right?So school becomes a place I don't want to go.Or maybe you have a faith background and your child doesn't have any friends at church.Or you've signed them up for soccer, but they don't know anyone on the team.And they're saying, “Yeah, but I don't want to go.”It all comes down to relationship.Relationship is the basic psychological need that's being thwarted.Now, the second basic psychological need is competence.Competence, I would describe as feeling like I can do the thing I'm being asked to do.Sarah: Or that I want to do.Dr. Justin: Yeah. We'll get to want to in just a second, because want-to is the third basic psychological need—autonomy.So stay with me on competence for a second.Competence is capability. Capacity.It's not even necessarily about being able to do something—it's about feeling like you're making progress toward the goal.Let's say I'm joining acrobatics and trying to learn how to do a handstand.That's really tricky. It's a tough skill.If I show up every week to acrobatics, even if I've got great friends there—so my relationship need is supported—and I love my coach, but every time I try to do a handstand my shoulders buckle, my elbows aren't straight, my form is wrong, I fall over, or I can't stay up…After four or five or six weeks, I'm going to say:“I don't like this anymore. I'm out.”I had a daughter who wanted to come cycling with me.I'm a really keen cyclist. I ride on the road. I'm a middle-aged man in Lycra.But I also ride on the velodrome.You've seen those velodrome bikes at the Olympics—the indoor track where they go around and around and around.You might have noticed that after they finish the race, they keep pedaling and do another 10 laps.The reason is twofold.Number one: there are no brakes on those bikes.And second: they use what's called a fixed gear, meaning that when the wheels are spinning, the pedals are spinning.If you stop pedaling, you're going to get thrown over the handlebars because the wheels are still moving, which means the pedals are still moving, even if you try to stop them.So you just have to keep riding until the bike slows down.My daughter wanted to come to Friday night velodrome racing with me.We didn't have the money, but we spent all this cash on a bike, the Lycra, the helmet, the special shoes—it cost a lot, and I was a poor university student.But my daughter wanted to cycle with me, and I wasn't going to miss that opportunity. So we sacrificed and made it happen.Unfortunately, she was competing against girls who had been riding for four, five, or six years.For the first few weeks, she gave it a good go, but she was losing by several laps every race.After about a month, she said:“Dad, I don't want to do this anymore.”And my response was:“But I've spent all this money.”But what was really going on was that as much as she liked the girls and the atmosphere, she didn't feel competent—Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: —and she didn't see progress.She didn't feel like she was ever going to master the activity, so her motivation and wellbeing plummeted.Cycling became a need-thwarting environment for her.Whether it's piano, violin, rock climbing, cycling, swimming, math, PE class—it doesn't matter.If your kids don't feel like they can do the thing, they're going to push back.They're going to say:“This is too hard. I don't like it.”They won't use these exact words, but what they're really saying is:“This is a need-frustrating environment for me. I don't like it. I don't want to be there.”And then they start to act out.My mom got to the stage with me as a 13-year-old boy where she was physically holding me by the arm and dragging me into my piano lessons.Dr. Justin: Which brings me to my third and final basic psychological need, which is autonomy.A lot of people hear the word autonomy and think it means freedom—that kids can do whatever they want. They think it means independence.That's not what autonomy means, certainly not in the strict scientific form we're talking about within this theory.Rather, autonomy comes down to identifying the value of an activity and therefore endorsing the actions required to do the activity.See, if I, as a 12-year-old, looked at piano and thought:This is going to be a lifelong skill that will bring me joy, that I'll be able to share with others, that I can use in service of my family and community. If I can play piano or keyboard, I could be in a band. I could do all of these things.If I identified the value in the activity, then I would endorse the work required to learn it.So autonomy is not about freedom and independence. It's about choice based on values.That's a lot when you're thinking about three-, four-, and five-year-olds, but not necessarily—Sarah: No, I love that.We talk about that all the time in my communities—how important it is for kids to have autonomy.And I think you can have autonomy even when kids can't be independent, right?Because you can't have a four-year-old who's independent, but you can have a four-year-old who can make decisions that matter.Dr. Justin: Yes, yes.And that decision goes well beyond, Do you want to wear the blue suit or the green one?Sarah: I'll quote our friend Alfie Kohn. He says, “Kids should have the ability to make decisions that make adults gulp a little bit.”Dr. Justin: I love it. Yes. Beautiful.Let me give an adult version of this, and then I'll swing it back into childhood, because sometimes parents hear this and think, This isn't quite computing for me.In Canada, you drive on the right-hand side of the road.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: And it's true that if you choose to drive on the left-hand side of the road, the authorities will probably get involved. You may cause harm to somebody. You could even end up in prison.But even in the middle of the night, when nobody's on the road, I can't imagine there are too many Canadians who get in the car and think:Tonight's the night. Nobody's watching. I'm gonna drive on the left.You are being absolutely controlled by the government and by the law. You're driving on the right-hand side of the road.But because you identify the value in driving on the right-hand side of the road, nobody has to compel you to do it.You just do it because you endorse the idea that driving on the right is safer. It's what you need to do.So our job with our children is twofold.First, when it comes to these basic psychological needs, we want to help them be in environments—or create environments—where those needs are supported.We want to send them to a school where they have good relationships, where somebody says, “Hey, come sit with us,” where teachers know them by name and smile when they see them and are excited to support them.A school where they're able to experience progress—which might mean less emphasis on grades and more emphasis on developing capability.And a school where they feel like they have some say in where they're going and what they're doing.Rather than being forced to attend a school like I was when I was a teenager, they get to say:“No, I want to go to that school because that's where my friends are.”Or:“That's where the teachers help me feel good.”Or:“That's where my interests lie.”That's the basic psychological-needs concept.Now let's bring that into discipline, which is what started this whole conversation.Based on this theory—and I guess it ties back to a lot of what Alfie Kohn has said as well—I developed a little model that's really easy to memorize and even easier to enact.I call it the Three E's of Effective Discipline.The Three E's of Effective Discipline are need-supportive.If you look at the root of the word discipline, it comes from the idea that we teach, guide, and instruct—that we show the way to follow.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: But if you look at the modern definition of discipline, the modern definition is punish.Punish means exact retribution. It means hurt. It means make someone pay a price.Sarah: Make people feel bad on purpose.Dr. Justin: Yeah. That's exactly right.And I'm interested in disciplining our kids, not punishing our kids.Punishment is need-thwarting, right?If you make someone feel bad on purpose, there goes the relationship. They feel incompetent, and you've taken away their autonomy.So standard discipline strategies—whether it's time-out, spanking, yelling, withdrawing privileges, taking away the iPad, bribery—all of those standard discipline practices trample over basic psychological needs.We've got to come up with something better.So I developed the Three E's of Effective Discipline, which are basically this:On a beautiful bed of empathy, we explore, we explain, and we empower.Sarah: Ooh, I love that.Dr. Justin: Explore basically means I sit down with my child at an appropriate time.Because we always try to fix things right here, right now.Sometimes we need to, but often intervention simply to make sure people and property aren't hurt—that's all you need.Then you can say to your child:“We'll have a chat about this later when nobody's got a head full of steam.”Kick it down the road.You don't have to fix things right here, right now. Most of the time, it's just not necessary.So once everyone is calm, you explore.You say:“Hey, I've noticed there's been a lot of tension in our home lately between you and your brother.”Or:“Have you noticed that for the last few weeks we've had so much conflict about screens?”And your child says, “Yeah.”And you say:“I just want to listen because parenting's about parents, right? I must be getting something wrong here. Can you help me understand what I'm missing? Where am I going wrong? What's the real problem from your perspective?”Now, there are three things that make this better.Number one: never do it with an audience.Kids always want to save face. They don't feel competent when we start these conversations in front of other people.Number two: have some treats.Because once you're feeding them, they're like:“Oh, I'm not in trouble. We're just chatting, and there are cookies,” or a thick shake, or something like that.And number three: take notes.When you're trying to solve problems—and that's really what discipline is—The Three E's of Effective Discipline are about problem-solving.Discipline—meaning helping, teaching, guiding, instructing—is really about solving problems.So if I want to solve problems effectively in my home—if I want to discipline my children well—I'm trying to say:“Where are you coming from? What am I missing?”When you take notes on what your kids are saying, it's amazing how much information they give you because they realize:You're really listening to me.Sarah: Yeah. You're taking me seriously. You're writing down what I say.Dr. Justin: They're blown away by it.So they'll tell you a bunch of stuff.Now, every now and then they won't. Sometimes they'll shrug and say, “I don't know.”And you can say:“Well, if you don't know, that's fine. But if you did know…”This drives kids crazy, but it's my favorite sentence.“If you did know, what do you think the answer would be?”Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: And they roll their eyes.“Well, I don't know. That's what I said. If I knew, I'd tell you, but I don't know.”And I say:“I know you don't know, and I understand that if you did know, you would tell me. But if you did know, what would you tell me?”Sarah: I love that.Dr. Justin: They get this feeling—it's like this horrible psychological trick where:I don't know the answer, but if I had to come up with one, I guess I'd say this…And now the conversation starts.You get momentum.Sarah: You Jedi mind-trick them.Dr. Justin: Yeah. It's beautiful.And you write it down.At no point are you allowed to interrupt.At no point are you allowed to tell them they're wrong.At no point are you allowed to respond with your adult wisdom.You just listen.Sarah: Okay, and we're still on explore?Still on the first E?Dr. Justin: We're still on the first E.You make all these notes, and once it sounds like they've told you everything, you say:“All right. So what you're telling me is…”And then you read the notes back.This is the oldest psychological strategy in the book—I'm not saying anything new here.If they say, “Yes, that's what I'm saying,” you say:“All right. Great. I've got it.”If they say no, then you say:“Oh, what have I missed? How did I get this wrong? Clarify it for me.”And they give you more information.But there's a really valuable question at the end.When they say, “Yes, that's what I'm saying,” you ask:“Fantastic. Is there anything else?”Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: The power of asking that extra question is profound.It forces them to go deeper.Sometimes they'll say, “No, that's it.”But often, their first answers are shallow answers to get you off their back.They're thinking:I'm telling you what I think you want to hear.But when you say:“Got it. You're happy with this answer? Fantastic. Is there anything else going on?”That's when they look at you and think:Oh—you're actually serious about this. You really care.Sarah: And you're really listening to me.Dr. Justin: Yeah.And it's profound what children will give you after you ask, “Is there anything else?”Once you've got everything written down, confirmed, and you're clear, the next step is explain.Dr. Justin: Now, there are a couple of things around explain.Explain is basically the part where you tell them what they need to know. This is the parent bit.But all too often, we step into lecturing, and the kids fall asleep. They're like, “Oh, here we go again. I thought this was going to be different, but it's no different after all.”So there are a couple of things we need to get right here.Number one: if you're going to explain anything to your children, my recommendation is that you keep it to less than 20 seconds.Now, there's no science around this. This is just my experience in talking with parents and kids in my own family. I find that if you talk for more than 10 to 20 seconds, kids really do tune out, and it goes back to the way things have always been.The second thing is that I always ask permission.“Now that I've listened to you, Sarah, there are just one or two things I'd love to run by you about what's going on. Do you mind if I do that?”I want to make this absolutely clear: as a parent, you do not need your child's permission to tell them things. I really, absolutely, honestly believe that. As the parent, you have the right to tell them stuff they need to know.But this isn't about rights. This is about effectiveness.If I launch into, “Well, Sarah, now that I've listened to that, I get it, but I need to tell you these two things,” I'm already bringing defensiveness back into the relationship.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: Barriers are coming up.Whereas if I say, “Sarah, this is so helpful. As I've listened to you, two things have come to mind. Do you mind if I share both of those with you?” Your instant response, even as I say it—I'm watching your face—Sarah: I'm nodding.Dr. Justin: And you're going—Sarah: Yeah.Dr. Justin: Yeah. I actually want to know.You're opening up your heart and mind to me, and we're just role-playing this.Sarah: Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: And that's what our kids do. They're like, “Oh, okay.” Because we've given them the courtesy of listening—Sarah: Well, and you're not trying to use your power over them.Dr. Justin: Exactly.This is a non-coercive, really supportive conversation.And I still haven't had this happen. A lot of parents will say, “Well, what happens if they say no?”And I'm like, “I've raised six kids, and they've never actually looked at me and said, ‘Now that I think about it, no, I don't need to know anything that you…'”They've just never done it.But even if they did—Sarah: Well, if they do, it's probably that they're—what did you say? When emotions are high, intelligence is low. Maybe it wasn't the right time to have the conversation.If they're saying no, then they're probably still angry and holding onto whatever was going on for them.Dr. Justin: Exactly.But if they're that angry, they're probably not going to have explored nicely with you anyway.Sarah: Yes, exactly. So pick—Dr. Justin: A different time.You're probably not even going to—Sarah: Get to that point. Yeah.Dr. Justin: So it's very much: keep it really short, ask permission, and then share.Sarah: Okay. So give me examples.You said, “We've been fighting about screens,” was one example. You also gave the example of, “You've been fighting a lot with your brother.”So in the explain—10 to 20 seconds—choose one of those scenarios. After hearing your child, what would you say in that 10 to 20 seconds?Dr. Justin: I did this just the other day with my 16-year-old daughter, Lily, who is on social media more than she should be. There's been some tension and conflict.I listened. She shared some ideas, and I said, “There are just a couple of things I want to run by you. Is that okay?”She said, “Sure, Dad.”I said, “Great. There are certain times when we're trying to connect or have family time, and there are certain contexts where you're on your device and we just can't reach you.”She looked at me and said, “Yeah, I know.”I said, “Okay. The second thing I want to highlight is that we've noticed you're sleeping in because, even though you're not supposed to, you've been taking your phone into your bedroom at night and staying up late scrolling. Unless I'm reading it wrong, I'm pretty sure that's what's been happening.”And she said, “No, I have been, Dad. You're right.”So it's just two really succinct sentences where I'm stating what I'm seeing. I'm sharing my experience.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: If it were the sibling fighting, I'd say, “Yeah, your brother is really annoying. I get what's going on. Sometimes I wish he didn't live in our house as well.”I might have a joke with them about the challenge associated with that.And then I might say, “So when this happens, can I just share how it feels for me? It breaks my heart. I love both of you so very much, and my dream is for our family to enjoy being in one another's company and to look forward to conversations and jokes and doing the things we do. When this stuff is going on, it feels like that's a pipe dream.“And secondly, psychologically—you know I've got this PhD in psychology—I know that there's damage being done to the way your brother feels about himself. That's what I'm worried about.”So I've had both of those little conversations on two different topics, sharing two different things, and both were about 10 seconds each.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: Again, it's conversational. It's not lecture-style.Sarah: And it's from the heart.I can feel it, even though this is just an example you're giving. I can feel that it's from your heart—that you're really being open and sharing with your child what your true concerns are.You're not trying to power over or control. You're really sharing a heartfelt sentiment.Dr. Justin: Yeah. Thank you. That's the goal.You won't always do that, but that's the goal.The reason there's a problem is because your values are not being upheld in the home, and you're trying to communicate that in a way that shows you honor them and that they've got a brain.Now, we've used two really grown-up versions—or teenage versions, I guess. But you can have the same conversations with three- and four-year-olds. It's just shorter. It's simpler.Usually, with those conversations, in a pretty tight timeframe—60 to 90 seconds—you've done the whole process.There is a higher-order—Sarah: Okay, so what's the third part?Dr. Justin: Just before I get to that one, if you really want to do the advanced version of explain, what I'll often do after I've explored with my child is say:“Okay, so this is the bit where I'd normally explain what's going on from my point of view. I wonder if you can tell me what you think I'm going to say here.”Sarah: Ah.Dr. Justin: And so I get them to explain the explain to me.The reason that's so effective is that whenever my mouth is the one that's moving, my brain is the one that's working.If I can get their mouth moving, their brain is doing the heavy lifting.Sarah: Love that.Dr. Justin: That's really, really effective.And then the last one—Sarah: Is empower.And you're also helping them see things and develop empathy, right? To see things from somebody else's perspective.Dr. Justin: Yes. Powerful.The last one is empower.That's literally as simple as saying, “Okay, so I get where you're coming from. We've had that conversation very thoroughly. You know what my challenge is here. What do you think we should do?”“Where do we go from here? How do we solve this in a way that we can both feel good about?”It's true that every now and then, your child will shrug their shoulders and say, “I don't know.”Or they'll shrug and say, “Well, we should just do what I want to do.”And as a parent, that's where you step in and say my favorite line:“Don't you just wish? Don't you just wish we could?”Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: Because—well, let me ask you, Sarah. When I say, “Don't you just wish,” or, “Wouldn't it be good if we could?”—same thing—what have I actually said?Sarah: Total empathy. Heaps of empathy.Dr. Justin: Total empathy.But I've also said something else really clearly.Sarah: That that's not going to work.Dr. Justin: Correct. The answer is no.But it's a no with so much love, kindness, empathy, and gentleness in it—Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: —that your child goes, “Oh, yeah. I know.”And then you say, “So let's see if we can come up with a solution that will work.”What else might work for you when it comes to your brother?What else might work for you when it comes to the party on Friday night that I'm not willing to let you go to?What else could work when it comes to our screen challenges? Because this is an ongoing issue for us, isn't it?Every now and then, you won't get an answer right away. You'll say, “Well, let's talk about it again tonight,” or, “Let's talk about it again tomorrow once you've had some time to think about it.”But I'm big on deadlines.“We need to have this worked out by the end of the weekend, okay? I don't want to go through another week of this. We've got to find a solution. If we haven't had another chat by tomorrow night, we're going to sit down and work it out then.”And I also don't have a problem at this point—Laura Walker is a researcher at BYU in Utah, and she did a study published in the Journal of Adolescence where she found that parents who use these kinds of strategies—she's not talking about the Three E's of Effective Discipline, because that's the thing I developed, but it's based on the same sort of theory that she researches—Parents who use these kinds of strategies, even when they do have to step in and say, “All right, well, we haven't come up with a solution, so it's going to be my way,” kids are much more likely to be responsive and compliant—Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: —because we've been through a process with them that is not autocratic. It's not authoritarian.They've felt like they had a voice. Their perspective has been seen and heard. They've had some input.And even though they don't get what they want all the time—because we're the parents, and sometimes the fact that we've climbed 47 rungs on the ladder of life and they've only climbed 13 is all we need.Sarah: That's what I call in my work the goodwill bank.When your kids experience you as collaborative, non-coercive, and not power-tripping—when they know, over the period of their childhood, that they can trust you to take their preferences into account and be respectful of them—then when you do have to say no about something, even if they don't like it, there's this goodwill bank behind you and this level of trust.When you mentioned, “You can't go to the party on Friday,” I never had that issue with my kids because everything was so collaborative.We'd have similar conversations. I didn't have—I'm not very good at thinking of things like the Three E's—but similar kinds of processes where they'd say why they wanted to go, I'd say what my concerns were, and then they'd invariably say, “Oh, yeah, you're probably right.”It was never, “You can't go.”It was, “These are my concerns. This is what I've been thinking about.”Because they experienced that whole process over years of parenting, you don't get the pushback because they don't feel like you're power-tripping them.Dr. Justin: Yeah.Sarah, I had an experience with one of my adult children who was still living at home. I think she was maybe 19 or 20 when this happened.She wanted to go and do something, and I said to her, “You're an adult. You do get to choose for yourself whether you will do this or not, but I've got some really big concerns about you doing it.“I actually think you're putting yourself into a dangerous situation. There's some history, some volatility, and some challenges if you go and involve yourself in this particular activity. Tell me why this is so important to you.”So she walked me through it, and I said, “Okay, I get it. How do my concerns stack up against your desire to be there?”And she said, “Dad, I get what you're saying, but I want to go.”And I said, “Okay, so…”You used that beautiful term, the goodwill bank. I can't remember exactly what my words were, but I'm going to use your term right now, because I essentially said:“I'm going to use the goodwill I've built up with you over the last however many years and step in really firmly and say you're making a mistake.“As your dad, even though you're an adult, I want to forbid you to go. That's how strongly I feel about this. To the degree that I can, I forbid it.“Ultimately, you will choose because you are an adult, but I don't want you there.”Sarah: I'm going on the record.Dr. Justin: Yeah, yeah.“I need you to trust that this is a bad idea. We can come up with any number of other activities you could do instead, with different people in a different location, but this is a bad idea, and you have none of my support should you go.“If you go and something goes wrong, you call me and I'll come rescue you. But it is a bad idea, and I forbid it.”And I couldn't believe I was saying those words. I've never said them in my life, and now I was saying them to an adult.But she looked at me and said, “Okay.”Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: She didn't fight me. She didn't say, “I can do what—”Sarah: No, because you built up the history with her of how she experienced you.Dr. Justin: Yeah. She was like, “Wow, this is serious. He's never said that before. If he feels that strongly, maybe he's right. Maybe I need to find an alternative.”So anyway, that's the Three E's of Effective Discipline.I feel like I've talked too much, Sarah. I wanted to be much more conversational, but I get carried away when we—Sarah: No, no. I love it.I feel like it's very complementary to the things that I teach, and you've given me some new things to teach parents as well.I love having sort of snappy—the Three E's of Discipline. I think that's great. I love it. I'll share it.Dr. Justin: Yeah, please. Absolutely.It's helped so many millions of parents.Sarah: Yeah.Well, I love that we've connected across the world—from the other side of the world to each other—and I look forward to hopefully talking to you again in March of 2027 when your book Boys comes out.I figured we were going to talk about that, but we had such a lovely conversation about peaceful parenting, discipline, and—oh my God, it's gone right out of my head—Dr. Justin: Self-determination theory.Sarah: Self-determination theory.I think it was a really great conversation, and I really appreciate you sharing all of your experience and wisdom.Dr. Justin: I loved the conversation.Like I said, it was too one-sided. I wish we'd been able to go backward and forward a bit more, but let's do it again.Let's chat again next year when the book comes out, and we'll talk about boys and how to help them.There's so much talk about toxic masculinity.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: Wouldn't it be great if we could give them a view of healthy masculinity—a model of that to follow?That's what my book is all about: how we can guide boys into a healthy form of masculinity.Sarah: Well, for folks in Australia, your book is coming out in June 2026. For folks in North America, it's not coming out until spring 2027.So I will definitely be ringing you up and having you come back on to talk about the book when you've got your North American release. I know we're going to have a great conversation then.Before I let you go, though, I have a question that I ask all my podcast guests:If you had a time machine and you could go back and tell your younger parent self something, what advice would you give yourself?Dr. Justin: Jean-Jacques Rousseau said there is—I can't remember the quote exactly—but: What wisdom is there that is greater than kindness?I've paraphrased it. It's not perfect, but it's something along those lines.Interestingly, Rousseau had, I think, five children—maybe six—and he put them all into orphanages somewhere in the first 18 months of their lives so he could spend more time writing and focusing on how to be a good person, which I just find criminal. I can't believe it.So take it for what it's worth, but “What wisdom is there that's greater than kindness?” is what Rousseau said.I've mentioned this idea of soft eyes a couple of times. If I could go back, I would teach myself about kindness. I'd teach myself about many of the things we've talked about today.But I just want to quickly share the story of soft eyes.As an academic, I want everything I say to be evidence-based. There is no evidence that I'm aware of where people have done any kind of randomized controlled trial where parents are asked to interact with their children with soft eyes, neutral eyes, hard eyes, or anything like that.Soft eyes is this idea—I was giving a presentation at a public library one time, and an elderly lady stepped into the back of the room, sat down, and listened to the last 25 or 30 minutes of my presentation. She must have liked what she could hear from the corridor outside, and she stepped in to listen.After everybody had left, she walked over to me and said, “I really enjoyed what you shared. I'd love to tell you something my grandmother said to me.”So we're going back into the early 1900s.Her grandmother said, “Whenever you're talking to your children about matters of discipline, make sure you have soft eyes.”And I thought, I really like that.Because if you try to have a conversation with somebody and your eyes are soft, you just can't say mean things. You can't say harsh things. You can't have harsh thoughts.If you soften your eyes, your face softens and your heart softens. You have this beautiful compassion and kindness, this ability to see the best in them rather than the worst in them, to assume positive intent.There's something gorgeous about soft eyes.So I would go back and quote Rousseau better than I just quoted him to you, and I would tell my younger self that soft eyes will make a tremendous impact on all of my relationships.Sarah: Ah.There's an American—I don't know if you've heard of him in Australia—but he's a pretty well-known marriage counselor, Terry Real.Dr. Justin: Oh, yeah. I quote him in my book.Sarah: Yeah, yeah. He does a lot of work about—well, he says something like, “There's nothing that harshness can accomplish that kindness can't accomplish better.”Dr. Justin: That's so beautiful.Sarah: Mm-hmm.Dr. Justin: Thank you. That's inspiring. I'm so glad you shared that.Sarah: Yeah. I love it.It's hard to remember, but I think it is true. And I wish that—and I know the world needs a dose of that right now.Dr. Justin: Yeah. Yeah.Sarah: One hundred percent.Well, thank you so much.Where's the best place for folks to go and find out more about you and what you do?Dr. Justin: Probably my podcast, the Happy Families Podcast. My wife and I drop a 15-minute nugget of parenting wisdom every day, five days a week.Sarah: Oh, wow!Dr. Justin: Yeah. It's a lot of content, but it's bite-sized chunks, and it's entertaining. We're fun. We get to do it together.And the Happy Families Podcast. I've got a website called happyfamilies.com.au, but basically, if you like what we've talked about—Sarah: We'll link to all of that in the show notes. We'll link to your website and your podcast, and I'm sure it's easy to find you.Dr. Justin: That sounds great. Thanks, Sarah.Sarah: Thank you so much.Dr. Justin: What a great, great conversation. Lovely to be with you.Reimagine Peaceful Parenting with Sarah Rosensweet Substack is a reader-supported publication. 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Recording date: 14th May 2026The first quarter of 2026 marked a high point for the global mining sector, particularly for gold producers, which benefited from record production levels and strong cash flows. This performance was largely driven by a surge in gold prices, which averaged करीब $4,900 per ounce—up roughly 15% from the previous quarter. Major mining companies capitalized on these favorable conditions through share buybacks and acquisitions, signaling confidence in sustained profitability. However, this strong start is unlikely to persist.By mid-May, gold prices had already declined by about $200 per ounce, while input costs—especially fuel—rose sharply. Analysts now expect margin compression in the second quarter, as rising operational expenses begin to outweigh the benefits of still-elevated commodity prices. Fuel costs, in particular, have increased between 50% and 100% in some regions, creating uneven impacts across mining operations.The degree of exposure depends heavily on mine type and location. Underground, grid-connected mines face relatively minor cost increases, with fuel accounting for only 4–5% of expenses. In contrast, remote open-pit mines, which rely on diesel and other fuel-intensive processes, may see 30–40% of their cost structure affected. This creates significant disparities in profitability across the sector.Geographically, Australia stands out as the most vulnerable major mining jurisdiction due to its reliance on imported fuel, which accounts for 91% of its refined product consumption. Other at-risk regions include Chile, Peru, and parts of Africa. Meanwhile, copper prices have reached record highs, likely reflecting market concerns about supply disruptions caused by rising energy costs and operational challenges.Industry consolidation is also accelerating, highlighted by the Orla Mining–Equinox Gold merger. This trend reduces the number of mid-sized acquisition targets and underscores a growing scarcity of high-quality development projects, reshaping the competitive landscape for investors.Sign up for Crux Investor: https://cruxinvestor.com

Stijn Schmitz welcomes Luke Gromen to the show. Luke Gromen is President and Founder of Forest For The Trees. Luke explores unprecedented global economic and geopolitical shifts, focusing on massive commodity supply disruptions and transforming monetary systems. He highlights several critical trends: the largest commodity supply flow disruption in history, unprecedented levels of globalization, sovereign debt, and market valuations. He argues that current global tensions, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, could trigger significant economic challenges. The potential closure of strategic maritime routes could lead to dramatic supply chain breakdowns, potentially causing localized famines and massive economic disruptions. Gromen suggests that while the US dollar will remain widely used, it will no longer be the primary wealth storage mechanism. China is strategically positioning itself by establishing yuan-gold settlement systems and offshore clearing banks, effectively creating a multi-currency framework with gold as the pivotal settlement asset. Geographically, Gromen sees varied outcomes for different regions. He believes the United States has geographical advantages but warns against urban living during this transition. Europe appears most vulnerable, while Asian countries like China, Japan, and South Korea are potentially well-positioned to benefit from these shifts, particularly given their engineering capabilities and demographic dynamics. Regarding commodities, Gromen anticipates a generational trend favoring strategic metals like copper, silver, nickel, rare earths, and uranium. He predicts that future commodity trades will increasingly require value-for-value exchanges, moving away from paper-based transactions. The underlying theme is a fundamental restructuring of global economic systems, driven by supply chain fragilities, geopolitical tensions, and the need for more resilient, productivity-focused economic models. Gromen suggests this transition will likely involve significant inflation and economic recalibration, with gold playing a central role in the emerging monetary landscape. Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Introduction 00:00:44 – Unprecedented Energy Disruption 00:02:48 – Globalization and Debt Levels 00:05:00 – Equity Valuations Warning 00:07:20 – Market Pricing Liquidity 00:09:01 – Supply Chain Breakdowns 00:10:28 – Disruption Lag Effects 00:12:15 – Oil Policy Miscalculations 00:15:27 – Geopolitical Trade-offs 00:21:50 – Hubris vs Strategy 00:28:33 – China’s Strategic Benefits 00:33:56 – Monetary Order Shift 00:39:52 – Gold’s Reserve Role 00:45:06 – Future Debasement & Gold 00:49:46 – Regional Economic Outlooks 00:56:10 – Commodity Generational Trends 01:00:12 – New section Guest Links: X: https://x.com/lukegromen Website: https://fftt-llc.com/ Luke Gromen began his career in the mid-1990s in Research at Midwest Research before moving over to institutional equity sales and becoming a partner. While in sales, Luke was a founding editor of Midwest’s widely-read weekly summary (“Heard in the Midwest”) for the firm’s clients. He aggregated and combined proprietary research from Midwest with inputs from other sources. In 2006, Luke left FTN Midwest to become a founding partner of Cleveland Research Company. At CRC, Luke continued to work in sales and edit CRC’s flagship weekly research summary piece (“Straight from the Source”) for the firm’s customers. In 2014, Luke left Cleveland Research to found FFTT, LLC (“Forest for the Trees”), a macro/thematic research firm catering to institutions and individuals that aggregates a wide variety of macroeconomic, thematic, and sector trends in an unconventional manner to identify investable developing economic bottlenecks. Luke also provides strategic consulting services for corporate executives. He is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati and received his MBA from Case Western Reserve University and earned the CFA designation in 2003.

Amerant Investments Chief Investment Officer Baylor Lancaster-Samuel joined Steve Darling from Proactive to discuss the Amerant Latin American Debt UCITS ETF (RNTA), outlining how the fund offers investors targeted exposure to high-yield Latin American corporate bonds while eliminating currency risk. Lancaster-Samuel said the ETF was designed to solve a common challenge for investors seeking access to the region's fixed income markets. Many Latin American corporate bonds are issued in large minimum denominations, making it difficult for individual and smaller institutional investors to build diversified portfolios. By packaging these opportunities into an ETF structure, RNTA provides more accessible and efficient exposure to the asset class. The fund invests in U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds, allowing investors to benefit from emerging market yields without being exposed to foreign exchange volatility. Lancaster-Samuel emphasized that this approach enables the ETF to focus on high-quality issuers across Latin America, particularly large, well-established companies with international operations. Geographically, RNTA is concentrated in key regional economies including Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia, while maintaining diversification across roughly 50 issuers. The portfolio spans a wide range of sectors such as metals and mining, oil and gas, utilities, financial services, retail, agriculture, and technology, providing balanced exposure across the region's economic landscape. One of the ETF's most compelling features is its yield profile. Lancaster-Samuel highlighted that yields in Latin America can reach approximately 6.6%, notably higher than those available in broader emerging markets or U.S. fixed income benchmarks. He added that the fund's yield to worst is approaching 8%, positioning RNTA as an attractive option for income-focused investors seeking both yield and potential capital appreciation. Importantly, the ETF avoids sovereign debt entirely, instead concentrating on corporate issuers where stronger yield opportunities and more targeted credit selection can be achieved. #proactiveinvestors #hanetf #amerantinvestments #BaylorLancaster-Samuel #ETF #FixedIncome #LatinAmerica #EmergingMarkets #Investing #Yield #Bonds #UCITS #IncomeInvesting #USDBonds #AssetManagement #InvestmentStrategy #FinancialMarkets #WealthManagement

This week on Inside the Economy, we assess consumer spending, home pricing, and the outlook for the S&P 500. Amid the Iranian conflict, oil prices have increased, but has this impacted consumer spending? Higher-income households have seen after-tax wage growth rise to 5.6% year-over-year; how does that compare to lower-income households? Additionally, according to the Affordability Price Index, consumer affordability appears to have been minimally affected. How could interest rate changes affect affordability going forward? Turning to home prices, they seem reluctant to adjust, which may be attributed to labor and material costs remaining around $200 per square foot. Geographically, where are home prices seeing the largest increases? Finally, the S&P 500 price-to-earnings ratio is near its lowest level in a year and appears healthier relative to earnings, but how many companies have issued positive EPS guidance? Tune in to learn more. Key Takeaways: • Core CPI at 2.5% (YoY) • Nondefense Capital Goods Shipments at 6.4% in February (YoY) • S&P 500 price to earnings ratio at 20

This week on Inside the Economy, we assess consumer spending, home pricing, and the outlook for the S&P 500. Amid the Iranian conflict, oil prices have increased, but has this impacted consumer spending? Higher-income households have seen after-tax wage growth rise to 5.6% year-over-year; how does that compare to lower-income households? Additionally, according to the Affordability Price Index, consumer affordability appears to have been minimally affected. How could interest rate changes affect affordability going forward? Turning to home prices, they seem reluctant to adjust, which may be attributed to labor and material costs remaining around $200 per square foot. Geographically, where are home prices seeing the largest increases? Finally, the S&P 500 price-to-earnings ratio is near its lowest level in a year and appears healthier relative to earnings, but how many companies have issued positive EPS guidance? Tune in to learn more.   Key Takeaways: Core CPI at 2.5% (YoY) Nondefense Capital Goods Shipments at 6.4% in February (YoY) S&P 500 price to earnings ratio at 20

In part two of his conversation with Cole Costello, Alex opens with a simple but revealing question — if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you go? Cole quickly lands on Australia, which sets the stage for a deeper discussion as Alex begins to challenge that choice. What follows is a thoughtful back-and-forth about what really makes travel meaningful. Alex argues that language and cultural differences are essential to the experience, while Cole sees it a bit differently, questioning whether those factors matter as much. Their conversation then turns to Australia itself, exploring the interesting paradox it presents — a place that can feel temporally close, yet geographically remote. They reflect on how that distance has shaped Australia into something culturally distinct, even “weird” in its own way. Despite seeming similar to Europe on paper, its isolation has led to a very different cultural evolution.

Why Israel's Geography Makes It Vulnerable Larry Alex Taunton returns to his podcast after extensive travel (including Davos, Poland, Israel, and Paris) and explains why he withheld commentary on the Israel–Gaza war until he could get “boots on the ground” and hear perspectives from Palestinians and the IDF. Drawing on lessons from historian M.R.D. Foot, he argues geography strongly shapes national history and says Israel's small size, hostile neighbors, and the presence of Gaza and the West Bank create severe strategic vulnerability, compounded by overreliance on technology and insufficient troops on the border before the October 7, 2023 attacks. He rejects claims of stand-down orders, frames October 7 as an evil act of war, and says U.S. military support is crucial to Israel's survival. He also discusses tensions in Western media discourse, distinctions between Islam as ideology and Judaism as ethnicity, and briefly promotes merchandise and books.

Do you have to video call grandchildren living overseas? Or perhaps you email your grandparents who are abroad? In the modern world it's common for families to be split over countries and continents.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Do you have to video call grandchildren living overseas? Or perhaps you email your grandparents who are abroad? 

Tactical Transition Tips Round 111 of the Transition Drill Podcast offers practical guidance and career readiness for veterans and first responders, organized based on how far out your exit is. In this episode, how your attachment to where you live can shape, limit, or expand your civilian opportunities.Some of you are clinging to where you live like it's oxygen. Some of you are desperate to get out, like the place is on fire. Either way, it's easy to tell yourself your answer is “just practical.”But geography isn't neutral. Where you live quietly decides what jobs exist around you, what your income ceiling looks like, who you can realistically network with, what licensing or certification hurdles you'll face, and how much pressure lands on your spouse and kids if you change the plan. Labor markets aren't evenly distributed. Opportunities cluster. Some roles flat out don't exist everywhere. And even when the job exists, the pay might not match the cost of living.This episode is about geographic rigidity in transition. Staying can be a smart foundation. It can also be a comfortable trap. Moving can be liberation. It can also be chaos. The point isn't “stay” or “go.” The point is whether you're making a strategic decision, or an emotional one, before you ever submit an application.Transition group tipsClose Range Group (less than a year from transition): Research geographic factors before you apply. You're going to want to blast out applications, but you need real data first, like cost of living, local demand for your skills, and whether your certifications or status transfer to that state.Medium Range Group (a few years from transition): Create optionality before you need it. Build credentials that travel and grow a network in the region you might want, including conferences or training events, so you're not starting cold later.Long Range Group (a decade or more from transition): Don't build a life you can't leave. Keep your footprint light, avoid getting overextended, and protect your ability to say “yes” to an opportunity anywhere so you stay a free agent instead of getting pinned to one place.Get additional resources and join our newsletter via the link in the show notes.CONNECT WITH THE PODCAST:IG: https://www.instagram.com/paulpantani/WEBSITE: https://www.transitiondrillpodcast.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulpantani/SIGN-UP FOR THE NEWSLETTER:https://transitiondrillpodcast.com/home#aboutQUESTIONS OR COMMENTS:paul@transitiondrillpodcast.comSPONSORS:Frontline OpticsGet 10% off your purchaseLink: https://frontlineoptics.comPromocode: Transition10Blue Line RoastingGet 10% off your purchaseLink: https://bluelineroasting.comPromocode: Transition10

Andy sits down with SB, CEO and co-founder of Veera, to unpack a bold attempt at one of crypto's oldest and most stubborn problems: making it usable for normal people. From launching BlackBerrys and building early mobile ad tech, to challenging Netflix with an Asian streaming platform and exiting a travel startup, SB's winding entrepreneurial path now lands squarely in on-chain finance. The conversation traces how Veera is positioning itself as a true crypto neobank — not just a wallet with a card — and why user experience, not yield or hype, will decide whether crypto ever really breaks into the mainstream. Why you should listen SB starts by framing Veera as a product-led response to crypto's stalled adoption curve. Despite hundreds of millions of internet users globally, crypto still lives in the "tens of millions" club, largely because it's too complex for everyday users. Veera's core idea is simple but ambitious: your mother should be able to swap tokens, stake assets, or move funds without knowing what a bridge, seed phrase, or protocol is. That philosophy has driven Veera's focus on passkeys instead of seed phrases, simplified onboarding, and heavy use of abstraction to hide blockchain complexity behind familiar, intuitive design. SB positions himself as a "fresh eyes" builder in Web3 — someone who didn't grow up native to crypto and therefore isn't blind to how broken the experience still is. Geographically, Veera is betting on the same adoption arc the internet followed: emerging markets first, then deeper penetration in developed economies. SB points to Latin America, parts of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East as the next major growth zones, where access to global financial products is still limited. From there, he lays out Veera's four-pillar model: Invest, Earn, Spend, and Borrow. That includes tokenized gold, upcoming tokenized equities for users who've never had realistic access to global stocks, multi-chain yield in a single interface, a crypto prepaid card with tens of thousands already waitlisted, and a longer-term push into on-chain lending using financial identity and credit scoring. The pitch is clear: a full-stack, crypto-native bank rather than a TradFi app with a blockchain sticker slapped on top. The conversation closes on the bigger picture — institutional capital, regulation, and what actually moves the needle for mass adoption. SB sees the market maturing, citing massive liquidation events that no longer crash the system as a sign of growing resilience and institutional presence. But for consumers, he's blunt: UX is still the real bottleneck. Yields exist, volatility is slowly compressing, but the experience remains "so, so broken." In the rapid-fire hot take round, he plants his flag as a multi-chain opportunist, calls Ethereum his firmest conviction, and predicts stablecoins will become the basic financial rails of the next decade. It's a forward-looking, product-first take on a future where on-chain finance doesn't feel like crypto anymore — it just feels like money. Supporting links Stabull Finance Veera Andy on Twitter  Brave New Coin on Twitter Brave New Coin If you enjoyed the show please subscribe to the Crypto Conversation and give us a 5-star rating and a positive review in whatever podcast app you are using.  

Friendoes. Hello. Welcome back to Graventown. Population: You. Here's a new one for your mental glue gun. I've been in and out of interviews for the new album (Geographics) so I snuck this one in and tucked it into the ether right under a finely layered stream of stardust gas. Enjoy it. Try not to annoy it. I'm here for ya, baby.My new album "Geographics" is releasing (on my Bandcamp page only) through late January into late February 2026, and every Monday and Friday of those months, I'll have a new song up for you to digest into your ear canals. You can preorder the digital, cd and vinyl versions of the album, (which helps me greatly) but I understand that cash is tight all over the map, so you can also order a five dollar Geographics sticker. 5 beans! This album is really special to me (as my friends Melissa Payne and Charles Austin played all over it) and I hope you'll come along for the supersonic ride. Follow me @gravencanada on all the socials, and check my website to see when I'm playing live in a town near you. Join Graventown today to support yours truly for only 8 clams a month.

Mother Goose is not a particular person, although some have tried to claim there was one, but a Mother Goose was a -collection- of beloved stories. Tonight our story takes us into a place of disquiet through dark coniferous forests with copses of fir and spruce trees. Strangely, at times these dark forests seem to bio-locate between Germany and France in Mother Goose stories and fairy tales of the Brother Grimm. Geographically the countries are next door neighbors. Thankfully the world that these stories reside in is an imaginary place where some shockingly mean-spirited humans make life harder for others, curses, vile cannibals and horrific serial killers, even talking wolves are key players as the villains.But also, a magic midnight time-spell, a cursed prince,  impractical glass heels, treasure, griddle cakes for grandmother, alchemy: spinning straw into gold, grouchy dwarves, good fairies, angels… The world of fairy tales is a safe space for us to observe the dire consequences of bad judgment and the magic that could happen to everyday people...Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RRH_Walter_Crane_1875.jpg Description: Crop of Illustration from the toy book Little Red Riding Hood (link to page). London: George Routledge and Sons, 1875. Source https://archive.org/details/LittleRedRiding00Cran/page/1 Author | Walter Crane (1845–1915)Audio: Sound engineers at FreeSound.org- Adrian Gomar- Mozart - Lacrimosa / Requiem in D minor - K. 626 - Arranged for Music Box by GregorQuendel | License: Attribution NonCommercial 4.0

Exactly 250 years ago, a rotund twenty-five year-old Boston bookseller named Henry Knox was riding his horse between Springfield and Worcester Massachusetts, on his way to George Washington's headquarters in Cambridge. Washington's ragtag, ill-equipped Continental Army had kept the British garrison under General Thomas Gage bottled up in Boston and Charlestown since the summer of 1675.  Washington had a whole load of problems, including insufficient arms for his men, many with expiring enlistments that threatened to shrink his force by half or more.  He also had almost no artillery, just 12 small cannon that Henry Knox, among others, had learned to operate while training with the local militia.  Geographically, the Boston of that era was essentially a bubble of land connected to the mainland by an incredibly narrow neck at Roxbury.  Two hills loomed over the city from across the water – Breed's Hill in Charlestown to Boston's north, which the British had captured at great cost in the summer, and Dorchester Heights, to Boston's south, which the British had not captured. This is why it was very important – world historically important – that Henry Knox, on that day exactly 250 years ago, was commanding a convoy of artillery comprising 58 pieces and weighing more than 60 tons, pulled on purpose-built sleds by teams of oxen and horses all the way from Fort Ticonderoga, 300 miles away, over rivers and the Berkshires, during the coldest winter in memory. Within just a few days those guns would be in Cambridge, and not long after that, on the sixth anniversary of the Boston Massacre, would be entrenched on Dorchester Heights and open fire on the city and ships below.  Henry Knox's big guns would drive the British from Boston, for good.               The tale of that “noble train” of artillery, as Knox famously referred to it, is one of the more astonishing stories of military innovation, indefatigable perseverance, and inspired leadership in a war that had more than its share of such moments. It was also among the most important, because it came at a desperate period when the Americans needed a victory or the entire project of the Revolution might have fallen apart. Map of Boston in 1775: Subscribe to my Substack! X – @TheHistoryOfTh2 – https://x.com/TheHistoryOfTh2 Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HistoryOfTheAmericans Primary references for this episode (Commission earned for Amazon purchases through the episode notes on our website) William Hazelgrove, Henry Knox’s Noble Train: The Story of a Boston Bookseller’s Heroic Expedition That Saved the American Revolution Thomas M. Campeau, Major, U.S. Army, “The Noble Train of Artillery: A Study Comparison of Current Doctrinal Concepts of the Mission Command Philosophy in History.” (Master’s thesis, pdf) Alexander C. Flick, “General Henry Knox’s Ticonderoga Expedition,” The Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association, April 1928.

Send us a textIn this episode of The Alternative Dog Moms Podcast, Kimberly responds to unexpected criticism of raw feeding and tackles a common question: if cows and horses eat carbs, should dogs too?We also share a helpful listener resource, discuss herbs that may help reduce histamines in bone broth, and give behind-the-scenes updates, including Kimberly and Zoey joining a Jope product study and testing a new product for anxious dogs.Plus, Daisy Girl's playday, a blood test Erin is geeking out over, Apollo's birthday, and a conversation about why dogs form different relationships with different people.Episode timestamps:00:55 – Responding to criticism of raw feeding10:58 – Should dogs eat carbs because cows and horses do?16:25 – Listener resources, Woof Creek Wellness, and cutting the cord on cable26:01 – Herbs for reducing histamines in bone broth33:23 – Kimberly & Zoey join a Jope product study35:55 – Trying a new product for anxious dogs42:55 – Daisy Girl's playday + a blood test Erin loves46:45 – Apollo's birthday and dogs' unique relationships with peopleIf you love thoughtful conversations about fresh food, holistic care, and learning alongside your dogs, this episode is for you.Links discussed:Study re: Dogs in Laos eating rice (Geographically diverse canid sampling provides novel insights into pre-industrial microbiomes)Kimberly's article: Is Raw Dog Food a Scam? What Science Really Says About Grains, Carbs, and the Gut MicrobiomeKimberly's post: Should dogs eat carbs because cows and horses do?Helpful link: http://petdiseasealerts.org/Mid-Atlantic friends:  See Erin & Woof Creek's co-founder Lisa Monk at the World of Pets ExpoThe blood test you might want to ask your vet to check: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16pYwy6TKV/Social media:Kimberly: Raw Feeder Life, RawFeederLife.comErin Scott: Believe in Dog podcast, BelieveInDogPodcast.comRaw Feeder Life, Instagram.com/RawFeederLifeBelieve in Dog Podcast, Instagram.com/Erin_The_Dog_MomThanks for listening to our podcast. You can learn more about Erin Scott's first podcast at BelieveInDogPodcast.com. And you can learn more about raw feeding, raising dogs naturally, and Kimberly's dogs at KeepTheTailWagging.com. And don't forget to subscribe to The Alternative Dog Moms.

She calls herself Geographically promiscuous, having migrated as a child from Lithuania to Israel, then moving back and forth between Israel and Australia a couple of times. A trained Actor and a NIDA trained Director she sees herself as an all rounded stage-artist. Her one woman show - 'Sabra' has been performed in festivals and on stages in major cities and will be staged again at the end of this month. SBS caught up with Netta for a deep dive on identity, belonging, humour and art.

In this episode of The Trade Up Stepmom, we dive into the challenges and dynamics of maintaining a strong family bond when one spouse works out of state. Join us as we explore the unique experiences of balancing a civilian job with 75% travel, the emotional impact on blended families, and the strategies for keeping love and connection alive across the miles. Discover how communication, mutual support, and a shared commitment to family values can turn geographical separation into a journey of growth and understanding.

A concise overview of fertility technology—its history, practical applications, and ethical and social implications around the world. In the late 1850s, a physician in New York City used a syringe and glass tube to inject half a drop of sperm into a woman's uterus, marking the first recorded instance of artificial insemination. From that day forward, doctors and scientists have turned to technology in ever more innovative ways to facilitate conception. Fertility Technology (MIT Press, 2023) surveys this history in all its medical, practical, and ethical complexity, and offers a look at state-of-the-art fertility technology in various social and political contexts around the world. Donna J. Drucker's concise and eminently readable account introduces the five principal types of fertility technologies used in human reproduction—artificial insemination; ovulation timing; sperm, egg, and embryo freezing; in vitro fertilization; and IVF in uterine transplants—discussing the development, manufacture, dispersion, and use of each. Geographically, it focuses on countries where innovations have emerged and countries where these technologies most profoundly affect individuals and population policies. Drucker's wide-ranging perspective reveals how these technologies, used for birth control as well as conception in many cases, have been critical in shaping the moral, practical, and political meaning of human life, kinship, and family in different nations and cultures since the mid-nineteenth century. Donna J. Drucker is Assistant Director of Scholarship and Research Development at the Columbia University School of Nursing. Caleb Zakarin is the Assistant Editor of the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

A concise overview of fertility technology—its history, practical applications, and ethical and social implications around the world. In the late 1850s, a physician in New York City used a syringe and glass tube to inject half a drop of sperm into a woman's uterus, marking the first recorded instance of artificial insemination. From that day forward, doctors and scientists have turned to technology in ever more innovative ways to facilitate conception. Fertility Technology (MIT Press, 2023) surveys this history in all its medical, practical, and ethical complexity, and offers a look at state-of-the-art fertility technology in various social and political contexts around the world. Donna J. Drucker's concise and eminently readable account introduces the five principal types of fertility technologies used in human reproduction—artificial insemination; ovulation timing; sperm, egg, and embryo freezing; in vitro fertilization; and IVF in uterine transplants—discussing the development, manufacture, dispersion, and use of each. Geographically, it focuses on countries where innovations have emerged and countries where these technologies most profoundly affect individuals and population policies. Drucker's wide-ranging perspective reveals how these technologies, used for birth control as well as conception in many cases, have been critical in shaping the moral, practical, and political meaning of human life, kinship, and family in different nations and cultures since the mid-nineteenth century. Donna J. Drucker is Assistant Director of Scholarship and Research Development at the Columbia University School of Nursing. Caleb Zakarin is the Assistant Editor of the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/medicine

A concise overview of fertility technology—its history, practical applications, and ethical and social implications around the world. In the late 1850s, a physician in New York City used a syringe and glass tube to inject half a drop of sperm into a woman's uterus, marking the first recorded instance of artificial insemination. From that day forward, doctors and scientists have turned to technology in ever more innovative ways to facilitate conception. Fertility Technology (MIT Press, 2023) surveys this history in all its medical, practical, and ethical complexity, and offers a look at state-of-the-art fertility technology in various social and political contexts around the world. Donna J. Drucker's concise and eminently readable account introduces the five principal types of fertility technologies used in human reproduction—artificial insemination; ovulation timing; sperm, egg, and embryo freezing; in vitro fertilization; and IVF in uterine transplants—discussing the development, manufacture, dispersion, and use of each. Geographically, it focuses on countries where innovations have emerged and countries where these technologies most profoundly affect individuals and population policies. Drucker's wide-ranging perspective reveals how these technologies, used for birth control as well as conception in many cases, have been critical in shaping the moral, practical, and political meaning of human life, kinship, and family in different nations and cultures since the mid-nineteenth century. Donna J. Drucker is Assistant Director of Scholarship and Research Development at the Columbia University School of Nursing. Caleb Zakarin is the Assistant Editor of the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A concise overview of fertility technology—its history, practical applications, and ethical and social implications around the world. In the late 1850s, a physician in New York City used a syringe and glass tube to inject half a drop of sperm into a woman's uterus, marking the first recorded instance of artificial insemination. From that day forward, doctors and scientists have turned to technology in ever more innovative ways to facilitate conception. Fertility Technology (MIT Press, 2023) surveys this history in all its medical, practical, and ethical complexity, and offers a look at state-of-the-art fertility technology in various social and political contexts around the world. Donna J. Drucker's concise and eminently readable account introduces the five principal types of fertility technologies used in human reproduction—artificial insemination; ovulation timing; sperm, egg, and embryo freezing; in vitro fertilization; and IVF in uterine transplants—discussing the development, manufacture, dispersion, and use of each. Geographically, it focuses on countries where innovations have emerged and countries where these technologies most profoundly affect individuals and population policies. Drucker's wide-ranging perspective reveals how these technologies, used for birth control as well as conception in many cases, have been critical in shaping the moral, practical, and political meaning of human life, kinship, and family in different nations and cultures since the mid-nineteenth century. Donna J. Drucker is Assistant Director of Scholarship and Research Development at the Columbia University School of Nursing. Caleb Zakarin is the Assistant Editor of the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A concise overview of fertility technology—its history, practical applications, and ethical and social implications around the world. In the late 1850s, a physician in New York City used a syringe and glass tube to inject half a drop of sperm into a woman's uterus, marking the first recorded instance of artificial insemination. From that day forward, doctors and scientists have turned to technology in ever more innovative ways to facilitate conception. Fertility Technology (MIT Press, 2023) surveys this history in all its medical, practical, and ethical complexity, and offers a look at state-of-the-art fertility technology in various social and political contexts around the world. Donna J. Drucker's concise and eminently readable account introduces the five principal types of fertility technologies used in human reproduction—artificial insemination; ovulation timing; sperm, egg, and embryo freezing; in vitro fertilization; and IVF in uterine transplants—discussing the development, manufacture, dispersion, and use of each. Geographically, it focuses on countries where innovations have emerged and countries where these technologies most profoundly affect individuals and population policies. Drucker's wide-ranging perspective reveals how these technologies, used for birth control as well as conception in many cases, have been critical in shaping the moral, practical, and political meaning of human life, kinship, and family in different nations and cultures since the mid-nineteenth century. Donna J. Drucker is Assistant Director of Scholarship and Research Development at the Columbia University School of Nursing. Caleb Zakarin is the Assistant Editor of the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A concise overview of fertility technology—its history, practical applications, and ethical and social implications around the world. In the late 1850s, a physician in New York City used a syringe and glass tube to inject half a drop of sperm into a woman's uterus, marking the first recorded instance of artificial insemination. From that day forward, doctors and scientists have turned to technology in ever more innovative ways to facilitate conception. Fertility Technology (MIT Press, 2023) surveys this history in all its medical, practical, and ethical complexity, and offers a look at state-of-the-art fertility technology in various social and political contexts around the world. Donna J. Drucker's concise and eminently readable account introduces the five principal types of fertility technologies used in human reproduction—artificial insemination; ovulation timing; sperm, egg, and embryo freezing; in vitro fertilization; and IVF in uterine transplants—discussing the development, manufacture, dispersion, and use of each. Geographically, it focuses on countries where innovations have emerged and countries where these technologies most profoundly affect individuals and population policies. Drucker's wide-ranging perspective reveals how these technologies, used for birth control as well as conception in many cases, have been critical in shaping the moral, practical, and political meaning of human life, kinship, and family in different nations and cultures since the mid-nineteenth century. Donna J. Drucker is Assistant Director of Scholarship and Research Development at the Columbia University School of Nursing. Caleb Zakarin is the Assistant Editor of the New Books Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/technology

Inato: https://go.inato.com/3VnSro6CRIO: http://www.clinicalresearch.ioMy PatientACE recruitment company: https://patientace.com/Join me at my conference! http://www.saveoursites.comText Me: (949) 415-6256Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7JF6FNvoLnBpfIrLNCcg7aGET THE BOOK! https://www.amazon.com/Comprehensive-Guide-Clinical-Research-Practical/dp/1090349521/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Dan+Sfera&qid=1691974540&s=audible&sr=1-1-catcorrText "guru" to 855-942-5288 to join VIP list!My blog: http://www.TheClinicalTrialsGuru.comMy CRO and Site Network: http://www.DSCScro.comMy CRA Academy: http://www.TheCRAacademy.comMy CRC Academy: http://www.TheCRCacademy.comLatinos In Clinical Research: http://www.LatinosinClinicalResearch.comThe University Of Clinical Research: https://www.theuniversityofclinicalresearch.com/My TikTok: DanSfera

It's been a bit since it was just Michael, Kmele, and Matt at the table so we've decided to unlock this Members Only episode and invite everyone in. For (literally) hundreds more Members Only episodes, become a paying subscriber.•Heliocentric anime•50 Cent, documentarian•Boycott Black Murder•Glen Beck is doing it for the kids•John Stossel walks into a bodega•And now, a few words from the father of our country•American Revolution hot takes•That New York Times border crisis story•Kamala Harris was not the border czar•NIMBY•When Kmele gets homeless•Rosemont Illinois will not forget Tara Reid•LSD margaritas•The Pentagon press corps•Exploding boats•Geographically constrained neoconservatism•Matthew Yglesias is right•Previewing Moynihan's 1-on-1 with Kevin O'Leary•Holding out hopePrefer to watch & chat live with other members of the Fifthdom? This episode premieres over on our YouTube channel at 10am EST.This episode is unlocked, but paying subscribers get them ALL.Follow The Fifth ColumnYouTube: @wethefifthInstagram: @we.the.fifthX: @wethefifthTikTok: @wethefifthFacebook: @thefifthcolumn This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.wethefifth.com/subscribe

Canada's Ring of Fire: Strategic Mineral Wealth Development — Conrad Black — Black describes the "Ring of Fire," a geographically remote region in northern Ontario approximately 500 miles from Toronto, containing vast strategic mineral deposits including chromium, gold, and other essential industrial metals. Black highlights unprecedented cooperation between Ontario Premier Doug Ford, the Canadian federal government, and First Nationsauthorities to construct a 500-mile transportation corridor enabling extraction and market delivery of these strategic resources essential for global supply chains and technological manufacturing. 1874 GREEENLAND

PREVIEW — Conrad Black — Canada's Strategic "Ring of Fire" Mineral Wealth. Black describes the "Ring of Fire," a geographically remote, mineral-rich region situated approximately 500 miles north of Toronto, containing strategically critical resources including gold, copper, and base metals essential for global manufacturing and technological advancement. Black acknowledges that the region currently lacks transportation and processing infrastructure necessary for large-scale extraction operations. Black emphasizes that elevated global demand for strategic minerals is catalyzing unprecedented cooperation between Canadian government authorities and private sector mining enterprises to develop extraction, processing, and export capabilities satisfying international market requirements and positioning Canada as a critical resource supplier. 1909

Good Sunday to you,A bit of admin before we come to today's thought piece.First, in case you missed it, here is this week's commentary, mostly ranting about the budget, the UK's inept leadership and what actions you, as an investor, should take:And this week I also appeared on comedian Geoff Norcott's podcast, What Most People Think. Here are the links to the show on Apple and Spotify, if of interest.But for your thought piece today, we have another great little World War Two gold story which didn't make the cut. The farcical journey of Albanian and Italian gold (NB: a tonne of gold is about a medium-sized suitcase full).As the Nazis took both Austria and Czechoslovakia with ease, Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini grew anxious to flex his own muscles.Albania would be his target. Geographically, culturally and historically, it made sense: Albania had been part of the Roman Empire even before northern Italy.In April 1939, Italy invaded with a force that contained 400 planes, 300 small tanks, 12 warships, and 22,000 men. But some untrained Albanian locals with the help of a few soldiers managed to drive them back into the sea. Such was 20th century Italian warfare.The Italians made it on the second attempt, however, and the capital, Tirana, fell.The Albanian King Zog gave an impassioned speech on the radio, urging resistance, but nobody heard it because Albania at the time had fewer than 2,000 radios, and the Italians soon managed to jam the airwaves anyway. Shortly after giving the speech, like the true patriot he was, he fled the country, taking enough gold with him to lead a long life of luxury in exile, eventually ending up in Egypt as a guest of King Farouk, to whom he had to pay $20 million for refuge.Albania's founders believed in gold, and their currency, the lek, was based on it. Inflation, as a result, had been nonexistent. The central bank was established in the summer of 1925, and it had worked hard to build up its gold holdings. At home, it had encouraged citizens to swap their jewellery for paper money. That private gold was then added to the nation's gold holdings. Whenever possible, the country increased its gold holdings in London.But by the time of the invasion in 1939, most of Albania's 2.3 tonnes was in Italy anyway, where it had been sent for safekeeping. The Italians managed to confiscate quite a bit more in coins and jewellery from citizens.We fast forward four years.The Italian dilemma: give their gold to the Nazis or the Allies? In 1943, Allied forces moved north from Africa into Sicily and then Italy: the invasion of the soft underbelly of Europe had begun.Hectic days followed the ousting of Mussolini in July. The Italian Fascists were still nominally in charge. They declared Rome an open city in the hope of avoiding Allied air attacks. But by September 1943, the Nazis had control of the capital and central Italy, and they wanted Italy's gold moved to Berlin, while they still had control of the area.They began confiscating the gold of Italian citizens in Rome, especially Italian Jews. The amounts demanded were unrealistic, but Roman Jews reached into their family treasures, their synagogues and institutions to turn in what they had. The Pope, Pius XII, heard about the demands and authorised Catholic churches to lend Jews gold so they could reach the quota.But the big prize was in the Italian Central Bank, and several Nazi organisations had their eyes on it: Himmler's SS, Göring's Four Year Plan, von Ribbentrop's Foreign Office, and Funk's Reichsbank. Even the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), which was worried about its investments in Italy, started making demands that Italy send it gold. Initially, the governor of the Italian bank, Vincenzo Azzolini, made out that he was offended by the idea, but he soon realised the BIS was a better option than Berlin, whichever Nazi department received it.The Italians did not know what to do. On the one hand, they did not want the Nazis to have their gold, but nor did they want the invading Allies to have it either. They thought of sending it to Sardinia, they thought of sending it to the Swiss border. They sent small amounts of gold to branch offices around Italy, but the Bologna gold went missing, as did much of the Milan gold - now supposedly in Turin, but actually hidden in a well. They even sent some to colonial outposts in Benghazi, Rhodes and Addis Ababa.The Albanian gold Italy had stolen was still sitting in the Italian bank's vault, so, under pressure from the Nazis, they sent that up to the Reichsbank in Berlin, while they tried to come up with a solution.The following day, Niccolò Introna, the Italian bank's deputy general manager, had his plan: to build a false wall in the bank's underground vaults. He would then backdate documents to show the gold had been moved to Potenza, a town in the Italian south that was about to fall into Allied hands, but hide the gold behind the wall.Bank governor Azzolini approved the plan, but then ruled that only half the gold should be hidden. The next day the wall was built. The day after that, the official order to ship the gold to Berlin came in from the German ambassador. If the bank did not agree, the Germans would simply seize it. At this point, Azzolini learned that the Germans had seized government records, from which they would know the size and location of the country's gold. Azzolini lost his nerve and had the wall torn down.The next day, the German military unit arrived at the bank with orders to move the gold north by air. Azzolini stalled them, saying it would be safer by train. The Germans sent 5 tonnes by air, the rest - 119 tonnes - was sent by train to Milan. From there, it was shipped to Fortezza, Bolzano, close to the border with Germany and under their control, where it stayed for several months. The now-ousted Mussolini even signed his approval that it be sent there.The following spring, Azzolini, who above all wanted to stop the gold going to Berlin, struck a deal with Swiss and German representatives that would see 26 tonnes sent to Switzerland, some to the BIS and some to the Swiss National Bank.Göring, however, insisted he needed money and suggested giving Italy Reichsmarks for its gold. The deal was signed without the Bank of Italy knowing about it. 50 tonnes left Fortezza, which included 8 tonnes Italy had stolen from Yugoslavia earlier in the war in "restitution" (that's another story). The delivery arrived in Berlin a tonne light. As almost always by this point in the war, someone had their hands in the till.The process of shipping the next batch of Italian gold - some 22 tonnes - went on for months, as some (but not all) Italian officials tried to stall. But eventually, that too was dispatched. That too arrived in Berlin a tonne light.When American forces eventually liberated Fortezza, they found 25 tonnes. It was handed over to the Bank of Italy.What a mess.Stories like this fill the pages of The Secret History of Gold (although this one didn't actually make the cut).The Secret History of Gold is available at Amazon, Waterstones and all good bookshops. I hear the audiobook, read by me, is excellent. And it would make a wonderful Christmas present! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.theflyingfrisby.com/subscribe

Yowie Sightings of Moss Vale to GoulburnThe Moss Vale to Goulburn districts of New South Wales are renowned for their expansive, untouched mountains and valleys. Anyone who has flown over this region would be struck by the vastness of these uninhabited forests, prompting curiosity about what might inhabit these remote and unexplored areas. The landscape itself is visually spectacular, painting a picture of raw natural beauty.Geographically, this area is situated between Sydney and Canberra, making it accessible yet largely uninhabited. Along the eastern side of the main highway that runs through the district, there is a rich and intriguing history of Yowie sightings, with reports stretching back over 200 years. Notable localities within this region include Bundanoon, Bungonia, Belango, Wingello, and Tallong, each with its own anecdotal accounts contributing to the area's mysterious reputation.Sightings in the Moss Vale DistrictToday, we turn our attention to two recent Yowie reports originating from nearly the same location within the Moss Vale district.The 1990 Tallong EncounterThe first account dates back to 1990, when a woman camping in the district witnessed a Yowie squatting on a rock ledge. The Vanishing Yowie PhenomenonThe Yowie appeared to simply vanish into thin air, leaving witnesses puzzled and questioning whether there might be a rational explanation for the event—or perhaps not. This mysterious disappearance continues to fuel speculation about the nature of these cryptic creatures.The 2012 Wingello Roadside SightingThe next documented sighting comes from 2012, just down the road at the small township of Wingello. In this instance, the Yowie observed was not as large as some previously reported, but its description matched established characteristics often attributed to the creature.Summary and ReflectionCollectively, these two compelling reports indicate that the Moss Vale district may be significantly underrepresented in terms of Yowie sightings. This underrepresentation is likely due to the region's sparse human population and the vast, inaccessible nature of its terrain.For more comprehensive information, reports and history of the Yowie, visit our Website at www.yowiehunters.comSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/yowiehunters-witness-reports. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With the 11th shutdown of the U.S. government since 1976 underway, the economic ramifications are being felt all over. For some analysis on some of the most affected areas, we welcome Chip Lugo, an analyst with WalletHub.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Last time we spoke about the flooding of the Yellow River. As Japanese forces pressed toward central China, Chiang Kai-shek weighed a desperate gamble: defend majestic Wuhan with costly sieges, or unleash a radical plan that would flood its heart. Across/Xuzhou, Taierzhuang, and the Yellow River's bend near Zhengzhou, commanders fought a brutal, grinding war. Chinese units, battered yet stubborn, executed strategic retreats and furious counteroffensives. But even as brave soldiers stalled the enemy, the longer fight threatened to drain a nation's will and leave millions unprotected. Then a striking idea surfaced: breach the dikes of the Yellow River at Huayuankou and flood central China to halt the Japanese advance. The plan was terrifying in its moral cost, yet it offered a temporary shield for Wuhan and time to regroup. Workers, farmers, soldiers, laborers—pushed aside fear and toiled through the night, water rising like a raging tide. The flood bought months, not victory. It punished civilians as much as it protected soldiers, leaving a nation to confront its own hard choices and the haunting question: was survival worth the price?   #172 The Road to Wuhan Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Following the Battle of Xuzhou and the breaching of the Yangtze dykes, Wuhan emerged as Japan's next military objective for political, economic, and strategic reasons. Wuhan served as the interim capital of the Kuomintang government, making it a crucial center of political authority. Its fall would deprive China of a vital rail and river hub, thereby further crippling the Chinese war effort. From a strategic perspective, Japanese control of a major rail and river junction on the Yangtze would enable westward expansion and provide a base for further advances into central and southern China. For these reasons, the Intelligence Division of the Army General Staff assessed that the capture of Wuhan would likely deliver the decisive blow needed to conclude the Second Sino-Japanese War.  Recognizing Wuhan's strategic importance, both the National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army committed substantial forces to the city and its approaches. The IJA deployed roughly 400,000 troops, while the NRA fielded at least 800,000. China began the war with an estimated regular force of 1.7 to 2.2 million men, organized into six broad loyalty-based categories around Chiang Kai-shek's command. Directly loyal troops formed the first group, followed by a second tier of soldiers who had previously supported Chiang but were less tightly controlled. The next category consisted of provincial troops that Chiang could ordinarily influence, while a fourth group included provincial units over which his sway was weaker. The fifth category comprised Communist forces, the Eighth Route Army in the northwest and the New Fourth Army forming in the central Yangtze region. The final category consisted of Northeastern or Manchurian units loyal to Zhang Xueliang, known as the “Young Marshal.” The first two categories together accounted for roughly 900,000 men, with about a million more in independent provincial armies, and roughly 300,000 in Communist and Manchurian forces. As commander-in-chief, Chiang could effectively command only about half of the mobilizable units at the outbreak of war in July 1937, which meant that military decisions were often slow, fraught with negotiation, and administratively cumbersome. Division-level coordination and communication proved particularly challenging, a stark contrast to the Japanese command structure, which remained clean and disciplined. Geographically, most of Chiang's loyal troops were located in the corridor between the Yangtze and the Yellow rivers at the start of 1938. Having participated heavily in the defense of Shanghai and Nanjing, they retreated to Wuhan at about half strength, with an already decimated officer corps. They then numbered around 400,000 and were commanded by generals Chen Cheng and Hu Zongnan. The northern regional armies, especially Han Fuju's forces in Shandong, had suffered severe losses; some units defected to the Japanese and later served as puppet troops. After six months of Japanese onslaught that cost the coastal and central regions—Peiping-Tianjin to Shanghai and inland toward Nanjing—much of the relatively autonomous, sizable armies remained from the southwest or northwest, under leaders such as Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi (Guangxi), Long Yun (Yunnan), and Yan Xishan (Shanxi and Suiyuan). Roughly 700,000 of these troops—predominantly from Guangxi under Li and Bai—were committed to the defense of Wuhan. The Communist forces, by contrast, numbered about 100,000 and remained relatively unscathed in bases north and east of Xi'an. In total, approximately 1.3 million men were under arms in defense of Wuhan. In December 1937, the Military Affairs Commission was established to determine Wuhan's defense strategy. Following the loss of Xuzhou, the National Revolutionary Army redeployed approximately 1.1 million troops across about 120 divisions. The commission organized the defense around three main fronts: the Dabie Mountains, Poyang Lake, and the Yangtze River, in response to an estimated 200,000 Japanese troops spread over 20 divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army. Li Zongren and Bai Chongxi, commanding the Fifth War Zone, were assigned to defend the north of the Yangtze, while Chen Cheng, commanding the Ninth War Zone, was tasked with defending the south. The First War Zone, situated to the west of the Zhengzhou–Xinyang segment of the Pinghan Railway, was responsible for halting Japanese forces advancing from the North China Plain, and the Third War Zone, located between Wuhu, Anqing, and Nanchang, was charged with protecting the Yuehan Railway. Following the Japanese occupation of Xuzhou in May 1938, they sought to expand the invasion. The IJA decided to dispatch a vanguard to occupy Anqing as a forward base for an assault on Wuhan. The main force would then advance north of the Dabie Mountains along the Huai River, with the objective of eventually capturing Wuhan via the Wusheng Pass. A second detachment would move west along the Yangtze. However, a flood from the Yellow River forced the IJA to abandon plans to advance along the Huai and instead to attack along both banks of the Yangtze. Despite Chinese numerical superiority on the Wuhan front, roughly a 2:1 advantage, the offensive faced several complicating factors. The NRA was a heterogeneous, fragmented force with a variety of tables of organization and equipment, and it lacked the unified command structure that characterized the IJA. Historian Richard Frank notes the broad diversity of Chinese forces at the outbreak of the war, which hindered cohesive mobile and strategic operations: “Chiang commanded armies of 2,029,000 troops of highly variegated capability and loyalty. His personal forces included an elite cadre of three hundred-thousand German-trained and eighty-thousand German armed men. A second stratum of the Chinese armies, numbering roughly 600,000 included various regional commands loyal to Chiang in the past that generally conformed to his directives. These troops were better armed and trained than the rest. The third category encompassed a million men who were neither loyal nor obedient to Chiang”. The NRA faced a significant disadvantage in both quantity and quality of equipment compared to the Japanese. The disparity was stark in artillery allocations. An IJA infantry division possessed 48 field and mountain guns, whereas a German-equipped Chinese division had only 16. In terms of regiment and battalion guns, a Japanese division had 56, while a German-equipped Chinese division possessed just 30. Of roughly 200 Chinese infantry divisions in 1937, only 20 were German-equipped, and merely eight of those met their paper-strength standards. Many Chinese divisions had no artillery at all, and those that did often lacked radios or forward-observation capabilities to ensure accurate fire. These deficiencies placed the NRA at a clear disadvantage in firepower when facing the Japanese. These equipment gaps were compounded by poor training and tactical doctrine. The NRA lacked adequate training facilities and did not incorporate sufficient field maneuvers, gun handling, or marksmanship into its program. Although the 1935 drill manual introduced small-group “open order” tactics, many formations continued to fight in close-order formations. In an era when increased firepower rendered close-order tactics obsolete, such formations became a liability. The NRA's failure to adapt dispersed assault formations limited its tactical effectiveness. Defensively, the NRA also faced serious shortcomings. Units were often ordered to create deep positions near key lines of communication, but Chinese forces became overly dependent on fixed fortifications, which immobilized their defense. Poor intelligence on Japanese movements and a lack of mobile reserves, there were only about 3,000 military vehicles in China in 1937, meant that Japanese infantry could easily outflank fixed NRA positions. Moreover, the Japanese enjoyed superiority in artillery, enabling them to suppress these fixed positions more effectively. These realities left Chinese defenses vulnerable, especially in the war's first year. The leadership deficit within the NRA, reflected in limited officer training, further constrained operational effectiveness. Chiang Kai-shek reportedly warned that Chinese commanders often equaled their counterparts in rank but did not outmatch them in competence. Only 2,000 commanders and staff officers had received training by 1937, and many staff officers had no military training at all. Overall, about 29.1 percent of NRA officers had no military education, severely limiting professional development and command capability. With the exception of the Guangxi divisions, Chinese units were hampered by an unnecessarily complex command structure. Orders from Chiang Kai-shek needed to pass through six tiers before action could be taken, slowing decision-making and responsiveness. In addition, Chiang favored central army units under direct control with loyal commanders from the Whampoa clique when distributing equipment, a pattern that bred discord and insubordination across levels of the Chinese field forces. Beyond structural issues, the Chinese force organization suffered from a lack of coherence due to competing influences. The forces had been reorganized along German-inspired lines, creating large field armies arranged as “war zones,” while Russian influence shaped strategic positioning through a division into “front” and “route” armies and separate rear-area service units. This mix yielded an incoherent force facing the Japanese. Troop placement and support procedures lacked rationalization: Chiang and his generals often sought to avoid decisive confrontation with Japan to minimize the risk of irreversible defeat, yet they also rejected a broad adoption of guerrilla warfare as a systematic tactic. The tendency to emphasize holding railway lines and other communications tied down the main fighting forces, around which the Japanese could maneuver more easily, reducing overall operational flexibility. Despite these deficiencies, NRA officers led roughly 800,000 Chinese troops deployed for the Battle of Wuhan. On the Wuhan approaches, four war zones were organized under capable if overextended leadership: 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 9th. The 5th War Zone, commanded by Li Zongren, defended north of the Yangtze to protect the Beijing–Wuhan railway. Chen Cheng's Ninth War Zone defended south of the Yangtze, aiming to prevent seizure of Jiujiang and other key cities on approaches to Wuhan. The 1st War Zone focused on stopping Japanese forces from the northern plains, while Gu Zhutong's 3rdWar Zone, deployed between Wuhu, Anqing, and Nanchang, defended the Yuehan railway and fortified the Yangtze River. Japan's Central China Expeditionary Army, commanded by Hata Shunroku, spearheaded the Wuhan advance. The CCEA consisted of two armies: the 2nd Army, which included several infantry divisions under Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, and the 11th Army, advancing along the Yangtze's northern and southern banks under Okamura Yasuji. The 2nd Army aimed to push through the Dabie Mountains and sever Wuhan from the north, while the 11th Army would converge on Wuhan in a concentric operation to envelop the city. The Japanese forces were augmented by 120 ships from the 3rd Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy under Koshirō Oikawa, more than 500 aircraft from the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, and five divisions from the Central China Area Army tasked with guarding Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, and other key cities. These forces were intended to protect the back of the main Japanese thrust and complete the preparations for a major battle. The Kuomintang, led by Chiang Kai-shek, was acutely aware that Japan aimed to strike at Wuhan. Facing Japan's firepower and bold offensives, Chiang and his commanders pursued a strategy of attrition at the Wuchang conference in January 1938. Central China would be the primary theater of China's protracted struggle, distant from Japan's existing center of gravity in Manchuria. Chiang hoped Japan's manpower and resources would be exhausted as the empire pushed deeper into Central China. Eventually, Japan would be forced either to negotiate a settlement with China or to seek foreign assistance to obtain raw materials. The mountainous terrain to the north and south of the Yangtze presented natural obstacles that the Chinese believed would hinder large-scale concentration of Japanese forces. North of the Yangtze, the Dabie Mountains provided crucial flank protection; to the south, rugged, roadless terrain made expansive maneuvering difficult. In addition to these natural barriers, Chinese forces fortified the region with prepared, in-depth defenses, particularly in the mountains. The rugged terrain was expected to help hold back the Japanese offensive toward Wuhan and inflict substantial casualties on the attackers. The Yangtze itself was a critical defensive factor. Although the Chinese Navy was largely absent, they implemented several measures to impede amphibious operations. They constructed gun positions at key points where the river narrowed, notably around the strongholds at Madang and Tianjiazhen. Specialized units, such as the Riverine Defense Force, were deployed to defend these river fortifications against amphibious assaults. To reinforce the Riverine Defense Force, Chinese forces sank 79 ships in the Yangtze to create obstacles for potential Japanese naval advances. They also laid thousands of mines to constrain Japanese warships. These defensive measures were designed to slow the Japanese advance and complicate their logistics. The Chinese aimed to exploit stalled offensives to strike at exposed flanks and disrupted supply lines, leveraging terrain and fortified positions to offset Japan's superior firepower. On 18 February 1938, an Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service strike force comprising at least 11 A5M fighters of the 12th and 13th Kōkūtais, led by Lieutenant Takashi Kaneko, and 15 G3M bombers of the Kanoya Kokutai, led by Lieutenant Commander Sugahisa Tuneru, raided Wuhan and engaged 19 Chinese Air Force I-15 fighters from the 22nd and 23rd Pursuit Squadrons and 10 I-16 fighters from the 21st Pursuit Squadron, all under the overall command of the 4th Pursuit Group CO Captain Li Guidan. They faced a Soviet Volunteer Group mix of Polikarpov fighters as well. The 4th Group fighters claimed at least four A5Ms shot down, while the Soviet group claimed no fewer than three A5Ms. Both the Japanese fighter group commander, Lieutenant Kaneko, and the Chinese fighter group commander, Captain Li, were killed in action during the battle. A largely intact A5M downed in the engagement was recovered with a damaged engine; it was the second intact A5M to be recovered, repaired, and flight-tested in the war, following the first recovered-intact A5M credited to Colonel Gao Zhihang during an air battle over Nanjing on 12 October 1937. On 3 August 1938, 52 Chinese fighters, including 20 I-15s, 13 I-16s, 11 Gloster Gladiators, and 7 Hawk IIIs, intercepted at least 29 A5Ms and 18 G3Ms over Hankou. The Guangxi era pilots Zhu Jiaxun and He Jermin, along with Chinese-American fighter pilots Arthur Chin and Louie Yim-qun, all flying Gladiators, claimed at least four A5Ms shot down on that day. The Wuhan Campaign began in earnest when the Imperial Japanese Army's 3rd and 13th Infantry Divisions advanced north of the Yangtze River. Central China Expeditionary Army commander Hata Shunroku designated Shouxian, Zhengyangguan, and the Huainan coal mine as the objectives for the 3rd and 13th Infantry Divisions. Meanwhile, the 6th Infantry Division, part of the 11th Army, advanced toward Anqing from Hefei. The 6th Infantry Division coordinated with the Hata Detachment, which launched an amphibious assault from the river. The 2nd Army's sector saw immediate success. On June 3, the 3rd Infantry Division seized the Huainan coal mine; two days later, it captured Shouxian. The 13th Infantry Division also secured Zhengyangguan on that day. The 6th Infantry Division then made rapid progress immediately north of the Yangtze River, taking Shucheng on June 8 and Tongcheng on June 13. These advances forced the Chinese 77th Corps and the 21st and 26th Army Groups to withdraw to a line spanning Huoshan, Lu'an, and Fuyang. More critically, the Hata Detachment crossed the Yangtze River and landed behind the Chinese 27th Army Group's 20th Corps. The sudden appearance of Japanese forces in their rear forced the two Chinese divisions defending Anqing to withdraw. The fall of Anqing represented a major Japanese success, as they gained control of an airfield crucial for receiving close air support. After battles around Shucheng, Tongcheng, and Anqing, all three cities and their surrounding countryside suffered extensive damage. Much of this damage resulted from air raids that indiscriminately targeted soldiers and civilians alike. In Shucheng, the raids were reportedly aided by a Chinese traitor who displayed a red umbrella to guide daylight bombing on May 10, 1938. This air raid caused substantial destruction, killing or wounding at least 160 people and destroying more than a thousand homes. The town of Yimen also endured aerial destruction, with raids killing over 400 people and destroying 7,000 homes. Yimen and Shucheng were among many Chinese towns subjected to terror bombing, contributing to widespread civilian casualties and the destruction of livelihoods across China. The broader pattern of air raids was enabled by a lack of quality fighter aircraft and trained pilots, allowing Japanese bombers free rein against Chinese cities, towns, and villages. While the aerial assaults caused immense damage, the atrocities committed in these cities were even more severe. In Anhui, where Shucheng, Anqing, and Tongcheng were located, the Japanese brutality was on full display. The brutality can be partly understood as an attempt to destroy China's will and capacity to wage war, yet the extremity of some acts points to a warped martial culture within the Japanese Army, which appeared to encourage murder, torture, rape, and other crimes. Indeed, the Army eventually enshrined this brutality in its doctrine with the so-called “three alls”: kill all, burn all, loot all.  These acts, and more, were carried out in Anhui during the summer of 1938 as the Japanese advanced up the Yangtze River. In Anqing, the Hata Detachment killed at least 200 people without compunction. A further 36 civilians on a boat were detained and killed by Japanese marines, who claimed they were potentially Chinese soldiers. The countryside around Anqing, Shucheng, and Tongcheng witnessed continued atrocities. In Taoxi village of Shucheng County, the Japanese burned over 1,000 houses and killed more than 40 people. At Nangang, Japanese soldiers killed more than 200 people and committed numerous rapes, including many victims over 60 years old. Tongcheng also became a site of forced sexual slavery. The Japanese atrocities, intended to terrify the Chinese into submission, did not achieve their aim. Chinese resistance persisted. After a brief withdrawal, the 20th Army held stoutly at Jinshan for four days before retreating to Xiaochiyi and Taihu. These withdrawals, while costly, lured the Japanese deeper into the interior of China. As the Japanese advanced, their flanks became increasingly vulnerable to counterattack. On June 26, 1928, the Chinese 26th Army Group attacked the flanks of the 6th Infantry Division at Taihu. The 26th Army Group was supported by the 20th and 31st Armies, which attacked from the front to pin the 6th Infantry Division in place. The 6th Infantry Division was ill-prepared to respond, suffering a malaria outbreak that left about 2,000 soldiers unfit for combat. Fighting continued until June 29, when the Japanese withdrew. The focus of operations north of the Yangtze shifted to Madang, a key river fortress protected by obstacles and river batteries. Roughly 600 mines were laid in the Yangtze near Madang, and the fortress was largely manned by the Riverine Defense Force, with a small garrison; including stragglers from the 53rd Infantry Division, the Madang garrison totaled roughly 500 men. Initial expectations had Madang holding, since Japanese ships could not easily remove obstacles or suppress the batteries. On the dawn of June 24, however, news reached Madang that Xiangkou had fallen to the Japanese, enabling a land threat to Madang, and many Madang defenders, including most officers above the platoon level, were absent at a nearby ceremony when the attack began.  On 24 June, Japanese forces conducted a surprise landing at Madang, while the main body of the Japanese Eleventh Army advanced along the southern shore of the Yangtze. The Chinese garrison at the Madang river fortress repelled four assaults, yet suffered casualties from intense bombardment by Japanese ships on the Yangtze and from poison gas attacks. Compounding the difficulty, most of the Chinese officers responsible for Madang's defense were absent due to a ceremony at a local military school by Li Yunheng, the overseeing general. Consequently, only three battalions from the second and third Marine Corps and the 313th regiment of the 53rd Division took part in the defense, totaling no more than five battalions. When the 167th Division, stationed in Pengze, was ordered by War Zone commander Bai Chongxi to move swiftly along the highway to reinforce the defenders, divisional commander Xue Weiying instead sought instructions from his direct superior, Li Yunheng, who instructed him to take a longer, more navigationally challenging route to avoid Japanese bombers. Reinforcements arrived too late, and Madang fell after a three-day battle. Chiang Kai-shek promptly ordered a counterattack, offering a 50,000 yuan reward for the units that recaptured the fortress. On June 28, the 60th Division of the 18th Corps and the 105th Division of the 49th Corps retook Xiangshan and received 20,000 yuan, but made no further progress. As the Japanese army pressed the attack on Pengze, Chinese units shifted to a defensive posture. Chiang Kai-shek subsequently had Li Yunheng court-martialed and Xue Weiying executed. After the fall of Madang, the broader Wuhan campaign benefited from Madang as a foothold along the Yangtze, as the river continued to function as a dual-use corridor for transport and amphibious landings, aiding later operations and complicating Chinese defensive planning. The rapid capture of Madang demonstrated the effectiveness of combined arms, amphibious insertion, and secure supply routes along a major river, while Chinese defenses showed weaknesses such as reliance on rough terrain, underestimation of Japanese amphibious capabilities, and delayed reinforcement, which, coupled with gas warfare, produced a swift loss. The fall influenced subsequent Chinese fortifications and defensive doctrine along the Yangtze and affected decisions regarding garrison allocations and riverine operations. After Madang fell, Japan's 11th Army pressed toward its next major objectives, Jiujiang, Huangmei, and Xiaochikou. It took nearly three weeks for the Japanese to clear the waterway around Madang of mines, costing them five minesweepers, two warships, and a landing craft full of marines. Jiujiang stood out as the most important due to its status as a key river port and railway junction. To defend these targets, China deployed the 1st Army Corps to Jiujiang, the 2nd Army Corps to cover the area west of Jiujiang, and the 4th Army Corps to defend Xiaochikou. Despite these reinforcements, the Japanese continued their advance.  The Japanese initially captured Pengze but met strong resistance at Hukou, where they again deployed poison gas during a five-day battle. During the breakout, there were insufficient boats to evacuate the auxiliary troops of the defending 26th Division from Hukou, leaving only a little over 1,800 of the more than 3,100 non-combat soldiers able to be evacuated, and the majority of the more than 1,300 missing soldiers drowned while attempting to cross the Poyang Lake. On July 23, they conducted an amphibious operation at Gutang, with the Hata Detachment landing at Jiujiang shortly thereafter. These landings south of the Yangtze represented another step toward Wuhan, which lay about 240 kilometers away. The Chinese responses consisted of relentless counterattacks, but they failed to dislodge the Japanese from their bridgeheads. Consequently, the Japanese captured Xiaochikou by July 26 and Jiujiang by July 28, with a note that poison gas may have been used at Jiujiang. North of the Yangtze, the 6th Infantry Division moved forward and seized Huangmei on August 2. Despite stubborn Chinese resistance, the Japanese had gained considerable momentum toward Wuhan. Soon after the fall of Jiujiang and surrounding areas, the local population endured a renewed surge of war crimes. The Imperial Japanese Army sought to break China's will to resist and its capacity to endure the onslaught. Male civilians were executed indiscriminately, along with any POWs unable to retreat in time, while women and children were subjected to mass rape. In addition, numerous urban districts and suburban villages were deliberately razed, including the city's ceramics factories and its maritime transportation system. The widely documented “three alls” policy proved devastating in the Yangtze region: in Jiujiang alone, as many as 98,461 people were killed, 13,213 houses destroyed, and property losses reached 28.1 billion yuan. Yet numbers fail to convey the brutality unleashed in Jiujiang, Hukou, and Xiaochikou south of the Yangtze. On July 20, the Japanese confined 100 villagers in a large house in Zhouxi village, Hukou County, and erased them with machine guns and bayonets. Tangshan village witnessed similar brutality on July 31, when eight people were drowned in a pond and 26 houses burned. That September, learning that children and the elderly at Saiyang Township were taking refuge in caves on Mount Lushan, the Japanese proceeded to bayonet defenseless civilians, many beheaded, disemboweled, or amputated. These acts, among others, were carried out on a mass scale south of the Yangtze, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths around Jiujiang. Despite the enormity of these crimes, Chinese people did not surrender. Among those who resisted was Wang Guozhen of Wang Village in Pengze County. Upon learning of the Japanese approach to Pengze on July 1, Wang, a teacher, led women, children, and the elderly into mountains and forests to seek safety. However, Wang and his followers soon encountered Japanese troops who attacked them, instantly killing over 20 people. Wang denounced their actions as the Japanese took him captive and had him whipped for over an hour. They had hit him so hard his skin was peeling off and he had broken his left thigh. They then demanded he collaborate with them, but to this Wang responded “a common man cannot resist the enemy for his country and he will only die”. After hearing these words, the Japanese simply stabbed him with a bayonet in his left eye and in his chest area, ultimately killing him. Wang's small act of defiance would earn him a plaque from the KMT that states “Eternal Heroism”. Even though Wang's heroism was commendable, bravery alone could not halt the Japanese advance along the Yangtze. After securing Jiujiang, Xiaochikou, and Gutang, the 106th and 101st Infantry Divisions carried out amphibious operations further upriver. The 106th Infantry Division landed on the Yangtze's east bank, pushing south of Jili Hu. Concurrently, the Sato Detachment, two infantry battalions plus a field artillery battalion from the 101st Infantry Division, landed east of Xiaochikou and concentrated on the east side of Mount Lu. The Japanese advance soon faced firm Chinese resistance despite these early gains. The 106th Infantry Division encountered the in-depth defenses of Xue Yue's 1st Corps. These defenses formed an isosceles triangle with Jiujiang at the apex and the Jinguanqiao line at the base. Although Jiujiang was abandoned in late July, the triangle's base at Jinguanqiao remained strong, with the 8th, 74th, 18th, 32nd, 64th, 66th, 29th, 26th, 4th, and 70th Armies concentrated in the Jinguanqiao area. These forces inflicted heavy losses on the 106th Infantry Division, which saw nearly half of its captains killed or wounded during the fighting. To aid the 106th Division's breakthrough near Jinguanqiao, the 11th Army deployed the 101st Infantry Division to the area east of Xiaochikou in mid-August. From there, the division pushed toward the east side of Mount Lu, aiming to seize Xingzi in an amphibious assault via Lake Poyang. The objective was to outflank De'an and the nearby Nanxun Road. On August 19, the 101st Infantry Division executed the plan and landed at Xingzi, where they faced strong resistance from the 53rd Infantry Division. However, the division found itself isolated and thus vulnerable to being outflanked. By August 23, the 53rd Infantry Division had withdrawn to the east. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. In 1938 Wuhan stood as China's fragile beacon. Wuhan's defense hinged on a patchwork of war zones and weary commanders, while Japan poured in hundreds of thousands of troops, ships, and air power. The Yangtze became a deadly artery, with river fortresses, brutal bombings, and mass casualties. Yet courage endured: individuals like Wang Guozhen chose defiance over surrender.

Join Team Uber Cube as we discuss Stu's latest project of digitizing our cubes! Geographically unable to meet up with peeps? Budget restrictions or nowhere to meet up or play group size concerns? Well, we have a solution for you! Join as the team breaks down the process of converting a cube to a digital format where you can get more reps, more reach, and more fun!Thanks for listening, subscribing, sharing, 5-star reviews, and as always happy cubing! Link to Stu's Diablo Cube (MTGO version)Link to Sammich's Pauper Cube  Join the Uber Cube DiscordSupport Uber Cube via PatreonAnthony's CubesMay's CubesUber Cube is now on YouTube!MTG Cube Drafting PageFind us on Twitter @UberCubeMTGPodFind us on Bluesky @ubercubemtgpodcast.bsky.socialEmail Uber Cube : ubercubemtgpodcast@gmail.comThanks for Listening and Happy cubing!Support the show

The Right Reverend Patrick McKinney, Bishop of Nottingham, joined the National Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope on its last day as pilgrims descended on his diocesan Cathedral Church of St Barnabas. Geographically, Nottingham worked well as the intersection point where the four pilgrimage ‘Ways’ – north, south, east and west – came together to complete a […]

The Right Reverend Patrick McKinney, Bishop of Nottingham, joined the National Jubilee Pilgrimage of Hope on its last day as pilgrims descended on his diocesan Cathedral Church of St Barnabas. Geographically, Nottingham worked well as the intersection point where the four pilgrimage ‘Ways’ – north, south, east and west – came together to complete a […]

Yowie Sighting on Nowendoc Road: The 2009 Mt. George EncounterThe IncidentIn August 2009, Faye Burke and Alana Garnett were driving along the isolated Nowendoc Road at 7:30 PM. As they approached Connelly's Creek Gap, near Mount George, they found themselves in a region west of Taree and east of the Barrington Tops. This area, located within the Great Dividing Range (GDR), is widely recognized for an abundance of Yowie sightings. Nowendoc Road itself parallels an expansive mountain range.Geographically, Mount George is situated between Coffs Harbour to the north and Newcastle to the south, placing it squarely in a region that has been central to numerous Yowie sightings over the years. As such, this encounter is unlikely to be the last of its kind in the area.For more comprehensive information, reports and history of the Yowie, visit our Website at www.yowiehunters.comSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/yowiehunters-witness-reports. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From ancient ostracisms to modern cinematic heroes, this Overly Sarcastic Podcast has it all! Plus! The inaugural menu of Dark Lunch, cursed hairstyle ideas, and much much more!  Our podcast, like our videos, sometimes touches on the violence, assaults, and murders your English required reading list loves (also we curse sometimes). Treat us like a TV-14 show.OSP has new videos every Friday:https://www.youtube.com/c/OverlySarcasticProductionsChannelQuestion for the Podcast? Head to the #ask-ospod discord channel:https://discord.gg/OSPMerch:https://overlysarcastic.shopFollow Us:Patreon.com/OSPTwitter.com/OSPyoutubeTwitter.com/sophie_kay_Music By OSP Magenta ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Samantha Croston and Ashley Wenskoski are BACK and there is HOPE in the air for the New York Mets. The Mets won their first series in THREE WEEKS against the Mariners, thanks in large part to solid pitching performances from Nolan McLean and Clay Holmes. Can the Mets keep the positive momentum going? PLUS, the Mets show out at the Little League Classic. Join us! 00:00-5:00: Mets BLOW it on Friday in 11-9 loss to Seattle - Helsley has STRUGGLED 5:01-11:53: Nolan McLean DAZZLES in first start - is he the savior? 11:54-14:50: Mets participate in LITTLE LEAGUE Classic in Williamsport, PA and close out series win 14:51-18:00: Is ALVAREZ HURT? Plus, Lindor heats up 18:01-23:26: Will MLB realign divisions GEOGRAPHICALLY? Manfred's comments 23:27-24:19: NL East GAUNTLET approaches for the Mets #mlb #mlbb #baseball #baseballpodcast #mlbbaseball #newyorkmets #newyork #lgm #mets #lfgm #mariners #seattlemariners #llws #littleleagueworldseries #littleleaguebaseball #majorleaguebaseball #podcast LIKE, COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE, LISTEN ON ALL PLATFORMS: https://www.flowcode.com/page/whymetspod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At Black Hat USA 2025, Sean Martin, co-founder of ITSPmagazine, sat down with Brett Stone-Gross, Senior Director of Threat Intelligence at Zscaler, to discuss the findings from the company's latest ransomware report. Over the past five years, the research has tracked how attack patterns, targets, and business models have shifted—most notably from file encryption to data theft and extortion.Brett explains that many ransomware groups now find it more profitable—and less risky—to steal sensitive data and threaten to leak it unless paid, rather than encrypt files and disrupt operations. This change also allows attackers to stay out of the headlines and avoid immediate law enforcement pressure, while still extracting massive payouts. One case saw a Fortune 50 company pay $75 million to prevent the leak of 100 terabytes of sensitive medical data—without a single file being encrypted.The report highlights variation in attacker methods. Some groups focus on single large targets; others, like the group “LOP,” exploit vulnerabilities in widely used file transfer applications, making supply chain compromise a preferred tactic. Once inside, attackers validate their claims by providing file trees and sample data—proving the theft is real.Certain industries remain disproportionately affected. Healthcare, manufacturing, and technology are perennial top targets, with oil and gas seeing a sharp increase this year. Many victims operate with legacy systems, slow to adopt modern security measures, making them vulnerable. Geographically, the U.S. continues to be hit hardest, accounting for roughly half of all observed ransomware incidents.The conversation also addresses why organizations fail to detect such massive data theft—sometimes hundreds of gigabytes per day over weeks. Poor monitoring, limited security staffing, and alert fatigue all contribute. Brett emphasizes that reducing exposure starts with eliminating unnecessary internet-facing services and embracing zero trust architectures to prevent lateral movement.The ransomware report serves not just as a data source but as a practical guide. By mapping observed attacker behaviors to defensive strategies, organizations can better identify and close their most dangerous gaps—before becoming another statistic in next year's findings.Learn more about Zscaler: https://itspm.ag/zscaler-327152Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.Guest:Brett Stone-Gross, Senior Director of Threat Intelligence at Zscaler, | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-stone-gross/ResourcesLearn more and catch more stories from Zscaler: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/zscalerLearn more about ITSPmagazine Brand Story Podcasts: https://www.itspmagazine.com/purchase-programsNewsletter Archive: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/tune-into-the-latest-podcasts-7109347022809309184/Business Newsletter Signup: https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-business-updates-sign-upAre you interested in telling your story?https://www.itspmagazine.com/telling-your-storyKeywords: sean martin, brett stone-gross, ransomware, data extortion, cyber attacks, zero trust security, threat intelligence, data breach, cyber defense, network security, file transfer vulnerability, data protection, black hat, black hat usa 2025, zscaler

Thanks to our Partner, NAPA Autotech TrainingKey Takeaways:Survey Demographics & LimitationsSkewed Representation: 62% of respondents had 20+ years of experience, while entry-level and mid-career techs were underrepresented. Geographically, responses were heavy in the East/Midwest but sparse in central/western U.S.ASE Certification Bias: 80% of respondents held ASE certifications, contrasting with the broader industry (only ~25% of U.S. technicians are ASE-certified). Fanslow urges broader participation for accurate data.What Technicians WantProper shop equipment (87%) – Includes OE tools (e.g., GTS+ for Toyota/Honda), ADAS calibration tools, and powertrain tables 210.Paid vacation (83%) and retirement plans (72%) – Fanslow notes ambiguity in definitions (e.g., weeks offered) and calls for industry standardization.Paid training (65%) – Despite high demand, many techs underutilize training opportunities.Hourly/salary (majority) > hourly + production bonus (25%) > flat rate (20%). Fanslow attributes this to desire for stability, especially in rust-prone regions where labor guides may be unrealistic.Industry Pain PointsLow Satisfaction: Only 49% would recommend their shop to a friend. Poor communication (30% approval) and inadequate mentorship (

Thanks to our Partner, NAPA Autotech TrainingKey Takeaways:Survey Demographics & LimitationsSkewed Representation: 62% of respondents had 20+ years of experience, while entry-level and mid-career techs were underrepresented. Geographically, responses were heavy in the East/Midwest but sparse in central/western U.S.ASE Certification Bias: 80% of respondents held ASE certifications, contrasting with the broader industry (only ~25% of U.S. technicians are ASE-certified). Fanslow urges broader participation for accurate data.What Technicians WantProper shop equipment (87%) – Includes OE tools (e.g., GTS+ for Toyota/Honda), ADAS calibration tools, and powertrain tables 210.Paid vacation (83%) and retirement plans (72%) – Fanslow notes ambiguity in definitions (e.g., weeks offered) and calls for industry standardization.Paid training (65%) – Despite high demand, many techs underutilize training opportunities.Hourly/salary (majority) > hourly + production bonus (25%) > flat rate (20%). Fanslow attributes this to desire for stability, especially in rust-prone regions where labor guides may be unrealistic.Industry Pain PointsLow Satisfaction: Only 49% would recommend their shop to a friend. Poor communication (30% approval) and inadequate mentorship (

Kate's car is on it's last legs and she's a little miffed at her boyfriend Aaron who needs to be driven around everywhere because he drives like a klutz. And to make things even worse, they live in different states! Will Click and Clack tell Kate to trade in the car, Aaron or both? Find out on this episode of the Best of Car Talk.Get access to hundreds of episodes in the Car Talk archive when you sign up for Car Talk+ at plus.npr.org/cartalkLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Have you noticed how southern Africa tends to be hit by deadly cyclones that leave a trail of destruction? Right now the people of Mozambique are trying to piece their lives together after Cyclone Jude battered the country this month. Before it, two others, Chido and Dikeledi, hit the same part of southern Africa in quick succession. All three claimed dozens of lives, leaving schools, homes and other buildings severely damaged. Today Alan Kasujja sits down with Lehlohonolo Thobela of the South African Weather Service in Pretoria. “If you speak about Mozambique, Madagascar, South Africa, those are usually the areas that usually experience tropical cyclones. Geographically, the Indian Ocean is in the eastern parts. The Indian Ocean itself is where cyclones are born. Why? Because they need warmth”, Lehlohonolo says. Alan also hears from Mary Louise Eagleton of UNICEF, who is in Maputo. She's been to the most affected areas and shares what she's seen.

Enjoy the 8am hour